I'm in my groove

September started the season of school and having a schedule. I will admit, I don't mind having a scheduled life. There is nothing wrong with knowing exactly where I will be at any given hour of any given day. Spontaneity... who needs it?

Alarm goes off every morning at 7:15 a.m.
Kids off to school at 8:20 a.m.

Mondays: Go to the gym for two hours (pilates & weight lifting), leave just in time to pick up Morgan from kindergarten, shower, clean up. Chandler and Ashytn get home from school at 3:30, tackle homework, reading, piano practicing, and football or hockey practice for Chandler. At 8 p.m. I swim at the rec. center with my neighbors and Jason wraps up the night with the kids.

Tuesdays: Get Chandler off to school early for chorus, clean the house, go to the gym for one hour (cycle class), get home and shower just in time for a Relief Society meeting. Kids get home from school and immediately leave to take Ashtyn and her friend Lucy to gymnastics. Homework, piano, dinner, and cross my fingers for a 9 p.m. bedtime.

Wednesdays: Go to the gym for two hours (weight lifting & treadmill running), shower, possible lunch with Mom, Wendy, and Jen. As soon as Chandler and Ashtyn get home from school we are off to Morgan's ballet from 4-5 p.m. and Ashtyn's Jazz dance from 5:15-6:15 p.m. Jared or Kristi help out getting Chandler to football that starts at 6:00 p.m. After getting home the nightly routine begins. The night can not end without "Wednesday Women's Night" which simply means that Ashtyn, Morgan, and I lay in one of the girls beds and we talk...ya know... like about who is in love with who, and who said what about what....

Thursdays: Early morning chorus for Chandler, gym for one hour (cycle class), get caught up around the house and errands. Morgan leaves at 3 p.m. with my neighbor Wendy for gymnastics, Ashtyn stays an hour later at school for "studio kids"-singing and acting. At 4:30 I pick up Ashtyn from school, drive 20 min to pick up Morgan from gymnastics at 5:00 p.m. Get Chandler to piano at 5:30-6:00, scouts from 6:00- 7:00 and Ashtyn to piano at 6:00-6:30 p.m. By the end of the night we have to make sure Chandler and Ashtyn know all their spelling words and math facts for Friday's tests!

Fridays: Chandler goes to school early for student council rep. meeting. Ashtyn and Morgan get off to school on their scooters and Ethan and I leave to the gym for two hours (pilates & treadmill running). The running class I take is at the same time Morgan gets out of kindergarten so my mom has been awesome about picking Morgan up from school!!! Chandler and Ashtyn get home at 1:50 p.m. Morgan has "Up with kids" (music/theatre class) from 3-4 p.m., Ashtyn has "Up with kids" from 4-5 p.m., and Chandler has football from 5-7 p.m. "Let's do something fun after football!"

Saturdays: Chandler has a football game AND a hockey game each Saturday. Saturday evening and night is "chill and do whatever you want at home night" for Jason and the kids. I leave for work at 6:30 p.m.

Sundays: I get home from work at 8:00 a.m., nap until 11:30, go to church at 12:30 p.m., get home at 3:30 p.m., have a family dinner at my parents' or Jason's parents' house. We have to get home early and go to bed because the next day is Monday...the start to another eventful, fun filled week!!!

Who says we're over scheduled???

The schedule is actually working out really well. So far it seems we are all in the groove and life is good. (I try to keep my "flipping out" moments to a minimum.)

My hope is in a few years my kids will pick their ONE TRUE extracurricular LOVE, hopefully not several and hopefully nothing naughty.

I would like to take this opportunity to express feelings of gratitude. I would like to thank my reliable and very dirty minivan for driving 6 1/2 hours a week, my washer and dryer for doing 21 loads of laundry a week, the inventor of ponytail holders that allow me to "do" my hair in 18 seconds, (I splurge by styling my hair twice a week...tops), my almost always content and pleasant two year old side-kick, and the beautiful weather we had in September. Thanks also to Jared, Kristi, and Wendy H for helping in the taxi department and to Jen and my mom who are always willing to give a helping hand to my active family. Thanks to Jason who is a very helpful, hands on father and partner. He assists by doing whatever he is asked to do...that is often a lot of cleaning, laundry folding, and taxi driving.

I have thought about priorities and wanting to make sure I don't forget the IMPORTANT activities of life. These responsibilities should be on my schedule as well.

President Hinckley gave us great advice about prioritizing. He said, “You have to establish in your life some sense of prioritizing things, of giving emphasis to the important things and of laying aside the unimportant things that will lead to nothing. Establish a sense of justice, a sense of what is good and what is not good, what is important and is not important; and that can become a marvelous and wonderful blessing in your lives.”

We have discovered a few techniques for us that have been working pretty well so far...

1. Every morning read scriptures to kids while they eat breakfast. (I LOVE TO MULTITASK).

2. Say a prayer together right before the kids head out the door.

3. Jason reads me the scriptures before we go to bed. ---My time to relax :)

4. I found the best time to go to the temple is on a weekday morning when Jason has the day off.

AND in writing this I have discovered the perfect time for us to have FHE...so

5. Friday night will be our designated FHE night.

Hey!!! I'm a scheduler. If it's not on my written or mental agenda it doesn't get done.