Happy Monday!

Well, the fun is just starting! I was talking to a dear friend of mine today and she asked me, "How do you do it? Don't you get tired?" By "it" she meant juggling family, fun, love and a clean house. Fact of the matter is, I'm a little behind on laundry but was able to drop Adrianna off at a friend's house for a bit and get some stuff done which helped a TON, and I don't necessarily get it ALL done all the time, but I am proud to say I've developed a pretty darn good system. I've learned some stuff from fellow moms, some things I've tried just didn't work for our family but there are quite a bit of things that did work for us. I told her I would blog out my schedule for the week so here you go girl! :)

Monday:

1. LAUNDRY (make beds while 1st load is washing)
   
2. Playdate for Adrianna (run to Walmart quickly to pick up some stuff I forgot for my weekly menu plan since I grocery shopped with just Chris (no kids) Saturday so it threw me out of my groove!)
   
3. Vacuum and clean up kitchen and Master Bath while Christopher naps and Adrianna rests
4. Go for a jog after dinner
5. Dinner (Sauteed Chicken breast and Bok Choy)
6. Family time until the kids are in bed, then I'm off to my Ladies LTG at Starbucks (9pm which Chris will be in bed anyway, Mondays are a killer for him!) to discuss 1 Timothy.
   

Tuesday:

1. Watch my niece's performance at school 9:30
2. Attend storytime with a new friend at 10:30 followed by a lunch playdate with her and her son at the park.
3. NAPTIME for Christopher and Quiettime for Adrianna, which is when I'll make a pot of coffee, run around the house like a lunatic picking up, making sure the last of the laundry is put away, vacuum, sweep and wash the floors. Make beds and pick up the backyard since it's a MESS from all the playing outside these past couple days!
4. 5:30 Relay for Life meeting at Carmine's Pizza (I was asked to be Co-Chair Person and am just SOOOOO EXCITED about this opportunity, for sure!)
5. 7:00 Resonate Church Leadership Meeting followed by some dessert and coffee with my husband and friends, without kids, since they'll be home with Aunt Beni! :)

Wednesday:

1. Free morning with the kids! Just us! We'll have fun, maybe make a McD's run and just take it easy
2. At home workout while Christopher naps. (LOVE The Firm videos, just started them and boy they're a KILLER!)
   
3. 3:00 Playdate with some new friends
4. Pork Roulade, stuffed with spinach & feta served with Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes and fresh green beans (you have to by the new steam bags made by ziploc, steams fresh veggies in minutes and they come out GREAT!)
5. 7:00 We have our friends Adrienne and Isaac along with their two boys coming over for coffee and dessert.
6. After kids are in bed, Chris and I will catch up on any recorded shows we may watch (only American Idol for me, all Gordon Ramsay shows for him, LOL)

Thursday:

1. Go through house in the morning and vacuum after making beds (first thing I do every morning, it always makes the bedrooms seem cleaner, LOL)
2. Swiss steak in the crock pot (Paula Dean's recipe given to me by Erika, yummy and CHEAP, google it!)
   
3. Throw in a load of laundry which will take the whole day to wash, fold and put away. Whenever it's a small load, it always seems to take longer to complete!
4. No big daytime plans today, just play it by ear. Beni is off so we may go hit Wolf Ranch for some shopping!
5. Go for an afternoon jog since Beni's home to watch the kids. Eat an early dinner...
   
6. 6:00 TBALL PRACTICE!
   
7. 7:00 Our friends Catherine and Mike are coming over with their two daughters for coffee and dessert. He's also bringing his HOMEMADE, smoked in his backyard smoker venison dry sausage! It was delicious Sunday!!

Friday:

1. Go through the house, dust and wash floors as well as the Guest Bathroom.
2. Make sure the last of the weeks' laundry is done.
3. Hit The Firm videos again!
   
4. $5 Little Caesars Pizza Night
5. 8:00 Ladies Game night at My House! A house full of women and sweets, NOW THAT'S FUN!
   

Saturday:

1. All I care is that it's Date Night, one night every weekend, even if it's a late run to Starbucks! It doesn't matter, I just want a little time, just Chris and I, even if it is to run to Jack In The Box for jalapeno poppers, it's still time with NO KIDS! :)
   

Weekends are spent having FUN! No chores, maybe outside stuff since we are already starting to experience Spring Fever, LOL! We may just spend the weekend with just the four of us, we may hang out with some of our friends or family, Chris will probably go have coffee with the guys one morning, who knows!

As I typed this it seems CRAZY! It seems too busy...where do I have fun? But pretty much all along I am having fun. Chris is happy with having more people in our lives, the kids are gloriously happy being around friends and seeing their parents laughing I am sure it's great for them too! We don't have tons to do every week, in fact we try to only commit to 2 evening events during the week, but of course some weeks are busier than others. I make cleaning a "Team" thing with the kids and of course make it fun, I'M FUN! Ha! We break in between things we're doing to play outside, to color, to play with the infamous play-do, we read together (she's doing great with the High Frequency Readers, thanks Belinda and Erika!), when daddy comes home it's usually You Tube Music entertainment for the kids while I prepare dinner and Adrianna helps set the table. We work as a team in the house. I try my hardest to get things done and am usually successful, but we all have our weeks and when that happens, Chris jumps in for recovery. :)

I'm enjoying my life more than ever, I feel so full sometimes I want to just explode with joy! I have a support system at home as well as with the friends I have in my life so when I need a break, I get one. I'm there for them and they're here for me, it's great to live with a community of people, a true community who really loves and values you. It makes all the "to-do's" not seem like such a big deal and so easily manageable. Now, realistically I couldn't put in all the things to do, you can't schedule everything, Some days I may even skip a thing or two. I try to fit working out at least 3 days a week but am not too hard on myself if something comes up and I can't. Some mornings I talk on the phone longer than I should which just means my internet time is just more limited since I CANNOT spend hours on the phone, on the internet AND enjoy quality time with my kids, family, friends and time for myself, it's just not possible! Not for me at least.

I don't mean to paint a perfect picture, because I am in NO way perfect, but I wake up every day striving to do the best I can and pray to have the best intentions in everything I do during that day and that's all I can really do. Life is Good!