Where Is The Time Going?

We've had so much fun this month, and there are so many things that I want to blog about, but I'm finding my new life as a mom to a first grader way busier than before.  (Notice I said "mom" and not "mommy", because in first grade we're like too cool to say "mommy" anymore.)   You would think with one less kid around for 6 hours a day that I'd have more time on my hands, but NO.  This is so NOT the case.  AT ALL.  Not even a little.

Here is a little sample of our Monday, Wednesday, and Friday schedules and why I'm finding myself too busy for blogging and pretty much anything else these days.  (I miss my blog...there's so much I want to write about!  I have that yucky, nagging, I'm getting too far behind feeling...I hate that feeling.)

We get up around 6:30, eat breakfast, get dressed, pack a school lunch, practice our spelling words for the week, and get Cole out the door by 9:00.  After this, I usually run upstairs to get myself ready for the day, and then come down to clean up whatever mayhem Caden has inflicted upon our living spaces while he was briefly out of my sight.  This usually puts us at around 9:45 in the morning.  Next we quickly run our errands, and try to get back by 11:15-ish for Chase to have lunch and get off to preschool by 12:15.  When I get home from dropping him off at 12:45, I put Caden down for a nap.  This should theoretically give me two hours to myself.  Theoretically.  But Caden doesn't fall asleep the moment I put him down, which means that I don't get the full two hours -- ever.  I use whatever time is left to eat lunch, work-out if there's enough time to shower afterwards (Caden must remain sleeping during all of this, otherwise my house is likely to be egg'd, flooded, painted on, burned to the ground, etc), and then we're back at the preschool by 2:50 so I can quickly grab Chase right at 3:00 when preschool gets out in order to be at Cole's school by 3:20.  Sheesh! We get home at about 3:45.  That gives me about an hour with the boys before I start dinner.  Chad is home by 6:00, we eat, then Cole goes up to bathe.  I clean the kitchen, then run upstairs to supervise Cole's final stages of the cleaning process (making sure all the little nooks and crannies get proper attention, otherwise he'd just sit in the water and never use the soap).  After he's dressed, we hit the books in his room until about 8:30; doing homework, practicing spelling, and reading.  Phew.  By the time it's all over, all I want to do is camp out on the couch.   In between all of this, all the regular stuff has to happen too (or at least is should...theoretically), like laundry and cleaning.  Stupid laundry and cleaning, I hate you.

All of this to say that I guess I do know where the time is going.  Before first graded started, Chad would put all three of the boys to bed, which would give me some wonderful time to do other things.  But with Cole being gone all day, I miss him!  I want to hang out with him.  Sometimes while he's at school, I'll stop in his room for a few minutes just to feel a little closer to him.  I'm really cherishing our evenings together, even if it means that I'm falling behind on my personal fun stuff.  And I know that it won't be long until Chase joins him in "real" school, and soon to follow will be my baby.  (My baby is about to turn 3...don't even get me started on that.)

So, I have a few blog posts to author, and I will get to them eventually.  But in the meantime, if you're wondering where I am, you can find me either in the kitchen, the car, buried underneath a huge pile of laundry, Target, Fred Meyer, Costco, maybe in the car again, or, if it's after 8:30 at night, camped out on my couch.