Back on track

We finally managed to emerge from the blanket of cold/croup/flu that had enveloped our house earlier this month. Then it was a week of mayhem - crazy stuff like things cell phones dying and things catching on fire! I feel like life with two little ones involves a lot of plate juggling and if everything goes well, I can keep them up but these past few weeks, my rhythm got off and one by one they started crashing down. And not just down on the ground but on top of me so that I was left crouching with my hands over my face trying not to get cut.

But last week was great. I got caught up on all the things that I had let slide earlier, we played outside, went to the local nature center to explore and hike, went to storytime, did lots of reading and playing and coloring together and even fitting in a few projects that have been sitting on my to-do list for a while. Of course, that still left little time for blogging but I'd much rather not be blogging because we are off "adventuring" than because I'm too busy wiping runny noses.

Speaking of our rhythm, Craig is back on night shift starting tonight so hopefully the transition goes well. Night shift is not all bad but the transition is. The kids and I do so much better with a routine but I tend to let it slide when Craig is home. So in anticipation of this I finally sat down and did something I'd been meaning to do for almost a year now - a written and visual daily rhythm chart. I'd been putting it off because I wanted to incorporate a weekly rhythm too and make each day be a different activity (Monday = baking, Tuesday = library, etc) but that doesn't really work with Craig's alternating schedules and I'd let perfection be the enemy of productivity for too long. When I finally let perfection go, this was so easy, only took a short amount of time to put together, and Lucy loves looking at it and telling me what's next.

I used watercolors on watercolor paper that I already had - Lucy helped but she worked with only two similar colors (blue and purple; red and orange) at a time so none of it turned out brown. The next day I cut it into strips and labeled them. Lucy decided what we pictures we should draw and I drew them - no making fun of my lack of drawing ability please. She helped me tape them to the side of our refrigerator cabinet.

You probably can't read it but it goes:

Wake up
Breakfast
Table Time - Memory work including bible verses and house rules followed by one page of a Rod and Staff preschool workbook if she asks - and she always does
Get ready - get dressed, brush teeth, make beds, etc
Play
Jojo naps/Lucy school or activity
Snack
Play
Lunch
Quiet play - I'm often putting down Jonah down for a nap slightly before Lucy
Quiet time - the preschool friendly name for naptime
Snack
Play
Dinner
Bath
Family play
Bedtime

So basically she eats, sleeps and plays all day. But even this much of a routine really helps me and I have a general plan for what I want to get done during each of her play times - the first I try and do some chores, the second and fourth play times should be outside if it is nice and I try to play with her some during the second time but quiet play is when I can read or relax without feeling bad about telling her she has to play on her own.

She really wanted to write one herself so I let her write the top and she "wrote" so carefully.  So cute! You probably can't tell but I think the first squiggly is a picture of her face followed by her version of a u, an L and a c. She has been trying to write her name a lot but doesn't want any help from me. Sometimes she asks for me to write it for her to copy but then she gets upset when I do and says she doesn't need it. That is life with Lucy right now - completely adorable and frustrating at the same time!

I still want to add in a weekly chart and a weather component but baby steps!