Hooray for Routine!

Realistically, some days my life is anything but routine, but there is a routine to the quietness of my days when the children are all back in school. I mentioned in an earlier post that I had some new year's thoughts. I won't call them resolutions, but rather a change in routine that I aim to stick to as long as life doesn't get in the way.

Sooo, these days I drink a glass of water and go downstairs to exercise very shortly after getting out of bed. It's only for fifteen minutes, but it's a start and better than the nothing I was doing before. Once I'm done exercising, I eat my two eggs with spinach breakfast that the Engineer cooked while I was downstairs -- and if I remember to do it the night before, have a cup of coffee that was perking while I sweat.

Until the last child trots out the door, I practice crowd control, hair dressing, time management, and if there's a lull, I knit. Seriously! I sit in a chair where I can see and hear all  ;o) and knit. The children all know where I am and come to me to get their hair done, ask questions, etc. I can watch the two oldest board their bus when it arrives and not wonder if they made it to school that day, (I hate when I don't see them get on the bus even though I know they're old enough to be out there and not have Mommy watching) and even better, I can discern when a battle is brewing among the remaining females in the house.

Once the girls board their bus, I pour another cup of coffee, embrace the silence that befalls our home, and spend some quiet time with God. After that things become a little more random. Scrub a dirty bathroom, vacuum the floors, bake for school lunches, write letters, make appointments, prep for supper, and the list goes on. I sneak in a tea break and read, or facebook, or pin on Pinterest if I can.

On the days that Peanut is home, once lunch is done, I pop in a movie for her and do laps with Maverick up and down the lane for 30 minutes. If the weather is miserable, I pop in a DVD on the computer and walk to it instead.

The afternoon is a continuation of the morning in regards to various tasks -- except that on occasion, I might sneak in a nap. Then, before I know it the children are all home again. They unload backpacks, lunch containers, get out their homework, wash their hands and have a snack.

In bullet form here are the changes:

• exercise first thing in the morning
• knit while staying on The Chair
• devotions after all the kids have left for school
• soup for afternoon snack (yesterday and today's was roasted pumpkin. Yum!)
• lunches made the night before
• making daily running lists of what has to be done

All small changes, but so far, they've been very effective changes and they make me happy. Have you changed anything up with the arrival of the new year?