Some "Routine" Advice Needed

So now that I'm not working anymore, I'm feeling the need to get my home life a bit more organized. However, thinking about it and actually doing it...well, there's my problem. I'm not sure how structured I should make my daily life with the kids be. So, I'm asking all of you--what kinds of routines do you have at home? Do you have a specific time of day that you do crafts, play outside, do chores (with the kids and without them), go places (the park, a relative's house, the library ect.) teach the gospel, teach abc's ect.? Here's how things are so far: We pretty much get up around 7am, have breakfast, then i put the baby down for a nap around 9am and have evan watch a show while i shower and then i get everyone else ready. Then we have lunch at 11am then do whatever and then naptime for the baby is at 1pm. I may play with evan then or try to get some cleaning done. Dinner around 5pm and then try to have evan in bed around 8pm. Of course, all those times are approximate and change according to circumstances. I do go to my sister's house a lot and we also have been playing in the backyard a lot this summer. Haven't done a lot of crafts, and evan's not much for being taught anything by me. lol. But I've been thinking a lot about our routine and want to find a happy medium where we are more structured than we are now, but not so structured we can't just pick up and go places if we want to. I'm just not sure at this point how to do that. Please Help!!

Things That "Matter"

There are certain daily things that I do that matter to me and that I take pride in--like trying to make sure the kitchen is clean before I go to bed, having a half way decent garden, writing thank you notes for gifts received (sorry to anyone I may have missed though!!), making a meal that turns out well etc. Then there are the things that I am destined never to do well no matter how hard I try so I've given up caring about them. For instance--folding clothes neatly, shuffling a deck of cards, being able to parallel park, or being able to roundbrush my hair and hold the hair dryer at the same time. However, when you get married, you quickly figure out the little things that your spouse does well. And if you don't happen to excel at the skill then you feel sorry for your spouse who is doomed to forever try to help you. For Steve and I, it was making the bed. The man can make a perfect bed in 10 seconds flat. Like he's been in the military or something. As for me, I can take 10 min. trying to smooth covers and arrange pillows and still only have it come out looking half as good as Steve's made bed. Now, Steve has tried to teach me his bedmaking skills, but like I say, there's just some things I'm doomed never to do well and I'm afraid that's one of them. I was born without the neat bedmaking gene. I will have to take some pics to show everyone because I'm not exaggerating! I guess that's why marriage is all about balancing out your strengths and weaknesses with each other!

I Do Exist

Here is proof!

Like most moms, I'm rarely photographed. Here is one of like 5 pictures of me with Justin since he was born. lol. Plus, I felt the need to even out all the kids pics on my blog. Not that I don't love to show them off, but I don't want you all to forget what I look like either. So enjoy this rare treat!

Baby Meets Blueberries

I love those self feeders, but sometimes clean up is not always so fun! thank goodness for baths! lol!

We're Going to CA!!!

A vacation? What's that? I don't think I remember anymore....
Just when I thought it looked like we weren't going to get to go anywhere this year either, a miracle occurs! Not only in 24 hours am I able to convince Steve he really does need to figure out a way to take Labor Day weekend off (He's the only person in UT that works for BLM so we don't know who would cover him if he took time off--which, that, along with the fact he has to accrue his measly 1 week vacation makes the idea of being able to take a vacation almost laughable) but when i get online to check ticket prices to CA, I find the cheapest tickets since 8 years ago when I visited Steve in CA when we were engaged! So, providence seems to be providing a way! I am soooo happy about this b/c i haven't been south of provo or north of SLC in like 2 years. We just haven't been able to go anywhere since we moved to West Jordan, between having a baby, me working and Steve having no one to cover him and no vacation time it just hasn't been possible. So even just visiting Steve's parents in CA sounds like heaven.

one of the last vacations i took (ohio june 2006) coincides with one of the last times i was able to fit into my swimsuit....

Attack of the Fun Dip

Cute Justin

Random Sampler

Sorry to the one person who reads my blog that I haven't written more than one blog. I'm sure you're tired of reading the exact same entry every time. Hehehehe. But now that I'm not working at the library anymore I should have plenty of free time to blog. HA! Actually, I'd rather spend my time reading other people's blogs than writing my own b/c when I sit down to write a blog all those ideas on what to write on go outta my head. As you can probably tell by now....
Anyways, this was my second weekend in a row of not working. It was great to be home two saturdays in a row, it really was. Though poor Steve had a stomach ache most of the time, or rather some sort of stomach flu. Stomach aches go away after a few hours, they do not linger for two days. yikes. So, that meant I braved church alone with two children. They were actually pretty good during sacrament--even better than when Steve is there to help. However, to manage all of my stuff, I stuck the baby in the stroller (which caused multiple people to offer me a ride home since they thought i had walked...) and strollered the hallways of church. There was no way i could carry a baby and keep track of my 4 year old while copying the program, paying my tithing, etc. So I thought that was the best solution. Yet, I had this feeling while walking with the stroller through the hallways of church that I wasn't supposed to be walking with my stroller, that I had broken a rule or something. Is that a rule? Like, no running in church--no pushing a stroller through the hallway? I feel bad if that's the case and I wonder if it was...I did feel kind of stared at...But hopefully I won't need to do that again, but for one Sunday I hope I will be forgiven.
I will try to be more exciting in my next post. promise!