The Hiatus :)

Yeah- that's what I'll call it- "The Hiatus". My absence from the blog world has been getting worse and worse. Well, that's actually not at all accurate. I have been heavily engrossed in my favorite blogs- I never miss a post! But, here on my shabby, pitiful blog that only gets posts when I think blogger might shut me down from inactivity, I just haven't been motivated so it's been very neglected!
It's not that I don't have things to tell or things to say, but, I'll just put it out there- things have been rough here in the Wells' house. It's not that we are struggling with anything major at all- just the mundane and common challenges that parents of one and three year olds face. I'm not going to go into detail, but life has been a little daunting.
This morning I got up before the kids (who, as you may know, get up at the crack of dawn). I got dressed and ready for the day. I got my coffee and did a little yoga (my back and neck pain have gotten worse and worse under the stress of our lives and lack of sleep lately and yoga really helps). And I prayed. And prayed. And prayed. I needed wisdom BADLY, and don't you know, God delivered like He ALWAYS does when I'm at the end of my rope. I wrote down much of what He told me and when I looked back at it, a couple things stood out. As far as the kids- Consistency in disciple and expectation, Routine in much of our days, and Kindness. As far as I go- Take care of your body, Spend time with Me (God).
So, I started by writing down what I thought our day should look like. I scratched out a few notes and when the kids woke up, I started putting it into practice. I told Eva all about it- step by step- and explained each little piece. She was IN. So IN.
Here's what I came up with in the 3 minutes before the kids came downstairs this morning. You can see in there what some of our issues have been in the past few months, some which have started to wear on me.

Wake

Yoga/Stretch/Coffee

Kids wake

ONE 25 minute show

breakfast- 2 OPTIONS (Eva wash hands/face independently)

One cleaning chore (vacuum, dishwasher, one bathroom)

Mommy/Eva conference- talk about things we want to do, places we may want to go, etc.

Kids dress, brush teeth, comb hair, etc.

FREE TIME- play (NO TV), games, errands, park, Grammie’s, etc (one HEALTHY snack)

Lunch- 2 OPTIONS (Eva wash hands/face independently)

Quiet play (drawing, dollhouse, read books, cutting/gluing, flash cards, one 25 minute show a few times per week)

Sam’s nap

Mommy & Eva time including memory verse, prayer time, and one of Eva's chosen activities (30 minutes)

Eva rest time- 1 hour

Mommy devotional time (30-45 minutes)

Mommy organizational time (return e-mails, check bills, make phone calls)

Prep dinner

FREE TIME (one HEALTHY snack)

Dinner

Pick up daily messes, straighten rooms

Treat (only if ALL meals are eaten reasonably throughout the day)

Bath

25 minute show

Bed time routine and lights out

And our day went great. Even though Sam took a sucky nap and the evening was pretty crazy, we had a good day. The kids responded to my calmness and firmness and kindness. Hallelujah!!
This is not to say I won't be spontaneous, or give in to one of Eva's crazy ideas involving paint and glitter, or let the kids watch a movie every once in awhile, but we need this because I am a better mom when all of us know what to expect in our day.


But just in case you thought we weren't having any fun here recently, here are a few pics of the past couple weeks...

Our dear friend, Penny, came over and we did an impromptu princess tea party :)

Apparently, it was exhausting!

Fun with friends at Highland Orchards

While my dear friend, Angie, was in China picking up her daughter, we had the pleasure of having her boys for a few hours. This picture was taken right after I told them we were going to Dunkin Donuts for a treat :) 

Then, we went swimming and Foster and Eva CRACKED EACH OTHER UP!!! 

One day at Grammie's, we spotted a chipmunk. It went into the woodpile and Judah thought he should try to get it out. Eva watched him poke around with a huge pole and was VERY concerned for the little guy!

We took advantage of the rain and did some splashing one day. And several more times the days after :) Eva wasn't happy when I said "no" to it because there was thunder and lightening. She doesn't quite get the danger in that yet.

We love to go to the playground at Pickering Valley Elementary.

And they both ALWAYS end up looking for acorns nearby.

We have found a new love- shaving cream bath paint. We have done it 4 days in a row (3 of those days in the middle of the day). We ran out of shaving cream- OH NO!!!!!

 They like to paint each other, too!