Remember that Schedule....

....that I created back in March? (Here's the link to that post). Well, you don't know if something will work if you don't try it, right :) And, well, it didn't work. It went against everything that we (as in me, my husband and kids) are. I have friends that will not do anything if it creeps into nap time for instance. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that, but that just isn't us, and that is okay too :) If we have an opportunity to do something at 2 p.m., I'll just shuffle things around, and do a nap later, not at all, or on the run. Thankfully all of our kids have done fine with this, and I think this has really helped them (and us) be able to do fine with the flexibility of our weekends.

http://posters.com/pv-421660_Gold-Clock.html

At the same time though, we need a routine of some sort. While I had been thinking this, when my husband brought it up, I knew I needed to do something. I've always structured my week in a way that the weekends we are off. Because of my husband's work schedule, he may use the weekends to do a project, but all in all (for the most part), the house is decent, groceries are bought, laundry is done, and we can just have fun or do projects together as a family (again, for the most part :) ).

So if it doesn't seem broke, why are we looking to fix it? Well, with 5 almost 6 people in our family, if we all are flying by the seat of our pants (which we are!), often we run into times where things collide. An example: my husband is at work, thinking he'll mow the lawn tonight after dinner. I'm at home thinking, I'll run to the grocery store tonight after dinner (most times I grocery shop with the children, but sometimes, well you know.....). You see where problems could come up and things sometimes don't get done, at least not easily or without frustration. Also, I'm convicted to increase our fellowship with other Christian families, yet when I am not being purposeful in being hospitable, and just being tossed to and fro putting out fires as they come - the days turn into weeks, the weeks turn into months, you know what I'm saying.

I already know I work really, really well with to-do lists, so I plan on making some master to-do lists that will be the same week after week (i.e. on Mondays I need to get XYZ done - doesn't matter what time, just get it done today - so I plan on making a Monday-Friday To-do list). My husband will ride his bicycle home from work every Tuesday and Thursday night, so those nights, I will know and plan for, a snack for the children in the mid-afternoon as dinner will be about an hour or so later than usual. I will make a master menu and grocery list and have a set time every week that I do grocery shopping (we're considering have one night a week where we do this as a family after we went out to dinner. We used to do this when I was a child, and its a memory I remember fondly :) Not to mention my husband's strong arms to do all the heavy lifting :) ) Anyway, you probably get a good idea of where we're heading with this, and there's too much to think about, and include in detail in this post right now. Perhaps later in the week, after the lists are made, and they are typed up on the computer, I will do a separate post with my lists; or as I've tried in the past, I may post links on my side bar that can be accessed easily.

Well, this is a small part of what being a keeper of our home is all about, right ladies? (Titus 2:5)