Schedule? What schedule?

I am not one to put my kids on a strict schedule, but we do have a loose schedule that we follow at night. Basically, we come home from daycare and fix dinner, then there's some playtime and then we try to start getting the kids ready for bed around 7:30.

Yesterday, I had to drive to work, so I was able to pick the kids up earlier than usual. It wasn't dinner time yet, but the kids wanted a little snack so we had some crackers and then decided to go work on the flower gardens. The kids had some sunflower seeds that they've been desperately wanting to plant for weeks now... I think that it may now be springtime and the seeds will be safe from winter snows. No real guarantees in Colorado, it could still snow in May, but we'll hope not.

So with Brekken watching from the exersaucer, Haley & Preston & I finished cleaning up the flower beds for spring and planted their sunflower seeds. When I turned on the hose, the sprayer on the end had sprung a leak, which shot water all over Preston and Brekken. They enjoyed it, luckily! So then we all had fun watering our newly planted seeds and trying not to get soaked by the faulty sprayer.

When we'd finished that, Haley & Preston wanted to play in the backyard. It was dinner time, but since Aaron had to attend Mutual night, he didn't come home after work. That made it easy to lose track of time. So since it was still light and warm out, we headed for the backyard. Preston ran for the sandbox - where he proceeded to fling sand to all corners of the yard and dump sand on his own head and down his own shirt. I don't see the fun in that, but he enjoyed himself. Haley and Brekken played on the swingset... Brekken loves it when you push him in his baby swing. What I had intended to be 10 minutes or so of playtime turned into more like an hour when my sister called and I was on the phone with her for quite a while.

As it started to get darker and cooler, I hated to call an end to playtime. It had been so nice to enjoy the nice weather while I talked to my sister and pushed the kids on the swings. The kids played together and didn't fight and everyone was so happy. But eventually the boys (in their damp clothes from the water sprayer) were getting chilly and everyone wanted some dinner and we had to head inside.

Bedtime didn't come until after 9:00 last night, but luckily the kids are home with Dad today, so they didn't have to get up early. And we all really enjoyed a night off from the usual routine!