A typical summer day

I figured I would record what our days mostly look like so I can reference back to this next summer.  A lot of people ask me how I do it with 3 small kids and we usually look together most of the time.  I feel our summer has been great and I'm not going insane at all!  One of the reasons we are successful at getting out and doing a lot is because I'm very structured and my kids know what to expect from beginning to end (most of the time).  Before summer started, I prepared a daily schedule to help keep us on track.  Here's a typical day in the life of the Hantla clan:

5:45-7:30 Katie wakes up, exercises, quiet time, shower and dressed
7:30-8:15 I wake the kids up, diaper change, potty, and then breakfast
8: 15-8:30 Kids play while I clean up the kitchen and then kids dressed
8:30-9:00 Praise and worship time
9:00-9:30 Learning time
9:30-10:00 TV or play time (I use this time to get stuff ready for our outing for the day)
10:00 GO OUT (this changes each day, but rarely is a day where we stay at home)
11:30 to 12:30 Lunch is somewhere in there
1:00 W goes down for nap (R&A watch TV or read)
1:30 R&A down for nap
4:00 everyone wakes up and snack time

Usually B comes home during snack time and we have family time for the rest of the evening.

Our days have been awesome.  They might not follow the times exactly, but we usually always have the designated activities.  We might change up learning for puzzles or reading. I've blogged about Go Fish before, and I've taught the kids Amazing Grace , How Great Thou Art, and Lord, I Lift Your Name on High. The kids enjoy music time and ask me to play songs over and over again.  We will do all the motions, dance, and sing.  When it's time to head out for our day, the big kids go potty before we leave while I start cherry and get it loaded with whatever bags we need for the day.  We typically will: go to Joyner for play & picnic, go to a pool and picnic, story-time, lunch, sprinklers, free movie at Wakefield, spray-ground & picnic, jumping beans & picnic, Marbles & picnic lunch.  Most days we have a picnic out somewhere and get back for naps.  I need to point out that we are always meeting other friends.  I have 2 other teacher moms, 2 stay at home moms, and 1 part time working mom that I usually meet.  In the event it's raining or cloudy, we might come home and eat lunch.  If there is nothing planned or our plans get changed for some reason, we have stuff to keep us busy at home like chalk, bubbles, painting, coloring, play-dough, and of course, all the toys they have. 

So for anyone who wonders how I  manage 3 kids aged 3, 2, and 1 alone everyday throughout the summer and we have awesome days....or for me next summer when I'll do the same thing again....I'll be able to read this for tips. 

working on puzzles

W plays while R&A work on puzzles

all done with this one and ready for another

These are the 9 puzzles they did between the 2 of them

sprinklers at the mall

all kids here are in our group

my 3 are the ones squatting down...funny they are all doing that

catching bubbles after story-time at the library

The Hantla Clan + 2

We hosted P & V Hantla for a week vacation out here in NC.  V came in earlier since B and his dad were in New Orleans for the SBC. We had one week and stuff planned for everyday.  I'll do a week in review!

Tuesday June 19, 2012
Our plan was to meet some other moms at Joyner Park for play and picnic.  The O'Janpa and Daniel families met us there and the kids had a blast!  Play started in the houses and moved to chalk and bubbles.  It was hot, but so much fun.  V had a great time watching W walk around everywhere and see R & A interact with their friends. 

 After naps, we had R's last dance lesson, then stopped by Kohl's to get W some shoes.  It was busy, but a fun day.

new shoes

R's dance class with her teacher, Mrs. Leslie

Wednesday June 20, 2012
I was most excited about our plans for Wednesday!  Sara and I decided we would try skating at Jellybeans for their stroll and roll session.  From 10:30-12:30, young kids could skate and/or ride a scooter or bike.  Logan brought his bike and I brought R's tricycle and both scooters.  R & A put skates on, but quickly took them off.  A spent most of his time on his scooter and R spent most of the time on her trike.  We had a great time.  I forgot how much fun it was just to skate:)

 Wednesday evening consisted of dinner at B/J Spence's house for small group.  B/J always have pizza and usually it's Pizza Hut (yum)!  After getting home and putting the kids to bed, B and his dad were flying back to Raleigh from New Orleans.  Their flight was delayed so I didn't pick them up until after midnight!!!  We didn't go to bed until 2 am....yikes! 

Thursday June 21, 2012
After such a long evening, I knew that everyone would be tired so we had an easy morning.  Our normal cereal for breakfast, praise and worship, learning, and arts and crafts.  Gran brought some fun arts and crafts for the kids that included crayons and paint!  We ran a few errands, one being getting W's haircut.  We bopped on over to Great Clips for a trim (his hair was in his eyes).  Swimming was on the agenda for the day and then lunch at home.  I unfortunately don't have any pictures, but I bet V has some.  I'll try to get some from her.  We had a good time at the pool and then B came home for lunch which was a nice surprise.  After naps, the family rushed out to Heritage High School for R's dance rehearsal.

Excited to see Daddy after 2 days!

W's 2nd (really third) haircut

Getting ready to leave for the rehearsal

Gran made her yummy home-made mac & cheese for dinner:)  We love that stuff and ask her to make it anytime we are together.  She made enough for us to have left overs after they leave!  It's the best.  I try to make it, but it never turns out as good. 

 Friday June 22, 2012
 Nicole has off on Friday so we planned to meet at Marbles.  We got there a little after it opened and it was packed!  There were day camps there from churches and youth camps...it was crazy and I would not go again if I knew.  Next time I think I'll call to ask before going.  Oh well, we were there and I was so thankful that Gran and Papaw were there to help.  I can usually manage my 3 kids, but not at Marbles on Friday.  Thank goodness we had 3 adults to watch the 3 kids.  Lisa and her 2 boys were there, but we didn't really 'play' with them much.  R & A played with Grayson a lot and Baylor some.  We ate lunch and then played some more.  The highlights were the ambulance and the vet station on the first floor.

 The kids were pooped as were the adults and I think everyone took a nap Friday afternoon.  After naps we headed to Miltons P&P for dinner.  This is our favorite restaurant and we always try to take our visitors there (even though Papaw wouldn't let us pay!).  Post Milton's we came home, put kids to bed, and then talked late into the evening.

Saturday June 23, 2012
Saturday started off with B's famous pancakes.  He cooked plain, chocolate chip, and blueberry pancakes.  They were delicious!  I love my husband's pancakes.  B & Papaw both had to do some work so V and I took the kids out.  We ran the usual errands and then stopped by the playground.  It was HOT and everyone was sweating.  After about all the heat we could take, we went back home for lunch (leftover mac & cheese).  B and his dad were going to work on the tree that B and Brian cut down the previous Saturday.  Originally B wanted to mulch it up and use it in the backyard, but after some logical reasoning, he decided to give it to Brian to burn.  After naps, we had dinner from Jenni and Keith since we were babysitting Lexi and Bree for the night.  Even though we had R's recital, we figured L & B could tag along.  So all 9 of us went to Heritage for R's recital.  R did fabulous and she was 1 of the best.

R's flowers from AC

After the recital we took our crew to Sweet CeCe's for frozen yogurt.  We have come to love this place for dessert!  Here are some pics of our evening.

Sunday June 24, 2012
Since Bree and Lexi spent the night with us, J/K were supposed to bring over donuts for breakfast.  I guess they overslept because B finally sent K a text at 8:00 and they were still asleep.  Papaw to the rescue and he brought back 2 dozen donuts.  Krispy Kreme is the breakfast of champions!  We went to church like normal and then the plan was to attend the AJE company cookout.  We don't hang out with AJE people very often but we are trying more and more to do so.  The company picnic was catered and there was an egg hunt for the kids.  The sun was high and hot, but the shade was helpful.  We left around 3pm and the kids fell asleep on the way home.

Our evening activity after naps included sprinkler play and then dinner at Sonic.  The kids loved the sprinkler!  W was the first one in then R & A quickly followed.

Monday June 25, 2012
Such a sad day:(  We love having family visit us and we wish we lived closer!  B, Papaw, and A went to the office to unpack some books while the girls (and W) stayed home.  R & W did some arts and crafts before leaving.  The plan was to have lunch at Triangle and then play in the sprinklers before bringing Gran and Papaw to the airport.

Big diaper before getting his swimmer on.

 The kids loved the sprinklers and I have to say that I think W had the best time.  He just ran right into the water! Before we put his swim diaper on, his regular diaper got huge as you can see.  I had a great time watching them run around laughing.  We'll definitely do this again with our friends.  After sprinklers, everyone got changed and then we headed to the airport.  We had such a great time with G & P, and we look forward to our time again.  At least we have skype:)

Long time no see....

I grew up with soccer friends from both Hattiesburg and Oak Grove.  I played select soccer, rec soccer, and school soccer.  Two of the friends I played with at OG were Whitney Long and Jamie Rahaim.  Whitney was a year older than me, but we played together for six or seven years.  Jamie was my age and we played soccer on the same team throughout high school.  Our families knew each other because Oak Grove was a pretty small town.
Well about 8 months ago, Reagyn and Austin Rahaim moved to Wilson, NC.  Reagyn is Whitney's older sister and Austin is Jamie's older brother.  They have been married for a few years (my parents went to their wedding in MS) and have one son named Landon that's 14 months old.  She's due in September with a little girl!  They were trying out Wilson for a while with a potential orthodontist practice that Austin was considering buying.  We decided to meet up with them on Saturday for a trip to Marbles Kid's Museum.  We love this Museum and our kids always have a blast. We decided it would be worth it to buy a membership for $100/year.  The cost is $5/person so our family cost is $25 now that Wes is one.  We paid $100 and now we can go for free for an entire year.  Pretty sweet if you ask me. 
We got there right at 9 and the Rahaim family arrived a little after.  The museum was pretty empty so our kids got free reign for a while.  W isn't exactly walking great so he had a difficult time keeping up with R & A.  W actually fell at one point and when he sat up, he had a bloody nose.  That's the first time we have encountered a bloody nose.  B says it surely won't be the last with 2 boys in the house.  The kids loved it.  Landon had a ball also and I had a good time catching up with Reagyn.  Since I was really friends with Whitney, we had moments of silence, but we managed to keep the conversation flowing smoothly most of the time.  Reagyn says she stays at home, and in a new city, she's having a hard time making friends.  She's joined a mom's group, but says the ladies are very clickish.  Here are a few pics from our time at Marbles.

A getting ready to play hockey

W in the baby area

R in the kitchen as always

W watching R & A play hockey

R playing hockey

A showing off his strength

We played at Marbles from 9-12:30 and all got hungry.  The original plan was to go eat at McAlister's Deli, but outside the museum was an art festival with food, games, art, and other booths around Moore Square.  B saw a gyro booth, and wanted to just eat there. Austin agreed so we walked around until we found a few food booths close together.  We all ordered our food and then found some shade under a tree.  After eating, the kids played in the grassy area for a while while the adults talked.  We all parted ways around 2:15 after a busy busy morning.  Our kids napped from 3-6 pm that afternoon.  I didn't get any pictures of the Rahaim family on my camera, but I know B and Reagyn did on their phones.  Here's our family picture from lunch on Saturday.

The Hantla Clan 5/19/12