The weekend.

What an enjoyable weekend we had! I did the usual, boring things on Saturday (such as grocery shopping and Target) while Tony worked on fixing the back stairs. The kids found activities to occupy themselves and stayed out of trouble for the most part. I feel like we're turning a corner as far as letting the big kids play outside. Since this neighborhood is pretty isolated, we've let the kids go off and play down the street and ride their bikes around the circle. It's starting to become more like it was when I was little (although they will never be allowed to leave at 8am and come home for lunch without me knowing where they are!). There are SO many kids in this neighborhood, that it'd be nice to see them playing in the street together.
Yesterday, we went to Melrose to visit Tony's parents. Nick's 72nd birthday was Thursday so we celebrated with pasta and cake! Tony and Nick went over to Leslie's to help remove some shelves in the basement and when they returned, Grampa got brave and offered to take the kids to the park-alone! I guess it went well. Tony went to help round them up when the skies darkened and stormy weather approached.
Today begins our first full week home on vacation. Yeah! Nana and Grampa arrive for a visit on Wednesday and we're all very excited. More on that later!

We've made it!

Well this my second attempt at posting, so we'll see if things go more smoothly this time...

The kids have been out of school for 4 days and we're all still alive! I think it helped that they put together a schedule to plan our day. Here it is (all events are subject to approval; i.e. depending on Mom's mood-all bets may be off!).
Everyone up and breakfast done by 9:00 (this is primarily for Lizzy's benefit! Everyone else has long since finished their breakfast and most are ready for a snack.)
9-10 "Cleaning" time: The kids can straighten up their rooms and then they help with household chores.
10-12 "Outside" time: So far, this has been the big kids sitting outside reading books while the little ones play on the swing set. Not sure how this will evolve.
12-12:30 "Lunch" time
12:30-1 "Quiet" time: Basically we're all hoping to settle Sophia down for a nap, so the rest of us can go to...
1-3 "Pool" time: As long as the weather cooperates, we're OK. So far, Sophia has napped 2 of the 3 afternoons, so the other kids have been able to swim. Now I'm not opposed to letting Sophia swim too, but she's a daredevil and I'd have to get wet! I don't enjoy the pool until the weather is in the 90s and the water is about 80 degrees. Needless to say, in June that's not the case here!
3-4:30 "TV/Video" time: The kids have NO problem with this.
4:30 Start dinner preparations: The kids have been great at helping with this too. They seem to enjoy making salad, peeling vegetables, and setting the table.
Daddy gets home around 6 and that's when we eat. The kids are good about cleaning up after.
I'm pretty much done by this time because the kids don't want much to do with me by this point. Of course during the day, the kids have been responsible for taking the dog out and playing with her. All in all, so far, so good!