A really nice night . . .

Tonight after work went much more smoothly than some nights, so it's definitely worth writing about. Tyler & I have been having a lot of discussions of how to spend more "quality" time with the kids in the evening after work, while still accomplishing all that needs to be done to maintain a household that cannot be avoided - supper, dishes, laundry, etc. So tonight, I decided to enlist the girls as my "helpers" when preparing dinner. I sent each of them for different items to get out of the cabinet or fridge. Then they helped me to butter the french bread before putting it in the oven. I think I buttered 20 pieces to their one, but they had fun and they felt a sense of accomplishment, because when we were eating it later, they kept saying, "This is the piece that I buttered, isn't it Mom?" They then helped me to set the table before dinner as well. It was so nice to have conversation with them, plus they weren't just running wild driving me crazy! While us girls prepared dinner, Tucker & Daddy showered as Tyler had been working out earlier in the evening. Tucker had been dinging Tyler to take a shower with him since yesterday evening, so Tyler thought this was a good opportunity to help keep him out of my hair while I cooked, plus make Tucker happy in the process - win, win!

Then at bath time, the girls sang songs with Dad. They chose Farmer n' the Dell and a Firetruck song that they learned at preschool as their main songs to sing tonight. We then brushed teeth and hair, and they picked out their Hannah Montana PJs for bed, which they put on themselves. It is so nice that they can select some of their own clothes and dress themselves - it is such a load off of Tyler & I (small blessings to be thankful for as tired parents). While the girls bathed, I had Tucker help me collect all of the dirty clothes & put them into the laundry basket to take downstairs. He loves to take things out of one basket & place them into another, so this was a perfect "chore" for him. It kept him busy & happy as a lark (and out of trouble) the entire time that the girls bathed.

Tucker chose the stories tonight - his two favorites right now - both by Eric Carle: The Very Hungry Caterpillar (Calipitter as the kids say it) & Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See. All three of them can recite the books to us, so really they read to Tyler & I instead of us reading to them, but they rarely miss a word! It's very cute. Then Daddy hit them all up for a kiss on the cheek before whisking them off to bed. They were exhausted, as they were all asleep within ten minutes of laying down tonight. Ah, a few minutes of quiet time for Tyler & I before we crash tonight - a rarity!