Evenings

I know that someday it will be fun to look back and see what we did in our evenings when our children were young. So, I decided to write about it...and share it with you!
Recently my husband's job hours have changed. He now goes to work very early in the morning and gets home in the afternoon (usually around 4). What a joy this has been for our family. Sometimes when he gets home some of the children are still napping and so he relaxes on his recliner...and falls asleep rather quickly (I wish I had that talent!). If the children are awake he will usually wrestle or play with them (I think he is trying to keep moving so that he doesn't fall asleep :) ) After awhile he and the children will go outside and check the garden (lately we have had lots of strawberries and tomatoes). He then will start dinner...yes my husband can cook, and he enjoys it. Katelyn loves to help him and he enjoys sharing his knowledge (did you know that he went to culinary arts school for awhile...before he was called into ministry). During this time I am usually telling Josh all about my day or life in general...he is a very patient listener. Something that is very important to me is that we eat dinner together as a family...and we do every night. After dinner our evenings vary. On Mondays we attend our small group at our friends' house, on Wednesdays we go to church, and on Fridays we usually clean the church together as a family. Our Tuesdays and Thursdays are unplanned. Sometimes we go grocery shopping together. Sometimes we just sit at home and talk while the children play. The children also take baths on these nights. At about 8:30 we start our bedtime routine. The children clean up their jurisdictions (yep, got that name from the Duggars). Brenden cleans up the playroom, his room, and the shoes in the laundry room. Katelyn cleans up the living room, her room, and their bathroom. Makenna helps whoever has a messier job. The kids then have a night snack since we eat dinner fairly early. Then we do family devotions - right now Josh is reading them a Bible storybook with questions. We then sing and pray together. After devotions the kids get ready for bed and head to bed. Josh will then lay with the kids and they love to drive cars on his back. I will feed Hallie and put her to bed. Once the children are in bed, Josh will then check his email/facebook. I will either read, go on the computer, or just chat with Josh while he is on his laptop. Sometimes we get The Walton's from the library or netflix and we enjoy watching that together. We usually head to bed about 11.
Well, that is how we spend our evenings.