Summer time blues

Well... it is about time again. The end of summer and the start of a new school year. I have been trying to get the boys back on their nightly routine. So far... it has been kind of a challenge. Give them and inch, they go a mile!!! Our routine last year was... home from school, snack, one hour of free time, homework, dinner, bath/shower, brush teeth, lay out clothes, find backpack, and one hour of reading. 30 min with a parent, and 30 min alone. Reading was followed by family prayer and then lights out at 8:30. This summer, I wasn't so adment that they follow a rigorous routine and I eased up and let them kind of plan how they spent their time. However, cleaning rituals were still mandatory in my book.
I thought that getting them back on track wouldn't be so bad if we started at least two weeks before school started but these rascles are bucking the system. For instance, by some "mysterious cause" the nightly " Mom, I am thirsty, I need to get a drink" doesn't strike until gee whiz " lights out time." And the " I need to go to the bathroom "occurs maybe 10 or 15 minutes after they have had their drink. It is like they figured out the way the whole system works. " Maybe if I fill up real full and real fast... " So.. I have decided to throw a little curve ball at them. Instead of 8:30 bed time this year, I will give them an extra hour and I will add a slot in there somewhere when they can take care of their thirst needs. I have also added more time for dinner because it allows us more time together to talk and reflect about our day with one another. I am adament about the whole family dinner thing. We set the table and sit down together at the table every night. Grant sets the table, Ben clears the table and they alternate the wiping down of the table and counter tops. This year, they will also be doing dinner dishes. Grant said that he wanted to start doing them, so I will gladly step down and give him a permotion. Will see how long that lasts.
In other news, the boys and I went to register them for school today. It is a darling school! The school is called " Poney Express Elementary" and it is built like and old school house. It is so cute. I love it. The boys on the other hand were complaining that the name was way "too girlie," and they were not thrilled about that. We walked the four miles (two there and two back) and had a good time talking about the upcoming year. For being good sports, we stoped at the gas station on the way back and they got a drink and a snack. It was much needed because it was REALLY hot. By the way, I love to walk, so it was great to get some excersise. The boys and I were worn out when we got back.
Right now, it is cloudy and I think that we are going to have a thunderstorm. I was going to bbq tonight, but I should come up with a different plan. The weather shifts so fast out here. It was sunny earlier.