You've got to be kidding me... and I love schedules!

So I am working on a schedule for our days. I have done this many times, it ALWAYS works, but then it gets too easy and we fall out of sorts, and we find ourselves stressed, disorganized, and frustrated that the days aren't going as they used to. So I have noticed that Nate is almost on a schedule all by himself (all my kids have done this, how blessed could I be, right!?). So I worked mainly around his day, and tweaked it just a tad. Today he wasn't too happy with my tweaking and was VERY tired by 6pm! Poor guy!
I've been getting up around 6:30a (not this morning, though, I needed a tad extra sleep!), hoping to nurse Nate and do some devotions before my early rising girlies wake up.
I get Zech up at 7:15ish so he can have breakfast and he and I can start school at 8. I was noticing that it was getting too hard to teach both kids at the same time. So I if I stagger their times a tad, they can overlap where necessary, but have their own time as well... hopefully by the time the next two get into school, the older two will be more independent. K and 1st are pretty dependent on a teacher!
Anyway, So Zech and I get started around 8, by 9, Zech does seatwork for Language Arts and Math (two things that he needs little instruction on). 9, I nurse Nate and work on getting him to nap by 9:30. Then I can work with Lily. By 10, she is ready for seatwork, Zech can have a break, and Ruby and I can have some play time... which also is time to play some "clean up" games. She loves getting to go downstairs for the 10 min it may take for me to switch laundry around.
11a, school is done, Nate is awakened. He doesn't LOVE this yet, maybe I'll change it. I was just hoping to get everyone to nap by 1pm, if he wakes at 11, he's ready for a good nap at 1.
11 is a good time to do what we are calling a "CLEAN SWEEP" where each kid cleans up what they were doing that morning. Zech stacks his school books, puts crayons, pencils, or whatever else he used for seatwork/lessons away. Lily cleans up what she played with that morning during her play time and Ruby learns to clean up. I either check laundry, or do one of the daily chores (bathrooms, dust, my bedroom, vacuum). Lunch at 12, nap at 1... then I can do the dishes, mop the floor, and still have from 1:30-3 to nap, read, watch MONK... whatever I need to do (get on Facebook!) and if Nate wakes by 3, I can nurse him again... however, if he continues to sleep, I let him go until 4. My goal is to have his last feeding at 10pm. So the evening is trying to stretch him to get to that 10pm mark (feeding a few min late at 3, 5, and 8ish). We do a "Clean Sweep" at 3, and again at 7:30. Kids in bed at 8, Nate down by 7ish... I want to be in bed by 10... it is now 10:15! (this is the hardest part!)
*** I only write this boring part for my own good. So I can come back and look at what I did when I fall off the wagon and find myself in a rut! Its working right now... maybe it will work then too!
Today I read:
http://kathrynvercillo.hubpages.com/hub/Managing-Your-Household-Tips-for-Stay-at-Home-Moms
Totally worthless... Sorry if the author is reading this... but I did gain this nugget.

•  Many moms get it in their heads that they can get to the laundry, the dishes, the lunches, the dinners, the errands ... all later. Having no structure makes you put everything off until the last minute which creates stress
• I just need to remind myself of this... keep on the schedule! Don't stray, stay on track!!!

But then just when I thought, "Right! Good point!" it says this "You've got to be kidding"
statement(s).

• Don't forget those spa days. No, you're not one of those mythical women who gets to spend all day at boutiques and day spas. But you should act like one every now and then. The best way to effectively manage your home is to make sure that you're in tip top form and that means occasionally spoiling yourself. Get the spouse to take one day off per month to stay with the kids or hire a bi-weekly nanny to come in so you can go out. Don't feel guilty; good management starts with a good home manager.,
• I TOTALLY agree that getting some time away does a momma good! No one wants to be at their job 24/7/365! And as a SAHM(that stands for Stay at Home Mom... just in case), we are around our kids and home ALL THE TIME. So its nice to have a date, or if we can't find a sitter, to go out with the girls once in a while. I try to do it once a month for a few hours, even if I just go get groceries alone. BUT, does the writer of the article realize that sahms
• Ok, rant over!

So I read this article too... This was a good one!

http://www.babytobee.com/organizing-your-day.html

• Design a cleaning schedule that works for you. You may plan to complete a specific task each day. For example, maybe you will mop on Mondays, clean bathrooms on Tuesdays, and dust on Wednesdays. This way your house gets clean, but you don't spend your entire weekend cleaning it. If this approach doesn't work for you, try to find one that does
• This does work for me... I have been doing this for awhile... I highly suggest it!

I have to say 5 days into this, I am loving it! Today I had a 1p appt. I worked my morning so we would eat sooner, and be walking out the door at 12:30. However, I did take the time to pick up so that when we returned home with Dave, and our groceries, the house would be clean. It took me 3 min! THREE min to clean my house! Then we had dinner, had the dinner mess, and Dave was out the door to practice. Nate was fussy (too tired, and wanted to be sleeping)... but I jostled him while I cleaned up dinner... it wasn't too hard, but worth having a clean house to sit and chill in for the night. The kids gladly picked up at 7:30 since it wasn't too many toys (since we already did our 2 other cleanups!)... its going very smoothly!
(Man, this one was long! Sorry, readers!)