What?! It's August?

AUGUST. What does August mean to me? It means the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. It means I don't have to feel obligated to buy my kids ice cream from the ice cream truck anymore. It means I can send my kids to bed at a decent hour and have a little peace and quiet at night *sigh of relief* I'm a little confused about how I feel about school starting though because it means structure and routine come back to live with us. But! It also means structure and routine COME BACK TO LIVE WITH US! (you have to kind of over-emphasis those words to get what I'm sayin') I am definitely a list person, a 'stay on task' kind of mommy, but getting up to go to work without having to rush the kids off to the bus, making sure they eat something first, homework checking, reading log signing, rushing one kid out of the bathroom so the other can use it is not on my Top 10 list of things to do in the morning, believe me! Currently, I wake up early {real early} when the house is completely silent. I sit on the couch with something warm to drink, open my bible, pray, think, breathe. And it was during that time that I devised a plan. Yes, a strategy! There's got to be more peace in my house in the morning! So I'm gonna keep getting up early, get everybody packed up and prepared the night before...get my stuff all ready, get Gracie's stuff all ready, that way all the kids have to do is get dressed, eat, brush their teeth and go. Bingo! I have FOUND the answer! Now all I have to do is do it. While it SOUNDS easy peasy, it's not. There's always a glich in the plan. Someone falls down the stairs or runs into a wall (seriosly!), but...we gotta stick to the plan!! I was watching "19 and Counting" on TLC last night and I say that woman is just down right crazy! I can barely do three kids everyday. I can't even begin to imagine organzing 19 kids. That's why she homeschools. LOL So, Strategy. That's what this is gonna take and, boy, am I ready!