Empty Living Room

In our new house, we have lots of space.  In fact, we now have three living areas which is a big step up from our old house that had only one.  However, with that one living room came only one couch, so we have a lot of empty spaces in the new place.  I'm reclaiming the big front living room as soon as all the furniture comes in, but for now, the kids are relishing the big empty space for legos, dancing, and playing cars.

  

This is how we do it

Some nights - and I mean only some - the dinner cooking hour goes smoothly and we make it to 5:45 with a) dinner on the table, and b) nobody (including myself) crying.  Currently, that magic seems to happen when the big kids are doing watercolors and Max is gnawing on the toys in the exersaucer.  I suspect these variables will change a lot in the coming weeks and months, but for now, I'm glad for a recipe that works at the witching hour.