Overhauling.

It's been a little quiet around here.

The Bigs (Mad Dog, Crowbar and The Deuce) are away visiting their grandparents for the week and Mark, Sweet Pea and I have been enjoying a little quality time.

While I miss The Bigs like crazy, I'm thankful for the reprieve from the busy go-go-go having three school-age kids brings. There's been no last-minute school reports, no shuttling kids to practice and it's been nice to just heat up pre-made dinners for two rather than feed an army each night.

And so, during our hiatus from the crazy, Mark and I have had time to relax a little and reflect on why our lives seem so hectic.

The bills, paperwork, permission slips and obligations have a tendency to build up and become difficult to manage. We often find ourselves frantically struggling to keep up. And frankly, if it wasn't for our shared Google Calendar, we'd rarely be on the same page.

The other day, I told Mark that I feel like we're often treading water. That we're barely keeping afloat with all our have-to's. We're just suspended there, trying to keep our chins up and occasionally getting blindsided by a big, unexpected wave.

One more obligation. One more need to run to the store at 10 p.m. One more unexpected errand threaten to throw off our whole delicate balance.

We need an overhaul. An improvement to how we manage our lives.

And so, during a well-deserved day off, we spent an afternoon mapping out our home office makeover.

For the next few days we're putting our plan into motion to revamp our office. We're creating a new filing and family communication center. A place where our bills are organized, school work is accounted for, and our calendar is up to date -- a place worthy of a Real Simple photo shoot.

Right now, I'm off to replace the batteries in my label maker.

I'm simply giddy with excitement.