This post is sponsored by Ling Ling Asian Kitchen.

I'm not going to sugar coat it...nights are nuts in our home of 5. Two full-time working parents and three young rambunctious kiddos make every night interesting : ). Today I'm going to share a few things we have implemented that have made a huge difference in our nighttime routine as well as one on our favorite quick meals from Ling Ling.


SCHOOL PICK-UP
I get off of work and head straight to Turner's school to pick him up from the YMCA after school program. We are very lucky the Y counselors come straight to Turner's school, and he loves playing sports with the counselors and kids. We head home and I have about 45 minutes before Alex gets home so I pick up the house, do blog work or get dinner started. Alex picks up Walt and Whitney from pre-k and gets home around 5:45pm.

DINNER
As soon as the Walt and Whitney run through the door it's go time.  Depending on the meal I've planned for the night Alex or I will start dinner. Alex usually cooks the meals that involve more extensive cooking, and I cook the easy meals! Cue Ling Ling and their delicious Asian foods! It's hard to please my kids when it comes to food, but they get excited every time we cook asian dishes. We love Ling Ling's chicken and vegetable potstickers, egg rolls and fried rice which is a full meal for a family of 5! The best part is everything takes less than 15 minutes and there are no additives, preservatives, artificial flavors or colors. I highly recommend to have these meals in your fridge for the nights you are in a rush.

LIMITED TV TIME
One major change we've made with our twins is not turning the TV on after school. Turner usually watches TV after he gets home, but once Walt and Whitney walk through the door I play with them or we walk to the park while Alex cooks. If I cook I'm usually finished by the time they get home. About 6 months ago Whitney was having major tantrums and it was so hard to get the kids down for bed, and then I decided to not allow TV. It was a game changer! They are much less fussy and they spend that time either playing in their rooms, dancing in the living room, or we will take them to the park/pool. They watch the iPad in Alex's car on their commute home so they get 45 minutes of TV time prior to walking through door.

BEDTIME
After we eat and play, I give them a bath usually every other day around 7pm. Then it's jammies, brush teeth, brush hair, read books and grab a bedtime snack which is a bowl of fruit. Putting toddler twins to bed is exhausting and we start by reading in Whitney's closet (their nook of choice). Then I turn off all of Whitney's lights and lay her down. She rarely comes out of her room, and is a great sleeper. If you have littles ones I advise starting with the easiest one. Then I head to Walt's room and we read in his bed. He likes his closet light on, and usually pops out of his room at least once every night. If you are putting multiples down I advise starting with the easiest and going from there.

Alex and I trade off on who puts Turner down, which involves reading to him and doing his daily math and spelling/reading homework. This usually happens around 8:30/9pm.

ME TIME
My favorite part of the day starts around 9pm when the house is completely quiet and I can watch TV and blog. I wash my face, put on all my serums, and stay up way too late because I love the silence. I usually get to bed around 11:30pm. Alex is out by 9:30pm.