Where does the time go?

I have thought about this year for a long time now. You know, the year when all your children are in school and there are several hours a week where you are childless. Well, let me tell you, it is not at all what I thought it would be. I imagined myself accomplishing so much more than I have in these last few months. I imagined that by now, the fifth month of having alone time in my own house, that Katie's first year scrapbook would be done, every room and every closest would be organized, every picture would be hung, more posts would be posted on my blog, and possibly, the couch would have been laid on and a novel started and finished in one day. None of that has exactly happened. In fact, I think I have blogged less this year than any other year! My days with the girls in school seemed to be filled with errands and more errands and laundry and cleaning and more laundry. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy going to the grocery store alone. And I also enjoy running in and out of a store without having to unbuckle and buckle someone else. My house is getting cleaned quicker and more often than ever before. And I am not singing the Dora theme song while I clean. I am actually cleaning to the sounds of my choice! But it is so different....it doesn't feel or sound right. How and when did I get here? This morning, Katie buttoned and zipped her jeans all by herself. And this was not the first day....she's actually been doing that for a while now. How come it seems like so long ago that I have changed a diaper, tried to figure out what my child was trying to tell me, dealt with tantrums or looked frantically for that pacifier? All of my children speak in complete sentences. They dress themselves.  They tell me what is wrong or what hurts. They spend time in their rooms playing by themselves. And they go to school.....all of them! Where does the time go? How did I get here so quickly? I  miss my babies!