After a while, I am back

Well, I am going to attempt to get back to this blogging, I am not making any promises, but it's one day at a time...

I am up early this Saturday morning, drinking my coffee from my new French press.  I think it has a better taste from the Press.  Although, I am not a die hard coffee drinker, I do like coffee, black.  I just couldn't get back to sleep after waking up from a deep sleep, suddenly.  The good thing is that I did sleep deeply, which made it seem longer.  

I woke up thinking about the daily routine of my week, and how I can make it better.  I have a packed schedule, every day.  From the moment I wake up, to the moment I go to sleep I am doing something.  I know every mom must feel that way, it's just the nature of motherhood.  

I know that the one thing I have to do is wake up early in the morning to get started on my day.  I usually wait until the babies wake up, then I lay there hoping that time will pause for a while and I can sleep longer.  Then I drag myself out of bed, throw on some clothes, brush my teeth and that is is for me!  I am now at work, no commute, no radio in the car, just thrown in!  I then go see my two baby girls smiling and ready for someone to get them out of their confinement cells (cribs).  The room is, more often than not, filled with the perfume of their generous gifts they added to their diapers.  I can only hope I have enough baby wipes to make it through the morning diaper change.  So, I get them changed and into clothes for the day.  The older kids have gotten good at the routine of being quiet and staying in their rooms to play, but sometimes Mikayla helps entertain the babies if they wake up real early.  This didn't happen overnight, it was a struggle for a long time to get them to be quiet in the morning and not wake everyone else up.  And then it's on to the rest of the day.  Breakfast, clean up, and school begins around 9 a.m.

I have been blessed to have someone to come in the mornings to help me with the babies, so I can get school done.  She is able to bring her little girl, who is about the same ages as the babies, now 19 months old, so it works for her to make some income and keep her little one with her.  She  is very helpful, as she folds laundry and anything that she can do, if the babies are still eating breakfast when she arrives.  The laundry help has been irreplaceable.  I used to spend an evening a week just folding laundry, so I am able to have more free time on top of the daily help.  

School has been going very well.  I made a schedule that I follow diligently to get it all done before lunch.  Since I have 2 kids in different grades, that is a challenge.  I have a very intensive curriculum, that requires my one on one attention for each subject.  I have purposely made it that way, as I really want to make sure that they don't get behind on the foundation.  

Now that I am getting close to the end of this school year, I feel very full filled by the experience of homeschooling, and although I have days that I want to say forget this, I overall am so glad that I have my kids home with me.  I feel that I have grown closer to the older two, especially since last year they were in school and the babies were infants.  I felt like I didn't have a close connection with them.  Now I spend 4 hours a day interacting with them.  

This last week I have worked on getting up earlier to get a head start.  I did pretty well all but one day.  So, this week I will do better.  I can tell the difference, it is much more productive and I don't feel like I am spending my whole day trying to catch up.  I still have two stinky diapers to change, but it's not what I wake up to, and it is easier to deal with if I have a little time before I face that.

Okay, I do promise that I will be here more frequently to update.  It is very therapeutic for me.

catching up

Well, I have been terrible at this...but I am sure with my schedule it is understandable. I have been busy with homeschool, and the usual. It has been the usual craziness around here. Everyday is a race against time to see if I can complete the required and essential subjects that I need to do every day. The babies are a challenge right now because it is difficult to do school if they are awake. Now, they are trying to get down to only one nap a day. I am not ready for that, and they are not ready either. I am trying to do an every other day routine with them to help them to transition. We are getting ready for Halloween and have already gone through all the hassle of deciding on what each child wants to be. Luckily they got a Marine uniform for Christmas last year (the boys), so that was a fairly easy pick. Mikayla loves to dance, so she is going to be a ballerina. I was tempted to go buy them cute costumes, but when I saw the price of $30-$40, I decided against it. I realized that Halloween has gotten way to commercial and I want my kids to get back to the basics. Make a costume, put something together and use your imagination. It's easy to go and buy some pretty, name brand, expensive costume and look like you walked out of a Pottery Barn photo shoot...if you have the money...but using your imagination to come up with something is much more productive and imaginative. Now, we are facing the dilemma of what to get the kids for Christmas. Over the years we have learned our lesson. First child, first year, you go crazy, buy everything you can afford and sometimes can't afford, because it's fun. Then you realize over the years how the toys can pile up, and overwhelm you. So, now 5 children later, we have come to the conclusion that more is not better. We now buy a big gift for all the kids (one year a trampoline), and a few for each individual and set a budget. Last year Mikayla got an American Girl Doll and some accessories, the boys got a drum set, and a ride on horse...and they have pretty much lasted. I really like to stick with classic wood toys because they last, and they are non-toxic. This year I am thinking about a big wood kitchen and then accessories for each child. I know they will all enjoy it and the babies will also grow into it and it will get lots of use. We are going to order pretty soon so we don't have all the expense at one time. Well that catches me up for now...I hope to post more soon. I am in the process of getting a summary of my homeschool routine up, so check back in the next couple of weeks.