This week has been a bit crazy. You know how it is-- coming back from vacation, trying to get unpacked, get that laundry caught up on and get the house back in some semblance of order. And we always find that when the kids have been out of their routine for a few days we need to be extra diligent to help them settle back within the normal schedule and refresh everyone on what the boundaries are all over again. I told Mark at the beginning of this week that I wasn't going to plan to do anything but some tomato staking. So basically, I kept them close and we worked on first-time obedience. It's been a really good week.
I have a whole list of things I want to post on, but I haven't had time to get pictures from the camera to the computer nor to sit down and write. But here are a few odds and ends...
JOY!
First and foremost, I want to take a moment to rejoice with these women: Rebeca, Mrs. M, Sarah, Beka and Elise. Each of the above women are pregnant! All of them have have prayed and longed for another child, and God has heard. I am celebrating with them! Won't you, too? Stop by and congratulate them!
THE DRAWING...
Do you remember this? I got my gift in the mail from Jewels and will take pictures and post on that soon. It was such a wonderful, generous gift.
AROUND HERE
Yesterday was our big day at the fair with the kids. We had a blast! I hope to post pictures on that next week sometime.
Speaking of pictures, I realized that I've not posted pictures of the playhouse/chicken coop, nor the girls' room we painted this summer. I'll do that soon.
Dora continues to lay eggs for us; and we are still thrilled about finding an egg waiting us in the mornings. Now if the other three would just get the memo, we can stop buying eggs altogether!
Right now my fridge looks like this again. I've made a bunch of applesauce already but there is still much more to do. I'm just procrastinating on it.
We also headed to the blueberry patch this week and picked some berries. Not many, but enough to toss into some smoothies or into a berry pie or two. Ella was a great little blueberry picker. We were there for less than an hour and she picked a whole pound all by herself. AND she kept an eye on her youngest brother while she was at it. I think it's the first year she's actually picked diligently the whole time she was out there. When we paid for the berries the lady put hers in a little container- separate from the rest- so that she could show daddy all she'd picked. And then when she got home she washed them all up carefully and put them into a bowl on the table. Very cute.
SCHOOL
We've set a date for our first day of school. September 3rd. We have a calendar on the dry-erase board and are crossing off the days, counting down. We're all very excited about it.
On that note, I continue to ponder how we're going to do all that in addition to our normal routine. As of right now, I have no plan in place as to what to do with the boys while I'm working with Ella. I'm sure I have this unrealistic expectation that they'll come alongside what we're doing or play nicely in the other room. I figure we'll see how it goes and then make adjustments when necessary.
I've determined that in order for us to get school accomplished in the mornings I'm going to have to be showered and dressed by the time the kids wake up. And yes, that would be different than what currently happens. So that will be another adjustment.
Finally, a question for you homeschooling mamas: do you (or do you plan to) wake up your children at a certain time each school morning? One one hand I like the idea of starting at a certain time each day-- rather than one child getting up at 6:30, another at 7:00, and the other joining up at 7:20. And I see the benefits as far as self-discipline, the opportunity to have a little time with daddy in the morning before he leaves for work, etc. But on the other hand I can't really imagine waking them up if they're sleeping! I'd love to hear what you are doing; what has worked and what hasn't for your family and schedule.
Okay, I'm off to fold that laundry and figure out what we're going to do for lunch!
Blessings to you and yours today!
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Hi Stacy,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for rejoicing with us over our new little baby. We are very excited and grateful.
We are starting school Sept. 3 too. I started to respond about our school day and decided to make it a blog post on my blog :o)
Hi Stacy! A fridge full of apples sounds great! :)
ReplyDeleteOur family has tried a little bit of everything in regards to getting up in the morning. In the end, I decided NOT to wake them up (mine tend to get up around 7 or 7:30 anyway), but then have a general time to start school (9:00, after chores and breakfast). I felt that for us, it was one of the benefits of the homeschooling lifestyle to allow for a peaceful morning, not dragging them up or rushing them; sleeping in if we had a late night. But if my kids were late sleepers, I would have had to wake them up to get everything in--my energy supply starts to slip away by about noon! :)
Stacy,
ReplyDeleteBecause my kdis don't tend to regulate their bedtimes well (meaning when they're tired, they try to stay up later instead of wanting to go to sleep earlier) we tend to let them "catch up" on sleep by sleeping in a little extra in the morning if they need it. So there are a few mornings I'll wake them up (for early piano lessons, etc.) but generally, I let them get up when they're ready. Often Daddy's already gone when they get up, so weekday breakfast isn't really family time for us.
Welcome back.
Annie
www.homeschoolblogger.com/momco3
Now you will have us all coming back every hour waiting for all those pictures to show up!!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as the poll goes....I haven't homeschooled, but if I did, I think I would pick a consistent "start time" like 8:30 or 9:00...and let the hours leading up to that be flexible and relaxed....maybe even have a little bell or alarm (or a fun song that plays) that goes off 5 minutes before school starts so that Ella knows it is "time to come to school" (and the teacher knows, too!!!!)
I am so excited for you, and anxious to see you get started. You will be a great homeschool mama (you already are!!)
love you.
I am not homeschooling my little one's yet (they are still too young) but I can speak from experience...
ReplyDeleteWhen my mom homeschooled my brother, sister and I, she had us wake up at the same time every morning. I think wake up time was 8 and school started around 9. It worked great. :)
I do not wake up my kiddoes, but they are pretty regular with their wakeups...usually between 7:00-7:30.
ReplyDeleteWe try and have our normal school hours between 9-noon with some done in the afternoon, but some of my kids are older.
I don't wake them, but breakfast is at a set time and they have certain tasks to accomplish before they can come downstairs to eat. Food is a great motivator!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the congratulations, and for the prayers. Both greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteAs far as waking kids up, I can't imagine doing it. At this point, our flexible routine is flexible enough to accommodate some flexibility. Did I mention it's flexible? Peregrine is very grumpy without enough sleep, and when they're little, it seems their sleep needs fluctuate. When we are doing more "real" schoolwork things may change, but for now that's what works for us.
How's the egg layer? As of today, all five of our hens are laying, and three of them only started in the last week. Needless to say, I'm very excited!
I'm reading the book you mentioned a while back, An Extra Place at the Table, and I just read her other book One Small Boat. Wow, intense. It really makes those precious children real. Thanks for the recommendation. My sister, who is just about to start the required classes to foster/adopt also read them.
Sorry for the super long comment!
Bless you my friend,
Rebeca
I can not imagine waking kids up for anything!
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the beauties of homeschooling in my mind!
Amy