Time Flies

I can't believe how quickly the month of October flew by. So busy! The highlight of the month is Trixie turning 8. My baby girl! She got her ears pierced. Thank goodness there were 2 associates to do them at the same time. Otherwise, she'd be walking around with one earring. Some tears came but all is well.

School is going okay with Trixie and Cards. Have some ornery spirits which is totally frustrating. Hey, if you don't want to be homeschooled, I'll find a place for you! Cards is definitely not doing 7th grade work. Just the bare minimum to get it done and most likely done a second time. We are a quarter of the way through. He better get it together soon or he'll be seeing the inside of a local middle school.

Dash is doing well in school. Got his report card yesterday. Conference is next week. He does well, he just doesn't like some subjects and doesn't work to his full potential. Which, of course, is disappointing. Hard to get him motivated to go above and beyond. He has a birthday coming up. Struggling with the party issue with as mean as he has been to his siblings and not doing chores. Not sure what to do.

Had some trouble with my trainer at the gym. I had difficulty getting on his schedule after I got back from Japan. Finally, scheduled my 2 for Sept. and then he was a no show both times. Spent October e-mailing, calling, stopping in and leaving messages at the desk trying to get on someone's calendar for sessions I'm paying for but not getting. The gym fired the director for trainers and the new guy called me Monday morning and I had a new trainer Thursday morning. Of course, he couldn't find my paperwork anywhere. I almost passed out. I don't usually eat breakfast before my 5:30 sessions because I want to eat with my kids at 7:00. But this brief workout was tougher than all previous sessions. I'm also still really sore in the legs. Like stairs are still a challenge and so is sitting. Have another session on Monday morning. We need to meet every week for the next 7 to get caught up from Sept. and Oct. and then the sessions for Nov. and Dec. Then we'll be back to twice a month. He also said he'd develop a plan for the times I come in on my own. No more ladies gym circuit. Expecting to see results with this guy. Will require some hard work on my part, like getting back to my cardio sessions at home. Just been doing zumba but not my other things. Also need to pay more attention to my eating. That is such a struggle. Just wishing to lose 40 pounds doesn't work. I have to make changes to see changes.

My desire to get my home organized has seen no changes. Well thought out plans and even plans on paper has resulted in nothing so far. Just can't seem to take the next step. Too much on my plate, not enough time, lazy, poor time management. I don't know. But Doc will be back in 9 weeks and the house is just as terrible a shape as when he left. I've squandered months and now feeling the crunch which will stress everyone out. So overwhelmed, I just don't know where to start. I need to pick a spot and get started. But where? Every room in my house needs attention with the exception of the mud room. The first weekend in October I did sort everyone's winter gear. Mended and washed and ready to go for the first snow. Extra and outgrown shoes were removed. I guess I should go pick a spot and start cleaning and organizing. I expect to be home today with the exception of running Cards over to the church for the youth group leaf raking. GET SOMETHING DONE TODAY!!!!

Survived Week Two

We successfully added Awana, ballet and racquetball to the schedule this week. Also went to zumba on Monday morning. The teacher moved the class time up a little bit for me. I'll still need to leave before the end so I can go home to shower and get ready for work. Trixie brought school work to do at zumba. Cards stayed home and did his work. We had to do quite a bit in the afternoon, mostly stuff with Trixie. So I took PE off of Monday's schedule and off of Friday's so we can go grocery shopping. We didn't do any music last week. Just trying to figure out when the best time to do stuff. The morning schedule is running fairly smoothly. Still a few kinks, but overall, I'm pleased with how it's going. Dash has been doing well with going off to school. A little slow in the morning. His chore chart was filled in this week, but he really didn't do all of them or did a really poor job. Trixie did awful at chores. She just doesn't want to do them. Cards has been doing really well. I found out that he is saving up to take me on a date. He'll do his chores if he needs money for something. However, if he isn't saving for something in particular, his motivation drops off. I told him that he'll have to pay for his youth group activities so hopefully the motivation will continue. Sibling birthdays and Christmas are coming, too. I've been the worst offender when it comes to chores. Need to better map out my day and fit things into those spare minutes that I don't know what to do with myself. The to-do list gets so long, I freeze. I need to take the list and think, I can plug vacuuming this room here. And I can plug doing this little thing there.

The GMG Bible study of Colossians starts tomorrow. To fit it in, I'll continue to get up at 4:15. That will give me 15 minutes to get up and dressed. At 4:30 I'll work on the study. 5:00 I'll go to the gym. Meeting with a trainer at 5:30 so I'll get back around 6. That's computer time. Not always the most productive time as I now have over 200 messages in my inbox. Partly because that is when I catch Doc on Skype. 6:45 time to start breakfast and pack Dash's lunch. Kids up at 7. Leave at 7:55 for school to drop off Dash. Come back and start school with the others. Zumba at 9:45 (Mondays). Leave class at 10:30 so I can go home and shower, check on Cards' school work. Go to work at 11:15. Home around 1:15. Finish school with the hopes of maybe taking a brief nap before picking up Dash at 3:30. Monday, Tuesday and Friday have nothing on the calendar after school. Need to better organize these evenings. Wednesdays have ballet, zumba and youth group. Thursdays have racquetball and library. Still feels really crazy. Onward and upward!!!

School Is Now In Session

Well, it starts today. I know it's a holiday, but Cards and Trixie are starting school at home today. A test run with lots of explanation of expectations and tweeks. Dash goes to school tomorrow. Hoping to be able to find things to keep him busy so the others can get their work done in a timely fashion. Got stuff in the workboxes yesterday afternoon. Kind of feel prepared for most of the first week. Being gone a month really set me back. Really want to be planned out a little further. I'll just have to squeeze it in when I find breaks of time.

Introduced a new chore schedule. So we'll be working the kinks out of that. Also have a sheet for everyone for input in the dinner menu. Everyone rotates for the main course based on certain categories like sandwiches on Sunday, meat on Monday, vegetarians or pasta on Tuesday, pizza on Wed, foreign or fish on Thur, soup & salad on Friday, and favorites on Saturday. Then someone will pick the veggie and someone else picks the fruit. So every dinner will have at least 1 thing they like. Hoping they'll be willing to try different things. Dash refused to eat the lasagna on Saturday. But was happy to eat the corn, applesauce and garlic bread. Eat what's for dinner or don't eat until bedtime snack. Just can't afford to have them eat something else for dinner when I have 2 home for lunch now. So they just need to fill out their choices for the rest of the month so that my shopping is more productive. I can catch sales on things I might need later in the month.

Have lots of lists and charts. Need to figure out the best way to keep those organized so we can keep on top of all this. Have a list of things, maintenance kind of things, like updating the budget, lesson plans, yard work, just running the house things I'm not sure where to put on the schedule. Other than school, not everything starts this week. Ballet, Awana, youth group....all that starts next week. So we will definitely be working out our schedule for a couple weeks.

So with prayer and best intentions, we begin a new season of adventure.

What to do?

What do you do when you cannot stand one of your children? Seriously? I have a child that I have had it with. I'm tired of his constant teasing of the others, his "angry eyes", his mischief....right now, I don't like anything about this child. I'm suppose to leave in a week for a 4 week trip and guess which child is coming with me. The one I don't like! We will either come home miraculously bonded by some amazing work of God or I'll be coming home alone! Do other moms not like their kids? Is it  just his age? Is it me? Is it a test? If so, I'm failing big time. There's a reason he isn't coming home for school with the others this fall. I need space.....from him! Gma thinks God has something amazing planned for him and the devil is after him big time to stop that plan. He must have 2 devils sitting on his shoulders because he has absolutely no self-control. He doesn't know when to stop. Actually, I think he does know, he just chooses not to! He was bugging Trixie yesterday. She's screaming for him to stop and finally she scratches his arm. I don't like it when they hurt each other but in this case, he deserved it. He comes whining to me about it. I told him it was a consequence for his actions. He just doesn't get it. I told him her screaming is code for "Get away from me!" So then he was mad at me that it appears that I didn't care about his scratch. Truly, I didn't! Personally, a little butt whipping is maybe what he needs. The message just isn't getting through any other way. Although, a spanking will just bring on the angry eyes and then he'll say "I hate this day!" Have yet to find a punishment that really works on him. Currently trying a positive approach. He can earn pieces to a huge K'nex set by being good and obedient. Since Tuesday he's earned 14 pieces. Nothing yesterday! Need to rethink this plan. Actually, just need to get through this week. We'll be gone 4 weeks so I can hopefully think this through. Hoping Doc will have a good talk with him and break through this barrier of his.

Did make some progress on a few rooms and lesson plans. Extra busy this week getting all packed up!

Moving Along....Slowly

Making progress on lesson plans. History and geography sorted out. Bible lessons gathered but still need to figure out how much to do each day. I think I'll do an abbreviated version for Dash to keep him caught up. Very excited about the Against the Tide curriculum from Generation of Virtue. I did this with the kids when they were really little. Should have started the next book when Cards was in 5th grade. Going to do a little bit of catching up....a little out of order because of Doc being gone. Cards is at a critical age that Doc really needs to be doing this. However, I'll just have to do what I can as a mom of a 12 year old boy! I can't find my first book so I can cover stuff with Trixie and Dash. It's around here somewhere! Major subjects are for the most part planned. Just need to figure out the timing. The other things I want to cover but aren't critical need to be plugged in. I know the first couple weeks will be crazy but I think once the kinks are worked out and the kids understand what's expected of them, we'll get a lot done. And hopefully have fun learning, too.

Housework..............wish I had a magic wand. Can I have a do-over? I wish I could take everything out of the house and start over. I work on one area while feeling guilty that I'm not working on another. There are so many things that need attention, where do I start? Do a little bit here and a little bit there. It's so overwhelming! Wish I had August to keep plugging away. I just have the rest of July and then less than a week before school starts. I wish I could get back wasted minutes, hours, days. In this state of overwhelmness, I've been focusing on the power of 20 minute segments. Set a timer and do something I really don't want to do for 20 minutes. After the beep, I have permission to stop doing that job. What I'm finding is in some areas, I can get a lot done in 20 minutes which is encouraging. Secondly, I'm surprised by how many tasks I've been putting off are done in 20 minutes or close to it. Then I can cross them off my list. Items that have been camped out on my list for days or even weeks, 20 minutes.....done! I've read success stories of others with their timers set for 15 or 20 minutes. I've experienced it. I think I just get bogged down by other things being added to the list. So do I keep my list of a dozen things (and that's not everything, just the things that happen to be bugging me the most at the moment) and do 20 minutes of this one and 20 minutes of that one, slowly making progress. Or do I pick 3 and focus the 20 minute spurts until completion and then pick 3 more? How do I pick 3 without feeling guilty about the others? It's a combination of indecision, procrastination and guilt that keeps me from really moving forward. Why do I keep feeling guilty about things that aren't being worked on when they haven't been for some time? What difference does it make time wise if I focus intently on a few and get them done as opposed to taking tiny steps on many projects and having a hard time seeing the progress. I think using Dave Ramsey's gazelle intensity on a debt snowball might work here. Bare minimum on chores like doing the dishes every day and vacuuming once a week and then any extra time and energy to focus on the smallest project. Once that's done, move to the next project. My to-do list covers items that aren't just cleaning and organizing. Wondering if I should separate my list into a "housework" cleaning/organizing list that I could focus on in the mornings when it's still cooler in the house. Then other non-physical or mental items like lesson planning or working on the budget could be the focus in the afternoon when it's too hot to do anything else. Then those miscellaneous things like cleaning out the van or doing yard work could be assigned to a day. What I need to do is assign stuff to the kids! Actually, I did this week. They each have a significant organizing job to finish before the end of the month.

I just need to get passed this thinking, planning, complaining stage and just go do it!

End of June

It was such a crazy week. So much to do at home. Would be nice if I stayed home so I could do my stuff. Had somewhere to go everyday. Trixie had dance camp 4 days, zumba 3 days, beach and library, shopping, etc. I also mapped out lesson plans for LA for both Cards and Trixie. Very exciting. Still pondering in the back of my mind.....still afraid to put it on paper.....how am I going to school the kids and still be the lunch lady? This week I'll be mapping out Math and Science. Way easier! Will have to do the most prep work for Trixie's science. Have 4 lessons done. Debating between doing a few minutes each day or a little bit longer lesson once or twice a week.

I did find the floor of Trixie's room yesterday. Cleaned out her dresser to find out what still fits. Didn't get to the closet yet. Maybe this afternoon. Would be nice to get it done. I also now need to clean up my room from sorting all her stuff in there. She is such a pack rat and won't part with stuff. I should really work on Dash's room this week before he gets home from Gma's. Although, on the "master plan" schedule I made in May, Cards' room would be next. The plan was for the toy room to be done in May. Trixie and Cards in June. Dash and master in July. Why can't I just stick to the plan? August has been altered beyond my control so that leaves a room that really needs attention and no month to do it in. If I can't stay on schedule with the other rooms......this happens every time. I shouldn't let rooms get out of control in the first place. Just lock me up in a room and don't allow me to leave until its done. Instead of giving myself 2 weeks to thoroughly clean a room, just go in there and get it done. So staying home would be really helpful!!!! I have somewhere to go everyday this week again. Pray for a hard rain with lightning on Tuesday and that will keep me home on Tuesday! Better time management would also help. Cards is old enough to help so maybe I can do both boys' rooms this week. Feeling very overwhelmed..............

Feels Like Christmas

I ordered all kinds of great things to begin homeschooling in the fall. Then the packages started arriving. I love the Christmas feeling when opening the boxes and touching all the stuff. Flipping through the different books. Feeling excited and privileged to once again homeschool two of my kids. Sometimes I regret putting Cards in school after 12 days of 3rd grade. And then, because Doc thought it would be good for Dash and Trixie, they started the following fall. At the time with Cards, my relationship with him was more important than where he was educated. I was tired of fighting with him to do his school work. With a preschooler and kindergartener, I couldn't sit next to him every minute so he would do his work. Overall, I'm pleased with the charter school they have attended. They have all done extremely well. Their attendance led to me being the lunch lady which I enjoy. Our school only goes up to 6th grade. Cards will be in 7th grade in the fall. He didn't like any of the schooling options. He's the one that brought up being homeschooled  again. But now, he knows that I know that he can do the work without me sitting with him. There will be a lot of independent work on his part. After all,  I'm the lunch lady! Trixie, on the other hand, only did preschool at home. But she likes the idea of being homeschooled. She's been campaigning for it for at least 2 years. Finally, Doc agreed. Who could refuse her list of 10 reasons to be homeschooled? Very well thought out by a 7 year old. And a letter to Doc signed "Your one and only daughter". Because she is also coming home I had to give up the snack serving part of my job and just do the lunch part. It will be a little different this fall with kindergarten becoming full day. They'll be there for lunch now. With a small playground, I'll be serving K while 1st-2nd go to recess and then they'll flip. Not that someone else couldn't figure out how to do it. It's a little bit of a timing issue that I think I have figured out. And the school wanted me to stay. That's another story. It will be a busy school year.....school, lunch, school, hopefully a nap and then pick up Dash from school. He still has to go to school because there are some issues that require we have a little space! If things improve, then coming home for 5th grade could be a possibility. I think I have enough with getting things ready for 3rd and 7th grade, hopes of getting my house organized by the end of the year, Doc traveling quite extensively and working.

Back to Christmas.....now that I have all my packages, I need to start mapping out lesson plans. I've missed this part the last few summers. Counting pages/chapters/sections on scrap paper and then putting it on a spreadsheet. Figuring out what is to be done everyday, once a week, twice a week or whatever. Which days work best for what things. What order should things be done? My new find from another blog....workboxes! Brilliant!!! This will hopefully encourage independent work for both but Cards, in particular. I even got 2 10 drawer storage units on sale for 50% off. A colorful one for Trixie and a smoky one for Cards. Just pop a subject in each drawer and away we go. When you get to the bottom, you're done! However, my list of subjects is more than 10. Of course, some are only done once or twice a week. Reality will eventually hit that we can't do it all right now and some things will be moved to summer instead. I guess I've always aimed high and then adjusted later if necessary. So I guess it's time for me to go and start planning!

The Journey Begins

My journey begins now as I attempt to homeschool two of my three kids and still work as the lunch lady at the school where all my kids have attended the last few years and where the third will still be attending. I've been reading a variety of different bloggers lately focusing on homeschooling and homemaking and living the Christian life as a wife, mother, friend and servant of God. I just feel like God is calling me home. I'm a "stay-at-home" mom in general with the exception of the couple hours at school serving snack and lunch. However, I don't feel like I'm really home. Like it really hasn't been the priority it should be. If it were, I'm hoping my house wouldn't look like a tornado has gone through it all the time. Granted I have three kids, but where have I been? Certainly not making strides in my housekeeping and child rearing. So I'm using this blog to help me work through this hopeful transition to truly be home. And let's throw in a return to homeschooling and a traveling husband. The good, the bad, the ugly....it will be here as I journey to become who God has called me to be.