Blame it on the time change!

As I sit here my mind is buzzing with the events of the past 3 hours. It is a daily homestretch of trying to get everyone into bed that has worn me out!

Why must everyday end with dinner? A dear friend of mine said that if she were to want anything in the world it would be a personal chef to make meals for her family. Me too. While I enjoy cooking I also find it at times a strain to get the meal on the table with a peaceful heart. I am blessed with a family that loves most everything that I create and are great eaters. I have a few food allergies to navigate but really my life is easy and sweet when it comes to feeding the hungry youngun's and my main man. On top of that they APPRECIATE me so much when I pull a meal together out of thin air. I get the best rewards from my sweet girls and they are by my side now most days in the kitchen "helping" the dinner preparations and with getting the table set. How lucky am I?

After dinner it is a sprint to get the table cleared and clean, the kitchen cleaned to a degree and then everyone shuffled upstairs for bathing, brushing, potty, pj's and bed. Tonight we were turning off lights right after the 9 o'clock mark, an hour later than our 8 o'clock bedtime!

As I tucked the last button into bed and kissed the sweet wet head goodnight I sighed in gratitude. Then I went into the bathroom and saw that my day was not yet done as a tornado had touched down and wreaked havoc when my back was turned. Even then I was not disgruntled but grateful that the mess was made as they had attempted obedience for all the other little things that entail getting to bed successfully.

We have had a good day, I pray they will have a good night with sweet dreams, and some small hope that all will stay in their beds through the night.

Wipeout Wednesday

Another HDO under our belt but I must say that we are sorely out of shape for these marathon endeavors! Today we did not get home until after 6 pm. Dinner was lucky to have not been a repeat of lunch's pb&j had it not been for Baba's cancelled scan and infusion of energy into our midst. He pulled together a feast of mac & cheese with hotdogs that was downed by a pack of voracious wolves that were roaming our dining room. They fell into bed with relief and anticipation.

I too hear my bed calling but wanted to blog a note first. I feel after such an intense day I need a little unwind time. I recall that my mom used to get off the 3-11 shift at the ER and sit up watching Johnny Car*son. I couldn't understand it when she was so tired why she just didn't go to bed, now I understand it better.

Today I taught the early body science class again. The mom who was going to teach this section has the flu so when she called me yesterday afternoon I threw together a curriculum for today's class. I was hoping it would be not be noticeable that it was last minute and I was so pleased that it turned out better than expected. I cannot express how great these kids are (two are mine, of course). They are so eager to absorb all this information and experience these great science experiments for the youngest set of scientists in our group. May they always be this way. It makes teaching them such a joy.

At HDO the 2 oldest buttons are in a knitting consortium and that has caused the 2 littlest buttons to want to learn how to knit. So today in a quiet moment I took a project I had just begun but had no further plans for and began to teach Sweetpea to knit. She is enthralled with her new-found skill, and especially to join the ranks of the "big girls". Her 2 rows were as you would expected but if she continues I think it would be good for her dexterity and fine motor coordination. I'll keep you posted if we knit anything grand, like a pot holder. In the picture you'll see that she is biting her lower lip, she always does this when she is concentrating. She is also sporting a hairband to keep her long bangs out of her eyes, she gets annoyed with them easily.

On the job front my Beloved has found a posting for a job in Chicago. Same career path as he is on now so that would be good for him. We don't know any real details yet but he is going to apply for it and see what comes of it. We are running at 6 weeks out from his layoff date. He is getting a few hours here and there but even unemployment hasn't kicked in. Thankfully we are still covered with medical, which is just the incredible kindness of the Lord towards us. Please continue to pray if you feel so led.

Sweetpea goes to her first HDO

Today our homeschool coop started again for the spring term (affectionately called Homeschool Day Out or HDO) and Sweetpea attended for the first time. It is a great blessing to have this wonderful coop. Yet, even the seasoned hard core ones of the family know that it is a day of the week that beats all others.

Poor Sweetpea did not know what awaited her when she woke up this morning! She thought it might be some fun outing from all the excitement that was brewing throughout the household. Backpacks were being readied, violins and music checked, lunches packed, water bottles filled and mom was slowly and surely loading it all in the van........must be something good.

We got to the facility early, and we are so very blessed to have a wonderful facility that is loaned to our group. We helped with some of the smallest details of set-up while I gave Sweetpea a tour of where we go and what the lay of the land looked like. Then we had a 15 minute window of playtime before getting to class.

She is not taking any classes this time because she is not ready for it. She is just coping with the strain and stress of our lives as it is, she does not need to have to interact or attend for another teacher at this moment. I don't need to try to get compliance from her just yet either, we can just sit this one out and learn the ropes slowly and steadily.

She enjoyed sitting with me in all the classes and did an amazing job being quiet for the most part. We have very gracious teachers who do not have a big thing about absolute quiet so we were able to learn to communicate with our hands and to whisper softly by having lots of opportunities to practice.

She enjoyed being around a lot of different kids. Some of these kids she has a vague relationship with and a basic operating knowledge of how to interact with them. All the other kids were just flashing danger signs to her and by the afternoon she was showing signs of distress at having to handle it. Still, I was amazed that she was doing so very well with the whole scene.

By the time we packed the car and headed for home we were all spent. She had used every ounce of her ability to contain all her emotions and distress. She hit the wall, in a figurative sense. For several hours afterward she just rollercoasted up and down through the gamut of negative emotions searching for a place that would make sense. I could not get through to her on any level, she was just locked in this state and none of my attempts at helping her made any effect. I could tell by the pain behind her eyes that she really wanted me to help her calm down but then she would physically bar me from being able to do anything that might help.

Thankfully I felt very filled with love and empathy for her and so it was a rough end to a long day but not one that threw me overboard. I look and see that as an evidence of God's grace to me.

My biggest regret about today is that I left my camera at home! How could I forget such a vital piece of equipment? I failed to document the day for the annuls of history. Bad mother. Bad.

The Learning Curve

This morning we woke up to a winter wonderland and before we got down to business of schoolwork we jumped into our snow suits and headed out for some shovelling fun.

Sweet Sweetpea is still so new to snow. She is on the up side of the learning curve. For instance the first item she put on were her big mittens and then attempted to get the rest of her suited up, much to her frustration.

The other thing that had us in gales of laughter was her take on a snow bank. We overheard her instructing our littlest Button that a snow bank was a place where you went to get money out of with your hand. When we said we were going to put all the kids into the snow bank three of them screamed and ran away while Sweetpea just stood there and cheered!

We all laughed and she joined in with us not knowing that she was the delight we were all celebrating.