New Year

This summer is coming to a close. We are back into our school routine next Monday, August 24th. The girls and I are very excited! This third year of homeschooling will be unlike any other that we've had before. For starters, Ms. Reese is ready to begin kindergarten so I will be teaching two! I'm going to use "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write" with her like I did with Hailey. I am hoping it will work for her as well as it did for Hailey. Another new thing, well, is our new family member! Paige was 14 months old when Hailey officially began kindergarten. Penny will be almost three months old so this is the first time we've homeschooled with a little baby in the household. I probably shouldn't be as worried about Penny as I am about Paige. Our resident three year old is "challenging"--you know, the nice way to describe a child that absolutely drives you crazy and wears you out!

Anyway, I'm still mentally tweaking our routine--and will most likely continue to do so until things "work"--but so far I've come up with a daily schedule which looks like this:

7:30: Mom up, everyone eating breakfast, Mom checking e-mail, starting on her chores while the girls watch a bit of morning PBS
8:30: TV off, girls begin their morning chores, Mom spends time with Paige helping her do her chores and reading a story or two to her.
9:30: we gather together for our morning devotional
9:45ish: we have a snack as we read our "Five in a Row" book and then do the associated activities until lunchtime
12:00 Lunch
12:30ish clean up from lunch
12:45: reading time--Hailey reads to us (later Reese will join in), Mom reads from a chapter book
After reading we will take a break and clean up if needed (or just have some "playtime) until...
2:30: get the little girls down for their naps
3:00: work with Hailey and Reese individually
4:30-5: start dinner prep (I'm planning on having each of the older 3 girls taking turns helping me with dinner each night)
6-6:30 (whenever Jason gets home): dinner time
Kids play until 7:30 when we clean up for the evening and do baths
8:30-9: hopefully all the little people are in bed by this time!

Now I am not the most experienced homeschooler but I know that these times are not exact at all--when you are working with little ones things do come up (4 kids+1 mom= plenty of opportunity for character training haha)! Plus I never want to be so tied to a schedule that we don't have time to watch a baby bird hopping on the lawn or read an extra chapter of a book that we are all enjoying. And we certainly want to enjoy our own little baby and all the of growing she's going to be doing :)

Wanderlust

I am suffering from a seriously strong urge to travel. Not sure if its the hot weather keeping us indoors for most of the day, that I'm feeling incredible now that I'm not pregnant, or that I have not left the Austin area in over eight months (that I can think of...) but I have the urge to get the heck out of town! (Oh and everyone I know keeps going on vacation!) I've taken to perusing websites for cruises, vacation rentals, America's best beaches, and Expedia.com (great deals on last minute trips!!). But so far the furthest I've been able to go has been downtown to the Children's Museum.

Jason says I am this way after I have a baby. I wouldn't be surprised. Even at best, I feel only half way decent while pregnant. It doesn't hit me how difficult it has been until after I give birth and suddenly feel terrific!! I just want to go, go, go right now! Cram Penny in a sling and hit the trails or the beach!

Anyway, here are some pictures from our "trip" downtown. It was fun--the staff from a local vet clinic were there with some creepy crawlies (tarantulas, bearded dragon, turtle, and a python) so that made our visit even more fun! The girls had a blast even though the place was PACKED OUT!!




Future veterinarian?



Experimenting with pulleys, parachutes, and cows.


Penny slept the entire time!


Paige sawing cardboard.


Hailey "milking" a cow.

Shame...

on this BAD DOG!! Isn't this the face of someone ashamed of their actions? Ha! Don't believe it for a minute! She may look like she regrets the latest mess she caused but she would jump at the chance to do it again anytime, any place!

Trash-eating/counter-surfing/litter box digging dog that she is, I love her to pieces. And she's getting older by the day--well we all are of course but Summer is well into her golden years. We think she's about twelve (I got her from the animal shelter where her previous owners had listed her as four years old). She's in pretty good health for an old gal. Doesn't jump our eight foot privacy fence anymore and no longer drags you while on a walk (the girls can even walk her now), but she's still capable of reaching any food you leave on the counter or table (in the blink of an eye your sandwich is gone and a certain yellow dog is no where to be seen...).

This week we are going to be "babysitting" my sister's yellow lab, Punch. I say "babysitting" b/c this dog is my sister's baby. He is the youngest of her brood that includes 4 teenage/young adult children. He is about the same age as Summer but for whatever reason he is far more decrepit than she is. I don't know why it happens that way--why two people or animals of the same age can differ so drastically in their health. Punch has lived a considerably easier life than Summer. For one thing he's been an only dog for years--Summer walked among four yappy little dachshunds for years (and is still daily nipped by the sole surviving dachshund). Punch also has been an indoor dog for years while we kicked Summer outdoors for most of her days when we started getting overwhelmed by babies combined with an opportunistic Lab with a taste for kitty krunchies.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to having Punch here. He's a great dog (and not unlike a hairy loveseat--he seldom moves these days). He has, and always has had to my knowledge, the energy level of Eyeore the donkey and that helps make him a wonderful pet. I don't know if he's ever done anything really bad--though he does prefer my sister's uptight neighbor's lawn to do his business but he's probably just being considerate and thinks he is saving one of his family members the trouble of getting out the scooper. I hope he has a good time here despite the frequently rowdy atmosphere of our house. One thing he won't have to worry about is Summer stealing his food--she learned long ago that the only sure way to get Punch to drag himself to his feet and turn into an 130lb grizzly bear is to threaten his food supply. :)

The Simple Woman's Notebook

The view from where I sit ... a box of toys at my feet, double stroller parked, ceiling fan in a box waiting to be installed.

Outside My Window...pitch black but still 95 degrees at midnight.

I am thinking...of school plans, what we are going to do tomorrow, what's for dinner tomorrow, saw "My Sister's Keeper" tonight and reflecting on it

I am thankful for...my four healthy children and husband (also healthy), God's provision and faithfulness

We are learning...to watch our tongue, be kind to each other.

From the kitchen... need to go grocery shopping--this time just with the baby. Its a little overwhelming to take everyone on major shopping right now. Need to get a list going.

I am wearing... jeans (maternity b/c I love them so much!), brown shirt

I am creating... dust? I don't know what I am creating right now.

I am going... to regret staying up this late.

I am reading... A Walk to Remember (again), different blogs by homeschoolers.

I am hoping... that tomorrow my girls will be kind to each other. Way too much fighting and bickering going on. It hasn't been very peaceful in our house this week. Not sure why--bored kids from being cooped up for so long? The heat?

I am hearing... the a/c which runs continuously.

Around the house... we are going to be cleaning up for the lady who cleans on Friday.

One of my favorite things... the beach is heavy on my mind. Wish that we lived close to one.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: hang letters in Paige's room, order some school stuff, mail a few things, wash the dog.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

Humiliating Moments in Parenthood Part One

• The latest entry: Recently Paige has begun proclaiming random strangers "Bad Guys" when we are shopping. Today in HEB she loudly said "Bad Guy! That's a bad guy Mom!" and franctically pointed to a woman who happened to be black.
  
• Possibly worse (?): Hailey had a front row seat when Paige (baby #3) was born at home three years ago. The experience must have made quite an impression on her because Paige's birth became her version of an ice breaker. If a stranger admired our new baby Hailey would pipe up and start talking about how she saw her little sister being born. The most horrifying incident involving Hailey's version of Paige's birth story occurred when we were in a long line at HEB (apparently the grocery store is the mother's stage for humiliation). A man in his 60's complimented a very smiley baby Paige and Hailey said (loudly of course) "That's Paige. She came out of Mommy's private. She was all bloody and was crying. And Mommy was saying "Ohhhhhh owwwwwww OWWWWWW!" The man was like "Oh. Well."
  
• Worst (?): on an airplane I was nursing nine month old Reese. The Irish version of Hugh Grant who had chatted me up for the two hours while our plane had been delayed was coming down the aisle. I was sitting on the aisle seat. He smiled at me and I returned the smile and lifted my hand to wave. At the exact moment Reese flung back the blanket that was covering her and my exposed breast. There is absolutely NO WAY that Irish Hugh Grant did not see my working breast. On the way back from the toilet he stopped to talk to me and I was so horrified I could barely make eye contact with him. Talk about a grounding experience :)
  
• Absolute worst (?): When Hailey (age 4) and Reese (age 2) escaped from our house in the predawn hours of a weekday morning and were returned by the Leander police. Jason had to retrieve them from the back of the police car (ew). I had to convince the police that I was not an abused wife or drug addict (the girls had said I needed "help" and I was groggy b/c I had taken Nyquil for the first and last time in my life the night before b/c I had a really bad cold).
  

Three weeks old today...

Look--someone had their first bath (last week). Paige kindly removed Penny's umbilical stump while she was helping me change a diaper. Thankfully the thing was hanging by a thread. :)


Time is flying by a little too quickly. I guess that's to be expected but I still don't like it. I wish Penny (and the other girls for that matter) would stay as they are for a little bit longer. It is nice to be easing into our new "normal" but those early days of having a newborn are so precious.

Penny is doing great. We've had some nursing issues but after a visit to the lactation consultant I feel confident that things will become more comfortable for me soon. Apparently Penny has a tight jaw (who knows why) and as she gets bigger she will open her mouth more. Things have certainly improved and I can feed her for 10-15 mins straight before it gets uncomfortable. She's gaining plenty of weight and taking in more than enough milk during each feeding so that makes this momma feel loads better.

My Mom is here this week so yay for all of us! I think we are going to send her home worn out though. Watching her run around after the three older girls makes me very glad I had my kids young, haha!