Snippets of our day (Mom's Week)

This blog is so often about the kids, but I was thinking today (last Sunday) about writing a blog entry about my life--as separate to the kids. Sometimes I feel quite discouraged. The house gets away from me, manipulatives wind up everywhere, but I know I do work hard... So kind of more to be affirming to me (Go Me!) -- I wanted to jot down the things I've done for a few days:

Sunday--church all morning. Back around 12:30.
** In the afternoon Dad helped a neighbor cut down some trees.
**Put in a load of laundry.

**I painted the stair area that leads down to the basement for about an hour and a half. I couldn't get the high areas, so the paint job stops mid-way up. I'm not sure how I'll tackle that tall bit as it's on the stairway.  Hmmm... See that the tape that was there is peeling, so need to deal with that tomorrow (I don't know much about house renovations, but I'll give anything a go!)
**Also did some touch up painting in our bathroom where the previous owners left a hole in the wall and some small holes from their pictures. (I had spackled it last week.)
**Got  the can of insulation spray and filled the areas around the unfinished windows in our study/library area. For some reason the former owners never finished that room and there were actual cracks around the window frame leading to the outside. Will have to nail on wooden frame pieces as well (don't know what those are actually called)
** We rushed off for dinner and trick-or-treating at a friend's house (I did squeeze in a shower to get the paint out of my hair!).
**Put the laundry in the dryer.
**Cleaned up the homeschool room.
**Did random dishes and the cookie cutters from the cookies I had made the night before for church.
**Read for 15 minutes and collapsed in bed!

Monday--

**Made a fire to help warm the homeschoolroom.
**Got everyone breakfast.
**school and games til noon.
**Folded yesterday's laundry. Put in a new load.
**prepared lunch--snails (lunch meat with cream cheese), carrots and brocolli with dip, raspberries, rice
**Spackled an area of the hallway (and will need to repaint that tomorrow). A quick 5-minute job and luckily I knew where the spackle was (still in our bathroom, not in the basement where I should have put it away!).

**Cut wood for the fireplace out in the woods with a power saw for about 1/2 hour. Hauled it back on the tractor (the kids enjoyed the tractor ride!). LD took that picture on the left! Hilarious isn't it? I look like I'm trying out for rambo or something!
**Raked leaves for about a half-hour or so, then put the tractor away.
**Cleaned ED's bathroom and the upstairs bathroom.
**Put a load of laundry in the dryer. Started a new load.
**Snuck in 10 minutes on the blog. Hit "save." Then rushed out to put the tractor away.

The kids enjoyed the tractor ride and then got busy adding leaves to the trailer. Umm... hey kids, didn't you notice there were plenty in the yard!!!

Full load, so back we go to the house!

**After LD finished practicing I spent five minutes practicing my own piece on the piano. Then I noticed the kids were involved playing a Star Wars kind of game and ED was playing with Russian stacking dolls so pulled out the oboe to have a play for the first time since April.
**Realized I'd better get the kids to work on handwriting (LD chose Draw Write Now) and music before we went (to drop DD off at gymnastics).  Got them started, changed laundry over.  Got dinner started (lasagna).
**Back from gymnastics around 6:15. ED fell asleep for the night. Got dinner on the table 6:30.  Dad home at 6:45. Ate. Played another round of LD's Star Wars game. 
**Cleaned the fireplace ashes (yes, just like Cinderella!)
**Dishes ... DONE! Dad did them while I was playing with LD!
**More research about the Congressional candidates (election day is tomorrow).
**Laundry (fold the third load).
**Pick up the homeschool room

Tuesday:
**Up and leave the house to vote
**Return, finish getting the kids breakfast. Started the fire (temperatures are around freezing at night in the 40sF/4-7C during the day. The fireplace makes a huge difference to the coziness of the homeschool room.
**Play game with LD, then get him started on handwriting and reading. Popped through the shower
**Took kids to (ED's) gymnastics and on errands.
--So then the rest of the day I didn't feel well. I got the kids through a few more subjects, but then did something I rarely do. I turned on endless episodes of the Magic School Bus and flaked out.  Often I had a pony in my hand to "play" with ED, but pretty much check out mentally.  It was all I could do to muster the strength to get them dinner and drive LD to soccer practice.  ED fell asleep on the way to practice (at 5:30pm), slept through soccer practice (I had her laying on my down parka with several jackets on top of her since it was 40degrees F (4C).  She slept right through the night! Daddy took over and got us all fed and put to bed when we returned from soccer practice at 7:15pm.



I meant to continue on following my days this past week, but didn't feel well and didn't follow through. Guess I'll just add a few more things and hit "post." That's just life, isn't it?! 

Wednesday we squeezed in school activities between a visit (for me) to the doctor's.  I did manage to get another load of wood cut and hauled in the afternoon while the kids played in the leaves.  That evening I went off to choir practice. Note to self: memorize those pieces!!

On Thursday I managed to find time to finish painting the hallway.  Continued on the with the never ending laundry/schooling/activities/errand/meal process of our days and weeks!  It's full-on but I sure do enjoy our life. There's so much to be grateful for -- and on top of that list is of course, the kids!  They are so full of energy, so creative and just so much fun to be around.  Most of the time!  I find it challenging to keep up with everything (the cleaning, sorting, putting away and things like that) just because I so enjoy preparing for our school day and school activities.  There's only so much time available, right?



Meanwhile, I've been reading a great book. It's one that I checked out of the library in Australia at least four or five times.  I found it at a used book sale at our local library and snatched it up!  It's called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families. It talks about creating a beautiful family culture. Quoting from Covey's book, "Despite the priority the American culture clearly places on individual freedom, immediate gratification, efficiency, and control, there is literally no road laden with as much joy and satisfaction as the road of rich, interdependent family living." (20) His book has suggestions on being kind, creating a family plan... and things I just find thought-provoking.  I'm enjoying that. My fiction book at the moment is another by the author of Pillars of the Earth (one of my favorites of all time!) This new book is good so far--it's called Fall of Giants.

Okay that's about it for my week.  It's obviously incomplete, but it gives you a glimpse of the other things that I try to squeeze in.