Weekly Wind Down {Easing Back Into School Routine, Working Through Rough Days, Last Pool Days} Aug 6-13

Sunday started the way the best Sundays do - worship and Sunday school class.  We combined classes and listened to a couple of missionary presentations from young people from the congregation who have gone overseas this summer.  Our children are listening....we are praying for the future.  Sunday afternoon we had all our kiddos lay down for a rest.  We needed it.  After an early supper we went to small groups.  Sunday was just a rough day for me honestly.  Small groups with our life people was exactly what I needed.  

Monday we began our homeschool core for the year.  We use Sonlight for core, which encompasses our history, Bible, and literature education.  I decided tucking one week under our belt before our first official day of school would be good and I'm glad we did.  The time and commitment is ramping up a bit for the older two and the younger two have more writing components.  

We used this week to navigate the curriculum and find our rhythm.  Y'all I am not a brand new homeschooler.  We have been doing this for over a decade and yet still Monday was not smooth.  Hard doesn't mean bad.

We just needed to work out the kinks.

The core I had for Zayden and Mia was pretty old, not that World History changes a ton, but I wanted to incorporate some of the new books without purchasing a whole new core kit.  I spent some time this summer using the old instructor's guide and the new book lists developing my own weekly guide for each of the 36 weeks for this year.  Labor of love.  It's a combination of Bible stories compared against Scripture (learning to identify fallacies while enjoying illustrated stories), history reading, old fiction publications, and some new ones.  

We'll be learning to pray for different people groups, spend time exploring the world, and read a ton of good books both individually and together.

We're also doing some dictation, grammar work, and writing.  

Monday's lessons flowed into the evening.  Mike worked late and we were worn by the end of the day.

What a treat for me to realize all my indicated page numbers for one of the core books I was using were wrong for the first 26 weeks on my freshly printed instructor's guide.  A late night making necessary fixes.... 

Tuesday morning went so much smoother.  What a blessing to a weary mom and eager students!  Natalee started the morning early with OT and PT, and then we jumped into the news and core.

Having been put off one too many times Monday, Evalynn doggedly held her ground on "wanting to do her school."  See how unamused she is as I get all four big kids going?

Found some work for the pudding!

We spent a couple of hours Tuesday afternoon at the public pool.  Back at home Xavier offered to make breakfast casserole for supper and I was especially grateful for the break.  We ate early and then went and watched Xabe and Dad played church softball.  They had a second late game so I brought everyone else home for showers and bed.  I've been burning the midnight oil just trying to keep up with all the things, especially with Mike working such late days.  This means I'm not getting my quiet time in the morning because I'm sleeping later and I am finding I actually don't like that cycle.  I'm trying to flip it back around.

Wednesday was a rainy gray day.  That made it easy to stay in and do school work in the morning.

Ameliya and I spent some necessary time cleaning and organizing her room and craft spaces and putting things back in their places.

Narrating "three little pigs."

After school work was all done, I took 20 minutes to organize my tea.  Isn't that silly after I just talked about how busy I've been?  I find organizing a small space when I am a bit overwhelmed is very soothing to my soul.

Takes up much less space out of all the boxes and the kids have been adventurously trying new flavors with the easier to see displays.  (I had the wooden crate and Mike cut the dividers for me quick before he took the big kids to youth group.)

Unfortunately, Wednesday afternoon Mia came in and the filling/fix that had been put on her tooth in 2020 after her bike wreck had come off, leaving the tooth chipped again.  I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get either our old dentist or new dentist to see her (insurance changes have meant we have tried a new dental office).  The old dentist couldn't until next week but the new dentist said they would see her Thursday.

Later Wednesday night Zayden came in with a bee sting.  Whew.  What a day.

Thursday we hit it early and did as much school as possible before the girls and I headed out.  Natalee had hippotherapy at 10 and then we did some thrift store browsing while we killed time waiting for the dentist.  

Unfortunately the dentist wasn't willing to do more than a consult, which was disappointing to me.  I really didn't want Mia to have to deal with the nerve pain throughout the weekend and I try hard to protect our first week of school (next week) from extra appointments, but no amount of polite pleading could get it fixed so we came home.  

The boys stayed home and were playing Monopoly when I got home.

And then Zayden played with Evalynn.

Ameliya sewed a saddle bag for her stick horse.  She's so creative.

We finished up loose core school ends and the kids played outside.  I should have taken us to the pool (it's the last week it's open) but I was spent.

Everyday I've done some tweaking that will hopefully make the year flow smoother.  A little more organization, some prep work, etc. I really thought everything was pretty ready but I've been proven wrong day after day.  I am not sure why I'm so "off" this year.

She's a beauty to wake up to but she really needs to stay in her own bed!

We are used to a four day school week, but this year I'm transitioning us into a five day week, so Friday morning we did our core work.  Zayden built a robot from plusplus blocks when I was reading aloud.

Diva....

One of the children was having a rough day Friday so we spent the better part of the morning talking.  Mike took Xavier to D-groups while Natalee was on a zoom appointment over the lunch hour, and after lunch Mia and Zayden played kickball with the neighbor's grandkids.  I asked Mike if there was any way he could carve a couple hours out to take the kids to the pool and he made it work.  He took them later afternoon and stayed until closing.  I wanted to go but needed to set the boundary of some quiet time for myself and it was a good thing for me.  I am realizing that I don't really desire a break "from" my children - just a break from being "on."  I get overwhelmed not by my people, just from constant stimulation and those few hours were exactly what I needed.

I had a happy warm supper ready for those empty swimming bellies when they got home and my smile was relaxed.  And the kids had a good time with Daddy.

Saturday morning was an early start as I saw Mike, Natalee, and Xavier off to serve at a meals mission with our 7-9th grade youth group.  The three younger kids slept in another hour or so after the bigs left so I "dozed" in the recliner for a bit before starting my morning.

These two are buddies lately.

After Mia, Zayden, and Ev watched their "cartoons" they had breakfast and then we got our errands going.  Grocery pick up, a Dollar Tree stop, and library book drop off.

Photos from Mike of our kids in action...

The younger kids helped me get the groceries put away and some house tidying chores done and then pretty soon Mike and the big kids were home.

Mike offered to take everyone back to the pool for the last open day and Natalee and I opted out.  Except after they'd been gone about an hour I got frustrated with my computer work and needed some sunshine so I decided to go meet them and Natalee came with.  We had a good time - the university football team was there so it was loud but respectful and a level of entertainment we don't usually see at the pool.  Students helping non swimmers learn to float.  Cheering one another on jumping off the diving board.  Young adults being young.

I came home about half hour before the crew to make homemade waffles and sausage for the family 

Everyone opted to enjoy the evening outside  and we tried out the new reusable water balloons/water bombs that we picked up at the Dollar Tree (winners).

Early to bed with sun kissed cheeks.