Homeschooling, Cleaning and Nurturing, how I do it all: Part 2

How I home school five kids at the same time 

Just like cleaning we use a strict schedule for school.  A friend of mine suggested that I get a planner called The Well Planned Day.  It has been wonderful!  I highly suggest it.

 Above is an example of the planner.  It is designed  for up to four students.  Each of my children have a schedule in it that tells what they should be working on at what time.  I am going to make a list of things that help us get it all accomplished.

1. We do Bible every morning.  What better way to start school than to learn about Jesus.
2. We only spend 30 minutes per subject.  I mean I set a timer for 30 minutes.  When the timer rings we move on.
3. We are not running a public school.  We don't have to do school for 8 hours a day, we don't have to stick to text books and we don't have to have school desks. 
4. I try to find curriculum that is multi-level so I can teach multiple kids at once.
5. School is supposed to be fun!  I want my kids to love learning!
6. Fill the littlest kids cups first.
7. Give yourself grace
8. Be Flexible(this is hard for me)

Here is my schedule.  Take a deep breathe it is crazy!!

7 am Bible
7:30 cook breakfast while kids clean rooms
8:00 Eat breakfast
8:30 Before Five in a Row and Foundations A with Malachi while the older kids do morning chores
9:30 Math with David while the other kids do Signing Time on Netflix
10:00 Math with Evanny David does Spanish and the others play in the playroom
10:30 History Mondays and Wednesdays Science Thursdays and Fridays Everyone is included
11:00 Morning snack/break
11:30 Teach English to Evanny and David,  Malachi and Jericho play, Alexis does homework
12:00 Teach Malachi and Alexis Math David and Evanny do homework
12:30 I cook lunch and Teach Alexis Foundations B. During this time Evanny does workbooks with Malachi and David works with Jericho or plays with her.
1:00 Eat Lunch
1:30 I get Jericho down for a nap and we do afternoon chores
2:00 I fold laundry on normal days on Mondays a friend and I sew dresses with our girls for Dress a Girl Around The World.
2:30 FREEDOM!!! Everyone else must read quietly I get to do what ever I need or want to do
3:30 Room of The Day
4:00 Snack
5:00 Cook Dinner
6:00 Eat Dinner
6:30 Evening Chores I leave for the gym at this time on Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
7:00 Read aloud and baths for kids
8:00 younger three go to bed older two read
9:00 All kids in bed.



So You see my schedule.  It is crazy and this doesn't include gymnastics, AWANA, Bible Study, Dance, Library Day, or swimming.

I never said it was easy!  and Many days I look at my schedule and say How do I do all of this and my answer is....

By The Grace of God.  

Homeschooling, Cleaning and Nurturing, how I do it all: Part 1

So awhile back I blogged about an experience that made me feel judged.  It wasn't taken how I had hoped it would be so I decided to make a post about How I do everything from nurturing to homeschooling to keeping my house clean.

I started this thinking I could fit it in one post but I cant so I will do a series in the next few days. :)


How I Keep the House Clean( The Hardest Part)


First I keep a very strict schedule for my family. Here is a photo of our Daily Chore Chart.

Every kid has a chart that is divided into morning, afternoon and evening chores.  Each chart has 6 or 7 chores divided up between the three times.  They are also color coded  by time of day.  Each child also has a detailed list of their day for each day of the week.  It tells them everything from chores, to school and it even includes shower times.

On the far right side of our chart is a Room of the day chart.  It lists what room we will be cleaning that day with a list of what needs to be done in each room.  

Here is a list of what our chores are each day

1. 2 loads of laundry. washed, dried, folded and put away
   I fold all of the laundry and put mine, Jericho's and David's away, the kids put their own away.
2. Wash dishes after every meal
   I wash evening dishes and I put all of the dishes away but the girls do all of the washing for lunch and breakfast.  
3. Clean rooms every morning before breakfast
   This includes making beds and bringing dirty laundry down stairs they do not have toys in their rooms.
4. Take out the trash
   This is Little Davids job everyday
5. Vacuum after lunch and dinner
   David and Evanny take turns doing this job
6. Quickly pick up all toys and school supplies once school is done.
   Everyone does this including Jericho and I.
7. Wash table after every meal
   This job rotates between Malachi and Alexis
8. Feed and water the cat
   This is Malachi's Chore
9. Sweep kitchen after dinner
   Malachi helps me do this every evening unless I am gone then he helps his dad sweep.
10. Room of the Day
    We all do this job together

We also do evening chores which includes a lot of things from the list above as well as a quick pick up of toys and making sure everything is in there place. 

It probably seems overwhelming reading all of this in a list but it really isn't, well not all of the time!  Sometimes I am overwhelmed but who isn't?  I feel more at peace with a schedule. We probably spend 1 1/2 hours cleaning broken up throughout the day

The biggest thing that helps is that our family is a team. I am not everyone's maid.  

Play Room Makeover: Part 2

Step One of our playroom makeover was to downsize.

Step two was to sell off all our old toys and use the money for shelving or other items for the playroom.

So I, being the planner I am, drew out a shelf that I wanted in the playroom.  Then  my awesome husband built it for me!  And other than paint the money from the toys covered the cost of the shelves!!

The biggest tip I have for anyone wanting to take on this type of adventure is to keep your kids involved, it is their playroom after all.

So they helped us downsize, sell, build shelves, paint shelves, and reorganize all of the toys.  I always ask for their input and ideas and use some of them.  They loved the process of making the changes and they also enjoyed helping with the projects.  It was fun for all of us.  I did learn a few things though.  Kids do NOT conserve paint and they do NOT paint neatly.  Just take deep breaths and let them slop it on this is supposed to be a fun journey!

Here are some pictures of our new and improved playroom!

Play House area and an Art Easel I picked up for 3.00 at a garage sale

Reading Nook and a specific toy shelf for the baby. I wanted something that was on her level.

Barbie House (Remodel in process)

Book Closet!!  The bottom shelf is craft items that I do not want Jericho to have free access to.

Our amazing toy shelf that my awesome husband built!  I love it it is exactly what I pictured!  

So Here it is!!  We have some other plans but they may take awhile.  So far my thought is this is amazing!  The kids love it and no one has told me they are bored in quite sometime.  So over all I think it is amazing! They think it is amazing It must be amazing!

Play Room Makeover: Part 1

Going back to the basics

Earlier this week I read an article about simplifying the play room.  The playroom has always been my struggle!  It always becomes such a disaster, and if you know me you have heard me say

I HATE TOYS!!!


Well after a little thinking I decided to try a more minimalist approach and I wanted a  more Montessori style play space.

The first thing I had to do was to get my family on board.  So I had the kids make a list of five things they wanted to have in their play space and they struggled to come up with five things!!  This told me that I definitely needed to downsize.

So Step one...

Get

rid of

STUFF!!!

 My girls helped me sort through Barbies.  I chose a small tote and I told them if it didn't fit we were not keeping it. They were okay with this amazingly, we went through every item one at a time and decided what to keep and what to toss.

Above are the before photos. It was so bad! and I really didn't thing we had that many toys! Boy was I wrong!  We threw away 2 trash bags of just trash and we are going to try to sell this heap of toys! 

 Our goal is to use the money from selling the toys to get good shelving solutions and to purchase a few things like an indoor swing and a balance beam.



Following are our after pictures and a list of what we removed.

Eventually this closet will just have books, but that has to wait until we get shelves built.

Okay so pictured above is our step one progress! Yay!  All that you see pictured is all of the toys we have for five kids, and just in case you think they are deprived. They have been playing in their new space for over an hour!!

What we removed

1. About 75% of the toys we had
2. A huge table
3. two large deep toy boxes

So what is next?  First sell these toys! But really step two is shelving.

I cant wait to update you on more progress!

Be Ever Encouraging and Never Questioning

I hate being judged for my choices.  I am sure you do also.  Here is what happened today that sparked this post.


Here we are at the library for No Hunger Summer Lunch.  My kids enjoy going and it is so nice to not have to make lunch every day, it frees up so much time.  Less dishes and less food used means less work for mommy. So we go and we enjoy it and the kids get very nice lunches!! But today here was the scenario

A lady comes up to me commenting about how cute my sweet Jericho is and notices me talking to Malachi and this is how the conversation goes

 "oh how sweet, Is this big brother" --volunteer

I say yes! then I talk to Alexis  and she says

"oh is she your too?"--volunteer

Yes! I have five.  and then I waited for her response

Gasp!!! "Wow you are a busy mom" --Volunteer

and immediately I saw it her eyes and her facial expression changed, she was judging me I can only imagine everything going through her mind then to top it off she asks David what grade he is in and he thinks for a bit and says I will be in fourth grade!

"Oh do you go to school here in Horton?"-- Volunteer

He proudly says "No I am home schooled!!!"

Gasp!!!"Wow your a busy mom"--volunteer

Then she walks away and talks to others but in less then 5 minutes she is back and I know by this time what kind of person I am dealing with.  You know the type? Always questioning never encouraging.

And she says "So do you use the free Kansas home school curriculum?"--Volunteer

I say "No, I piece together different things and build my own "curriculum""

Gasp!!"Wow, that must be a lot of work for you!! "--Volunteer

"I don't mind" I say

And then it comes the questioning look, the glances at my kids sizing them up, are they really educated?

And she proceeds to tell me all of the things that makes my life hard.

"Wow, you have  a lot to do! With educating, cleaning your house, cooking your meals, and nurturing, lots of nurturing!"--Volunteer

I just smiled and went on helping my kids with their meal but inside I was being attacked.  You see homeschooling is a calling. I love homeschooling my children but everyday Satan tells me I am not good enough. He tells me I don't nurture enough, he tells me I don't teach well enough, he tells me my house is not clean enough, he tells me my meals aren't healthy enough.  I have to fight against his lies and conversations like this don't help!!

Then it got me thinking.  These volunteers are from local churches.  If I a believer in Christ feel judged what does a non-believer feel like under this scrutiny?

I feel like as Christians we should be lifting people up not pulling them down! Reminding people how blessed they are not how hard their life is!

So today I didn't feel encouraged or loved. I felt judged, I felt like there was no way I could be doing a good job! My life was too full, too hard. I couldn't possibly have well educated kids.

So to sum it all up remember to encourage each other instead of questioning.  Encouraging people could take a weight off their shoulders and most of all show them Christs love.

Dealing with my loss

First off I am so sorry this has taken so long!  It took me along time to process and have time to write it all out. This will probably be a long post.

As many of you know I had a miscarriage May 2013. it was painful and ugly.  I didn't know how to deal with life. but life goes on, kind of, it goes on with a piece of your heart left behind.  Other people move on but me I stayed in a dark hole for a long time and I questioned God.

WHY!! 

WHY ME! 

WHY NOW! 

WHY? 

WHY didn't  you save him? (I believe God is capable of that! )

I thought you were GOOD?? 

Don't you LOVE me?? 

Then  October 2013 I was pregnant again and I wanted to be happy but I was filled with so much hurt and anxiety  that I couldn't be happy for days after testing, and then I started bleeding again.  and I really started questioning God.  However this time things were different we went straight to the midwife and got an ultrasound and I heard a heart beat. My baby was there!!! I was filled with joy and excitement but it was shadowed in worry the entire pregnancy (All 41 weeks 2 days of it)

Then July 2014 we welcomed our sweet girl into the world. She was perfect and came after a very long hard labor.  She is so precious but for the first few weeks I could barely believe she was here!! I felt like I was living in a dream and any minute she would be whisked away from me but she wasn't and she is perfect and she is already 7 months old!!!! 

Now I still hadn't  dealt with my loss, don't think the joy of this baby erased the pain.  I still miss my sweet baby that I never met.  However it wasn't until February 2015 that I realized I hadn't dealt with my heart. My heart  was  so HARD!!!

I was invited to an IF GATHERING  It was lovely and it was all about Joshua taking his promise land and it was all about God being good. And that was hard for me because I didn't see God as good.  He took my baby right.  He couldn't be good.  Then he started revealing things to me.


Joshua was a slave and then he was free but he wondered for years in the wilderness and then finally God tells him hey I want you all to march around Jericho for 6 days?? SAY WHAT!!  March around this city that has giants in it? But God WHY? WHY Now?   Just take it over.  (sound familiar)  

and in his quiet voice God said to me don't you trust me? 

And this may not mean anything to anyone but me, however My sweet baby girl her name is Jericho Elizabeth.  No not Jericho's walls fall, Not Jericho after a Les Mills pump trainer. 

 But Jericho my promise land and  Elizabeth  God is satisfaction. 

And you know If My Gabriel hadn't went to be with Jesus My Jericho wouldn't be here. I will never know why my baby died and I don't believe God caused him to die. Life happens and being a believer in Christ does not make you immune.  Bad things happen to everyone in every religion and walk of life. I have to remember that God can make a good thing come from an ugly one. Ultimately I have to remember through bad and good God is unchanging and

God is good, All the Time 

I am a Super Mom!!!

Or am I?

I have been wanting to write this post for months. Maybe even a year? but I couldn't decide how to put it into words.  Recently though I went to see the movie Moms Night Out and reality struck me. I can do this post and it is going to be great! (okay maybe not great but I am going to do my best)  and I am going to be real.


One day I was chatting with a friend on Facebook and we were talking about home school. And she said to me "I don't know how you do it!!, You are such a Super Mom"  and honestly it caught me totally off guard!

My first thought was I am not a Super Mom!!! but she was complimenting me and I didn't want to be rude so I said "Thanks! I think the same thing about other moms"

That conversation left me to months of thinking and deciding what is a Super Mom?  WE seem to hear that a lot!! SO he is what my brain kept telling me that a Super Mom was or had.

A Super Mom has it all figured out right? They can balance school, keeping the house up, being a mom, and a great wife, and don't forget meals.  So here is a day in the life of a Super Mom

 She wakes up and reads her Bible and lingers over a nice Hot cup of coffee while the kids are still sleeping.  Then she moseys into the kitchen and the kids are up by now and they help her make oatmeal and fried eggs and a nice piece of fruit and it is all beautifully arranged on the plates. Then the kids clear the table and put their dishes in the dirty dish sink and sit down to start school. (Mind you they are all dressed and their hair is fixed beautifully!) School is accomplished and now it is chore time and the day has been beautiful. They get all the chores done and sit down to a well balanced lunch and then everyone has a quiet time where they read books or nap and mommy gets some quiet time to read, sew, sit, sleep (whatever she wants really)  Once quiet time is over everyone comes down stairs and they do a craft or visit a park. Then they come home and make a beautiful dinner for daddy. When daddy comes home everyone is smiling and joyous and they show him all of the wonderful things they accomplished today Mind you mom is  dressed nicely and wearing makeup and has fixed her hair for the day.....


WAIT A MINUTE!! WHEN DOES THIS HAPPEN?? OK LETS GET BACK TO REALITY!


Here is a day in the life of a real Super Mom.

Mommy wakes up to the noise of screeching (yep screeching) only to find out that The 8 year old is keeping the 2 year old from raiding the pantry again!! Everyone is hungry so she throws oatmeal in the pan and if were lucky we have a piece of fruit with it.  Mommy makes her coffee and maybe gets a chance to drink it hot.  By this time it is after 8 and school has to be started or we will NEVER finish.  So the kids get their school out and mom starts reading lessons and giving assignments She gets interrupted multiple times by the two year old who needs a snack. OR the 2 and 4 year old are screaming.(mind you everyone is still in their Pajamas)  Then she gets back to school and gets assignments laid out for independent work and the phone rings. Mom answers and has to take the call.  The two year old needs another snack and the older two who are supposed to be doing school are punching each other and rolling on the floor in a fight over who gets to use what pencil!!! Then mom realizes that its lunch time and there is nothing prepared. She quickly makes Macaroni and cheese with broccoli in it (hey its got a be a little healthy) and everyone has a piece of fruit.  While mom is cooking the kids are supposed to be cleaning up their chore Zones. It is getting done (kind of). Then they all eat lunch and argue over anything they can argue over.  They double check to make sure school is done and everyone has quiet time.  The two year old naps after getting up 10 times and the older kids read or play Lego's (sometimes they are quiet)  Mom finally takes a shower and gets dressed and tries to have a few minutes of time to herself. Then she looks around and realizes how blessed she really is.  Then kids get up and they play outside. Sometimes mom ignores the house and goes out too. But most of the time she tries to get something done and starts dinner. She gets dinner done and daddy comes home She welcomes him with a kiss and hug, sometimes. She is dressed now but her hair is in a pony tail and she has no make-up on. The kids rush to see daddy they are so happy he is home.  They eat dinner and get kids to bed. Over all it has been a good day. Sure the kitchen floor hasn't been swept, there are 12 baskets of laundry that need folded, the floor needs vacuumed but it will be there tomorrow.  Mom heads off to bed and gets ready for another wild day.

I realized that a Super Mom is just a mom who cares about her kids.  She loves her family and what she does. She strives to be a good mom. She teachers her kids and answers their questions. She does her best with giving them healthy meals. She listens to them. She hugs them.

She doesn't have to do crafts. She doesn't have to go to the park. She doesn't need to wear make-up. She doesn't have to have a spotless house.

A Super Mom is not a mom who has it all together a Super Mom is me. A super Mom is YOU!