Things have been pretty crazy around here. I have had to balance not only school work for my oldest, entertain my middle child, but also chase around a one year old toddler! On top of that, there is still house work to keep up on (eating at home with three kids all day, every day, can sure make a mess!) I still have piles of laundry to do and toys to pick up. There is also a need for keeping up on bills (believe me, I would put it off if I could!) I also have to find time to grocery shop for my large eaters and make runs into town for whatever else the week calls for. Plus the play dates, my mom group, bible study, and women's ministry. Don't forget the need to bathe the kids as well! That one is a stinky one to forget and seems like it needs done more often than not!
I would have to say, this is definitely the hardest part for me. I am used to doing what needs to be done, when it needs done and having the freedom to do so. To be put on a schedule is very difficult to do with kids. I am one tantrum or evaded nap away from having my whole day thrown of course! I have such high expectations for myself and am often left feeling unaccomplished and exhausted. I have to learn to accept that things may not go as I had planned. Which is becoming easier but at the same time, I feel like I am lowering my standards. I don't want to give myself so many breaks that I begin to start slacking off.
A perfect example of that is exercising. When we moved into our new house, I had this goal of at least doing some cardio every day. Should be easy, right? I mean, I have a basement now filled with exercise equipment and an awesome treadmill. I love working out, so it should be easy! Wrong! It seems every morning I plan to wake up early, one of the kids wakes up in the middle of the night, or something keeps me awake. It becomes impossible for me to look at my alarm with red swollen eyes, and think getting up early to exert myself even more is a good idea. I would be crazy (if I wasn't already!) Ha! So then, I start my day off already disappointed in myself. The day always seems to get filled too fast and that late day exercise I thought I would be able to squeeze in, just doesn't happen. I know that I must not give up on this though! If I give up on trying to make it happen, it never will!
As far as schooling goes though, life is great! Things are moving right along in class and my daughter seems to love it! I can see her vocabulary growing, and her spelling skills sharpening! She is learning to write sentences with subjects and predicates, quotation marks, and punctuation marks. She has successfully memorized Psalm 1:1-4 already, and is still going! We are starting to finish up our first round of books, one including Charlottes's Web. And she is still flying through her math each day!
Now if some how, I could transform into some sort of super mom and get all the rest of the stuff done, that would be awesome! But for now, I will focus on what I CAN do, strive for what I WANT to do and laugh if I don't always get it all done.
I want to say thank you for all of you who keep reading this blog and giving me words of encouragement! It means the world to me! Love you!
