Puddle Jumpers

It rained the other day. A lot actually.  It made you forget we were coming out of a long drought.  The kids were antsy from being cooped up.  Since the day was very mild I suggested we head out and find some good puddles to play in. Much fun took place that day.....

A Day in the Life of a Home-Schooling Stay at Home Mom

6:45-8:00 Wake up and get coffee
If the Professor is still sleeping...enjoy the coffee while it is hot. Check online to see the school schedule for the day and then work on daily tweeting and other blog stuff.  Somewhere in here help 3 kids get breakfast, get my own breakfast...which will be shared with the Professor, pack my husbands lunch, get his water supply for the day packed up and start a load of laundry.

8:00-8:30 - Turn on Curious George for the Professor.  Have the girls practice their piano, use the bathroom and prep for their school day.

8:30 - turn off the TV and do morning devotions and prayers.  School starts for the girls and Operation Demolish the House and Jump on My Sisters is begun by the Professor.  In between keeping the Professor out of trouble and doing one-on-one lessons with the girls I (sometimes) attempt to clean, fold laundry and/or prep for dinner.

School continues non-stop until 11:00

At 11:00 we break for lunch, outdoor play (when weather allows).  I make lunches for 4, clean up the kitchen and eat.

At noon we resume school.  I try and have the girls do something hard since they are full and just back from being outdoors so it's a great time for Math or Science.  Around 1 the Professor goes down for his nap.  I finish any laundry that is not yet done and the girls and I continue school.  On a good day we can finish by 2:30 and I will get 30-60 minutes of good cleaning time in or time to work on blog stuff.

The rest of the afternoon is rather unscheduled.  The girls play and do arts and crafts.  The Professor likes to have some one-on-one time with Mommy.  Somewhere in here I will finish up dinner prep or start dinner depending on what we are having (my meals are planned by the week).

Around 5:30 my husband comes home and everyone bombards him with stuff about their day.  He takes a shower and we eat.  Then time to clean up the kitchen.  Around 7 p.m. we have all the kids clean their rooms and pick up toys in the living room.  Once that is done they brush their teeth and put on pjs.  Then we will typically play a family game or read a book or something.

8:00 - Kids go to bed.  

Then relaxation. Or laundry.  Catching up with my hubby and catching up on blog related work. 
Of course, not every day is the same.  Sometimes we have meetings at night or have someone over for dinner.  Sometimes someone gets sick or whatever.  But this is the basic flow to our days.  It may sound quaint but it takes a lot of work!  I am not a super mom.  Each day I choose tasks to be left undone.  At the end of the night my husband and family don't care if there are still fingerprints on the coffee table...they care if I am focused on them or if instead I am running around stressing about the house.  It can be a delicate balance to maintain. 

What do your days look like?  How do you keep the balance?

Good News to Start the Week!

I had the ultrasound for the baby today.  This was a special ultrasound with a Pediatric Cardiologist.  I was stressed about the appointment.  The doctor kept reassuring me this was a normal follow up, but I was nervous.  I asked my dad to drive me.  We got there and I was called back pretty quickly.  The tech spent about 45 minutes trying to get all the pictures and images of our sons heart.  At one point I asked her if everything looked ok and she said the doctor would tell me.  Of course that made me more nervous.  She had told me that the doctor would come in and look over the images and that he would not say much.  So after 45-60 minutes of constant scanning the doctor came in.  He began looking through everything.  After about 10 minutes he asked me to gather my things and follow him to a consultation room.  I take a seat and he starts asking me if there was any history of brain or kidney or heart trouble with any of our kids.  I literally feel like I am passing out.  I feel like the room is tipping and I am bracing for news that will rock my world.  My hands are gripping this table to keep from falling over.  Then he whips out photos of a normal heart.  I am choking up and barely able to speak.  After talking for another minute he says that our son does indeed have a hole in his heart but that it is small and he is not worried.  He wants to do an ultrasound when the baby is a week old and that's it!  He said to enjoy our "precious Christmas gift".  Now those are orders I can follow!

Wordless Wednesday...Who's Watching?

All these have magically appeared in front of me while blogging.....

Illuminaton Festival 2012

This year, our Hippie wanted to see Toby Mac in concert.  We have listened to his music since the girls were 2 and 3.  We were not going to go because it was fairly expensive.  But we found out as part of the Illumination tour...he was going to be 10 minutes away.  Not only that but TWO days before her 8th birthday. My husband and I discussed it and decided in lieu of physical gifts we'd take her to see him.  We videoed her reaction.  It was priceless!

The girls all dressed, binoculars handy and ready to go!

We stopped and ate at McDonald's on the way there.

When we got there her jaw about dropped!  We were a little surprised at her reaction but then she told us "I thought this would be on a school stage with folding chairs!"  So being at a stadium was a huge shock!  First stop....we had promised her a Toby Mac shirt and cd.

Boom. Boom-Boom.  We got to hear City Harmonic and they performed one of our favorite songs!

It was hard to catch the Hippie without her binoculars!

The Genius had fun too.  Her favorite was Jamie Grace.  Once Jamie Grace left the stage it was time for Toby Mac!

And the perfect end to a perfect night...ice cream on the way home at 11 p.m.  Sometimes it is nice to just spend a night saying "yes" to your kids.  I am pretty sure the memories we created will last her a lifetime.  I don't think she will ever forget her 8th birthday.   It was all worth it for our sweet girl.

Glimpses of the Professor

He gets around! He loves his family, loves being outside and hates wearing clothes.
Have a great weekend!

The Follow Up Ultrasound

Today was my follow up ultrasound.  The reason for this was because at the last one the doctor suspected a small hole in our son's heart.  I got a sitter for the Genius and the Professor and took the Hippie with me on a date (of sorts).  I was not a bit nervous for this appointment until I woke up today.  Then I was...nervous.  Very nervous.  It seems like we have never really had a calm during this pregnancy.  The nurse spent a LOT of time measuring his heart, listening to his heart, taking pictures of his heart.  I think it was about 30 minutes of nothing but heart footage.  I was starting for feel pretty icky.  Eventually she had all she needed and she spent about 10 minutes showing of the baby to the Hippie and I as well as measuring fluid levels etc...  She scored some amazing profile pictures of our baby boy!

In the second pic, he actually has 1 finger pointing.  He was SO cute! We saw him moving and grooving all over the place.  We saw him swallow fluid and turn his head.  We saw his arm bones, leg bones, finger bones.  It is miraculous!  At the end of the appointment the doctor came back in and said that the baby is breech, but that he has plenty of time left to flip himself.  He does still have the hole in his heart but they do believe it is a small hole (thank you God).  At some point, the hole should simply heal itself and close up on its own.  At their practice though they practice with caution.  So I coming back every month for a follow up ultrasound.  I also have to go to a Children's Hospital for a pediatric cardiologist to do an ultrasound of his heart.  I am actually thankful for their caution.  Especially since none of these are invasive procedures.  Plus it means we get to keep seeing our baby boy. 
Thanks to everyone who has been praying for our son!  What I experienced today just reinforces that we have chosen the right name for him.  No one but my husband and I will hear the name until he is born.  It is a privilege we give the older siblings.  At his birth they will get to be the first ones in and the first ones to share his name with everyone. 
3 months and 11 days until his official due date.  We cannot wait to meet you Buddy!!!!

Back to School

Today we had a Back to School picnic

The Professor treed a squirrel or "fwirl".  

He then tried to bribe it down with a nut. "Here fwirl. Nut. Bite. Eat."

When that did not work he recruited the Hippie.  No "fwirl" in the park was safe from these two hunters.  They treed countless squirrels and left piles of nuts all over the park.

The we had our co-op orientation.  Legos galore!

And coloring too!

But the best part was the Fire Truck and Ambulance.  The Professor bawled his eyes out when we had to leave them.