Monday Madness: Am I Back in the Groove?

What's On My Mind Today:

Good morning!

I'm praying that as you read this that the Lord will bless you today! As I sit down to write, I glanced over at my calendar to see what is coming up this week. There are some things that will need prayer and things that could change. One thing that won't change: God's ability to get me through the week that is staring ahead of me.

This week there is at least one court date I need to go to for the parents of one of our current placements. It's not mandatory to go as a foster parent. However, I make them a priority. For starters, you learn a lot of things about the case that DHS can't tell you for confidentiality's sake that is made public knowledge. I also find that the parents often have no one else standing there to support them. How scary that must be? I can't imagine. 

This week I am preparing for something exciting that you will find out about later. There is a lot of planning that goes into it. Maybe a little less than I imagined? While I am pretty well prepared, there is a lot to accomplish in the next couple days and I have no idea when I will find the precious time to get it done.

Most of you know that currently, we have 8 children. Six are ours and two are temporary. Because of that, I have been trying to get into a different rhythm than I am used to for this school year. Every year is different. Usually, by now I am in the groove of things, but it's just starting to come together! What makes it a bit more complicated is that on the school front, we homeschool, have one in private school, one in public school and one that is homeschooled but uses the public school resource room. Talk about going in different directions all day long! With a lot of prayer, the Lord has allowed me to delegate some tasks that I thought I needed to accomplish and ask for help in other areas. Rarely do I look at the calendar with dread now. 

Time to get going on the To-Do List! Praying your week goes well!

If you missed the last Monday Madness post: Celebrating My Girls' Birthdays

Until next time...

Have a blessed day and embrace the craziness in your life!

Heidi
Numbers 6:24-26

I LOVE MONDAYS! Really!!!

Mondays are different around here: We do not give our girls school work on Mondays as they volunteer with their grandparents at a local rest home and Lil Mr goes to preschool. So it is perfect for catching up on the little things that build up over the weekend or finishing up projects from Saturday.

Today was no exception. I dropped Lil Mr off at preschool then ran to the post office to get some stamps and also get hollered at by some random stranger who was not having a great day. That was pleasant. Then it was homeward bound with the vision of the two projects I wanted to finish dancing in my head.

The first was to reclaim my son's room. He is very good about putting things away, he likes everything in it's spot or he starts twitching. ( Reminds me of his dad.... :P ) However, if he has a friend over, things don't always get put away before said friend leaves. Then I see this glazed look come over him and he just dumps everything. Probably part of the Sensory Processing Disorder. So...to make it easier on him, I gave away a big sack full of toys that he really doesn't play with as well as a stack of books. Then I put up some of the toys like his blocks, Legos and Little People. This left his cars and trains to play with. The others can be pulled out when he wants to play with them, but  are out of the reach of  friends. Looks MUCH neater in there. We also moved out his big dresser he wasn't using and put in a smaller one. I have to say that it warmed my heart when he came home and saw his room. I pointed out where his shoes go and he said, "Wow, thanks, mom! Where do my socks go?" Too cute!

On hubby's lunch break we ran to Home Depot to get a few little things and off to Joann's to get another panel of muslin for my dining room curtains. When we got home, hubby put up my curtain rod, fixed the doors on my corner cabinet and changed out the hardware on the doors. The result was amazing! (Pics below.) While he did that, I scurried to my craft room and got my curtains sewn up. Was pretty simple to do but did take a couple hours.

All in all, I am really happy with how the dining room is turning out. It's taken a couple months, slowly but surely. It started with being wild and crazy by painting the dining room table and chairs. I moved some furniture around in the dining room. Hubby also moved the piano out of the dining room and into the living room. Then Saturday, hubby painted my dining room a beautiful creamy white color while I finished painting the corner cabinet. I have just two more things I want to do to finish it: I want to get a  cool "vintage" window and make a chalkboard out of it. I am also looking for a nice English or French countryside picture to hang on one wall.   I am pretty picky about what I will spend. I don't like spending more than I have to, as I would rather make things myself! However, a painter I am NOT. My poor parents tried giving me classes in middle school and let's just say...I am not talented in that area!

Anyway, there are some pics below. I hope you enjoy them and have a great night!

New hardware for a lovely old piece. Found out that this corner cabinet has been in our family for over 45 years.

Doors are secure and it is finished!

To save money, I waited till the outside panels of material went on sale for 60% off!
Then I only bought 3 yards, cut it in half and added muslin panels in the middle.

That long dresser was in my son's room. We brought it in here and turned it into a buffet.
Then I was going to put that little dresser out in the shed and hubby had the
great suggestion to put my cookbooks on it and walah! (Also known as "voila"! I just like my non-words!)

Schooling Outdoors

So if you have followed my Happy Heart Homemaking blog, you will have read about how our family fixed up our patio/backyard so that we are basically living outside! Although this is the first year that we have had the patio completely covered and been able to literally have a dining room table outside. At any rate, we are enjoying it and have been schooling outside too! When I say that we LIVE outdoors during Spring, Summer and Fall, I wasn't joking!

Here are some pics from our past week of schooling outdoors:

Lil Mr playing with one of the kids from the school next door...

"Huh...?"

One of our friends that was schooling with us that day...

Bright and sassy!

Incentive! Everyone wants a stamp!

"Uh...mom? Not sure what to do here!"

Someone's a little chilly!

It's not Greek...it's my Assignment Book. Someone has to keep track of all these kids

 and what they are doing!

Art Class!

A friend doing her schoolwork. Who says school has to happen at a table? Not me!

Another friend experimenting in the kitchen!

If your family is starting to get burnt out, I would change up where you are doing school work! Might make all the difference! Have a wonderful week!

April Field Trip: Art Night

We are on break! Our field trip for this break was to go to our town's art night since we are doing a art class. So here we are starting out! (Unfortunately I wasn't able to take pics in the art museums, but we got some fun shots of the evening...)

Mac teaching the cricket the proper cello stance!

The girls!

The boys!

The art of music! These are called slit drums and are made here locally! They are so beautiful.

 On my wish list!

This is our "go-to" music store. The girls took piano lessons here several years ago. They are very family orientated and love to have the kids in. Speaking of...I should have some music coming in..

.they are called Great Northwest Music Company.

These are called Kalimbas. You play them like you are texting! 

They sound kinda like wind-chimes and can be tuned to certain keys.

This art was done by Lil Mr's Early Head-start class! 

Yay for Miss Victoria and Miss Danielle!

This is The Glass Forge. 

They actually make things for our small car business that we have.

 (VERY small business!)

We happened to get there right when they were training and we had fun watching them make a bowl. 

Posing outside one of the art museums!

All in all, it was a very fun night and we were so thankful to be joined by our friend Sue, our friend Grace and her son!

Spring Break Activities: Art and Baking

All during our break, we are doing an art class. It is done by Thomas Kinkade and is a load of fun! Today's class was about realistic drawing. You watch a clip where Thomas Kinkade explains a technique, then you practice yourself. Here are some pics from today:

While they were working on art, I went to see what Lil Mr was up to.....

He was busy re-organizing his toy box! 

Today we also had a baking class. Fred and Bob learned how to use the bread machine and made a simple white bread. Very tasty for sandwich bread:

Sorry the pics are a little fuzzy, my camera was being difficult!

Here is their finished loaf of bread:

My oldest also had a bread machine lesson. She made a potato bread. 

We had it for dinner and it was YUMMY!

(Don't you love her pretty braces? I do!)

We had quite the productive and fun day!

Learning Home Ec In The Home: Baking and Cooking Projects Coming Up

 While on our school break, the girls are going to have baking and cooking lessons. This is one of our favorite times of the day! Here are some of the things we look forward to bonding over in the next couple weeks:

• Blackberry Pie
• Learn to make bread in the bread machine
• Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Chocolate Cake (Do I sense a theme here?)
• Layer Cake

I will post pics as we encounter each lesson as well as the recipe for your enjoyment!

Tests and First Break...

As a result of having a break coming up, today and yesterday are being filled with tests.

 One right after another.

 I am proud to say, that so far, they are passing with flying colors!

So, as you know, we are starting our first year of year-round schooling. Our first break is coming up and I have had different people ask if we are planning our breaks or if it will be complete free time. We won't have a schedule, but we will be doing some specific things. All of our breaks will include this:

• A Field Trip
• A Elective Class (This is a class that is not necessary, but fun and a learning experience.)
• An Home Making Class (These are things having to do with being a keeper of the home.)

During our next couple week of free time, the girls will be having some cooking/baking lessons, an art class (A course by Thomas Kinkade) and a field trip. Our field trip will be going to several art museums in the area and observing different styles of art. 

Our breaks will also include:

• Sleeping in. (Yay!!!)
• Endless hours of playing outdoors.
• Fun and Games.

So while we won't have "book" work or a "school" schedule, but we will be having fun doing some extras that don't get to happen in a regular school day. As well as just simply being lazy!

E is for Everyone Helps!

I have had several people ask me about what kind of chores I give my kids to do. So I thought that would be a perfect topic for our E letter in that Everyone Helps in our house.

There are a couple ways we have approached chores in our house and there is by no means a right or wrong way. Just like homeschooling, you have to find what works for your family. In a large family like ours, it is crucial that everyone helps. My husband likes to remind the kids that I am not their slave. It's nice to hear that once in a while! LOL

My hubby and I were raised differently, so when it came to chores, I put both concepts to use. My hubby was raised that as soon as you were tall enough to do something, you were old enough to train to do it. So as soon as you could reach the table, you helped with clearing the table. As soon as you could stand at the ironing board, you were trained to use it. I was raised a little bit differently. I never had set chores till I was 12. Up till that point, we had to keep our rooms clean and do whatever chores mom and dad asked, but other than that, there was no specific chores to do. Then when i was 12, my mom became bed-bound by MS for quite awhile. So dad got out a posterboard and we sat down and divided the chores. He made it so that we didn't do the same chores every day for variety. But there was a routine in how and when we did it. 

As a result, we have come up with something that works for our family. A long time ago, I ran across a website that gave a run down on what they thought were age appropriate chores. I found that very helpful to get me started in making chore lists for my kids. I cannot find that website now, but here is one that is helpful at Lots Of Kids.

I started chore lists when my oldest was about three. I know! Mean mom, right? However, kids thrive on responsibility and being able to please their parents. Yes, there is alot of training when they are learning a new task. Once they have it though, I am free to leave them to their jobs.

So for example,on different days in the week,  my 9 and 11 year olds are responsible for:

Collecting all garbage in the house and taking it out.

Collecting the recycling and taking it out to the bin.

Mopping.

Empting and loading dishwasher.

Switching laundry.

Bathroom duty.

Sweeping cobwebs.

Washing walls.

My younger two girls are responsible for:

Switching laundry.

Feeding and watering animals.

Bathroom duty.

Sweep cobwebs.

Washing walls.

They also sometimes help with unloading the dishwasher.

Everyday they are all  also responsible for:

Making their bed.

Hygiene twice a day.

Tidying the schoolroom in the afternoon.

My son, who is 3 years old, has chores too! He has to keep his room clean, he helps me tidy around the house, he feeds the animals on the day the girls are not responsible, he has to put his diapers in the garbage, and he helps clear the table right now as well as other little things.

We don't pay the kids for doing chores. It is part of being in our family. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, but we don't do it.

There are consequences for chores that are not done. This happens so rarely in our house, that I don't usually have to think about it. But they lose priviledges to do things or cannot go to friend's houses if they do not finish their chores.

Anyway, I hope this helps out those who have questions! The main thing to remember is that we want to train our kids to be responsible adults. That doesn't happen over night. They have to learn how to be responsible children first. While it will be some work at the beginning as you are training, you will reap great benefits!

Late Start

We had to have another health/safety inspection from DHS. Our son's adoption process is in no man's land at the moment. Kinda annoying. While he is designated adopted and we are his adoptive parents, we are still waiting on the state to finish going through the paper work and send it back to our attorney to sign papers. So in the meantime, he is still considered a ward of the state and they still have to do inspections....

As a result, we had a REALLY late start today. Which kinda stinks cause the sun chose this moment to come out! I am thinking we need to go for a walk/drive/picnic or something today. Get out of the house. We have been stuck here forever...And if  I am complaining, it MUST be lasting forever, cause I love the cold weather.

I think we will go to the park this afternoon. Take a picnic, take notebooks and write down or draw, for those of us who don't write yet, the spring changes we see happening! Sounds like a good homeschool project!