I mentioned finding my living room again.  Now I’m busy at work cleaning out and organizing every room because oh my goodness does my house ever need it. 

What IS it about a new year that inspires so many of us to re-organize…re-group…re- re- realize that we have too much stuff hanging out of our drawers and THAT is why they won’t close?!

Here’s a room cleaning organizational tip that my sister-in-law Kari shared with me several years ago:

Start in one room.  Stay in that room.  If something belongs in another room…just throw it into that room and go back to the room you are working in to begin with. 

Otherwise…you’ll start in the living room…notice a dirty plate…take the plate into the kitchen…see all the dirty dishes…start to wash them…stop to pick up some dirty socks on the kitchen floor…take the socks to the laundry room…start sorting the laundry…pick up a stuffed frog sitting on the dirty underwear…take the stuffed frog into the kid’s room to put into the toy box…notice your best scissors on your son’s dresser…take the scissors into the craft room…see the wrapping paper all over the floor…

And you’ll never get to the living room.

It’s called Organizational ADD.  I have this disorder if I don’t follow the advice of my sister-in-law and work on ONE room until I finish it entirely. 

This method works very well.  And it is SO nice to at least have one room clean when you start to tackle the others. 

Anybody else out there struggle with Organizational ADD?  Anybody else out there cleaning out and re-organizing like CRAZY lately?  Anybody else think that January should really come more often so we will be inspired to get organized more often?  (ooh, except I don’t want it to be cold more often…)
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See what everyone else is sharing today at Rocks in my Dryer!

I thought I’d take some time to answer some of your questions from this post. 

What curriculum do I use for Language Arts?

We don’t use one single curriculum for our entire Language Arts program.  For spelling, we use Spelling Power.  For Phonics we use Explode the Code.  For handwriting we are currently using Handwriting Without Tears, but for cursive we use Getty Dubay Italic Handwriting.  (Asa doesn’t work out of a handwriting book anymore.  His handwriting is better than mine now, and he just practices it when he does normal writing assignments or writes thank you notes, etc.)  As for grammar, I decided to try my own thing this year and it is working pretty well.  I’ll write a whole post about it sometime for you.  (One in which you is welcome to check for grammatical errors.) 

What do I do for exercise and when do I do it?

I LOVE to exercise…about as much as I LOVE to walk around a shopping mall for eight hours in high heels.   (I don’t own any high heels.) 

Exercise is not my favorite activity.  I’d rather clean toilets.  But, I know it’s good for me…so when I do discipline myself enough to exercise (and when my lungs are cooperating and allowing me to breathe like a normal person) my favorite way to exercise is on a rebounder (mini trampoline).  We have one in our “game room” and I pull it down sometimes and “jog” on it after I’ve worked on the computer in the afternoons before I start dinner.  Sometimes. 

I enjoy taking brisk walks too, but I really, really like the rebounder.  It hurts the least of all exercise I’ve ever done….and I like doing things that don’t hurt.  I’m weird like that.  (Or perhaps I’m just a wimp.)

Plus, I’ve heard that the rebounder is a very healthy way to make your body work well and get rid of toxins.  You can read more about that here.

I wish I could tell you that I exercise on my rebounder regularly, but I don’t.  Shame on me.  Feel free to leave me a guilt trip in the comments section.  Does it count that I move 100 miles an hour during the day and that while the boys were learning to sew I ran constantly from boy to boy re-threading their needles? 

When do I clean?

Thankfully, I clean more regularly than I exercise.  In fact, I usually work up a sweat while I clean, so I think we can call it exercise.  Yes, let’s do that.

We try to reserve Friday mornings for cleaning.  The boys are old enough now to really help and I’m so, so happy about that.   We also try to do a “pick-up” of the house in the evenings, but seriously, by Friday morning the house looks pretty scary. 

I’m trying to figure out a better routine…and some better discplines for the boys regarding putting their stuff away when they’re done playing with it.  After Christmas, I’m going to try some new things to try to keep the house organized and clean for longer than a few short hours.  If/when they work, I’ll let you know. 

Okay…there you go…some answers to some of your questions.  What do you do to get exercise and when do you clean?  And seriously, don’t you think they are one in the same? 

First let me share what our week looks like, then I’ll break down a school day for you.  Of course, you know that we rarely follow this to the letter, right? (Because phones ring and skinned knees happens and math books get misplaced in places where they never should be placed if someone would have been really thinking when they placed it there.) 

(Not written in the schedule is the fact that if I’m walking by the computer, I usually glance at it to see if I’ve received email.  It’s an addiction.  Sigh.) 

(Also not written in the schedule is the fact that I pray almost constantly and spend time reading the Bible most days…usually in the evening.  I didn’t put it into the schedule because there is not a consistent time I have set aside for reading.)

Here’s a basic week at our house:

Monday - Thursday -  “normal” school days
Friday - P.E.; library; field trips; house cleaning
Saturday - planning for the upcoming week for school and meals; cooking and baking ahead; figuring out the blog plan for the week
Sunday - Church; sometimes company after church; small group fellowship in evening

Okay, now, here’s what our Monday through Thursday school days sort of, maybe, kinda look like:

• I get up anywhere between 6:30-7:30…check email, moderate comments, start breakfast.  Oh yes, and sometimes I even take a shower (aren’t you glad?).
• Matt eats and leaves for work around 8.
• Boys get up and come down for hugs, mess around and waste time, get hollered at gently reminded by me a few times to get the show on the road, then finally come eat breakfast.
• I read Bible to the boys while they eat  (I usually eat earlier with Matt or I eat on the fly).
• I clean up dishes and the breakfast table, the boys get dressed and ready for schoool, I throw in laundry.
• 9:30ish  Boys bring down and set up an “activity” (usually something like legos or knex or magnetix) to work on in the living room while I read.
• I read history to the boys while they do their activity.  This works SO much better than asking them to “be still and listen”.  If all is going well…I also read from whatever “read-aloud” we’re on at the time.  This is probably our favorite part of the day.
• Asa starts his math on the computer; Justus and Elias go to the table to work on math, handwriting, spelling, phonics, other language arts (On Mondays, the boys also write in their journals about the weekend);  Malachi does “school work” at the table too, or just plays until it is 11:00 and time for Caillou, then he goes to watch that.  After Justus and Elias have finished their book work (usually takes about 45 minutes), they go play with Malachi.
• After Asa finishes his math (which takes usually around 30-45 mintues depending on how focused he is) he does spelling with me and language arts, then goes to play.  I work on lunch.
• Lunch time is usually around 12:30, depending on when Matt gets home.  We work on memory verses around the table and sometimes I read more from our read-aloud book.
• After lunch, we do our science lesson and experiment if there is one.  We also work on any writing assignments at this time.  (Last week the boys wrote Haiku poetry.  Even Malachi learned what a syllable was!)
• At 2:00, the boys have reading time.  They usually all sit in the living room reading, while I go upstairs and read to Malachi.  Malachi LOVES this since I’m usually giving so much of my attention to the other boys in the morning.  I tuck Malachi in for a nap after I read to him (most days).
• 2:30, the boys go watch Fetch with Ruff Ruffman and Cyber Chase while Malachi naps.  After their shows are over, they play (somewhat) quietly.  I hit the computer and work as hard as I can during this time.
• 5:00 The boys have computer time and play (usually) educational games.  I work on dinner.
• We pick up the house and eat around 6:30.
• Each evening is different, but now that soccer is over, we’ve been able to spend time playing games together, which all six of us LOVE!  Yahtzee anyone?
• Start getting boys ready for bed around 8 or 8:30.  We have prayer time together either in one of the boys rooms or in the living room.
• Matt and I play rock, paper, scissors to see who gets the computer :)  take turns working on the computer (he on writing out price quotes and bills for his construction work, etc…me answering emails and working on website stuff) and try to get to bed around 11.  We are reading a book called Spiritual Disciplines for a Godly Life by Donald Whitney.  We try to read it together before falling asleep.  Usually Matt gets through about a page and a half before he says, “Are you falling asleep or should I keep reading?” 

So there you have it.  Did that answer any of your questions, or just give you more??!

In this post about our schedule, I mentioned my struggle with being disciplined to have personal Bible study time.  I appreciated your encouraging comments.  I’m working to just schedule it in so that I’ll be more consistent about it.   It’s not like I don’t have time…its just about DOING IT. 

Anyway, in the meantime, I wanted to tell you what works for our family Bible time. 

First, may I hop on my soap-box for a moment?  (thank you) 

The responsibility of teaching the Bible to YOUR children does not belong to anyone but YOU.  It is not up to their Bible class teachers or the ministers at your church or anyone else.  The Bible tells PARENTS to train up their children in the way they should go.  I think Bible classes are wonderful and I LOVE what my kids learn at church from their teachers.  BUT…if we let their Godly training END with Sunday morning and/or Wednesday night Bible classes…we’d be neglecting our duties as parents.  It’s our job.  Godly character training doesn’t begin and end at the church door. 

Okay, now that you know how I feel about that…I’ll sum up what works best for our family Bible training time in two words:

Meal.Time.

It’s a time we’re all sitting down together (ooh, another soap box)…and if the kids have food in their mouths, they are less likely to be talking (hopefully)…so they are able to focus their attention on you and listen.

For years we’ve had “Bible at Breakfast” time.  It’s been a great way to start our day.  We’ve done a variety of things from reading chapters from the Bible to reading through Egermeir’s Story Bible to reading short devotionals from books. 

Then, at lunch and dinner time, we do memory work.  Usually, Daddy leads this and asks the boys to repeat after him as he works to teach them new verses.   We’ve learned lots and lots of new verses this way…and it’s amazing what the littlest guys can learn just by repeating the verses over and over.  Often now, Malachi (age 3) stands up in his chair with his hands on his hips (this is not the exact way Daddy does it, by the way) and says, “‘Peat after me!”  and then he launches into the verse he’d like us to repeat. 

This has made our meal times even more memorable and filled with purpose.  Hmm, you’ve gotta love that kind of nourishment!
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This upcoming weekend is one of my absolute favorite weekends of the whole entire year.  It’s homecoming weekend for our local college…the college where Matt and I met, the college where my parents met…the college where we made wonderful memories and friendships.  (We also got a good education there and all that stuff.)

So, every year for York College Homecoming weekend, my house fills up with bunches of family members and friends.  And I LOVE it. 

But here’s the thing.  If I’m not organized and on the ball with all the meals I’ll be feeding my guests…I DON’T love it and it’s not fun and I feel stressed the entire weekend and I don’t get to enjoy any of my friends or family members who have come. 

I want to be able to visit and relax. But I also really, really love to be a hostess and make my guests yummy food and make them feel welcome and loved. 

(Oh, and while I’m usually very good at multitasking…cooking and talking at the same time is not something I do very well.  Which means that I can’t very easily prepare food and talk with my guests at the same time.  I’m weird like that.)

So, I make as much food ahead of time as I possibly can. 

Check out our menu here.  Of all the foods listed from Thursday night on…here are the items I’m preparing ahead of time:

Potato soup
Chicken noodle soup
Lasagna
Salad
Homemade bread
baked potatoes (for the sausage, potato and egg scramble)
Sloppy joe meat
Veggie tray
Applesauce bread
Cookies

Most of this can be made any time and put into the freezer or into the fridge.  Oh, this makes hostessing so much easier.  When it’s time to prepare a meal, all I have to do is re-heat my food or stick it into the oven. 

And since I don’t have to think very hard to do that part of the meal prep…I can usually hold down my end of the conversations pretty well!

So there’s my little tip on saving sanity when hosting a houseful of guests.  Now I guess you know what I’ll be up to all this week!  But just don’t talk to me while I’m trying to cook all this food…I’ll get distracted and put too much baking powder into the lasagna. 

Oh right, the lasagna doesn’t call for baking powder….

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Visit Tammy’s Recipes for more kitchen tips!

Wanna learn all kinds of great tips about organizing your kitchen?  Go check out Rocks in my Dryer where all kinds of smart people are posting today on their favorite kitchen management tips.

You know I love talking about kitchen management.  Having a functional kitchen (aka Funky Kitchen) is the only way I can survive.  Which is why I wrote an entire ebook about the subject, “Do the Funky Kitchen“.

Out of all the fun ways I work to have a  Funky Kitchen…here’s my FAVORITE way to keep my kitchen organized: 

I try to keep my countertops as cleaned off as possible. 

If I have stuff all over my countertops it makes cooking SO much harder.  But if I have hardly anything on my countertops…the kitchen looks clean and welcoming and organized and cheerful and refreshing.   And I can put meals together so much more easily. 

I’m talking about appliances too…toasters, coffeemakers, blenders…anything that takes up space.  Put it somewhere else if you possibly have a somewhere else to put it.  Clear the clutter people. 

Then, wipe off your countertops and enjoy looking at all of the nothing that is all over them.  I promise you’ll be glad you did!

Get thou into the kitchen and organize it!  Let’s all do the Funky Kitchen!!

As I began writing a post to explain our usual daily schedule to you…I realized that first I should write a post with a few details about our lifestyle so that our schedule, especially the homeschooling part, will make more sense to you. 

See, there’s this little thing called flexibility that, while it doesn’t come easy to me, I have learned to embrace, enjoy and cherish.  Flexibility is one of the biggest blessings of homeschooling  (not to mention the fact that I can smooch my kids’ cheeks WHENEVER I want to ALL DAY LONG…).  I’ve decided that learning to be flexible just makes things so much simpler.  I do not like to be uptight…but oh, can I get uptight.  I’m working on it.

So, we have a schedule on paper, sort of…and it makes our life go more smoothly when we work to follow it.  And we get a lot of work done when we follow it.  And most days we are able to follow it, mostly.  But we rarely, if ever, follow it to the letter.  

Sometimes Daddy needs us to do something for him.  Sometimes we have a headache.  Sometimes there’s someone who needs a meal taken to them.  Sometimes we need to read some extra chapters of History today, knowing that tomorrow we’ll have to be out the door by 10:30 and we won’t have time to read.  Sometimes  we are feeling creative and just get out the paint.  Sometimes we have a gajillion apples waiting to be made into applesauce all over the kitchen…

Yeah, it’s called life.  And my kids are learning about it.

And Matt and I want it to be that way.  We feel like their education happens around the clock…not just when the school books are out.  And we’re trying to help our kids understand that too.  We want them to understand that they’re learning when we make lists together to organize our camping trip.  (Yes, it’s important for me to teach my kids early in life to make lists!!)  We want them to understand that when they’re helping mommy cook, they are learning.  And even when they’re playing with legos…they are learning. 

Just wanted to talk about that a little bit before I go into our daily schedule explanation in a future post.

And I also feel like I need to confess this to you…. (yikes, this is kind of hard)

I often see a person’s daily schedule and it says something like “Get up at 6 am…read Bible”.  I think that’s so great that people have their Bible reading time scheduled into their day like that…first thing in the morning. 

Yeah, I don’t have that.  I don’t have Bible reading time scheduled into my day.  I don’t know why.  Maybe I’m taking that flexibility thing too far?  Everyday is a little different around here depending on what we need to get up and do…or depending on how late we had to stay up the night before.  I don’t have a set time that I get up in the morning.  (I despise alarm clocks.)  I get up when I get up (usually between 6:30-8:00).  And I’m thankful for that flexibility (oh, so thankful). 

I do wake up talking to my Father and spend most of the day visiting with him right up until I fall asleep each night.  But since I don’t have Bible reading time scheduled directly into my day…some days it doesn’t happen.  And some days it does.  (And most days I read it to my kids…and we work on memorizing scripture…I guess I kinda forgot about that part…but I’m talking about my personal time in the Word.)

So, I guess I felt like I needed to tell you that.  Because when you see my schedule, you won’t see “Personal Bible Reading” time scheduled in there.  When I began writing out my schedule, I realized that.  I am working on it.  And I’m really working on it with my kids so that they establish a good routine of daily Bible reading early in life.

Thank you for providing safety for me to be real with you.  I’d love to hear what works for you in this area.  Please do share how and when you manage quiet Bible study time. 

I used to be BIG into list making.  I had to have every detail of my day written out in order to feel organized.  I loved scratching finished items off my list.  And if it wasn’t on my list, but I did it anyway, I’d quickly write it on my list, then immediately scratch it off my list.  Weird, I know. 

Somewhere in the span of having four kids…I stopped making so many lists.  Funny, isn’t it, that now when I need to be even more organized…I have fewer lists.  I guess it’s because most days I hardly have time to find a pen, much less make a list with it once I’ve found it.  Somehow I’ve stayed organized anyway (mostly) (and except for my storage room) without my detailed lists.  I guess all the lists are just somewhere in my head floating around all the time, because now it seems I’m just thinking hard all the time about all that needs to be done and what I’ll do next and who can help and who’s turn it is and what’s going on in the evening and what’s going on tomorrow and whether or not I have enough flour ground for the breakfast muffins and…

Please, would someone just hand me a pen!

Okay, really…I’ve got it all under control.  Really.

And, let me interrupt this regularly scheduled program with a little detail about my organizational abilities.  While I am quite organized in the way I plan and in the way I execute my plans, like with menu planning and school planning and schedule planning…and I’m able to get A LOT done in a day as a result…and everyone always tells me how organized I am…and it’s true…

I’m not altogether organized when it comes to having my sock drawer alphabetized and my cleaning supplies in rainbow color order.  If you were to come into my house right this very minute and walk upstairs (carefully so as to not trip over any tinker toys) into my bedroom, you would see that I made the bed this morning, sort of, and only so that I could throw five loads of clean laundry onto it so that they could be folded.  But they aren’t folded yet (because I’m blogging, for Pete’s sake…priorities, people).  And if you went into my storage room (after you signed a waiver stating that you wouldn’t sue us if you injured yourself as you tried to walk through)…you would see that I’m not great about having everything in cute little bins with labels like Organizing Junkie, whom I think is the coolest.  Oh, I wish I was that good, but I’m not.  My organizational skills don’t go that far.  So, while I’m pretty organized…I’m not always organized, you know?

Now, back to the regularly scheduled program…which just happens to be about scheduled programs.  Or just schedules.  Our schedule.

Several of you have asked how I am able to get everything done while I homeschool and cook healthy meals and go to soccer games and chase four boys and all that other stuff we all have to do in a day.  So I finally was able to fit it into my schedule to work on telling you about our schedule.  Coming up, I’ll share with you about our daily schedule, our school schedule, and whatever other schedule I can schedule in to tell you about.  (If I keep writing the word schedule in this post all clever like, it’s just not gonna be funny anymore.  Kinda like when one of your kids tells you the same joke 47 times during breakfast and you can only fake laugh for the first 26 times, then you’ve gotta start telling the kid to please, please learn a new joke.) 

Knock knock?  Who’s there?  Schedule.  Schedule who?  Schedule really be impressed that I thought of this joke all by myself.

Get it?  Schedule is supposed to sound like “bet you’ll”…get it?

Yeah, okay, I should really go up and fold that laundry…  :)  Alright, I’m on it.

But first, I’ve gotta know…do you make lists?  Are you an organized person?  How do you stay organized?