S---L---O---W and Steady

 With Josh back to full time and me facing slight health issues, these past few weeks would definitely find me struggling to get by.  While we have struggled a bit, I noticed that I'm finally accomplishing the bare necessities without much difficulty.  The biggest factor in accomplishing this has been making the decision not to move.  Yes, that means a lot of unpacking, sorting, organizing, etc.  We feel that this will be a great thing in the long run.   

I started getting us on track by making sure that we all get to bed early.  We started by sending the kids to bed at 8:00pm each night.  When I realized that Josh and I could get more sleep if we also retired at 8, we set that in motion.  We don't actually turn out the lights until 9:30, but being in our room so early keeps us from finding distractions that will keep us up too late.  After only a short time, everyone is getting up early and feeling more refreshed thanks to our earlier bedtime.

In trying to keep things going by priority, we began working on meal times.  Lunch is at noon and I start making dinner at 5:30pm.  This has worked so far, but could be much improved if I were to come up with a menu plan.  Some nights 5:30 comes and I still don't know what to make for dinner!

My next step was to put the littles (5 and under) down for a nap and institute quiet time for the big kids.  At 1:30 every afternoon, I get Laiken settled on the loveseat, Teslyn lays at one end of the couch and Jonah and I snuggle at the other end.  Jonah usually nurses to sleep, then I read or use the computer.  We are still in the supervision stages, as the older kids still need to learn to be quiet and the littles need to be watched to make sure they lay down and are quiet.  I think that in another week or two I will have the ability to get a few things caught up during quiet time.

I have also been more stringent about making sure that all children have their teeth and hair brushed directly after breakfast.  This is a bit difficult some mornings, but there has definitely been improvement. 

The laundry monster has "mostly" been tamed.  All of our clothing has been moved upstairs (again), where it is all stored in the master bedroom.  I have caught up with washing and drying all of the laundry and most of it has been sorted, folded and put away.  My plan is to run a load of laundry each day and add bedding on laundry day.  I keep a small tote in the laundry room to transfer laundry from the washer to the dryer, which is usually done by Teagan or Jonah.  Then the tote will be used to carry laundry from the dryer to the bedroom where it will all be put away.

Once these habits have been established, we will once again attempt to stick to our daily schedule, which will include our cleaning schedule.  I am hopeful that this goal will be attainable in another week or two.

Discouragement Reigns

I am feeling quite discouraged lately.  After discovering Unsolicited Advice, printing out the "form" for my Bare Minimum and discovering the issues that are getting me down, I thought that things would improve.  It has been nearly three weeks and I still have yet to fill out and post my Bare Minimum.  

I had good intentions, but only the day after posting our new schedule we decided to move.  Since then we have packed up everything that was not needed before the move, my husband has gotten a new job and I have been missing way too much sleep.  I thought that having so many things packed would make it a piece of cake to keep the house clean.  Boy, was I wrong!  I think it's actually more disorganized!  Josh's new job has meant that where I have had his help for most days this past year, I am now on my own.  And the lack of sleep!  Jonah went from not nursing during the day and nursing a few times at night to nursing several times a day and so many times at night that I lost track.  After two nights of getting little sleep, I really felt like it was time to wean him.  The first night was difficult and I almost gave up, but last night was surprisingly easy.  I am so excited about the possibility of being able to sleep an full, uninterrupted eight hours tonight!  

Last night I finally found a few minutes to look through my issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine.  It was full of terrific articles that should have offered encouragement, but I just didn't feel it.  I am feeling as though things are overwhelming.  The house is a mess, discipline is sub-par, manners are lacking and we aren't accomplishing the things that we should.  Being organized and disciplined do not come naturally to me.  I really struggle in these areas.  My plan?  Well, I don't actually have one.  That's the problem, I guess.  I'm just floundering here.

Giveaway: Easy Homeschooling Techniques

Lisa from Homestead Originals is giving away a copy of Easy Homeschooling Techniques by Lorraine Curry.  You can enter to win by:

1. Leaving your name and email address in a comment on the giveaway.

2. Blog about the giveaway and leave a comment saying you did so, including your name and email address (2 entries).

3.  Sign up for Homestead Original e-Newsletter and leave a comment saying you did so, including your name and email address.

The contest ends January 29th and a winner will be chosen January 30th.  

Also check out the Homestead Bookshelf & More, where you can find some wonderful books (and more), such as the Homestead Blessings DVDs.

Unsolicited Advice

Every so often in my webward travels, I stumble upon a blog that calls to me.  I found one such blog last week.  I have left the page open every time I shut down the computer, for fear that I will lose it.  I finally found a few spare minutes to read more of Unsolicited Advice today and was just floored by what I read!  I am so thankful that Brenda was able to be so honest about her situation!  It made me feel a little braver about sharing mine.  I am working toward getting organized and today is the day to start.

The Areas Needing Attention:
1. Cooking: We eat frozen pizza too many nights a week because I forget to think about dinner until, well, until it's dinner time. 
2. Laundry: There is laundry everywhere!  Several times a month I have to devote hours at a time to cleaning the kids room because the excess laundry makes it easy to make it messy.  I never do put the laundry away, just pile it near their closet.  Getting ready to go anywhere where we need to dress nicely, or where we just need to be dressed, period, is time-consuming. 
3. Dishes: I grew up washing the dishes every night from nine years of age until 18.  Once I was out on my own, I forgot.  I just plain forget to wash the dishes at night.  Sometimes I "forget" for days.  Recently I have made a huge effort to have the dishes done, requiring the kids to help dry them and put them away.  I am so happy to say that I've been able to keep up with it about 5-6 days a week.
4. Hygiene: I never can seem to remember to keep up with cutting the kids' nails!  I try to bathe them several times a week, but I often forget who had a bath when.  Too many days it is noon or later when I realize that no one has brushed their teeth.  And hair!  I really only harass the girls about brushing their hair when we plan to go out or when someone is coming over.
5. "TV": We don't even own a television!  We have been letting the kids watch entirely too many videos on the computer.  It was a family decision to do away with the TV, but in times of stress we seem to let it back in a little.
6. Diet: This goes along with that whole cooking thing.  If I'm not making a nutritious dinner from my family, it's likely I'm not feeding them well the rest of the day.  We had made the decision to cut gluten from our diet as we suspect allergies in a few of us, but I have yet to carry it out because of the work involved.
7. Exercise: We don't do it.  I am still carrying more than twenty pounds from my last pregnancy and without putting forth any effort, I'm not likely to lose any of it in the near future. 
8. Cleaning: I don't clean our bedrooms until we can barely get in the door.  Our bedrooms are upstairs so it's an "out of sight, out of mind" sort of situation.  I don't mop the (white!) kitchen floor unless we are expecting company.  I clean the bathroom only when it starts to smell.  The mess in the laundry room grows until it's unusable. 

The first step in getting more organized was to make our schedule using Managers of Their Homes.  I have made this schedule twice now, but gave up when we veered off track.  This time I plan to make a better  effort at sticking with it.