Hello friends :)
Wow - has this been a busy week!
In fact, speaking of being busy, I used to pride myself (you do know that's always the first mistake don't you?) on the fact that I could keep our family from running around too much.
Let me tell you a little bit about our home life. We homeschool and keep activities, outside the home, to 1-2 per kid (which is plenty when you have 5 kids). I never wanted my kids to be in the car all the time, running from activity to activity, but on the flip side I think it's important for them to have activities outside of our home where they can have fun and make friends.
We have a couple of acres so when the kids get their schoolwork and chores done, they spend their days exploring, playing. reading, creating, spending time with the neighbor kids, and well.... just being kids. My parents have a home next door to us so my kids run back and forth between our two houses. There are days when life feels nice and slow and kind of "old-fashioned".
But.... lately there have been many more days that don't! We have been unusually busy and I keep waiting for it to stop. I keep saying to myself "When this is over, we can relax... things will be back to normal". However, I recently realized that this may be our "new normal". We are entering a stage of life when things are just going to be busy no matter how hard I try to slow them down. Not sure if I'm ready for this. It will take extra effort to make sure we eat meals together and that I stay connected with my kids.
Our oldest 2 children will be attending school this year (10th and 6th grades). This will allow more opportunities for them (science labs, art, drama, sports) and I can focus homeschooling the little ones. However, I know this will create a new level of craziness in our lives with taking them to two different school, homework, school functions. It's all good.... it really is. I just need to take a deep breath, fasten my seat belt, and get ready for the ride!!
I never feel right rambling off my too do list and how busy I am but I wanted everyone to know how crazy it is over here at our house - I feel like I'm in over my head and I 'm hoping to post about some BFC topics that have been on my mind when things settle down just a little bit.
The Webelo Day camp is over with but today I'm back to fitting costumes for a play my oldest two children are in. Thankfully my parents are in town and can help watch my little ones. Then after play practice, my daughter and I are leaving for a gymnastics meet in Silverthorne, Co (which is 2 1/2 hours away). I still need to pick up 1 more Father's Day gift. Then we have little (ha!) things like getting our hardwood floors refinished, new carpet, and a new porch railing (things we've put off way to long and that must be done this year). We are in the process of cleaning up our basement for our foreign exchange student from Denmark who will spend 3 weeks with us in July/August (we have a finished basement and thought he'd enjoy having a little space of his own - the problem is, it's a total mess down there - I'll have to take pictures and show you before and after shots)!!!
Okie, dokie... now for my weigh-in this week... My weight this morning is 150.6. That's a weight gain of .8 lbs.
Not a problem. I'm sure it will be back down next week when I can have a little more time to plan my meals, drink my green tea, eat less salt, and get more sleep. I have been burning fumes and not getting enough sleep. When this happens I almost always gain weight. I need my sleep to burn that fat (HA!). Also, we ate a little late last night, and since it was my son's birthday, we let him pick. We went to the ice cream/malt shop near the lake so we could eat and then walk over to the Thursday night concert. I had a hot dog with avocado, bacon, and ranch dressing. Not a lot of other choices, other than sandwiches. I did not have dessert and did not eat the hot dog bun.
Here is what I ate yesterday:
Breakfast: My morning shake
Lunch: Roast beef, havarti cheese, almonds, 1 small apple, handful of grapes
Snack: Trail mix
Was at Boy Scout Day Camp and was out of my own food and was hungry at 3:00pm so I shared some trail mix with my friend.
Dinner: Hot dog with avocado, bacon, and ranch dressing
Hope everyone has a great, stress-free, week... I'm going to try my best to be positive about the week ahead. Have a great weekend and I'll see you on Monday :)
Gosh, I only have two and some days I feel overwhelmed too. Don't know how you do it with 5 and home schooling. Seriously, the two days my youngest goes to school are heaven for me :) Although, I got derailed this morning when my friend stopped in - to borrow my BFC book ... her husband misplaced theirs and stayed for a bit. I find the key to my success is planning which is hard when you're burning the candle at both ends. This is why it’s hard for us to make ourselves a priority when there just isn’t enough time in the day right? I had a very exciting week that I’ll post about later today. I’m off to pick organic strawberries now before it gets too hot. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteBoy do I feel old when I think about how long ago it was that my kids were that young. I admire you and others that do home schooling, cause I never would have done that in my day.
ReplyDeleteTry to make time for you too. :-)
I think you are amazing to keep all the balls in the air. Honestly I can't imagine! When my kids went off to school, it was "freedom"! I have to say that they went to one of the best school districts in the Country and my family were all educators, so home schooling was never on my radar.
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great and your reflections and journal will be something you can look back on and be proud!
My grandson turns 5 next Wednesday and then we will be done with birthday's until September. It is quite expensive this time of year:)
Have a wonderful weekend! We have sunshine today!!!!!
Sorry to hear you've gained weight, but when I get busy that happens to me, too. I also home school, so I can relate to how busy it gets. I remember a few months ago having the same realization - that life IS just this busy now - everyone needs an activity (we only allow one, otherwise I'd be running around too much) and that takes up time. I tried to make them all take the summer off, so that we can get a rest, but they are getting too loud and boisterous, an obvious sign that they need more physical activity right now. I think it's time to get the pool set up. We don't have the luxury of the grandparents or the acreage, but that sounds very appealing right now.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean when you say the busyness is the new normal. I think as the kids get older and more involved in outside activities and friends it just gets much more hectic. I have four boys but they are older now, the youngest is 16, but that is how it felt to me too. I still miss the days when I had them all to myself and around the house. Having the grandparents next door must be wonderful!!
ReplyDeleteI think you'll be back in the 140's by the end of the weekend!
Wow, you're busy! Yep, you better make sure you get your sleep in order to keep up with your new normal. :) Next week will be better for you.
ReplyDelete