We woke up today ready for a fresh start to a new week. We have hardly gotten to experience summer. While adults seem perfectly capable to sit around and visit while playing games, my kids need more action in their lives. And quite frankly a little action didn't hurt me or Trent at all either.
We got up and Trent headed out to the yard to get things all spruced up and I started day 2 of our summer rotation (our first day of the rotation was just the past Friday). The summer rotation is how I survive summer with 5 kids at home. I select a variety of activities for the time and then each kid starts on one activity and after a set interval of time, they rotate to the next. Today we had 8 stations.
Ipod touch
Chores
Computer
Laundry
Math
Reading
Journal
Writing
Piano
so the kids spent 15 minutes at each station. They seem to like it and I get 2 hours of no fighting (because none of them can be at the same station as anyone else). Afterwards we went swimming. Then came lunch and quiet time (usually from 2-4) and the getting ready for dinner.
Now the meals around here are BUSY. Normally right now each meal is for 22 people -- it is quite the catering kitchen we have turned into. And then there is the cleanup. And the getting ready for bed. Fortunately I have put shampoo and conditioner outside by the hose (and I make all my kids shower outside after swimming) because with the commotion all around it would be tricky to get bathtime in.
In the meantime, I would steal a moment or two to go lay down on the bed next to my mom. Usually I would go in there whenever Owen needed to nurse. I figured if I was going to a quiet place to nurse him, it might as well be right by my mom. Plus, she always loved watching me nurse my babies.
She has been asleep most of the day, just a handful of fleeting seconds where she opened her eyes. She sleeps so peacefullly, but it is hard to watch her and realize that the end is drawing near.
Right after all the dinner cleanup the light shines through the dining room window. It hits the flowers on the table and it just looks stunning. There is always someone in the house who runs and grabs a camera to try and capture just how pretty the roses are. Today, was my day.
We got up and Trent headed out to the yard to get things all spruced up and I started day 2 of our summer rotation (our first day of the rotation was just the past Friday). The summer rotation is how I survive summer with 5 kids at home. I select a variety of activities for the time and then each kid starts on one activity and after a set interval of time, they rotate to the next. Today we had 8 stations.
Ipod touch
Chores
Computer
Laundry
Math
Reading
Journal
Writing
Piano
so the kids spent 15 minutes at each station. They seem to like it and I get 2 hours of no fighting (because none of them can be at the same station as anyone else). Afterwards we went swimming. Then came lunch and quiet time (usually from 2-4) and the getting ready for dinner.
Now the meals around here are BUSY. Normally right now each meal is for 22 people -- it is quite the catering kitchen we have turned into. And then there is the cleanup. And the getting ready for bed. Fortunately I have put shampoo and conditioner outside by the hose (and I make all my kids shower outside after swimming) because with the commotion all around it would be tricky to get bathtime in.
In the meantime, I would steal a moment or two to go lay down on the bed next to my mom. Usually I would go in there whenever Owen needed to nurse. I figured if I was going to a quiet place to nurse him, it might as well be right by my mom. Plus, she always loved watching me nurse my babies.
She has been asleep most of the day, just a handful of fleeting seconds where she opened her eyes. She sleeps so peacefullly, but it is hard to watch her and realize that the end is drawing near.
Right after all the dinner cleanup the light shines through the dining room window. It hits the flowers on the table and it just looks stunning. There is always someone in the house who runs and grabs a camera to try and capture just how pretty the roses are. Today, was my day.
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