7 Quick Takes - It's A Workout

1. The following is my weekly workout.  I guess that I am a little overwhelmed right now (that's not unusual for me).  It's not that the work is too much or too hard.  It's not that I do not love the job and the family.  It is that I never get a break away.   I need a kid free couple of hours each week.  The gym does not count, because I take them there with me and have to orchestrate the whole affair.  I must be doing something wrong, because Americans do not work until bedtime.  Or do we?  I have always worked hard since having become an adult.  But it seems like I have had more down time in the past. 

2. Housework - I work hard to keep up our house.  If I let it go for even a couple of hours, nay fifteen minutes, it is a disaster--a disaster that will take days to clean up.   I have a five year old, a three year old, a two year old and a 4 month old, and let's face it, sometimes husbands can behave like children and forget to pick up after themselves.  I am usually working on housework and stuff for the family until 10:00 p.m. at night.  After I tuck the kids in bed and give them a hug I say, "Stay in bed, because Mommy wants to relax…wait, I mean get more chores done. Love you, good night." 

"Mommy, why do you do  chores after we go to bed?"  I have my reasons.  If it could be helped, I would not.

3. Gym - I go to the gym everyday these days.  I love the group fitness classes.  I work hard and love to be motivated.  I am not where I want to be weight wise.  Yeah, I know I likely never will be.  Going to the gym makes me feel strong and happy.  When I do not go, I feel badly.  But after I defeat myself, I build myself back up by saying, "At least I am trying."  Most people in America get very little exercise.

4. Schoolwork - Alex has been doing well on his schoolwork and gives me little hassle, which is a huge triumph for us.  I do not know if it is his newfound maturity or if he is habituated to it, but we are doing well.  I am actually finding that he is ahead in most of the first grade material.  Last weekend, I had myself all bent out of shape trying to tailor the lessons to him so that it was not too boring, while making sure he had covered everything for the school testing.  Especially in phonics, he is way ahead, but is not proficient in everything, so we cannot quite move on to second grade material even though I am sure he could handle.  They say it is better to know something well than to push one ahead and not know the more challenging material.  I keep doubting the curriculum I chose as well purely on the fact that it is not classical.

Today, he requested to stay home and not go to the gym so that he could count all his money as part of his math lesson.  He had $20.90 in change.  It took a couple of hours for him to count and add up.  It was impressive for a first grader. 

Kristiana has been working on a preschool workbook as well.  She has perfect knowledge of colors and shapes, and she can count to ten, but she does not get letters quite yet.  She is still little though.  

5. Making Baby Big - Your eyes do not deceive you that baby is getting big.  She is almost 5 months old. Wow, time flies.  She went through a growth spurt a week ago and she wanted to eat a lot more.  She woke me up quite a bit in the night.  Nursing moms know that when a baby goes through a growth spurt it can be like a full time job.  Early this week, I decided to move her into the room with Annie.  She did not wake us up in the night.  I am sure she woke up in the night, but it did not wake anyone else.  I went at 6:00 a.m. to get her to feed.  She was hungry all right, but she was not fussy.  So there she has stayed each night since.  I guess we have a baby who will sleep on her own.  (During home school one day this week, I put Lucy on my bed with some toys and while she happily played Annie snuck in and made herself comfortable. Adorable.)

6. Consignment sale - I worked hard last weekend and Monday, preparing items for a consignment sale.  This time my husband helped me, which made a big difference in how much effort I had to put in.  For part of the work, we watched the A&E version Pride and Prejudice miniseries.   We love that series.  We watch it once every year.  It never gets old.

7. I don't do anything well.  I do things just well enough to pass for good.  When I die, perhaps God will let me sneak into heaven just barely...Someday, I really do hope to do something truly well and have people say, "Look have well she does that."  All this to say, I am back to it.  I want to put together a coloring book for my kids, which is 365 religious drawings to help them learn and feel the faith.  My first grade teacher, Sister Madonna, had a coloring book for our class of 180 drawings about whatever we were learning in class.  We colored almost everyday and those pictures really meant something to me.  At first, I was oblivious and as the year went on the story came alive.  If you ask me, there is not anything that she taught me that does not impact my life still today.  I remember that as I teach my own children.  I hope I am making Sister Madonna proud.