October 21, 2008
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Tuesday – Moosday
Good morning!
I sure hope today turns out to be better than yesterday. Monday was a huge disappointment.
It wasn’t as successful as I had hoped it would be, with what I had wanted to accomplish.
I learned that homeschooling must be done in the morning. Waiting until after lunch to start school makes my children (ummmI) *sensitive* and unable to come up with correct answers.
No kidding!
Rissy was in tears because she couldn’t do her math and repeatedly said, “I don’t get it.” It’s the exact same stuff she’s been doing day after day, but yesterday she just *didn’t get it* for some reason.
Annamarie had to connect boxes with the words “black” and “brown” to bears with the same color names. After 20 minutes on that one page . . .
Luci had the same assignment as Annamarie and breezed through her book, but then fell apart in her math book. She also moaned, “I don’t get it.” Do you think Rissy might have started a pattern?
Finally, Annamarie had to learn ordinal numbers (first, second, third, etc.) and decided one was “oneth” and two was “twoth” . . .
After the grueling job of teaching English and Math, I gave up and moved penmanship lessons to today’s agenda. I skipped Bible entirely and wondered if maybe it should have been the only thing I taught! Jesse walked in as I was cleaning stuff up on the table and he asked if we were already finished. I told him, “No. The teacher just quit!”
Yesterday morning, I went through closets and got most of the clothes out of there that won’t be worn again until spring/summer of next year. I never made it to Rissy’s closet for the second sweep. The clothes aren’t folded. They’re still in a heap on the bar chairs and MUST BE folded today! Today is the day I get to climb up in the attic to hunt down cold weather clothes.
In a way I’m dreading it, because I’m afraid clothes will be sparse except for Luci. I’m at the point where the girls’ sizes are big enough, it’s hard to find dresses at thrift stores that aren’t pageant or dressy dresses. Especially sparse is Annamarie’s wardrobe. She is wearing juniors sizes but looks all wrong in the junior styles. I may have to rely on mainly denim skirts and tops this year.
Finally . . .
I was relaxing at the computer mindlessly playing Solitaire and Jesse whispered to me that a friend had just called and invited the family to his son’s last football game. It was 6pm and the game started at 7pm and he wondered if I could get dinner together quickly so he could take the girls. (Monday night has become my TV night that I hate to miss)
I had taken ground beef out earlier and quickly (but not wearing a happy face) made beef patties, rice pilaf, and peas & carrots.
The good thing that happened yesterday is that they all left at 6:45pm and I had until almost 10pm to be by myself. I quickly (amazing what you can do when selfishly motivated!!!!) cleaned up the kitchen, scoured the sink with Comet, loaded the dishwasher, and filled the coffee pot for in the morning.
I laid down in our bed at 8pm and watched my two favorite shows, “Jon & Kate Plus Eight” and “17 and Counting” and just enjoyed the quiet in the house. I mean I REALLY enjoyed the quiet. Me being alone happens rarely and I savor those few hours here and there.
Today’s agenda:
* Teach school IMMEDIATELY after my shower.
* Finish pulling summer clothes, fold them, and put them in Wal-Mart sacks.
* Climb into the attic to throw down winter clothes and replace the bins with the Wal-Mart sacked summer clothes.
* Help (well not exactly “help” – more like, “do it ALL by myself”) the girls tidy up their dresser drawers.
* Fold the girls’ t-shirts and put in a dresser drawer. Something new – they’ve always hung in the closets.
* Think about something “creative” for dinner and get the meat out of the freezer.
* Send out a few “thinking of you” cards
* Finish Jesse’s deposit slip. I entered all of the checks in the book last night.
* See what bills need to be paid next week and get them ready.
* Drag some wood from the side of the house to the plastic bin in case Wednesday through Saturday is really as cold as they say it will be.
AND, in my *free* time (LOL), maybe read a chapter or two in my book.
What’s everyone fixing for dinner tonight? I feel incredibly uncreative in the kitchen lately!
Comments (8)
I hear you,I hear you. Some days you just have to shut down and throw your hands in the air. So far things are going good this week. I agree, mornings just work so much better for school. Every once in a while we do our cleaning Friday morning and have school in the afternoon but with more students it just isn’t a good fit anymore.
Free time is soo needed!
I just love “17 and Counting, but haven’t seen Jon & Kate Plus Eight. What time are these two programs on? Are they on TLC? I saw listings of 17 and Counting on various channels and at various times. They love to confuse me. How nice you had that time to refresh! It’s so important. I pray school is going better today.
How funny to get time alone and watch shows about full houses — I love it! I really am glad you got some time to yourself — sometimes I look for items we need from the store just to get some “me time” — we only have one car and go just about everywhere together so those alone-trips are my “me time”
RYC: Thank you so much for your prayers — God is faithful and as always, holds my hand in the darkness and walks me through it! School-life has its ups and downs — it’s been a challenging year and we’re only one quarter into it — I am so thankful to be in a school where we all pray for each other and support each other. Take care and do enjoy your day! Blessings, Laurie
I wish I could see 17 and counting…I’ve heard good things about it. Of course, it might just cause me to break out in hives. What I really need is Michelle Duggar’s organization skills. Now. Not that I’m impatient or anything.
Yes, I’ve discovered that my scholars work much better in the morning, and always have. Now Sarah will work all day with no intervention from me, but not the other two. Uh oh, here come the hives again.
@buana -
In my city, Jon & Kate . . . come on right before 17 and counting – and yes, I think it’s TLC channel. I bet if you look it up, you’ll see the listings for your area.
@Immax3 -
I should be posting this privately, but will come clean in public with my sin!!! I have been so inspired by Michelle’s gentleness, something I need to cultivate. Her organizational skills DO give me some fresh ideas, but I’m most deficit in the gentleness department. She’s really mentored me and hasn’t a clue what an impact she’s made on my life. (and that’s my excuse for watching Monday night TV – it is making me a better person!!!!)
@LaurieLH -
“How funny to get time alone and watch shows about full houses — I love it!”
I hadn’t really thought about it, but now that you mention it . . . LOL!
I suppose it’s the fact that no one bothers me and I can listen to a show all the way through without being asked a gazillion questions!
I am not getting around to reading this until the next day. It’s Wednesday Morning here. I am snotty and headachy, and sleepy. Maybe one or two of the other dwarfs as well…….. yeah…. certainly grumpy! Glad you got a night to yourself. Sometimes you just need that! We have been out late too many nights, and I am not getting much done during the day because I have caught a dumb cold and have no energy. Tonight is Bible school, tomorrow night we were supposed to mentor a young couple, but they couldn’t make the appointment, so maybe I will get to bed early that night. Friday my apartment will be full of kids for Bible study, and they always stay late. I am glad they like it here, but sometimes I wish I could figure out a way to get them out the door a little sooner. Hope your Wednesday is good and that everyone remembers how to do their math!