Day two...

Whenever illness is in house I tend to take a "let sleeping children lay" approach, figuring that sleep will help their little immune systems fight off whatever ickies have taken hold. So, that is what we did this morning, though I never would have imagined that the wake-up time for most of the children would be 10am! At least everyone woke up fever free! :)

A slow start like this always throws me for a loop as I think about our schedule. Not to mention the existence of Mount Washmore looming in the living room... or the overflowing basket of things to be taken back upstairs making walking down the hallway difficult... or the dining room table covered in spilled iron-on beads... so, I decided for Mommy to have a better chance of walking in a meek and gentle spirit, we needed to restore order and finish our tasks from Monday.

It was raining all day long, which I was thankful for, partly because we live in Texas and any rain is a blessing, but also because the temptation to request dog watching duty (to get out of cleaning up after myself duty) was non-existent. So, children were given jobs and Mommy worked right along side them. There was some grumbling which was met with a reminder that work done when work is due frees one up to play when play time is afforded, but play done when work is due makes for more work later. (They were grumbling because when school work is not finished during the school day, it is assigned as homework to be done when Daddy gets home instead of being able to play.)

While the children worked on some upstairs items, I put together a crockpot with some stew meat I had thawed yesterday but didn't feel like cooking. I planned on making a traditional stew but had no onions. So, I improvised and using tips and tricks learned from Alton Brown over the years, threw something together that has no name and crossed my fingers that in six hours we would have something edible for dinner.

Finally, after three hours of our day was eaten up by the undoneness of Monday, everything was completed, and we had a chat. Each child was asked to acknowledge why we had so much work from Monday to still do, and what we would need to do differently to not repeat this half-day delay. Some children were more willing than others to recognize their part in the process. I was happy that we could go to lunch and come away without disorder abounding. 

Lunch was super exciting, lunchmeat, cheese, apple slices and tortilla chips. Jealous, aren't you. Honestly, I had forgotten about lunch in the midst of putting the crockpot together for dinner. Oh well, with food allergies you learn to have low expectations, and this meal is one of our lowest, but it is generally met without much complaint. I will strive to think more of lunch tomorrow since dinner will be easy now that I have accumulated three dishes to choose from for leftovers. 

Hannah developing strep throat changed many of our plans for the week, including a Mommy Coffee I had scheduled in the evening. Since my evening was freed up, I called a friend having a baby next week and offered to help her with her nursery reorganization project. I gave full disclosure of our ickiness and waited for a response as to whether she wanted me to come over and help "make way for baby".

Following lunch I decided that Hannah was looking a little worn out and the constant drippy rain was making me drowsy, so instead of a read aloud, we opted for a DVD of Drive Thru History: Turkish Delight. No one is studying that time period or area of the world at this moment, but I decided on it because I have a sweet friend who plays professional basketball and she just flew back to Turkey this week to finished out her season there. While we watched the video I texted my friend to tell her I was thinking about her.

Noah was super excited that we were watching a video instead of "doing school" but was distressed to hear that I would still expect some academic work to be done following the video. The youngest two disappeared at some point, apparently bored with the antics of the host, and a search party was sent out for them. Once the DVD ended I assembled all of the children to the breakfast table to work on handwriting (via thank you notes for birthday and Christmas presents). I guess we could also have counted the card writing as original composition too, there really are some things I love about homeschooling. :)

After an academically productive day like yesterday, a day like today can sometimes be a bummer. But it is real life. I guess I could have pushed through with all the clutter and sick kids, but I would have been terribly grumpy and spent most of the day seeking forgiveness. As it was, I spent every few hours checking for temperatures. At one point, right after dinner (which was a surprise success) I checked Micah and saw all these white dots in the back of his throat. I was ready to rush to urgent care. My friend had decided she did want my help that evening, so I called to cancel. As I was getting ready to walk out the door the twins asked if I would look in their throats. While I was checking on the girls (they were fine) I saw Micah eating a tortilla from dinner. I asked him to stop eating and take a few sips of water. I checked his throat again and he had miraculously been healed of his white spots. Sigh, I had overreacted. I called my friend back and headed over.

After I left, Daddy had the kids played Math Rider on my laptop, while some did crafts and others read. I helped clean and rearrange and rethink the adjoining rooms that will be my friend's nursery/girls room and playroom. I love organizing and reorganizing, I love cleaning and creating order and I love helping my friends. We shared Mexican Hot Chocolate and talked about life. I can't wait to meet this new little baby girl in eight days!

And that was our day. I will finish it now by grabbing my Bible and journal. I have been reading in Daniel and emailing a friend about what I glean. I have been chronically a list of gifts, I am striving to see God's gifts in the moment-to-moment of each day, I am seeking to learn what it means to live as one who is truly "counting it all joy".

How was your day?