When I woke the children up I told them that there was donuts for breakfast (not healthy, I know, but their daddy bought them), and once everyone has made their bed and is downstairs, we will eat them. But the condition was that everyone was to be down here quickly.  A great motivation to get children moving quickly on a Monday morning!

We started our Monday morning with donuts and a documentary movie about Ancient China.  We are studying Ancient History, and I just happen to have a series of movies that accommodate this study.  This is what happens when one has been homeschooling for as long as I have – you find yourself with a wealth of great resources to draw from. 

We watch our educational movies in the den, turn off all the lights, close the door, and this time, eat donuts and drink milk.  It was an interesting movie and a great way to slide into a new school week on Monday morning. 

From history class in the den, we moved to the family room for economics. Joshua built us a fire for it was cool in the house.  Outside, as is today also, it was cloudy, cool, and damp.  What a great day to have a little fire – the warmth as well as the crackling sound of the fireplace and the aroma it gives off. 

For economics we are using the books by Richard J. Maybury.  This too, I have accumulated over the years and read these to my two oldest children (and that have graduated for close to a decade now) while they were homeschooling. The book we are reading right now is called, Whatever Happened to Penny Candy?  To which, the children wanted to know….”Yes, whatever DID happen to the penny candy?” Interpretation if you need it here – “Hey mom, we should have candy for this class!”  Although I have never made it a practice to give candy for schoolwork (although my mom does this!) I decided for the novelty of it all, that every day when we read a chapter I’d give them a few small pieces of candy to start the class.  Who knows, maybe by doing this I am building a subconscious love for the class of economics J .

We read a page in our character book about truthfulness; we read a section about prayer in our book by John Rice; and before all of this we read a passage in the Bible (Isaiah).  I gave Rachel and Joshua their spelling tests; Joshua read to me a chapter and half from the book, Pilgrim’s Progress (a watered down version published by ABeka); Rachel worked on her English assignments that I’d given her last week for this week.

 I read a Bible story from our set of The Bible Story, by Arthur S. Maxwell, to the two smaller children.  And yes, I have two Bible classes here.  We have group Bible class with all four children, and somewhere in the day, I fit in a reading from The Bible Story to the two younger ones.  This is another accumulation of books that I have from the very beginning.  When Becky (my oldest, 28) was born we bought these books.  I have made it a commitment to myself to read each of the ten books to all of my children, and I write a little note at the top of each chapter (in pencil) the date, and to who I read it.  There are beautiful color pictures in this series, and I learn as much as the children do, although I’ve read these books through many times. In fact, my mother read this same series of books to me when I was a young girl.

There was a project I had put on my list to get done – a big one.  It involved emptying an entire cabinet of gardening and pet stuff, and moving the cabinet to the back closet to our cellar.  While eating our lunch, Rachel started getting a strong desire for a milk shake from Steak and Shake – she’s had this thought in her head for over a week, and it seemed to be getting stronger.  She asked me what she could do to get me to go out for this single purpose – to get a milk shake for her.  Although I make it a practice to rarely drive anywhere on Monday, I can be bribed – and I began to think of what I could get from this J.  I told her about my cabinet project (a big one), to which she quickly agreed to.  Amazingly, the project that I thought was so big; Rachel and Joshua accomplished it in less than 15 minutes.  As I promised, I threw my gym shoes on, and we all piled in the truck, off to get a milk shake.  Rachel got a got an orange cream shake; Joshua got a chocolate shake, and Ruthie got a strawberry one – she earned hers by finding a book that has been missing in action (her reading book) for two weeks. Amazingly, too, she found this book in less than 5 minutes when I told her that a milk shake would be due her if she could find it!!!  Jacob declined the offer of a shake when he realized there was a trade involved.

In the afternoon, and especially on Monday, I love to take some special reading time with Ruthie.  This is where the two of us snuggle on the couch and I read to her.  This is not “reading class,” where she reads to me (I use McGuffey for that).  I spend this time more for me than for her, I think.  It’s time that I take to enjoy my little girl.  Today, we read chapter after chapter, snuggled underneath a blanket in front of the crackling fireplace, and finished the book, Black Beauty (Great Illustrated Classics.) As we are both lovers of horses, we thoroughly enjoyed this book, although it was really sad.

We started the day with a movie and donuts, and I ended our school day with a lovely reading with my youngest daughter.  I love my Monday’s.

I could have titled this post, “The Perfect Day,” because it felt appropriate.  If you follow my blog, you know that I love Monday’s because I claim it to be whatever I want it to be.  I let the kids sleep in (generally), I have extra time to read the Bible, write in my scripture journal, and sometimes even get to post a blog.  I did all of that this morning.   When the kids got up, Joshua built us a warm fire.  I went outside in the cold and snow and did the farm chores, instead of asking the kids to do them.  I took my time making sure all the animals had their water (the troughs were not filled with frozen water), and food.  I collected the eggs from the chickens nests, gave them their clean water, and feed.  I filled the tub for the ducks with the clean water.  I actually like doing this stuff in the cold, snow, and sleet.  It must be the nurturing side of me surfacing.

When I came in, the kids had drawn close to the crackling fire.  Ruthie had her entire American Girl collection all set up around the clinker brick fireplace.  On the coffee table in front of the fireplace, the boys had their army toys and tanks all laid out.  The snow falling outside and the cold weather made me grateful to be tucked inside with my children playing contently by the fire.  Its’ moments like these that I cherish.  It’s moments like these I want to stop and enjoy and let them sink into my soul for an eternity of memories.  I know all too well that these moments are racing by me.  I pray often that He will help me to slow down time (in the way of not over-hurrying my schedule; stay at home more; enjoy my kids.)

After looking at something with Rachel on the pc, I told her that I needed to get going on my busy schedule of all the things I needed to accomplish for the day.  I stood up and walked across the room.  I looked at the piano, and the thought came over me, “I want to play the piano.”  This was certainly not on my to-do list, in fact, it’s something I rarely do unless on a Sunday morning church service for accompanying the hymns.  I sat down, opened a book of classical music, and began to play.  From my peripheral vision, I could see that all the children had stopped what they were doing.  They were staring at me in disbelief.  See, I haven’t played classical piano in maybe three decades, way before they were ever born.  They didn’t know I could do this!  I stopped playing.  I wish I’d had a camera with me, for I would have snapped a picture to capture the moment.  I think I might have even seen some of their mouths just hanging open in disbelief.  I said, “You guys didn’t know I could play the piano like this, did you?”  To which they all affirmed a clear agreement that I was right in my assumption.

 I began to play again, and I began to think about how I really haven’t played in so very long.  Just what did cause me to choose this moment to do so?  I think the answer to that is that I have been feeling rather melancholy since Thanksgiving Day, and inside of me I think I just needed to soothe my soul with music.  I began to recall playing as a young girl, in junior high, about 12 and 13 years old, and music such as this would soothe my soul.  It was strange; this music conjured up within me long ago forgotten feelings of certain sadness during that age.

I played and played.  Rachel came and sat down beside me.  I stopped again, and started telling the kids that I hadn’t practiced these songs in decades, yet I could still play them.  I chose this moment to encourage them in their own music lessons.  It is said that our fingers have memory – yes, it is true! Just like our brain has memory, our fingers do, too.  I told the kids that when they practice their music, whether it is guitar or piano, it’s time wisely invested.  What their learning may very well be lodged in them forever.  I must have played for hours.  I could feel that by the very act of playing these notes and expressing emotion in the music, I was working out what was bothering me in my heart.  Then, I began to be happy that I had been experiencing my unpleasant emotions, for they had led me to this lost love of playing the piano! 

I took time to email a good friend.  In fact, we corresponded several times during this day, a rather unusual thing for me to do, also.  I ventilated my unpleasant emotions – that’s what friends are for, right?  She helped me to see some things in a different light, and this too, helped lift my spirits.

I felt like having something hot to eat, but nothing that was labor intensive.  I came up with a soup recipe that absolutely everyone in the house liked, even those that said they didn’t like potato soup (my husband) or my boys that are generally not soup lovers anyways.

I cut up about six or seven potatoes and put them in the crock pot.  I covered the potatoes with a few cans of chicken broth (it would have been better had I used homemade broth) and enough water to cover the potatoes.  I added some shredded carrots, and some chopped onion.  I wanted to add Lipton onion soup, but I didn’t have it.  Instead, I found a package of Good Seasons Red Pepper and Basil seasonings, just like the Italian seasonings.  It was just a small package, so if you don’t have it, I don’t know it would make a huge difference.  But it is a new product just on the market, so you can see if you can find it.  Anyways, I then added a can of Campbell’s Cream of Chicken and Mushroom soup and a can of Campbell’s Pepper Jack soup.  I cooked it on high.  For the cheese lovers, add extra pepper jack cheese (Rachel did this).  I didn’t add the extra cheese to save on the calories, but it does make a better soup if you do.  It was a hit – not a person in the house didn’t like it.  Now, that rarely happens around here to get a 100% approval rating!

We did have school time, too.  In fact, I myself learned a ton!  I love it when we have class time and I learn new things right along with the kids.  I learned something new that I never knew before in Bible class; History class; and science class.  Now that’s quite remarkable, too!

Dad got home late this evening.  Because our morning had started all so slow, this helped me to fit the extra things in that I might not have had time for.  I even got some exercise in. 

Now, that’s what I call a great day. 

It is a beautiful Monday morning.  So far, the temperature is mild, and there is a soft breeze.  It is also very quiet as the children are still sleeping.   In my book, Mondays, in the summer months, are good for sleeping in.  I love the quiet time it affords me.

I tend to cherish my Monday’s.  I plan no appointments, run no errands, and have no one over.  I spend the early morning in prayer and then read His Word.  I love doing this on the front porch, all the while listening to the sounds of the birds, insects, and the rooster; and watching the horses graze.

  I prayed this morning that He would bless my time in His Word and to let it be a lamp unto my feet. Let the Word speak to me, direct me, and show me His Will.  When I don’t pray in this way, I often read His Word and find little understanding or relevancy in it.  I need spiritual eyes to see the meaning behind the supernatural, inspired, written Word of God.  And when I pray in this way, He always answers my prayer, like this morning.  The Words bounced off the page and into my heart.

I have been studying the beatitudes.  “Poor in Spirit,” was something I read last week. I   studied and meditated on the meaning of it, and it was my intention today to go on to the second beatitude.  But I instantly got sidetracked, and within what seemed like minutes, I was reading verses that had direct correlation to something I had prayed about this morning.  I love it when the Word of God just comes alive and He is speaking to me through it.  It is truly the Living Water that refreshes my soul and the Bread of Life that sustains me.

 I have things I want to accomplish today, but when the children start getting up, the priority will be to spend time with them.  Our home is often similar to Grand Central Station in the summer months, as we host a variety of guests during the week.  But on Monday, there is no one here except for the children and myself.

I am glad that the 4-H fair week is over.  We participated in the horse and pony competitions.  It was interesting being with all of the other horse-lover people for such a concentrated time.  We were there before eight in the morning and stayed until midnight many days.  It was a fun experience for Rachel, and I would have to say that I enjoyed it also.  But then again, I’m very glad it’s over!  I love being home.

On the list for today:

Kids chores: 

Clean bedrooms (including dusting)

Clean the chicken coop

Pick raspberries, strawberries, and the cherry tomatoes.

For myself:

Clean my bedroom

Catch up on my laundry

Figure out what’s for supper and then start dethawing the meat, planning the sides.

Start the back closet summer project.

It is Monday morning and it is a rare thing for me to be blogging at this time.  But, then, it is an unusual Monday morning.

We had a wonderful weekend. Doing nothing. Positively nothing. I love it that way.  It seems that from September to December, we were  on such high speed, that I found myself praying, "Lord, please slow things down for me."    Answered prayer. For the past month, it seems that weekends have come to almost a halt. It feels soooo good. We sit by the fireplace, we watch a little of the history channel or a movie that my husband turns on, we play computer games, read books, or work on projects. For the most part, we all stay in the same room. Sometimes my little ones will want to go into the adjoining room that has a t.v. set in it and ask to watch a video. I rarely do this because when dad is home, I want us all to be in the same room. If they don't like what dad has on t.v., fine, play with your toys, but were all together.

Usually we have company on Sunday morning as we have church in our home, just like the first New Testament Church, when they met in their homes. I love the informality and the intimacy of such a setting. There is so much more fellowship and unity in spirit, so much abounding love. There is no facade, no 'put-on' act.  There is nothing fancy here, just reading of the Bible, prayer, sometimes singing hymns (we used to do this every Sunday, but it's not been as often lately - maybe it's my piano playing that's discouraging this), and lots of fellowship. But this Sunday, the roads were icy and hazardous, so no one came.  Again, we had a very slow and quiet Sunday.

Now, it's Monday morning. My husband has always been adamant about getting the kids up for school, ever since we started this adventure, a decade and a half ago. But this morning, as he was leaving for work, I realized there was no one stirring yet. I asked him, "Did you wake the kids up, yet? "

"No,"  he replied, "I thought I'd give you some extra time to pray". He said this, I guess, because I had not gotten up early to pray, as my custom generally is. So, after he left, I went and prayed. When I finished, I thought, well, I could get the kids up. Or, I could just let them sleep some more and get my exercise out of the way.

Now, exercise is something that's really been on the decline. I used to be so fanatic about it.  But the year of 2007 I have seriously backslidden in this area.  I have been getting to it about once or twice a week, but, at my age, I sometimes worry that if I don't stay continually faithful, I'm going to just 'lose it'. So, I decided, why let another day get so busy that I don't exercise again? Let's just do it, right now, and then, towards the end of the day, if I have time, I might fit another one in. So, I did one of my favorite routines, a video called, Callanetics, by Calley Pickney.

By the way, these are awesome exercises (Callanetics) that you can purchase by video off the internet for very, very cheap prices.   They are positively awesome in what they do for you. They don't take too long, either.

After exercising, I thought about waking the kids up again. Now, my daughter (15) has been reading other blogs and telling me that not all homeschoolers get their families up early in the morning. She said that some she read got up around 9 and even 10.  So, with that thought in my head this morning, I thought, why not?  It's cold and icy outside, and maybe they need a little extra sleep. So I turned on my computer.

Who knows what else I might get done this morning before they ever wake up. My only huge concern here is that tonight when it's time to go to bed, they may not be remotely sleepy!  The good news is that I have plenty of time to get our school work done as I think my dh may be home later than usual this morning.

Well, maybe it wasn't "perfect", but it was really good! 

If you read my previous blogs, you'd guess I've been in a bit of a fog since the holiday's. But today, I felt terrific.  A comment left on my blog had this quote, "Just one thing at a time".  I thought, that's a good mantra  for today. Just one thing at a time.

So, after getting my dh off to work, I assigned a few jobs. Joshua to bring in firewood and stack next to the fireplace. Rachel to feed the dogs and clean up the party from last night that was held in the gym. I got the horses their hay, and took out the garbage.  Ruthie took a bath and rested as she has a nasty staph infection. After that, I started making oatmeal for breakfast.

I decided to clean the kitchenette. I did "deep cleaning", as I got under the refrig and freezer. I wiped down the cabinets, the appliances, the woodwork, and the door.  As I was cleaning, I was thinking about how wonderful this all felt. It is one thing to clean "in a hurry", or, "for company".  But this was Monday morning, no company coming, not my regular cleaning day (Friday). I cleaned in a relaxed manner, taking time to talk and stop if needed by anyone.  I tend to be in a rush when I clean just to get it over with. But not this morning. I cleaned and it felt almost like therapy after a weekend that felt just a bit stressed, lots of company, and I didn't feel good on top of it.  I figured, when I'm done, I'm done. Don't put a time limit on this.  After I finished the kitchenette, I decided to do the room contiguous to it, the den.  I cleaned the doors, the woodwork, swept and mopped, and when I  was done, it looked sparkling clean.   Therapy! It felt soooo wonderful!

I created atmosphere. The fireplace was roaring, I lit a scented candle in every room.

I didn't finish cleaning until a little before noon. By that time, my mom had come, as this is the "every  other week" that she comes and stays and helps with the some of the kids (Rachel/algebra, Ruthie/reading & math).  Rachel and I put lunch on the table, using all the left overs from the weekend.  It felt great to clean the refrig out using the leftovers and getting the dishes out of there.

After lunch, I read a portion in the Bible to them about the Israelites entering into Canaan, as we are working through the Narrated Bible.  Then Rachel went to math class with Grandma.

I went to the couch in the living room with Joshua and I decided today we would spend our time reading. Were working on a book that I had purchased a very long time ago when we were doing the Calvert program.  It's taken us a very long time because he reads very deliberate and it does not go very fast.  Also, there are weeks I don't do the reading in this book so it is just taking way longer than I could have ever imagined to finish this book.  I have a personal rule for myself: Only do reading in this book with him when I feel exceptionally patient.  And today, I felt exceptionally patient.  It was a tough chapter, not particular interesting to him, so it made it even slower, I think. It was a story about a circus (way back in the 1800's).  Everytime he would come to the word "circus" he'd struggle. This has always amazed me. The story is about a circus, the word circus is used in almost every other sentence, yet, every time he comes to that word, he struggles. It's always been like this. But, by the end of the story, he was getting the word just a little faster.

That chapter probably took over an hour.  Maybe an hour and a half.  I've recently set up a blog for him, thinking that it would get him to write (this worked terrific with my dd).  However, he's not ready to just sit in front of a blog and write, so I'm using it just to get him to put his thoughts on paper (computer) and eventually, move to him typing it himself.

Then we had family story time.  We have just finished the third book of the Chronicles of the Kings, a series by Lynn Austin about the Israelites and their kings.  We are now reading the rest of these books (there are two more) as family time at night with dad.  So, we started a new book called, God King, a historical novel set in the time of King Hezekiah, but about an Egyptian during that period of time.

We concluded our school time at that point (it was about 4:00 p.m.).  Exercise is something that has been really hard to come by over the holidays and the busy schedule.  Over the past few months, I have been exercising only about two times a week, and short videos at that. At least I have been consistent with that small amount. I tried to tell myself that I've been so busy, and between being on the run and keeping the house up, surely it must be equal a good exercise. But, my body is telling me that it's not quite equal.  So, today, I exercised about an hour.  My den is my exercise room (see den Christmas tree picture blog below). I go in, shut the door, light a candle, and do my exercise. I'm majorly not into aerobics, I like things that are muscle toning. Pilates, yoga, weights, and my favorite, callanetics.  It felt so good to be exercising in a clean room as the floors sparkled. I have a big, big, mirror that sets on the floor, and when I do my balance bar exercises, I can see the room in the reflection of the mirror.

I've also been a bit sloppy about my vitamins. Again, in the holiday busyness, I missed days, a lot. Not good.  So today, as soon as I finished my exercise, I took my vitamins. Dh called and said he would be home early this evening (by 5:15p.m.)  No, I hadn't gotten supper on yet, but it wasn't a problem.  I had made a taco lasagna over the weekend, and when I did that, I had browned ground chicken.  I browned every package i had of it and froze the excess.  Tonight, I thought we'd have tacos, but the lettuce was frozen. So, instead I took soft taco shells, put taco meat (pulled from the freezer already browned, dethawed, added taco seasoning package) and put in shells with cheese on top. Voila! Supper done.  

Now, this was a pefect day, almost a perfect day. A clean kitchenette and den, the living room and family room still looked pretty good from last Friday's cleaning (a miracle of sorts), a decent school time,  exercise, and my vitamins.   But my idea of a really perfect day?  Someone else cleans my house, and I go out and go horseback riding with my daughter!

On Wednesday, two days after Christmas, we again needed to go to the office. Well, I mean, my dh needed to, and I tagged along for company. On both days that I went, I found that I was a bit helpful because I filled in for the secretaries that were not there by opening up his email  and printing them out.   Although the office is 'technically' closed, it turned out to be kind of a family day at the office.  Matt and Kristi came by, as well as Becky and Adam and their two children. 

Thursday was a big, big day. I had invited our very small church to our home for a Christmas Holiday get together, as well as serve as an informal, annual business meeting, as which I understand, if you have a non-profit organization, you must follow this formality. 

Now, the house was a disaster. We had just gone through the month of December where cleaning just didn't happen on schedule because there was always something like shopping going on, or wrapping presents. Add to that, the week before Christmas, that we were traveling. Then, add to that, we have just had a 16 people get together with 8 children running around.  I got up early, started cleaning, got the kids to help me, and cooked and cooked and cooked.  By the time everyone arrived, I was just finishing, but, I looked a positive wreck. No makeup, gym shorts and a t-shirt. My daughter came into the kitchen and told me that everyone had just arrived, so, behind the kitchenette door, I have clothes hanging there for emergencies such as this. I closed the door, and changed into the best looking outfit I could find hanging there. I came out and greeted everyone with a big big smile, trying not to appear as if I'd been cleaning and cooking all day. Everyone commented on how tired I looked. I told them that this is my usual look sans the makeup.  It was a nice get together and we really did accomplish things at the business meeting. 

The next day, I just wanted to bum. It had been a long, very busy, holiday and now, I just wanted to sit still, sleep, not even get dressed. So I did.  It's Monday night, and I've only gotten out of my p.j.'s maybe twice since Friday. It's felt wonderful.  I usually go to be early, religiously, but, these past 2 weeks I have stayed up late every single night. We'd all hang out in the family room, play computer games, and watch movies.  I'd read books, play dolls with my eight year old, and sometimes play a board game or two with the kids. Often, we'd all camp out on the first floor when it was past midnight and time to go to bed. DH and I would sleep on the futon in the living room, and the kids would all claim a couch in the family room. It was like a party every night, and a slumber party at that.

 If I got up to pray early, as my habit and custom and desire is, I would go back to bed afterwards and sleep for several hours (as the entire family was still sleeping, too).  I used up quite a few meals I had prepared and froze, and have done very minimal real cooking since Thursday night. Friday and Monday we had pizza, Saturday and Sunday we had meals from the freezer.  We've done minimal clean-up, no big jobs. I've literally been on vacation, and it's been awesome!  Now, reality, Tuesday morning....

I have my 2 neices with me this week, 9 and 13 years old.  So far this morning, as I have typed, there have been 6 kids running in and out of rooms, playing, and making noise.  This happens to be some of the most beautiful background music to me that ever existed on planet earth. 

Yesterday, Ruthie (7) and Amara (9), worked all afternoon on having a party.  They pulled out the box that keeps all of our scissors and colored markers, grabbed some paper, and sat down in the middle of the living room floor working on invitations and posters for the party.  Paper and scissors sprawled all over the floor in front of the front door, it was one of those 'cute messes'. 

The kitchen was a total mess on Monday.  It never did recover 100% from the Sunday company, although we did keep the dishwasher going continually.  And Monday, well I just take it easy that day and don't knock myself out for anything.  Basically, I just kept the dishwasher going and did a little here, a little there, everytime I walked in the room.  But then the kids, even Rachel (14) and Amanda (13) got in the party mood and wanted to make treats for it.  They pulled out the flour, the sugar, the cupcake tins, frosting, and began to make blue, green, and purple cupcakes, decorated with coconut, chocolote and white chocolate chips, and anything else they could find in my pantry. Now the kitchen took a deep plunge into the abyss.

In the evening, all the preparations had been made.  All the kids, my brother, my husband and I, were  escorted to the party.  There they had welcoming posters hanging on the door, streamers hanging from the walls, and furniture and seating arranged for different games.  We began the social part, where they had set up the treats of cupcakes, cake, and pop, on the desk and the coffee table.  When we finished eating our desserts, we were told to gather where the chairs had been formed to make a circle and they taught us how to play a game called, Never.  This is where one person stands in the middle, the rest are sitting around in a circle.  The one in the middle says something like, "I never had braces", and then everyone that has worn braces has to jump up and scramble, change chairs.  The one that doesn't find a chair, is "it".  There were a lot of laughs.

After about 45 minutes of that game, we moved over to another set of chairs they had arranged. Twelve chairs were set in rows, back to back. I hadn't played musical chairs since pre-school, I think!  Yet, it was as fun as it was way back then.  It was pretty funny watching grown men and women scramble with the kids to get a chair when the music stopped.  It was also good exercise!

We played one more game, and then it was getting late.  The mother in me had to tell the kids that the party must end, everyone needed a bath. 

Now, today, game time is over, "my" day, Monday, must wait for another week, and today, Tuesday, I must get to work. Today I will try to recover the kitchen and all else that suffered from yesterdays party. But at course, with a little help from the kids!