Instead of writing daily posts of what I have PLANNED to accomplish, I am posting what we actually got done. Since only One knows our plans I like looking back and seeing what's done. Besides, in all honesty, a lot of days can be so discouraging if I allow it to get to me. With working so hard, then looking back at the end of the day, I think, "I haven't gotten anywhere. What happened?". Well, I have to say that I have been so encouraged this week and feel a true sense of accomplishment. You see, it's not that we aren't doing anything or that we aren't getting anywhere after all. While keeping  a handwritten journal this week (of which I did before hitting the blogosphere) of our daily happenings, I have been so uplifted! Yes! My self esteem is so much better than before, of which wasn't good before. So here's to this week!

Sunday we had a very busy day. Of course the day began with grabbing a quick bite to eat and leaving for church. Our family sang at church today....two new songs. We knew of one of them but had not even heard the other. Brittany, AKA Ms. Music Chic, had the.....ahem.....somewhat scary but clever idea of once again doing new songs. Girlfriend can't stick with the tried and true can she? 

After church we headed to Cracker Barrel but it was waaaayyyyy to crowded so we will wait till later to go. I am so thankful for a sweet friend's thoughtfulness of giving our family a gift card to my mostest (it's a word of mine so leave me alone) favorite place to eat. So, we'll save that and instead we stopped by Walmart and I picked up premade subs and drink. All for about $13 our family had a fine dinner at the park. This park had a nice pond. Then we went to visit James' aunt and ran by Big Lots. I found my barn star for the dining room to be!!!!!!!!! I was going to order one from a catalog but the catalog was way too tempting in ordering more things, especially for the washroom.

We had evening services and then a church social afterwards. We had fun talking of, you know, women things while the men talked of men things. Then finally we were able to come "Home Sweet Home" and rest for the night.

Monday came all too soon and I got a late start going. We finally began school at 10:00am, ate lunch at 12:30, rested at 1:00. I have KP today so gave the kitchen a good cleaning and Britt did a few loads of wash with my help. I began using cloth diapers again today after a break for a few weeks. I was glad to begin again. Cloth diapers give most moms who use them a sweet satisfaction somehow. I guess you can relate it to having crisp shirts after ironing, or admiring a line full of clothes drying or a clean kitchen after a long day of cooking. There's nothing like putting a soft cloth diaper on a sweet baby's bottom!

After KP and laundry, we did a quick pickup of the day and then I realized that we were all out of sugar. So I make a quick run to Family Dollar. Once back we ate supper, did a quick kitchen cleanup and I ironed some wash and got our clothes ready for a special field trip tomorrow. I finished tidying, cleaned the master bath....didn't quite finish but it's better anyway! I put cubed steak in the crockpot, took my vitamins and propped my feet up to relax.

Tuesday I got up, feeling pretty rested, fed the family breakfast, finished packing the diaper bag, and we headed for the zoo! Check out Brittany's blog to see a few pics. Before heading over we stopped at the bank and then to grab a quick bite to eat so we wouldn't be hungry at the zoo. We had a great time at the zoo. We were even able to see the koala bears awake. As a side note, they are only awake an average of 4 hours a day and that is usually at night. So we delighted in seeing them up and alert.  Things went very smoothly at the zoo. So smoothly that I was up for doing our monthly shop at Sam's and Aldi. So off we went there as well. Once we finally made it home, we took a nap, got up, tidied real quick and fixed supper. Wow, what a day!

Wednesday we took it more easy. The energy rush of yesterday was no more today. The older ones started researching an animal that they picked to do a lapbook on. Boy, I am looking forward to this!  It's enjoyable to see children want to learn something out of want and not obligation. Talking of animals makes me think of science and science makes me think of next school year. So I want to tell you that all the children will be into biology next year! It will be nice to have the "top 3" on the same page. It seems that with the next two or three I will be starting over with elementary science. Boy, having a lot of children keeps the tides turning! Once you're "done", it's time to start all over again. With everything it seems to happen! Oh anyway, Wednesday night we went to evening worship service. Our sermon was on Noah and his mistakes.

Thursday was a day chock full of hustle and bustle as well. First off I went to the doctor and saw the baby via ultrasound! Turns out that everything looks very healthy and very good. Also, it appears that baby has a big mouth. Must be a boy. Just kidding! Well, sort of. I gained 4# this past month and that makes a total of 5#. I am tinkering with disaster and really must watch those scales.

After the OB visit I made my way to Food Lion and picked up a few of their sales of the week. Then it was time to come home and get lunch prepped. We did some light schooling after lunch and nap.

Friday we hit the books a little harder than the previous days of the week. It was a goal to catch up. It appears that Dalton will finish before Brittany and Samuel this year. He will probably be done this month and Brittany and Samuel will be into June. As for the 4yo and 6yo, we keep at light preschool/ K as a fun activity. I am still in hopes that they can be taught together in most studies. In the late afternoon we did our "weekly" house blessing and with some elbow grease and delegation we got a lot accomplished.

Saturday held as busy as the rest of the week. Why change pace now? Ha! We headed to church and had breakfast, prayer and then went on visitation. I mainly stayed in the van with Joy-Anna this time and the other children went out with James. I did hit 4-5 houses in the end though. James and Brittany had a good visit with a fellow that was very receptive to the gospel. After visitation, we went to Cracker Barrel! This was an amazing treat.....not one good for the hips, but good nonetheless.

After leaving there James dropped me and the girls off at Target. While in search of a few things on my list I decided to make way over to the food section. I stocked up on some clearance items. I felt good about our purchases. I had also bought lil' Joy-Anna some training underwear. The smallest they offered was size 2 and she's way too petite for them to stay on her hips. I wish they would make smaller ones. I feel she's ready to start training. We will see how this goes this summer anyway.

So while we were at Target James was at Lowe's. Once we had made our purchases we headed home for construction and chores. James and Brittany worked on the back deck. It's gonna be massive, to say the least...about a 27' X 15.5'. This will be fun to picnic on in the warmer months. I guess that will be our term for "eating out", ay? LOL We will have the grill, which will be hooked up to a continual flow of gas and eventually we want add a utility sink. It would be right out the door from the washroom so if I have to rinse or pretreat any garments, etc. it's just a step or so away. It'll be good for fish cleaning or just general washing up before heading in. Anyway, the deck is 1/3 of the way done.

Mr. Plumber came and hooked up the sewage drain from the new bath and washroom to the existing main drain. James is going to hook the water up soon to the main line. I can't wait. I can't wait. I can't wait! I also can't wait for the gas tank to be set up to use the gas stove and new water heater. I have a feeling that the "old" one is pulling a lot of power. Eeek. Besides we can get the huge, commercial water heater out of the kitchen and I will have more room in there too. Yeehaw, little doggies. I feel like Bethany with her telling everyone, "do you want to see our new house? we have a BBIIIGGGG  house. " I have to shush her. It's big to us but not to everyone and I don't want strangers seeing it and I don't want them to think we are wealthy or prideful....or whatever. LOL

So, Sunday comes around and it's Homecoming Sunday at church. We had two great sermons, some great singing and food. Yes, more church food. I. am. doomed. We had the late afternoon and evening open to be lethargic and to do some light chores. So, we headed to bed a wee bit earlier than usual, which was good.

That's the long epic of our week. I hope to not have such long entries as this to bore you in the future. Okay, now it's time to work on another week. What will it be? Plumbing? Decking? Stair treads? Trimwork? Flooring? I am itching to try out the finishing nail gun. There's something about power tools that makes you feel in control. No wonder men like them. Ha!