It is afternoon rest time at our house right now and I am still in amazement that our morning was so smooth. I turned PBS off on the TV at 9am, a little later than I had hoped but I was feeling lazy and wanted to check my email and my feeds. Everyone helped themselves to breakfast and spent the rest of the next 30 minutes doing their Morning Chores. Austin LOVES this routine. I forget how important it is to him that he knows what to expect and that his day has predictability. He tackled all his Morning Chores with a pleasant attitude and a diligence I am proud of.

We began our day with a fun warm-up. Katie and Lily had one tub of finger paint and a note card with “A a” on it. Katie also had a few sight words she practiced in paint. Rachel sat in her high chair and played with her foam letter cubes, ok so she really threw them and giggled. J The boys each thumbed through a children’s dictionary looking for nouns that began with the letter A. I asked them to find 10 each. I intend to review these new words every morning as part of our warm up this week.

After our warm-up, I had the three girls head upstairs to the playroom for 30 minutes. Austin chose to read for the next 30 minutes and Sam read Matthew chapter 13 to me while I folded laundry. I couldn’t believe Austin was choosing to read. That is his biggest struggle and he doesn’t usually read willingly. He loves to be read to but not on his own. Praise the Lord!

I took my favorite aspect of the Charlotte Mason methodology today and took the kids on a nature walk after their first 30 minutes activity Everyone loved being outside and exploring with the magnifying glass. Rachel tottered along behind us and resisted being carried. She is so stubborn and independent. We inspected all the neighbors flowering bushes, the cobwebs in the crook of the tree trunks and raced across the yard to get back home again. I was so grateful the outside temperature was under 80*.

We came in and had a short snack that consisted of a spoonful of peanut butter with chocolate chips on a spoon. This gave everyone the energy to move on to our next activity. Katie worked on her phonics with me for 30 minutes, while the boys wrote in their journals. The two little girls played upstairs again. While lunch was cooking the little girls got some momma time and we snuggled and read two books. I feel like everyone got the attention they craved based on the lack of complaining and whining.

I am hopeful that our mornings can look like this for a few months and then we will readjust to our winter schedule.

Austin, peering into the center of a cobweb!