Wake up tired .... too many late nights in the last week.  Kids have gone to bed late too, which means it is SO hard for Kiera to wake up and get going.  Coleman rarely sleeps very late.  Kevin does if he spent alot of time up during the night, which is often, and he doesn't have an early a.m. appointment.  As it approaches fall-winter, I will go to bed earlier and so will the kids. Dad won't....

Take the dogs out.  Drink water. Make a cup of tea.  Make coffee.  Open the blinds when it is light.  Sit down with bible, journal and book and lately, computer.  Pray. Read the bible and devotional, write in journal, and read and/or blog.

Think about .... who needs prayer, what the kids need to do, what is a priority on today's schedule and things to do list.  Go to the bathroom (sometimes I drink 2-3 glasses of water when I get up, then tea...)  Have some coffee, wake Kevin or the kids if I need to.  Go back to what I was doing or take care of Em and Toby if they wake up.  Perhaps make some toast.  Let the chickens out.  I was feeding Sunny and the goats but lately I have let them go hungry if Kiera is late.

Get the kids going.  Coleman has been more self motivated since our new reinforcement program.  He really works hard to get his appointed tasks done.  Kiera has a hard time staying on task and getting going, but she does a really good job at what she does.  

Bible study.  Dad has been joining us more often which is really nice.  We have been studying in Romans, though I take days off to study a devotional and its topic or do a shorter amount of verses so we can look up more word meanings and record them (vocabulary).  Dad goes to work between 8 and 9:30 usually.

Start working.  Get the dishes done.  Lately I wait for Kiera or Coleman's help as they are in training.  Do our household chores. Em puts away the clean silverware.  She also takes off Chuckles' (conure) cover and checks his or her? food and water. Start laundry routine (which doesn't end until bedtime).  Take care of the dogs, cats, and chickens.  We have also had chicks. 

We usually then do math next (last year we did Saxon plus Key to Decimals and various other practices).  We also do Easy Grammar, but not every day.  Spelling is/was Bob Jones - I still need to order the ones for this year. I used a different one for Coleman for part of last year.  This year I may switch to AVKO or use it in conjunction.  I could probably use Spelling Power for Coleman. 

There is usually a round of jumping on the trampoline or backyard baseball in there.  I also have had a lot of watering to do.  I do alot (too much) of watering by hand.  I have (had) some tomatoes, tomatillos, dill, parsley, purslane, potatoes, beans, peas, beets, lettuce, squash, cucumber and watermelon (these haven't really done much, no fruit).  There are also trees to water and the areas of the grass which aren't getting enough from the sprinklers.   

We use alot of historical fiction reading books.  We did Story of the World with a small group coop for two years, but Kiera and I didn't like it.  Coleman reads the books for free reading....  Kiera does not like history textbooks, so I use a lot of different ways to study history.  We did a short study of California missions last fall.  We also did a water conservation study last year.  This year we will again study emergency preparedness, physics, biology and reproduction.   We will also be doing more writing and composition practice, using a variety of methods rather than a specific program.

This year, we will probably use more videos and computer applications for all areas of learning.

We used to work all morning, then meet Brooke during mid day for our therapy for community and behavior training (now consultation/therapy) session 2-3 days per week.  Other days we have Filly Fellowship on the other side of A.G. in the country.  Coleman goes and sees his friends there (brothers of the Filly girls) or goes to visit  his friend.  We will do errands during the waiting time or on the way back.  Coleman has his video game time. Then we usually have some type of sports practice (baseball, basketball or football) or cubscouts.

In the months when it is light longer, Kiera usually works with her horse Sunny after Coleman goes to practice.  In the colder months, she has to do it earlier in the day.  This usually takes her 1 to 2 hours, depending upon if she rides. 

After sports practice, we usually have something to eat.  We may have eaten earlier as well.  Then we wind down and get ready for bed. 

Well, that's it for now..