Okay Well...

1pm

So it hasn't been as productive a day so far as it was yesterday. I stayed up until 1am yesterday trying to get some homeschooling things organized, and so no I didn't wake up at 6am like I am suppose to. Instead after waking up 5 or 6 times in the night with Becca I reluctantly rolled out of bed at 7:30 at the insistence of my cute little children. So right from the start I was behind. SHOOT!!!

We finally got everyone dressed, diapers changed, and most everyone kind of fed (we are running out of food and with Scott gone I don't feel like taking all 6 kids with me to the store so all we had was Cherrios) by 9:30. By 10 most of the beds were made and everyone had put their clean clothes away. The kids played outside for about 30 minutes while I bathed Becca (she had wet and pooped through) and found a baby frog living in one of our planters. By 10:30 the kids were getting hungry again and Jarom all on his own made everyone pancakes (we had to borrow eggs from Brigett to get the job done). He is awesome! At 11:00 I finally got the clean dishes unloaded, put Becca down for a nap, and felt like I should have had all of this done by 9am. Oh well!!!

Now I am off to do some more organizing, make some treats for my 5 Pillars class tonight, and play with the kids.

-------------UPDATE-----------------4pm

I finally did do devotional with the kids at about 1:30 a little late, but I am glad we fit it in and didn't go without it. I think its important to just do it. We sang Nephi's courage all three verses and read out of a Bible picture book beginning with the New Testament. Other than that we just played all day. The kids created lots of melt bead creations, colored pokemon, built a super cool Lincoln Log building (I should have taken a picture of it), and finally ended the day with a card game of Pokemon. I don't really know what I did today other than run around doing things for the kids, feeding them all, rocking a fussy baby, and just playing with them all. Oh the one thing I did do was make a killer salad for my 5 pillars class tonight. I skipped the Mac-N-Cheese dinner I made for the kids and am going to just fill up on salad at 7.

Now I am off to bath Becca (she is such a terrible spitter) and Brea. Then I am going to get Brea off to be before the sitter comes. CRAZY day! It for sure wasn't as smooth as yesterday, but what can you do. I guess just hope tomorrow is more productive. I need to get my act together so I can do a better job of inspiring my kids to learn. Right now my biggest success with that is just keeping them off the computer and TV. It helps them create, think, and have a desire to learn.

Its my 11th wedding anniversary today!! WOO-HOO! I hope I can get a hold of Scott tonight to tell him I love him! He is out of town and doesn't have cell phone coverage so its not easy to get a hold of him. Well, back to real life.

---------FINAL UPDATE-----------------------10:45pm

I got Brea bathed and in bed before the sitter got her! That was huge. I got out the door to the 5 Pillars class which was fun to go to, and just now made it home in time to put the two big kids to bed and tidy up the house. Tomorrow I leave for Sedona for one night to join Scott after he's been up there for a long week planning all the wonderful stuff Infusion is going to be doing in 2009! It will be fun to go up and hang out with him...I just love that guy.

So we didn't do much 'formal' school stuff today, but I think the kids played so well together that I am going to call it a success. When they play together they are learning very important life skills like conflict resolution, compromise, compassion, love, building relationships with each other, tolerance, figuring out how to be a peacemaker and team player, discovering commonalities with their siblings, etc... They are experimenting with their imaginations, learning how to entertain themselves, realizing that boredom is their problem no mine, and problem solving. How could you not say that after spending a day learning all those wonderful things that it wasn't a success?

Even though it was hectic, and my head is still spinning from all the craziness that went on today (day four without dad is always a tough one) I feel like I strengthened my relationship with my children by being 'available' to them, spending time on the floor with them, and finding joy in being their mother. I also feel like I strengthened my relationship with my Savior and Father in Heaven because I took time to study the Book of Mormon this morning and had a devotional with the kids studying the New Testament this afternoon (yes it was suppose to be this morning...but at least it got done). I measure my day's success by ability to strengthen key relationships in my life...with my children, spouse, God, scriptures, neighbors, family, etc... So today was a success...it wasn't perfect, but when I go to bed tonight I can look back and feel good about what I did. That is all that matter. I will just pray that tomorrow will be closer to perfect than today! :)

There is power in doing the IMPORTANT things first then the unimportant or less important things either somehow get done or simply fall out of existence. This week after making a much stronger effort to set aside time for me to work on my foundational things I can tell that the Lord is blessing me beyond what I am worthy of receiving. I am so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father and Savior who love me and bless me to find joy in my pursuits as a mother and wife!