Working Through It!

I'm still in catch-up mode for not only school, but housework as well. I am very proud to say, however, that the bedroom level of our home is completely picked up and organized thanks to a very helpful husband (and by helpful I mean that he kept the kids out of my way!)! My friend recently told me that she feels like she has 40 hours worth of work and only 10 hours to do it all. I feel exactly the same way! But I think that prayer and patience is getting me through this time. Prayer because I need His help and the patience to know that eventually things will be 100% normal soon.

But I still haven't slacked off completely. The kids and I are celebrating Advent daily with our Jesse Tree and the lighting of our Advent wreath. I'm also trying to do one Christmas craft daily, whether it be making an ornament or coloring a Christmas scene. It keeps the kids busy and they have fun all at the same time.

Marco and Anthony working hard.

The kids working on their stained glass creations.

Celebrating the second week of Advent by making a gingerbread house.

Another factor throwing me off a bit, is that Marco has some serious laryngitis (although you can't tell from the pictures!). His voice is out and he has been having a really hard time swallowing and talking. Poor little guy! Christian also gave me a sleepless night last night with a fever. Fortunately, he woke up feeling better and has been acting normal all day. I'm praying that the rest of the kids stay healthy!

Tonight I have to work on my lesson plans for the rest of the week. I didn't get around to it this weekend and by the productivity level of today, it is obvious that I can't start a day all willy-nilly and without a plan! I'm actually going to do 2 weeks worth of lesson plans for Anthony, whose preschool work is easier, but seems to take longer for me to prepare and plan for.

So there. Homeschoolers have bad days and even bad weeks. The important thing is not to be paralyzed by our situations...we must keep on moving! The only thing that makes me feel like I'm keeping my head above water is the fact that we are completing our basics: reading, writing, and arithmetic. I hope I have a better entry next time I write! I really hate it when my plans fall through and become obvious inefficiencies.