I have found myself so unmotivated for the last few weeks. We worked very hard to redo the kitchen and living room several weeks ago...and I had hopes that the redo would motivate us all to keep it picked up and clean, but I was wrong. It stayed nice for a while but now it's just ick.

I'm gone from home quite a bit right now, 6-7 hours on days that I have to take FIL for his treatments, and with the farm related work that we *have to do* it seems that I just cannot find time to do what I need/want to do inside. It's to the point of needing more than just maintenance, and I can't even seem to make myself start on the days that I am able to stay home.

I checked out Flylady's book, Sink Reflections, from the library  hoping that would motivate me...but I haven't even been able to force myself to dig into it.

A few years ago I used my timer daily. I would set the timer for 30-45 minutes and work diligently during that time..then I would set it for another 15-30 minutes to take a break (most of the time online). That worked really well for me, maybe because I knew that there would be an end and a *reward*. Kind of like a child, huh?

Along with the timer, I developed a system of cleaning...starting at one end and working to the other, doing things in each room. Most of the time it would take around an hour of  working to be completely done with the indoor things (minus laundry..). I don't expect that to be the case while I'm trying to recover the house though.

So, I've decided that I'm going to dig out the timer...tomorrow.  My husband will be taking FIL for his treatment tomorrow and Friday(I've been doing it even when he could to *bless* him...but right now I just need to be home  ), so I will have Thursday-Saturday to accomplish what needs to be done. He will leave at 6:30am each morning, and be home between 12:30 and 1:30. I will need to work diligently during that time because he will have things that he needs our help with when he gets home.

I'm thinking that I need to stay offline some...I've been using it, along with movies, as an escape lately. I am not going to punish myself though...don't really feel like I've been naughty or negligent..just going through some tough things right now and it's effecting different areas of my life which, in turn, has pushed me to seek escapes. Not saying it's healthy...but it is what it is.

I sat down earlier to make a list of things that need to be done, but I didn't get very far. I think it might be better if I just pick a room to start in, and work through it. None of them are horrible, but look a bit neglected.

I'm also not sure about enlisting the help of the boys. Sometimes that works out great, but sometimes it's just better if I do the work myself...and when I am done I can show them the results, explain their responsibility and walk away. Now is probably one of those times...I'm thinking that I may have them do certain jobs before I send them out, and then I will *do my thing* afterward.

Maybe I will update later, or tomorrow, with a list of things to do...for today, laundry needs to be caught up so that won't be part of the list.

seems there was some kind of misunderstanding and my father in law actually has 8 more treatments...a whole week more than we had thought.

Also, he's having headaches again...horrible, painful headaches...and dizziness, along with nausea and vomiting. This isn't good. They put him back on the steroids which have their own side effects.

We spoke with the oncology radiologist's nurse about a follow up scan, and she said that they are so *confident* in the effectiveness of the treatments that they do not do that. He is over halfway through the treatments and having headaches and dizziness...but even if they did a scan I'm not sure there is anything that they could do.

We ask for continued prayers for him, and my mother in law. Her health isn't good either.

Clementine is the name of my Alpine doe, and, yes, I do sing this song to her when I go to milk her. We bought her a couple of weeks ago so that we could have goat milk. She's 3-4 yo (I cannot remember now), was living on the farm where she was born, had two babies still nursing, and had never been milked before when we bought her. The first few days were rough...

She's calmed down quite a bit. She doesn't kick the milk bucket now. She had been eating from my hand the latter part of last week, but she is moody and when she gets mad at me she won't come near me. Right now she is mad at me...

Getting her on the milk stand is sooo much fun....NOT. Generally we have to run her into her stall, and then she will allow us to put her on the leash.

We are getting around a quart from her (more or less), and I am satisfied with that considering the situation. We will breed her this fall...

We also purchased a Nubian doe, and buckling (unrelated to each other). I named the doe Agatha, calling her Aggie. She's not overly friendly, and she had not been milked when we bought her. She has learned that milkstand=food though, and jumps up readily. She also isn't as skittish, and stands pretty still during the whole thing. Yesterday I milked Clemmy second, and she jumped up on the stand behind Clem *waiting in line* for her turn at the food.

The buckling is 3months old and his name is "Billy Boy" ...I had been calling him Cracker Jack, but he's the only buck we have and Lander named him after *Billy Boy* in the cartoon....remember, "Ole Billy Boy's back, back, back..."
The plan is to breed the Alpine and the Nubian with this buck this fall. Looking at him now I cannot imagine him breeding anything...he's just a wee little baby that likes to snuggle with *mama*.

None of these animals were expensive, and none of them are registered or show quality. We had discussed having goats to clear off the land, and I had wanted dairy goats. We made the decision to purchase these goats to try it out...and knew that it wouldn't really be a waste if they didn't work out because they would still clear the land. I have found that I do enjoy milking them, and hopefully next year I can start building a herd of registered goats...either Alpine, Nubian, or LaMancha.

My husband wants to buy Boer goats...they are popular in our area, much more so than dairy breeds for some reason.

We also have a pygmy doe named Nancy...and we are going to borrow a buck to breed her with this fall. Pygmy's are another popular breed in this area.

So, now you know the truth...I've become a goatie addict.

He has 5 treatments left, the rest of this week and then two days of next week. They immediately began to help with the headaches, balance issues, and dizziness.

 He started losing his hair after the second week of treatments, so I took him to his daughter's house to have it shaved off. He's bought a few hats for sun protection.

His health is not good. He cannot walk around at the hospital, and we have to push him in a wheelchair. He tires easily. I know that he fears death approaching, not what comes after, but leaving. He worries about his wife, and what will happen to her in the future. She is in poor health as well, and does not drive. He knows that we will make sure she is cared for...but you know how it would be, nobody can care for her the way that he does.

Only God knows what is to come, and we try to rest in that knowledge and trust in Him. Sometimes it's hard not to let worry overwhelm you...

When we woke up this morning it was cloudy and gray. We expected rain, and it came...so no farm work. Lander and I both needed haircuts, so we decided we would just have a day out, get the haircuts and do some shopping.

Surprisingly, and thankfully, the weather cleared up shortly after we got to town. The boys and I went to the used bookstore while Lander was getting his haircut. I found some more Childhood of Famous Americans books, which I was thrilled about, plus some more great history books, and some books just for fun.

After we were finished there they guys dropped me off to get my hair cut and went shopping. That didn't take very long...

We decided that we would go on a picnic and to the museum since the day was so beautiful. I wish I had taken my camera, maybe some day I will learn to carry it all the time. I seem to miss a lot of good stuff because I only take it with me for really special things.

We grabbed a bucket of chicken from KFC and went to the park. They have a beautiful shaded area with picnic tables. It was really just a beautiful day to be out and enjoy nature. While we were eating, a squirrel sat on his tree watching us...waiting for a bite of biscuit. He was so cute, and again, I wish I had my camera with me. We would throw him a bite and he would come within a few feet of us to get it.

When we finished eating we walked down to the edge of the stream, looked at the little fishies, skipped rocks, jumped over the stream in spots...just had fun.

Then we went on to the museum. There isn't a lot to see there. They have been remodeling, and...well...there just isn't a lot to see there. We watched a little movie about the nearby cave (which has a really cool story behind it). They also have a great movie about Daniel Boone, but two of the boys didn't want to sit through it because we have seen it before.

The younger two boys wanted whistles, one a penny whistle, the other a signal whistle, so daddy kindly bought those for them and then we headed outside.

They have a small *model* cabin and stocks on the grounds, so we isnpected them. The guys began talking about building stocks here at home, and we already have a small cabin (log chicken house that is unused by the chickens who seem to prefer the Virginia rail fence and trees to roost in) that they have been given permission to convert into a *play cabin*. I love that they are able to *play out* history. It really cements it in their minds.

After we finished there we headed toward home. We talked about making this a history summer, and trying to visit all the nearby historical parks/museums on day trips. I am thinking that we will make scrapbooks...doesn't that sound like FUN?

I think our next trip will be to the cave, if weather is nice next Saturday, and if it's not we are going to visit the Abraham Lincoln Library and Museum.

Last week we went for a walk down into the woods behind our barn. My *men* are handling me with kid-gloves lately because of my *illness*, so my oldest held my hand all the way, making sure to take me on the easiest travelled path. I love the attention, and I am so proud of how we have raised them, to care for others...their wives will be very blessed indeed.

My husband wanted to show me the spring. It had almost dried up, but he's cleaned it out, and with lots of wet weather it is now flowing. He's so proud of this place, and so thankful. It just makes me happy to listen to him ramble about what he is doing and what he plans to do.

Here's a pic...

Apparently the weather effects me much more than I ever realized, or it is affecting me more now than it used to, because I find myself feeling *full* inside when we have these beautiful DRY spring days. I feel renewed and energized...and hopeful.

Snow is beautiful, but after snow comes mud...at least here on the farm anyway. The snow only lasts a day or two, and then we have a week or more of nasty mud. My mood matches, disgusting, depressed, and ugly.

School is going well, but it seems that each time I make a decision something happens to change it. So goes life though, huh?

We've been making frequent visits to the library lately, reading lots of books about lots of different things. Somehow it all ends up connecting in the end so I am not doing a lot of directing. So funny to be *studying* Egypt, but have children who are reading books on knights, the civil war, spies, and Don Quixote. That's the way it goes though.

My oldest and I made a trip out a few days ago. I love going out with my children alone. The conversation is very different one on one than it is if there are brothers tagging along OR if dad is with us.

We went to the library and browsed their movies, picked up some holds (very much loving our library system and *FREE* interlibrary loans right now), and looked through the books. This library is not the one we usually go to, so it was fun to see what they had, and with it being so small it didn't take us long to browse.

Today we went to the hospital for my abdominal ultrasound. The lady who took my info complimented me on my boys. She said that most children wouldn't stand quietly and wait.  Well, it made me feel good anyway.

After the ultrasound we went by the library, but it was packed. We didn't know that they had storytime during that time, and we couldn't even find a parking place...so we decided to go have lunch. I was realllly hungry because I wasn't allowed to eat after midnight. The boys picked Long John Silver's...yummm...GREASEY deep fried fish!!

Then after lunch we tried the library again. Thankfully there was at least a place to park this time, but the library was full of 1-3yo's. It looked like the party was breaking up, so we decided to wait around. Now, I will say, I have nothing against a bunch of 1-3yo's...but, our libraries are generally empty and quiet, so it was different. Plus, the place that my children generally use was occupied and they were kind of at a loss and stuck to my shirt-tail.

We hit the jackpot though, lots of books on all the things that we are interested in. I had to limit them...we have been going every week so it isn't like they can't pick up more the next time.

Oldest is very into the Civil War right now. He's very intrigued at the inaccuracies of most stories about Abraham Lincoln and the causes of the war. He's writing a *historical fiction* novel about a 14-15yo boy who lied about his age in order to join in the battle. Our house is full of all sorts of books on the subject, some we own, and some we have borrowed from our library. I'm anxious to see where this leads.

And now I am here, wasting time. My tummy is sore from all the mashing that the tech did, and I'm being a big baby. I don't even have a supper plan for today...not even an inkling of what I might fix.

Lander is off tomorrow, and my plan is to go get my hair cut. It's getting so long that the flip won't stay in it...aggravating. I'm not taking a before pic, but maybe I'll post an after one.

The boys want to go with me so they can visit the used book store again. Not sure what Lander's plans are...he's still cutting down trees and plowing up dirt.

Went to have my abdominal ultrasound done today, and the tech saw a stone...a large stone, he said. I told him that I had not been having attacks, though I do have times when I am in pain and know it's my gall bladder. He says it's because the larger stones are *stuck* and the smaller stones are the ones that cause the pain because they are trying to get through the tube. Makes sense to me...

I go to see my doctor on Friday, and I'm sure that she is going to tell me that the gall bladder needs to come out. She tried to get me to have it taken out before, and I didn't. I have lots of questions to ask her, and she will have to convince me of it being a necessity before I will agree.

I go to see the cardiologist on March 8. I've had two more episodes since the visit for the echo.

Sometimes I feel silly for being so concerned when others have so much more on their plates, but...I am concerned.

So, if you think of me, please say a prayer. Thanks!

The group that my husband and my oldest son play in is going to be on the radio today. I just thought that was cool...

They have been together for a few years...started as one group, grew, split...now parts of that group are back together. They play bluegrass gospel strictly...in public anyway. My husband has been known to cut down on Foggy Mountain Breakdown...umm...pretty frequently.

My husband plays the banjo, Andy plays the bass, Allen plays mandolin, and Junior plays guitar. They all sing...and they all have written songs...even Andy (my eldest son).

They will be making their first CD in a few weeks.

I'm proud that they have a way to minister, and spread the gospel...and that they are willing to do it.

Just sharing...

Little Candace needs our prayers.

You can find more information at Janne's Blog.

I guess Lander is getting tired of all the books laying around in stacks everywhere. A stack on the ottoman, a stack on the end table, a stack by the chair, stacks upon stacks in our bedroom, and stacks in the boys rooms. He's building a bookshelf for our living room.

I have purchased shelving units (cheap) before, but the shelves always sag. That annoyed me so badly that I just boxed up all the books and put them in storage.  

Sometimes when I am looking at bookstores, or even online, I have to ask myself "Do I already have that? I seem to remember having that at some point." I'll be so glad to be able to look through my shelves and see if I do have a certain book so I won't make duplicate purchases.

I'm not sure that the shelf will hold all of my books, but it's going to be a lot better than the few that I have on the one small, sagging bookshelf I am tolerating at this point.

Maybe I'll post pictures in the next few days. Not sure how long this project is going to take...but I feel very loved, I'll say. He is doing this instead of plowing or sawing down trees, and moving them with his tractor (did I mention he bought a chainsaw and now he's sawing down all our trees AND plowing up all our land? I love my husband!!  )

A few months ago I saw an ad for a used bookstore in a town near us, but I hadn't had time to check it out. We were out today running errands so we ran by to see what they had.

Of course, being very rural means that her selection was not great. Lander said it was a *wharehouse of Harlequin romance novels*. That wasn't quite true, but not far from it.

She had one side of one aisle with children's books. Of course, lots of those were *Babysitter's Club* and the like. I did manage to find several Childhood of Famous American's books for .95  These are the hardback editions so I was extra pleased with that. I also found several history related books and snatched them up. I'm sure that we will read them at some point. I also found one Sonlight book for the coming year, and two for the following year...very happy about that. I think the trip was worth it. I plan to go back as often as I can with a list in hand. She keeps record of her things on her computer so she could actually tell me whether or not she has a certain book. I don't want to overwhelm her though.

Her policy is to allow you to *trade* the books you buy from her in on different books. She gives you a credit for your full purchase price.

I never saw a store like this that gave FULL purchase price credit. Anyway, it works on a 75/25 deal. For instance, the book you bought was $1...so she will give you $1 credit, but when you pick another book for $1 you only get to use .75 credit and pay .25 cash (so she can pay the electric bill and rent on the place). Sounds good to me. Also she will credit you for books you bring in.

I'm planning to go through our books and see if I have any that I really do not want. I didn't notice any hs books, but she did tell me that she has several hs families that frequent the store. So maybe in the future there will be more hs books. I have some Little Golden Books that I know I don't want any longer...and some Disney stuff. I'm sure I would be better off to trade those in.

My poor husband, I had stacks of books on the floor while I was sorting through the shelves. He asked me at one point if I was REALLY going to buy them all. "Well, ummm....yeah...."

He is not a book-lover, and he really does NOT get it at all. Oh well, at least he loves me enough to *fund* my addiction...that I have passed on (thankfully) to my children.

My husband's tractor was delivered today.

He's been so excited since he started shopping, and was even more excited after he picked it out. He's waited a long time to get one. We are trying to be debt free, and were waiting to have *cash in hand* before we bought one...of course it is used, but it's paid for.

He bought a plow to go with it, and he's been out driving, and plowing, and swapping out equipment (we did have a few things) since it got here. He'll run in every little bit to ask me to come look at what he's done, or what he put on it, or what he's going to do next. He's just like a little boy...I'm having so much fun seeing him so excited.

He says that now we are a *real* farm....guess the 22 acres is just land, but the tractor makes it a farm.

He's already let the older two boys drive it, and they're excited to. This means we'll get to work all spring and summer on a garden...and they like the thoughts of that, because that means fresh veggies!! Have I ever mentioned that my children like to eat??

Sometimes it's hard for my husband to see all that others have, and seem to attain so easily, when it seems that we struggle for what little we do have. We're always reminding each other though, when old *envy* starts to try to wriggle in, that they may have those things...but most of the time they owe for them...and we do NOT want to owe for what we have if we can avoid it.

So, it makes me especially happy to see him get something that he needs and wants AND that we don't owe for it. 

I hear him and the oldest outside now, I hope he doesn't plow up everything... 

I started baking bread, without a breadmaker, some time before Thanksgiving. I wanted to do this to cut our budget some because the bread we liked was around $2 a loaf at the store, and we used 2-3 loaves a week. Everyone enjoyed it, but it just took so long that I soon gave up doing it on a daily basis.

Daddy L bought me a nice new breadmaker for Christmas. I had one before, but I never used it...I lacked self-confidence to make bread from a recipe, and the boxed mixes were just too expensive, and it didn't taste like *Wonder Bread*. I gave it away a few years ago because I was sure that I would never use it again. The one Daddy L bought me was much nicer than that one, so I'm still glad I gave it away.

I guess I'm a little more confident now because I've been trying everything in this new machine. Most of it has turned out GREAT..but a few things have flopped. No biggie, I just don't make those any more. Everybody LOVES this homemade bread!

The problem with this, I'm making 3 loaves a day!! And with that, they are still eating it all...there is none left!! I try to make one loaf at night, pull it out right before I go to bed, and that is for breakfast (no matter what we have they still eat the bread with it...even with pancakes or waffles). I put a loaf in of the morning, and they eat it for lunch, or WITH lunch...with butter or something on it, or they will eat it as a snack after lunch. I put in another loaf to be done by supper time and it's gone with supper.

Daddy L says, "enough is enough already." He told me to limit them, and not to let them eat all the bread.

"How do I do that?", I ask.

Of course, he had no response to that. He's just as bad as they are, and if he is home when the bread comes out he *has to have* the heel slathered in butter.

So, today he suggested that he just buy me another breadmaker so I can keep more made. I had mentioned it in jest a few times because I think it's just so funny that they eat so much bread...but I'm not sure I *really* want another one. I hope he's not really serious about it either.

but I am glad that Daddy L went back to work today.  I think he was glad too, though.

It was just really hard for us to have school yesterday with him here. When he is home my heart tells me that *everything* should revolve around him...and his desires. That's *one* of the reasons that we have gotten behind, and stayed behind.

We have boys, and he wants to get work done. Our farm needs a LOT of work...it has been completely neglected for 10 years (before we owned it) and somewhat neglected before that. He's anxious to get started on it, and he wants/needs the help of our boys.

The boys want to help! They love working on the farm, and they LOVE being with their daddy. They are torn...we all are. In his heart he wants to just tell them to skip school and come work, but he knows from what I have told him that we cannot do that and be done with certain things by June...as we need to be.

DaddyL works a very odd shift, or at least to us it seems odd. He works 12hour days, 2-3 days in a row with 2-3 days in a row off between. He has every other Sat., Sun., and Mon. off...which is very nice. That means that every other week he is home Mon, Thur., and Fri. (this week it's this way) We just cannot stop having school, and doing indoor chores on those days.

I'm really going to have to pray about this. Yesterday the boys were not completely done with indoor chores and school until 2pm...which didn't leave them long to work outside. It's winter now, so there isn't a lot that they can do...but spring is fast approaching, and we will begin our garden. We are also going to be clearing the land, and building fences and such because we want to add sheep to our farm. We really need to take advantage of DaddyL's days off...which means the boys would really need to work on those days.

I guess I could look at it like this, if they were in public school they wouldn't even be home until 4pm. They aren't though, and that's one more benefit of hs'ing.

OH well, much to think on...if you have any suggestions please share them with me.

This is my son's chicken...Chicky...on my son's shoulder.

It only took me about an hour on Saturday to get everything prepped for Sunday.

I had each person pick out their church clothes, and thankfully none of them needed ironed. I decided what would be a quick breakfast (instant oatmeal and/or waffles), and then decided what to fix for dinner (roast with veggies in the roaster).

The house was clean, and most of the laundry done, and I did NOT make a dessert (which I would like to start doing) so that was probably why it didn't take us very long.

I got up early on Sunday morning, had my tea while I studied the Bible, then took a shower. I put all the fixin's in the roaster, started a loaf of bread in the breadmaker, started the water for oatmeal and put some waffles in the toaster. After the boys came in from taking care of their animals we sat down to eat. The morning ran really smoothly, and we actually had a bit of free time. It was nice...and very different from our norm.

For those that don't know us, we have been without a *home church* for a very long time. One of our Sunday morning issues is always "where do we go?" We end up just staying home because we can't decide. My husband had decided earlier in the week where we would attend, and when he told me I was able to plan what to wear, etc. based on that.

After church we came home to a house that smelled as if someone had been home cooking all morning. Yummmy!! I got the bread out of the breadmaker and sliced it, put on some extra veggies to boil, and within 15minutes we were sitting down to dinner.

I told my oldest (as he is the one who has kitchen clean up) to clean everything up, as I headed off to bed to take a nap. He asked me what I meant, and I again repeated what I had said. When I got up the kitchen was a wreck...he explained he felt that since everyone else *was doing nothing* that he didn't have to clean the kitchen up well. Ummm..ok, I accept the miscommunication, though I did point out to him that I was up hours before he was prepping so that we wouldn't be eating dinner at 2pm, and so I could take a nap that afternoon.

I think we will be tweaking what we do a bit, and making sure that everyone understands what is expected of them, but I see that this Saturday prep is extremely beneficial and I want it to become habit. My husband has to work next Sunday, and he has asked if I will take them to church (at the same church) while he is at work. He will also be working next Saturday, so I will be doing this all on my own and without his being here as incentive. We'll see how it goes...

I hope I have not given the impression that my husband is *making me* do these things.  He really isn't making me do anything. I wanted to ask him these questions because it is my desire to not just *satisfy* him but to actually *please* him...and I feel that those two can sometimes be on opposite ends of the stick. At least I know that in our marriage they definitely are.

Being that my husband is so easy to please, he just accepts my shortcomings without comment...or complaint. I really don't think that this has been good for me. NO, I do not want a husband who is always complaining, but I think it's beneficial for our husbands to share with us what they feel we are doing wrong and maybe suggestions to change. Sometimes they see things that we don't, and sometimes they see the things that we don't want to admit...

I am admittedly a very lazy person...I'm not just saying that so someone will tell me I couldn't be because of all I do, I am seriously lazy, always late, and always put things off to the last minute.

My idea of being dressed before was being in sweats or some kind of pull on pant, a ratty tee, maybe running the brush through my hair (maybe not), and making sure my teeth were brushed. Cleanliness had nothing to do with it...I was clean, but I was just very sloppy. This was not *really* pleasing to my husband. Plus I always felt like I was ready for bed...just as with Flylady's shoe rule, when I am dressed I feel like I am ready to work.

My husband prefers that I at least look *neat*...he was satisfied with the way I was before, it was *neat enough*. He prefers me to fix my hair, and have on makeup, and to dress a little less sloppy. I want to please him, so even though he has already told me that I don't have to do this, I am choosing to do it because I want him to be pleased with me.

I am not showered and dressed before he leaves for work. I get up at 5am, get him up at 5:30am, and he leaves at 6am...I shower and dress shortly after that. I am doing that for myself. I know *me*, and if I say "I'll do it this afternoon"...well...I won't. So it's best if I get it done before my children get up and need my attention.

Also, in my particular situation, and being the mom of older children, I have no real reason that I cannot get up early...and I have seen the benefit of it, so this is what I am choosing to do for myself and my family.

As for the housework, everyone's idea of clean and organized is going to look different. I'm quite sure that my house is not as clean as some...but it suits my husband. He has given me a few specifics that seem to *bug* him more than others. Those are the things that I make sure are done above all else. He really isn't hard to please.

With my children being older, and being able to take care of themselves mostly, there really isn't a reason for our home to be a disaster. If I stay on top of it, make sure it is done daily, and make my children help as they should, then it stays clean...or clean enough.

Right now we spend about 30minutes each morning and each afternoon on housework and we clean up after our meals. That pretty much keeps it clean.

There was a period of time when I was taking PapL (my FIL) to radiation/chemotherapy, and I was gone between 6-8 hours a day 3-4 days a week...then he was in the hospital for over a month, 2hrs from home...and there was no way it could stay clean and school could be done. I'm not even sure how we managed during that time..it's all a blur really. There are going to be times in our lives like that, when we cannot *just do it*...but if we do spend our time wisely when we are able then I think those times might not be so hard to recover from.

I'm sorry that got so long....

Last night we stayed up too late, and I knew that I would be struggling to get up this morning. He had given me an hour online while he and the boys were playing music together (I am not included because of my lack of musical ability). This put all of us staying up until 9:39...and normally my younger two are in bed at 9pm. I made sure the boys got in bed, and by the time we got to bed it was almost 11pm and I'm a *10hours a night* kinda gal.

The alarm went off at 5am, which is the time I set to get up because he gets up at 5:30am for work and I wanted to be able to read and pray before getting him up. I plopped over on my back and let out a HUGE sigh, "I'm sooo tired!"

He said, "lets just sleep in a little since it's my day off...just til 6am."

I thought that was a good idea, giving myself an extra hour since I didn't need to be up before a certain time in order to help him get ready. So that's what I did. I set the alarm for 6am and got up when it went off...and he got up with me.

Ok, so now I didn't have *my* quiet time alone. (my husband is the type that really enjoys spending every minute with me, and he would be hurt if I asked him to leave me alone...so I did NOT do that).

I still read and did my study while I had my tea. Then I made us some oatmeal...first breakfast. We will probably eat again with the boys (who are not even up at this time...they get up at 8am). We sat around and talked about a lot of different things, and it was nice...to have that time alone of the morning. I missed my quiet time alone though, and tomorrow I will be getting up before he does...even if it is just 30 minutes as I do on the days he works.

Always life is a live and learn thing though, and I told him that in order to get up I am going to have to go to bed earlier. He thinks it's a good idea that I take a nap during the day in order to help me stay rested, so I will probably do that as well...but with a clock because if not I will sleep 3hours.

My friend Leslie posted about the changes that her husband, Ray, had decided to make for their family's Saturdays. You can read about that here...

Walking on the Road Less Traveled

I was telling Daddy L about the things they are doing and he just thought that was an AWESOME idea! What is so great was that I didn't *ask* him if we could do it...I was just telling him about the things that I had been reading on the blogs I read.

So, he said that this Saturday we are going to be following a similar plan. I'm very excited about it because this is something that I have wanted to do for years...probably since reading the Little House series to my boys when they were much younger. It just sounded so *logical* to me...

Sundays can be so hectic. It always seems like someone ends up in a bad mood...even several someones...and most of the time Mama is the main one! Of course we all know about the trickle down effect...and the old saying "When Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" Ain't that the truth!!

So, this coming Saturday we are going to spend the day preparing our meals for Sunday, picking out and preparing our clothes, making sure the house is clean and we are in bed at decent hours, and maybe even playing some praise music (though around here it will more than likely include a banjo, fiddle, and mandolin).

I'm really excited to see the difference it will make!

We're just plugging along...

I've been getting up early and starting my days off on the right foot.

We get in no hurry about our day because Daddy L is gone until 7:30pm. My new philosophy of "Just Do It" for housework and school is working out wonderfully as well.

Our days go as follows... (not in any specific order within the time frames)

6-8 Mom's time

8-noon

*morning hygeine

*animal chores

*breakfast/clean up

*30 minute chore time (where we all work together on whatever needs done instead of trying to follow some list)

*laundry started, and swapping as needed

*bake bread

*school (each child is finished at different times and that is one reason that schedules for school have never worked for us)

Noon-7:30pm

*lunch/clean up

*30 minute chore time

*continue with laundry

*put all clean laundry away

*free time......

I haven't worked in any time for extra cleaning or other misc. things, but obviously there is lots of extra time there to do those things.

I've also not been doing our morning family meeting/Bible study. We're going to be upping this in the coming week.