New Beginnings

I started my morning at 5:30 am, talking to God,  then got to my 20 minute strength training workout. If you haven't tried Fitness Blender, you should! Then I attempt to get myself dressed and ready for the day,  but sometimes Little Man comes in and we cuddle, then we get our breakfast,  pray and he watches tv while I clean up the kitchen,  check the menu for lunch/dinner prep and the girls are coming out, we read devotions and for the month of January we are reading through Proverbs. They get 30 minutes of morning screen time, my most disliked habit but most adults check their emails,  news, social media, etc so who am I to judge? 

My goal is to spend as much 1 on 1 time with Little Man before we start morning basket at 8.

I want to start rotating what to put out on the table for our basket time.  We usually do painting, playdoh, and legos but I need at least 2 more ideas. 

And no matter what I set up, Little Man always find my lap and I am so ok with more snuggles. 

Today was Little Man's First Day of Preschool and I am so excited for him to have such an amazing experience like his sister, who made a great friend there 5 years ago and they are still friends to this day. 

Whats in our morning basket.  Bible Scripture Memory Box, Good Pictures Bad Pictures {I have had this for over 2 years and Jodi Mockabee brought this exact book at the W + F Conference and I made a promise to myself I would make time fore it this semester} Gentle Ben, and we started the Chronicles of Narnia series with The Magicians Nephew, the kids love it.  We tried a Historical Fiction but it was too advanced for JellyBean.  We are going to try Adam of the Road and see how we do with 3 books going at once.

I keep everything close by in this basket along with a notebook to write down good quotes, references, vocabulary words to ponder later, future ideas, etc.  I am hoping to set this into a rythym of doing this at the table at 8 when some are still eating, and then we can move into our classroom for other group learning and individual learning. 

What I love is seeing one sibling encourage and compliment anothers work when they are frustrated. After long breaks we can be pretty hard on ourselves.  Some say don't take breaks at all then, but burn out is disastrous too.  Sometimes we just need this, someone coming alongside with empathy and encouragement. 

Jellybean is wanting to learn cursive and reading it can be tricky when you don't recognize it so I pulled out these cursive letters my sweet SIL mailed to me.  I think if we pull these out and recite the alphabet and trace them with fingers {she's definitely a multisensory learner} and spell her name, her siblings name, etc it will become more familiar and easier to recognize. 

This exercise ball helps them get so many wiggles out, not that I require them to sit at a desk, but its winter and we aren't getting any trampoline time for a few months...

Taking a moment to write out some thoughts while they make edible cookie dough! I had plans to dismantle this desk and my stepdad had my mom tell the family history of this desk and I am so thankful I didn't hack it up, and a little sad there is fingernail polish all over it.  Mostly because any kind of project takes weeks for me to implement, so this may stay for awhile. Oi. 

Writing a story on the board for me after spelling and reading lessons.  No tears or frustration, full of imagination. 

Chores after school and off to her friends she goes! 

This one is waiting for her ride to Volleyball practice with friends.

  

I love this sweet note from JellyBean.  So thankful to be her Mom and her teacher.

We are trying to end our days at 2:30 for chores, free time, and then friends can come over or they go to friends' houses.  I would like to have a better nighttime rhythm with dinner at 5:30, Little Mans bedtime around 7 and the girls 8.  Friday is for homemade pizza and movies, Saturday is for date nights, and  we really work to keep Sunday just us or with extended family gatherings.  

My personal goal this year is to not be somewhere everynight, I can go weeks with not much and then two full weeks, I am burned out and Little Man is crying for me, and I am not getting any time with JellyBean, and when her and I have distance our communication is way off.  What's hard for me is to say No when its something for His Glory.  Sometimes I can put the church or needs of others before my own kids so my goal is to not do that!

I am praying for a fun semester with these 3 kiddos, to keep God at the forefront of our learning together, to keep my marriage strong by having weekly date nights, and to spend 1:1 time with my kids so they know how much they matter to me.  I want to commit to keeping up with our rhythms and rituals, to be consistent and content.  I pray that our journey will continue to grow our family closer to God, our community, and my kids' personal relationship with Jesus blooms even more.