By the Numbers
3 – Mad Men Episodes I have watched since the last time I posted here
6 – Subjects covered in school today
2 – Times we listened to ‘In the Hall of the Mountain King’
18 – Days the library claims a My Little Pony book is overdue (it’s not. Twas returned. How do I prove this?!)
12 – Times I feed Greer-girl milk every day
1 – Glass broken during lunch
6 – Number of cents over my Gap order for today that qualified me for free shipping
1 – Size of shoe I ordered for Gideon’s Rock N Roll shoes
5 – Times I’ve thought that I should have ordered a size two
24 – Digits with nails that I clipped (the baby only had four done before I gave up. It is the worst baby care job) today
3 – Beds unmade
2 – Children happily playing in Gideon’s room
1 – Baby sleeping
Read MoreDeprivation
Last night we kept the kids out to a truly insane hour. The older two generally place their heads on soft pillows of awesome sleep patterns by 7:30. On the very rare occasion that they somehow are awake past that time, I pretty much want to pull my own hair out while the disobey, get sassy and hide for no reason at all. But last night we were in the church building when that time came and went and by that point I’m pretty sure Gideon has dissolved into tears no fewer than three times. The kid was exhausted. Piper was having a fantastic time with one of the girls from the youth group that she loves. If a girl she admires is playing with her she could probably stay awake for days. She’s an extrovert. It’s her deal. Her brother, on the other hand, is our introvert and he is also a fantastic creature of habit. He was so over all of the activity and pressure required to keep himself together. He stopped keeping himself together. He cried.
Upon arriving home all three were hurried off to bed. All three woke up during the night. All three slept just a little bit beyond where they usually do. All three were a little bit out of it today.
I knew this would be the case so we covered all of our school subjects with speed, no tears, but plenty of time laughing. Being silly and fun is the only way to get over all the complaining about having to sit up and do things properly. In spite of the loss of sleep he read the following today:
sam sat.
a cat sat.
a rat sat.
He was excited about it all. He was shouting the words, actually. I’m so glad that I get to be there for those moments. It feels like he is walking for the first time all over again, only this kind of walking will be the key to him learning every other thing he ever needs to know (or at least until he discovers tutorials on Youtube). I hope he goes back in time and falls in love with one specific part of history. I hope he travels into the depths of the ocean to learn all about those underwater volcanoes he loves so much and the magma he can’t seem to stop dreaming about. I hope he loves reading and understands how it is the key to gaining knowledge and the key to keeping his mind sharp when his years get long.
When we finished all our lessons for today, I didn’t even bother putting the books away. We just played and waited for the baby to wake up from her second nap. Then we high tailed it for the park. Three people walking and one tiny person loving her umbrella stroller makes the walk incredibly enjoyable. Gone are the days of wrapping the littlest one and pushing the middle girl. I am so thankful. Piper filled the walk with observations and exclamations and by the time we made it to the sand, she was shouting about how hot is was outside. She was right. It was hot.
We played for over two hours out there. Running and climbing and digging and pushing the baby around and swinging and more and more running. It was a long hot afternoon. We walked home. We showered up. We ate leftovers for dinner. We kept their stories short. They’re all sleeping now. Soundly. I’m right behind them.
Losing It
In May, when some friends convinced me to run the 5k, I began working out in earnest pretty much five times a week. I was running at least three miles five times a week, so about 15 miles a week for eight weeks. On top of that, I was doing some yoga, various interval workouts, climbing the StairMaster at the gym and randomly lifting weights. I didn’t loose a pound.
I’m sure I lost inches. I am positive that my clothing fits differently, although plenty of it still does not yet fit. I always face this battle after having a kidlet, but this time I was really trying to loose the weight. Baby #1 – the weight fell off like nursing magic. I BELIEVED in the power of milk production. Baby #2 – one year after pushing her out and I was still chunky – not extra chunky, but pretty far from smooth. Now, Baby #3 (and my 32-year-old self) – I am working at loosing the weight. I’d never made the effort before, but I figured I would now and I figured I’d have success, but I’m having to readjust what success looks like for me.
I was talking with a friend a few weeks ago who also has thyroid problems and she told me that she never looses any weight unless she does anaerobic activity for over an hour each day. Whoa. Who has time for that, I thought? And then I made the time. I walked. I walked pretty slowly. I tried my hardest not to pick up the pace. I did the long slow burn of not getting my heart rate into the range I love it to enter. I love sweating (when I’m supposed to be). I love hurting (the next day, not in the middle of it all). I love feeling wiped out (at the end, not when I’m stepping up to the plate). I love working out hard. Walking and anaerobic stuff is the opposite of that. It was killing me.
I lost four pounds in a week.
Ridiculous, right? I’ve been trying to keep up that low slow pace, but I couldn’t help myself today. Today I did these:
https://youtu.be/BZEwjYPgkWw
https://youtu.be/tJ593Z7MKs8
https://youtu.be/YVWfo3pn5HM
https://youtu.be/9iEhTfXGaLg
I stopped with circuit three. I’ll probably bust out with circuit four tomorrow. I can’t help it. I’m all in, even if it means the scale stays right where it is.
Read MoreHearts and Sighs
Maybe this will pass, but dudes, I really love teaching my kid(s) at home. A whole lot of moms who do this too keep reminding me not to stress about getting stuff done, but I’m not actually worrying about any of it. We really only need to do one to two pages of our books each day (some just two or three times per week) to get everything done this year so the morning moves really quickly.
I’m a person who loves structure teaching a kid who loves structure, so we’re doing just fine with the schedule. Honestly, it was harder to just be at home with them free form than it has been to implement the school work. I probably won’t be saying this quite so enthusiastically in May, but the second week into it feels great and you know how I love feelings.
So, as it turns out, I heart teaching formally. This really isn’t new news. I’ve always loved to teach, but now that I’m knee deep in it inside of our home, I am happy to be right where I am.
On the other hand, the tiniest one has some pretty messed up sleep going on. I’m gonna boot camp her tiny little bottom this week to try to get her back to two wake ups per night. She’s doing fantastic at everything else – naps are fine, she loves oatmeal but still doesn’t love anything else except oranges, she’s crawling quickly and trying to pull her giant self up onto things, she is madly in love with her older brother and sister, she looks at you when you say her name, but not if her two loves are doing something more interesting.
Meanwhile, this girl has been happy with Strawberry Shortcake coloring tasks and playing with beans for math. She helps me make meals and is in general a fantastic little Mama.
I Don’t Have Time to Maintain These Regrets
Week one of homeschooling is in the bag. Well, three days, half of a week is tucked away into those Target bins. We started on Wednesday and we ended at noon today. It takes 2.5-3 hours to accomplish everything we need to get done each day.
There were tears for two of the days. We don’t have a gym and there isn’t gym time, but we have a yard and it can suffice. We also aren’t just like preschool. We have a different routine, our routine, the one I am willing and able to keep up and he will adjust to it. I do give out stickers at the end of the day. That’s a routine we’ll keep up here until the love of stickers wanes.
Piper is struggling the most with it all. She can’t quite keep up with him during math (the very first subject each day due to its primacy and his intense love) and quickly looses heart. She sabotages with questions and table shakes. She is a beautiful saboteur, but a saboteur nonetheless. Once her preschool begins, this will all be a distant memory.That is three weeks from now (and absolutely I am counting).
Greer continues to do her own fantastic thing. She is crawling and sitting up and has two tiny chompers with which to bite you or anything you put near her fists or mouth. Look out world! She will conquer you soon (just as soon as she frees herself from under this chair).
