Brietta's homeschool day in the life (with a 3-, 4-, 7-, 9-, 11-, 12- & 13-year-old)

(This post is inspired by years of reading this series at Simple Homeschool.)

I grew up homeschooled and have now been homeschooling my own children for nine years. I love homeschooling and I am a firm believer in how good and healthy an option it can be for parents and children!

But this many years later, I'm still frequently daily astounded by the fact that the most constant thing in homeschooling is the need to constantly adjust, tweak, and change things: expectations, priorities, routine, curriculum, methods, and more.

I shouldn't be surprised. My children are growing. I am growing. We are not the same people we were nine years ago. There are more of us! We don't live in the same house or the same town. My husband's job doesn't look quite the same. No two of my babies has been exactly the same or needed exactly the same things. Learning to transition with each season-- some that are amazingly short-lived-- is, I think, one of the keys to an even remotely peaceful homeschooling experience.

I am learning that needing to adjust is not a sign of failure and doesn't necessarily mean I got the last plan wrong; usually, it just means that my children and I are in a different place than we were a year (or two weeks) ago. If I cheerfully adjust, it usually goes better for all of us than if I stubbornly cling to my goals of what life should look like.

This year-- with the exception of Fridays, which is the day our church's homeschooling ministry brings about 150 K-12 homeschoolers together for extracurricular classes like physical education, choir, art, and Biblical studies-- our days start a little later than previous years. My older children have more evening commitments this year and I have been battling fairly severe anemia for over a year, which makes us a bit more tired. I treasure that homeschooling means we don't have to just grit our teeth and get exhausted, but can adjust our morning routine to better accommodate our needs.

My husband is the early riser in our home. By the time the chorus of alarms goes off in bedrooms all over to wake the rest of us at 6:45, he has been up for quite some time with the two youngest (boys, who are 21 months apart in age but are almost the same exact size and are together a force to be reckoned with). He's an all-star dad, managing his personal time in the Word & prayer, starting the coffee, working out, and getting ready for the day all with the boys underfoot.

Showers begin for some while others go through their morning routine: wash hands & face, brush teeth & hair, get dressed, make your bed, pick up your room. I throw on leggings, a T-shirt, and sneakers and hop on the stationary bicycle in our bedroom while they are busy with their morning routine. When the weather is nice, I prefer going out for a short run, but even just 20 minutes on that bike makes me feel more awake. I am not a morning person. A little exercise followed by a quiet time and cup of coffee goes a long way.

Our goal is to be eating breakfast at 8:00, but true confession: it's usually 8:15 or 8:30. In addition to getting ourselves ready for the day and having personal quiet times, there are chores like making breakfast, taking care of the chickens (we have 14 laying hens), feeding the cats (3 outdoor ones), collecting laundry from all the hampers, etc. We do our best, but since about half of us aren't morning people, we're not the fastest bunch. If we're going to have a breakdown in attitudes, 9 out of 10 times it's now.

Breakfast (usually oatmeal for most, roasted veggies with poached eggs for others) is followed by family devotions right around the table. We are working very slowly through The Purpose Driven Life. Some days we have time to only read a very short portion before each praying aloud and then moving on with the day.

Today we actually sat down at 8:06. Miracles do happen.

At 9:00 we move on to our housework. Years ago I found that I resented doing school work in a messy house, spending time in the afternoon cleaning, and then only getting to enjoy it for a brief time before "play" has created a fresh whirlwind. I found that if we all take time first thing for our chores, we reap the benefits of a clean house during our school time-- and then we play. Chores vary based on age/skill of each child. The younger ones have about 30 minutes of work while the older ones have about 60 minutes.

During our chore time, I have my own tasks. I used to have a rotating schedule for myself, but now I just make lists in my planner. The list is usually longer than my day.

Today I made bread and granola. I will do anything to put off dealing with that mounting number of phone calls I need to make.

At 9:30 I call my 4-, 7-, and 9-year-old to the kitchen table for an hour of history while the oldest 3 keep working at their chores and the youngest runs laps around the kitchen island plays. The younger ones are using Story of the World Volume 2: Middle Ages this year. It's our first time trying SOTW and so far I really like it. I purchased the audio CD, textbook, and activity book. We listen to the audio together and while it's not my favorite voicing, it's so nice that I don't have to wear my own voice out! Additionally, letting someone else do the talking means I can be photocopying the accompanying activity pages while the reading is happening. I pick and choose which activities we do to best accommodate the children, my time, and our interests. I like that part of it very much.

Meanwhile, at 10:00 my two oldest have started science at the kitchen island. They are only 17 months and 1 grade apart, so they've always done history and science together. At this point, they are fairly independent. Occasionally I get brought in when an experiment is going south and always for tests, but otherwise they keep each other accountable. Their polar opposite personalities actually helps make them perfect study buddies, although it's taken a lot of years for them to even somewhat appreciate their differences.

Simultaneously, my 11-year-old has started his own science at the dining room table.

This year, I implemented small clipboards for each student with his/her daily plan plus a list for each day of the week that itemizes their assignments. They check these off as they go. It helps the older ones work more independently while allowing me to easily follow up, and it helps the younger ones take ownership of their day (they've stopped asking me "When am I going to be done?" because they can see for themselves).

At 10:30 we switch spots: the 3 younger school kids begin phonics, handwriting, and math around the kitchen island (today so that I can do the next step in bread making) while the oldest 3 all start in on history around the table. We've used Beautiful Feet on and off for years. If I can't be writing my own history curriculum, it's my favorite thing to use. I do my best to "float" between my six students, but this requires a lot of discipline on my part to not spend the entire hour doing history-- my favorite subject-- with the older kids. I would get lost following every bunny trail if I could!

The 3-year-old is still running laps around us playing. I do my best to get him set up with toys at intervals throughout the morning, but after a short time, he usually resorts to something more active (and loud) than GIJoes or Legos. Occasionally I get desperate and put in a DVD. I comfort myself with the idea that it's educational???

At around 11:30 Bronwyn, my oldest daughter (12), starts making lunch. She has a rotation of simple recipes she cooks through. Today while the onions are sautéing and the rice is cooking, she does some Scripture copywork in a simple leather bound journal. The 13-year-old does his copywork and then practices guitar, the 11-year-old does math and typing, the 9- & 7-year-old keep chipping away at math, phonics, and handwriting, and the 4-year-old has joined the 3-year-old in watching the movie.

12:30 is lunch. We all eat together. I check in with everyone to see how things are going.

1:00 my middle 3 clean up while I lay the youngest down for his nap and my oldest 2 start math, which usually takes them about 40-60 minutes (especially my oldest, who has begun his first year of algebra and has realized some equations just take a while!), followed by some writing and other extra-curricular homework assignments.

1:30 I do science with the 4-, 7- & 9-year-old. My 11-year-old works on some writing assignments.

Around 2:30 or 3:00 we are all done. If we don't have anywhere we need to be and the weather is decent, I'll send them outside. Often they do some nature journaling.

I've done my best through the past few years to schedule all music/dance lessons for Monday afternoons, although this year my 9-year-old is starting a violin program that schedules lessons for both Mondays and Wednesdays. Thursday afternoons we have a collaborative literature study group with a few other families. I try hard to only schedule things (even doctors appointments, etc) for after 2:30 on school days. It doesn't always work out that nicely, but we do our best.

Today we had literature group and left a bit early in order to run a few errands. This meant that the 13-year-old had unfinished math waiting for him when we got home a bit before 4:00.

I start making dinner sometime around then. It depends on the menu. Roasts take longer but the prep is done sooner (like in the morning). Tonight, because of literature group, it's celeriac and potato soup with homemade bread and jam. As I chop and stir, I work on helping my 9-year-old memorize lines for an upcoming medieval history display night presentation.

My husband is a pastor and often is gone during the couple hours after dinner. Additionally, our two oldest have more commitments/activities during the evening hours than previous years. Those of us at home generally keep it simple. The truth is, by this time I don't have ambition for much besides tying up loose ends (like that load of laundry I forgot about in the washer) and taking a shower. The kids play games, do a challenging puzzle, or watch a show (a friend lent us The Andy Griffith Show and it is by far the current favorite). Occasionally we'll have people over for dinner and to spend the evening with us when my husband is home, but due to an illness my 11-year-old was diagnosed with in late September that makes him very susceptible to bacterial and viral infections, we've had to limit that-- and anyway, we generally prioritize hospitality on the weekends.

If we're all home, my husband is the fun coordinator. He always jokes that God put him in my life so that I have a life. Haha.

Reading is very important to us, so even our oldest kids head to bed between 8 and 8:30 to spend time with a book of their choosing. Some recent in-bed reading has been the Little House collection, the Jack Staples books, the Anne of Green Gables series,  and The Wrinkle In Time boxed set. My husband has always been a morning person and likes to go to bed earlier rather than later, and I have learned that I function better during the day when I'm well rested, so even if he's been out with meetings we are both usually lights out between 10 and 10:30.

Right now, all our kids sleep through the night. This feels rare and precious. It's been the first year since I started homeschooling my children that I can say that. I don't take it for granted! Especially the next morning when the alarms go off and we start a new day.

This is the general flow of our Mondays - Thursdays.

I hope you don't think that it is all smooth sailing. There are many bumps. The time frame is general and loose. We have a lot of fun, but we also have a lot of challenges. I think most all of us could say that, no matter what our lives look like! Today didn't happen to include a moment when I called everyone to an abrupt halt and emphatically declared, "Things are not going well. Our attitudes are not glorifying the God who we love and serve. Let's pray!" but many, many days do. Often, I have to call kids back to re-do chores and/or school assignments that were done haphazardly, sometimes multiple times. Sometimes my kids cry. Sometimes I cry. And then an hour later we might be laughing about a funny story, or discussing what true freedom is, or exulting in an exciting science project gone right (for once!).

One of my favorite things about homeschooling? We do all those moments together.

the upstairs

About three weeks ago I gave a very late "tour" of the downstairs of our home. Last year you endured countless updates on the house we bought and some of the renovations we did, so it only seemed fair to finally share some of what it looks like now that we've moved in. You know. 10 months ago.

Sorry about that.

[By the way, can this be the point in the blog where I suggest that some of you give virtual tours of your homes? Please? Seeing the inside of other houses is one of my most favorite things. I blame my mother, who shamelessly led me in smashing my face against windows of perfect strangers' homes as a child just to get a glimpse of how the furniture was arranged or what kind of kitchen sink they had.]

**Disclaimer: these pictures were taken over the course of several weeks and are not staged. I do have the kids pick up their bedrooms each morning. But I think the girls were even mid-play and I had them step out of the room while I took the pictures.**

The upstairs of our home is a classic 1850s farmhouse: every single room has a slanted ceiling because these rooms were never designed to be grand, but tucked in and functional. I think the result is cozy and sweet, but you won't find french doors leading to balconies here. Simple. Five bedrooms, one of which is a walk-through.

The stairs leading to the upstairs are fully enclosed off the dining room. They remind me of the stairs in the Almanzo Wilder farmhouse, except not quite as steep or narrow. Not grand. Again: simple.

At the top of the stairs, there is a small landing that was made smaller at some point by the addition of a linen closet. That closet is well worth the space it takes up, though of course I wish there was a way to have both the closet and more landing space.

 coming up the stairs: the little boys' bedroom is straight ahead and our bedroom is on the right

the landing where I'd love to eventually get simple built-in bookshelves made to fill the space a bit better (these shelves are where we keep our not-in-use homeschooling materials and they are already bursting at the seams)

standing in the landing and looking down the hall opposite the little boys' bedroom: linen closet on immediate right followed by the second-floor bathroom, Bronwyn's bedroom straight ahead, and the little girls' bedroom on the left. Our attic stairs pull down.

We'll start at the end with the little girls' room. It basically mirrors my bedroom. When we purchased the home, there was a shared walk-through closet. Daniel did put up a wall in order to divide the closet in two and allow us to change the direction things were hung to make better use of the limited space.

the girls room as you enter

the girls keep all their toys in their room: dolls, dollhouse, dress up, Calico Critters, legos. A strict "one thing at a time policy" has to be enforced or this room can become a WHIRLWIND of toys in about 15 seconds flat. It's incredible, really.

yes, they share a bed. no, they don't really like it. it's what we have.

Next is Bronwyn's room. In our old house, the three girls were all in one room. Here, that felt like a tight squeeze since none of the bedrooms are quite the size of their old room. Giving Bronwyn this room meant losing a guest room, but her absolute delight in having her own space (that she keeps shockingly tidy for the most part, I have to say) makes up for that. It's a tiny room and just perfect for her.

looking in from the hall

her double bed fills most of the room and she chose the position: looking out the window as she wakes up

Now I'll take you back down the hall and to our bedroom:

looking in from the hall, right at the top of the stairs. like, LITERALLY the top of the stairs and the main reason we took this room for ourselves instead of giving it to a toddler. Daniel is a good sport and makes do with that desk when I'm sure he'd rather have a designated home office.

that's the closet door Daniel built for me out of leftover shiplap after getting instructions from Rick Haller. I love it so much I've asked him to build a similar one for the linen closet at some point. This is why you don't want to be good at stuff, people: they'll keep asking you for more!

looking back toward the hall

The little boys' bedroom is next and is the walk through room. Their room and the older boys' room are both over the kitchen/family room and have a lower roofline and different feel than the other rooms. It quickly became the boys "wing". Together but separate. Everyone is happy with the set up, especially the older boys who used to share a room with Elliot and are thrilled to be able to have lights on later into the night, etc.

looking in you see Elliot's bed tucked under the eave. Right now he's small enough that the height isn't an issue, but at some point I'd like to get a thinner box spring to lower the bed and make it a bit more comfortable for him.

facing the door toward the hall-- the room is about 10x14 and required the panoramic setting to actually get a good angle of it all

in looking at old pictures of the house, it looks like that north-facing window was originally a full-size window; my hope is to replace it at some point in order to let in ALL the morning light

a little shot of the door that leads to the older boys' bedroom...

Gabriel and Jack's bedroom was definitely originally an attic of sorts. When we bought the house, it still had the narrow, attic-like stairs leading from the family room up to it. In order to open up the kitchen/family room and put in the big island I wanted, we needed to take those stairs out. One of the benefits was that it allowed us to put a closet in the bedroom. Since only 2 of the 5 bedrooms had closets at that point, gaining a 3rd was a pretty big deal.

Along with removing the stairs and putting in the closet, Daniel spent a lot of time removing brick from an old, no-longer-used chimney, patching ship lap, adding more insulation to the crawl spaces along the eaves, putting in new light fixtures, and painting the whole thing.

standing at the door between the two boys' bedrooms, looking in

that closet is exactly where the old stairs used to be, and to the left of it is where the old chimney was. When Daniel removed the shiplap in the closet area, he saved it to put up where the chimney had been, and now you'd never know the difference.

It's a big closet! All four boys keep their clothes in here, along with legos, action figures, the trampoline, indoor hockey gear, playmobil, and more. We laugh that it can be a sixth bedroom if we ever need it.

One thing about my boys is that they don't accumulate much in the way of cute decor-- not like my girls do, anyway. But they have these awesome pictures of a fun fishing trip some friends took them on!

opposite the closet. One would think dressers would be used for storing underwear and socks, but the truth is they're chock-full of wiffle balls, silly putty, joke books, old sports uniforms, and SO MUCH other random stuff. I don't complain because at least I can't see it all.

There.

The tour is done.

Only 10 months late.

If you're reading this, it's your turn now! :)

it's been a while...

I guess I'm not much of a blogger these days.

I mean, I suppose I've never been a blogger in the true sense of the word. This is more just a place to record, muse, and update. But I've not even done well with that recently.

2016 may go down in the record books as one of the most whirlwind of my life. I kind of hope it does. I kind of hope we don't beat it in terms of upheaval and twists and turns, anyway! Jack being diagnosed in late September with aplastic anemia was something I sure didn't predict and never saw coming. I'll write more about that another time, perhaps.

A long-distance friend asked recently if I might share some "finished" pictures of the house when I get a chance. I have to laugh because when is a house ever done, really? I think only on HGTV. Ha. That said, we're a long way from two-by-fours for walls and exposed electrical and reinforcing floor joists and spraying insulation. And I did kind of leave you all hanging, didn't I?

I won't do the whole house today for a couple reasons: 1. the blog post could get really long, and 2. I'm too lazy right now to get up and take pictures of the whole house.

Just keeping it real.

(Along those lines, I should warn that I didn't fluff a single pillow or stage the countertops or remove all but two carefully chosen coats from the mudroom, and I definitely didn't tidy the pantry like I probably should have. Again... proving myself to be a not real blogger!)

I think the first thing I blogged about renovating was the kitchen, so I'll start there:

standing in the family room, looking straight ahead where there used to be a wall

That's it in a nutshell!

The braces you see are where there used to be the wall and the second set of stairs. We took all that out, rearranged the kitchen layout with the amazing help of a local cabinet-maker/friend, and the rest is history.

It feels so easy when I say it like that, right? That kitchen represents hours and hours of work, but its usefulness for accommodating a big family and lots of guests has more than made up for it.

For those who are curious about what is to the left of the fridge (and behind the cooktop), it's a little pantry area and the door to the basement. We kept the old refrigerator and put it-- along with our chest freezer that we've had for several years-- down there. With such a big family, it's incredibly handy to have that extra refrigerator/freezer space so close by.

The main reason we wanted to take down the wall between the kitchen and family room was so that the kitchen would feel brighter/bigger, but the added benefit is that the many guests who always seem to congregate in the kitchen (can I get an amen on that?!) have plenty of space to spread out while still being "in the kitchen".

Not to mention, I got to watch a Hallmark Christmas movie while doing my baking this year because the kitchen island is directly across from our television. Does it get better than that? I'm not sure it does!

standing in the kitchen, looking straight ahead to the family room; the wall used to be right about where the island ends (we have two sets of braces-- the ones in this picture are the second and are helping reinforce the incredibly long joist that spans the room)

If you're following me around the room, you're starting to see that the room is an "L" shape. The kitchen/family room makes a very large rectangle, and then the foot of the "L" is where we have our school cupboard, a table and chairs for more casual dining (breakfast and lunch)/school work, and our little wood stove. I won't even point out that we still haven't replaced the stove pipe that is now too short since we vaulted that portion of the ceiling to expose all the old beams even though that was on the summer list of things to do. Just enjoy the finished trim and that cute Scandinavian stove, please.

If you go back to that first picture, you'll see the dining room through the doorway next to the cooktop.

confession: I didn't even take this today. I knew I had it on my phone and I'm that lazy. It more or less looks like this... maybe minus a little of the bright sun since it's snowing right now.

Past the dining room is our sitting room. (If you look closely at the dining room picture, you'll see a red love seat in the background. That doorway is the one we widened to make the spaces flow together more.)

We think there may have been a wood stove right where the white linen sofa is since there's still a stove pipe hole behind the drywall there. We've contemplated putting one back in eventually since this room is the chilliest/draftiest of all our downstairs rooms. We're not sure.

At any rate, it's a large, bright room and I pretty much love it.

taken in the afternoon, when the sun comes in the front windows-- another picture I didn't take today

taken in the morning, when the sun pours in the back windows-- almost blinding!

There's also a small full bathroom downstairs (no pictures, but it's pretty basic), as well as the mudroom (off the back of the kitchen) and laundry room (off the mudroom).

 looking into the mudroom from the kitchen door

this is a wonderful woodbox that came with the house where we keep wood for the wood stove in the family room/great room nook (the kitchen sink is under that window on the other side of the wall)

the back door is on the left and the kitchen door is on the right

Yet another collection of pictures from another time-- why take more when I already have some??? The laundry room:

the laundry room isn't huge, but having never had a room for laundry, I think it's pretty amazing! I also love the placement right off the mudroom. Maybe it won't feel as novel once I don't have kids regularly coming in the door covered in mud or sopping wet, but for now I love it.

That's kind of a wrap! Thanks for following along. Maybe I'll do the upstairs soon. You know... when I blog again in seven months. Haha.

Farewell!

the first portion of the front porch-- this is the door we find visitors use the most

seven months

I meant to write an update on Aubrey when we reached the six months post-op mark. Truly, I did.

And then it got swallowed up in a final, crazy, and somewhat hectic push to get the new house ready for habitation. The thought was there, but the time was not.

So here we are, April 14th. We're 4 days past seven months since Aubrey had corrective open heart surgery, and she continues to thrive.

Just yesterday, I was trying to catch up on ordering prints for our photo albums and I couldn't believe how much healthier she looks now than she did a year ago. It's been gradual in many ways-- especially since she came home severely anemic and, of course, recovering from surgery-- and so I don't always see it. But as I looked over snapshots from 2015, I couldn't help but note the purple lips in every summer picture, the abdomen swollen disproportionately with fluid retention, the puffy toes.

I had taken those things as normal.

I didn't even know there was a better.

But no more.

And, granted, she's still not 100% like other kids. I don't know if she'll ever be, but suddenly I have a picture into what God can do, and so I assume nothing. His plans are good for her, that much I know. And the trial by fire that this unique little girl has already gone through has been used by the Lord to make her strong and sober.

Her heart beats in what's called a junctional rhythm when she's resting, but a 24-hour test plus some simple in-office tests indicated that whenever she's active, it slips into a proper rhythm. This may be one of those things that sorts itself out in time or she may live the rest of her life with it. So far, it's not a reason for a pacemaker, that's for sure.

Next fall, they want to do a heart catheterization to look at her heart after a year. We are already praying for a great report.

In the meantime, she really is thriving. Growing. Improving. Wide-eyed. Laughing more. Interested more. Attitude-y more! Whenever she stomps her foot and tosses her hair, I am immediately struck by the spark that is there that we've never before encountered. When she chases Oliver around and around the dining room table and I wonder why she's acting like a toddler, I remember that she never had those normal toddler years. Even these things are an indication of the vitality that has replaced lethargy.

Academics, which have up until now been a S T R U G G L E, are gradually beginning to click for her. She finished her 1st grade math, which she'd been doggedly plugging away at for over a year, and is now half way through Math 2. She is making up ground every single day!

Last summer, she suddenly became aware of the fact that she couldn't read when all her peers could. It's been agonizing to her. We keep encouraging her to just keep working at it, and she has done just that. I am far prouder of her discipline and determination than I am of the fact that words are starting to come together for her. God will use this, just like He will use ALL of it.

She finished her first year playing organized basketball and will soon begin playing junior softball. She came into the season with ZERO ball experience and ended with a confidence and interest.

 

 

Her lips and fingers are pink. Her eyes sparkle. She doesn't ever look puffy. I can never take such simple things for granted again!

floors

If it's felt quiet on the house update front, it's because the work of late has been somewhat tedious. But the truth is that it's been exciting, too. We're finally past the last hurdle of things we really wanted to finish before we could even consider moving in: the sanding and refinishing of the old pine floors that were throughout the majority of the house.

They'd been painted for years and years and had quite a few coats of paint in several different colors. Daniel tried a few different techniques before settling in on renting a large drum sander and edger, and buying sand paper in several different grits. After that, it was just late nights, sweat, and sore muscles.

I appreciate the man for so many things, but his commitment to getting a job done is high on the list.

He ran that drum sander across horizontally and diagonally before another run vertically. Then hours with the edger. Then more time with the drum sander and a finer grit sand paper. And finally a palm sander with an even finer grit.

Once the floors were sanded, all that was left was a good cleaning before treating them with a mix of linseed oil and paint thinner. He really wanted to get the floors oiled before we headed out of town for a few days since they need time to cure before being walked on anyway.

At 3am, Tuesday morning, he finished and we left for our mini church leadership retreat at 9am.

They turned out beautifully-- and so like the floors in our old house. There's one board in particular in the dining room that I looked at and instantly recalled mopping a certain board in our old front entry. As I took in the floors, the house felt even more like home.

Looking into the sitting [formal living] room from the dining room. Daniel widened the doorway from being a single door to a double door; trim and doors will go up in the next few weeks.

Looking out the front of the sitting room. The whole house has been primed, but not yet painted.

Looking into the big boys' bedroom from the little boys' bedroom. Daniel had to patch a few spots where old heating chutes had once been (as seen in the above picture), so he found old wood in the barn so that, once oiled, they would have the same pumpkin-y color as the original floors.

This little room will [most likely] be Bronwyn's bedroom. It was already the sweetest bedroom, and the floors in here turned out especially lovely.

Next up Daniel is going to be tackling trim in rooms where there either wasn't baseboard ever or windows were re-framed, etc. He's also going to be installing odds and ends like the kitchen sink + faucet, the electric baseboard in the boys' room, the cooktop, some light fixtures.

Then it's on to painting. A lot of painting!

Once painting is done, the new floors in the kitchen/family room will be finished, as well as the brick in the area for the wood stove installed.

Bit by bit, it's happening. As eager as I am to get in, I'm also very aware of how much easier all of this work is for Daniel if he's not doing it around furniture and small children. Every time I feel like I just really need to be in my own home with all our belongings and able to get back to "normal" routines that allow for more stability, more hospitality, more outreach, and more rest, God is faithful to remind me that He doesn't lead us places He can't then give grace for. He knows what my children need in each season. And the truth is, we have such a great set up right now! Above and beyond what we ever could have dreamed of, really.