Home Bound

I have been complaining lately that our schedule is much too packed. Last year we did four days of dance, one for afterschool program, one for co-op, one morning for veggie co-op. For awhile we were also volunteering at the food pantry run by our church. But as the days wore on, they wore us down. I don't know about you, but when I'm worn down I am not a pleasant person.

The first thing to go was the food pantry. That was the only thing that got let go. Our veggie co-op is very important to us. We firmly believe that all the chemicals and preservatives and fake sweetners in our food supply are really very harmful to us. The school co-op was for learning things we would not normally cover during our school year. It was for socialization as well. The kids got to play after their lessons and see each other more than once a week. That keeps relationships going. And we pay for dance. That is also PE for my kids. We love it too much to give it up.

The kids wanted to play baseball in a program run by a local church. It's close to our house and on the way to dance or wherever. It was just too much. I didn't even bother to register us. If we couldn't volunteer because of time, we couldn't play baseball. That just seemed wrong to me, so no baseball. It would have been one more activity to cram into our already overloaded schedule.

When we register for dance this week, I am going to try to get as many classes as possible on the same day. That would lighten our load tremendously. With homeschooling, we can be anywhere at any time. I like that. If there's a class at 3, we can be there. Most kids can't. I have limited the hours that I put in to our after school program. You couldn't tell by the last couple of weeks. Hubby has been able to help in the evenings. We took dinner with us one night and ate after we had been there a little bit. Then hubby went to a meeting and I kept cleaning out our closet while the kids watched a movie.

We have been able to spend more time as a family the last week or so. Hubby took some much needed time off from work last week. We got to eat dinner as a family at a decent hour. That was fantastic. We played games a couple of nights after dinner. One night we sat and watched "Fantasia". The big girl says she remembered parts of it, but not all of it. The boy thought it was fantastic. The baby was scared at the part with the dinosaurs. That part is a little scary. I really enjoyed our time together. It made me want more.

Hubby and I sat down and made a menu. We had to. We are gone so much, that we would eat dinner at restaurants every night if we didn't plan. Even when we plan, we end up driving through somewhere some times. We changed the menu the other night. We ended up making Shrimp Mornay and it was super, super good! It's nice to have a plan. I can make some stuff ahead of time, and warm it later if I need to. I made tacos the night we took dinner to church with us. It was quick, easy, and portable.

We are trying to stream line and figure out what is going to work best for us. We really don't want to be out half the night and continue with the really late hours we keep. Our calendar starts filling up about now with classes and co-ops and responsibilities. We need a schedule that works for us, not works us. Say prayers, please. My prayer for you tonight is one of love and grace and blessings.

Have a great night!