Daily Diary

For those of you wondering where I'm putting the Paramount Right to Life Amendment when I already have an immense workload- well, here's the adjusted school schedule.
5:30 or 6-I check email, get dressed, Bible reading and prayer (that I don't lose my temper with Caroline! :-)
7:30am- breakfast, I get the kids up to the table, everything settled and then rush to the school room to work on HR 536 for a few minutes.
8:00am- Jonathan practices with Oliver (I was practicing with Oliver which was a disaster. Jonathan is getting much better results and has upped his allowance by taking care of this)
8:00am-I change diapers (Vivian and Gabriel) and dress the younger three. I set out Charles' clothes.
8:15am Charles practices viola, Vivian and Gabriel play in the nursery, I begin school work with Caroline.
8:30am-Gabriel comes to the school room, Oliver plays with Vivian in the nursery. Jonathan practices on his own.
9:30am- Viv goes down for nap. Caroline and I are still working one on one. By this time I'm reminding myself to remain calm and am determined not to ask her if her brain has yet joined us in the school room. Jonathan begins piano practice.
10- Jonathan joins the school room. Caroline works independently, I begin with Charles, and help Jonathan and Caroline as needed.
11:30-Charles is released from the schoolroom/torture chamber, and happily heads to the backyard to find bugs and lizards. I settle in with Jonathan for a few minutes to ascertain which school work is a sloppy half job, what questions need answering, and to explain his geometry lesson ( I do love geometry so this isn't painful).
12noon-lunch time. While the kids eat, I rotate loads of laundry, check email, make phone calls, feed Vivian, and change diapers.
12:30-Jonathan and Caroline pretend to be shocked that they must return to the school room. We work on languages: Latin, Hebrew, Greek and Spanish. Any time the kids are all working and don't need my help, I rapidly fire away at emails, or research for HR 536. When Caroline finishes, she heads downstairs to practice cello. Oliver and Gabriel watch a movie. Charles and I read together.
2pm-Quiet time for Oliver, Gabriel and Vivian. Caroline and I work on history. Jonathan pretends to have finished all his papers for the week.
3pm- School work is temporarily stopped and everyone does chores (everyone meaning Charles, Caroline, Jonathan and Me). Jonathan has kitchen duty, Caroline will help fold laundry or sweep and straighten the downstairs, Charles does some menial task not requiring much problem solving. If we are going to run an errand, I rip the sleeping children from their beds (which is rather painful as I would rather stay home and enjoy the silence) throw them into the car and get going.
6pm- for the first time I consider what scraps I can throw together, heat, and put on the table as supper. Since the oven broke in early May, my efforts are limited to stove, crockpot and microwave cooking. It is a good weightloss program.
After dinner, I generally head for the office to check email, make phone calls, write a press release or some other necessary thing, etc. Anything HR 536 related. I join the family for family worship (only the singing and Bible story part- I do not enjoy listening to them struggle through catechisms with Dad. It is just too painful). I also deal with household chores or help bathe kids (at which point I realize the children's bathroom is gross and disgusting, thus, wipe it down quickly while the boys soak in the tub) These days the sink is always piled with dirty dishes. :-)

This fall, my girlfriend is going to homeschool her son, and invited Charles to join them for the entire school year: 8-noon, Monday through Friday since the boys are in the same grade. I'm going to take her up on the offer. Would anyone like Oliver to join their home pre-school class, because he is very available. That would leave me Jonathan and Caroline who will both be in Classical school, so I won't be entirely responsible for their lesson plans and homework lists. Wow, this fall I might be able to get back to bread baking (assuming I remember to call an oven repair man. Anyone have a good one?)