April Update

Oh dear blogosphere friends, I am SO sorry that my posting has been, well, nonexistent for the month of April.  One of my pet peeves are unupdated blogs and here I am, falling predictably after my pride.

I could make lots of excuses and you all know they are real because you live it too.  Kiddos.  Home educating.  Feeding the family.  Time with the hubs.  Exercise.  Ministry commitments.  Those are the things that fill my days and weeks and leave me quite exhausted at the end of most days.

You know, I've been finding that when I do the things I ought to be doing here at home, with the kiddos, for myself personally, there really isn't much time left in my day.  I've felt busier than ever this past month though my outside commitments haven't changed.  But I've made some inside commitments that are really challenging my time management skills, among other things.

One of the biggest commitments I've made this past month is to get fit and to get healthy.  I joined a Beachbody Challenge Group and for 12 weeks I'll be doing Turbofire six days a week.  There are four other ladies plus our coach in the group and I have to say that it has been such a blessing.  Today began week 3 of the Challenge and there is so much love and encouragement, so much honesty, so much change happening inside and I can even see some change outside.  I've committed to exercising between 7 and 8 on weekday mornings.  Then it's time to clean up, get dressed, eat breakfast, and make sure the kiddos have all done the same so we can begin school around 9 o'clock.

Did I mention I've been getting up at three AM to get the coffee on for my husband, who has begun a new work schedule and has to leave the house by 4 in the morning?  Yes, I do go back to bed.  But I've been sleeping until six when I used to get up and stay up at five.  I actually miss that extra quiet hour in the morning.  Just me, a cup of coffee, and Jesus.  For two hours.  Now I'm down to one hour.  It's just not enough.

I've been trying to get outside more with the kids. The weather has finally turned for the better here in New England and I don't want to miss it by staying cooped up inside.  But I have to admit, if I'm not inside, there's no one else around to do the work of running the home.  I've got every laundry basket full of clean clothes that need to be folded, my upstairs barely has a path to walk through, and I am in need of some cooking therapy!  Yes, I am a homebody and I love being inside.

We're down to just about three weeks left of school and it is so exciting!  In the summer, we do "school" the way I wish I was brave enough to do it all year long- we just read.  Last year the kids did math too, but not this summer.  I'll give them each a reading challenge and I've got a long list of read-alouds I want to get through.  Truthfully, we may only get through four of them, but we all enjoy this time together.  We're also making plans to have another full summer of activity- going to the beach, and visiting places in our own state that we have yet to explore.  With Josh's new schedule, he'll have every three days off!  So we'll get to go on our adventures together!

So this is just my I'm-so-sorry-for-being-a-blogging-slacker update, to get my juices flowing again and to promise you that I'll update more often.  And no blogger has ever said that and not come through. :)