And It's Five Months Later

I am a writer at heart.  My blog is my outlet to express thoughts, memories, and keep everyone up to date.  A lot has happened since April.  We finished our 7th year of home schooling.  We traveled to Washington, DC with some friends over Memorial Day weekend.  Mom and I spent a weekend in Charleston, SC to celebrate / remember Dad over his birthday weekend.  We began telling friends and family that Baby Brooks #6 is to be arriving in January!!  We traveled again to visit family in Kentucky and took a detour through Nashville and Knoxville, TN on the way home.  And our 8th year of home schooling began the second week of August.  This year we joined a co-op which means every Tuesday we spend the morning at a church in town where the kids each have their own classes of 8-9 children learning together.  It has brought both the kids and I new friends and new learning experiences.  Sully also learned to walk this summer and Rylan is now potty-trained.  Braewyn began playing the violin.  Juliet is doing great at learning to read in Kindergarten.  And Philip has moved up into the youth group at our church.  Things are a'changing!

Philip is now 11 and in 6th grade

Braewyn is now 9 and in 4th grade

Juliet is now 5 and in kindergarten

Rylan is now 3 and in preschool

Sully is now 20 months old and enjoying life!!!

Our schedule is busy but we know that God is leading us to these things and the blessings are incredible.  Matthew and I didn't foresee 5 (and soon to be 6!) children in our future 10 years ago but we wouldn't change a thing.  Thankfully, he and I got away last weekend for a short getaway to Asheville, NC for some needed R&R.  We know this season of life won't last forever so it's best to make the most of it.  As someone one told me, the days are long but the years are short!

We're all looking forward to meeting you, little one!

Back to Blogging

Hello, blog world!  I'm deciding to blog without pictures whenever possible and with pictures when possible.  We've been doing a lot of fun things recently and I've been taking pictures to blog about however the time runs out and the thought of saving pics to the computer, resizing them, posting about them seems too daunting a task.  Whew, breathe...   I make myself crazy thinking I'm so behind on blogging when in actuality this blog is the least of my things I'm so behind on, things that really matter and would make like run more smoothly.  But I thank my God for my wonderful husband who recently blew new wind into my sails! 

Last week, my children, my parents and myself took an 8 day trip from SC to GA to FL to GA and back to SC!  It was wonderful introducing Juliet to her last three living great grandparents on my side of the family (she's now met all 5 of her living great grandparents!) and letting them and some of my aunts get to know Philip and Braewyn better.  The downside was a packed to the hilt Trailblazer, sleeping 8 nights with my loveable yet sprawling sweetie Braewyn, and breaking up countless fights between my older two as I parent-ed solo for the week (albeit Nana and Papa were there but just not the same as Daddy).

All that said, we came home to a very cleaned up house thanks to my main sweetie, Matthew!  He said he didn't get to the vacuuming but I didn't care... every toy was in its place and the final boxes which we never unpacked in our master bedroom were now gone, put away into more appropriate places!  He even changed the kids' bed sheets! 

It was a wonderful feeling walking around a picked up house and rejuvenated me with a desire to keep cleaning harder each day.  Ok, ok I'm not making any promises but just saying that currently, I am in a much happier mood and do want to be a wife Matthew will be proud of by keeping a tidy house and making this a place we are happy to call home.

All that being said, I'm going to sleep with a spotless sink!  Some of you know how I've struggled with housekeeping all of my married life and how I've tried 3 or 4 times to follow the FlyLady's system (www.flylady.com) only to bail out a few weeks in.  Her number one rule is to go to bed with a clean kitchen sink.  Seems funny but I'm going to stick with it and see if it rubs off onto a better grasp on cleaning the house in general.  Also, need to make time to sit down and right out a monthly chore chart for the kids and me.  I'm still hanging in there with my daily schedule I created after reading Managers of Their Homes (www.titus2.com) but only successfully sticking to the schedule until 1pm.  The afternoon hours are still getting off track because I don't have the schedule printed out in front of me and every day seems to go a little different from the others. 

Ok, more to come about how things are going these days... we've enjoyed meeting twice now with our once a month 1st grade co-op, read through Charlotte's Web and then saw the play, began attending Children's Choir with Philip in the choir and Kim leading a 4th grade class through their rotations, spending a super fun weekend in the Georgia mountains, having fun and learning at the same time at an apple orchard and an aquarium, and watching our newest little Brooks grow by leaps and bounds overnight!  And I'll throw a picture in now and then too.

Ok, here's one picture!

We were visiting a bear attraction/zoo in Helen, GA.  I love my three bears!

My Time Spent Wisely in a Different Way

Last week, Philip attended science camp each day from 1-4pm.  It was my plan to arrange play dates for Braewyn, take Juliet with me to the science center, and spend the time waiting on Philip reading my schedule making plan book.  Well, the week didn't go as scheduled but I can clearly see it was according to the plans God had for me instead of the plans I had for me.


Monday, I took Braewyn across the street from the science center to a water fountain park.  It was a lot of fun until another little kid ran right into her and she literally skidded across the concrete.  Bandaids on both knees and one forearm and then we were headed home.  Matthew thankfully only works two blocks from the science center and so he was able to bring Philip home.

Tuesday, Braewyn did play at a friend's house while I spent three hours attempting to read through my scheduling book while Juliet napped on a bench.  Alas, I didn't know dance camp would let out in the hall where we were and Juliet ended up awake most of the afternoon, happy yet attracting lots of attention from passersby!

Wednesday, Braewyn and I joined a friend and her daughter for a swim date at their neighborhood pool.  It was a relaxing afternoon and a special time to catch up on what was going on in each other's lives.  She also lent me a precious baby float.  It makes Juliet look like she is floating in the middle of a flower!

Thursday was intended to be a day to drop Braewyn and Juliet off at my mom's and return home to clean.  Well, I ended up staying as my parents bought one of those plastic baby pools and it was too much fun watching Braewyn "go underwater" in one foot of water!

Friday was a great day for Philip and I to spend together.  A field trip was scheduled for this last day of science camp.  Maybe I'm overprotective, maybe I'm appropriately protective but I wasn't going to sign the release form for Philip to ride with an insured parent whom I had never laid eyes on.  I decided upon receiving that form that I would be the insured parent and drive him myself. It worked out well as I drove Philip and another 7-yr-old boy just 5 minutes down the road to a beautifully landscaped garden which I'd never been to before.  It was a fun day and a nice unexpected escape from my busy life.

However, I have been plugging along with reading the scheduling book and have written out mine and Juliet's Daily Activity sheets.  On this, you list all the activities you feel God wants you to do in your day and state how long each activity takes.  Here's the rundown on my typical day.

Quiet Time with the Lord -- 1/2 hr
Nurse Juliet -- 3 hr (obviously not in one sitting!)
Prepare breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Eat breakfast -- 1/2 hr
Prepare lunch -- 1/2 hr
Eat lunch -- 1/2 hr
Prepare dinner -- 1 hr
Eat dinner -- 1/2 hr
Exercise -- 1/2 hr
Laundry folding -- 1/2 hr
Morning chores -- 1/2 hr
Afternoon chores -- 1/2 hr
Sleep -- 7 hr
Computer time or read -- 1/2 hr
Time with Matthew -- 1 hr
Shower/hair/makeup -- 1/2 hr (we'll see if I can stick to this!)
School (Philip 2 1/2 hr; Braewyn 1 hr) -- 3 1/2 hr
Kids' bath or Book time -- 1 hr
Individual playtime with Mommy (Philip-T/Th, Braewyn-M/W,Together-F) -- 1/2 hr
Evening family devotion -- 1/2 hr

It feels really good to get it down on paper!