New school schedule

School starts Monday! EEK!!! This has been absolutely the least amount of summer I have ever had. I think starting school before September should be outlawed, and to be in school on my birthday is just not right. I am trying hard to prepare my brain for Monday. It is an uphill battle. I just ordered the final things from ABeka today at 5 AM. I hope they are mailing same day. It includes our language books for the kids.

This will be my 16th year home schooling. I have to stop and let that settle into my being. I feel every bit of it, I am old and dragging. Remember the enthusiasm that you get from getting your books in the mail and planning out your first few weeks? Yeah, gone. Now, I just feel the pain of having to teach this AGAIN! I usually am excited to get my planner and write out the first few weeks, I love to see it all lined up and ready. I can't even find that little place within me to desire to write in a planner, if I even had been excited to buy one yet.

I would love to see your schedules of how you order your day. I am truly overwhelmed with the thought of adding school back in to housework, home projects, church and school activities, cooking, having some fun with my family and friends. Bible study is always a struggle, as well as the gym. Those two are my first to go when I wake up late, or am running behind, or have a busy day, or just get on the computer and do not get off.

This is my schedule. Remember, it is my hopes and dreams, the ones that become shattered by 9 AM most days. But, it is a goal, something to strive for, or something I could show all of you and pretend I am so together. I just have to delete a few sentences that I wrote.

6:00-6:30 Get up and dress and drive to gym

6:30-7:30 Work out

7:30-8:30 Dress, wipe bath, make bed, take laundry down and put in, fold dry clothes, check kids chores

8:30-12:00 School

12:00-12:30 lunch

12:30-1:30 Bible study/Kids complete school work.

1:30 3:00 House work/

3:00-5:00 Craft/free time

5:00-6:00 Supper

6:00-8:00 Family time/ projects, crafts

8:00-10:00 Free time( tv, read, computer,craft)/ Bed


Each morning: Wipe bath counter and sink, shower, toilet, make bed, laundry, kitchen after b'fast
After school: books put away,kitchen after lunch
5:00- put away crafts and pick up house while cooking supper, kitchen after supper, prepare bfasts and lunches/ get out supper for tomorrow.
8:00 put away items, dishwasher,

Monday- shopping- Asbury thrift, CVS, RiteAid, Walgreens, Publix, Kroger; wash master sheets

Tuesday- kitchen and baths- clean tub, shower, toilet, mirror. Clean microwave, opening of refrigerator, stove, sink, fronts of cabinets and appliances. Sweep and mop master bath, foyer, laundry room. Wash towels.{ week one: master bath cabinets, week two: kids bath cabinets, week three: upper kitchen cabinets, week four: lower kitchen cabinets}

Wednesday- vacuum and dust Master bath, bedroom, upper hall, steps, foyer, front room, kitchen, family room, half bath. Wash rugs. {week 1: master drawers, week 2: master closet, week 3: boys drawers, week 4: boys closet, week 5: foyer drawers and front room, week 6: family room cabinets/drawers, week 7: laundry, week 8: coat closet and pantry}

Thursday- Paperwork. Pay bills alternating weeks. Clip coupons and prepare lists. Organize desk. Organize school papers. Iron clothes for the week.
Wash girls sheets.

Friday- Home school classes. Go by thrift stores. Once a month go to bread store, Sams, Walmart and Target. Vacuum and clean out Yukon interior. Wash boy's sheets.

Saturday- yardsales, wash cars, yardwork. Have fun outings! wash towels

Cleaning Schedule

We are finally past school, baseball, VBS and are officially into summer. I have time to actually get the house in order and try to begin exercising and work hard on remodeling projects. I have had this cleaning schedule for a while but have not been following it due to exhaustion and just trying to make it through each day.

Daily: Make bed, wipe down bath after dressing, take laundry down and start a load, fold dry clothes. Check kids rooms and kitchen chores(table, counters,dishes,sweep)
Hang clothes when through washing.
Before supper: pick up and put things away. Get out frozen meat/veg for tomorrow's meal to thaw.

Monday- clean the baths- sink and vanity, tub, shower, toilet, mirror.
Kitchen- counters, microwave, stove, wipe anything I see in refrigerator, fronts of cabinets and appliances, sink. Mop baths and foyer and laundry. Clean glass by front door and back door. Wipe washer and dryer. Iron. Wash towels.
Run to CVS/Rite Aid/Kroger/Dollar General- down the street.

Tuesday- vacuum and dust whole house. Take one room each week to clean under and behind furniture more intensely. Polish wood floors. Wash master sheets.

Wednesday- zone clean: clean cabinets and drawers and closets in that room plus window.
Zone 1- foyer, media room, laundry
Zone 2- Kitchen
Zone 3- family room and 1/2 bath and closet
Zone 4- Master bed and bath
Zone 5- Kids bath and Boys room
Go by Walgreens/CVS#2/Southern Market/Publix- on way to/from church
Wash boys sheets.

Thursday: Pay bills, file papers, any calls, organize desk, balance checkbook, prepare menus and coupon organization. Check preview of next week sales and prepare coupons and list. Iron. Wash girls sheets.
Any doctor appointments.

Friday: Clean out car. Wash car. Wash towels.
Once a month go to Sams/Walmart/Target/Michaels

Saturday: Beat everyone to the cute clothes and great decorating things at garage sales. Yardwork.

Moving The Mountain of Laundry

Disclaimer: I do not always do the things I want to do but instead do the things I don't want to do. Got it?

See in the photo how we have the washer and dryer elevated on a shelf with room for baskets? Love it! My husband made the shelf in our old house because we had a tiny laundry. When we had a rental house it flooded and the washer and dryer were safe since they weren't on the ground.The kids have so much laundry that I needed somewhere to put it where it was not piled in front of the washer and dryer. I don't know about you but when I go to do the laundry and I can't make it to the machines I get discouraged and instead go find chocolate. On good days, I seperate clothes and start filling the washer with one color and put the other load in the basket under the washer. On normal days they are all piled together in front of the machine and I eat chocolate. I keep the basket under the dryer to put clothes when they come out of the dryer to fold. I also throw the lonely, regected, left behind socks waiting to be reunited one day. Okay, the shelf needs to be replaced and the molding was knocked off the front edge when we moved a couple of months ago but I hope you can get the idea.

My goal to keep the laundry going works great when i am consistent. I usually have two loads a day- one lights and one darks. I am trying to hang dry most of the clothes, but heard that it costs about $.40 to dry a load so I figure if life is hectic that sometimes it is worth paying to dry them. I have the one drying rack you see in photo next to the machines over the air vent. On the opposite wall from the machines I have a full wall of shelving where I hang everything possible on hangers to dry. You can hang towels and sheets with clothespins on the hangers. I have room below the hanging shelf where I can set up two more drying racks.I hang stuff that will need to be ironed to the left and stuff that just needs to dry and be put away to the right. Then, just put up the stuff on the right when dry. I am trying to iron all items on Monday and again on Thursday to keep clothes ironed.

Above the washer and dryer and hanging shelf I have two shelves that I store boxes with theme party supplies, paper towels, cleaners, emergency supplies, large canning stuff and dehydrator. Since we are new here I am not finished in here.

I found the battery organizer at a garage sale for $1.00 and spent about $80.00 at Christmas on rechargeable batteries. It has a tester on the top so we can tell when the batteries need recharging. I am hanging this somewhere in the laundry. I bought a wall organizer to hang my ironing board and two cans of starch, but still need to hang it.

I love Rhoda's laundry room and want to work on mine later to make it pretty like her's. If you go to Southern Hospitality there are photos of her laundry room. Just click on the title of this post to go to her blog.

Morning Routine

At www.biblicalwomanhoodonline.com/blog Making Your Home A Haven Monday we are to make our morning routine. I have been really slacking since we moved. In part because I had a cough with sinusitis that went into Bronchitis that all lasted over 10 weeks. It really made me sluggish. It was during Thanksgiving -after Christmas. We moved in Thanksgiving weekend then went into all of the holiday business. We have had remodeling projects like putting down wood floors and painting going on, boxes to unpack and just life to live. Did I mention that I home school and have five kids with activities? Whew! I am tired again thinking about it.

Okay, the excuses are over and in order to stop the chaos I have to get back into a routine. Part of my routine has to include eating better, getting enough sleep, and excercising. I just feel so tired all the time.

5:45-6:15 Bible and Prayer time ( I would like to increase as I get used to getting up)
6:15-7:15 excercise
7:15-7:45 Breakfast/lunches, fold laundry, unload dishwasher.
7:45-8:30 Dress, make bed, wipe bath, pick up bed and bath, take laundry down, start a load, check kids chores
8:30 Start school
7:15-