Wednesday night ramblings

It is only Wednesday evening and I am already feeling like "What a week!" When I told McKenzie I was taking pictures for another post on what our days have been like she said, "Oh, mama... Do you have to be THAT real?" I guess I honestly have impure motives for venting on this post. My husband had a female co-worker the other day make a comment about not knowing how I have time to run every day. Another lady said, "Because she stays home. She has all the time in the world." That didn't set well with me! So... for the record....THIS is the reality of what a homeschooling mama does with her time.

Tuesday morning around 10:00 AM.... I had already nursed and bathed a baby, fixed breakfast for five other children (they cleaned up), washed three loads of laundry (one daughter hung two loads out), mopped all of the wood floors, made two phone calls... BUT, my bed still looked like this.......

because I was teaching a math lesson to a 2nd grader while a teething one year old was throwing cheerios from one end of my room to the other....

then when he bored with that he moved to crayons......

Of course, it is always fun to play in mommy's bathroom.......

and the math manipulative's are fun to throw too!

She was learning to multiply by '3', but in reality she was learning so much more. She was learning how to be patient with her little brother! She was learning that teething one year olds can be very difficult! After her lesson she learned how to serve by taking that one year old outside to play so that her mama could then move on to the 6th grader who needed help with her school work. (On a side note: Mariah had four teeth pulled the day before. She did great and got a milkshake when it was over!)

McKenzie had to dissect a cow's heart for school. Of all nights we had to have meat loaf for supper. It was very hard to sit down and eat that night! I don't enjoy the upper level Science and Math. Fortunately, Marc is always ready and willing to help! :)

I don't write all of this to complain. As exhausting as my life can be I truly wouldn't change it for anything! But PLEASE.... don't assume that we stay-at-home moms (especially those of us that also homeschool!!) have all the time in the world. It isn't always easy! But, the blessings way out weigh the negatives. I get hugs and kisses all day long. I have a four year old that tells me he loves me and I am pretty even when I am in my running clothes and have a ponytail. I get to "see" when the light bulb turns on for one of my children struggling with something in school. I get to mold and train them everyday. I get to hear the many funny things that they say! Like.... McKenzie has two dairy goats that she is milking. We have TONS of milk now. I am having to be really creative using it. Mariah asked me what was for supper the other night. When I told her quiche she looked like she wasn't thrilled. I asked her if she didn't like quiche. She said, "Well, it is just kind of awkward. We had quiche the other night." She cracks me up when she tries to use a word and uses it wrong. I am working on character things with her and Malachi right now. She told me the other day after we had had a long talk that "this is very difficult". When McKenzie was dissecting the cow's heart she told me she was going to go watch McKenzie "digest" the cow heart. Yes, I would miss out on a lot!

Then there is Malachi.... I took him on a walk yesterday and he said, "How old are you mommy?" When I told him he said, "Are you kidding?" When I had to correct him for something today he looked at me very seriously and said, "I want to make you really small." Tonight (when once again I was trying to use up some milk) I told everyone to eat a bowl of granola for supper. When it came time to get ready for bed I told Malachi I needed to brush his teeth. He said, "Why, I don't have supper on them. Do I have bret-fest on them?"

Yes, it is exhausting...... but there is nowhere else I would rather be!