We're back to school!

I say we are "back" but it really feels like a first in so many ways!  This is the year that I am really starting to take our schooling seriously.  Not so much for Rhythm, but more for myself!  This year is about learning but even more so it is about getting into a new routine that includes more structure and consistent set-aside school time.  I feel like I am in that transition from being a mom with young kiddos who could pretty much do whatever whenever, to becoming a mom with a homeschooler who will require goals and a routine.  It is a definite shift in our family but one that I have been looking forward to- a chapter that I am ready to open, and work hard on.

To be perfectly honest, this first week was really hard!  Much harder than I anticipated!  Monday was darn near enough for me to put Rhythm in preschool and Lion Cub in full time daycare!  However, I took a step back, gathered my senses and gave Tuesday a second chance. It did work out better but we are definitely still adjusting!  You can read more about how it went on the boy's blog, The World According to Them.

Hop on over to The World According to Them to also hear more about everything I have planned, what our school room looks like and even take a peek at our Back to Homeschool pics!

Be sure to visit my sponsor- Marmee's Bread Market- for recipes and everything else you need to easily make fresh baked goods for your family!

Trial Week- for REAL!

Alright, so, last week's efforts to have a little trial run on our new routine ended up being completely thwarted by my ridiculous sickness.  While I am still not 100% (say maybe 85%?  Still coughing and dealing with ever-shifting ribs) but am feeling up for a second try at our trial run!

In all honesty, I knew that taking this trial run on our routine for a couple of weeks before our actual school year begins (on August 16) would be helpful, but I didn't realize that it would be vital until actually trying it today!  This new routine thing has a lot more adapting and learning involved than I had expected- and not just for me but the kiddos too!  I decided to implement Rhythm's new chores today (and let's be honest- get a little more consistent with the old ones!) and his new chore system (which will be detailed in a future post  on our family & homeschooling blog).  He eventually did complete all of them, but it took a lot of reminding, explaining and instruction.

Man oh man, am I ever glad that I did it today and NOT on our first morning of school!!  We have two whole weeks for him to get used to what his morning is supposed to run like and what is expected of him, before we get down and dirty with our curriculum!  I had toyed with the idea of starting our school year earlier (mostly from just being anxious!), even in just small amounts, but now I am really glad that we have two weeks left to get everything completely organized, our new routine in motion (which I will be posting on after we actually try it and make any necessary tweaks), and both of us sufficiently pumped up for school!

So all in all, from the outside, it would probably look like Day #1 of Trial Run week is shaping up as a fail, I am quite pleased with our progress!  I did manage to get out of bed by 7:15 (aiming for 6:45 tomorrow!), Rhythm did complete all his chores, I did complete dinner preparations by 1:30pm (crockpot and side salad), I did do a load of laundry, and I did get one out of two bathrooms cleaned!  OH- AND- I'm getting in a blog post!!!  While it isn't everything on my list, it is a far cry from nothing!  Tomorrow can only get better, right?!

Oh, and I did consider posting our menu for this week, but taking into account that pretty much everything in our lives that I had planned for last week got shifted to this week, there really isn't anything different to post!  I will, however, be getting around to posting those recipes I promised (and hopefully our monthly meal plan by the end of the week)!

And with that, I'll leave you with some recent cuteness!

The "trial run" week

Alright- a little update first off.  Friday morning I woke up essentially feeling like I was dying and decided we were going to have to divert some of the money that would otherwise be going towards bills to get me into urgent care.  First off they took my blood pressure and the nurse though something was wrong with the machine because it read at 91/53.  She checked it again and there was very little change.  A nurse friend of mine later told me that I was 2 points away from being admitted to the hospital and I run a pretty high risk of sepsis.  Fun.  So far I have been dizzy a few times but all in all, seem to be alright.

After an x-ray and an albuteral nebulizer treatment (and lots of comments about how horrible I sounded and how terribly sick I was) the doctor finally agreed that it was, indeed, pneumonia.  So he put me on two more antibiotics to try to cover the full range of what is plaguing me and he gave me an inhaler so I can actually breathe!.  All that to say, that I am glad I finally got treated for real and my prognosis is about another two weeks of fatigue, coughing and shortness of breath, but the "gunk" should go away in the next couple of days.  Oh- and I'm not contagious!  Just in case you know me in real life you don't have to run scared!

Anyhoo!  I have been working very hard over the last few weeks to get things organized for fall (and really, for our life in general!).  I still have a bit left to do but am at a place where I think it would be smart to give it a trial run.  So, this week we will be testing out the new routine I have been working on along with a light school schedule and early-prep on almost all of our meals and snacks.  Once I get the schedule fully tweaked I will be posting it for you all to see and possibly glean from (or laugh at- whichever suits your fancy), and I will also be doing quite a few menu-planning and recipe posts, including pre-prepped breakfast and lunch ideas!  So, stay tuned!  It should be a great week!