Making Your Home a Haven

This week the focus was on chores. I've been working on building them into our routine. The main bulk of the housekeeping work is done by Melanie, who cleans two days a week and does laundry two days a week.
Things here get dirty very fast. All surfaces have to be washed every week. This includes windows, doors, door frames, shelves, desks, and everything else. The walls even have to be swept. I'm very glad to have Melanie's help or I would never be able to keep up with it myself!
The smaller things the kids and I take care of ourselves. I do some things before they are up in the morning. Then we all have morning clean-up right before breakfast. They pick up toys, books, clothes, and shoes. Sometimes they sweep or put away laundry. I wash breakfast dishes, and make sure the kitchen is clean.
Before lunch and after supper, we have similar pick up times for the kids. I also have them help me bring in the laundry in the evening on laundry days. If it is dry, we will fold it and put it away. Other times, we put it on the indoor lines to dry. The next morning, it goes back outside if still wet, or folded and put away if dry.
When I think a little extra motivation is needed, I will set the timer and we race to see who can finish first. Suddenly, what was a boring task becomes a fun game as we try to be the first one done.
Having everything written on our schedule has helped so much. It helps the kids know what is coming at certain times, and it helps to keep me on track, too.

I didn't have any pictures of us doing chores, but this one was too cute to resist.

We went for a bike ride on Wednesday. Dash did not want to be left behind. At first, he was sitting on my bicycle tire. After I made him get down, he tried to climb in the bike trailer with Isabelle and Caleb.

When we returned from our ride, this is where we found him. I had to take a picture.

I seem to have a talent for closing my eyes in almost every picture. This was the only one that I got of us in our aprons together, though. I made my apron on Monday and Tuesday, and Isabelle's today. Here we are wearing them for the first time, just before we mixed up bread together.

Making Your Home a Haven: Planning

This week we were focusing on planning. I have been working on a daily schedule since mid-December. I started with a school schedule, and took a few weeks to make adjustments to make things flow more smoothly. Then I put it on the chart pictured below, and slowly added from there. I've had to make various adjustments as things changed, but overall it has been working for us.
Part of the reason that I did the schedule on a chart is that the kids do better when they know what to expect at certain times (especially Ian.) When there is something they want to do, I can say, "I can't do that right now, but we will do it at this certain time." Then I know we probably won't forget, since we are following the schedule.
Things rarely go completely as planned. We tend to have a lot of interruptions throughout the day, and sometimes unexpected things come up. But having a schedule does help me remember to bring the laundry in at 5:00, and start supper after that.
I am still trying to get in the habit of checking my dayplanner each night before I go to bed. I usually remember to write things in it, but I don't always remember to look at it everyday. It doesn't help to have things written down if I don't check to see what's there.

The papers with columns are our daily schedule (Monday-Friday). There is a color for each of us (except Stephen.) The cork board has specific school assignments for Ian and Isabelle. I'm working on teaching Ian to be more independent in a few of his subjects.
My idea for the calendar was to make things more simple for me, but the kids have really enjoyed having it. Isabelle has everyone's schedule memorized.
For more of the Making Your Home a Haven Series visit The Homespun Heart.

Making Your Home a Haven: Start with God

Last week, I was happy to see that Monica at Homespun Heart is starting her Making Your Home a Haven series again. It fits in well with my focus on "sanctuary" this year.
Yesterday, the kids and I did a prayer walk through are house. I kept it simple, because their attention spans are short. We walked through each room, and talked about what we could pray for in that room. I was glad that I decided to ask for their ideas, because they had an interesting perspective. It was fun to hear each kids' thoughts as we went through the house.
Isabelle and Caleb were reluctant to pray, but Ian was excited to pray in each room. This may be something regular that we add in to our school schedule once or twice a month.

To view other posts and see next week's challenge, you can visit The Homespun Heart.

Making Your Home a Haven

Monica at The Homespun Heart is bringing back her "Making Your Home a Haven" series. If you would like to join in, you can visit her blog to get the details. Next Friday will be the first link-up.