7:00 –
Mom wakes up to “Potty Alert, Potty Alert” warnings coming from Cole’s bed. She’s aroused suddenly and moves quickly in order to assist a short person whose mid-section isn’t the necessary height to reach over the toilet bowl yet. Cole then goes back to his room to look at books, which usually last about 10 minutes. Mom heads for the closet to look for something that’s comfortable yet suitable if we happen to run a quick errand that day but she secretly hopes we can stay in our little corner of the world today because getting out means applying make-up. She makes the bed and then opens Chloe’s door and angelically sings “Rise and Shine”.

7:30 –
Clark is usually up by now if he hasn’t slept in Chloe’s room the night before, where he stays up much later than he does in his own room. Chloe is slowly waking up but prefers that process to be in her bed rather than on her feet so it takes much longer. Mom and Cole head downstairs to hunt for breakfast. Clark joins the hunt. Chloe slowly makes her way to the breakfast table. Breakfast is usually any bread or muffin made the day before or if Mom’s on a gotta-feed-my-kids-a-good-breakfast kick she’ll make some combination of scrambled eggs, biscuits, hashbrowns, bacon.

7:50 –
The daily reminder that you need to finish your breakfast and start your jobs. Within 10 minutes the sounds of teeth being brushed or trashcans being emptied are being heard. Cole is usually still eating. The longer it takes him the bigger the mess.

8:00 –
Cole is either still eating or entertaining himself so Clark and Mom sit down to read. Clark reads to Mom a book of his choosing which is usually a Stink book or Magic Tree House. He’ll read aloud for about 10-15 minutes or until a good stopping point. Mom cleans up the kitchen and Clark heads upstairs to get in a few minutes of play before school.

8:30 –
The school bell rings, literally! If we haven’t had our 10 minutes with God alone for the morning we’ll have it together now. We’ll write down any new prayer request, say a prayer and get started. On the dry erase board Mom will have the date written and a creative writing sentence. Sometimes it’s a fill in the blank answer sentence or sometimes it’s a question that they must answer. It’s just a fun way to start the day and, shhh don’t tell them, they are working on handwriting skills at the same time. This is about the only page that they work on that Mom doesn’t go over/correct. After Mom gets them started, she’ll ask Cole to select a book. They’ll read for about 15 minutes or about 3-4 books. Mom will then attempt to get Cole interested in Thomas the trains or Hot Wheels so she can check the morning work progress. Chloe is usually finished and Clark needs prodding by this point. Chloe knows to go directly to the computer where she works on Math. After Clark is finished, Mom works with him, in no particular order, on math, language arts, and spelling words. Chloe gets finished with math and joins us in the Bonus room.

9:45 –
If Clark and Mom aren’t at a good stopping point then Chloe will go play or read to Cole. Otherwise, Clark is released to play with Cole while Chloe and Mom start in on Language Arts, Spelling, and Reading. Once finished and independent work assigned, Chloe plays with Cole and Clark comes back for letter and sounds work, geography, and flashcards.

11:30 –
Lunch! Keeping the brain engaged while taking a ”school break” is fun while we listen to Your Story Hour CDs during lunch. We highly recommend these, homeschooling or not.

12:00 –
Free time for kiddos. Mom dashes around the house getting a few dishes cleaned, a load of laundry run, and a floor swept all the while thinking “I should have my kids doing this but I can get it done much faster if I do it myself”. Thoughts that her kids will grow up and never know how to clean a house creep in but those thoughts are pushed aside because “free time” is nearing its end. Mom makes preparations for history or science.

1:00 –
Cole’s naptime! He is a dearly loved child but it’s difficult for one to have a constant fondness of another person (specifically a 2 year old!) if they are never apart. Upon announcing “Quiet Time” the wailing begins, “No nike nike time, No nike nike time”. Mom doesn’t mind the wail for it just confirms that ,yes, naptime is going to be a glorious oasis just like the day before.

1:15 –
Mom, Chloe, and Clark gather around the kitchen table for history or science depending on the day. The blessing is that these are two subjects that can be taught to multiple grade levels at the same time. A lesson is read and activities are started. We work about 30 minutes then start cleaning the mess that was made all in the name of learning.

2:00 –
Quiet time for Mom, Chloe and Clark. During this time, Chloe works on her independent work assignments then reads. Mom and Clark usually pile on Mom and Dad’s bed and begin reading our individual selections. All is completely quiet in the house for 45 minutes or so.

2:45 –
With school work completed, Clark usually plays with Legos, goes outside or heads to Dad’s shop to “work”. Chloe is typically taken captive by a book and doesn’t emerge from her room until Clark’s requesting a playmate. If dinner isn’t in the crockpot, Mom starts to think about dinner preparations but then she allows herself to put that off for another 30 minutes so she can get some computer work done (lesson plans, budget, emails, research field trips, etc).

3:30 –
Cole is back on the scene! It only takes one sippy cup of milk and he’s fully awake. He and Clark, sometimes Chloe, start playing. Spiderman and Buzz may quickly appear or a herd of elephants may be racing in the upstairs hallway or it’s a skirmish to rival that of the Civil War because Cole has messed up a “set up”. Mom has procrastinated long enough dinner plans must be under way so we can eat when Dad walks in the door.

5:00 –
We begin the Dad-will-be-home-soon-lets-pickup game. The kids and mom pickup toys, school books, clear kitchen table of school debris etc. so to appear to Dad that we have school and keep the house tidy. Cole tires of playing with his siblings and stays by Mom’s side while she cooks dinner.

5:45 –
Dad’s home! The kids set the table and we gather at the table to consume whatever Mom put together to call a meal. Dad asks the kids how the school day went and what they learned that day. To this they can’t respond “I don’t remember” because their teacher is sitting right there to help them remember!

6:30 –
Mom starts cleaning up the kitchen and Dad assists with the kids showers/baths. After this we have time with Dad. We may have a devotional or Dad may assist with some homework or roughhouse with the boys.

8:00 –
Everyone goes to their room to read.

8:30 –
Lights out!

Another GOD given day is done.