Things I'm currently loving...

Homeschooling - For real. This isn't me pretending my life is dreamy or easy. It isn't. We knew homeschooling would be a more difficult route for me. But we have now completed week two and my big boys run to the kitchen table once I put Abe down for his morning nap. They love it. I hope it continues. The routine of our day has been a blessing to these little boys. Honestly, I wish I would have started a month or more ago when we were bored out of our minds this summer.

Mother's Day Out - See, I'm normal. I need a little space. I'm happy to be in this new routine, but Thursdays will definitely be a perk around here. I don't know what I'll do each week. But I get a little me time on Thursdays...well, me and Abe time. And I'm glad it's back in our weekly schedule.

Tabata - Making the time for exercise has been a little more challenging since coming home with Abe. I've been a little more tired and just haven't prioritized it as frequently as I should. But Tabata is so wonderful. They are hard core, intense 4 minute workouts. You do 3-4 rounds somewhere in your day and you're done. You can do it all at once (with a small break between rounds) or you can spread them through out the day. 12-16 minutes total and I can mark exercise off of my to do list. Yes, it usually gets put on my to do list. So does showering. Not joking. I think I just like to mark things off a list and have a sense of accomplishment. You can read in detail about Tabata here. And she has plenty of Tabata workouts to try out that will make you sweat. Check out any of these: One, Two, Three, Four...

Our new fridge calendar - So we had a little 5 year old that was asking us to play the Wii or the Xoom constantly. And we said yes to this request about once a week. And we said no to this request about 721 times per week. And so he threw a little fit about 718 times a week. Jeremy made the comment to me that we had no rhyme or reason of when we said yes or no. So Holden was always asking in this cautious, inquisitive way...probably completely assuming a no, but hoping for a yes. So we came up with a plan to allow the big boys to play the Wii or Xoom twice a week for an hour each time. We set it up so they can play on Mondays and Thursdays. It's written on the calendar so they never even have to ask us anymore. Any other day, the answer would be no. But on Mondays and Thursdays, after school work has been completed, they can use that 1 hour whenever they would like. We just started this on Monday and they haven't asked to play at all. It's a miracle. The calendar will also be good as we talk about days of the week and dates and learning about our calendar system. This was pretty much Jeremy's brilliant idea and I love it.

Netflix - About a month ago we decided that we could probably drop our Dish (which we haven't yet done but fully intend to!) and do a free trial of Netflix and Hulu. And now Jeremy and I have become huge nerds that watch 2-3 documentaries per week, where the subject is normally about food. Jeremy has actually watched several other types of documentaries that make me snooze. But the food ones draw me in. We aren't big television watchers. We can easily go days without turning it on. But Netflix has rocked our world.

 

Pinterest - Between homeschooling and finding new recipes for my family, I'm really not sure how I would survive without this little tool. It's been a huge help to me in many ways.

 

Is there anything you're especially loving these days?