Back to School

One week down, 35 to go. But who's counting?

I can't think "Back to School" without thinking of Billy Madison. Sorry. It's just the way I was raised.

There's so much good in this video. Is it silly? Of course. But the truth is so many kids feel that same way as the head back to school. Even our home schooled kids had those fears and a little anxiety as they headed back to school or officially started school.

This year we have two second graders and a Kindergarten student. This is my first year needing to teach more than one level at a time. The first day back was last Monday, August 17. The teaching part went well, but the homework part was a nightmare for one of our kiddos. There was a lot of yelling (mostly on my part) and a lot of frustration (pretty evenly split between the student and me).

First day of School - started out so fun and sunny!!

A large part of the problem was that I had a recent huge influx of sign orders, and normally I paint in the afternoon for about 2 hours while the children have a quiet time. Quiet time has turned to homework time and this student wanted me to sit directly beside her as she did her work. I told her I had my own work to do and she needed to do her own work. What she heard was, "Painting signs is more important than you." I'm not proud of it, but it's very close to the real meaning of what my words said.

Day 2 - sitting within touching distance as Abbey does schoolwork.

That evening I took a step back and evaluated my priorities. Do I enjoy painting? Yes. . Do I love homeschooling? Yes. Do I love my daughters? Yes. And then I needed to think about what I can change to still do all of these things (if possible). Most important on that list are my daughters and homeschooling. I enjoy the other things as well, but if I have to sacrifice any of those things on the list, it will be the painting. In order to still do the things I like best some changes need to be made.

Day 5 - getting into the groove and loving these quieter moments of the day.

1. I need to go to bed earlier. I've set myself a time limit on how late I will work during school nights so that I am a better teacher and a better mom.

2. I need to be willing to give up that chunk of afternoon time for painting in order to help my daughter gain confidence in her ability to work independently. We have compromised on this. I allow the children one hour FIRST to watch a movie. During this time I will write e-mails, respond to messages, create designs or paint. Whatever doesn't get done in that hour has to wait.

3. I need to extend the lead time from order to completion. Previously I was telling customers 1-2 weeks, but my goal was to get all orders completed in one week. However, since I'm not exactly sure how many signs my new hours will allow me to complete I have increased my time from 3-4 weeks from order to completion. As I get into a better routine this may look like 2-3 weeks or it could increase from 4-5. It all just depends on the volume of orders.

Please don't feel guilty about ordering. I WANT you to order. I LOVE painting. I'm still just so grateful that you all are so trusting in my ability to create something beautiful. And I'm excited that many of you are willing to wait three to four weeks to receive something I have made.

I would love to hear how you all fit in all the things you love? What do you have to give up to make your schedules work?

The Joys (and trials) of Sharing a Bedroom

For the first six years Trent and I were married we lived in a 1,080 square foot home in the city. We had three tiny bedrooms and one small closet. After our third daughter was born we really felt the squeeze of finding space for all the necessary things that kids have (clothes/shoes/coats/beds). We aren't even addressing toys, here. I searched the internet high and low for ways that other large families make small spaces work for them. Unfortunately I didn't find much that was helpful and did my best to be creative and make things work for us.

We are now in a four bedroom home with 2,400 square feet, and somehow we still feel that squeeze from time to time. Our three oldest girls share one bedroom which is about 10'x11.5'. (Plus a 5'x2' closet, which is really helpful!) There are unspeakable joys that go on in that little back bedroom. The girls laugh and chat, tell stories and read them. There is also the occasional fight that must always be worked out because, well, they share a room.

This is their room. It has pieces of each of them intertwined. Horses for Anne, owls for Abbey, and baby dolls and monkeys for Maggie. The room consists of a bunk bed:

(Bedding from Home Goods)

Anne sleeps on the top and Abbey and Maggie share the bottom.
 
There is a larger dresser across from the bed that belongs to Anne.

Maggie is wiping down the dresser. (Dresser painted by yours truly)

Each of the girls has their name, it's meaning, and a special verse on the wall. They also have an assortment of trinkets that they seem to love. :)

Then there are two smaller dressers are tucked inside the closet and Abbey and Maggie share those dressers.

All three girls have dresses hanging in the closet.

One thing that we have found that works for us is limiting the amount of clothing the children have. Let's be honest, they have about 3 shirts that they love to wear on repeat, along with a few dresses here and there. It really is not necessary for my 4, 6, and 7 year old to have enough clothes to last four weeks without needing to wash them. Trust me, they have more than enough clothing.

Things the girls love.

How Anne spends time in their room.

At this point the biggest punishment is when they can't settle down and someone has to sleep in the guest room ALL ALONE!

Generally it's one of these two that can't settle down.

 I like to credit their close sibling bond in part to sharing a bedroom. They already talk about when they grow up they want to live beside each other. They even picked out a house close by that they just love. It did my heart good to see the house they chose. A ram-shackle mess of a house that desperately needs worked on. They saw the beauty through the mess.

Sisters: growing up with my best friends.

I like to have the girl's art and characteristics displayed as well. this is a flag Anne painted. (Lampshade was made by my friend, Jessie)

I like to believe that that is what family is all about. Seeing the beauty through all the mess. We are far from perfect, but we can be joyful in the midst of our imperfections. We have that opportunity because of God's grace. Because He saw through our messes and showed his unfailing and compassionate love.

This is a very real BEFORE picture. There is beauty and life in that mess.

So there you have it. How to fit three girls into one small bedroom and have them enjoy it. In fact, they are already talking about when little sister can join them in their room. If and when that happens I'll be sure to update you all on the changes we make to the room.