Trying to get back to routine.

We are struggling to get back into the routine this morning but the kids are excited about trick or treat tonight. They also got a new game table yesterday and have been wanting to play games, instead of work. Someone in this family tried to convince me that the game of pool is a study in geometry and physics but I'm not going for it.

I think I also have a touch of writer's block. I've tried to post to my blog 3 times this morning with little success in writing anything worth reading. This is my 4th try and well, you can see how it is going. I would use the old blogger standby for writer's block, pictures, but blogger is not cooperating today. Grr.

The Monday Dilemma.

I happened to mention a few weeks ago that we might not do school on Mondays, that it wouldn't matter if we did them or not, we'd still finish school in June. The kids have latched onto that and now feel that they should never have to do school on Mondays. I, on the other hand, feel guilty for taking a long fall break and feel like we should be doing a lot of school now to make up for it. I also tend to make doctor's appointments and other appointments on Mondays, so they are frequently disrupted. Today, for example, I had to go to an appointment so Dad was home with the kids who were telling him that we don't do school on Mondays ... he made them do it anyway and I'm glad. That helps me feel less bad about that long fall break.

The Time Change.

I have kind of been looking forward to the time change from daylight savings time to whatever it is usually called, standard time? The kids and I have been staying up really late and sleeping late too, so this is our opportunity to get up an hour earlier without it feeling like it is an hour earlier. I'm not crazy about the fact that it will be getting dark at 5:00 in the afternoon now, but youngest son, at least, is happy because of the no screen time until after the sun sets rule!
I'm hoping we can get school and work done earlier in the day and have more free time.

Halloween Costumes and Blog Notes.

We are going to a halloween party tomorrow night so we need to have costumes done by then. Youngest son wants to be a character he invented called Ninja Kid, daughter wants to be a witch and oldest isn't sure if he will dress up for the party but might want to be an android (he really needs to decide!). I went on a supply gathering mission today and I guess DH will be putting together the costumes tomorrow. He's really good at it. I hope it isn't raining tomorrow like it is today!

I had to take the fall pictures post down because for some reason, it was messing up the blog's sidebar. I'm going to try and share pictures 1 at a time to see if I can avoid problems with format.

My blog has now passed 20,000 page views. I think that's pretty cool, considering that I figured out a long time ago how to get it to not count me, so I think most of those must be other people, LoL. Thanks readers!

A few thoughts.

Just a few unrelated things that have happened around here this week, in no particular order.

Tonight, we were driving to my mom's and youngest son looked out the window of the car and saw some halloween decorations in someones yard. He said "Look, they've got the Grim Reaker in their yard." Lol.

Last night, also in the car, I asked my daughter how her afternoon playdate had gone. She thought I asked about the church meeting she had gone to. She said "We made paper dolls and then she talked for a long time." She meant the teacher of the group. I thought she meant her little 10 year old friend. I said "She talked for a long time? What did she talk about?" She said "Bosnia." I know I was getting kind of a confused look on my face. I said "Is she learning about Bosnia in school?" She said "She doesn't go to school." I said "I mean homeschool, is she learning about Bosnia in homeschool?" and my daughter said "What? Ms. Becky's not homeschooled!" We got a good laugh over her 10 year old friend talking at length about Bosnia, Lol. I just couldn't picture it.

I have noticed recently something interesting about my constant struggles to get the kids to exercise and be active. A couple of months ago I was telling them to go outside for an hour and they were resisting it. They didn't want to go outside. So I made them do 30 sit ups, 30 jumping jacks, 30 leg lifts etc., about half an hour worth of exercise. They did that for about a month and now all I hear is "Can we go outside instead?" Of course I say yes. *wink*

I've also limited all screen time to after the sun sets. That has made them do a lot more active play. Hopefully, this time I'll stick to it better. I'm very good at making a new rule like that and buckling when they complain to much, so wish me luck or determination or whatever it takes. My youngest son has 1 educational DVD that I do let him watch during the day and he's been watching that more, which is something I want so I'm happy about that.

Returning from fall break.

There was a lot of whining and complaining yesterday when we started back to school after fall break, which is exactly why I didn't want to take a fall break in the first place. I told the kids that we aren't taking a Christmas break at all this year. They can open their presents after they get their math done.
;-)

Sigh.

Younger kids bunk.

Older son's loft bed.

I promised a picture, so here's my son's loft bed.