Our July is always a little busier than normal life. And yes, I'm aware that what we refer to as normal life most people already find busy.
But this July has become downright insane. We are still managing to accomplish everything on the to-do list (except blogging, which has fallen quite obviously by the wayside.) In fact, the month has become so crazy that I dusted off my trusty planner and am back to toting it around. I knew we were in trouble when I was trying to schedule Isabelle's next orthodontist appointment and finally said: "You just pick a time and I'll just make it work."
Our typical week day begins at 6 am: putting on swim gear, eating breakfast, packing pool bags, and piano practice for both Tucker & Isabelle.
8:30 am: Drop Shelby, Dawson, & Isabelle at the pool for their swim practice.
8:45-9:45 am: back home for Tucker's school
10:00 am: back to the pool. Dawson and Tucker begin dive practice (ends at 11:30)
10:15-10:45 am: Abigail's swim lessons; Shelby works as a swim instructor sub (Mon - Thur)
11 - 11:30 am: Keats and Aidan's swim lessons; Shelby works as a swim instructor sub (Mon - Thur)
11:45 am: head for home. Eat lunch, Elyas takes a nap and begin homeschooling/piano practice.
Monday afternoon: pick up Isabelle at 2ish (from her babysitting job), pack a picnic dinner, swim meet warm-ups at 4:45 pm, meet begins at 6
Tuesday afternoon: school until 3ish, take Scott to work at 2:30, pack a picnic dinner, dive meet warm-ups at 4, meet begins at 5
Wednesday morning: pick Scott up at 7:30 am; afternoon: piano lessons for Shelby, Dawson, Isabelle & Tucker from 1:30 - 4 pm (take school with them.) Pick up Tucker at 2:15 and return home and complete school for Tucker, Keats, Aidan, & Abigail. Family dinner. Scott watches the video of Tuesday's dive meet with Tucker and Dawson before he takes all the boys to soccer camp from 7 - 8 pm while we have a girls night here at home.
Both Thursday and Friday afternoons are reserved for catching up on home responsibilities and either resting or relaxing pool time. After school work, of course. And if we have decided to go to the pool, then that means an extra trip of running Scott to work so we have the van and remembering to pick him up the next morning. (I've only ever forgotten once.)
We also have various little rutherfords at Camp Manatawny for a week at a time from now until mid-August, with Shelby also staffing as a lifeguard for two weeks. Which means most of our Saturdays are spent attending closing ceremonies in the morning and returning to drop off a new camper in the afternoon.
And, in our infinite belief in our abilities, we have also scheduled a fellowship gathering on Sunday afternoon at our pool, lasting from 4 - 8. All of the children have shared that this weekly activity is their favorite, as they are surrounded by friends and family while swimming, which is absolutely their favorite thing in the world.
I try to keep up the mantra that I can do anything for 6 weeks. We are still managing to accomplish our summer school schedule of math, grammar, typing, and literature quite easily. Piano has remained a priority and the kids will be prepared for their October recital despite the craziness of summer. Friendships are being renewed and revitalized as we spend time out and about.
But down-time is at a premium right now. Every moment is scheduled, with very little wiggle room for blow-out diapers or missing shoes. My daily to-do planning sheets, which I almost never use, are about to be re-ordered to get us through the end of July.
And yet, I am watching our older children truly blossom as they are becoming very aware of the precious aspects of time. They are learning to prioritize, to organize, and to really use every moment to its fullest. In our life of flexible scheduling, having a given period of highly scheduled time is good for us and good for our self-discipline. It isn't a life-style I would ever want to adopt permanently, but it does have it's benefits.
And so, as we continue with our July, our updates may not be as frequent as we would like. But never fear. Mid-August will be here in all it's slowing-down glory before you know it.
But this July has become downright insane. We are still managing to accomplish everything on the to-do list (except blogging, which has fallen quite obviously by the wayside.) In fact, the month has become so crazy that I dusted off my trusty planner and am back to toting it around. I knew we were in trouble when I was trying to schedule Isabelle's next orthodontist appointment and finally said: "You just pick a time and I'll just make it work."Our typical week day begins at 6 am: putting on swim gear, eating breakfast, packing pool bags, and piano practice for both Tucker & Isabelle.
8:30 am: Drop Shelby, Dawson, & Isabelle at the pool for their swim practice.
8:45-9:45 am: back home for Tucker's school
10:00 am: back to the pool. Dawson and Tucker begin dive practice (ends at 11:30)
10:15-10:45 am: Abigail's swim lessons; Shelby works as a swim instructor sub (Mon - Thur)
11 - 11:30 am: Keats and Aidan's swim lessons; Shelby works as a swim instructor sub (Mon - Thur)
11:45 am: head for home. Eat lunch, Elyas takes a nap and begin homeschooling/piano practice.
Monday afternoon: pick up Isabelle at 2ish (from her babysitting job), pack a picnic dinner, swim meet warm-ups at 4:45 pm, meet begins at 6
Tuesday afternoon: school until 3ish, take Scott to work at 2:30, pack a picnic dinner, dive meet warm-ups at 4, meet begins at 5
Wednesday morning: pick Scott up at 7:30 am; afternoon: piano lessons for Shelby, Dawson, Isabelle & Tucker from 1:30 - 4 pm (take school with them.) Pick up Tucker at 2:15 and return home and complete school for Tucker, Keats, Aidan, & Abigail. Family dinner. Scott watches the video of Tuesday's dive meet with Tucker and Dawson before he takes all the boys to soccer camp from 7 - 8 pm while we have a girls night here at home.
Both Thursday and Friday afternoons are reserved for catching up on home responsibilities and either resting or relaxing pool time. After school work, of course. And if we have decided to go to the pool, then that means an extra trip of running Scott to work so we have the van and remembering to pick him up the next morning. (I've only ever forgotten once.)
We also have various little rutherfords at Camp Manatawny for a week at a time from now until mid-August, with Shelby also staffing as a lifeguard for two weeks. Which means most of our Saturdays are spent attending closing ceremonies in the morning and returning to drop off a new camper in the afternoon.
And, in our infinite belief in our abilities, we have also scheduled a fellowship gathering on Sunday afternoon at our pool, lasting from 4 - 8. All of the children have shared that this weekly activity is their favorite, as they are surrounded by friends and family while swimming, which is absolutely their favorite thing in the world.
I try to keep up the mantra that I can do anything for 6 weeks. We are still managing to accomplish our summer school schedule of math, grammar, typing, and literature quite easily. Piano has remained a priority and the kids will be prepared for their October recital despite the craziness of summer. Friendships are being renewed and revitalized as we spend time out and about.
But down-time is at a premium right now. Every moment is scheduled, with very little wiggle room for blow-out diapers or missing shoes. My daily to-do planning sheets, which I almost never use, are about to be re-ordered to get us through the end of July.
And yet, I am watching our older children truly blossom as they are becoming very aware of the precious aspects of time. They are learning to prioritize, to organize, and to really use every moment to its fullest. In our life of flexible scheduling, having a given period of highly scheduled time is good for us and good for our self-discipline. It isn't a life-style I would ever want to adopt permanently, but it does have it's benefits.
And so, as we continue with our July, our updates may not be as frequent as we would like. But never fear. Mid-August will be here in all it's slowing-down glory before you know it.
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