We all slept in (all, except Elijah that is; he needs a year of sleeping vacation to catch up with rest). As soon as we woke up, the children asked what the schedule was going to be that day. I wrote some ideas on a white board asking for their input as well. We were all satisfied with our planned day. After eating breakfast calmly, we started cleaning. After tiding up their rooms that had been left in tornado-after-shock state for the past two days, I assigned specific responsibilities to the children. Gillian was in charge of sorting, washing and folding laundry, Jefferson was in charge of vacuuming the whole house, and James cleaning the bathrooms and washing walls. None of them complained, and went straight ahead accomplishing their jobs.
And Charlton was in charge of entertaining himself. He had pancake syrup all over himself, so I took all of his clothes off till bath time. I love it that he is incorporating the doll house into his games. 
After the chores were done, we ate lunch, and then had them all take showers. Charlton went to take a nap, and the children sat on the table doing homework, while I was catching up with emails. Afterwards, I read to the kids some fun books (I was able to add a couple of biographies to their pile without them noticing it), and then had them go play on their own. (Jefferson came up with the idea of the fake mustache drawn with markers. I was just glad he had enough sense to not use permanent markers.)
When they were tired out of games and heat, they came inside and convinced me to let them watch a movie. After the movie was over, we went cross country running all refreshed. After dinner, we read and then had them go to sleep by 8:30, still later than I wanted.I had accomplished mostly everything I had set to do and without rushing. I had found the balance I had wanted without cutting too many things out. I learned a couple of things these past days. First, we can't do everything we desire, however worthy of a cause they may be. Going to the Relief Society Social was great, but not necessarily great that day when my husband wasn't home to take care of children's bedtime routine. Priorities are important to be established and followed. Service is one of the most basic elements to our happiness, but there should be a time and a place for that when dealing with a growing family. I grew up with parents and a culture that valued service as the most integral part of life. I'm grateful for that heritage. It's what the Savior would want us to do continuously. We are truly His angels on earth and we need to be close to the Spirit to hear His promptings. I'm happy that I can teach that to my children. And I'm glad I was able to help my friend on Tuesday night, but I need to have my own life in order first. Secondly, homeschooling is awesome! Within the time frame that my kids would naturally attend school, we learned cleaning skills, rested, did homework, read history, biography, and just good books, had free time, and even had the time to relax with each other while watching a movie. They were refreshed when they went cross country running later on. I truly enjoyed my day with my children home with me. And Charlton thought he was in heaven.
The next question arises: Can I do it everyday? That would be the answer for another post. (Forgive me if this blog is sounding more and more like Melita's thought process on life's issues.)
