A "TYPICAL" DAY

It's been a good day, full of little boy hugs and little girl giggles.

The first child, Henry-age 4, came this morning around 5:30. He always goes back to sleep on the couch with his blanket. Next was Laura-8 months old- @ 6am. She also goes back to sleep for an hour or two each morning. I dozed a little between 5:30 and 6:30 between the kids coming in. (So much for my plan to get a head start on my work at 5:00 :-). I'll try again tomorrow)

Garth-age 4 came in around 6:40. He always come in at full throttle because he doesn't get his ADHD medication until breakfast. So first thing in the morning and agains in the afternoon after naptime he is always WIRED.

Talia-8, comes about five minutes after Garth. She is a sweet, delicate little girl with a mop of wavy red hair. And she can TALK, TALK, TALK! Some mornings she has me in stitches laughing at the things she says. Other mornings, when I haven't had my coffee yet, I have to beg for mercy and a little peace and quiet.

Michael-2, usually wakes up around 7:30 and it's his job to wake Austin-12, and Amanda-10. He loves it and they wake up smiles on their faces. Somehow it's more fun to wake up when their little brother is patting them on the head saying "Austin-Up" "Amanda-Up"!

By 7:45 everyone is awake and things are moving along. Karen (Doug's cousin) drives our school van and takes Talia and Zane(10) to school. Zane usually gets here just in time to catch his ride to school.

Once Austin and Amanda are finishes with their breakfast they start their morning chores. Because our house is so big (3,430 square feet) and we run a childcare program in our home, the kids have an important role in keeping things running smoothly. On weekday mornings Austin & Amanda each take responsibility for doing some housework in five different rooms-pick up, vacuum, dust, etc. Each room has a set of jobs for each day. I keep a list in a three-ring binder and they take turns choosing which rooms they do each day. They also have chores on the weekends but not as many. This system helps keep the clutter, dirt, and dust bunnies down to a tolerable level.

At 9:00am my helper, Marie, comes in and takes over the kitchen work. I try to get the cooking for the day started first thing in the morning and then when she comes in she takes over. I couldn't make it without her. She usually works from 9am-3pm each Monday-Friday.

This morning when Laura went down for her morning nap I was able to take the preschoolers outside for about 30 minutes. Yay! We have had spring fever lately and have been itching to get outside. But it rained for three days and we couldn't go out to play.

By the time we went outside Kyle-3 was here too. Kyle and his sister Audrey-6 were with me for awhile in foster care before they went to live with their aunt. At that point they transitioned to childcare with me. Audrey comes when there is no school and when childcare is needed on the weekends.

Besides playing outside we also played with building sets, played with some flannel play sets, and watched some Disney. It was a fairly quiet morning so I was able to dust and wash windows in the playroom while the kids played.

Marie feeds the kids lunch so that I can take a short break. Like I said, I couldn't make it without Marie!

After lunch is clean up time and then story time. Usually along with the stories we also sing some songs. A big favorite right now is "Old McDonald Had A Farm". An amazing farm it must be with all the strange animals he has-seahorses, turtles, growling teddy bears, and a snake!

Naptime for the little kids means "schoolwork" for Austin and Amanda. Currently Austin is reading a textbook type book called "Science". Amanda is reading "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens" by Sean Covey. They are also learning their multiplication tables and we've been playing a lot of math war. Because Austin is an auditory learner and because we just enjoy it I also do a lot of reading aloud. We're reading through the Anne of Green Gables series by L. M. Montgomery, and we also do some Bible reading each day. When the weather and the number of kids permit we like to go for a 30-45 minute walk. Today was not one of those days though because be this afternoon it was raining. Again!

After naps it snack time and time for the school kids to come in. Today Doug picked up Jacob-6, Kenneth-9 and Zane-10 from one school. Haley-10, from another school, got off the bus here. Schoolkids mean homework so we get that done right after snack.

Both Garth and Kenneth (also on medication for ADHD) seemed extra wound up today. I'm not sure what was up with that. Several of the kids left earlier than usual this evening so that helped keep the chaos down somewhat.

On Thursday evenings Austin and Amanda spend the evening with their grandparents, aunt and uncles and cousins. It's one of the highlights of their week.

So, in a nutshell (a rather large nutshell I must say) that is the story of a "typical" day at Rose's House.