A New Normal

 I had just a couple days between when school started and when Seminary started and our new routine really kicked in. I used one day to do next to nothing, and another to do all kinds of everything. I was able to see an orthopedic doctor who told me the pain in my hip isn't my hip and suggested I get more testing, I did some shopping at stores up North like Trader Joe's, and Matthew and I attended the Temple together, which was lovely. That Friday night Mercy went to a sleep over at Olivia's and the boys spent the evening at the Barrios while Matthew and I went on a double date with Jeb and Hannah. I had a seminary training, Matthew and I spoke in the Rio Grande ward (in Spanish), we had a very poorly attended seminary kickoff, then went to Bishop's house for cheesecake. It was a fairly full four days before our new normal set in.

(I told the kids we were hosting a seminary fireside and asked them to help me get ready. What I needed was help picking up the great room, but Hyrum assumed a fireside was held around the fire, so he got everything all ready outside. It was such a sweet, innocent gesture and I absolutely adore him for it.)

Our new schedule looks like this:

5:30 - mom gets up

6:00-6:50 - seminary here at our house

7:00 - kids get up and do personal scripture study, 30 minutes of music, and morning chores.

8:25 - kids are off to school. My morning usually consists of walking or jogging with Mabel, followed by a shower and seminary prep. I run errands, clean house, and work on YouTube videos or the blog. Most days I take a nap. I'm not surprised but always a little amazed at how busy my days are and I genuinely wonder how I managed homeschooling.

4:00 - kids get home from school. If they got their morning jobs done, they can go to a friend's house (usually the Jolley's but sometimes the Jensen's). If they come home, they have 90 minutes of free time. They can play video games if they are playing with other people. This is prime Fortnite time.

5:30 - free time is over and if they went to a friend's house, they need to head home. We get picked up and ready for dinner.

6:00 - dinner followed by family scriptures. The rest of the evening is spent doing homework, playing 30 more minutes of music, bathing, and generally getting ready for the next day. On Wednesdays Hyrum has Young Men's activities and Mindy, Becky, and I take turns shuttling our three YM to where they need to be. Abraham and Mercy get primary activities once a month. On Thursdays the boys do Karate with Brother Lignell. Friday's are family date night, which typically looks like homemade pizza and a movie.

8:30-9:00 - kids in bed

9:30-10:00 - mom goes to bed. Matthew sometimes goes to bed at a reasonable time, sometimes he stays up much later.

We do chores on Saturday mornings and Family Home Evening on Sunday afternoons. It's definitely a change from our homeschool days and our summer days, but it's good and we all seem to have found our new groove reasonably well.