Sunday evening check-in a day early

So I normally report on the house cleaning situation on Sundays, but I decided to go for it tonight and take a bit of a break from the computer tomorrow (a bit, not complete break).

Things continue to go well.  Or steady, I should say.  I had a few overwhelming days this week, when I sort of wanted to throw in the towel.  But, but, the good news is, these cleaning tasks are becoming habits, so that I am now more likely to do the daily tasks than I am to not do them.  It is now much harder for me to not make the bed than to make it.  And the house is now consistently "straight" at the end of the day, so that Scott and I are able to crash, and I do mean crash, onto the couch once the kids are tucked in and drifting off to sleep.  It's like we can't get to that couch fast enough once we have both kissed and hugged Ada good night ;). 

So, now that these daily things--the beds made, the kitchen consistently clean through out the day, the laundry on track, and the house mostly decluttered, I am ready to add some more consistent big cleaning tasks, I think.  I am walking on egg shells a bit with this thing because I so want this to work.  I don't want to go back.  But, I think I am ready.  Up until now, I have been e-mailing my friends with my daily lists, and I sort of just look around the night before and pick the three most obvious things that need doing.  Well, this week I am going to add one, only one, weekly item.  I know that for most of you this is so not a big deal.  But it is for me.  And I am okay with that.  This is me facing this sin area in my life and trusting that God will enable me to be victorious.  So, anyway, I am announcing that Monday mornings are officially clean the bathroom mornings.  And I think I have to just jump right in.  Like once the kids are settled with their breakfast, and the beds are made, and the laundry going, I have to jump into cleaning the bathroom.  I know that's early, but I am a morning person.  I am not an afternoon person.  And if I just jump in right away, I don't lose energy thinking about it.  Plus, I go to spinning at 9:15 on Monday mornings, so I need to get going early so that we aren't waiting to officially start our day after spinning.  Luckily, I can count on my kids to wake up bright and early and get me going. 

So there you have it.

I am at a stage with the kids, when my days fill up so quickly.  Especially now that I have added a daily trip to the gym (except for Tuesdays, which is our in-the-classroom days).  And then tutoring in the afternoons.  I already feel like it's hard to fit it all in, and my kids are really young.  And we aren't involved in that much, on purpose.  But it already feels like a juggling act.  How does this work when the kids are older and they are involved in a (reasonable) number of activities?  These days I am really having to just put one step in front of the other rather than looking at the big picture, or I tend to get a little panicky.  And begin to say, "really God, are you sure you are calling our family to homeschool?"  "Are you sure we can't just live with the house in complete chaos?"  just kidding ;)  But you know what I am saying.

I just fight the overwhelmed feeling all the time.  But I am clinging to this verse in Proverbs, it is sort of my "theme" verse right now in this season of life,

steady plodding brings prosperity; hasty speculation brings poverty.  Proverbs 21:5

Now, I know that this verse is talking about money, but I think that for now, in every aspect of my life, God is calling me to steady plodding

steadily reviewing letters and numbers with Ada and reviewing her CC
steadily keeping up with the tasks around my house
steadily disciplining my children over and over and over again
steadily sticking to the budget and building our savings little by little
steadily going to the gym even when I can't see it making a huge difference (mentally, I can see a huge difference; physically?  nothing!!)
steadily memorizing scripture a little tiny bit at a time

I am trusting that this "steady plodding" will bring prosperity in all of these areas.  And I am putting one foot in front of the other again and again and again.

And today, taking advantage of the beautiful weather, Scott cleaned out one of the cars and the kids played outside.  We ended the day with some time at a nearby park.  It felt so much like spring.  Our car was in desperate need of a good cleaning, so yay for marking something off the long list.  Thank you, Scott!!! 

p.s. Ada is wearing rain boots and lipstick--both items found in the process of cleaning out the car...