Thursday, September 5
5:30a-6:45a
Time to rise and shine. Getting dressed and ready for the day, then it's our normal morning chores (coffees to go, empty and reload dishwasher, make lunches for the babies, make lunches for the parents, packing a snack for Violet who has double practice this afternoon. Then I set out breakfast choices - breakfast bars, prep food for guinea pig, & pack and ready backpacks.
I also had to braid Gem's hair this morning before I left. I also put ground beef in the fridge to thaw and packed a snack for afterschool for the kids because Gem has a game. A LOT of forward thinking starts every day. (Bless B for tending the farm every the morning and sets the coffee to brew at 5a for us. He also like SuperDad gets all 6 kids out the door and to where they need to be every morning on his own!) Then its a squeeze and a kiss goodbye to everyone before I head out to the day.
6:45a-7:30a
Commute to work and listen to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due. It is such a compelling story and the narrator is so incredible. I am locked in and I really do enjoy the drive to work to get my head ready for a day with kiddos.
Commute to work and listen to The Reformatory: A Novel by Tananarive Due. It is such a compelling story and the narrator is so incredible. I am locked in and I really do enjoy the drive to work to get my head ready for a day with kiddos.
7:30a-10:40a
Elementary School in the morning. I teach grades 3-5 at the elementary school each morning for their Spanish Language/Culture special. Today was a Day 1 rotation which meant I had Greeting duty at the playground entrance and then three classes. We are learning some words through comprehensible input (camina, corre, gato, and pez) and the kids are really liking this video that goes along with the lesson. We also learned the Buenos Días song and dance moves.
10:55a-11:42a
Right after my last elementary class, I hop in the car and head for the high school because I have eighth grade expo special at 10:55am! We are on week 2 of expo class so we are learning target structures (camina, corre, ve) and today we did some translations and a 'snowball' battle to make it a little more fun. Always a big hit in class when we do snowball battles and since I am a mom of 6, the level of chaos I can tolerate is pretty extreme, so it works for me. LOL
Right after my last elementary class, I hop in the car and head for the high school because I have eighth grade expo special at 10:55am! We are on week 2 of expo class so we are learning target structures (camina, corre, ve) and today we did some translations and a 'snowball' battle to make it a little more fun. Always a big hit in class when we do snowball battles and since I am a mom of 6, the level of chaos I can tolerate is pretty extreme, so it works for me. LOL
11:42a - 12:29p
Deep breath. It's lunch/prep. I close my door like a recluse and eat in total silence usually while reading or staring into the void. LOL. It was an entire morning of entertaining, leading, and monitoring kids - so let me have these few moments in disassociation (hah). Before the period is over though, I get copies made for the afternoon or next day, put in some grades, and stop at the bathroom because the afternoon is generally another sprint.
Deep breath. It's lunch/prep. I close my door like a recluse and eat in total silence usually while reading or staring into the void. LOL. It was an entire morning of entertaining, leading, and monitoring kids - so let me have these few moments in disassociation (hah). Before the period is over though, I get copies made for the afternoon or next day, put in some grades, and stop at the bathroom because the afternoon is generally another sprint.
12:32p - 2:50p
In the afternoon, I have two Spanish 1 classes and a Spanish 2 class (40 minutes each). Spanish 1 is learning colors, months, and days of the week - they got their vocabulary lists today and will have a vocab test next week after we work with the words for several days.
In Spanish 2 we finished an unscrambling activity that we started yesterday. Then we read about Doña Angela (a grandma in México) that has her own youtube channel making traditional dishes and we got to watch a few of her videos too.
2:50p - 3:25p
End of the day wrap up. Making copies, taking down notes about lessons for next week, responding to emails, and grading anything that needs to go in before ineligibility gets checked in the morning . I also take down our post-its from Mental Heath Thursday check in and check the notes bin for any anonymous letters from students that need a safe grown up for something (none today!) Just general closing up shop: unplugging twinkle lights, turning off the projector, setting up the powerpoints for tomorrow.
End of the day wrap up. Making copies, taking down notes about lessons for next week, responding to emails, and grading anything that needs to go in before ineligibility gets checked in the morning . I also take down our post-its from Mental Heath Thursday check in and check the notes bin for any anonymous letters from students that need a safe grown up for something (none today!) Just general closing up shop: unplugging twinkle lights, turning off the projector, setting up the powerpoints for tomorrow.
3:25p-4p
Commute home from school and listened to the Reformatory on the way home again. I am on Chapter 10! I have to be at the babies' preschool by 4p and I got there right around 3:56p to snag them today, so as usual, there is a bit of tension and stress about making it in time...dang you road construction on route 219 for always slowing me down, hah.
Commute home from school and listened to the Reformatory on the way home again. I am on Chapter 10! I have to be at the babies' preschool by 4p and I got there right around 3:56p to snag them today, so as usual, there is a bit of tension and stress about making it in time...dang you road construction on route 219 for always slowing me down, hah.
4p-5:30p
With babies in tow, we head to the high school for Gemma's soccer game which started at 4p. The kids snacked on the stuff I had packed for the game and Gem and her team did awesome (they are really playing well together this season!) Rusty came down from the fieldhouse after he got dropped from the elementary school bus and share a few snacks with us. B and Grey were at the football field for Thursday night walk through practice. Violet was at the elementary school right from the school day for her cheer practice.
With babies in tow, we head to the high school for Gemma's soccer game which started at 4p. The kids snacked on the stuff I had packed for the game and Gem and her team did awesome (they are really playing well together this season!) Rusty came down from the fieldhouse after he got dropped from the elementary school bus and share a few snacks with us. B and Grey were at the football field for Thursday night walk through practice. Violet was at the elementary school right from the school day for her cheer practice.
5:30p-5:50p
After Gem's game I brought home the 3 smallest kids and we emptied backpacks and had some PB&J's for a snack because everyone is always starvingggg after school. I got Rusty to do his little bit of Math homework too. Gemma stayed at the high school to take yearbook pictures for the boys' jr high football game.
After Gem's game I brought home the 3 smallest kids and we emptied backpacks and had some PB&J's for a snack because everyone is always starvingggg after school. I got Rusty to do his little bit of Math homework too. Gemma stayed at the high school to take yearbook pictures for the boys' jr high football game.
5:50p-6:15p
B and Grey came home from football practice and B offered to take Rusty to flag football practice and take the babies with him (!!) Big time win to be able to sit in peace and have a cup of warmed-up-from-the-microwave coffee. Grey goes straight to the shower after practice, so it was literally just me, my coffee, and my book (Parable of the Sower) for a 25 minutes. HEAVENLY!
B and Grey came home from football practice and B offered to take Rusty to flag football practice and take the babies with him (!!) Big time win to be able to sit in peace and have a cup of warmed-up-from-the-microwave coffee. Grey goes straight to the shower after practice, so it was literally just me, my coffee, and my book (Parable of the Sower) for a 25 minutes. HEAVENLY!
6:15p - 7:15p
Grey asked for help with his Civics article and presentation. So we read up on cellphone bans in school because that is currently the buzz in PA. In between the homework assignment, there is also little bits of chatting unrelated to school; a little look into what is on his mind and hearts these days. It is always nice to get one on one time with any of the kids, but most rare with the biggest teenage boy - so laughing and teasing each other for a while this evening was appreciated.
Grey asked for help with his Civics article and presentation. So we read up on cellphone bans in school because that is currently the buzz in PA. In between the homework assignment, there is also little bits of chatting unrelated to school; a little look into what is on his mind and hearts these days. It is always nice to get one on one time with any of the kids, but most rare with the biggest teenage boy - so laughing and teasing each other for a while this evening was appreciated.
7:15- 8p
While Grey continued to finish homework at the kitchen table, I started evening chores - cleaning up the kitchen, making dinner, switching a load of laundry. I knew chaos was soon to descend when everyone else got home from the fields - so I tried to get ahead as much as possible to ease the transitions between getting home to dinner to bedtime. Hang on to your horses, girl!
Pioneer woman skillet lasagna dinner tonight with homemade garlic bread (random leftover hot dog buns that needed used up!) Everyone likes this dinner, so I didn't get any complaints and had enough to pack up for my lunch tomorrow at school. Vi, Gem, and Rusty all got showers in there along the way - it's hard to get everyone at the table at one time because 1) our kitchen table is a little small and our dining room table which is much bigger is currently covered in random stuff like a dumping zone #keepingit real and 2) there are a lot of moving parts and we only have some many hours to get in food, hygiene, chores, and homework (LOL) - so it's rotating shifts honestly.
Vi and Gem both did homework at the kitchen table after dinner while the three smallest got to watch TV for a little bit. B and I worked on nighttime chores - final laundry switch, dishwasher run, closing the chickens, bringing in the guinea pig, picking out school clothes for the babies, making flashcards to study for vocab tests, etc.
9p-9:45p
Convincing kids it is time for bed - LOL. The big kids are pretty good about it: Grey gives a kiss and a 'goodnight mumma' before heading into his room, Gemma needs a rundown of what to expect for the schedule the next day, Violet is usually half asleep already in her bed with a book, Rusty needs several hugs and a tuck in. The babies get 'poop medicine' (hah, probiotics) and then a book or two and both wanted to start in our bed (to be moved after they fall asleep). I laid with them and read Parable of the Sower until they fell asleep.
Convincing kids it is time for bed - LOL. The big kids are pretty good about it: Grey gives a kiss and a 'goodnight mumma' before heading into his room, Gemma needs a rundown of what to expect for the schedule the next day, Violet is usually half asleep already in her bed with a book, Rusty needs several hugs and a tuck in. The babies get 'poop medicine' (hah, probiotics) and then a book or two and both wanted to start in our bed (to be moved after they fall asleep). I laid with them and read Parable of the Sower until they fell asleep.
9:45p-1a
Hot tea and a snuggle on the couch with my handsome husband while he watches Thursday night football which turns into falling asleep and waking up a sore neck but the happy realization that it is not actually time yet to wake up for the day (yay!)
Hot tea and a snuggle on the couch with my handsome husband while he watches Thursday night football which turns into falling asleep and waking up a sore neck but the happy realization that it is not actually time yet to wake up for the day (yay!)
1a-1:30a
ugh. oops, I forgot to scrub Grey's football uniform that he needs for TONIGHT, so it's a scrub and a toss in the washer at 1:30a so that I can switch it to the dryer at 5:30a so he can wear it to school and his game tomorrow. Classic motherhood, right? Then it was moving the babies to their own beds and finally under the covers to sleep for a few hours to do it all over again!
LOVED this post. So relatable - everything from the constant forward thinking of all the things to late night uniform washing (ours is always jiu jitsu gis!). Cheering you on from Virginia. xo
ReplyDeleteI love this Tabitha. Oh my your plate is gloriously filled!!
ReplyDeleteI loved this glimpse into your days!!!
ReplyDelete