CJ and Family: 365Project.2015

So thankful for the grace God gives each day. This was a "long" week in many ways, especially with Chris being gone Wednesday through Friday for a work conference. However, the Lord gave much grace, and while yes, the kids and I most definitely had our "moments," overall things went very smoothly, and for that we are thankful!

We're also thankful that Abby and Peter have both gotten over their colds, and neither one turned into croup!!! This Mommy was praying hard that she wouldn't have to deal with croup while flying solo.

Day 319. Hannah and I unintentionally coordinated for church! :) Too fun not to take a picture. :)

And then Sunday afternoon we launched into our week's first adventure ...

We have very special guests coming over Thanksgiving week (Yay! Grandma and Grandpa!!), and our guest room will be used once again. However, the bed which currently fills that space is a bit low and not quite our style. We are so thankful for it ... the Lord provided it for a good price on Craigslist just shortly after we moved up here so that we could have a bed for our missionary friends, but it's not something we were inclined to keep forever. So, we started talking about it ...

And we decided that we'd sell it.

But, instead of buying a new bed for the guest room, we decided that we'd move our master bed down to the guest room, and begin looking for a new bed for us. And the Lord allowed all of that to happen very quickly.

By Sunday evening, our master bed was in the guest room ...

And our new bed was put together in our room. :) So thankful that Grandpa was able to come over and help Daddy move things around! Moving furniture is not high on Mommy's list of favorite things to do. Especially. Queen. Mattresses. And by the Lord's grace, the original guest room bed sold less than 24-hours after posting it on Craigslist ... for just $20 less than we paid for it in the spring. :)

Day 320. Another major event for this week was the implementation of a new mealtime chore routine. I'm privileged to serve in the nursery each week with a wonderful friend who graciously fulfills the Biblical model of "older women teaching younger women." Her encouragement and gentle spirit of mentoring have truly been a blessing to me. In the course of conversation this Sunday, I shared some of my frustrations over the non-effectiveness of our current mealtime chore routine. We talked, and she shared some of what worked over the years when her children were younger, and between this and that, our new plan was born.

We now have three distinct sets of mealtime chores: Meal Prep (includes setting the table, getting drinks, helping Mommy with whatever she needs help with before lunch or dinner); Clean-Up (includes clearing the table and wiping it down, loading rinsed/stacked dishes in the dishwasher, and helping Mommy until the kitchen is completely clean); Abby Duty (watching and playing with Abby both before and after the meal so that Mommy can cook/clean up).

We do this Monday through Saturday on a two-day rotation for each set of chores. Clean-Up person is completely off -duty before the meal and Prep person is completely off-duty after the meal.

It's been a game changer, folks. It's. Working.

No more squabbles over who gets to set silverware vs. pour drinks. No more children disappearing before the job is really done. Everybody's learning how to properly clean up a kitchen and load the dishwasher. Mommy can cook without the stress of wondering what mischief Abby has gotten herself into ... or trying to multi-task with a toddler. Nobody's bored with their job (and thus trying to get out of it), because they only have it for two days and then they get a new one. Mommy gets time to work one-on-one with each of the kids. It's great. So. Thankful.

Peter got very creative with his first round of "Abby Duty" ... a Duplo wagon! :) Abby. Loves. It. :)

Day 321. The kids have been learning about the various sections of the orchestra in their music classes at homeschool group this quarter, and this week we had a great opportunity to hear many of those instruments played! :) It was a very cool, interactive demonstration!

And here's our crazy crew ... all four of them can fit into a cupboard ... and they have a blast doing so!!!

Day 322. And then it was time for Daddy to pack ... Abby figured she could catch a ride in Daddy's carry-on ... ;)

We love you, Daddy! Come home soon ...

Hannah took a slightly different approach to "Abby Duty" ... it's never too early to learn how to color. ;)

Day 323. Matthew's reading abilities continue to explode! So. Thankful. (And if you happen to be wondering ... we have used Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons with three children now ... it has worked very well with two and not so much with one. But I don't think that was the book's fault.)