29 Jeans and counting...

Fridays are normally my go to day for getting the house clean for the weekend, laundry gets done, etc. Well today I wanted to get it all done because the plan is tomorrow is cookie making day. So I have cleaned a ton and had the kids bring their laundry down. Easy Peasy right. It has only been 5 days since the last time we did laundry so it can't be that bad right? 

WRONG?

As I sorted the clothes I now got why my hubby is always complaining about how the laundry seems to multiple on us. He told me, when I called him down to look at it, that he normally spends an hour sorting clothes...AN HOUR!

Piles of clothes after only 5 days!! On the right is a stack
of dresses that hadn't even been worn but ended up
in their dirty clothes baskets...somehow!!

I decided this was ridiculous. I called the girls downstairs to see the piles of clothes I had made. Here is the dialog:

Me: How many days in the week are there?

Boo: 7!

Roo: 7.

Loo: (looks at sisters and says quizzically) 7?

Me: How many outfits should you wear a day?

Boo: One.

(they now seem to see where this is going)

Me: How many jeans do you think we have in the jean pile?

Roo: I don't know?

Loo: SIX!!!! 

(oh to see  that pile through a 3 year olds eyes)

Me: Nope! Lets count them!

All: One, two, three...TWENTY NINE!

Me: In five days how did you manage to wear twenty-nine pair of pants? That is like at least almost two pair a day. You also have dresses and skirts here. And I am not even going to count all the shirts in the pink (and redish) pile!!!

(realization that what comes next won't be fun hits the children)

Me: Ok. We can't keep doing this. Each of you are going to have to wash, dry and fold a pile all by yourself!

Kids: YAY!!!

Apparently that was the point...they wanted to do laundry! Ok, maybe not but they were all excited about it. The oldest, Boo, now has her load in and when she swaps it to the dryer, Roo is going to start her load and the Loo! She is the lucky one who gets the smallish load!

We have also decided we are doing one load a day and each family member is responsible for one day...including the three year old! I am sure she will need a helping hand with the detergent but she can start it, transfer to dryer and fold to the best of her ability. 

Oh, and me? Well I get the 29 pair of jeans :)

Definition Day: Flexible

flex·i·ble [flek-suh-buhl] adjective

1. capable of being bent, usually without breaking; easily bent: a flexible ruler.

2. susceptible of modification or adaptation; adaptable: a flexible schedule

Mr Webster apparently knew that life happened when he thought this word should be added to the dictionary. In a normal school setting, there is little allowance for much flexibility. Standards need to be met, subjects to get through, etc. I don't fault teachers...honestly I 100% get it.

I love schedules...LOVE THEM. I am forever making lists and schedules, but that is a post all in its own. Today though...today was about learning what Mr. Webster meant.

HOA pool. We were the only ones there today.

I woke up this morning with a thought that I would like to take my kids swimming today and I would like to go BEFORE the Texas heat gave me my third heat stroke of the summer. Our HOA pool opens at 10 am, but my schedule shows that is English time.

But not today! Nope today I was going to practice that very word. I mean isn't that a major reason why we love homeschooling...it gives us the flexibility to alter our days and schedules to let life learning happen.

So today we went swimming. As a former swim teacher, I believe swimming is an important life skill to learn. You rarely fall on a floor and have to dance, or on a beam and have to perform a cartwheel. But if you fall in a pool or an body of water...you better hope you can swim!

So I decided until our pool is shut down for the season we were going to practice for an hour at least 2 to 3 times a week. So this morning, I worked with my girls  on their swimming. The older two started off with 20 bobs and Loo worked mostly on blowing bubbles. I did have her go under with me 3 times.

We moved to doing some laps next. Boo, is quickly catching up to where she was. Did a lap with the front stroke and one lap with the elementary backstroke. Roo, was still struggling and wanted her noodle constantly. Loo, well she kicked and I got numerous face fulls of water.

We then moved to jumping and diving. I had all three jump to me. After Loo had jumped 10 times I let her go eat a snack. Then Boo and Roo worked on the sitting dive. They were doing pretty good. I told Roo she could go eat her snack but she wanted to stay and JUMP! She proceeded to alternate with Boo, who was practicing kneeling dives with jumping and swimming to the ladder...WITH NO NOODLE!!!! I was so proud of her and Boo was rocking the kneeling dive.

So today, we have had school in the afternoon. The kids are still focused and we have had fun. I feel like a good mother and teacher today!

A few other milestones worth noting:

• Roo and I worked on our English yesterday from our incredible Language Arts program. We learned all about the squeely ee's (need, speed, bee). Anyway today she grabbed our Ted and Friends phonics reader for her quiet time. I stopped her and asked if she wanted to try and read it to me. That was about the end of the world...until we started. She has never read to me before. Today she read 3 pages! It was awesome.
• Boo and I spent yesterday working on a spelling placement test. After yesterday we discovered she was spelling 3rd grader words...7 months into 3rd grade. So we finished the second test today and indeed, my second grader will be using the third grade (level c) spelling words. She loves to read and it showed!