Organizing my Week, and Homeschool

 I've been trying to figure out how to better manage my time.  Things have been crazy busy, and I found that when I did have a little time, I wasn't focusing on the things I really needed to get done.  So I created this chart.  It has all the main things I want to accomplish each week.

The first and last columns have items that need to be done daily, or at least multiple times a week.  I wish I could get away with doing dishes once a week (a job I hate) but the people at my house think they need to eat multiple times per day, so I guess I'm out of luck.  Anyway, for those items, I listed letters for each of the days of the week so I can check them off daily.

I included health and wellness goals, hoping I would be encouraged to "fit them in."

Specific daily stuff goes on the back.

I used a similar chart for the ten year old.  The first column is his daily chore list, with a few weekly chores thrown into the bottom right corner.  The rest is his homeschool assignments for the entire week.  He has to do at least 8 items (not including daily stuff) but he can choose what he does.  He can also do more if he wants to, but 8 per day is the minimum.

 The circles at the top with the days of the week letters are for stickers - for the days he has a great attitude, works diligently without me having to harp on him, and is in a general good mood. (aka no whining, back-talking, etc).  If he gets all 7 in a week, I will take him out for frozen yogurt.  He's already negotiated this to include any ice cream treat, specifically to include fried ice cream at the Mexican restaurant.

His daily chores have letters for the days of the week like mine do.

And this is what that list looks like in book form.  These are all the materials he will need this week.  Now he won't be able to use the excuse that he couldn't find the book - lol.  These all go in a crate and stay together.

Sunrise

 Thought I would share some pictures of our sunrise the other day...

 I love the way the light cut across the top of the mountains.

As soon as the sunlight hit the stream, fog started to rise.  It was pretty cool to watch it happen.

The Beauty of Autumn in My Neighborhood :)

Just a few pictures to provoke jealousy - ha.  These were all taken on Tuesday.

 We have a lot more oranges and reds this year than it seems like we normally have.  It could just be me though.

 I liked the way the light was coming through this one.

 There's a scenic overlook where you can see the whole mountain range - and a sign showing the names of each peak.  It's a long way out there, and a very long, steep way down.  The pictures don't do it justice.

 This range of mountains are the ones I post pictures of from our house.  This is just a lot higher up and closer to the peaks.

 Very steep drop off.  Just look at the trees.

 The largest lake in this picture is the same as the first two pictures in this post.  If you look clear to the far end of the lake, that's where I took those pictures from.  So in this picture, the mountain range is behind me.

Such beautiful colors!  I love Fall!!  Of course the pictures don't even come close to doing it justice.  It's breathtaking in person.

Laundry Day ... on Horseback

 The five year old had his therapeutic horseback riding session on Tuesday.  They always have something fun and educational to do, along with riding and caring for the horses.  This week it was laundry day.  Step 1. Take ONE sock out of the basket.

It took awhile for him to just take one.

 Step 2. Go find the matching sock.  The socks were draped over the fence.

 Step 3. Find the "washing machine" and bring the socks to be washed.

 Step 4. Put the socks in the washer, and make a lap while they are "washing."

 Step 5. Hang the washed socks out to dry on the clothesline.  (See the little box washing machine?  It was really cute and had eyeballs where the dials would be.  It's just made from a cardboard box, but fun idea.  I could see setting up a play station laundry like this at the house, minus the horse.)

Step 6. Repeat :)  Such a fun idea.

It was perfect "first day of fall" weather too.  During the horseback riding session, I sat at the picnic table, snacking on a nice crisp fall apple, and reading ... or at least trying to.  It was very distracting today with all the beautiful colors and the fun lesson to watch, so I didn't get much actual reading done.

 We had rain Sunday night and I figured that would be the end of our beautiful fall colors.  But thankfully it wasn't a real hard rain, and it must have been early enough that the leaves weren't too loose yet.

 The colors are so bright this year.

 These pictures with the reds are from a drive we took Sunday evening close to sunset.  We have more reds this year than I've seen in a long time.

And here's a few random pics...

 Snuggin with Bugga.

 Both of the little boys have colds.  One night the three year old's chest sounded so rattly that I had him sleep with us so I could keep an eye on him.  They both seem better now.  Still have runny noses and occasional coughs, but neither one ever had a fever or acted sick, so we're thankful for that.

He tells me this is a fireman.  Clearly.  Can't you see the hat?  :)