I may be crazy...scheduling

So things have been pretty non productive around here.  Granted, it really can't be helped.  The good news is that I have not had any nausea in the past few days!!!  YAY!!! Unfortunately, the sinus infection I am dealing with is bringing me down all on it's own.  Today the younger two girls are having a tea party.  I helped them make the food.  Thankfully it was being hosted at one of their friends houses as they actually have tea cups!  Ha, ha!  After all the food making I needed a break.  But, I was pleasantly surprised that I was then able to get up and get some more stuff done.  It is slow going, but it IS going :-)

The past few weeks, while I've been resigned to the couch, I've been soaking up some great ideas and wisdom from a new to me blog, Large Families on Purpose.  Years and years ago I bought the Maxwell's "Manager of Their Home" and later on, "Manager of Their Chores".  Both are really great.  But this blog really helps to *see* how things kind of work in a family.  Granted the Maxwell's have many examples in their books of how other families work their schedule, but I guess I just needed a bit more. I suppose I am a bit thick headed sometimes!

What is really GREAT to read on LFOP is that the first week with a schedule is HARD!!  And her first few attempts had to be revised a few times over.  When the going got really tough, I figured I wasn't cut out for this scheduling thing!  But now I find myself 'stuck'.  We have ourselves in a bad cycle, one of which seems impossible to get out of.  But I know with time, and some help, we will get there.  We are not getting the things done that need to be done.  But somehow there has been plenty of time for the non-essentials.  The house is always a mess.  The boys are very destructive.  The carpet is ruined.  Most of our furniture is in bad shape.  It is time to change things up!

The boys really, really need to be occupied and watched over by some one at all times. I plan on using some of Erika's examples to see if we can change this ship around.  Isabella REALLY needs to get to her studies. She has a limited amount of time to get them done if she wants to graduate on time.  The other girls are fine, but I know we all will benefit from working hard each and every day, getting the important things done.  The rest of the summer is pretty open, a short weekend camping trip may happen, but no more week long events like runner's camp.  Since we really have to school through the summer I am hoping to set up a modified schedule (it IS summer after all, and there should be a bit more free time here and there), which I am hoping will help us come the "official" fall school time.  If we work very diligently we can take a week off in early September to regroup, set up any new school supplies, etc. and start in with a full schedule.

One of the great messages of Erika's blog is 'living life on purpose'. We SOOOO NEED that.  We had a glimpse of that a couple of years ago, but lost our way.  We really need to get back to really thinking through things, and not just let life speed by while we are wondering, hmmm, what should we do next?  Erika says she likes to live *proactively* and not reactively.  We are a VERY reactive family!  This is not productive, nor is it using the time that the Lord has given us, wisely.

Once I make my schedule up and we have a few days to actually live it, I will share it here.  I am hoping to get some time tonight and tomorrow to work things out on paper.  I started with an outline yesterday, but still have a ways to go.