One month down..

     For some reason my kids think they need to sit on an actual seat when in our living room. When more than half our family is in the living room, there are just not enough seats.  I'll tell them to "just sit on the floor!" and they look at me like I am out of my mind. 

     Since my budget does not include a bigger couch or more chairs for my living room (on my wish list :)), I made some huge floor pillows over Christmas break.  I hardly ever have time to craft, so it was so fun to shop for the fabric and put these together!   They came together pretty quick too!  Another bonus was that I stuffed them with a bunch of stuffing from Target's after Christmas Clearance (meant to be used as fake indoor snow, I think).  

     We still have a few battles over couch position, but at least now the person who gets sent to the floor isn't as upset about it! 

And, apparently, they are the perfect size for Baby Sis to meditate -- 4 yr. old style.

     To keep my sanity around here, we have a "quiet time" as part of our school schedule.  The kids are to go to their rooms or the family room for a set amount of time and play quietly, read, listen to a book, or another quiet activity.  Lego friends are turning out to be a great quiet activity for the girls right now! 
     No electronics are allowed unless it is to listen to a book.  The older boys usually do not have quiet time because they have a lot more school work to fill their time.

As much as I love quiet time, I also love seeing the kids learn and progress through their lessons!

One day I sent Middle Bro downstairs to help the younger kids make a marble run....this is what I found when I went downstairs...glad we had enough books for him to use! 










Baby Sis will not be left behind when it comes to school work!   She is so fun to work with!

One of the kids' favorite winter activities is going to a pond not far from here!   They love running/sliding around and trying to see under the ice!  

I was freezing my tail off, but they were not in a hurry to leave.  Next time I'm waiting in the car!