I've been asked how I do it.

I get asked a lot how I can do all my swaps, make materials for the kids, cook homemade food from scratch, bake bread daily-every other day, clean, go to school full time, have a husband in school full time too & homeschool.  Simple really...I don't sleep.  I'm an insomniac.

My husband, Ben, works 7 days a week.  Every day.  Has been for over 3 years.  Before that he had about a 3-4 month break where he dropped down to 5-6 days but for the 4 years before that...7 days...and that's better than the first 2 years where he worked 16's normally 5 days a week.  So...our relationship is in small doses that we simply hoard.  I actually find it hard at times & I'll feel myself grow jealous of the kids since we work to make sure they get as much time with him as we can.  Wanna feel like a crappy parent?  Be jealous of your kids.

So...basically I fill the void of Ben being forced at work with school or swaps.  I've always been a hyper person so I've always been fully involved in things.  I'm sure you'd be surprised to know I have ADHD.. NO! Shocker huh?!  But, from an early age we discovered this and it's forced me to become very organized.  I'm a list maker.  I create detailed plans of how things will happen.  I preplan so I know how to handle something if it goes wrong.  (A friend told me that at heart I'm a pessimist and doing things like this sets my mind at ease.)  But, I can also throw my lists out the window and go with the flow.  But, to go with the flow I have to be fully immersed or saturated.

I also HAVE to do certain things...my children have allergies.  So either I pay 5 dollars on sale for a loaf of bread or I make bread.  (Making bread is not good for a carb fiend...it's how I've gained so much weight.)  But, is there anything better than fresh made bread?

Oh..as to the bread making...I cheat.  That's right I cheat!  I have a bread machine.  Well...I HAD 3 bread machines...on to mix dough for noodles and two for loaves of bread.  (yeah...we ate pasta nearly EVERY day...)  But, when we put our house up to sell I decided I HAD to simplify, HAD to lose weight and as a carb fiend...I needed to stop making so much bread and pasta.  So...out they went to Goodwill.  I did keep one for the holidays when life becomes hectic.  With the bread you 1 either dump it in & hit go or you 2 dump it in and hit dough!  If you dough it you take it out after it's finished rising (it'll beep for you) and pop it into a hot oven under a stone artisan baking pan.  I like to cover my dough with a stone lid so it gives it the artisan crust that's steamed...crunchy but chewy...it's perfect...Lord, I want some bread.  A little while later...fresh bread that looks beautiful and smells DELICIOUS..and the taste!?  GLORY BE!

School?  It's online...I take 1-2 classes every 8 weeks.  Even though I'm full time I only have to focus on 1 or 2 classes at a time but I get my 2-4 in.

Bills?  Big ol' calendar up on the wall.  Now...to share how important this is...Our calendar ran out in May.  I didn't buy a new one until last week.  Why last week?  Well because the power company called and said...hey...you haven't paid us.  I FORGOT THE POWER!!!  Quickly looked to my calendar...that's not there...saw what had happened and ran out to Staples....slim pickins' right now.  I have plans to make one that's very pretty & hangs up like art.  I've seen them but well...the one I wanted was almost 100$ and that's a lot of materials I could buy for the kids schooling.

This year I'm not gardening.  We didn't put a garden out because we were selling the house.  I didn't know how well that'd go over with buyers so I didn't put on out.  I miss it and it only takes about 3-5 hours a week once everything is planted/established but putting it all up for the winter...that's VERY time consuming.

So...I only mow & weed eat & I found that while it does waste gas...if I mow every other day the yard (over an acre) stays really nice & I can fly on that sucker.  It'll only take me 3 hours a week instead of mowing 1-2 times at 5-6 hours a week....unless it's rained and then...I'm looking at 6-7 hours.  But doing the mowing every other day keeps everything nice and manageable and I don't have to rake up the grass for the compost.

When creating materials I bookmark new info I find that'll help me on another subject later.  I label/tag pictures as I come across them and I always immediately check with the photographer if I can use them.  If they say yes I open up the bookmarked pages, dl them and add after the title how the artist wishes to have the image cited. 

Now this one is gross...but anytime I get sick/have the stomach flu...I take my laptop with me.  That's right...I work, vomit & potty...TMI?  But, it's a great way to handle having to sit and do nothing but be miserable.

How do I print out everything I have to print out with Karen's albums & the 6-9 ones?  I open them up to print, pop in a full set of paper hit print and go clean/do something.  I'll pop in to check although normally one of the kids hollers to let me know it's needing to be filled again.  I keep doing that until things are finished printing.  I put them in the page protectors during times when they want to help.  Rhea and I developed a system to put them in.  It worked! 

I also have the kids scrub the tub, toilets, help clean, do dishes, sweep floors, hang laundry, wash laundry, separate laundry, fold it, wash windows, ...everything.  During the winter I have Tyler bring in the bags of pellets from the garage.  It gives him some heavy work to do and I don't have to haul my badonkadonk out in the cold.  This year he also learned to empty the stove, load it and start it.

So, how do I do it?  I fully involve the kids, I have a husband who works second shift and is gone a LOT, I'm an insomniac & hyper.  It's a deadly combination but I do have hopes of world domination some day.  I just hope I don't crash on that day. :)

Oh yeah...I also rarely condition my hair, I can't remember the last time I wore makeup, I NEVER shave my legs...think the last time I did was before I got really big with Sunshine...but I'm a very fair haired person so you don't see I've an inch long hair...some people can't tolerate that.  And, I brush my hair out and pull it up into a clip or a pony tail.  The only beauticians I see are Sunshine and Rhea...and they cut me a deal by painting my toenails or doing my hair in some beautiful braids that never induce a migraine or make you wish someone would claw a chalkboard to stop the pain. :)  But, I also wear tshirts & jeans or sundresses (super easy summer wear) and I stay home a lot. 

We've only one vehicle and since we're working to save more money he's now stopping at Kroger's after work to pick up more of the basics. Instead of pineapple, melons & strawberries regularly we've gone down to apples, bananas & oranges as a staple.  Unless Kroger has their organic fruits on sale we don't venture out of that.  Limiting & boring?  yes, but it's saving time, money & energy & after we sell the house and we have our new one...we'll go back to eating entirely in season.  Right now...Kroger organic basics is where we hang & it's added a nice simple bit to our schedules.

I normally go to bed around 3:30 when Ben walks in and I'm up around 8ish with the kids.  He works in a factory as an electrician so he's always somewhere really really hot (like the dryers where it's 140-150 degrees) so I let him sleep more :) ...I know...I'm nice like that!  I'd rather have less sleep & cool temperatures. 

So how do I do it?  I've a husband that supports me and kids that know if they don't help clean I'll probably explode into a bunch of little chunks and THAT'd be REALLY REALLY messy!

Honey