Routines, Love and Orderliness

 I am the last girl to have a set schedule, but I love a good routine. Some people thrive on schedules, but I just can't do it. I've tried. Our church is busy and we're often out pretty late, so our day starts at a different time each day, depending on the time we got to bed the night before. The daily routine is the same, it's just not always done at the same time.

 This week we settled back into a routine after Christmas vacation, and it felt good. I've been sick for over 3 weeks now, but I finally have an antibiotic in me that is kicking a bad sinus infection.  In fact, today was the first day in 3 weeks that I didn't have a headache and need to take ibuprofen to function. Besides a lot of blowing my nose and a scratchy voice, I'm starting to feel normal! The kids have had coughs and colds on and off, but they seem to be on the mend as well.

 Brooklynne jumped back into school without missing a beat, which I wasn't expecting but was very thankful for! We learned which letters need "help" when they stand end of words, and now we're working on silent "e" at the end of words. She grasps concepts very quickly, something she did not inherit from me. I'm thinking her Nonnie and daddy get the credit for that one. In Math she's adding simple number problems and couting by 10's. All very exciting to me!

Nathan turned 10 months, is pulling himself up and starting to walk along furniture. Funny thing is, he still doesn't officially crawl. He can scoot around super fast, and he gets up on his knees and tries to crawl but isn't quite there yet. He can also climb the stairs, something I'm not really ready to start dealing with yet. Where did the time go?!

Despite a few weeks of sickness, there is still plenty of lovin' going on around here, as usual. Sometimes I feel like my heart might explode when I see spontaneous hugs, kisses and smiles and hear the laughter that always accompanies it. It blesses my soul.

The first week of the New Year has been amazing. I'm working on reading through my Bible in 90 days and it's been life changing already! I read while I feed Nathan, while Brookie writes or reads during school, and yes, even in the bathroom. Basically I'm reading every spare minute I get to meet my quota of 12-16 chapters a day. It's been really, really good for me. Also, tonight we purchased totes of various sizes to help me in my organizing campaign. I want to simplify and make my house as practical as possible to keep neat and tidy. I realize with 3 kids it isn't possible 24/7. but as long as everything has a place, it makes clean up that much easier. I'm excited about pleasing the Lord in the area of orderliness in my home, since he is a God of order.

 Hope you all are settling into your routine, as well. and enjoying this New Year!