I've been alternating between 15 minutes of cleaning and 15 minutes of resting. I got the idea to do this from Fly Lady. She is always saying to "set a timer."

This has done wonders for my house since I am keeping up with the regular chores and even getting to all the projects that I "didn't have time for" before (like cleaning out my closets and organizing my drawers).

It's also done wonders for my mental health since I am no longer discouraged by all the things that need to be done and I'm not overwhelmed by the prospect of cleaning without any end in sight.

I only start this alternating after we are done with school for the day, when I see the chores piling up and when have a few hours to kill (like in the afternoon once Avril goes down for a nap).

Before I started timing myself, I just cleaned and cleaned till it was all done and I dropped. But I find it easier to talk myself into fifteen minutes and right about the time I am feeling any strain from the work (Braxton Hicks are startin these days), the timer goes off and it's time to sit and rest again.

Watching the clock while I clean has an additional benefit. I now know just how long it takes to clean certain things in my home now and it's much easier to bring myself to do them knowing how very little time they really take (though it often feels like chores take much longer).

For instance, it takes three minutes to unload the dishwasher. That's it. Seriously. It is probably the same for you, too. And it takes three - four minutes more to load it again.

It usually takes ten minutes to do pots and pans. Interestingly enough, this is the part I don't mind as much. It's the loading and unloading that I really hate, even though it takes less than half the time than it takes to hand wash the pots.

It takes fifteen minutes (almost exactly) to clean my kitchen from "a state of emergency" messiness to near perfection. Add only five to ten more minutes to sweep and quick mop my kitchen floor to a shine. This is hard to believe, but it's true. It always felt like this took an hour, but it actually only takes fifteen minutes.

It takes three minutes to clean my bathroom doing everything but the serious, down and dirty scrubbing. That's it. Three minutes.

And it takes about five minutes to wash, dry and fold a load of laundry as I take it out of the dryer. If I wait to fold the clothes out of the basket the next day, for some reason, it takes twice as long.

We reviewed all the parts of cells by building an edible cell with jello and candy for all the various organelles.


It was supposed to look like this, but when we turned ours over, it collapsed.


Norah wasn't too upset since it was still edible, after all.

It snowed today! It usually doesn't snow till sometime in November! The girls played while I cooked dinner. They were so hungry that they licked their dinner right up. (I made them wait for hot chocolate till after they finished their meals.) I'd like to take the girls sledding tomorrow after church. I hope Dwayne feels up to it because I'll need his help getting the baby back up the big hill. It's only two days till Halloween, so I really hope the neighbors clear their walks in time for us to get to their doors for candy!

Five stars for Cadoo! I got this board game a long time ago from the thrift store for something like $3. It didn't have the wrapper on the outside, but all the inside parts were still wrapped and accounted for so it was basically brand new. We finally got around to playing it last night and it is awesome. This is a really fun game for parents to play with kids between the ages of 10-6. It really helps if kids are reading on a basic elementary level. Our youngest, Avril, couldn't play but we sat her with us and we gave her her own pieces to hold and the sculpting clay kept her busy while the rest of us took turns. I think this might be our new favorite thing for a while.

My Resolutions for 2011.

Run a 5k.
This one will stay on the list to be completed sometime next year once I am up and going again.

Follow Fly Lady's Flight Plan every single day.
I'm doing better with this since I am not so sick. I can usually manage to do everything Fly Lady assigns by the end of the day or make up for it by doing double or triple later in the week.

Mend my quilts.
I am sewing the girls' Halloween costumes right now. I made Avril a dress and I am working on another dress and two sets of pajamas. I had forgotten I even wanted to mend my quilts. But I think I can manage to mend them as I am sitting under them by the fire and I'm doing that more and more often now that the weather has gotten chilly.

Let Norah play outside.
She hasn't been out much at all lately. If it's sunny out this week, I'll encourage her to play in the yard, at least once. I've been meaning to take her to The Jump Zone, but I haven't felt up to that either (or I haven't had the money for admission). One good thing is we are having lots of company and this helps keep her from being isolated. She may be inside, but at least she isn't lonely.

Read through the entire Bible.
I missed about half a dozen days in September, but besides that, I am still on track with this plan. I plan to go back and re-read the six days I missed soon.

Pray.
I started serving as our community group's prayer leader. It's nothing extraordinary. I just open or close our group prayers and I'll talk about prayer sometimes. I plan to spend some time during the coming weeks praying for my friends in the group and their loved ones, etc. as an unseen yet effective way to bless them.

Read one book every month.
I need to finish King's Cross and then go on from there. I have several books lined up that I'd like to read, but I am out of the habit of reading at this point. I have a lot of catching up to do if I am going to read twelve books for myself by the end of the year.

Eat fruit and vegetables.
I haven't been craving fruits and vegetables like I was before so I haven't been eating them as often. When I am not pregnant, I can usually eat what I know is nutritious without consequence, but being pregnant, it seems like my body rejects or and has a much harder time digesting food it doesn't crave. For example, I had some fresh lettuce today and it about killed me. Without warning, I threw up in the kitchen sink as I was working in the kitchen. If I follow my cravings (no matter how unhealthy they are), I never, ever throw up so it's just easier to go with what I want.

No late night eating.
I'm still doing well with this because I try and finish eating and take supplements at least three hours before I go to bed so I am not sick at night.

Be consistent in the garden.
The weeds have taken over out there. I feel sorry for our neighbors who have to see my flower bed but in all honesty, I've totally given up the fight. I'll try to maintain my garden again once my body and my life allow me the freedom to work in the yard again.

Stop talking in bed.
I'm doing alright with this.

Go to be early.
I find it harder to lay in bed lately so I just stay up later and make sure I will actually go right to sleep when I lay down. I will often take cap naps on the couch while Avril naps and after I finish with Norah's school work with her. I might be tired because of the fact that I am up later, but it feels like I am actually just getting worn out quicker because my body is growing and working on this baby.

This is a picture of one of Norah's ongoing science projects. We will add body systems to this body as we study them in Human Anatomy and Physiology this year.

"I know I say other people I like are 'best friends.' But Avril is my best, best friend." -Norah

And Avril totally heard Norah say this, too! They gave each other a big hug because of this and I grabbed my camera because it happened to be right there. When I took this picture, Avril was still gushing over what her big sister had said about her. It brings tears to my eyes to see Avril's joy in this photo.

The night before this, I actually went to bed wondering if Norah was getting enough "socialization." We have a lot of her friends over to play and we see friends at church, etc. but I was beginning to wonder if a two year old was a good enough companion for a seven year old day after day after day... Norah had no idea I was thinking about these things. She just said what came to heart at the moment and it just happened to answer all my doubts.

I think one of the weaknesses with formal school is that it can subtly weaken sibling bonds over the years, particularly with siblings that have large age differences. Sisters and brothers are kept from one another for such long hours, for so many months at a time that it's hard for them to become good friends and they aren't given the time or opportunity to learn how to appreciate and accommodate someone so very different. I was thankful for such a timely and vivid reminder of why home school is still the best choice for my family.