Stepping Out In Faith

A couple of years ago my husband and I felt it was time to consider moving.  This was huge for us because when we built our house, we built it with the intention of never moving again. But in the first 5 years of being in our house we went from 3 children to 6. The majority of the decision was based on 2 things. The first being that we had 5 girls and their bedroom is only about 10' X 12'. Hardly big enough for all of them. We decided to hold out because our son was a senior in high school and we didn't want to move him for his last year.

Now, a year later we are actively working towards finding another home. We have been so happy here, but feel it is time to move closer to civilization. (we're about 1/2 from the town where we spend 5 days a week - at dance and church). We don't want to move back to a big town (we love the country) so we're looking at moving about 1/2 way closer. We still can had enough land to build a small hobby farm, and still be close enough that we're not going through 2 tanks of gas every week.

The dilemma - we're very close to deciding to build again.
The struggle - we need to sell our house, so we can use the equity as a deposit.

Hmmm, that means we're potentially going to have to rent while we build. Which ultimately means moving two times in one year. Not really what I want, but the end result is so.... exciting?!?!

So, I've begun the process of destashing. There are 8 of us in a 1450 sq. ft. house. Yikes! Stuff accumulates so fast. My new motto is: If I don't want to pack it (possibly twice) then we don't need it. 


We considered this last summer, right after my son's graduation, but it didn't come about. Things changed this weekend and the process is moving again. This time feels different and everything seems to be falling into place much easier. It's the end of the school year for us, so I will have a lot more time to devote to preparing our house to sell.  Now I'm just praying for God's direction and will, which is ultimately what both my hubby and I want. God is amazing and I feel like exciting things are on their way!

Repurposing Myself

At the beginning of 2012 I gave myself a word for the year. The word I came up with was FOCUS. My goal was/is to be a better wife, mother, and example to my children.  By changing the things I don't like about myself, I can repurpose myself into the woman I want to be.  To be more purpose driven, I decided to pick areas that I feel I want to see the biggest change.

F - Faith & Family

O - Organization

C - Children

U - Unclutter

S - Scripture & School

I've set out to change these specific areas of my life to be a better example to my children. I don't feel like I'm terrible at these things, but I do feel we can all grow and change for the better. Some of this (mostly the unclutter & organize categories) will be the biggest challenge for me.  For those that don't know our family grew quickly, and in 8 years I went from being a mother of 1 to being a mother of 6. I let my organization slip because of lack of sleep and energy.

So, I'm beginning a new chapter of mothering the way God wants me to, so I can be an example that my daughters can some day look up to. I've decided to try to find time to blog again so that I can journal my progress.

Creating A Home Office - When There Isn't One

I have 2 goals for today.

1) To get at least 5 of my 'no-longer-needed' homeschool items listed on ebay.  I've come to the realization I don't have the time to get everything listed at once, so if I do a few a day that may work.  Only one problem....I've been up since 2:30 this morning. (yes I'm crazy, lol)

2) To clean off my computer desk.  Not as easy as it sounds seeing as my husband and I each own a home business, on top of the fact that we don't have an office/den/spare room.  So our setup is in the living room, in a very little alcove.  I do about 1/2 of my crochet designing from there, so there's usually balls of yarn, handwritten notes, contracts & estimates for my hubby's tree removal biz, etc.  It wasn't bad until tax time.  I was an accounting major in college, so I do all of our taxes myself.  This year, for some reason, I still haven't organized and put all the files downstairs. 

We'll see how it goes.  I'm hoping to get the majority of it done so I can move on to something else tomorrow.

30 Days To A Clean(er) House

Here I am, exactly 30 days before my oldest child graduates high school. That means a graduation party is in order. The problem? I'm embarrassed to have anyone over.  It has gotten so out of control in the past year or two, that I didn't even know where to start. And because I didn't know where to start, I wasn't do anything. But I've slowly been trying to get better. Now that I'm down to the wire, it's crunch time. I devised this plan in my head to start a new blog, where I could hold myself accountable, but didn't have to be embarrassed by someone I new actually finding out I'm not 'Suzie Homemaker'.  Then I wondered, why?  If these 'friends' that I worry about judging me can't support me, then are they really my friends after all.  So, I've changed my mind, and I'm going to let it all out on here.  After all, do I really have time for another blog???
 
I have figured out there is no way I will get my house in permanent order in 30 days, so I'm going to have a daily goal along with my long term goals, starting now. Hopefully I will post something short every day to keep track but between 6 children, homeschooling, laundry, dishes, and my own business, I don't feel like I have two extra minutes. But I'm aware that's my weak area....time management.

My long term goal is to regain permanent organization (with 3 more children than I had back when I was organized), teach my kids to help more, keep up with the chores, go back to using a dinner schedule, write up a new chore schedule for my kids, and more.  

Each day I'm going to have a short term goal too.  Today's goal is to re-clean the kitchen, which was done on Saturday. But somehow, between Saturday and today (Wed) it's cluttered again. I'm learning that daily I will need to 'pick up' as well as have scheduled 'cleaning' chores. There's a difference. If I can accomplish that I will move on to something new tomorrow.  

I'd love to hear ideas if anyone has any.
 

 

Light Sensitivity

I think, for me, the light sensitivity issues my girls have, is one of the hardest aspects of this journey with them.  My other children love to be outdoors and they just don't.  It hurts their eyes to the point that they just leave them closed.  I once heard it described like this. 

Imagine that initial reaction your eyes have when you're coming out of a dark movie theatre on a sunny day.  That's what my girls see all the time.  With no reprieve.  There eyes are on constant overload from too much light.  The picture below doesn't do that description justice, but I this picture when we first learned of our oldest's diagnosis.  It helped me understand just how difficult things can be for them.

I can't imagine wanting to spend time outside if this is what I saw either.   We try very hard to have them spend some time outdoors after dusk, when it is much easier for them to see, but sometimes I feel like we live indoors. The older Baby Sunshine gets the more she'll get used to it. That's how it was with Princess Cuddles. Now, with a little coaxing, she'll go outside during the day.  Yes, sunglasses and a hat help, but only if you can get your one year old to wear them!

A Table for Two

I have to tell you about my time out with hubby last night for our anniversary. 

I had no idea where we were going.  All he told me was that maybe if we left early we could walk around some of the shops near the restaurant.  Because of getting the kids situated we didn't have a ton of time to shop, BUT he did pull into one store. A YARN SHOP!!! He took me yarn shopping for our anniversary!!! Have I mentioned I love my hubby?!?!?! LOL If we had more time I may have picked out more, but this is what I left with.

On to our dinner.  I love Italian food, so he found this nice Italian restaurant about 1/2 hour from where we live.  REAL Italian, not someone who sells lasagna & shells (although, on any given day, I'm all for that too) .  For an appetizer we ordered bruschetta.  I'm not a huge bruschetta fan, but this was amazing!  They seared the bread on a charcoal-fired, outdoor grill.  Heavenly!

Dinner was amazing (sorry, no pic).  Many years ago, our hope was to go back to Ireland for our 10 year anniversary.  That was planned at least 2 children ago, so let's just say, maybe another year. lol.  So for dessert we decided on "Bailey's Irish Cream Cheesecake".  Amazing! 

Love spending time with my hubby.  We have so much to be grateful for, and we love spending every moment we can with the kids, but it's so nice to be alone for a couple of hours.  I look forward to many more anniversaries to come.

Celebrating

Today hubby and I celebrate our 10 year wedding anniversary! Yay!!  Ok, for some it may not seem like that long, but I'm considering it awesome.  We've had our share of heartaches and struggles, but God has given us so much to be thankful for.  I look forward to the next decade.

April 7, 2001

November 2010

Our plan was to go back to Ireland for our 10th anniversary (that's where we spent our honeymoon), but that was at least 2 children ago that we planned that. LOL  So instead, we're celebrating by going out to dinner . . . . ALONE!!!  haha - Not an easy feat when you have 6 children.   We've actually learned to appreciate "date night" on a deeper level because it only happens once, or twice, a year.  Now, what do I wear?!?!

What Makes A Family Large?

I seemed to be doing fine.  I had a 10 year old, a two year old, a one year old and I was 9 months pregnant.  Then Princess Giggles was born and my world was turned upside down. I've blogged about it in the past, and won't torture you with more woes but, for those that don't know, it was all I could do to put dinner on the table and do the laundry.  It seemed like 4 children had pushed me over the edge.  Now, in the midst of my chaos, I was hearing similar things from others. "It was hardest going from 3 to 4."  As hard as Princess Joy and Princess Sunshine have been, they still don't compare to the tears that were caused by my Princess Giggles (fitting name, right?!?)

I am leading up to a purpose here.  The more I have, the easier it gets.  But, I don't think many people agree with me.  When I go out in public with my "brood" (as they've been called) I always get the same question. "Are they ALL yours???"  They say it like I have 15 kids with me.  I'm used to it, but it drives my husband nuts!  It makes me wonder, by todays standards, what is a "large" family?  Obviously six is a lot from the comments I get, but how about 4?  I don't remember getting the comments when I only had 4.  I did however get them when I had 5.  Does that mean 4 children is ok, but 5 is "too many".  I'm far from upset by this (it's so hard to tell how someone means something in this day of internet).  I'm just curious. 

My mother was one of 11, so to me 6 is small.  I love my family size and wouldn't change it for anything in the world.  Just wondering how others see a family of 8?

Perspective

It's amazing how a few years can totally change how you see things.  I have been doing a lot of reflecting lately, on a lot of levels.  But much of it has been about my youngest, who is now the second child we have, that was born with low vision.  It didn't seem quite as devastating the second time around, but most of all, now that I'm not "new" to this, I'm not wrought with feelings about what she will or won't be able to see, etc.  The most recent was when I found an old pair of glasses that used to belong to Princess Cuddles. They were definately too big for Princess Sunshine, but I wanted to see if they would help her, so I put them on.  I was astounded at her reaction.  It was like she was opening her eyes for the first time.  They were big with wonder, almost like she was really seeing each of us for the first time.  At that point hubby & I both realized she'd probably be in glasses sooner rather than later.  But I was equally shocked at my reaction. I was happy! This was a complete 180 from 7 years ago when Princess Cuddles got them.  Back then, I wanted her to be able to see without them, not to mention, I was afraid people would tease her. This time, the joy was because I KNEW how much they could help her. 

This whole ordeal got me thinking, and I started comparing how I see things now, to how I looked at them 5 years ago, 10 years ago, etc.  It's your perspective on things.  So, I decided to look it up.  This is the definition I was looking for.

Perspective - the state of one's ideas, the facts know to one, etc.

 

It's the facts that I now know that have changes my perspective.  I know how much help they can be, and I know I want her to have the best chance of seeing that she can.  What other people think just doesn't matter anymore. Long story short(er), we took her and they did give her a prescription for glasses. She's a little on the younge side, and they probably would have waited another 6 months or so, if it hadn't been for the reaction she had to the other ones.  Now all we need is for her to like them!

Anyone have any ideas on how to get a one year old to leave them on??? My other daughter just did. Never touched them. Princess Sunshine will only leave them on when she's outside. She's super light sensitive so the tinting makes her realize they help.

On a side note, I haven't been very active with this blog lately.  That's another thing I've been pondering.  I almost closed it down, but I really felt God led me to start it, so I'll work on keeping better tabs on it :P  I've been feeling like I'm supposed to do some blogging about raising children with low vision, so bear with me if you can't relate. Those won't be my only posts.

My Conversation With God

God has given me words of encouragement and spoken to me through different people, or scriptures, over the years.  There are even times I just know He has spoken to me even though I didn't hear His voice.  I can only count on one hand the number of times where I actually heard His audible voice like He was right there next to me.  I haven't shared this story with many people, but it has been weighing on my heart that someone may need to hear it.

In March of 2003 I gave birth to my 3rd child.  She was called a "toehead" more times than I can count.  But by the time she was 4 months old we started to realize it was something more.  Soon after she was diagnosed with albinism, which is a genetic condition where you have little or no pigment in your eyes, skin, or hair. 

My disclaimer - While most people know the term "albino" I have a hard time with this word.  This is my own personal opinion but, I feel, 'albinism' refers to the condition, whereas 'albino' refers to the person.  She's my daughter first, not an albino.  Ok, back to my story.....

Within that first year, I had a dream that God healed her.  I know, without a doubt, that someday He will.  Until then I pray, and wait.  I'm learning as I go, but on one specific occasion God left me speachless.  To this day I'm still speachless when I think of the conversation I had with Him.

I don't remember exactly how old my daughter was, but I think she was about 1 1/2 (so this was about 6 years ago).  I remember sitting at my kitchen table praying, crying out to God to heal her.  I wanted her to be able to see the deer in our backyard, or the butterflies, or any number of other things she can't see.  Part of the conversation left me awestruck, and I still remember the words exactly. 

This is what I told God.....

"You don't understand!  A mother just wants to make things better for their children!"

To which God responded.....

"She's mine too, and I know what I'm doing."

My jaw about fell to the ground. My heart started to race.  I didn't have any response.  I was speachless.  My heart still races when I think of that short, but direct conversation.  My heart still breaks, and I could still cry, over the things she can't see.  But I now have a peace about it that I didn't have that first year.  I don't know why I never thought of her as HIS daughter too.  Never dawned on me that He had a plan in all this.  That He might actually use her/this as a testimony.  So I wait.  And I still pray.  But I believe God's plan is so much greater than I can even fathom. 

Uplifting Your Spouse.....Even When You Don't Think Anyone Is Watching

What we say is so powerful.  We need to be consciously aware of this.  I am so aware when I hear people complaining about their spouse.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not perfect or exempt here.  I don't bad mouth or complain about my husband, but, I've more than once, snapped at him in public because he didn't understand what I was trying to say.....or because I was tired.....or because.....well the list goes on.  He has never snapped back, and only once, has he ever said to me that I needed to check myself because others were worrying that there was something wrong.  I am so grateful God put us together.  I strive to think before I speak.  Needless to say, I'm still a work in progress.

Do you complain to your friends about your spouse? (I'm not looking for anyone to answer).  Or do you say uplifting things even though they're not there to hear?  This may make all the difference in your marriage.  Here's why...

My husband, and a bunch of guy friends, get together on a semi regular basis for breakfast and fellowship.  At one of these recent get togethers he decided he wanted to have a "chainsaw competition" with a friend of his. (don't laugh-lol).  He decided he was going to take my camera, which has video on it, and have someone tape it.  When he came home I loaded the video onto the computer for him.  As he was watching I heard him say, "Oh wow, they forgot to turn it off when we were done.  They got that on video?"  He did not sound surprised in a bad way, just surprised.  He called me over and told me to watch.  I couldn't believe what I heard!  He was complimenting me as a wife in front of all his friends!  Not bragging, just complimenting.  I can't tell you how much that meant.  I've never thought he would complain to them, but I didn't consider he would build me up either. 

That wasn't the only time.  About a month later he was sending out a text message and I happened to be walking up behind him.  Do you know what it said?  "My wife rocks!" with a picture of his birthday gift attached to the text. You see, I had bought him a smoker/grill for his birthday. Something I knew he would like.  But to him it was more.  He felt I had paid attention to what he would like. 

This got me thinking.  It's about building each other up.  Not tearing each other down.  Especially with our words and actions.  Words are SO powerful!  We need to consciously think everytime we speak.  And on the flip side of this, sometimes I think men need to hear these kinds of things even more. That's what I'm working on.  Call it my personal challenge....think before I speak.  And not just about your spouse.  We should be think before we speak about anyone or anything. 


~Kristine

I am now the mother of an adult child!!!  Happy 18th Birthday to my firstborn....

As 2010 comes to a close, I have been looking back over the past year and all that has happened.  My life has changed and I am learning to listen to God and follow the path He has for me.  Here is a small recap of why I have disappeared much more than I wanted to this year.

• In Feb. I gave birth to another beautiful little girl.
• Now that I had a 2 year old and an infant, we struggled to finish out our school year.
• I "broke" my 2 year old of her pacifier addiction. (what a nightmare!!!)
• My new little girl does not like to sleep.
• We took a much needed vacation this summer.
• I officially opened my own crochet pattern business. It has consumed much of my time trying to get all my patterns in pdf format so I can sell them. (If I had listened to God I would have done it MANY years ago! But that's another blog story) If you crochet you can check it out at http://www.ambassadorcrochet.com/

Not great excuses, but all consumers of my time.  As this year comes to a close I am at the realization that next year will bring it's own set of changes.  There were so many things I wanted to blog about this year, but just couldn't sit down to get them typed up.  Now I feel God leading me in a completely different direction.  I have a couple of topics I feel led to blog about.  The first being my 2 children who were born with low vision.  I feel God wants me to share what I have learned, and what He has shown and taught me through this journey.  I look forward to a new beginning in 2011.

~Kristine

Changing Course, Even When You're On the Right Track

Do you ever feel like your on the right course, headed in the right direction, but for some reason there is something not right?  That's how I've felt since the beginning of the school year.  With a lot of prayer, and a step of faith, I changed a bunch of curriculums this year.  I knew I was doing what God wanted me to, and was so excited to see where He would be taking us.  But along the way I feel like I've had some bumps in the road.

I could never have imagined how hard it would be to complete a homeschool day with a 2 year old and an infant.  It's proving much harder than I imagined.  At some point in the last 4-6 weeks I wondered why I felt like I "had" to do school in the am.  After all, isn't flexibility one of the benefits of homeschooling?  So, for a couple of weeks we tried working in the afternoon when the 2 little ones were sleeping.  That went much smoother but, because of ear infections, etc. I was in desperate need of some cat naps, so we fell back into our old ways. 

More recently, I have one daughter that (I feel) is falling behind.  She's always been a slower learner. (ex: she didn't talk until she was 3)  But I feel like I am unable to give her the extra attention she really needs to catch up.  The other children need my guidance and the two youngest are just too young to take care of themselves.  So, I've really been wondering how to get back on track. 

I've decided to work with the older 2 girls in the am which frees up my 6 year old to play with the 2 year old.  Then in the afternoon when the 2 little ones are sleeping (hopefully they sleep), I'll work with her.  I'm going to give it a couple weeks and see how it works. 

If anyone else does alternate schedules, or something else works for you, I'd love to hear suggestions.

Disappearing Act

I feel as though I've pulled a little bit of a disappearing act lately.  I have thought of hundreds of things to blog about, but when I get to the computer I feel like I don't have the time to do it justice. Then I wonder if anyone else wants to read my thoughts, especially if they're just thrown together.  So I write nothing.  Then I have too many ideas and don't know where to start.  Last week Jenna, over at  Sugar, Spice, and Monkey Tales sent me a message telling me she missed my posts.  I was honestly touched (sometimes I wonder who reads this - lol)

I felt last year that God was leading me to this point.  (I'm trying to listen better).  So, I started to pray about where to go with my blogging.  I know he wants me to use this as a tool to lift up those who need a little help.  Not that I have all the answers, but I feel like I have a story to tell.  We've been blessed with miracles, and we've walked through pain.  But one thing I know for sure is that God has been there every step of the way.   I hope to be able to share some of my experiences in the next few weeks.

I also know that God is doing something in me.  Things have changed and I know when I work through all He is doing in me, I will be a different person.  I'm struggling to get where He wants me.  Not because I don't want to change, but because I want instant results.  Maybe, in the coming days, I'll be able to share what He's been doing.

Blog Award

Last week I received my very first blog award from Jenna over at Sugar, Spice & Monkey Tails.  Thank you so much!  I promise to try harder to blog more often! :) 

Rules for accepting the award:

1. Accept the award. Post it on your blog with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2. Pay it forward to 15 other bloggers that you have newly discovered.

3. Contact those blog owners and let them know they've been chosen.

On that note here is a list of some amazing blogs that I look forward to reading! Enjoy getting to know them.  I haven't been blogging much the past few weeks, or even months for that matter, so I'll see how many I can come up with.
 
A Spoonful of.....
Diddle Daddle Designs
Live, Love, Laugh
The Blessings of Modern Domestication
Training 6 Hearts 4 Him
 
It's not 15, but it will have to do :)
Thanks again, Jenna!
 
~Kristine

Help with Recurring Poison Ivy

I'm searching for someone who can shed some light on my poison ivy issue.  I have recurring poison ivy.  This time it has reoccurred on my wrist (underneath my watch) and 3 dots on my eyelid.  I know for a fact my eyelid and my watch have not been re-exposed. lol.  Those 3 dots on my eye are in the same exact spot as 3 weeks ago.  I threw my old watch away and didn't wear my new one until I was sure the poison ivy had been gone for almost a week.  Both spots are on the same side of my body so I didn't transfer it by touching it. 

My husband has his own tree removal business.  I'm not sure about other times I've had it, but when I got it this time it was because the poison ivy vine around the tree was about 2" in diameter.  He does his own laundry, but all he has to do is look at me and I get it. :).  

I know this may come across as being harsh, but if you're going to comment and tell me I must have come in contact with it again, please save yourself the time. I have searched the internet and there are hundreds of sites with the same advice. (please don't take that personal).  Out of all the searching I've done I only found one site, with a discussion board, of people just like me.  They know for a fact they have not come in contact with it again (its been weeks, months, etc) but yet it has come back in the same exact spot.

This is a picture of my wrist.  I only took it to show that my new watch is much bigger and the spot of poison ivy is the same size as my previous watch.  If it was caused by this watch the diameter would be much wider.

Crochet, Yarn, and a Two Year Old

I live 1/2 hour from the closest craft store, grocery store, warehouse club, etc. Because of the price of gas, I've been trying to consolidate trips into town. Hubby only gets paid every other week, so yesterday and today were shopping days for me (with all 5 girls in the car, I can't do it all in one trip). Yesterday we went to Target and A.C.Moore. Today we were venturing out to finish our shopping for the next two weeks. This is the conversation I had with my girls on the way to the store this morning.

Princess Giggles (5): "Where are we going?" (she already knew, she just likes to ask questions)

Me: "BJ's and Joann's."

Princess Cuddlebug (7): "We just went to A.C.Moore yesterday. What are you getting at Joann's?"

Princess Joy (2): "YARN!"

Needless to say, the entire car busted out laughing. It's pretty sad when my 2 year old knows what we're getting at the craft store.

Sharing Space

When we got back from vacation a few weeks ago, I took everything except the beds out of my girls room.  Princess Sunshine was still sleeping in our room, and the only way to get her into their room was to get my 2 year old into a bed, so the baby could have the crib.....which meant somehow fitting another bed in their room.  We only have a small 3 bedroom house.  Here's where it gets a little tricky.  We only have one son, who gets his own room, which means there are 5 girls in the other bedroom.  The room is about 10' X 12' which is pretty small for 5 kids, beds, dressers, toys, etc.

So, I decided the easiest way to rearrange was to pull everything out into the living room.  BIG mistake!!!  I got the new bed set up, and I rearranged the furniture for optimal space, but I still haven't had time to go through the toys to see what I'll keep and what I'll get rid of.  So, in my kitchen they sit.  Now that we've started school they may sit there a bit longer.  The longer the kids don't ask for them, the more I just want to get rid of them!  :D  I'm realizing just how little will/would make them happy.  That's been my mission lately.....less is more.  I've been clearing out to make extra room to live.  It's a small house & I'm tired of all the "stuff".

The good thing is, for the most part, they never complain about sharing their space.  They just know that this is the way it is.  Period.  They have space for their own personal things, but they'll never (at least in the present future) have their own room.  

All this is to say, I believe this is why they are so close and get along so well.  They've learned (and are still learning) that it's not just about them.  They do have their moments, but I love listening to them play and include the little ones.  They're even starting to include Princess Sunshine.  Now that she's old enough to be entertained, they will gladly take her for a few minutes while I start dinner, laundry, etc.   

So, expect to see more organizing posts in the weeks to come :)

Choosing Next Years Curriculum

Looking for a new curriculum, for my girls, was so hard for me. I like things black & white. There's nothing wrong with the curriculum I've always used, so when God told me not to use my "normal" curriculum I started to panic. I started to think things like:

"I don't even know where to start looking."
"What if I choose the wrong one?"
"We don't have money to waste on things that aren't going to work."

But the feeling just wouldn't go away.  I knew God wasn't going to let me off the hook this year.  You see, I started to feel this was after I started school with them....last year!  But I didn't want to waste what we had already invested in, so ignored the feeling.  When last year ended, I started to look at homeschool catalogs.  It was then that I started to feel so overwhelmed.  So I started to pray about what God wanted us to use.  I prayed A LOT.  I had no idea what direction to go in....until I saw it.

Flying Creature of the Fifth Day by Apologia.  As soon as I saw it I knew.  You see, we live in the country.  On a daily basis we see birds that others have never even seen.  Not to mention the bugs!  Believe it or not, my girls are facinated with them.  As I read about the course I started to get excited, which was confirmation for me.  Then I started to get excited about what else I could find.

Through the summer God has shown me where we need to be for this year.  Up until now, I've had my 3 girls in different grade levels for every single subject.  God has given me curriculums, for this year, that I can do with multi-age levels.  So, Science, History, and Math will be consolidated for my oldest 2 girls, and maybe even my 6 year old.  With a 2 year old and an infant, this will free up some of my time for them.

I don't know how it will all fall into place, but I feel such a relief to know that God is in control of this. All I had to do was take the first step....in faith!