Blogging Debut for Carnival

[Bekah]

Never having blogged before I thought the topic for carnival was a great idea and inspiration. Now if only I can meet the deadline. A typical day in our unschooling life is ironically enough quite structured and routine. The demands of an infant have required us to put a lot of spontaniety on hold.
My children are Micah (5) and River(1) and our days have been spent the past year in the hazy half sleep that comes with new motherhood.
Yet amazingly for me they have been sleeping late in the morning the past week. Getting up around 8 or even 9 o'clock some mornings. Yay!
Our mornings are usually a flurry of getting dressed and cleaned up ready to start our day a little later than others but relatively well rested.
Two things are a constant with Micah in the mornings: TV or Computer.
I still struggle with his love affair with all things media. He will watch PBS or play on some fave websites most of the morning. While he is doing that I usually clean up a bit and throw in some laundry and play with River who is into everything and learning how to walk.
We stick around home in the mornings, even on the weekends, unless we are really needed somewhere because River takes one nap and it always happens about 11 and believe me....no one wants to deal with a napless River.
Another constant is when my Husband, Chad, comes home for lunch about noon or sometimes 1 o'clock. Micah is done with the computer then and our afternoons after lunch are when things start to happen.
Taking yesterday (Monday) as an example; we went out in the yard and Micah played with the neighbor girls for some time. They played around the trees and played on the bikes. Tag and chase games are a favorite. River sits in the jogging stroller when I need two hands for something, and yesterday I primed some more window sills to ready for painting. Then River is put on the patio near the koi pond to crawl about while I share with Micah and the neighbor girls the news that our beloved fish have passed on. We think it was a combination of overfeeding and the neighbors weed spraying. The koi pond is another constant in our days.
We went in after a couple of hours for snacks and play. We read and build with blocks and play with the ever growing collection of puppets. Even River has learned how to get a puppet on his arm and wave it about. Back outside in the evening when Daddy comes home. A funny thing: we have a huge tree that is losing leaves and we raked them into a pile for the boys. The best thing in the world...jumping into leaves...and we get to do it in the summer. We had a humorous conversation with Micah who is convinced that it is Fall now no matter how hot outside.
The evenings are almost always spent outside like this. In the garden, in the trees (one of which is a tree pirate ship according to Micah), by the little koi pond, husband playing the guitar. Friends sometimes drop by and there are conversations.
After dinner there are baths and pjs and books and snacks and hugs and we all get to sleep around 10 every night.
So I guess with a relaxing slow schedule like that I cannot claim new motherhood sleep deprivation any longer!
On other days we may go shopping, to the library, to a playground, to the grandparents. Any number of things. I know that we will get busier as they grow, but for now I am enjoying the slow and really not so quiet days with my small boys.

[Julie B]

Reading your blog is mentally preparing me for mothering two. Thanks for sharing your day!

[Trisha Cronin]

That's funny! Your mornings look almost EXACTLY like ours! Evan (2) runs around while Deacon (4), plays on the computer and watches TV. Morning outings are a disaster almost every time (unless they're with Grandma!).

[Faith]

I love this line:
...no one wants to deal with a napless River