slowly

Slowly we are settling in.

Creating routine, sticking to it, and being as consistent as possible in our parenting.

It's working. The twins seem to be adjusted to life back here in Alaska, whereas Wyatt, I think, will take a few more days.

Meanwhile, they are cracking me up with some of their play.  Yesterday as I was getting ready for the day, the three of them were next door in their bedroom playing "Karate School".  The twins were singing this made-up song about "We like to play Kung Fu Panda... Ninja!" I know they were making it up on the fly, but they still managed to sing it exactly in sync with each other. Blows my mind.

Yesterday at lunch Logan said he wished we had a backyard here, but that would never happen.  He thought about this, and then said, "Oh well. We can have one again next summer when we go back."

It's amazing to me how we are "home" in Washington for only three months, but because of the people there who love them, and the amazing adventures we have, they feel like that is home, too.  It makes me happy that they are so connected to a place that means so much to me.  It says a lot for our family that in twelve weeks they are able to make Vancouver feel like home for my little boys.  They are so loved.

We are still working on getting them to sleep through the night and stay in bed until their nightlight turns green at 6:30am.  Of our four nights home, three nights I have been up with each kid once.  I am feeling it today.  I am tired and lethargic.

Josh is feeling it, too.  Yesterday he went moose hunting for ten hours on the river with Buster in his boat, to no avail, and now he's passed out in his easy chair (I'm not sure how, it is SO LOUD with the three boys) and already the next week looms before us looking quite daunting.

{Mt. Pilcher}

I am not really sure what to do about our lack of sleep except let time pass.  Wyatt's been sick with a cough, so I know with time, he will stop waking up.  Jack, too, will eventually settle into the schedule.  Logan has always been my bedtime bandit.  My hope is that the toys we bought as rewards for filling the kindness jar will motivate him to follow the rules.  This morning he did two things out of kindness and earned beads.  I count this as progress and couldn't be more thrilled!

Aside from unpacking, baking and parenting, I am also prepping for our first official year of homeschooling.  I ordered some bookshelves and am planning to start the same day Marshall School starts.  That gives me a little over a week to create lesson plans for the first few weeks and map out our school year with goals & organize my curriculum.

I am planning to do school first thing in the morning so Wyatt can join us if he feels so inclined.  Plus then it will be done for the day early, and we can have the afternoons free to do as we please.

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I wrote the beginning of this post yesterday (Sunday), and now it's Monday morning.  The kids slept through the night (yes, all three of them!) and I slept for seven hours in a row! I was so happy when I woke up and it was 6:30am!  I am feeling great!

We did our new reading routine this morning, and listening to Logan read Wyatt his hard back books did my mommy heart proud.  He was also being really sweet to Jack.  He handed him something he needed and when Jack said thank you, Logan said, "Don't mention it." It was so cute!

I am hoping we are turning over a new leaf.  

That the boys understand we are here to stay and start to relax into our days here.

For now, I am off to finish my Cunningham Family Reunion post,

along with a whole slew of other posts that are long overdue.