I would love to build! And there are good lots here we could pay cash for! Unfortunately, dh doesn't want the hassle of building. He just wants to move in to something now and be done with it. I was bummed. I made a really good case for building! (Sigh) Eta: you're building, right? Is that this year? How's it going for you?

I'm posting tomorrow's plan tonight because the morning will be busy. Plus, I'm instituting new rules because we keep getting later and later and we need a little structure and discipline around here. #1: TV goes off at 8am sharp! If you're in the middle of something, you'll have to loose your progress because its time to get the day started. (An alarm will go off at 8am so I don't have to be the bad guy and tell them to turn it off.) #2: if you ask me to eat any meals or snacks in the living room, you will loose screen privileges for the day. (This comes on the heels of a big bowl of cereal and milk dumped on the carpet, a pizza roll filling squished out onto the carpet, and a salsa bowl hit with a blanket that flung red salsa in a 4 foot streak on the carpet. I'm so done with food in the living room.) #3: 30 minutes screen time will not happen before all schoolwork, exercise, and chores are done. If you are waiting for me to finish a subject with your sibling then doodle something, build a magna tile tower, build a Lego creation, read in your chapter book, get a drink or snack (keep it in the kitchen!) whatever but the answer to anything with a screen is "no". #4: if we have a morning appointment, you can bring along your independent work, but we will still do our regular lessons when we get home. We can take a hour break but we must do regular lessons unless you want to still be doing this year's schoolwork when you're 25. 😰 It sounds harsh, but man, its necessary! Its chaotic around here! The kids were very agreeable, which tells me it is definitely too chaotic if they are happy with these new rules. So I have a dry erase board on the wall with tomorrow's plan so they are aware of what to expect: Schedule for Monday, March 4: -9am leave for 9:45 appointment *dress warmly and bring some work/reading to prevent boredom* -1 hour lunch break -1 hour language arts loop -1 hour math -1 hour science (we are starting our seeds so they don't consider this schoolwork 😄 ) -house cleaning chore FREE TIME Wish us luck! I'll try to post about how well it went (or how badly) tomorrow afternoon.

Wow, sounds perfect! Why on earth are you leaving? Lol! 😂

The problem is we go way back with our agent and dh is still young and his chronic health issues are hidden. He's not in a wheelchair or using a back brace or anything. He actually did a few phases of building our agent's house 10 years ago! We could telling she wasn't "getting" how drastically our situation has changed. So we arranged one of the meetings with her at our house using the kids as a reason not to come to her office. While she was here, we showed her Dh's set up in the living room that takes a lot of space, his set up in the bedroom (also space hogging), the kids were thrilled to show her the school room, packed to the gills with books, desks, projects, supplies, and more. Pretty quickly, she said she understood better what we are dealing with. 😄 So I don't think she'll be showing us anymore houses that rely heavily on the stairs, or have super small living rooms and bedrooms. Here's hoping, anyway... Eta: this was actually in response to your comments about our agent previewing properties for us. Lol! I can't do quoting well on mobile! 😂

Congrats! I hope the moving process goes smoothly for you tomorrow!

@hjffkj That's awesome! Congratulations! I'm glad you love it. 😊

Great update! Sounds like a balanced decision that will serve your family well. 🙂

Yes! There is a lot of pressure to make an offer, especially when the market is hot. We looked and one house and ruled it out. Then it went under contract and I thought, "oh no! We missed out! What did they see in that house that I missed?" So ridiculous, I know. 🙄

Man, that sounds rough! Are there not very many jobs in your area? That is not a problem here! New listings in our price range pop up every few days but its hard to find something that works for our family. We spend so much time at home. Homeschool, work from home, and medical needs. As in, a basement for storage, shelter from storms, and even a family room is great but we need a setup that doesn't rely on stairs for dh. One we looked at had a basement garage. If he didn't enter the house through the garage, he'd still have a flight of stairs up a hill to the front door, so that wasn't going to work for us. We do really like our realtor but I worry she doesn't like us! We're too picky! 🤣

Ccongrats! Are you feeling settled in your new home?

I thought I loved looking at houses too, until it was my turn to buy! Lol! I went with my sibling on their house buying journey and it was so fun to look at all the houses. I also went looking with a friend that was relocating to my area and she wanted my opinion on if the homes were priced right. That was fun, too. Now I'm walking through these houses going "hmm, interesting..." 🙄 "Ack! What's THAT?!" 😱 "rrrr...I don't know..." 😬 "pffft...I just don't know..." 🤔 And, yes it is so hard to keep your house "showing ready" all the time. Feels like I'm doing nothing but cleaning!

I am realizing this is the first time I've ever gone through the house buying process! 😱 Wow, now I understand why everyone says its stressful! Our first house was given to us and we remodeled it ourselves when we were young and childless. 😄 This time around, we are actually looking at houses with an agent and ugh, I am having a hard time! I can't visualize any of them as our family home, or the basement is creepy, or the neighbors have a bunch of junk and trash in their yard. We finally found one I was reasonably content with and when we went to make our offer (less than an hour after looking at it), they had just accepted an offer! We are scheduled to look at three more tomorrow and, man, I'm getting tired of looking at houses and trying to make a wise (and apparently, fast) decision. Anyone else planning on buying this year? Where are you at in the process? Commiserate with me!

Morning school work is done. We are eating lunch now and watching an episode of One Strange Rock. After lunch, we'll do our weekly house cleaning chore for today. The kids already got out a project to tackle after chores. They are going to do "build your own birdhouse" kits. Its pretty good timing actually, since we are still stuck inside with winter weather but spring is just around the corner. The kids requested hot dogs and fries for family movie night this week so I got all natural hot dogs with no nitrate junk, whole grain hot dog buns, and organic ketchup. Does that make it healthy? 🤔 Probably not! 😄

Well the playdate was cancelled because of the ice we got yesterday evening. The kids were so disappointed (there were pitiful tears) that I didn't have the heart to make them do bookwork. So they've done lots of Lego creations, nail polish art, oil pastels, an episode of Brain Child, reading chapter books, and they made some treat concoctions. My consultation thingy went way better than expected and I am so excited to see where it goes! Fingers crossed! I got dinner in the crock pot and the house smells amazing! Its making me hungry!

Good morning! We are hosting a playdate here again this week so we are getting ready for that. I need to get dinner in the crock pot this morning, too. This afternoon, I'll have the big kids do some independent work at their desks while I have a consulation here for a... thing. (Its hard to "talk" without giving too much info sometimes! Lol!) 😁 So another busy day and another day of school not being the tippy top priority. 😣 The kids have already been put on notice that we will be working through the summer. 😬

After seeing your pic, I'm curious if you can hear them? A buzz or a low din? Dh has a relative that has the exact same orientation to the high voltage lines and when we are there I hear a constant hum. I leave with a massive headache every time. It sounds like you are getting an amazing deal though, and if you and your dh are happy with the situation, that's all that matters. 😊

Reading, spelling, handwriting, and math are done. We are taking an early lunch break because everyone's hungry now. We'll get right back to lessons after lunch since we are running behind. We are running low on a lot of groceries and staples so I spent a long time after breakfast making a huge menu and shopping list. Then we have an appointment at 3 (not medical for once! 😄) then I can head straight to the grocery store because my list is ready! Woohoo! So, lessons after lunch will be memory work, writing, science, and piano practice. Then hopefully we'll have time for exercise and the weekly house cleaning chore before we have to leave.

If a puppy licks me, I react like you described in bold, but I'm fine if its a full grown dog. I'm weird! 🙃

First, my disclaimer is that these products are not 100% natural but for my ds, its more about the dye/color added and artificial fragrance than anything. The fragrances in these products are plant based. Hand soap: everyone hand soap (available at Walmart) and a Trader Joes one that I'm out of and can't think of the name but its really good. Shampoo/body wash all in one: Dubble Trubble Kids by Daniel Galvin Jr London (big pump bottle at Target) Lotion: Aveeno Baby Fragrance Free Daily Moisture Lotion Laundry: ALL free and clear liquid + vinegar in fabric softener dispenser (+ oxi clean dye/fragrance free scoop in with his bedsheets and blankets washed on sanitize cycle) Cleaning: I make cleaning sprays. I just keep things stocked like vinegar, baking soda, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, lemons, Dr. Bronners Castile Soap, and Dawn dish soap (the essentials one without the blue dye). Then I just grab recipes off Pinterest as needed. Dishwashing liquid: Dawn essentials, seventh generation, really anything that says no artificial colors or fragrances

Good morning! I think we should get a full day of homeschooling in today! *gasp!*shock!* Memory work, spelling, writing, handwriting, math, and science before lunch. Audio book at lunch. Weekly family housework chore and exercise after lunch. Piano practice and read alouds this afternoon. I have a few errands to run today and I'm really hoping dh is feeling well enough to watch the kids. I need a minute to myself! 😲

Hugs! How scary for you all! I wish I had good advice... maybe more people that have faced CPS will chime in.

I didn't get dinner in the crockpot either! 😰 I'm thinking breakfast for dinner... 😊

Medical appointment this morning. Plus we are house sitting for 2 different houses because our family all went on vacation. So that will be 40 minutes just in driving plus probably an hour total at the 2 houses. Uggh. House sitting and helping people move are 2 of the most annoying extended family obligations. 🙄 And nobody reciprocates and house sits for us because we never get to go on vacation with all the medical issues and even if we did, we have no pets (also because of the medical issues)! Relative: "hey, the Robinsons have no life, they can clean up our pooch's poo while we relax on the beach!" Wow, I may be a little bitter! 🤣 We will do a partial school day this afternoon when we get home. Memory work, reading, writing, and math. I'll be happy with that for today. Critter- I'm super curious as to what "tired" chicken means. I think I might be a tired chicken! 😂

Oh and as for tips, I wash ds' bedding weekly on a sanitize cycle with oxi clean. He has a specialty allergy pillow and an air purifier in his room. I replaced my vacuum with a Shark vacuum with a HEPA filter. That made a huge difference! We also went to free and clear laundry detergent. We went to all natural cleaning supplies, dishwashing liquid, hand soap and ds' shampoo and body wash. After about a year, I forgot I was out of hand soap so I just grabbed some pumpkin spice orange colored hand soap off the shelf at the grocery store. He sneezed repeatedly every friggin time he washed his hands at that sink! I bought the all natural soap and trashed that junk! I couldn't believe the difference! I can't help with food because there is only about 10 things ds will eat ever in life so... 🙄

Did they test him for dust mites? That's what triggered a HUGE reaction in my ds' allergy skin test and explained the need for year round Zyrtec, according to his allergist. You don't have a dog or a horse, but do you have a cat or other furry pet? I was also told that if you are allergic to one animal with dander, your allergic to all animals with dander even if the skin test doesn't trigger. I don't know how acurate that is but it has held true for me and for both my boys. Have you not tried Claritin or Zyrtec yet? We were at the point that he was doing year round Zyrtec, a topical cream on his face, as needed, and nasal and eye drops seasonally. So the allergy testing for him was to see what his allergy injections should consist of. But that decision was made after years of treatment and a very poor quality of life for ds. So I'd start with those medications if you haven't yet. And yes, I'd want more investigation as to why he has allergies year round.