Life around here

We are well into the throes of life around here, and I'm trying to keep afloat these days.  It's amazing how quickly each day passes.  Here's a "day in the life" rundown:

5:30AM- Get up (hopefully before the girls)

6:30AM- Girls are probably up by now, get breakfast, kids dressed, grown-ups showered

8:00AM- Ayi arrives (we have a wonderful house helper who comes to watch Caro while I'm in class and to do basic housework, runs to the market, etc.....couldn't live without her help!  The best part--actually there are like 10 best parts--is that she is a sister and speaks no English...great for language and encouraging to our family as well!  For example, she prayed with Katie the day she started kindergarten....even though we barely understood a word she prayed, it was incredibly precious to us that she would do it!)

8:30AM- Out the door, drop off Katie at kindy and head to class at the university just down the street

8:45AM- cram to finish all the homework I didn't do the night before (not the best way to learn, I know, but I'm still trying to figure out how to squeeze it all in and still sleep!)

9:00AM- Teacher arrives, we work on pronunciation, dialogues, reading, and writing (yes, I am learning to read and write!  It's amazing to me too!)

10:30AM- Class ends; I either stay for 30 extra minutes to study or I run to the Wal-mart or market to pick up groceries/stuff

11:00/11:15AM- arrive home, rescue Ayi from the Caroline tornado

11:30AM- walk to kindy to wait for Katie, attempt to talk to the other grandmas waiting to pick up their kiddos (most of the kids at Katie's kindy stay all day, but some leave at lunch time like Katie.  I have yet to figure out why they don't stay all day either....perhaps I'll attempt that conversation tomorrow!)

11:45AM- enjoying walking home with Katie, sharing squatty potty adventures (both of us usually have stories) and finding out what was served at her lunch (which she never eats)

12:00PM- arrive home, say goodbye to ayi and thank her for putting up with Caroline's shenanigans, throw together lunch (usually pbj, leftovers, noodles for the girls), sometimes yummy baozi from el cheapo stand at the veggie market for me (although Caroline likes them too...she's the more adventurous eater of our pair)

1:00PM- naptime for Caro, phonics/math/handwriting for Katie and me, our afternoon tutor arrives (more on him in another post) and works with Adam in the back; Highlight of the Day is reading On the Banks of Plum Creek to Katie if we finish early (we're going throught the Little House books again, hooray!)

2:15PM- tutor comes out to work with Katie (and me, but I'm more of a cheerleader than participant)

3:00PM- Tutor leaves; figure out what to do for the next 2-3 hours before dinner (this slot is the hardest time of day in which we're still trying to work out the kinks); depending on the day we either run to a meeting, get started on dinner and potentially prepare for company; play with the girls inside or take them outside and attempt (again) to talk to the dozens of grandmas playing outside with their toddlers

Life from 4-8 really depends on the day, but lately we've enjoyed having different folks over, either foreign friends or local folks we have connections with...we even enjoyed the company of a visitor from Louisville last night!  Other nights we hunker down as a family, with me taking an hour to study while Adam hangs out with the girls, and having family sing-a-long or movie night after supper (we've even been known to have impromptu family olympics...)

Eventually 7:30/8:00PM rolls around and the girls get in bed, at which point we are pretty much wiped out.  Adam and I either study, check email, work on other administrative tasks, catch up with each other, or fall into bed (which ideally happens for me around 9pm....but is clearly not happening tonight since I just looked at the clock and it said 9:50, yikes!)

And that's a day in the life of the McCullochs.  Saturdays have proven to be a fun day...perhaps worthy of an entire blogpost? 

[Tomorrow I'll try to post a fun video from today as a reward for making it through this long blog post...I had planned on posting the video tonight, but now that I realize what time it is, I need to go to bed! and so cannot wait for the ridiculously slow internet here to upload the video.]