A Successful Day

There are days, and then, there are days.

Sometimes, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle - it seems like I can never get everything done that needs to be done. And then, there are those other, strange days, which leave you in a daze, wondering, 'how did it all happen?'

Yesterday was one of those days. I knew it would be busy - we were singing at the hospital in the afternoon, and we had band practice for the carols in the evening.


By the time I was up, showered, and organised, I discovered that my darling children were already flying through their schoolwork - and had left a pile of marking that looked something like this:

Then, there was jam to make. I'd been given a heap of apricots, and they were very quickly ripening, so the night before, three of my teens had sat down and cut them all and placed them in the pot, ready for the next day. So, as I called out instructions while checking emails, my 19 year old got to it, and began boiling the fruit.

Given that it was our last 'Sing Australia' event for the year, we had been asked to take along something for a shared tea. My son had already worked out what he wanted to cook, so he and my 14 yo daughter headed to the kitchen:

While all this was happening, I began lessons with my three youngest girls. We read our daily Bible passages, and made the ornaments for our Jesse Tree:

Then, we continued working on our current lapbook: Symbols of Christmas.

After that, my 9yo continued to work on a book she is creating:

Having finished the lessons, I wandered into the kitchen, to find the jam cooked, as well as a lovely batch of quiches, all ready for the evening's gathering:

For the next hour, I helped Bill out in the office with organising emails and packing orders, before taking a little time out for a quiet cup of coffee.

Then, it was time to iron our shirts, and head off. Firstly, we visited the elderly in Jamestown hospital, and sang a few Christmas Carols:

After which we headed back to our usual meeting place for dinner and an extra sing-a-long. Many of our songs were conducted my my dear son:

He did a fantastic job!


And after all that, we headed just down the road for our final band practice before Sunday's performance:

We arrived home around 10pm - exhausted, but very happy - it had been a full day, to be sure, but a wonderful one, and I feel like we achieved so much in those few hours!

Linda.