Trying to Find our Groove

One of the big reasons we are even living this lifestyle is because over the past few years we have spent so much of our time 'housebound' due to kid challenges.  I was starting to go absolutely bonkers.  Now we have a much smaller space but it moves and I get to, sort of, get out and live a little.   I was thinking back recently on a conversation I had with our sail makers girlfriend. She and I were chit chatting while the new jib was installed and she says to me, "So...you all are on the boat....like, full time. All together. All the time." and at that moment I just nodded and said "yup...it's neat".  Now, I have those moments of clarity when I understand more fully what she was implying.  I'm with my family, 100% of the day, every day, all day, all the time, in a space smaller then a one bedroom apartment....hmmmm....what was I thinking?!? :)  Fortunately, those moments are pretty rare.

This week we've officially got all three kids in school and so we are trying to figure out what that really feels like in our little environment while I also work full time at all hours of the day.  My plan was for us to work with the little guys in the morning, because they are the early birds, and then afternoon with Mason.  This seems to be working pretty well for Elliot but Loren, who takes three times longer to complete any work and argues at every corner, can't seem to get his work done before 2pm at the earliest.  This tends to push into Mason's time and creates stress.  So now I'm trying to figure out how we can adjust Loren's work, beyond the fact that we've already halved his class load, and figure out what really makes him tick.  I'm seeing that he likes the interactive learning games and he really, really needs lots of repetition.  Skills we teach him one day doesn't carry forward to his memory banks on the second day.  Luckily the internet has a plethora of options out there and I just have to find those that best subsidize his learning style.   All in all, it's a wee bit challenging and I'm always looking forward to the end of day distraction.

Today we walked downtown to explore the area and found ourselves at the end of the wharf and a fountain.  The kids insisted they they needed coins to toss to get their wishes.  Elliot's wish? That he would be king of the world. (no joke!) Loren's wish? That he would get a marshmallow gun.  I had to tell them that, unfortunately, once you tell what you wished for it won't come true. Loren wanted to wait around for "..like five minutes..." to see if it would show up.