A few have told us living on an island in the Caribbean must be so fun to head to the beach and sip smoothies and just relax all the time. Though, life is at a slower pace here and not as hurried, the beach and smoothies are not daily occurrences. We typically get to the beach when a group visits- maybe once a month or every other month. We actually live on the other coast with the Atlantic coast of rough water and so to get to a beach that is swimmable for out kids takes 45 minutes and daily schedules are filled to where that does not happen often.
The sun is up bright and early and with the chickens and goats making noise, we all wake up early at 6-6:30. I get in a bit of quiet time and then we start chores of - the boys feed and water the chickens and gather the eggs and get them to the cafeteria and wash them, the boys feed and water the dogs, the girls help me wash and hang the laundry outside (with our family of 7 we have to do at least hang one load a day). We have breakfast and Brice burns the trash and then heads to his office by 8a.m. He is gone for the day teaching, leading, and preparing whatever needs done that day with students, staff, and ministry needs.
This leaves 5 kids and me :). We have a pretty good schedule down. This is definitely our time where the house is not clean and there is a ton of multitasking. The 2 little girls are playing, crawling, and dragging out every imaginable toy while "most days" we get piano practiced, I go through Naiyah's teachings of math, history, grammar, writing and then she works independently in the morning on her subjects. They boys read, do flashcards and then once the girls are fed and Greeley laid down for her 2 morning nap, we do their teaching and workbooks in their math, phonics, history, and reading. There are several breaks in there where the boys suddenly decide a coconut tree needs climbed or a monkey needs chased across the backyard.
Then, it's time for lunch where we join all the staff and students and have local rice and chicken or fish typically. We see Daddy here! After that, Kensington takes her big nap and the older 3 Varsity squad will do group projects from science, history, Spanish, and Bible together. Then, we do a quick 10 minute pickup of the house and the door usually bangs open and they all run out- the 4 older at least and run and play and I figure out what to make for dinner (most things are done homemade here, so dinner sometimes take longer for dough to rise) and then Brice comes home and we'll read a few chapters of the Bible Study we are doing together on the porch. Then, he'll play baseball with the students and our boys and depending on the night we may have Bible study with the students or one of the kids soccer practices.
Days are full and by the time dinner, devotions, games, and baths are done, it's usually 8:30. My role with WISE and responsibilities often have to wait until now- so I am doing letters, correspondence, website work, and other things at this time or any other breaks we squeeze them in. Sometimes Brice talks me into watching a show and then nights get later. It's these days where they are going so fast and I am enjoying them so much and thankful we are living them together. I could never have imagined being in this place years ago and feel so blessed and tired - ha!
