Learning to navigate a harder course

Last year our learning curve was all about moving to
   a very small town
      on the verge of the jungle
         in a Spanish-speaking
            third world nation
               living as missionaries.
Whew!  It was a challenge to say the least.  Every day was an adventure--or at least had the potential to be.  Some days produced five inches of rain, or ash from volcanoes, or snakes slithering across our floor, or four mile walks just getting from place to place throughout the day, or children crying because they'd been excluded by others, or poor sleep because the Ecuadorian method of playing music usually includes ALL of the airwaves in and around Shell.

These aforementioned things are still present--as are many, many others--but they have become just part of the experience.  They add to the interest, the adventure, the great stories that we can share.  I think that now at the beginning of our second these things don't bother us as much, and I may even go so far as to say that we've been blessed with hours of sunshine, a quiet volcano, no snakes in the house, bicycles which help with the travel, more inclusiveness by those around us, and we now have earplugs! 

Therefore, life is good.  Yet, I will tell you that our learning curve this year is centered around the departure every morning now of ALL Thompsons.  Not one of us stays home; we all leave.  This has not been the case in eleven years.  I've remained home to either care for newborns and/or homeschool children all throughout the past decade.  Staying home never meant relaxation since there was always tons to do, but staying home did mean that someone was managing the affairs of the house daily and could at least attend to home matters.  If anyone was sick, there was already someone home to care for them.  If repair service had to be done on anything in and around the house, we knew we could manage the appointment.  We were able to shop and cook and clean and do schoolwork all throughout the day so our lives were more fluid and flexible.  Now we have to relegate all of those things to the hours outside of school hours AND we have to get the things we can't done at school done at home too.  AHHHH!

So, I'm already overwhelmed and grateful for weekends! For those of you who have to live your lives like this and have done so for years, please feel free to forward via blog or email those ideas that make a difference in your lives.  Thus far I'm thinking
   crockpot
   early bedtimes for the whole house
   chore chart posted for all to see
   setting clothes out the night before
   choosing a menu for the week
   kids taking turns fixing dinner (with me alongside them)
   vitamins!

This year will be a new adventure.  I hope to keep up and keep smiling in the process.
Thanks for reading.
Blessings, kim