6am

Woke up this morning at 6 am. No alarm clock, crying or excited children, or dog barking, just a still small voice whispering "Join me. It's a beautiful day."

I got up, children all still sleeping, got out of bed and got our laundry going. Put away the clean load that had been in the dryer and started on the rest of the steps for my cracked wheat bread. When I was ready for breakfast, Blessings #4 & 5 joined me. Not long after that Blessing #3 came down. I ended waking up Blessings #1 &  2. We had friends coming over for a play date today, including the new friend I made last week. I also managed to clean a bathroom, sweep and vacuum. Although, the vacuum over heated and turned off. I'm pretty sure it needs a new filter. And this was all by 9:30.

Our play date went very well. Thankfully, my prayer, for sunshine and warm enough weather, was answered. The kids spent most of the time playing outside and checking out the animals. My bread was a success, which is fantastic since we were out of store bought bread, which is why I made bread this morning! I do want to get into the habit of making bread at home more often. For one, I like it a whole lot more. And secondly, of course, it is better for us.

After our friends left, we were ready for a quiet time. I allowed the older 4 Blessings to watch a movie while I got Blessing #5 down for his afternoon nap and quietly read one of our homesteading books. The more I settle into this home, the more interested I become in really getting into more and more homesteading.

I have found that Blessing #5 is finding his natural rhythm, which makes me so happy. It wasn't until blessing #4 that I finally realized that my babies had this (I know that is crazy...) and I had a good thing going with him until he was around 3 or 4 months and I went back to school to finish my massage therapy certification. This time, I am working really hard to pay attention to Blessing #5's natural rhythm and use it as an opportunity to re-evaluate the rhythm of our family.

On that note, I have been reading about the Waldorf method and am realizing that is how I had always envisioned raising my children, with some mixture of the Montessori and Mason methods. I'm hoping to use a combination of those methods to help my children and my family to grow this summer and beyond.

Oh, yeah! Yesterday I received my Baby's First Massage, Newborn Massage Instructor certification in the mail! And today we got our incubator! We've got a dozen turkey eggs in there and are hoping that in about 28 days we will have some baby turkeys to raise!

Lots of good and exciting things going on. It reminds me that we are truly, richly blessed! Waking up at 6 am wasn't a frustration, though it was unexpected. I accomplished so much and feel good about the day. I can go to sleep today knowing that I showed each of my family members love today, and that I blessed others too.