So Beyond went perfectly. ds7 is so ready for it. He did well on everything. Spelling, reading, writing, history, geography...storytime...everything went great. He sat so well for Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin. I think I am actually going to have to find a better start for the ERS. I think I am going to take a few around Wagon Wheels and see how his reading is for them.
ds11 is doing well with Preparing and he only has one box left after lunch.
Well 1 1/2 boxes b/c he wasn't through with one when we broke for recess/lunch. dd13 is done completely. dd12 only has one more thing left.Our extra student has been working diligently as well and his mom logged on to his work and he has done well this morning.
So an all around fantastic day!
I have 2 things that help... I set my alarm for 7:20 AM and turn on my lamp right away when it goes off, hitting the SNOOZE button. I put in my contacts, read my short devotional, and about when I'm done my alarm goes off again. I hit SNOOZE and call the kiddos in. They all pile in my bed and we discuss what's ahead for the day, like what's for breakfast (ALWAYS deeply important to boys), what's unique about the day's happenings (i.e. me working, dh traveling overnight, etc.), and then we laugh as a few stories are told (usually by our 6 yo Emmett, and his stories are pretty silly and usually totally made-up). About then the SNOOZE alarm goes off again. They talk me into talking another 5 minutes, and then I insist on them all getting out and getting going! My oldest sets the timer for upstairs getting ready time (20 minutes) and everyone scurries off in a hurry. The goal is always to be done with chores, breakfast, and clean-up by 9 AM, but we usually accomplish it by 9:15 AM. My oldest ds does set his alarm for 6 AM and always gets up without fail. My middle ds has talked my oldest ds into waking him up at 6:30 AM, which he diligently does with a fair amount of loud shaking him. My youngest sleeps through it all until I call him in my room. 