Sister support!

My sister Michelle is going off to college this fall--can you believe it? 

Before she goes, though, she agreed to come out to Wisconsin for eight weeks to 1) help me out as a part-time summer job and 2) have the experience of living away from home, but not as far away or detached as Idaho, which is where she's going in the fall. My mom drove out with her and then stayed for a couple days, when we picked strawberries, visited a farmer's market, and enjoyed some baseball. Yes, I had my mom and sister here at the same time! Can you spell a-h y-e-a-h? 

 

(Aside: darling boys picking strawberries. Go, boys, go!)

(Also: Jacob, I am so glad that it is summer vacation so that I can benefit from your sunniness all day. You are such a delight.)

But back to Michelle. Michelle is awesome! She helps me every morning from breakfast until lunch. Here's what's changed:
1. I can exercise every single day! Pre-baby size, I am coming!
2. My house has not been a complete disaster for even one day since she's been here! I once heard housecleaning described as a cycle of cleanliness and chaos; the homemaker's goal is to keep the home situation at the cleanliness portion of the cycle for the greater portion of the time, even though it inevitably must cycle through chaos occasionally. I have gone through DAYS (weeks) in the rut of chaos before returning to cleanliness. But Michelle has helped me keep up with the maintenance, plus she's given me flexibility to do big-scale organizing projects.
3. Summer Camp Brinton is shaping up! Our morning routine is this: exercise, eat, and dress; conduct devotional, scripture reading, and flag raising; complete chores, music time, and reading time. During the week before Michelle came, it took us until noon to finish our morning routine. With her help we're done an hour earlier, and each child has had more attention during it.
4. Field trips are safer and less stressful! Last week I convinced Michelle to come to a waterpark with us, and it was much more manageable with another adult nearby.

That way the big kids could do slides

 and the little 'uns still had someone to chase them around.

Here are Zachary and Jacob with a couple friends that we met there. So fun.

I've realized that my ability to reach my goals as a homemaker and mom are possible at c-1, where c=the number of children that I currently have. Is it always that way? I don't know. But for now Michelle makes up for my inadequacy, and I'm looking forward to the rest of her visit here.