A Glimpse Into Our Day

Want to see what our normal days look like?
We usually start stirring around by 5-5:30am.  That's when the sun comes up and the puppies start whining to be fed.  Caed and Halia have the job of feeding and watering the dogs every morning, so they run outside and do that once they get dressed.   Zeb likes to tag along, and I usually let them play around outside until breakfast is ready.  Dan and I take turns making breakfast and I always try to have a load of clothes washing so it will be done by the time we finish eating.
We try to sit down and eat by 7am, and we do our "Gospel Project" reading while we sit at the table.  Then, it's time for morning chores and the kids clean up and make beds.  Once we finish that, Dan and Zeb have started having "daddy time" which means that Zeb helps Daddy start the trash fire, or do something else productive outside.   He has really enjoyed having one-on-one time and getting Daddy's attention.  Every morning he asks to go do the "hot-hot" or fire.  :-)
The bigger kids all get their school boxes and head to the table for schooltime.   We start out with a devotion from "Making Brothers and Sisters Best Friends," or some out-loud reading.  They journal or illustrate the story I read and we label it/title it/write a word about it according to their reading level.  Then I start giving out individual assignments and work through those with them.  Halia's lessons are pretty short, I don't like to overload my Pre-K kiddos too much.  So, she gets to go help Daddy or play quietly with things from the toy box.      
Xav and Caed work through phonics, math, spelling, handwriting/copywork, history and science before they can go outside and play.  Still, with only 2 students doing a full subject load, they're usually outside playing by 9:30-10am.   While they work on their lessons, I am typically hanging out the first load of laundry on the clothesline and starting another load in the washing machine.  (We get really dirty here!)  When everyone is done, we do whatever chores or maintenance needs to be done around the camp, like cleaning the bunkhouses, mowing the grass, working on a vehicle that needs repair (constantly!), etc.   I feel like I wash, fold and put away clothes all day long - much like I did back "home" too.  
A few times a week, we go into town for groceries, errands, hardware and things.  We try to conserve on gas, but it's hard to stay out at the camp, isolated for too long.  Also, we run out of produce quickly and need to go replenish it at least twice a week.  We really can't buy anything in bulk here because it will spoil or get eaten by bugs.   Our little refrigerator can only hold so much, and with the power surges we get, we're not too keen on losing a bunch of cold items to lack of electricity.
Anyway, when teams are here, we can go out and do ministry with them.  But, when there isn't anyone here, we focus on working on the campgrounds, or on starting our ministry with the villages down south.  We also throw in family movies times and checking out new dining spots around Belize.
We typically wind down by 8pm and have the kids bathed and in bed by 8:30, unless something special is going on.   Dan is ready for bed by 9, and I follow soon after -sometimes I check FB or read for a bit longer.  :-)
So!  There's a "normal" day in the life in Belize for us.  Now, more often than not, our days are abnormal, so be looking for those stories to come, haha!