Monday Musings: Stop the World...I Want to Get Off

When I was a teen, my mom would take my sisters and me to visit my grandmother (mom's mom) in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, where she lived. We'd go for 3 or 4 days, and one of the evenings would be spent on the boardwalk, eating ice cream, saltwater taffy, and French fries, buying t-shirts, and riding the rides in the arcade/amusement area. 

I remember one year we all climbed on to a spinning ride that went really fast forward and sideways and then stopped to go the same way backwards. I rode in the same car as my mom, and, to my mortification, she made the controller stop the ride so she could get off...which meant I got off, too. I was totally ungracious to her and remained embarrassed and a bit miffed that she couldn't stay on for a few more minutes for most of the rest of the evening.

It wasn't until years later that I rode on a ride (one I'd ridden many many times before) and suddenly understood the feeling of sheer panic that can run through you without any warning. It's nonsensical to those who don't understand. There's no rhyme or reason for it, but it takes over and consumes your reasoning until you have to change where you are or what you're doing to even get a tiny handle on sanity again. 

I blame it on hormones.

Funny, right? Not really. Not even slightly. It can be internally terrifying until you ground yourself again.

Fast forward to my own motherhood. I have often complained lamented mentioned in other posts on here that I feel like I'm barely hanging on to this ride called "Life" that sweeps the kids away into adulthood. I often occasionally wish that it would slow down (or even pause) to let me catch my breath. It's an odd sensation, not unlike my poor mom wanting to get off the ride that was terrifying her, making her feel dizzy.

I am dizzy.

I don't know if it's because the beginning of a child's life seems painfully slow that the race to the adulthood seems to speed up exponentially.

There's a saying many older parents use: The days are long, but the years are short.

So how is it that we are a less than three weeks away from graduating our youngest child...and our last homeschool student? How have we managed to finish this chapter so fast? Was it fast? Or is my perspective just skewed by living nearly 55 years of life? I don't remember the years flying by when I was a teenager. In fact, most of the time, they seemed to drag by with all of us anticipating the next phase with the common impatience of youth.

Stuart asked me the other day: "What's next for you?"

It was a hard question to answer...and one that was met with a lot of emotions.

What IS next? 

It's not something I really considered. I've been a stay-at-home mom for so long now, I don't really know how to redefine myself yet.

I guess I wish the wasn't "the end" of our homeschool journey, not because I want to hold back our son...but because I have so much more I want to learn with him.

The days are long, but not long enough, and the years are most certainly too short.

Sigh.

Monday Musings

Well, it's been awhile, huh?

I know. I know. I promised I would try to do better...but, in fact, I feel like I've done worse.

It's been a busy decade or so. Changing from a mommy of two to a mom of three threw me completely out of whack. There's so much more to do and say and buy...and wash. Some weeks I just give up and sit around eating bon bons while watching soap operas...

Ha! If only.

So where have I been? Here...there...everywhere...but mostly just home -- or at least nearby. Working, momming, driving, wifeing...

My little kids turned into the "big kids." (Who knew that would happen??) They're both in college now...in the midst of finals week and preparations for next steps.

My little baby -- who is anything but little...and a baby -- is now 10 going on 75. (No, seriously. Some days I feel like he's aging quicker than I am.) He's in 6th grade this year...and very nearly finished.

I just cannot believe we're at this point in the year.

I'll probably do some kind of recaps, trying to summarize what's been happening in the past millennium gadzillion too many 10 years or so. But I'll also continue to post about new stuff about what's happening now. Because there's lots of good stuff coming up this month, especially. [Hums "Pomp and Circumstance." and "God Save the Queen" to herself.] And life doesn’t ever stop long enough for me to catch up.

We've said happy hellos to lots of new friends...and sad goodbyes to too many old friends. We’ve moved from phase to phase, trying to adapt along the way. There’s no parental instruction book. Well, not one written specifically for your kid or mine...or anyone else’s, for that matter.

2019.

Nearly halfway through it. Nearly another new decade.

Musing merrily on a Monday. It's what I used to do...every week...it's what I want to do again.

So for now, I'll keep this short and (hopefully?) sweet.

*wink-grin*

Until the next time!

A Funny Little Thing Called...Life

There's a thing to understand about life...and that thing is that life is not always understandable.

Curve balls can be -- and often are -- thrown at any moment, without warning. We may think that we have everything all planned out and moving along like our favorite movie's storyline....but it doesn't always work that way. (Wouldn't you love to have an umpire shout about the "next batter"?)

And then there's the comparison trap. We look around at friends, neighbors, movie stars/singers, and even strangers and think that they have it all together. They're so much more successful than us. Their lives are moving along swimmingly, like our favorite movie's storyline. So why aren't ours?

Because those people don't exist.

Hang on a moment. They don't exist?

Huh?

Stay with me.

They don't exist -- not in the realm of our own true reality. They don't live with us, right? We can't look into their houses or apartments or work spaces, like a little child playing with a dollhouse, right?

And while, in truth, their reality is exactly the same as ours, filled with curve balls that throw them off course and create bubbles of confusion, frustration, and envy, they aren't here.

Of course, in realness they are. They are every bit as real as you and me. If they came to visit, they would eat and drink and talk and laugh the same as we do.

But when they're not with us? Who knows. Maybe they're just cardboard cutouts made to keep us in comparison confusion, virtual reality to look like they're there. They aren't living with us. They are people we hear about on the news or read stories from on Facebook...so how do we really know? And why do we really need to know?

Like the Schrodinger's cat experiment, they might be there...they might not. And in the spirit of getting on with our own lives, who cares?

I'm not saying we shouldn't care for or about each other -- that's another blog post (and probably one that I've already blogged about lots in the past). I'm saying we shouldn't care about what each of us is or isn't doing.

Because, if you think about it, everyone is struggling in his or her own way. Everyone feels down at some point. Not everything is "great" in a person's life, just because he or she has money, a good job, a seemingly fantastic spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend, sweet, obedient, and talented children or pets.

We're so focused on others and how they are doing in their lives that we forget our own lives.We need to leave behind the "what ifs" and "if onlys" and get to what is.

Enjoy your own job. Have fun with your own kids or pets, Love your own significant other. Worry about your own finances and feel blessed with what you have.

And when you have a curve ball thrown at you? Pray. And, in doing so, remember to pray for others who also face curve balls.

In the big scheme of things, everything else is just fluff.

==============

What are your thoughts? How do we get off the comparison train that seems to derail us in life?

Mom Law

There are some things in life that defy explanation. One such thing is something I've deemed the "Mom Law of the Universe," and that's the compulsion of moms everywhere to say things that apparently don't need to be said. That are so blatantly obvious or unnecessary that they provoke the stereotypical teenager "eyeroll and sigh."

Com'on, Moms. You know what I'm talking about. Uh-huh. Yup. Been there, done that, right?

Yet somehow, despite the fact that we know our kids would never do whatever we're about to ask them not to do, we have to say it. At this point, it's not even a matter that self-control could stop.

We. Have. To. Say. It.

For instance, when they leave for a visit with friends, we always say "Behave." or "Be good." Really, if we didn't say it, would they act like monsters?

Maybe it stems from the fact that we have to constantly remind them of such things when they're toddlers. No one comes into the world knowing the rules of the road, so to speak. Most kids, as toddlers, will touch things unless they are reminded not to touch ahead of time. More often than not, kids will not remember to use their inside voice in a theatre the first time they go to see the symphony. Nor will they sit in a seat and eat a meal if they are not told that that's what we do. It's just not part of their makeup.

Just because they see other people doing it doesn't mean they'll know that that's what they're supposed to do, too. There's too much distracting them.

So at what point do we stop reminding them? Surely, they've learned a bit since toddlerhood. And even more surely we should have learned what they've learned since toddlerhood.

Since I haven't quite gotten to that part of motherhood, I honestly can't say. Though I can say with some certainty that the urge happens a little less often...either that, or it's getting easier for the kids to "smile and wave" instead of roll eyes and sigh.

But whatever the reason, we remind them, for goodness sake, be good!

A Day in the Life

Or the life in a day?

Sometimes it feels as if we're living many lifetimes in one day. There's so much going on.

My brain tries to sort out our schedule and keep everything straight. Soccer at 3:30...drama at 6:30...dinner at 5:30...little-guy soccer at 6.....laundry, meals, cleaning, and, oh, that's right...I have a newspaper story due.

Still. The soccer season is nearly over. Drama rehearses for a short period of time during the autumn. All will end before I know it and life will slow down, if only a little.

Enjoy the moments as they come, I tell myself.

I got extremely nostalgic this past Sunday when we passed a mom and her young daughter walking on the sidewalk as we drove to church. Suddenly, I pined yearned longed for that time again. It seemed so much easier, simpler somehow. The kids got up and had breakfast. We got dressed. We did school. We had lunch with a couple of PBS shows and then read a story together. After that, it was playtime. The kids loved playing outside. They built "fairy houses" in the flowerbeds and washed rocks and ran around defending our house from "bad" guys. They were little, and I could carry them. My kisses were still magical and healed boo-boos. We colored together.

It was while I was thinking about this and admitting that I missed that time that our 6-year-old piped up, "But then you wouldn't have me."

My heart froze.

He was totally right. He's 11 years younger than Emily and 7.5 years younger than Edward. To go back in time 10 years would erase his existence.

Never.

Then I got to thinking about how much I enjoy the kids now. And while they don't play outside very often anymore...and school takes a bit more time than the morning (mostly due to concentration problems),..and they're not as much into PBS kids' shows anymore...and I can't carry them (they're 5'10" and 5'9" tall now...and even the "little" one is 4'6". Sigh.)...they still love to hug me...and my kisses still have magic of some sort in them because they are filled with love.


Enjoy the moments as they come, I remind myself.

One day I'll feel nostalgic when I see a mom and her teenagers walking along the sidewalk, chatting together.


Enjoy. The. Moment.

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  

What makes you feel nostalgic?

Meager Monday Musings

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I started this blog.

The idea came to me after I read several other friends' blogs...and I realized that I missed writing.

When I'm able to do this, it's lots of fun. But it takes time and dedication -- two things that are not always readily available when you have three kids learning at home.

Still.

Here I am. And it's Monday. And, since, I'm the only one awake at the moment, I'll type up a quick update to our lives and all some a few of the things I've been musing on.

The kids.

Emily is 16 now. 16. I have to pause a minute to breathe. She's in 11th grade and doing three, count 'em, three AP courses and Honors Chemistry and Latin. You might say she loves a challenge, though I think she's a bit overwhelmed at times this year. (We did try to warn her. *wink-grin*) She's learning to drive now...and it will be a slow process since we don't have the extra money necessary to add her to our insurance. Yet.

Edward is 12.  He enters the "teen world" in February. Egads. That doesn't seem possible. He was bumped up a grade this school year, skipping 7th grade, and going into all 8th grade...though his math and reading are 9th-grade courses. (Go figure.) We asked for him to be bumped up because it would make it easier. He spent his entire school career bridging two grades, due to how he tested into the school and where we decided to place him. It got to be a bit confusing at times...and we thought this would be easier. He's been taking some one-on-one lessons for soccer. He'll be on the high school soccer team next year so we thought this would boost his confidence/skills. And it has.

Ethan is our 5-year-old. He changed numbers in mid-September. And he's our super genius. No. Only kidding. What parent doesn't think his or her kid is a wunderkind? *wink-grin* He and I are doing first grade together, using K12 Independent again this year, and he's doing very well. His reading skills have exploded, and he's reading everything and anything, including books in bed. He's always been our little joker, but now he's very serious about his knowledge....a good and bad thing, I guess.

Speaking of school. Our youngest student reminded us that we never did his kindergarten "graduation" last summer as we promised we would once he completed everything. Since we pay for online access to K12 for 12 months, we continued schooling through the summer. It makes it a much more relaxed school year but also makes it easy to forget to finish school. We managed to complete the curriculum, but then life got in the way of ceremony. So I guess we'll do a winter graduation for him?

Well, the morning got away from me, and everyone is awake. I'm going to end this so that a.) I can actually post it...and b.) it isn't too long...and c.) I don't bore you.

Enjoy your Monday!

*  *  * 

What are your kids doing in school this year?

Mondays and Musings and Musings and Mondays

Our 11.5-year-old

Happy Monday! It's the second to last Monday in August. Nearly the end of another month.

You can tell the summer is waning. We've had a few evenings that were decidedly cooler than usual. And this morning the air felt even a little crisp.

Amazing.

It feels like Summer just started...though with the new school year looming, we know that's not true.

So our middle child had his "half-birthday" last Tuesday. 11.5 It seems so strange to think of him being only a half-a-year away from 12. Wow! One year later, and we'll have two teenagers.

Okay. Mentally filing that in the "Do Not Disturb" folder of my brain.

Edward had a quiet half-birthday. We did summery things, which means that we hung out, got bored, did some playing, ate some donuts. We gave him an inexpensive digital watch and a remote-controlled car, both of which have been enjoyed immensely already. Love when that happens!

Speaking of time, Edward started soccer practice tonight. They had to move his team up to the U13 since they didn't have enough players in the league. It should be an interesting -- and challenging -- season for them.  Ethan starts his U6 practices sometime in September. He's really really excited.

Speaking of soccer, we finally got a call for the ball bags we bought the boys. I special-ordered one in July for Edward because it was supposed to go with his uniform, which is navy-blue and white. We picked it up today. It was black. Hmm... When I went back into the store to inquire about it, they told me that was the only ones they had left in stock. When I pointed out that I "special-ordered" it in JULY, they shrugged and said that they don't even carry it in navy blue...just royal blue, red, or black. Sigh.  Both boys liked them better in black, so we kept what we "special-ordered."

Speaking of ball bags, we got Ethan an early 4th-birthday present: a Size 3 "football." He was so excited with it that he hugged it all around the store. We even got a chance to play with it last night. Emily took a bunch of photos as we played. I'll post some of those tomorrow.

Stuart took last Thursday and Friday off from work. He needed to have his computer serviced before he heads out on any other trips. It was taking about a eternity decade month hour to start up. Okay, so maybe not quite that long, but it was definitely longer than normal. (It brought back to mind the days when we had Commodore 64/Vic 20s...and you could start a program loading, go to the bathroom, get a snack, and return to the computer before it even finished loading. It always made me think of mice running on a wheel inside the computer's 5 1/4-inch diskette drive.) He called me from work this morning and said it was definitely running better...and even started up in about a minute or two.

So my Monday "chores" are calling. Hope you have a GREAT start to your week.

Monday Musings and More

Happy Monday! Happy new week! Happy nearly-the-middle-of-August!

I've erased and rewritten my weekly calendar as we begin a new week. I always like the "clean slate" effect that has.

Tomorrow is Edward's "half-birthday." I'm not sure he's even thinking about it yet...or if he is, he's being very quiet about it. It's always a fun way to break up the year, while waiting for the next celebration.

We're edging ever-closer to school. I think the kids are beginning to feel ready for it. Everything -- and I mean everything -- around us is focused on it. I think they started bringing out "back-to-school" signs and supplies at the beginning of July. It's kind of a shame because it ruins the fun of summer break by reminding us that it will soon be over...or should be over...and it had only just started a few weeks before that. (Yet another example of the media breaking up families. Get the kids back to school so that Mom and Dad can have their space/lives back. Sigh. Okay. Okay. Getting off my soapbox... I think I need to move us to a farm way out in the country with no television and limited news. I'm reaching a point of saturation....

Ahem.

Getting back on track....

Stuart got back from Kansas, a day late due to some heavy thunderstorms the night he was due to leave. Because of that, though, he didn't have to go in to work when he got home, and we got to enjoy him for an extra half-day. Win-win, right?

Speaking of half-birthdays reminds me of whole-birthdays. Less than a month until Stuart's birthday...and a month from tomorrow will be Ethan's birthday. Wow!! While another year isn't (too) big (a) deal for us "old folks," it doesn't even seem remotely possible that our "baby" is going to be 4! Where did the time go? No. Really?!? Can it stop for a teensy bit of time? Just so I can enjoy some of the everyday moments a bit more instead of feeling rushed through them?  I'm amazed at how time speeds up as we all get older. It seemed so slow when the kids were smaller, like life would never really get going. There were still so many milestones to look forward to and reach....then suddenly those are reached and passed and everything begins to flash by.

Sigh. I sound like a broken record.

We introduced the kids to "Mystery Science Theater 3000" last week and watched another one on Friday night. What a hoot! It was a spy "thriller," filled with cliches and bad acting...perfect for the commentary of three stars of MST3000. We showed them a part of "Plan 9 from Outer Space" on Saturday night and all of us agreed that it was ripe for a MST3000 show. Apparently, according to IMdB, they did try to make it a show, but it was too long. "Plan 9" has some classic lines, though. One of my favorites is: "future events such as these will affect you in the future."

I'll end with a funny anecdote from Grammarly.com:

I love the power of the written word.

Fleeting Summer Monday Musings

Emily and Stuart on a facetime chat

Happy Monday!

I cannot believe that a little less than a month from now we'll be starting school. Yikes!

Our daughter starts 10th grade, our older son starts 6th (with 7th-grade math and language arts), and the "baby" starts kindergarten. How did all this come up so fast?

Didn't the summer drag a bit longer when we were young?  I remember having times when I felt extremely bored...almost (though I'm not sure I would have readily admitted to it) eager for school to start again. That said, I did like school, so maybe?  Still, I remember summer feeling like one long relaxing hot day.....

Now?  I feel like it's pretty much the same scramble as the school year. 

Ah, well. The play is over and now we can settle down for a few weeks and get some of the necessary tidying done in the house. I'd been hoping to get the dining room and kitchen sorted out before the new school year. I'd love to have more space (and less stuff!) for our lessons...especially with another student joining us.

Speaking of Ethan...  He's loving his Summer Bridge book and keeping right up with it. He's even trying to spell words for himself. It's amazing to watch him go. He was drawing a get-well card today and spelled "ritiin" on it for "written." Not bad for a nearly-4-year-old.

Speaking of Emily... (Okay. So no one actually mentioned her, but...) She's glad the play is over (practice-wise), but I think she's missing the acting part.  We had a great idea of starting our own little skit group to take some fun entertainment to elderly-care homes in the area.  Watch this space. 

My real dream would be to do a Christmas pantomime, complete with a humorous "baddie" and audience participation. Such fun!  Oh, that and open a tea shop. But time will tell.

No one mentioned Edward... But we finally sorted out last year's curriculum to send back and opened up this year's stuff...and he's well-chuffed by all the fun stuff he has this year. So well-chuffed that he was ready to start school today. Hmm... Hang on to that feeling, Budboy. Only a few weeks to go.

Stuart's off in Kansas for the week. We "facetimed" him after he left. I love so much that we have this technology now. It's such fun to be able to keep in touch face-to-face.

How's your week starting? Hope your Monday is a great one!

Mondays and Musings: Perfect Together

Happy Monday! The final Monday in July! Jeepers.

FINAL Monday in July?

That means we have only ONE month left of summer vacation. Considering how fast the first month and a half went, that isn't long.

Still, we'll enjoy it and the hazy/lazy days of the rest of summer...if we can.

I'm attempting to do some reading this summer. I finished The Janson Command last week and started The Cry of the Halidon by Robert Ludlum. So far so good.  I have a stack of other books to read, and I'm hoping this greases the wheel for me.

So, Emily continues practicing for the "Twelfth Night" play. It will be performed this coming Friday and Sunday -- pending no rain. I think she's getting excited. We sure are...though we've been missing her, too.

The boys are enjoying our recent walks to the park. We've been trying to get outside more...to run off the endless energy Ethan seems to have and build up Edward's endurance -- getting some steps for Mommy and Daddy in the process. We've been trying to hit 10,000 steps every day. I haven't done too well with it yet. I can usually get between 6,000 and 8,000, but the extra 2,000-4,000 have eluded me. I'm not giving up, though. There's a "dancing guy" that appears on my pedometer when I hit 10,000 steps, and I want to see him.

Speaking of school starting, we're getting pumped up for it. Edward's curriculum should arrive tomorrow and Wednesday. It's always so much fun to see what schoolwork he'll have for the year. (A bit like opening a birthday or Christmas prezzie.)

And speaking of Christmas...

ONLY 148 shopping days left....147 if you don't shop on Christmas Day.  And so endeth the Christmas Shopping public service announcement. Still plenty of time. Pleennnnnnnty of time.

I'm here for you.

Many Musings on Monday

Happy Monday!  The second to last Monday in July.

Woohoo! Wowee! Sheesh!

Time is speeding along!

So we had a crazy-busy week last week. (Sometimes that's every week -- especially during the school year -- but this was a busy "late-night" week...followed by a busy weekend.

We signed the boys up for Vacation Bible School at our church. I really like the concept of VBS. It's a fun time for kids to get together and learn more about Jesus and the Bible. Doing it late at night (6 to 8:30) for five nights...not liking that so much. But both boys really enjoyed it, though for Ethan (and me) it was REALLY LOUD. The loudness stimulated him so that by the time we got home at 9 p.m., he was a really wired boy. We figured out ways of calming him on the way home -- soft music, Bear & Blankie, quiet stories, warm milk -- for the subsequent days.

Ethan felt very clingy, especially the first night, so I stayed with him for the whole week.  It was interesting to tag along with the PreK group as a end-of-the-line-wrangler-of-stray-kids. Hopefully, I was helpful?  I got to know the two leaders a little bit, and Ethan got to meet some of the kids he might be in Sunday School with.

Edward had a blast! He already goes to "Flight 56," which is his Sunday School, so most of the kids there were buddies already. We're glad to see him come out of himself. He was always so shy when he was younger. He still struggles sometimes with eye contact and feeling shy, but he's come a looooong way.

Emily continues to practice for her play, including every day last week. One of the lead actresses had to be replaced at the last minute due to getting really ill. That disheveled everything a little, but the cast seems to have righted itself and is back on track. They perform a week from this Friday and Sunday. I know that she's enjoying it, but I think Emi's ready for it to be finished.

Ethan had his "date" with my sister last Tuesday. She took him to Chuck E. Cheese for the morning. Again, he felt a little shy to stay by himself, but I tried to stay in the shadows and just take photos. He was hilarious!

We finished VBS on Thursday evening and followed it with a weekend celebrating the veterans of World War II. We manned the kids' games area. Since it was filled with re-enactors and there was a Big Band dance/concert later in the evening, we decided to get in on the fun. I'll end my musings for the day with some photos from last week.

Celebrating Emily's acceptance to the National Honor Society

Chuck E. Cheese with Aunt Sandy

Racing at VBS

World War II Days at Historic Joanna Furnace

Muggiest Monday Musings

Happy Monday!

It's hot. Very hot. But then it's July, and it should be hot, right?

It's funny to remember how much time we spent outside as kids during the summer. I don't know if it was because we didn't mind the heat...or our parents minded us going in and out. Either way, we had lots of fun in the sun.

Summer is nearly halfway over, which is kind of exciting and kind of sad.  We always have so many fun things we hope to do...and somehow the days pass one into another without us remembering that. My goal is always to make sure that we relax and have some moments of boredom, both of which I think are extremely important to children. Our modern culture has us raising our kids expecting to be entertained EVERY moment of every day. As a stay-at-home mom, I find that that can be especially exhausting to all of us. My mom never did it for us. Of course, she played with us and did things with us, but there were times when we were expected to entertain ourselves. Idle grass...

So Emily is in full-swing rehearsal mode and  has been busily working on her part in the play "Twelfth Night." They have been practicing for it nearly every day. It's the first of its kind for our county park system and should be a couple of fun nights. If you're in the area, the play will take place at the Gring's Mill Park at 6 p.m. on August 3rd and 5th. The costuming alone is phenomenal! And I'm know the acting will be even better!!

Edward and Ethan have been participating in the Vacation Bible School week at our church. The opening night was last night, and it was loud and overwhelming to say the least, especially for the youngest family member. But I think Ethan will adapt. (It's his first-ever VBS.) The staff are letting me stay with him, and I'm doing whatever I can to help out with the 32 (!!) pre-K kids in his group. The entire amount of kids (ages 3 to 6th grade) attending last night was 299!!  We'll see if it continues. They had the county's largest-ever Twister game. (Pictured above.) It was hilarious to watch the kids trying to follow the instructions. Someone came with a ladder-truck from a local fire company so that we could get photos of it. They managed to do so before a huge storm hit.

We ordered some of the coursework for Ethan's kindergarten school year. It should be exciting for him when it arrives! We'll order the rest next month and whenever we need it. It turns out we'll need to do kindergarten and first grade on our own since he misses both age cut-off dates for Agora. Still, that takes some pressure off of us and allows us to determine the timing of everything. Not a bad way to school...especially since we're starting him so early.

And one final tidbit: The kids each got a haircut last Friday. We went to the in-store salon at Walmart to get Ethan's hair cut (since it was only $8) and ended up with three new 'dos.  I think they look really nice. What do you think?

Monday Musings and Memories

Happy Monday!

Wow! Is July really speeding along...nearly the middle of the month. Sheesh!

It was amazing to go to Target yesterday and see school supplies out ALREADY?!?!? Seriously? I mean, don't we get to enjoy a bit of summer break without thinking about "back to school"?

Guess not.

Stuart says it won't be long until they have out all the Christmas stuff. Give 'em a month or so, he says. Which reminds me that they are...drum roll, please...171 more shopping days until Christmas. This has been a PSA brought to you by Writer's Block.

So many thoughts...so little brainpower to get them written down.

My boys are vacuuming for me as I type. Really cute. Edward is manning the larger (real) vacuum, while Ethan follows using his Fisher-Price (pretend) one. Edward volunteered. Really sweet, huh? Emily is at play practice for "Twelfth Night," which opens on August 3rd, pending no rain. I think she's actually pretty excited, and she's really clever at learning her lines so quickly. Here's hoping she remembers them under the weight of her nerves.

Speaking of school. I heard Ethan whispering sounds during the prayer time at church yesterday. He was sounding out the word "EXIT" at the back of the sanctuary. He was quite pleased with himself when he figured it out...and so was I, though I did remind him that we should be quiet since we were praying. He's so clever with his learning, sucking it all up like a very thirsty sponge. I get excited by it, but then I'm quick to remember that the other two were just as clever. It makes me feel very blessed...and very daunted, being their teacher.

We suffered through a mini heatwave at the end of last week, and I don't think the air conditioner turned off at all during that time. I know that other parts of the country have been suffering for much longer, some without power. With temperatures close to 100 on Saturday morning, Emily decided she just had to have the next book in the Ender's Game series. So since we have a small used bookstore up the street that carries them, she begged Stuart to take her. He told her it was way too hot...but, being the book lover that I am, I said I would go with her. I've been looking to buy the book I Captured the Castle for less that the $14.99 Barnes & Noble is charging...so going along I knew I might get lucky and find it there.

Wow!

We hadn't even gone 10 feet and the wave of heat nearly melted us into a puddle. We made it there -- found her book and a bag of others (not the original one I hoped for but $5 for a bag of books?), as well as a book of short stories by Fitzgerald -- and back without frying too much. Yikes. What we do for our kids, right?  And, just for the record, it got to 102 F on Saturday.  Hot enough to fry an egg?

I am actually (finally) reading a book again. It's called The Janson Command, the sequel to a Robert Ludlum book I read a few years ago. Not written by him, of course, since he died back in 2002 and this just came out but still very good. I have a stack of other books to read, and I'm hoping this greases the wheel for me to get reading again.

I'll end with a photo I decorated in memory of Molly, Edward's guinea pig. It was a hard day yesterday, but we know that God cares for all of His creatures, big and small, and that He loved her, too.

Monday Musings in a New Month

Happy Monday! Happy July!

Wow! We've just past the halfway point in the year. Amazing, huh?

A "mere" 176 shopping days left until Christmas. Plenty of time....plennnnnty of time.....

Besides if you're anything like me you'll end up buying some fun stuff now, squirreling it away somewhere "safe," and then forgetting where you put it and having to scramble for something else with only ONE shopping day left... *wink-grin*

So we surprised the kids (and ourselves) with a night away at the local Hampton Inn last night. A spur of the moment thing that cost us nothing (thanks to Stuart and all of his travelling and Hilton Honors points) but dinner from the local grocery store and a tiny bit of gas to drive home to check on the animals. Can't beat that, right?

The kids loved the pool and the huge TVs and the comfy beds. We didn't do anything particularly special, except hang out together. V. relaxing. Something I recommend to EVERYONE, especially if you have kids. The time goes by so quickly. Snatch those fun moments while you can.

I'm working on an article for the newspaper about a couple who have been married for 63 years. It's a wonderful story to write. Very heartwarming and encouraging, especially as an example to the younger generation. I got to meet the couple and take a few photos today. One of my very favorite parts of working for the newspaper.

Enjoy Independence Day this week! Stay safe and have fun!!