I was going to blog about a lack of summer structure and routines, and then I remembered that I already did.  It seems it is time to post my "Done" list again--just so I can feel like I've done something.  Ha ha!

Big on my list for this week was to sort out baby clothes.  After over nine years of storage for a lot of it, it is time to pass it on.  I tackled one tote--a huge one on Saturday.  The nostalgia made me teary.  I finally compromised--a big bag to give away to a friend who had her first girl recently, the pretty frocks and hand-knitted items to be carefully packed away in my cedar lined trunk in hope of grandchildren some day, and a small pile to go to my niece (who has already outgrown most of the stuff in that box). 

Today I tackled the boy box.  I had already given away a lot of his stuff, so there wasn't as much to do.  Still, between the big Saturday box and the small boy box there was enough to re-fill the big tote.  That will go back into storage until someone has a boy. 

Tomorrow I hope to tackle the last tote--girl's sizes 2-4.  I don't expect that one to be as difficult to handle, and I will be happy to give away most of those clothes to my niece.

The hardest thing about it all, I think was that I had only one to wear all those nice clothes--one girl, one boy.  The blessing in all that is that the clothes are in excellent condition and good to give away.

I've also slowly been getting ready for lessons again.  I have a few things left to do, planning the first week, making sure Homeschool Tracker is set up and ready to go for this year, and updating the children's chore charts.

The next thing on my list is to try to spend as much time as I can, relaxing and cross-stitching or knitting these next two weeks without feeling guilty!  I haven't taken much time to relax this summer (except when we were away) because I've got such a long to-do list.  I think I am a "doer", rather than a "be-er", and I find it hard to slow down.  What are you?

A recent storm.

The children are nearly finished with their two weeks of swimming lessons.  I confess to being on tenterhooks--waiting to know whether they pass their levels, and really wanting them to do well.  Belle did a first yesterday--swam across the pool on her own!  Today she swam across and most of the way back before she was simply too tired to go any further.  Boo is doing well, swimming with a noodle, and coming on with his floats.  He is still reluctant to put his face completely in the water.  I am not sure what all is required for him to pass his level.

We've had to travel to a nearby town for swimming, as our town pool developed a leak.  I have quite enjoyed it, surprisingly.  It is nice to drive by the farms and see the corn growing, and the drive there and back gives us a chance to unwind.  It hasn't been very nice to the gas tank--driving there and back every day.  Our van can sit in the driveway for a week or more without being driven normally.  It is really nice when I can go a whole month and only fill up once.  Unfortunately that doesn't happen much in the summer.

When I haven't been at swimming, I've been doing things around the house, and starting to think about lessons again.  I usually try to have some sort of schedule for lessons, but this year I'm having a bit of trouble deciding how to do things.  I think I may try more of a flow schedule than an organized one.  I am thinking of rearranging our subjects and am not sure how much time I will need for each subject, and when to make a break in things so we don't have our noses to the books all day.  I am also trying to decide what subjects I need to do every day and which ones can go on alternate days.  I am still planning a four-day heavy on the academics, with Friday continuing to be our foreign language, lapbook and home economics day.

I'm also trying to come up with an organized plan for doing chores, keeping the house clean and tidy, and some time for me to plan menus, do budget, and other necessities of life.  The children can do so much now, and I am trying to figure out which things no longer need my constant help and immediate supervision.  I don't want to schedule everything down to the minute so that if something gets out of line I get stressed, but we need to have a general flow so the right stuff gets done.

Boo is ready to give up the Little Tykes desk that was in his room.  In its place we plan to put a folding table for an additional space to do school.  Right now, all the books are stored downstairs in the living room and dining room, but we do most of the actual work in Belle's room.  Her table isn't huge, and if I am actively teaching one of them it is too distracting for the other to be working on something else beside their sibling.  So having a table in Boo's room for them to work at independently will be very good.  A folding table is something that can be put away when we have to put an air mattress up for visitors.  The children's bedrooms are not very big so we have to make the best use of the space we have.  It will be really nice not to have to send a child downstairs to do their independent work.  (What we are going to do for a chair is something I haven't thought about yet.)

I'm sitting on the couch with my feet up because they hurt, and now my battery is running down, so guess I'd better get this posted.

I don't blog on Sundays, so the question was to blog before the event or after it?

Tomorrow I will have been married to my best friend for 12 years!  The years have gone so fast!  In some ways it seems like it was yesterday--that 105 degree heat in Portland.  It was so hot I wanted to find a fan and stand in front of it.

We went away in Western clothing, complete with boots and hat!  It was such fun surprising our families with our outfits. 

Each year with him has gotten better, and I look forward with the hope of many more.

Grandma and Grandpa are up.  One of the first things my Dad said to me was "We need to use your kitchen.  We brought strawberries to make jam."  They had arrived mid-afternoon, and I was thinking about dinner, so my first thought was "Now?".  But it was decided to do it after dinner was cleaned up and the children were in bed.

So after dinner we topped strawberries by the seeming millions and made jam.  It is my first time making anything but freezer jam, so I learned a lot.  I did make freezer jam, as we had more than enough berries for one batch of jam.  We had also had strawberry shortcake for dessert.

The children are in swimming lessons these two weeks.  Today it was thundering and raining so the kids had a "dry" lesson, coloring and learning safety things.  I hope they can swim tomorrow--especially since our town's pool has developed a leak, so I have to drive 15 minutes to the next town for lessons.

I'm toast tonight.  I have 12 things already on my list for tomorrow, and that doesn't count the little stuff, so I'd better think about heading to bed.

I have been having trouble getting into a routine since we stopped our formal lessons for the month of July.  I seem to be forgetting things I usually do, and I feel generally disorganized.  I still use a list, but that doesn't help a whole lot when I forget to write things down.  One can only hope this problem will resolve itself once our lessons start back up....if it doesn't I'll really be in trouble!

It isn't that I'm getting nothing done.  I've worked on the basement--tidying up and getting rid of garbage that builds up over the winter--you know, those empty boxes that you have to take to recycle because they won't pick them up at the curb, and the overflowing garbage basket in the laundry area.  I've worked on the school area; and although it isn't quite done yet, it does look better.  I've worked on the computer--organizing and catching up with our finances.  I've worked on the file cabinet--and I've only got half a drawer left to do--and it looks TONS better!

It is the stuff I haven't done that seems to glare at me--the childrens' untidy bedrooms, the disorganized shopping list, the laundry (I'm out of routine because we were away), the meals (because my shopping list isn't organized, and because I would rather clean than cook most of the time), the weeds in the yard, the stuff in the garage and on the porch that needs to be gone through, and the general clutter in the house.

On the positive side, the children are helping a lot more!  Right now they are with their father, raking up the cut grass at the church.  Both help load and unload the dishwasher, Belle can put soap in and start it now, and they do help with the picking up of stuff.  Of course now they make more mess too because we aren't doing lessons every day.  But they do work hard.

Well, I'd best be off to do something--before I have to make dinner.  Anyone else suffer from increased fuzzy thinking in the summer?

Needless to say, it has been a busy month!  I don't know where to start, really, so I'll start at the beginning.

The second week of June, we had visitors.  One of the families we met on our travels last summer repaid the visit.  We had such a relaxing time of fellowship with them that I was sad to see them go.  Belle got lots of practice caring for a baby, including changing diapers.  She was ecstatic!  I thought she did very well.  Our friends have three little boys, the youngest being about 3 months old. 

We had prepared the main meals and frozen them ahead of time, so I had lots of time to sit and visit and relax without having to worry about major meal preparation.  I used a lot of that time to get started on a knitting project.  It is a blanket, and I get to use circular needles--a first for me.  My friend knits too, so when the baby was sleeping or being held by Belle, she had a chance to knit also.

Right after they left, we had Friday and Saturday to prepare for our trip to our annual church meetings and family camp.  This year it was held in Southern Indiana.  We left early Monday morning, and drove as far as the nearest Cabela's store!  We browsed there and had supper, and then went to a nearby motel where we had a swim before going to bed.  That was a highlight of the trip for the children.

The next day we traveled to the State Park where we stayed in the lodge for the remainder of the week.  It was great to get together with friends and fellow-minister's wives for a few days.  The children played in the newly opened water park and had a great time.  It was funny to see the children Boo's age.  It took them nearly the entire week to start talking to each other.  The women pulled some late nights catching up too--and it didn't take us as long to warm up either.

On the way back, we stopped to visit my sister and nephews.  Had a nice visit with them over the space of about one and a half days, and then drove on to a place about 3 hours from home where we spent a night with friends who formerly attended our church. We had a great time with them also!

It was a great trip, and while I am glad to be sleeping in my own bed at night, I have lots of happy memories.  Now I am back to the "too much to do, too little time" schedule of summer.

That's it in a nutshell.  You now know where I've been lately.  With limited internet access on the trip, I just didn't have time to blog.

We've had a squirrel climbing up our window screen to get at our window feeder.  I have tried several times to get to the camera before it spotted me, but haven't been really successful.  I am not sure how to discourage it, but thought a flash going off in its face might help.  I really have no desire to take the screen out, since the weather is supposed to give us a taste of summer, and I do not want the bugs inside.  Any suggestions will be welcome.

We are winding down our school year.  Boo finished phonics--at least as much as I plan to do this year.  All of the lessons we didn't finish (about 10) are repeated in next years phonics, so I am not worried.  He was a bit disappointed to not finish the book--wonder where he gets that from?  But I am not thrilled about picking it back up at the end of June to finish.  The children will both continue to work on math over the summer, taking a break here and there for visitors, trips and swimming lessons.

My list of summer to-do's feels about a mile long, especially considering that most of this month will be taken up with visitors and a trip.  My back still gets tired easily, and I find I can't lift boxes around without feeling some discomfort.  That has limited my ability to do some things.  I have sorted most of two file cabinet drawers (out of four). I would like to say that job is done, but I have half a drawer left to finish.  The other two drawers are full of office supplies, and my husband's files--which I don't touch if I can help it.   I have packed a box of curriculum to post to a friend to sell.  Today I rearranged my closet ( a triangular space under the eaves), and was able to get some additional file boxes into it.  And for the first time in two years-I can close the door!  I also put the piles of study books that have built up in the bedroom into a box where my husband can get at them, but where they are semi-contained for the sake of our visitors next week.  Unfortunately the box is presently sitting in the middle of the room for lack of a place to put it.  And the middle of the room will be holding a playpen next week.

I'm really trying to focus more on what I have done than what I have to do--because when I look at the list, I get discouraged.  Gotta remember that my family is more important than living in a perfectly organized house--and while I don't think I am a perfectionist, I do like to be able to find things easily.  Some days I think I should just forget about cleaning, and hug the kids.  They grow up so fast.

Now I'm really rambling...If I catch the squirrel in the act, I will post pictures.

Sorry I couldn't make the M & M's start with a B.  But I sit here munching as I type.  For some reason I have been craving them like anything lately--like for a couple of months.  Not chocolate in general, but M & M's in particular--and the most frustrating thing is that you can't find big bags of them up here.  It is just too easy to eat an entire 150 g. bag in two days!  In a few minutes the children will be down, begging the rest of them from me.  I like chocolate, but I don't eat it like my dear husband does, and not in the same quantities--until maybe lately.  Oh well, pretty soon it will be too warm and they will melt in my hands and on my desk.  Maybe they won't hold the same appeal then.

I finally got out for an early morning walk.  I took my binoculars, and was delighted to see both the Common Yellowthroat and the Yellow Warbler.  I had seen and identified both of these in the same area last year, and was waiting for their return.  I rarely carry both my camera and the binoculars, and I don't think my camera is good enough to take photos as far away as these birds were.

On another note, my back has been acting up again the last few days.  It is a good excuse to give the children some additional training on loading and unloading the dishwasher, as I am supposed to bend as little as possible.  I do hope that my housecleaning restrictions will be lifted by the weekend, as I prefer my method of vacuuming to anyone else's.

On the bright side, however, I have not had any headaches like my regular migraines since I started the new med!  If we have finally found a solution, I will be very happy.

It has been a very nice week so far.  I did spend Monday trying to conquer last week's Mt. Washmore, and I am delighted to say that after washing, drying and putting away six loads, I got on top until tomorrow--when I need to wash sheets.  I also baked bread from scratch, made stew in the crockpot, and brownies from a mix--all in preparation for my brother's visit.

He arrived late afternoon, and while we miss his dear wife (she is away on a trip with friends), we are enjoying his visit immensely!  I have listened to stories of life overseas in the evenings, and the children have enjoyed building long long Lego trucks and renovating their Lego house with their Uncle.  We also worked on filling in/evening out the bumpy back yard.  Today we have plans to do a little bit of shopping--since the weather has not been conducive to taking the children for long walks or on a bike ride.

I've been to the Dr. again about the migraines, and we have opted to try a preventative (hopefully) medication rather than a traditional migraine med.  I have a month or two (barring any problems) to see if this works before I have to go and see her again.

It has been nice to take a few days off formal lessons and to let the children have some life lessons--getting to know an Uncle they haven't seen much in the past four years.  In my spare time I have been working on some projects around the house--sorting recipes, and organizing ebooks on the computer.  I would also enjoy an evening cross-stitching if I get a chance.

It has been ages since I've blogged.  So many other things to do, so little time! 

Highlights of this week:  Boo lost his first tooth.  The adult tooth had already pushed through the gum behind his tooth and was pushing it out.  He was so surprised when I pulled it (after we'd wiggled it for days) and it didn't hurt!  His sister had been warning him "If you pull it too early, it hurts"--the voice of experience. For me-- my baby is really growing up..!

The other highlight was getting to see my brother again after nearly four (is that right?) years.  They have been overseas and are back for a planned six-month leave.  We drove down to the city on Monday, and the four of us spent two nights in their wee one-bedroom apartment.  We had a great time with them, visiting, catching up on life and enjoying the children's happiness at being with an Auntie and Uncle.  Neither of them wanted to hold my hand whenever we went anywhere.

We got home on Wednesday and did a day of lessons yesterday and our usual Friday routine today.  Then I've been planning menus and trying to get the house picked up so I can clean tomorrow.  I also have a long list of projects that I want to tackle when lessons are lighter during the summer.  I've been doing a bit of sorting and discarding of stuff.  There is a lot more to do!  Ah life is so busy, but nicely so, at the moment.  The sunshine and spring weather is really helping.

Now to call the children down for their cross-stitch lesson.

I just realized that I am way behind on reading blogs again.  They are still not appearing regularly in my inbox, so the only ones I hit are the ones I have on Bloglines.  Still, I can't believe how busy life is these days!

Where does one start?  We've (mostly my DH) been working on the lawn the last two days.  When our roof got done in the fall our grass suffered greatly ( a very small price to pay).  So the weeds took over and the grass succumbed.  That has taken up much of any "spare" time around here.  Now I just hope the seeds take root and the grass grows before the weeds take over again.

Last week was another migraine week--five days in a row.  I finally gave in on Sunday and went to bed instead of to church.  I still had a headache Sunday evening, but by Monday morning it was finally gone.  I do tend to push myself through most of them--still have to eat, do laundry, and maintain some semblance of order to life. 

Really struggling with our schoolwork these days.  I feel ready for a break. But the children are doing so well now that I dislike the thought of stopping when we can still get stuff done.  We have a lot of stuff coming up in June though, so if I can keep things going this month, we will do much less next month.  I tried an upside-down day today, with our afternoon subjects in the morning, and our morning subjects (the most important ones) in the afternoon.  The benefit to that was that we actually got the afternoon subjects done--better than we've been doing a lot of the time lately.  We didn't get to many of the morning subjects though.  I do think I may keep doing that at least a couple of days a week, in hopes that we can make a bit more progress in history and reading before stopping for our summer break.

I've been feeling convicted about spending too much time on the computer and not enough time doing other things.  Unfortunately this conviction seems to have come at a time when I've had to be on the computer more than usual.  I use the computer to pay bills, plan lessons, do our budget, communicate with family, and last week I was listening to the Homeschool Expo online--at least the sessions that didn't conflict with other things.  Now I am busy downloading the audios I didn't get to hear.  Maybe next week I will be able to cut back. 

I had a wonderfully productive week last week, with a field-trip, several trips to town to drop off and pick up my husband at the bus (he had two trips last week), much cleaning and organizing around the house--doing things that don't have to be done every day, as well as doing our lessons. I even had a migraine one day and finished up morning school while lying on the couch.  It was a great week for getting things done.

This week has not started out the same at all.  In fact I think my brain is mush.  I can't think straight and can't seem to accomplish anything.  I don't feel like cooking tonight (a common complaint, unfortunately), so we are having frozen Scottish meat pies and beans--on the menu for this week, just not for tonight.  We've done lessons both Monday and today, and I did do all the laundry yesterday, so I must be getting something done.  It just doesn't feel like much, and my energy level has bottomed out. 

Since tonight's dinner is now on the menu for tomorrow at noon, I am contemplating letting the children have an easy morning, and trying to use the time to recharge my own batteries.  Then Belle can help me make lunch--for Home Ec.

I just answered the timer in the kitchen and was confronted with an open dishwasher partially filled with dirty dishes--evidence of today's distraction.  I started to fill it and then ended up doing something else--rabbit trails.  I know I'm not the only one who ever does this.  `Fess up folks!

Tuesday we went on a field trip to a nearby museum.  They are hoping to attract folks by hosting Home School Tuesdays periodically.  The name of this event was Pioneer Days.  The museum is in the process of building a pioneer village, and if they do everything they plan to do in the next ten years, it will be quite an impressive place.  They have a few buildings all ready, and we toured those after watching a short film about early settlers in this part of Canada.

The children had a great time, and so did I.  I think Boo's favorite part was the Blacksmith shop, and Belle's was getting to see the log cabin and log house.



     


After the tour we went to a local park with another family from church.  There we enjoyed a picnic lunch and a walk on some of the trails.  They also have some interesting birds to see.  We saw a peacock displaying his fan.  It was beautiful!  My photos don't do justice because of the bars of the cage.



An interesting note is that the Home School Tuesdays thing was so popular that they had to do two tours, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and they were both full!

I want to ditch afternoon lessons and do some project like cleaning, or washing windows, or sorting out a file cabinet.   I don't want to do lessons....but I really want to finish the SL week that we have been trying to finish for ages.  It will feel so good to get that done.

I am having trouble being interested in our history lessons lately.  I don't know if it is just me, or the time of year when I feel uninspired about school, but I'm about ready to shelve history until Fall.  But then the other part of me wants to get through what we're doing now into a time that I am more interested in.

Morning lessons have gone really well this week.  Boo has started Vocabulary lessons formally (he had been following along with us), and he is doing them mostly independently.  He also started a new handwriting book---in the middle--as that seems to be where he is at with his fine motor skills.  He is nearly ready to try cursive Italic.

Belle is excited about her new math level.  The kids even did two pages of math one day this week.  Her reading is coming along very well too.

I have been working on my own attitude lately.  I am not there yet, by any means, but I've been learning that I must give the control over our schedule and days to the Lord, and not to stress about what doesn't get done.  It is a constant fight when the house is messy but I don't have time to clean because I'm doing school. (Cleaning is a Saturday job around here.)  Or when I would much rather do something else than cook.  I need to have a more thankful heart--first that I am able to do it, and secondly that I have a family to do it for!  And complaining about it is not setting a good example for my daughter, who is rapidly growing up.

We went to Iowa last week.  Left home on Monday, and got back on Saturday.  For a couple of days I had no computer access.  The rest of the time, I was either too tired from driving, or too busy visiting to blog.  We had a great time with friends!  One of the highlights of the trip was getting to see my friend, MishinIA, who was so sick in December.  She looks great!--even better because I was afraid (back in December) that I might never get to see her again.

We spent most of a day together.  I really enjoyed getting to know her kids, and so did our kids.  The children played really well together.

Other highlights were going to the Science Center in Des Moines--counts as a field trip for the children, and getting together with the minister and his wife from the church there.  And of course, spending time with the friends we stayed with.

On Friday, on the trip home, Belle came down with a bug.  Fortunately her throwing up was done in the hotel bathroom and not the van.  She is better from that now, but seems to have a cold.  She wasn't feeling well again tonight.  The rest of us seemed to have mild versions of the same bug, but none of us are really sick.

Today was spent mostly catching up on laundry and on a trip to the dentist.  (As if we hadn't already spent enough in the past week!)  My husband and I both needed fillings replaced.  I had a slight problem in that the anesthetic wasn't adequate at first.  Ow!  The drilling sure hurt.  Fortunately I could communicate that, and he gave me some more anesthetic.  Now my jaw is just a bit sore.  Hopefully that will go away soon.   I've only had two cavities so far in my entire life, and interestingly enough, they were found when I had dental insurance....  I've since had to have both of them re-filled--when I didn't have insurance.

The other interesting thing was that I didn't miss the computer much at all.  Now I'm home, and swamped in email (I really am going to take myself off some lists very soon).  I like to keep up with blogs, but I just don't have time to read everything. 

Now I really need to try and figure out how much of our lessons we will attempt tomorrow.  I still have laundry to finish and other things to catch up on.  Trying not to be overwhelmed....

Wow!  Life has been busy!

We had a wonderful visit with my sister-in-law last week.  She arrived Monday evening and left on Friday morning.  Needless to say, I was too busy having fun to blog.  We went for walks, played with the children, ate, watched a DVD that my dear husband bought me, and talked, and talked.  We had a couple of years to catch up on, as they work in another country.

Saturday was the homeschool conference in our area.  A group of five of us ladies went down in our van, from our church congregation, and we met two others from our congregation there.  That was so much fun!  We had company on the drive and a chance to visit without interruptions from our children.  I found the conference very encouraging.  It was great to meet up with folk, and even a fellow blogger--Author Donna!  (So sorry I don't have a link just now.  Maybe I can edit later to add.)

On the way home we ladies stopped to have supper together.  What a nice ending to a wonderful day.

It isn't that anything earthshaking has happened.  For some reason I either haven't spent much time on the computer lately, or when I have, I've been trying to keep up with email.  I haven't been near my blog since just after I blogged the last time.

Life just seems crazy these days.  If I keep up with housework (and I'm having enough trouble doing that!), I get behind on the computer, and vice versa.

I'll just hit the main events since I've got only about five minutes until we should be tackling our afternoon lessons. 

I've been to the doctor twice in the past week--both times for minor infections.  Fortunately I haven't had to be on oral antibiotics at all.  The topical stuff seems to be working.  Both times I saw an on-call doctor, as it was over the holiday weekend.  Both doctors were good, and explained things well--the way I like it.  Today my regular doctor phoned to tell me she has samples of a migraine medicine for me--with the idea of not prescribing an expensive medicine unless we know it works for me.

Belle has finished a Math U See level!  This is a big accomplishment for her, and she is very excited about starting the next level, which we began this morning.

In general, we are struggling a bit with lessons.  Or rather, I am.  I am having a hard time being motivated in the afternoons.  We are getting something done every day, but not every subject every day.  I think I have Spring fever.  At least the most important subjects get covered in the morning.  And I hope the homeschool conference gives me a shot of encouragement.  It isn't that the children are struggling.  They seem to mostly enjoy the work they do.  The problem seems to be with me.

We have had more snow lately.  Winter is not over yet here.  But the blessing has been a greater frequency of bright and sunny days.  I like the longer days too.  And I like the fact that I can get out for walks in the morning again.  I went today, and slipped and slid on icy roads, but still managed to enjoy the outing.  I plan to post some pictures of the past few days and this morning.

It has been more than five minutes and I still want to upload some pictures...

 
 

She threw up only once last night and then slept for most of the night.

I, on the other hand, didn't.  Somewhere around 2 a.m. I woke up with a migraine.  With the fogginess of one just awakened, I thought it might "go away" if I just lay still.  An hour or so later it was much much worse.  I think it was one of the worst I have had recently.  I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs so I could eat a piece of bread and take some medicine.  Some time after that I found sleep.

This morning I woke up feeling wiped out.  Post-migraine fatigue, I guess.  I made it through breakfast and morning lessons, and gave up after lunch, choosing a nap over afternoon lessons.  I still don't feel totally myself, but hope that will improve after a walk in the rain tonight.  (Hopefully it won't pour while we are out.)

Tomorrow we all get to go to the dentist.  I predict pain in the pocketbook.  Some time after that I hope life will return to some semblance of normal--the normal that gives me nothing to blog about.

Three to go.  But I sure hope not!  Belle had a great day of lessons (we all did) and seemed fine all day.  After supper I noticed she didn't look herself at all.  She was a bit green around the gills and had a bit of a tummy ache.  No fever.  Sure enough, after lying down for a bit, she started throwing up.  Very sour tummy.  I can still hear rumbles.  I hope this isn't the beginning of a night of it.  Belle has always had trouble stopping once the vomiting starts.  Fortunately I have medicine on hand, and will give it to her if the throwing up persists.

I'd been looking forward all day to my walk with a friend.  Now I can look forward to it tomorrow. Lol.  Oh and I am hoping that no one else succumbs.  Dear husband has nursing home duty tomorrow and we all have dental appointments on Wednesday.  This could be an interesting week.

Gotta keep a sense of humour....

I had a legitimate reason for not blogging this week.  We went away for almost three days.  The previous two were busy with dinner guests one night and getting ready to leave the next day.

We had a lovely time with the Grandparents, and with the dear Auntie whom the children had not seen for something like 2 1/2 years.  Auntie I and Uncle N work overseas.  Auntie has come home a bit ahead of Uncle, who has stayed to finish up some work, and will be following in a month.  We look forward to seeing him also.

We went down on Wednesday morning and spent the afternoon (it is a three hour drive) with Grandma and Grandpa.  When we go down, we stay with them.  On Thursday we went to the home of Auntie's parents and had a lovely lunch and visit with them. 

Auntie I. brought lots of presents.  I will soon have some photos to post of the beautiful bedspread she brought us and the lovely Pashmina scarf/shawl she gave to me.  She brought Belle a beautiful outfit complete with shoes in the style worn in the country in which she works.  I've discovered that Belle is very photogenic, but as I don't post photos of the children, you will not be able to see her on my blog.  She had a great time dressing up in her new outfit.  Auntie also dressed her in clothes that she wears when she is there.

The highlight for me was seeing Belle's actions and face when she read the title of the book that Auntie brought her.  Belle has never been enthusiastic about books because she has had so much trouble learning to read.  However, when we were in Scotland we bought her a set of books on CD by one of my favorite childhood authors--Enid Blyton.  She loves them.  Auntie brought her the books.  Once she figured out the title she suddenly held the book to her chest with a look of pure joy!  And she is highly motivated to read it, on her own!  She was so proud when we got home that she had read the first page to herself in the car, that she told her grandparents when we called them.

Boo's favorite gift was the clay elephant "piggy" bank.  He has named it "Tembo".  Of course no one could let him take it home empty, so it has a few coins in it already.  It has pride of place on our mantel in the living room, since he has no shelf big enough to keep it safely in his room.

As all good times away come to an end, we left Friday morning to return home, via Costco of course.  The nearest Costco to us is inconveniently two hours away, so we make the most of our trips away.  I hadn't been to Costco since October.  We were out of everything we usually buy there.

Now it is back to reality--cleaning house today, church with dinner guests to follow tomorrow, and back to the books on Monday.  Oh well, spring is on the way, and so is our "local" homeschool conference.