Long time, no blog...

I have been procrastinating (imagine that) updating for a few weeks now. I was busy, I needed to upload pictures, I need to take pictures of things to post on here, I've been reading, I've been working on projects...blah, blah, blah...procrastinating.



So, here is a quick rundown of recent goings on...some with pictures, some without.



Reading:



I read this last week:





It has to be one of, if not THE, best books I have ever read. Fantastic. If you enjoy reading, you should definitely read it. It stuck with me for days, and I now find myself reading about old circus' on the internet.



(Funny thing, Mark's grandfather was in the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus in the 20's. There was a picture of a Hagenbeck-Wallace circus train car from that time period in the book. Kind of cool.)



After reading Water For Elephants, I began reading:


I am on the second in the series now. It is a bit graphic and definitely not for the squeamish or those with...delicate sensibilities. If I had known the extent of the...questionable parts...I probably wouldn't have began reading the series. But, alas, (love that word...so underused the word "alas) I am now sucked into the plot and MUST know what. happens. next. If you choose to begin reading the Outlander books, don't say I didn't warn ye. Oh, another thing to be aware of...halfway through the first one, you will find yourself calling your kids "lads" and "lassies", replacing "you" with "ye" and speaking with a hearty lilt.



Moving on.



Since this adorable kindergartner :



is busy at school 5 days a week, doing things like learning to read (she is a whiz at phonics already), being the caboose (she prefers being the flag person or the bible person) and memorizing scripture (their first "memory verse" was actually several verses...the Lord's Prayer...the first week of school), I am spending lots of time with this wee little lassie (forgive me, I know it's dorky, I. just. can't. resist.) :

We go to the bakery for breakfast...mmm...banana muffins a few times a week. We go to gymnastics one morning a week (look for her at the summer Olympics 2018). And, we read. She has a stack of books that she goes through while I read mine.

As for projects, I have spent the last few weeks redoing Forrest's room. It turned out awesome. It is actually my favorite room in the house right now. Pictures to come. I am waiting on my ever busy husband to hang a few shelves and then it will be complete and photo ready.

Working on the oh-so daunting task of switching the girls' warm weather clothes to cool weather clothes and taking inventory. Bleh.

Planning a scavenger hunt for the youth group at church. Mark and I won't be here the weekend of the hunt...we'll be celebrating my...birthday. (Don't ask which one, I'm not dealing with it very well at the moment, even though I have been told repeatedly that it's not "old", "bad", etc...I am not convinced). ...

...Where was I...scavenger hunt...yes...the kids will be split up into teams with an adult chaperon/driver and a video camera. They will get points for things like...getting fire safety info from the fire hall-10 points, having their picture take with a fireman-10 bonus points, picture taken with fireman IN firetruck-30 bonus points. Silly things like that. Fortunately, Forrest is staying with some friends of ours from church while we are out of town, so he will get to participate.

Speaking of Forrest. He is totally pumped right now. He's in a Christian rock band at church and they will be playing at the youth revival the weekend of the scavenger hunt. The band is also playing for the youth choir. He was asked last week to begin practicing with the musicians so that he can play the bass during praise and worship on Sundays. Very cool.

Hmm. Hmm. Hmm. I think that about covers things for now.

Contentment Disorder

Things have been on the busy side around here. I'm sure it's the same for everyone though... dental appointments, check-ups, orthodontic appointments, clothing shopping, school supply shopping...all mixed in with the "normal" things we have to do.

I know this happens every year, but it seems so much more hectic this time. Well, actually, it hasn't ever happened quite like this because...(1) Forrest didn't have his braces this time last year and (2) I could schedule Chloe's appointments at any time I wished...I didn't have to think about taking her out of school to do her regular "Healthy Child Maintenance". Hmmm...it makes much more sense now.

Next year, I will schedule all of these appointments in July, not in the 3 days before school starts.

I remember way back in May thinking "I can't wait until school is out. I won't have to get up early, we can hang out at the pool, the kids and I will have so much fun" etc.

And, other than our vacation last week, and a few other relatively calm moments (that I can't seem to recall now, but am sure happened) in the last two and a half months...I have spent many, many moments thinking "I can't wait until school starts back. We'll get into a routine, there will be quiet moments in my day again, I'll be able to get a few projects accomplished, and things will be normal".

I think I may need to meditate on that scripture that says to be content in whatever state I'm in. Yep, need some work in the ole' "content department". I definitely think that I fall into the "restless, looking forward to the next state" category.

I wonder if there is an actual term for that, like, Contentment Disorder. Hmmm.

Officially rambling now... so, I leave you with a few more pictures from vacation....