The Swing of things

Coming up on the end of our 5th week of school and I finally feel like I've gotten my "school life" organized and under control...grade book partitioned, lesson plans done and classroom sufficiently decorated.  Unfortunately, I can not say the same for my "home life"!  The start of school is busy, in and of itself, but it seems that the past few weeks have had a variety of additional activities that have all but consumed my evenings and weekends!  You know, fun opportunities like the FAIR that I just can't pass up!  Laundry alone accounts for half of my "to do" list...I have a pile of laundry that is washed and folded, but needs to be put away, another pile that still needs to be folded, a pile of uniforms to iron and then there are those piles that still need to be washed.  Thankfully, I have a husband that is willing to put up with a bit of a mess and equally willing to help when I do finally decide to tackle it. 

I have taken an "it can wait" attitude, if in fact, it CAN wait.  Life is comprised of many choices and recently I have opted to spend time with my family and friends and do the "fun stuff" and let some of the work wait.  My husband and children are clean, well fed and hopefully happy so the fact that I have piles of laundry in various stages is not going to cause me more anxiety.  Look at the bright side...I have a washer and a dryer; I don't have to hand wash or wring out my clothes and I don't have to line dry them (if I don't want to!)   I know it's there and needs to be done, but why fret about it until I have time to take care of it? 

A verse keeps rattling around in my head:

"Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.  Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof."

                                                                          Matthew 6:34

God may not have intended the "evil" to be a housework, but the bottom line is... it will all get done and if I can't do it today, there is no point in mounding it all up until my "tomorrow" seems futile. Carpe Diem, right?

Fair Day!

If there is one thing I REALLY look forward to in the Fall, it's "Doin the Puyallup".  I absolutely love the fair and although my husband is a transplant here, he loves it too. (Just not as much as I do :)  We have begun the indocrination process of molding our children into fair-lovers, as well.  If you know me, you know I have a calendar and love to make plans.  The fair runs 17 days each year; opening on a Friday and running three full weekends with the two weeks in between.  So, each year we block out a few days because we know we are going to go to the fair more than once!

Our first trip was last Monday...I like to think of this as our "family barn time" because we have a "NO RIDES" rule when we go for this purpose.  We go to eat and looked through animal barns, nothing more, nothing less.  This year, there was a liter of piglets that had just been born that morning, which is a first for me at the fair!  It was amazing to look a few feet over at the 10-day-old piglets and see what a difference in size a little over a week could make. I love all the questions that kids can come up with when they are looking at animals.  Raymond's comment/question about the mother pig only being 2 years old was tabled for later discussion. And of course we ATE: corn dogs, curly fries, cotton candy, an elephant ear and more.

Our school always takes a fair day on a day that the Dizzy Pass (unlimited ride bracelet) is available and yesterday was that day.  We typically open and close the fair on Fair Day so last year I proposed that we give the students (and their families!) a break and have an hour late-start at school the morning after.  What do you know...my wish was granted!  We were running a little late yesterday and didn't get to the fair until about 10:30 (it opens at 10am) so we only had a short wait before the kids could start their rides.  And RIDE THEY DID!  We bought them each a ride bracelet and they were off!  For almost 12 hours, our kids rode the rides...they met up with various friends to go on rides and Kevin and I tag-teamed between Raymond (who goes on the really big, midway rides) and Zachary and Addison (who still prefer the tameness of Sillyville).  My legs and back can attest to the near-constant standing and walking.

Raymond on the Skydiver with his friend Jeremy...I wish you could see their expressions better!



Addison and Zachary have fun on the Sillyville Rides

I'm REALLY looknig forward to our next trip to the fair because it'll be my BIRTHDAY!  I'm planning to take the day off of work so  Kevin adn I can spend the WHOLE day at the fair...no kids :)



Accident Prone

"FOUR THINGS, Mom...can you believe it?  Four things this week" was the comment Zachary made to me yesterday.  What four things, you might ask?  I know I did...to which he replied with a little hand outstretched to count

1. I got bit a bunch of times by hornets

2. I got stung by two bees at school

3. Then there was my elbow and knee that I scraped when I fell down

4. and now THIS (and he holds up his emergency room, bandaged, hand that had been slammed in the door the night before by his little sister.  Luckily, it probably isn't broken (whole other story!)

"Four things happened to me mom...I must be getting tough!"

Awwww...my sweet, little Zach Attack... always finding some kind of mischief!   "Buddy," I said with a smile, "You forgot that you lost your tooth this week, too!"

So, I guess that makes 5 things, Zachary!