What I Learned In 2010

I took a little time to skim through my posts this year and discovered I learned a thing or two about myself. Here goes...

1. I made two resolutions last year - TWO! - and did not even come close to meeting either one of them.
2. My grandpa was a pretty great man. I already knew this, but I was reminded of that this year even more.
3. My four year old thinks he's allergic to light. He also thinks he doesn't have to obey when he's sick, and that all people in nursing homes look like they are "about to go to heaven". I think I will avoid visiting nursing homes with him for a few years yet.
4. It is a MISERABLE feeling to lose your wedding ring, but, oh, the JOY that follows when you find it!
5. Writing curriculum for a computer class is about the least favorite things I've ever done, and I've done a lot of not-very-fun things. Mind you, I did not say that my computer CLASS is my least favorite, just writing the curriculum. Let's not get those two things confused. (Next quarter I may just teach them how to create a blog, so one can never be too careful!)
6. I am nearly the last person left on earth under 50 (possible slight exaggeration) who does not have internet access on their phone.
7. I must have been D.R.E.A.M.I.N.G when I wrote my 40 before 40 list. Maybe 40 before 80. More like "40-I-wish-I-could-maybe-possibly-accomplish-sort-of-before 80.
8. Summer was BUSY. No wonder it flew by so quickly.
9. At first I thought this was a fairly "typical" year, but I was wrong -- school accreditation, new neighbors moved in across the road, serving on another accreditation team, my grandfather passed away, my brother moved to Oregon, I started teaching two classes at the very last minute, 7 week maternity leave sub...no wonder I'm tired.
10. Bye Bye 2010!!

997

....And when the "last" piece was put in place, we had this.


Just in case you didn't catch that, here is a closer view of two of our little issues.

I cannot describe in words my feelings at that moment.

We started scouring the floor with an intensity unseen since....well, since I lost my wedding ring last month.

Thankfully the search did not last terribly long, or you may have personally heard my screams at whatever location you live on planet Earth.

Tada. Complete. Finished.

We are currently walking around in a post-puzzle daze trying to figure out what we are supposed to do now.

The Christmas Puzzle

I love puzzles. I have been waiting for my boys to get old enough to start the "family puzzle" tradition at Christmas.

My plan was 500 pieces or less, so of course, the only one we liked was the 1,000 piece puzzle.

The boys unwrapped the puzzle tonight.

And in less than 5 minutes.....

Bah humbug. So much for family time.

On the other hand, this may have been the most time my husband and I have had all week to hold a decent conversation. Maybe this plan will work out better than I originally thought.

Unless we never find that missing edge piece. Then we may lose our minds.

HELP

Things I should be doing:
*Writing Finals
*Finishing our Christmas letter
*Mopping the floor
*Creating Spelling Units
*Finishing a scrapbook (it's a gift I need to mail.....yesterday would have been ideal)
*Writing rubrics for projects
*Dusting
*Figuring out what to make for dinner.

What I am doing instead:
*Sitting on the couch
*Blogging
*Reading
*Talking on the phone

Someone please send me some motivation - NOW!!

First Christmas Program

My four year old had his preschool Christmas program yesterday. I had no idea what to expect. I would not have been shocked if he would have cried through the entire thing. I would also not have been shocked if he would have run circles around everyone on stage while making obnoxious pig noises.

I did not expect this.

Pure boredom.

Is he really yawning? At first I thought he was actually singing, but I am pretty sure he did not have a solo. The other kids have the actions going on, but it doesn't seem to be a singing moment.

But hold on to your hats (or in this case, stars), because nothing ends boredom like glittery stars! I wish I had the time and talent to post a video of this, because his star had to moving at roughly 100 mph in a 30 mph zone.

And just for the cuteness factor, check out these reindeer hats. Guaranteed to make your nose itch so you will swat at the ball 54 times during "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer".

On a side note, I believe every kid's Christmas program should have have a staff member completely in charge of clothing. Her title could be "Director of Making Sure the Children Arrive On Stage Looking the Same as when their Parents Dropped them Off." I spent ten painful, grueling minutes getting that shirt tucked in just right. The poor child will be devastated when he realizes no one saw that amazing belt he was so proud of.

But, all in all, it was a fantastic program!

All 16 minutes of it!

In complete seriousness, kudos to those who made it all happen. It takes a special person with a special talent to teach preschool....and still smile!

Signs

See that little sign? I love that little sign. It has changed my life.

Well, that may be overstating it a little bit, but I like to celebrate the small things.

On one side is the name of one child. On the other side is the name of the other. Whoever's name is up will be unloading the dishwasher the next time it is ready.

We've been at this for 5 weeks and it is STILL WORKING. Stop laughing, five weeks is a long time.

It's not that they love it. It's not that they never complain. However, it is not a fight, or a whine-fest. They know it's the system and it's just the way it is.

I may just hang signs all over my house. I'm thinking the washer/dryer, the toilets, the windows, the vacuum sweeper.......this could get interesting.

The Christmas Chain

In 2008, I started what I thought would be a fun, memorable Christmas tradition. My son and I made an old fashioned Christmas chain, one link for each of the 24 days of December leading up to Christmas. On each link I wrote an activity for the boys to do as we counted down to Christmas. The kids were excited, and all in all, it turned out to be pretty successful.


Last year I tried this again. We did some of the activities....Christmas lights, gingerbread house, the 18 hour reindeer cupcakes....but I'm pretty sure that there were still 10-12 links left hanging in the boys' room on Dec. 25. Not so successful.


This year I was debating whether or not to create the Christmas chain. It does not really thrill me to do things halfway.


Then my 4 yo started having meltdowns everywhere he went - preschool, Sunday school, kid's church, etc. When his preschool teacher talked to him about what was upsetting him, he mentioned Christmas and not being able to wait. She told him she was SURE his mom would be doing some things with him to get ready for Christmas and make waiting easier.


Break out the construction paper.

The chains are made.

Chains (plural) - because, of course, each child had to have their own. They give a beautiful finishing touch to the "Blessing Tree" - a.k.a. the tree in the corner filled with pictures of my children glued to tin can lids and puzzle pieces (the pictures are glued, not the children).

Here's the current status on the chain:

*Dec. 1 - "Make Snowflakes To Decorate Bedroom Window" - Snowflakes are made, still sitting on the kitchen counter.

*Dec. 2 - "Make Christmas Placemats" - My 4 year old got very into this. His is super cute. My 8 yo chose to play the wii and wanted to 'do it later'. Later has not yet occurred.

*Dec. 3 - "Frost Christmas Cookies" - Much more fun to eat than frost!

*Dec. 4 - "Watch a Christmas Movie" - I was shopping all weekend with friends, so I thought this would be easy for my husband. My oldest child insisted we needed to watch one as a family for it to 'count'. Sounds like passive-aggressive let's-punish-mom-for-going-shopping.

*Dec. 5 - "Christmas Maze" - Again....gone shopping....easy.

*Dec. 6 - "Dip Chocolate Pretzels" - Yum!

*Dec. 7 - "Make Something for Music Teacher" - I keep trying to figure out how to get my children to think of others instead of themselves. The Christmas Program was that night, so it seemed appropriate to make a card or something simple for my son's music/piano teacher. Unfortunately, we opened that chain link AFTER the program.

*Dec. 8 - "World Vision" - I honestly think this was my 8 year old's favorite day so far. It was mine too. We sat down with the magazine last night and looked at all of the things you can give for Christmas....farm animals, fruit trees, clean water, school supplies, clothes......he was amazed by the "gifts" listed. After much discussion, he chose fruit trees. It made me smile, because soccer balls were a choice too.

I'm pretty sure it will be the best gift we give this year.

Underground....Sort Of

Do you see those children playing at the end of the driveway?

No?

Me either!

But they are there, along with the blissful silence of them playing.....in the culvert.

It is the new secret hideout for my children and the neighbor boys.






There is one....although not mine.





Two.....




And four.....and a dog. I'm relatively sure that the dog was not in there with them. But not positive.

Apparently culverts are very warm when you sit (lay?) (roll up like a roly poly?) on one blanket and use two more blankets to cover each end.

Can that be safe?

They don't really care, because it's FUN!

They also think putting a plastic bag over their heads is fun.

I really hope the boys' mother does not think this was my idea.

Lost and Found

Nearly two weeks ago I lost my wedding ring.

We had looked in every room, in the washer and dryer, in the vehicles, under the bed, in all the dresser drawers in our room, in the jewelry box, in my purse, at school, in the cedar chest, in the laundry basket, in the closet....

Last night my 8 year old found my ring.

It was in his pajama drawer.

Isn't that exactly where you keep your jewelry?

I think this obviously means that putting away laundry should never be my responsibility.

My husband thinks I should just get my ring resized.

I'm pretty sure I am not going to win this one.

Getting Into Character

When I walked out of my bedroom first thing this morning, my 4 year old was sitting on the couch looking like this.

So I said, "Well, good morning, pilgrim."


I expected laughter. Instead, in deadpan seriousness, I got, "I am NOT a pilgrim."

Of course not. My mistake.


Ten minutes later:

"So, are you not an Indian either?"

"NO. I am a PRETEND Indian."

That was my first guess.

Cleaning Day

Today is cleaning day. There is no way I will get everything done that I need to (especially when I take time out to do things like write a blog post), but I have no plans, no agenda, and no reason to leave the house today. That, combined with the fact that I still have not found my wedding ring, made today THE DAY.

I have discovered, or possibly more accurately stated, I have been reminded of a few small issues that I have.

1. I have come to hate stickers. When I began my teaching career, I loved stickers. Little kids love stickers, even high schoolers love stickers, so I aimed to please by happily stickering their papers at school. Here's the deal: that is where the stickers should stay. AT SCHOOL. Today I have found stickers on their beds, on the dressers, in the carpet, on their clothes (after being washed and dried - ARG!!), and on their toys.

2. On that same note, I despise sticky-tack. The "thing" that wouldn't vacuum up off the boys' bedroom floor? Yep, sticky-tack. Ground in, stuck, not going anywhere. Here in a few minutes, my children are going to learn a hard and painful lesson about using sticky-tack. After that, the use of it by children will be forbidden and will be punished on the same level as if they were to purposefully set fire to the house.

3. Cheap toilet bowl cleaner stinks. Not as in smells bad....well, that too....but spend the money, people! It is just one more lesson in 'you get what you pay for'.

4. The vacuum cleaner does not work very well when the attachable hose is still connected to the 'attachment tools' device. Too bad I had vacuumed an entire room before I figured that out.

5. Eight hours gone and still no ring. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Someday

Someday I will get to pray during church without having to keep one eye open.....

Someday I will be able to walk across my house without being disgusted at all the toys laying around....

Someday I will not worry all morning whether or not my son is crying for his teacher at preschool.....

Someday I will get to sit through an entire sermon and actually know what the pastor is saying the entire time....

Someday I will get caught up on the laundry.....

Someday the backseat of the car will be clean......

Someday I will not have grimy fingerprints all over the walls....

.......Someday I will have to wait up late wondering if my son will make curfew.

.......Someday I will long for the days when the continual fighting over toys was the biggest issue of the day.

.......Someday I will miss the noise and constant chatter of little people.

.......Someday I will wonder what I thought was so hard about parenting young children.

.......Someday I will wish I could give anything to have my 4 year bounce up in my arms, kiss me on the cheek, and say, "I love you, mommy."

.......Someday I will want to turn back time and start all over again.

Not My Greatest Moments

Although Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and we are supposed to be focusing on things we are thankful for, I cannot help but recognize that I have had several not-so-glorious moments lately. In fact, a few have dropped me right smack-dab in the "bad mom/bad wife" category.

**My 4 yo has been having a hard time lately. I noticed a change in his behavior the last 2 weeks of my sub job, but I thought things would get better as soon as I was home more. Instead, things are worse.

Here are some quotes from the email his preschool teacher sent me today...."I pulled him aside and had little talk with him about what was upsetting him. He said he did not like change and not knowing what is going on."

Great. That makes me feel good.

"Then he told me he was upset that he did not know what we were having for snack, so I told him what it was."

Great. Now his preschool teacher probably thinks I don't feed him.

"I did ask if he was worried about Thanksgiving coming and he said no. But he was worried about Christmas. It was too long of a wait and he did not know what he was his gifts will be."

OK, that just makes me laugh.

**I have discovered that my son can sing the entire theme song word-for-word of Dinosaur Train, Sid the Science Kid, and Martha Speaks; however, he does not know a complete verse of "Jesus Loves Me".

**Last night I loaded all my pictures in so I could order them and begin working on my scrapbooks over the holidays. I quickly realized that the only two events I have documented since August are my son's birthday and Halloween. No first day of school pictures, no soccer pictures, no fall outdoor pictures. I'm considering restaging the first day of school. I'm sure no one would notice.....

**My 8 yo has a major attitude. His new favorite phrase is, "Oh, come on!", which by now makes me want to pull out my fingernails one by one. Better mine than his, I guess.

*And the worst one...I have lost my wedding ring. We were planning to get it resized next week when we went shopping, and I haven't seen it since Wednesday. I have now looked everywhere it could logically be (other than the only two places I keep it - in the jewelry box and on my finger), and so far, no ring. I am beginning to panic.

But....In the spirit of Thanksgiving....I am thankful that I have not yet received one of these:

Uh...........

From the 4 year old: "Moooommmmm......why do I have to clean in here? It looks clean to me!!"

WHERE, OH WHERE, DID I GO WRONG????

Balance

I've been pondering this word lately.

I've decided that I am a messed up mix of incredibly balanced and not even close all at the same time.

I love balance in my life. I like not too loud, but not too quiet. I don't like to be stuck at home all the time, but I don't always want to be on the run either. A little craziness, a little silliness.

I like balance when it comes to finances. All spending recorded, always aware of what is coming in and going out, checkbook balanced to the penny.

I want balance for my kids. I desire for them to be "sheltered" (although I hate that word) enough to protect them, but not so much that they don't learn how to function in the "real world" (another phrase I'm not so fond of).

However, there seem to be some areas of continuous struggle when it comes to this thing called balance.

Bottom line -- I want to do too much.

I want to be everything to everyone, and we all know how that turns out. I end up being not great for anyone.

I love my husband, kids, friends, job, and church.....which leads me to taking on a bit too much on occasion.

Or possibly a lot too much most of the time.

I may not be so great at balance, but I am the queen of justification. I can always figure out why it would be okay to say yes to whatever situation I am pondering at the moment. I usually have a very valid point, and can put together a great argument. I'm not sure my husband is ever quite as convinced as I am, but he is gracious in his rebuttals.

So here's where I am stuck. I have identified the problem, which means I am no longer in denial, but I have absolutely no idea what to do about it.

I guess until I figure out how to balance, I am going to have to stick with "NO".

Need a babysitter? No thanks.
A substitute? Not today.
Help with something? Sorry.
Oh, you want dinner? Nah.

I'm liking this new plan already.

I'll let you know how it goes.

BOY VS. CHAIR

CHAIR WINS.

The Daily Schedule*

Get up.
Shower.
Rush, rush, rush.
Out the door.
Teach.
Plan.
Grade.
Teach.
Teach.
Teach.
Teach.
Grade.
Grade.
Plan.
Say "Hi" to my family.
Grade.
Plan.
Fall into bed.
Repeat.

*Some content may be slightly exaggerated for effect. We do still eat.

What Plan?

I have never really liked change.

I like a plan. With details. Preferably several days or months ahead of time.

I had a plan. It included a leisurely work schedule, time to get my house in order, 2 entire days and 2 other entire afternoons each week to get things done.

This plan has changed.

Things happen.

We readjust.

I will form a new plan. It will include things like working at least part of every day, making lesson plans, grading, covering a maternity leave, working full time for at least six weeks, and a bit less free time.

OK, a lot less free time.

Don't get me wrong. I was not held at gunpoint and forced to make this new plan.

I got to choose. And I chose it.

So I'm honestly not complaining, I'm readjusting.

There are many things I like about the new plan.

And a couple of things I don't.

Apparently it's time for me to grow again, and I'm OK with that.

I just hope it doesn't hurt too much.

This Week

Sometimes I have weeks like this....

And this.

Now and then things work out well......

And if I'm really lucky the week looks like this.

But sometimes, like this week, life gets rocky and I feel like this....

And definitely like this.....

And, at moments, like this...

And this.

It's moments like these I need a lot more of this....

And am ever so thankful to have a lifetime of THIS.

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

We have never been very good neighbors. In our first house, we made a half-hearted attempt to say hi when coming and going. In our second house, the rest of the neighbors were already very good friends with each other, and we were both working like crazy and were rarely home. Our third (and current) home is in the country. The perfect place for people like us, the neighborly-inept.


A few days after we moved in, our "neighbors" down the road a mile brought us some amazing chocolate and peanut butter bars. These are our kind of neighbors! Great cooks, welcoming, and down the road a ways.

Let me pause here to reiterate that it is not that we don't WANT to be good neighbors. We are not cold-hearted, and we really do like to be invested in other people's lives. In fact, when we had new neighbors move in next door at our old house, I even baked them a pie - from scratch! We took it over, introduced ourselves, and welcomed them to town. They looked at us like we had twelve heads.

So, back to the story....a few days after the chocolate and peanut butter neighbors came by, the neighbor across the road came over. This would be the neighbor whose dogs clawed my front windows the very first time I browned hamburger on the stove. Instead of bearing gifts of delicious food, she drove into our driveway and laid on the horn until one of us emerged from the house. I, of course, sent my husband. Turns out, she did not want to welcome us, she needed help with her propane tank.

Last year that neighbor moved away. The house sat empty for quite some time, and then a new family moved in a few weeks ago. This new family is Mennonite - the black cap, girls in dresses, boys in jeans kind of Mennonite. This is not a problem for us at all. In fact, it's great. They are incredibly nice. That, and no loud parties, no wondering what kind of influence the kids will be on my kids, no laying on the horn in the driveway.

However, this has caused a few moments of questioning for me. Issue #1 - what do you take to welcome this family to the neighborhood? A pie was out of the question. These people practically invented pie-making. Fresh produce from the garden? Rats, it was too late in the summer. Wine and cheese? Eh, probably not.

We settled on good old fashioned cookies. We made a batch, called them up, and traipsed across the road to say hi. They invited us in, we chatted for awhile, and both of us said how each other's boys (their youngest two are 10 and 7) were welcome to come over and play.

It has been great for my kids to have friends to do stuff with. But here-in lies issues #2, 3, 4....and so on. I have to wonder, what on earth do these neighbor boys think about their friends who (gasp) wear shorts? And worse then that, what about their friends' mom who does too?

I'm also wondering when my 4 year old is going to shout, "Hey, look at me! I'm shakin' my bootie!" Or when my boys are going to ask them to play guns or sword fighting, or ask them to come in and watch Scooby Doo (can they do that?). All this play time is leaving me with a heap of worry of how my kids might offend them.

Thankfully, so far, so good. The boys have kept things on common ground - baseball, swinging, bike riding, and the neighbor boys even introduced my kids to a ripstik, which, and I quote, "Is all the rage at our school right now. Everybody has one."

My kids are having a great time. Me? I'll be in my closet over-analyzing every piece of clothing I own to see if it's appropriate for walking out on my front porch.

Time Marches On

I have discovered that defining a brother/sister relationship is a very difficult task. My brother's recent move has prompted several questions lately from my friends. Were you two close growing up? Are you close now? Do you talk a lot? Are you sad he's moving? These questions have caused me to reminisce and walk down memory lane.


Were we close growing up? Ummm....I'm gonna go with "no" on this one. Unless you count lots of fighting, drawing lines down the middle of the backseat of the car to distinguish "my side" and "your side", and an immeasurable number of "I'm telling on you!"'s as CLOSE. Close to killing each other maybe. But, I do think we were typical. Find me a brother and sister nearly five years apart in age who did not do these things, and I'd like to do a case study on them.

When we weren't plotting each other's demise (ok, we really weren't that bad), there were some fun moments. My favorite memories include building Lego creations together, and racing our bikes down the boat ramp at the lake to see who could flip over the handlebars the farthest. We also thought it was great when we both had bedrooms in the basement, away from mom and dad and what felt like their never-ending list of chores. That backfired a bit, however, when our rooms got so trashed that mom took Polaroid pictures of each room and hung them on the refrigerator. She must have been so proud.

Throughout our adult years, we have had times of living far apart - Phoenix to Kansas is no short jaunt; and times of living close together - separated by a mere flight of stairs. Sometimes we talk a lot, sometimes very little. Sometimes we agree on issues, sometimes we don't. Our life experiences have been extremely different, and oddly enough, I think that has only created an increased understanding of one another.

So, are we close? Yes. Do we talk a lot? Sometimes. Am I sad? Yes. His move means fewer holidays together, no Saturday night free meals from mom and dad, and definitely no more building sandcastles with my kids at the lake for awhile.

However, his move means a new start filled with all kinds of possibilities for him. It also means we have to be way more intentional about communicating, and honestly, that is a good thing.

Most of all, I'm pretty sure he is where he is supposed to be right now. And I'm pretty sure I am where I am supposed to be right now. So for now, that is enough.

Imaginations Running Wild

It's common knowledge to every mother in the world. When your children are playing together nicely for an extended period of time, and you are relishing in the pure joy of having this moment of peace to yourself...BE VERY SUSPICIOUS.


At lunch yesterday my boys decided that it would be great fun to trap a mouse in the house. We have no reason to believe that there is a mouse in our house, but that information would not deter them.


After lunch, I was in the other room doing laundry and sneaking a few moments to read a book. I could overhear them talking about how cool it would be to have string go from here to there, and how the net could trap the mouse, and how....you get the idea. I naively thought this was all for pretend.

Then I walked out and saw this.


That would be a trail of cheese on my kitchen floor. At the beginning of the trail (the top of the picture) there is an air vent. Hanging down that air vent was a piece of string tied around some cheese. According to my children, a mouse should think it is fun to run through the air ducts; therefore, it is a perfect cheese-hanging location.

When the mouse was eating that cheese, the 7 year old would then lift the vent up, and naturally the mouse would come out and continue eating down the line of cheese. Woe to the poor little mouse, who would not know that the last piece of cheese is directly under the bug-catching net. When the mouse reached the end of the line, the 4 year old would yank that string tied to the net, and "WHAM!" the mouse is caught.

The enthusiasm they had for this very believable plan was almost disturbing. After a mouse did not appear in the vent within a few minutes, my youngest son walked to the garage calling, "Here, mousey, mousey!" while my oldest son went to fetch a ladder to see if there were any mice on the roof.

My mother's intuition kicked in at this point, and I nixed the ladder and roof plan. A few minutes later the little guy came inside to report that his brother was indeed trying to get on the roof. I opened the door to find a big trash can upside down on the porch, with a little one stacked on top of it. "You said I couldn't use a ladder....".

I am happy to report that there has been no mouse, no roof-climbing, and no cheese molding in the vent. Only 2 little boys thinking their mother is a dream-killer.

This and That

I'm so busy this week I cannot even come up with an original title for my post. Thanks, Casey, for not disowning me as a friend for stealing yours. Actually, I'm being a bit presumptuous with that comment, since I didn't actually ask permission or know how she might react. So, Casey, if you are going to disown me for that, could you at least send me a nice little note before you unfriend me? I hate to be left hanging in suspense.

This week we brought new bedroom furniture home from my brother's house. He is moving soon (more on that later in the week), and the king size bedroom set did not fit very well in his little Saturn. My brother did not bother to ask us before setting his moving date, can you believe it? This is the first week of teacher in-service, the last full week of summer, and the week my husband is in charge of a major go-live software conversion at his place of employment. Needless to say, my entire house looks like the bedroom threw up all over it.

Anyhoo....my parents were gracious and came to help my husband unload all of the furniture while I was at a three hour church meeting last night. I was thoroughly embarrassed that they were going to walk into my extremely trashed house, and secretly hoping that my mother would feel sorry for me and do the dishes. {Sigh}. The good news is that the furniture was all placed nicely in the room by the time I got home. The bad news is that I have no idea where my socks are.

This weekend we are going camping for one final hurrah before school starts. Four adults. Six kids. That kind of parent:child ratio always makes me a bit nervous. What makes me even more nervous is the lake we are going to. Two months ago it had a major algae issue and all the swimming beaches were closed. Last month it tested high for e coli. E COLI. The beach closed and then reopened a few days later. It's been open ever since, but still....we will spend roughly 70% of our days in the water swimming and jet skiing. Ick.

I have been eating nonstop. I cannot figure out what is wrong with me. Nonstop carrots and celery would not be a problem, but the theme seems to be nonstop COOKIES. This may turn into a BIG problem, literally. But, maybe I'll just go jump in the lake for a little e coli. That oughta curb my appetite for awhile.

The Countdown

Today is August 11. School starts in 15 days. Fifteen days!?

I know I shouldn't complain. Some schools around here start next week. Some have already started. But still, where in the world did summer go?

There is so much to do....oh, SO MUCH to do before school starts. Here is my 'back to school' countdown:


15 Teacher Objective Folders to create.

14 Weeks of Spelling activities to plan.

13 Math files to sort and organize.

12 Hours of scrapbook time on Saturday!

11 Grades of Standardized Test scores to graph.

10 Days until my brother moves far, far away :(

9 Days until we go to the lake for one last summer bash.

8 Hours (approximately) of planned time with my brother before 1,726 miles separate us.

7 Stacks on my desk at school to tackle.

6 Folders of writing information to read and process.

5 Days of Teacher In-service meetings to sit through.

4 Pieces of furniture to haul from my brother's apartment to my bedroom.

3 Levels of Phonemic Awareness activities to create.

2 Orthodontic consultations for my 7 year old. $$Cha-ching$$$

1 Child to convince that going back to school is a great thing!

Hiking

Most of the people we saw hiking yesterday had something that looked similar to this.



I'm sure they were packed with the necessary hiking items....water bottles, snacks, sunscreen, first aide kit, rain poncho.....

Our backpack looked like this.

So classy.

Let it be known that I tried to talk the rest of my family into using the fit-for-a-regular-sized-person St. Louis Cardinals backpack.

Because that would have made us look so much closer to a die-hard hiking family.

We did, however, have one family member who was nearly fully equipped.

Hiking stick.

Hiking shoes (that he insisted on wearing).

Not-so-hiking clothes.



Those shoes must have been magic. He endured the 2 1/2 hour trail pretty well.

The boys were pretty proud of the fact that we had been "way up there" and had hiked "way down here".


What they didn't know at that point was that we pretty much had to climb "way up there" again to get to the end of the trail.

So we took a short rest.

This was the beautiful view from "way up there".

Testing out the timer on our camera.

We made it back, having to endure a manageable number of "are we there yet?"'s.

To which we honestly answered, "we think so" every single time.

To which we were wrong the first 10 times the question was asked.

The trail was just a tad longer than we thought.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Watching the Cubs warms up.

He's trying to find Derrek Lee, his favorite Cubs player. Favorite because Lee's name is on the back of his one and only Cubs shirt, and, of course, because they both play the same position - first base.

Derrek Lee up to bat.

One very happy boy after Lee hit a homerun with 2 men on base to tie the game 5-5.

The Cubs lost 5-6, but they still thought it was a great night!