How do I Love Thee the bestest husband, bestest friend, bestest guy for me in the whole world? Let me count the ways...
He likes Scrabble. He always drives when we're together. He blends up a perfect milkshake (even though he hates ice cream). He makes cute kids. He's easily and naturally athletic (which luckily he passed on to (at least one of) said kids). He brushes the kids' teeth, really well (I'm lazy about it). He grills a perfect steak and mixes up lovely beverages :) He does the dishes. He does speed crosswords against with me. He doesn't complain about how messy the house is or how not done dinner is. He loves to tell the story of how we met. He has squinty eyes when he's really happy. He's way smart. He gives the kids baths. He likes all my favorite tv shows. He's a loyal friend. He's honest. He puts up with me and my oddities. He loves our kids. He loves me. He likes to hang out with us. He puts family first. He can fix almost anything. He holds my hand when we're out. He's a good driver. He (used to at least) thinks I'm logical. He's responsible. He always makes sure the cars have gas (I haven't put gas in a car since early 2006). He likes to cook breakfast (or Brinner). He loves camping. He makes me laugh. He's a "professional" painter (which I take full advantage of). He doesn't correct my grammar (too much). He sits on the front porch with me on nice summer nights. He's not a baseball fan. He goes to work early and comes home early to spend more time with the kids. He really enjoys his work (and he's really good at it). He encourages me. He's social. He makes me feel like I'm his favorite. He's my favorite.
Oops! I forgot to actually count the ways. Oh well. I suppose the list couldn't really be contained here anyway.
Happy Birthday to the love of my life.
I'm glad you were born,
I'm glad I met you,
I'm glad I married you,
I'm glad our kids have you,
and I'm glad I get to spend the rest of your birthdays with you!
Recipes! I need more. As soon as the busyness of back-to-school dies down, I have to start piecing together the cookbook and deciding if we have enough recipes to warrant printing it up and making an actual book out of it for all of us. So far we've been through appetizers, soups, salads, veggies/sides, and grill recipes. Please continue to send me more of those if you have them! And pictures!! Next up will be main dishes/casseroles. I putting out a call... give me your faves! Email me your recipes ASAP!!
And Books! I'm sadly behind on my book passing promises. I'm ashamed to admit I never even picked a winner from the last give-away. Let's remedy that. Without further ado... wandering on over to random.org... picked for me comment #2: Anne. Have you won before?? I'm thinking for some reason I might have your address... nevermind, I wouldn't be able to find it if I had it anyway. Get me your address and I'll send the book out ASAP. (and sorry it only took me all summer!)
And I have several books sitting on my shelf just waiting to be passed on... I don't really have the time or the motivation to "book report" them as I normally like to do, so we're going to do this super efficiently: (actually this probably isn't super efficient, but I don't have the brain power to spare on a better way so this is it) I'm going to list the books -with a quick general thumbs up or down from me- and throw them all together... y'all can leave a comment if you're interested (let me know if there's one you already have or have read so I don't send you that one) in being the new owner of any of them. Then I'll draw a name, one at a time, and blindly pick a book for each name I draw. I know it's random, but it'll be kind of fun... you never know what you're going to get! Surprises are fun, right? And hey, it's a free book.
In no particular order, here are the books: (I linked them so you can read about them if you like)
Julie & Julia; My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell I thought this would be an interesting book... we picked this one in our book club so we could go see the movie together as well. Ended up, most of us were pretty meh about the book. I really liked the movie though, a lot more than I thought I would. And in the end, I think I liked the movie better having read the book. If you like food, cooking, blogging and books, it's probably worth a read. The Pact by Jodi Picoult Typical Jodi Picoult. It was good... I found it a little predictable, but again, as always, I'm amazed at how Picoult can seemingly get so inside these characters thoughts. She's so good at portraying the emotions in these stories. I love how real it feels.
Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum Amazing book. Loved it. Couldn't get enough of it, and was sad (and left wanting a sequel) when it ended.
Expecting Adam by Martha Beck I liked this one. I missed our book club discussion on this one, but I enjoyed the read. A little heavy at times, but an interesting peek into a story I wouldn't normally stop to think about.
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery Um, yeah. I didn't read this one. I got all of a couple dozen pages into it and gave up. For one, I got the book really late (like the day before book club) and I knew I couldn't make it. I was interested in the story... it was just too... hard. It's not a quick, last minute read. It's a french novel, translated, and I just couldn't get in that mindset. I felt it was all going over my head and I didn't have the time or energy to get into it at that point. Hopefully someone else can enjoy it and maybe, if it turns out to be really good, I'll get it back from you to read! :)
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski I have to admit I never finished this book. Other book clubbers said they were disappointed in the ending... I don't know what happens, but I was really enjoying it as far as I got. I was actually thinking it was one of my favorites this year. I'm not really sure why I never finished since I loved it so... I just hate how time gets away from me. That and it's not really a portable book- at 560+ pages, hard backed. I've determined that if I haven't by this point, I probably never will wrap it up, so I'm just going to hand it off.
If you like to read and you're game to trying a new (and random!) book, leave me a comment here on this post before next Tuesday, September 1st (September already?!?!!) and I'll send one (or more) your way. Be sure if I don't know you that I have your email address, blog address, or some way to get ahold of you! (Past recipients welcome as well!!)
((and what is with my overuse of parenthesis lately???))
I can't wrap my head around the fact that it's only Wednesday. It really should be at least Friday by now, shouldn't it??!
House guests left late this morning. We have a whole week before the next visitors arrive. I can tell it's starting to wear on me. I just want my house to myself.
I think I'm just feeling overwhelmed in general. We've had a ton going on this last month of summer (like I haven't already mentioned that a million times) and we have an awful lot on tap for the fall as well. This is my last week of any kind of "summer freedom" at all and all I want to do is curl up in my house and be alone and forget about all the things I have to do, let alone fun things I want to do with Sawyer while we have some free time. Sawyer actually starts his speech therapy classes this Thursday. I'm trying to get some projects done and ready as the coordinator for Creative Activities for our MOPS group before next Tuesday. And still trying to figure out something for Ryan's birthday this Friday. Oh, and gearing up for another week of family in town. Next week we start MOPS on Tuesday and our new Bible study session on Thursday mornings. The following week Sawyer starts preschool Mondays and Wednesdays. Speech Tuesdays and Thursdays. Then some where in the next couple weeks after that, I'll have an infant here every week day as well. -Which believe it or not, is what I'm looking forward to as being the easiest, most fun part of all this craziness!-
That's not even mentioning evenings... Monday evenings for Sept, Oct and Nov, we'll have our foster care certification classes Tuesdays Savannah may do tumbling... (I'm holding off on that because I'm feeling like we're too busy- but really she's not... it's just me!) Wednesdays Ryan has soccer Thursdays we have small group
I don't really know how my weeks got so full. One minute I thought, Hmmm... I'll probably have some time on my hands, I should find a part time job... and the next thing I know, all of a sudden I'm realizing we're booked almost every day and adding a new baby full-time to the mix.
So yeah, I'm feeling overwhelmed. Which I feel like I've been saying a lot lately. I think it's just been compounded with all these people coming and going in our house. We're counting down to the last visitors coming up soon (although right after that Ryan will be out of town for a week for work, so that'll be crazy as well), and I'm hoping things will calm down for me once we get into the routines of life this fall.
With this week (a whole week!!) in between visitors, between now and next Thursday, I'm also really hoping to make some leeway on the absence of substance blogging here. I have five weeks worth of visiting and vacations (and house project reporting) to catch up on. I'd like to get it all written up and pics gone through before we add more stories to the mix next week.
So watch for my new daily segment: "Things I Never Blogged About.... uh, parts 1 thru 184". Stay tuned for the first installment...
All I hear is the hum of the air conditioner... So nice. I can't remember the last time I was alone in my house. At the very least, we had a couple of days last week of just me and Sawyer. But more often than not, for the past month, it's been a lot more than just us two... besides the other two that live here there have been Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, friends... we've been a regular bed and breakfast around here. Complete with St Louis tourism services :)
Ryan and his dad and brother took the kids to Incredible Pizza Co for the evening as an early birthday celebration, since they're leaving tomorrow before Ryan's actual birthday. I stayed behind because I have a dinner meeting tonight. I need to leave in a few minutes. But for just a moment, I'm relishing the silence in my house. Makes me want to skip my meeting and just bask in the quiet of an empty house...
It's Friday and I still have a to-do list a mile long. Things have thankfully slowed down now since Savannah's been in school this week... we've had nice quiet evenings at home :) Unfortunately the slowing down hasn't been so good for my motivation. It's been hard for me to get off the couch unless I have to today. I have been completely ex. haust. ed. the past couple of days. I mean, beyond tired. Like I have to muster up the strength to do anything and I swear I could fall asleep at any point during the day. Ryan says it's just the past four weeks finally catching up to me and of course I'm tired. I essentially haven't had a day of down time for almost a month and now that I have a few hours here and there to finally do nothing, my body is milking it for all it's worth. I guess... but still; this is a tired like I've never known. Actually it reminds me of that never-ending, bone-tired, could sleep for 24 hours and still not feel satisfactorily rested, early pregnancy tired. Ugh.
But the busy goes on. We've had the past three days without houseguests; Jenn and Greg left Monday, Tuesday we had a playdate and errands, and Wednesday was the big First Day. Yesterday (Thursday) Sawyer and I spent the day with our newest little buddy and his mama:
This is Caleb. He's about five weeks old and in another month he's going to officially become a part-time member of our family... I'll be babysitting him full-time during the week starting in September. Long story -and a perfect blessing- but I got hooked up this summer with this sweet baby's mommy as she was planning for childcare this fall. He's an adorably cute baby, they are a great little family and we're all truly excited! And luckily he and Sawyer hit it off wonderfully!
Other random thoughts flying through my head:
Last night we finally booked our trip back home this fall. It'll have been more than two years since Savannah and I have been back to Oregon. That's just crazy. I don't know how I'm going to cram everything I want to do and everyone I want to see into two weeks, but there it is.
Meanwhile, I have a house to clean for dinner guests tomorrow and also the arrival of Ryan's dad and brother. They're staying for five days or so, which will be their first visit out here so that'll be fun. I'm sure we'll stay busy showing them St Louis and letting Grampa Dave enjoy his grandkids!
Also, I have a couple of projects I have got to get done this weekend for a meeting next week. Laundry to do. I want to sort through all our baby boy stuff and see what might work to send to my sister. I still haven't mailed out my mom's birthday present (her b-day was a week ago!). Speaking of birthdays, Ryan's is next Friday and I haven't the slightest idea what to get or do. I'm bummed about that. I love birthdays and I am completely at a loss on providing a super special day for him. I'm just feeling too worn out to be creative. You all know my love of making birthday cakes, and yet a Costco cake is sounding pretty good to me right about now, that's how drained I am.
I'm hoping to get the in-betweens of this summer filled in on the ol' blog sooner rather than later... all our visitors and trips. Lots of pictures and stories to tell. Coming some day!
Savannah is thrilled to be back at school. She loves her teacher, loves her class, loves the full day, loves that first graders get two recesses(!), loves being an old pro at the whole bus thing, loves taking her lunch to school... just all around loves being a first grader!
And I love that she loves it. I love that she's so confident and sure of herself. I love that she's up and dressed and anxious to go first thing in the morning. I love that she happily tells us about her day, even though she has exasperated once or twice, "I can't remember everything we did Mom!" at our further proddings. And I love that she's ready to get past this first week of "learning the first grade" and on to "learning first grade (or more like second grade in her case) stuff". She's anxious to get to the reading and writing and learning.
I wanted to get more pictures of her after school that first day, but she balked at me. I also offered to bring the camera out as she left on her second day (she's just looking entirely too grown up for me to believe on her way out the door each morning), but I detected a slight eye roll at that one. She's right though... there's nothing like the first day of first grade!
***** Sawyer's loving that school's back on too... he's missed the morning ritual of Foursquare. I have to admit one of my favorite things about the school year is our bus stop in the morning. Right on our front corner...
So many kids, so many parents, all hanging out before school. Our bus comes at almost 8:30, yet most of the kids are out by 8 o'clock just to play together. Here's our first morning this year, but it's altogether typical of any morning of the school year... moms and dads chatting
boys playing foursquare
and the girls who'd rather just gab while watching for the bus and examining each others' outfits and accessories!
There's a hundred and four days of summer vacation before school comes along just to end it.And the annual problem for our generation is finding a good way to spend it...
Sawyer's watching Phineas and Ferb (which has been their newest favorite "big kid" cartoon this year)(and Ryan and I secretly love it too!) this morning and the theme song (above) made me sniffle a little-- Summer Is Over. Academically speaking, that is. Spent. We're done. Back to the school routine starting today. How can we possibly be there already?!?
Savannah, of course, is nothing but excited to be back in school. She missed it. Ever since meeting her teacher last week, she's been reminding me every day exactly how many days until the first day back... I'm surprised she hadn't been accounting the hours.
And while it's nice to get back into a routine -especially with the craziness of the last few weeks- I am always sad, sad, sad to see the summer wrapping up. I always wish to have done more; traveled more, relaxed more, playdated more, hung out at the pool more... more, more, more.
I'm not ready to say good-bye to the sun, the heat, the tank tops and flip flops, my kids' sun-kissed faces, the sun-bleached hair. I'm not ready for earlier bedtimes and having to actually be motivated and productive before 8am every day.
I'm in mourning this morning. Even though it's still 85° today and our pool's still open and we have probably at least another month of "summer" left... The start of school just doesn't seem right in the middle of August. I protest.
It's a good thing the actual school girl in this house has no protest.
Okay, so this is a list of 100 things every child should do before Kindergarten. I swiped it from this blog last spring and have heard of this list often before that, but never actually read the 100 things on it. Well, we're long done with Kindergarten with the girl around here, as today she is officially a First Grader, but I still thought it'd be fun to go thru and see where we're at in the game. Also to see what we need to get Sawyer doing in the next two years before he heads off to school as well. :)
1. Go to the zoo – I think my kids have been to the zoo (several different zoos) more times in their six/three years than I ever did in my whole childhood. It's a favorite outing around here. Especially since living here... who can resist a free zoo? And one of the best in the country at that?
2. Visit a farm – we've been to farms for field trips and have plenty of friends back home with property as "farmy" as just land and horses, all the way up to full crops. Check.
3. Go on a hike – we love hiking
4. Play with kittens or puppies - any chance we get
5. Catch a frog - hmmm... not sure on this one. Turtle yes, frog I can't remember.
6. Make a gigantic mess – we like to play messy sometimes... Sawyer's favorite is a big mess of packing peanuts. Savannah loves to play with shaving cream.
7. Help clean up a gigantic mess – you'd better believe I'm not cleaning all of that up myself!.
8. Master the monkey-bars - Savannah's almost there. Sawyer's got a year or two.
9. Swing high up into the sky all by themselves- Savannah's an experienced swinger these days and Sawyer's on the verge of pumping up a storm.
10. Try ice-skating- Savannah first went on a field trip with her first preschool class. Sawyer went with Daddy when he was two.
11. Go sledding – I don't think we've "gone sledding", but we've made quite the mini-snow hill in our yard for the kids to slide down. They'd say they've been sledding, but Ryan and I, growing up near Mt Hood, and knowing there are many good sled hills around, would have to say they haven't had a true sledding experience. They do have a sled and love snow play though.
12. Make a snow-man – we do this every time it snows
13. Blow bubbles- would kids really make it to kindergarten without doing this??
14. Plant seeds and watch them grow- Savannah yes, Sawyer no. He's got no patience interest in that yet.
15. Have a pillow fight - yep
16. Jump on a big bed – oh yeah
17. Jump on a trampoline or in a bounce house – both have done both
18. Hang out in a tent – in the backyard, in the Columbia Gorge, at Foster Lake, at Lake Michigan, at Babbler Creek, and probably many more.
19. Spend days at the beach – Savannah's first trip was at 6 weeks old. Sawyer was a few months old. We used to spend many, many weekends at Grandpa Bob's house in Rockaway Beach on the Oregon coast. Nowadays, living in the midwest, the beaches we've frequented are lake beaches in Michigan. We hope to get to the east coast soon.
20. Build sandcastles – what else do kids do on the beach?
21. Go fishing- nope. We're not big fishermen. But Sawyer did learn how to practice cast and both kids are interested so we may have to do that soon. Sawyer just bought himself his first pole!
22. Go out on a boat – Yes, although I don't think Sawyer has ever had the pleasure of a lake/ski boat outing. He's been in a canoe, a raft and row boat. Savannah's been tubing behind a ski boat and done a paddle boat.
23. Play with blocks and puzzles – yup
24. Read the classic picture books – yes, I'm a stickler for those
25. Read a classic chapter book – Savannah has devoured all the Ramona Quimby books (which may not be considered a classic per say, but definitely a classic in my childhood) and she has read Charlotte's Web, Little House, and a few Shel Silversteins. Sawyer, notsomuch.
26. Check out library books with their own library card – Savannah yes, Sawyer not yet since he has yet to write his name.
27. Get a passport – would be nice to have a reason to
28. Carve a pumpkin – my kids love this!
29. Hold a newborn baby (to see how much they’ve grown) – yes, every chance they get
30. Love a special doll or stuffed animal – Savannah's had her Lammie since I can't remember when. Sawyer's had Big Frog since his first Christmas (seven weeks old).
31. Bake cookies and cakes – they love to help in the kitchen often.
32. Help plan their own birthday party – Savannah's definitely had her hand in the planning... Sawyer's on tap for this year.
33. Go to the circus – we haven't taken the kids to a real old fashioned circus with animals and acts. They've been to Circus Flora which is a Cirque du Soliel type show, does that count?
34. Go to a museum on a quiet weekday – we've been to several children's museums and science museums. Oh and the SPAM museum, ha! I'd like to hit up more art museums though...
35. Play hide-and-seek – all. the. time.
36. Play a board game – they could play games for days
37. Do nothing whatsoever all day – yeah we have days like that... also called sit in front of the tv day
38. Try a sport – both have been in soccer and swimming. Savannah did dance and tumbling the year before Kindergarten.
39. Watch a sporting event – Both kids have been to Cardinal baseball games, Sawyer has been to a Blues hockey game.
40. Learn to swim – Savannah passed the Red Cross level one when she was four. Meaning she could swim across the width of the pool. Not sure if she could do that today. She needs a lot of warming up and confidence in the water. Sawyer swims underwater on his own all the time and as long as he remembers to breathe, he can swim the width of the pool.
41. Be tickled in hysterics – of course
42. Paint and draw as much as desired – Savannah has whiled away many many hours this way. Sawyer, not so much, but it's there if he wants to!
43. Have the use of scissors and glue – they're crafty!
44. Display artworks and other creations around the house – more than I'd like most of the time.
45. Learn to use a camera (and keep an album of the results!) – they both recieved their own cameras for Christmas two years ago and use them often. They both took lots of pictures on our trip this month. I should definitely make an album for them.
46. Play with clay- check
47. Pick flowers- of course
48. Climb a tree- hmmm.... I'm going to have to say not truly. :(
49. Gaze at the moon and stars - I'd like to let them look thru a telescope.
50. Toast marshmallows- every chance they get
51. Learn to eat an ice-cream cone – they're old pros this summer!
52. Watch a sunset- check
53. Learn to write their own names- Savannah when she was three. Sawyer is still working on it.
54. Learn their addresses and telephone numbers – Savannah yes, Sawyer no
55. Learn their parents’ full names – Savannah yes, Sawyer not yet
56. Set the table – I need to take more advantage of this
57. Clear the table – with reminders
58. Help wash the dishes – usually just help unload. I should start employing their help with this more.
59. Learn to say their pleases and thank yous and excuse mes -by Kindergarten?... I would hope so!!
60. Watch fireworks -yep
61. Go to the ballet or theater or a puppet show –Savannah's been to the Nutcracker
62. Put on a ballet or play or puppet show at home -yep
63. Face paint – oh they beg for this if ever in the vicinity.
64. Dress up in costumes at will -big dress up drawer in the playroom... Sawyer makes a pretty princess!
65. Learn rhymes and poems and songs by heart – yep
66. Have a dance party -with friends :)
67. Enjoy friends at preschool and at the park -you betcha
68. Invite friends over to play – quite often
69. Get to know grandparents – Savannah calls both her grammas regularly and when the grandparents visit both kids are attached to them for the duration of their stay.
70. Play with cousins – wish we could more... we had a great couple of weeks with cousins this summer!
71. Become attached to a wonderful preschool teacher and/or babysitter – we were very sad to have to say good bye to Ms. Kristy in Michigan, Savannah's first preschool teacher!
72. Learn the name of our president – Savannah not only knows our current president but actually knows several of the famous ones throughout history. Of course, that was learned in kindergarten, obviously during one of the biggest elections ever.
73. Know the name of their town, state and country – Savannah yes, Sawyer no. He knows Missouri
74. Be familiar with a map of the world- um recognize it yes... can point out countries beside the states, no
75. Listen to music from many different ages and genres -Savannah complains if it's not her "style", but for sure.
76. Hear and learn words from a different language – Spanish and Sign Language
77. Learn the difference between trash and recycling -got it!
78. Grow their own vegetables- we grow our own tomatoes every summer, does that count?
79. Learn to ride a bike (or try!) – both had training wheels removed this summer... but it's been either too hot or too busy for much practice. Sawyer's pretty much got it. Savannah's asking for hers back on!
80. Take a road trip – lots
81. Draw a self-portrait – Sawyer is so not into drawing
82. Slurp alphabet soup – slurp? I don't know. Spell with it yes.
83. Learn to twirl spaghetti on a fork -yes
84. Pick apples – in Gramma Debbie's backyard
85. Star in a home movie-plenty
86. Learn a magic trick- yep
87. Try different hair-dos – Sawyer's kind of boring... he only changes it up with a headband here and there
88. Practice writing letters – Savannah's writing (and has been for the past two years) sentences and whole stories, spelling and punctuating on her own. Sawyer can manage O's and S's and that's about it.
89. Practice counting to 100- this is Sawyer's version (learned from big sis): "one, two, skip a few, ninety-nine, one hundred."
90. Make up stories -too many
91. Send a letter – Savannah had her first real pen pal, Cloey, last summer.
92. Receive a letter – they have good grandparents :)
93. Ride on a merry-go-round check
94. Give away toys and books to less fortunate children checkaroo
95. Learn the value of coins and bills- Sawyer actually almost has the coins down already. He likes money :)
96. Keep a piggy bank -oh yeah
97. Try a musical instrument- Savannah really wants to take piano lessons. She's taught herself a few songs. Sawyer's been asking about getting a drum set.
98. Have a heartfelt wish granted hmmm... I hope so, but I can't think specifically.
99. Have a heartfelt wish denied – Sawyer really wants a puppy. How does this start so early??
100. Receive a million (make that a billion) heartfelt kisses and hugs from their parents-every day
This week's theme over at I ♥ Faces is Bubbles....
I love this picture. Love the messy little boy face, love the pursed lips, love the concentration. He was just, at two-and-a-half, getting the hang of the tricky business of blowing bubbles independently, and I remember he was so fiercely proud of himself!
No pictures yet (and it's hitting me harder than I thought not being able to be there), but we have a new nephew! The kids' first cousin on my side of the family!!
Baby Levi (no middle name yet) West was born last night at 12:08am (after over 24 hrs of labor!!) weighing in at 9lbs, 4oz and 22" long.
Congrats Heidi and Gabe! Nice work :) Can't wait to see lots of pictures of the new little family!!
There's been an unfortunate combination of Lazy Blogger and entirely Too Much Going On this past month summer, and I'm not only behind on documenting the big, fun stuff, but also the little funnies day to day.
So real quick, here are a couple of things from yesterday I wanted to jot down...
While we were away on vacation, the Swinigans kept our pet frogs. (Didn't know we had pet frogs??... oh yeah- that's because I never wrote about it. Refer again to initial sentence of this post) Savannah was headed over yesterday to play with Norah so she made the family a thank you card for their pet-sitting services. I didn't read it until we were on our way over there, and when I did, it sure had me chuckling... the front read: Thank You a hole lot! inside: Dear Swinigans, Thanks for keeping our frogs. Did you feed them crickets? Did I hear a YES? You better have! Love, Sawyer and Savannah, Ryan and Heather, Frank and Fruity (the frogs)
Hehe. Did I hear a yes? She cracks me up!
Also a couple of things from Sawyer... I ended up really sick on Tuesday and had been in bed with a horribly achy head, the chills and a throw up bowl when the kids got ready for bed that evening. They had both come in to say goodnight and Sawyer left with a "hope you feel better soon Mommy!" Well, in the morning I did feel much better (still annoying cold symptoms, but at least the fever/flu stuff was gone) and I was downstairs before Sawyer woke up. When he did wake and come downstairs he was calling ahead for me... "Mom?!" "Yeah bud?" "Mom, are you feeling better today Mom?" Awww. I was surprised and touched that that was his first thought in the morning; to come looking for me to see how I was.
But amusingly, that evening, as I was tucking him into bed (and had recently had a sneezing fit making my hoarse voice sound even more stuffed up and sick) he didn't seem so concerned; Sawyer has a bugbite on his neck. He asked me, "Why did God make us have necks? So our head can stay on? Why do we need to keep our head on? Why do we need a head?" We were playing around being a little silly and I said "So I can pinch your cheeks." He said, "And so we can keep our ears on and hear?" "And so we can see," "So we can snore?" Then I said, "So we can give goodnight kisses" and I puckered up for him. He held up his hand, suddenly dead serious, and retorted, "No kisses for me tonight Mom, you have a cold!" "Okay, how about a hug then?" "Uh, no. You're sick with a cold all over." So he blew me a kiss.
Then for prayers, we usually hold hands, but when I asked, he informed me (like, DUH) "You probably have the cold on your hands too, so I'm not going to touch your hands either." Apparently I suddenly have a germ-a-phobe under my roof. Hope I'm over this soon; I missed my hug and kiss from that little guy last night!
Oh Hi! Yes I still consider myself a blogger. I just haven't had two seconds to breathe. Well, two seconds plus access to the internet, that is. All of my down time was spent next to a lake or in the forest in the middle of nowhere which is nice for the here and now of relaxation, but not so conducive to the catching up of the interwebs.
We arrived home last night and not only do I have merely two days to unpack, regroup and decompress before our next house guests arrive, but these two/three days are ridiculously crammed full of appointments and meetings and must-dos. Allow me to share:
Savannah's school supply lists are teacher specific. Savannah's class lists were posted the day before we left for vacation. Supplies are due tomorrow. Meaning we were on the hunt today. Three different stores... all sold out of a handful of things on her list. Ugh. We spent the morning (unsuccessfully) school supply shopping, as well as grocery shopping. This evening we have a mandatory orientation for our foster-adopt curriculum. Tomorrow Sawyer has a dr appt for his preschool physical in the am and then Savannah has her meet the teacher/get settled into the classroom hour after lunch. (which means I have another 24 hrs to find the rest of the random scavenger hunt things on her list.) In the evening we have an important church meeting as well. Then Thursday I have a morning of Sawyer's preschool registration stuff, Jenn and Greg arrive at 5pm and we'll just barely get them in the house when Ryan and I have to run to Sawyer's preschool orientation. Jenn and Greg are here thru Monday night and then Savannah starts school on Wednesday.
Don't forget to add the fact that we're all pretty exhausted from our trip and I woke up this morning having to scrape myself out of bed as it seems I'm now being bowled over by some sort of cold/flu thing. DayQuil is my friend.
Can you say crazy?
All that and I have a dozen important phone calls to return, my email is absolutely overflowing and I'm afraid to even look at my Google reader. I need a week of vacation just to catch up on this blog alone... what seems like a million posts due here; including, but not limited to-
the kitchen (and bathroom pics!!) before all this craziness
the fun and busyness of the week with the Smiths here
vacation: our stay with our family at the lake/family reunion
the rest of our road trip thru South Dakota to see all the sights
the fact that this is the last week before Savannah starts 1st Grade!!!
a million other little ins and outs of the last two (almost three!!!) weeks
my sister's due to have her baby any day
So. I just had to check in and say we're here, we're alive, we're almost halfway through our craziness of August. Don't mind me, I'm just completely overwhelmed with life right now... and there's no sign of it letting up any time soon. At the rate I'm going I'll see ya sometime in September October! HA!
Teach us to number our days right Lord, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. -Psalm 90:12
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"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so." ~Mary Jean Iron
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