Sometimes there's just too much to do

We are blessed to be in a place with lots for the kids to do and to have the means to be able to do some of it. Its hard to choose what to involve the kids in. They enjoy a variety of things and would happily participate in whatever we would allow, but the more we are away from home, the crazier life at home gets. Right now we are playing soccer. Its three days a week and it feels like our life revolves around it (yes, I hope for a practice or two to be rained out!). In the last week we have had opportunities to get involved in Tae Bo, piano, 4-H, boy scouts, brownies, and an art class. For now the piano is the only thing we have chosen to add into our routine (on Saturday- before soccer). The rest will have to wait for now, but there is some guilt associated with not letting them participate. They all are great activities and several of them are things we really want to do but we have to find some balance. Its hard to know when to say no and when to say yes. Are we passing up great opportunities or picking the wrong thing? The constant questions are a part of being a parent, I guess.

We have company

We have a guest. She (we think) will be with us for a week. Today the kids captured, literally, a toad. A female Fowler's Toad to be exact-yes, we made it part of school and did research. They want to keep her as a pet. I told them "God made animals to live in nature, not with us"- they didn't agree. I pointed out the likelihood of her demise left to their care and they promised a luxurious life that given the ability to communicate the toad would gladly choose of her own will. I was having little success. Frankly, doing research didn't help matters as I read about the joys one man recalled of his boyhood days and catching frogs. During quiet time I called Tim. I warned him of the campaign ongoing in our house. He suggested we allow her to visit for the week and then return to her home in the backyard. So that's the plan, everyone agreed. Here is a photo of the kids watching over our friend in her 5 star bucket abode.

LANDSCAPING!!!!!

One year ago:Tonight:

We have landscaping. Tim had no weekend break, but he has a happy wife. We worked all day both Saturday and Sunday-other than time for our first soccer games and church. It was hard work and we are worn out, but wanted to share a photo of our efforts (sorry its hard to see- it was nearly dark when we finished).
Soccer results: Laurel and Matthew both scored goals in their games, and had a great time. It was a little hot for Carter so he tired quickly, but he played hard, got in some good kicks, and learned how to move the ball. We are looking forward to some cooler weather games so that he will have more fun. We have to give kudos to their coaches who ran around with them in the heat to teach and encourage. Talk about a workout! Don't even ask about the camera.

Soybean Festival

Free BBQ, friends, and fun- it adds up to a worthwhile drive back to Martin. We went back to Tennessee this afternoon to visit with friends and go to the annual Soybean Festival. For those unfamiliar with the event here's the scoop: basically the entire town turns out for free BBQ and festival style fun in downtown Martin. Its cheesy, the rides expensive, and there's lots of junk for sale, but its small town life and a highlight of the fall when we lived there. We just couldn't miss it this year-we are only an hour away. It was great to walk around and see friends again and say hello. We really had a good time and the weather was cool and perfect for being outside. The kids enjoyed being back in Martin and seeing familiar things. The McDonoughs even bought them dippin' dots- so of course it was an evening to remember! While there Tim was happy to learn that the greenway project (something he was very involved in) is making significant progress and hopefully one day we will be able to go back and visit and walk along the trail! And yes, once again, I had no camera. When Katey and Carter were riding the kiddie carousel together-by themselves-I could have kicked myself, so you'll just have to trust me that it was cute. Maybe I should just keep the camera in the van!

Cleaning too often?

Warning to my mother: prepare yourself. We have wood floors throughout a lot of our home. The entire main level has them, and that includes the kitchen. I really like it, but it has been a challenge keeping the floor in the kitchen clean with the children. I clean them every week or so to remove all the sticky spots, dirt, and whatever else is left after daily (at least) sweeping. Lately they have been cloudly looking. I did some research and found out that I was cleaning them too often. You have to understand that I am the last person to be accused of "over cleaning!" I try not to let it get too bad, but in truth we aim for sanitary around here. My Mom keeps an extremely neat house, I wish I could keep up, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. So after I got over the shock of my "over cleaning" status I tried to find out what to do to fix our floor. I spent yesterday afternoon scrubbing the floors removing the built up cleaner. They look better. In the long run we'll save money- the floor cleaner I used was expensive. Now its spot cleaning only and sweeping. The kids are going to have to work on eating neatly! I find it funny that for once caring for something in the house will actually require less work!!

Fairness

The subject of discussion in our house lately. "That's not FAIR" is a common statement in our house. Some things are, some are not. It's life. We try to keep things fair, but sometimes it just isn't. Usually in those cases we just explain and move on. Not yesterday. I had to side with the "that's not FAIR" group because I was one of them. The boys and Daddy went disc golfing and the girls and Mommy stayed home. Tim wanted time with the boys alone. I understood, explained it to Laurel and we did "girly" things. Then the boys came home. They disc golfed, ate Subway, and went to Dairy Queen. The Subway thing was okay, the girls had lunch, but going DQ and bringing home nothing- NO FAIR!! So at 7:00 last night the girls and I went to DQ. A trip to town with no other purpose, so wasteful, but we wanted in on the fun, too!! All progress made on the fairness principle has now been lost. Oh well, my blizzard was good and Laurel learned that you can't eat an ice cream sandwich with no front teeth!

Time for a change

This has been a weekend of decisions. The first was made by our good friends, the Crabb family, who have decided to move to Iowa. We have a lot in common and have become close since our arrival here and we will be sad to see them go. Hopefully we can enjoy some good times before they leave. Coming on the heels of the Shideler's departure it seems the kids are seeing their friends leave at an alarming rate!

The other major decision is that we are changing our homeschool curriculum. Those of you who homeschool know what a big deal this is after only 31 days of school. Despite the expense and my reluctance to turn away from what I had planned to do, after prayer and discussion with Tim we have decided that we have to change what we are using for school. We are going with the curriculum we had planned to use next year. Hopefully the change will work better for everyone and help make our school a place in which kids love to learn and I can feel I am giving them what they need. It will make things easier for me as the new materials do a lot of the prep work for me!

Big decisions, family day at the park with church (thanks to Roy and Angie), and a garage that has been cleaned out- that was our weekend thus far. Its no wonder we were exhausted yesterday!