A Long Month

This month has felt so very long and tiring.  Forgotten to update so many things about our lives, that I am willing to share on the internet anyway.  So here goes the run down of life:

1. Our official Home Study is in hand.  It was post marked 9/2/10 of this month.
2. We celebrated another birthday for Kevin, one that ends in a "5".
3. The boys tested for their Senior White Belts in Tae Kwon Doe on 9/11/01 and passed
4. We've now had 3 service calls on our kitchen fridge since 9/11/10 and are hoping that it will work properly now.  Fortunately we've only lost a half gallon of milk.
5. Scouts have started back up for the boys.
6. Quest has begun for Thing One.  It is the Sunday School for 5th and 6th graders at our church and they have events a few times a month as well.  He is so excited about this.
7. Breakaway has started for me ~ this is our churches ladies Bible Study time.  There are actually about 9 different studies going on between Tuesday morning and Wednesday night.  We head out to the Tuesday morning one, which means I need to be well organized and have plenty of seat work for the boys to do.  Our church has child care through 6th grade as Tuesday's Bible Studies are attended by a lot of homeschooling families.  I've also joined the drama team.  That adds lines to memorize and rehearsal times to my schedule.  First one went well.
8. Base Camp has begun for Kevin ~ this is the men's bible study at our church.  One study that the men can go to, either Tuesday morning or Wednesday night.  Kevin is leading a table this semester.  Basically keeping in touch with the guys during the week, encouraging a time to meet outside of Base Camp, and encourage Biblical growth.  They have chances to earn points and at the end of the semester, the table with the most points wins gift cards to local restaurants.
9. Two separate rounds of colds for me!  woo hoo, lucky me.  Okay, maybe not.  At least it's over and life can move on.

That is our month in a nut shell!

Can you hear it?

It is the sound of nothing but slow, relaxed, happy breathing. It's the hum of a slow summer day. It's the sound of bugs flying from one flower to the next. It's the sound of ice melting from hot, fresh tea being poured over it.

Welcome to my day, sprinkled with a bit of reality (laundry and dishes don't take a vacation).

Last Friday wrapped a crazy week of VBS. The boys had a great time, but it sure was all consuming. Think I logged, on average, 6 hours each day at church even though VBS was only 3 hours. I'll be the first to admit, and the boys will attest to it, that it wore me out. Knowing myself though, by next May or so, I'll be ready to jump back into it and log some crazy hours again. Hopefully, I'll remember what worked and what didn't!! Eeek, I'm suppose to write something like that up for the co0rdinaters (yes, I did a lot of hours, phone calls, shopping, computer work, etc. and I wasn't a coordinater over it all. Our 5th and 6th graders do a number of service projects during the week and that takes a lot of planning).

Okay, back to this week. It was thought that this week would be a lot slower! Yeah right! As certain parts of our Home Study took so long to get accomplished, some of the back ground checks have expired and new "rules" took effect as of July 1, 2010. So, we spent a portion of yesterday getting finger printed AGAIN, I need to go by the post office to pick up a lot of $$$'s worth of certified checks AGAIN, and get another form notarized AGAIN. Friday, we hope to drop all this off, in person, during our last interview (yup, as of July 1, 2010 we need 3 interviews).

Scattered in there is getting Thing One ready for his first Cub Scout sleep away camp! Not sure who is more nervous - him or me!! Kevin would tell you, in a heart beat, that it's me! Just can't believe he's old enough for things like this. Yes, there may be kids that go to sleep away camp or boarding school earlier than 10, but our kids never asked to go!

Probably should get back to reality for a bit! At least check on laundry and do a few odds and ends. Some will be fun, some school related, some just flat out CHORES.

Stay cool friends!



P.S. How do you like the photo (above) of the flowers in the corner of our yard? Been meaning to take one lately and got around to it today. It's my tribute to Wordless Wednesday even though I wrote a lot.

First Day

No, I'm not necessarily thinking of the Matt Maher song "Hold Us Together", more thinking that it's June 1. Here are a few random things running threw this scatter brain of mine:

• It still doesn't quite seem real that we're on summer vacation but we are.
• We've had our first interview for our home study. It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Both Kevin and I have one more interview individual. It will take about two weeks to create the rough draft, then another couple to have a finalized copy. Possibly, by July 1 we can start the adoption process.
• I'm really impressed with how everyone in our family worked together today to get the house straightened up. The boys are finally "getting it" when it comes to cleaning up. Yeah!!!!!!!!
• Thankful that the cold I feel like I've been battling for the last couple weeks is just about gone. It seems like it wouldn't stay in one place long enough to treat.
• Soooo looking forward to another solid night sleep and a leisurely morning tomorrow.
• Having fun pulling together a wish list of things I'd like to get for next school year.

That just about sums up the day here. Happy June everyone!

School is out

and over the past couple school years (two prior to this one) I've usually made a big deal about it with the boys. This year, it seemed to be over scheduled. The tree came done, I had major back problems, needed to make sure we stayed on task with testing, get the testing out on time as we were going on vacation, and on it goes. The tests were successfully mailed in on May 20th and we ordered pizza for lunch. That about sums up the end of our school year.

We've been home from vacation for a couple days now. The split wood has been moved to the back except for one large piece and we still still need to work on the mulch/dirt pile. And I say "we" loosely as Kevin and the boys have been working hard on it. Finally beginning to feel like I am beginning to get caught up on chores and life ~ woo hoo!!!!!!!!!

Biggest news around here is that our first Home Study interview is tomorrow. Believe we'll have two more after that.

Have a fun and safe Memorial Day!

The journey continues . . .

into an unending pile of paperwork, it seems, for our home study. We have just a few more forms to sign and/or fill out, finish our autobiographies, wait on doctors & reference letters, and complete 10 hours of training. THEN, the home study portion can begin. It can feel very overwhelming the amount of research and writing that goes into all these forms. Figuring out how much is spent on school, loans, utilities, groceries, several different kinds of insurance, daycare, taxes, etc, etc, etc.

We have gotten a lot accomplished. It's just a matter of wrapping a few things up, training, and waiting some more. Feel like we're in the military or something ~ hurry up and wait!!!!