Something to Chortle at:

http://pinterest.com/pin/79938962107004896/

 

And So it Goes...

We are in our first round of sickness.  Daughter #3 has strep throat.  I am hoping that no one else gets it.  She got it from a friend.  The receptionist at the Urgent Care place I took Daughter #3 to said she can tell that school has started from the increase in number of kids they see.  'Tis the season, I guess.

Our garden is still producing at an out-of-control rate.  I think this afternoon will see bags of produce delivered to neighbors again.  We also got some beets, an eggplant and an Armenian cucumber from a neighbor.  Creativity will have to come into play with those vegetables, I think.

It used to be that my kids would get up early every morning without help and I would wish they knew how to sleep in so I could sleep in.  Now, they all (except for the youngest), would rather sleep in than get up for school.  I think my son has struggled the most with it this school year.  He's quite the zombie most mornings.

Homework has definitely increased for the oldest two kids.  Especially my 9th grader.  I think he was kind of surprised at that, even though I said that would probably happen.  He is taking 4 honors classes this year.  It's also his first year of Seminary.  He said it is his favorite class.  I'm glad.

I'm still struggling to keep up with the house chores.  Most of the time I would rather be outside working on weeding than doing dishes or cooking.  There's something quite lovely about weeding.

My husband and I have started eating more healthily and exercising more.  Also, no sugar, except on Sunday.  Last week was our first week of doing this plan.  The no sugar rule wasn't too bad, except when I made jam and jelly.  I wasn't able to taste it until Sunday, when I had some toast with peach-strawberry jam and currant jelly.  It was very good.  Homemade jams and jellies are the best.

I've started listening to music more to help keep me up and moving and motivated during the day.  Most days the kids come home from school to find me listening to Bon Jovi, Queen, Michael Jackson, Jon Schmidt and Vocal Point.  It does seem to help.

That's all for now.

School Daze

Well, it's the first day of school for the kids, and the first day in a couple of months I can feel my sanity returning.  It's a great day all around!

Two weeks ago we were in California to visit my sister and her family and their new-to-them house.  We were able to do a bit of work around the house and yard and also go to the beach and some other local and not-so-local favorite spots.  It was a great week and we sure miss our family out there!

One of the rats, Cluny, keeps getting out of the cage and hiding in my son's room.  It's getting old.  We ordered a nice new bigger cage, which should be here tomorrow, so I hope that the escaping will end. 

Our garden is producing at a rapid rate.  Especially the tomato plants.  The day after we got back from California, I picked about 100 tomatoes.  And that was with the neighbors who were watching the house picking some while we were gone.  It was a bit silly.  And I've picked about 100 more since then.  Many neighbors have received bags of produce.

I'm sure looking forward to getting back in a routine.  I NEED to get some things done around here.

Certified

Well, this was a long week.  I took the training to become a radKIDS instructor.  32 hours of training later and a test passed and I can now teach kids how to protect themselves.  I'm so glad I was able to do this and am excited to get started teaching at the kids' elementary school.