Dreaming Big

Yesterday morning the Powerball billboard that we drove by displayed the estimated jackpot of $500 million. 

J:  Does that say five hundred million?

Me:  Yup.  That's a lot of money.

E:  That's awesome!  Then I could buy a real American Girl doll.

Blessings and Hurdles

 The hurdles are as big as the mountains sometimes, but yet God's blessings remain abundant.

 

 

 

 

 

The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.    -- Deuteronomy 31:18

What's Up?

Don't ask me.  We've been so busy lately that I'm not sure what's up or down or left or right.  Aside from the normal, crazy schedule that keeps our family running in circles, we've been kept even busier with a daddy traveling for work and lots of photo editing.  Oh, and puke...lots of puke which consequently leads to lots of laundry...lots of laundry. 

As I wrote to a friend earlier this month (before the puking because that's never good), "It's a good kind of busy, but it does leave little time for some important stuff (laundry, basic grooming, catching up with friends)."  Or blogging. 

Honestly, I've never felt so disorganized in my entire life, but I guess that goes along with this stage of life.  Someday I'll probably miss the things that drive me crazy...mounds of laundry, crap everywhere, a bathroom covered in kid's toothpaste, no plan for dinner...ever, Sharpie on the table.  Yeah, I'm not sure if I'd ever miss any of these things, but for now, I'll just try my best to let go. 

Photo credit

Home!

Steve is back home, safe and sound.

 

He had a work thing in Quebec. 

I briefly entertained the idea of tagging along, but after discovering airfare was over $700, I decided to stay home.  I was really quite content with this decision.  Canada is cold.  Arranging childcare sounded like a big headache.  Seven hundred big ones is a lot of money to spend for a destination that has little appeal to me...or so I thought. 

 

Here's the hotel (the building on top) that he stayed in...

...so long to contentment!

Seven hundred bucks doesn't seem so expensive after all.

 

As if that wasn't enough, he sent this picture along with a text message:

Our meal tonight, fillet made at our table and crab bisque soup.  Definitely worth the $84 the company spent on it.

 

 

My reply:  I had pickles and banana bread.  So there.

And he continued to rub it in by sending picture after picture.



 

I replied with this picture and message:  Enjoy your beautiful surroundings because this is what you're coming home to.

 

Because he loves us (and his company wasn't going to pay for extra, unnessary nights in the castle), Steve returned to our palace. 

 

I was giddy with excitement when he arrived home because I love him (and because my patience was more than thin after flying solo for the week).  The kids were super exicited to see Daddy because they love him (and because they needed a reprieve from their impatient mom). 

 

Life is so much better when Daddy's home.  The bedtime stories are funnier, too.  "Jack and the Talking Turd"...what's not funny about that?  Too bad Steve had some weird skin reaction all weekend that left him sleeping off the 'round-the-clock Benadryl.  Regardless, it was good to start getting back to normal...

whatever that is.



Well, That's Better

The school year started off a little rough for our little man.  How did I know?  He talked (and complained) about the daily happenings a lot...and he sadly cried about it for many consecutive days.

 

It took a little time to iron out the wrinkles and to get a plan in place (Here's a big shout out to some very incredible teachers and staff members...you all rock!  I've been so impressed, and we are all truly grateful to have such fine people working with J.), and now he seems much, much happier at school.

 

How do I know?

He doesn't really talk about the daily happenings...such a boy!

 

Since things are going so much better, I haven't felt the need to have such frequent contact with his teachers, so I really enjoyed getting the low down last week at parent-teacher conferences.

 

Everyone was spot on when describing J, so I'm happy that he's consistent and keeping it real in school.  He's the rule follower and enforcer, and he willingly participates (almost too much at times) in class discussions. 

 

A huge contributing factor to J's happiness is his mentor.  He eagerly looks forward to his daily hour when he and another classmate of his work with her.  He loves his mentor and I know he does, but I rarely get many details.  Again, he's such a boy.  I've given up on the daily interrogation as an attempt to get some information, so it was fun to get a little more insight as to what that hour looks like.

 

Here are a couple of excerpts from the written report we received from his mentor...

 

He is very rooted in reality.

 

We just completed a large unit on monsters. J's initial reaction to the idea of this unit was wonderful:  "How will we learn about monsters?" he said, "They're not real, so there aren't any facts!"

 

The Venn diagram that accompanied the monster unit...

 

and one of the spelling and vocabulary lists...

 

How do I spell relief?

a    h-a-p-p-y   f-i-r-s-t   g-r-a-d-e-r

 



 

Question of the Night

E:  Daddy, do you think it would be okay if a whale ate me, and then shot me out of its blowhole?

Steve:  Ummm...

E:  You know, like a killer whale, and then I'd get shot out of its blowhole.

All Moms Have Them

While the sneaky kids were "quietly" plotting to spy on me tonight, I overheard E say to J, "Just remember, she has eyes on the back of her head."