Yeah, right.

Just put that back in my purse.

Was it just last year?

When I saw this picture, I had a few thoughts...
...I look tired and old. Maybe if I wouldn't smile with such freaky absurdity...
...I shouldn't pose next to Jill.
...Jill looks great!
...this picture looks vaguely familiar.

First Day of School

When I'm not blogging, I'm doing very important things. Like unpacking boxes and painting. Trying to find school books that I ordered and packed up. There are about 342 boxes in my basement labeled "homeschool". The other half are labeled "kid's books". Why wasn't I smart enough to label them more precisely? Oh, yeah, I was frantic.

Frantic has been my life for the past few weeks. I've put all other household needs on the back burner as I am scraping together gumption to finish our schoolroom and find our materials. It is nearly mid-September. I'm waiting for one of the neighbors to call the police, "The lady next door says she's homeschooling, but her kids are playing outside ALL DAY LONG. There are a lot of them, you'll probably need back-up."

It all came together today. I took it easy and we did some crafty things. Tomorrow, math books will be cracked and spelling placement tests will be taken. For today, drawing on the new chalk wall is very important. I was most thrilled to just sit and enjoy these five for the first time in what seems like weeks. Homeschooling--it forces you to sit still and spend time with your children. What a beautiful thing.

Should have brought my autograph book...

to the AWAA Africa reunion in Branson. I would liken it to (and forgive me if this is lame, I'm running on fumes) watching years of reality tv and then spending a weekend with the cast. Doubtful that Seth felt the same way I did. He's not given to dramatics. How do you meet people that you have shared years of your life with, but never chatted over a cup of coffee? It's "Give me a hug--so good to really meet you!" over and over again. Walking away and feeling like you met a long lost friend and movie star at the same time. Weird. And wonderful.

The weekend was a welcome respite from the trenches of moving. Since there are pictures from the weekend on all of the other blogs...Here are a few from the eyes of Everett (using his new birthday present--which his sister dropped from 5 feet up and broke, but he doesn't know that yet...)You may notice that the froggy ride was a hit with the big kids (this was only their second ride, by the end of the day they were doing "big stuff"). Josiah wanted to ride this thing, but wasn't pleased once the frog started jumping. In the photo above you can see him screaming and the attendant taking notice. Shortly after we were removed from the ride. Poor baby spent the rest of the day eating and riding the stroller.

Lots of pictures just like this--we stayed at the same hotel as the Steiger's, Laughner's, Schmidts, and Martin's. One night we took over their breakfast area and had dinner and ice cream. Our enormous clan got more than a few strange looks.

Everett turned 9!

Amidst the madness that comes along with a move and 10 day trip, our eldest turned nine. He was not deprived, because he celebrated three times.