Riding the Crest of the Wave

I think my husband is swell for posting those pictures. I decided to write a little more about the season of our lives...

You know how lives over time ebb and flow. I feel like I am in the crest of a tremedous wave just burgeoning to crash upon the sand. I have not hit Tsunami, tumulteous waters, but I feel very near slamming myself and all that are near me into a 100 foot tall wall of water.

If you ever procrastinate for even a day or two in this season I call post child six where the oldest is 8- a very mature, practically independent eight-year-old, but nontheless, 8, you tread in troubled waters. In the summer, I procrastinated getting ready for pre-school. In its 7th installment, I figured that it moves and breathes on its own, right? Um, no. Pre-school in all its glory, too, gets pulled into the tidal waves of ever spinning waters. I finally organized my group, got the materials inventoried, bought the new supplies to replenish the boxes, compiled phone/email lists, created the schedule, planned for my first two weeks, and finally prepared the two page list of the many things I needed to make for the first two weeks of school to actually happen. After I did that all while riding the ripples of beginning a new school year with THREE, yes, THREE school attendees, I had not even taught yet and I was already exhausted! We made it though, and a blast we did have. They are a terrific group of sailors, and it felt grand as we sailed in on our yacht through calm waters into a sunset perfect evening.

Did I mention that I LOVE PRE-SCHOOL? I truly do love it. I love to set aside five hours of my week to my Jaceroo and five of his friends (oh, and Cooper too as he stays and plays with us as well.) Oh, and I can not fail to mention the near perfect baby who slept all four days for the entire 2.5 hours each time! Have I blogged about how I have a perfect baby girl? It truly is crazy to me that she is so easy. She cries when she is hungry or sleepy-- just like Mitch ;)

And now back to the ripples...I do not go "back to school" shopping really since the boys will grow before November when they actually get to wear pants in this climate called desert. I picked up a few new things and had to do the shoe thing too since shoes can not be shared across time, and they get so hammered with these little boys. ( And I will write a blog in future weeks about why the heck shoes have to be near as expensive for little kids as they are for full grown-up sized shoes. And don't give me "labor" as the reason. I know machines manufacture tennis shoes. I have seen Mr. Roger's Neighborhood. ) I did, however, go "back to school supply" shopping. On the day we had the "meet and greet," I brought 9 bags of supplies to the school. Just chalk it up to budget cuts! Needless to say, even though I did not go clothing shopping, but just shoe and supplies shopping, it still took a bit of time. Thus, this shopping is what I like to call the mini waves and ripples in my ocean of troubled waters.

Now I must comment a little on the days we have now. I tutor at least one, sometimes two children per day. I also must manage the homework, soccer practice, scouts, and dinners as well all at the hours between 3:00 and 6:00. It is absolutely mind boggling to me that these days go as well as they do. Ironically though, just like the ocean waters, in only a matter of seconds, my days (or evenings) can change from calm, tranquil waters to tumultuous, storm creating waves. One instance that demonstrates this was when I was cooking dinner and transfering the food into plates on the island. The two older boys were both sitting at the island on stools and were asking me questions about spelling, comprehension vocabulary, etc. Jace and Gage wee both playing with the cars on the car rug. Brooke was in the Bumbo. Cooper got a glass of water, climbed up to the island and managed to pour the water over the torillas that I had just cooked on the comal (?sp). I holler at him to stop. Jace then starts "jumping" his cars and one lands on Brooke's head. I get Brooke, calm her down, and then I realized that the rice I had on the stove top is now burned. I just laughed. I wanted to go to Taco Bell, but putting all the kids int he car to go and get it was too much effort as well. We just had plain tacos with no rice. Some nights, we just do not need sides!

Speaking of soccer. The boys LOVE it. Their coaches seem great! They are learning the skills, making friends, getting some exercise, and even I enjoy the time watching them play. I have met a few other moms and have enjoyed visiting with them during the practices. I hate getting out the door and I hate piling everyone back in the car and getting home and getting dinner on the table, but my dislikes have not outweighed the benefits thus far. We have games tomorrow. Hopefully we will make the time to BLOG tomorrow.

School is going well. Aiden loves his teacher, and we love her too. He also has begun GATE and loves that because his best buddy from first and second grade goes with him as well. Grey actually is getting moved to a new calss today. His experiences are yet to be determined. Gager LOVES Ms. McBreen. She loves green apples, her favorite color is blue, and she is CUTE. (This is a direct quote from my 5 year old.) I attempted to support the school by serving on a parent committee, but I fear that it will be too much of a committment. I have helped out in one of the classes, and I love that. It makes me realize how much I miss the classroom. All in all, I hope it will be a great year!

Well I have more water analagies I could make, but I need to post this and go paddle into the kitchen to whip up some dinner. I will hopefully post again with news that the wave is still at its crest and has not crashed upon the sand. Oh and hopefully the sea of laundry will not cause any pollution in my waters. When can I expect the kids to do their own laundry?

P.S. I have no time to edit, so Uncle Scott, do not critique my typos and grammatical errors--it is raw and I am OK with it :)!