To Do List

With today being the first day of school, I was overwhelmed with the thought of what I would get accomplished without any of my 4 children at home. For the first time in 3 months I would have the opportunity to take care of the many areas of my home that have been neglected in the name of summer fun. However, once I arrived home I was at a standstill. I couldn't even clear my head enough to know where to start. I proceeded to carry a notepad and pen around with me in my first day of school stupor in hopes of putting together a plan. Here's what I was able to come up with:

1. Order Quest Study Bible



2. Figure out dinner



3. Make next week's menu



4. Update calendar for FHS



5. Laundry :-P



6. Clean the kitchen

That's as far as I got writing my list before I actually did this:

1. Blog stalk



2. Play Word Challenge on Facebook



3. Eat a bowl of potato soup for lunch on my couch while channel surfing



4. Slip into a mini couch coma



5. Pick up my kids from school

Now I need to make the dinner that I didn't plan this morning. I guess I'll try again tomorrow. In the words of Scarlett O'Hara ..."After all, tomorrow is another day."

Ready or Not...

The response is definitely NOT!!! I don't think I've ever been more NOT ready for school. Of course I'm prepared; we have the necessary school supplies, uniforms, shoes, physicals, etc. I'm just NOT ready for summer to be over.

I've tried to figure out how much more additional summer would finally have me feeling ready for my kids to go back to school and I don't believe I can quantify it. I just want more time to go to the beach, hang out by the pool, BBQ with friends, run out for ice cream, and pretty much just do whatever we want whenever we want.

I know that we'd probably get tired of that eventually. I'm sure there would even come a point when I'd end up screaming at the top of my lungs, "Get out of my house!!!", but I'd like to see how long it would take before I'd actually get there.

Blogging? No Way...It's VBS Week!!!

My head is filled with about 1000 stories from VBS and it's only Tuesday! I'm in charge of the crews in the 3rd grade lime green group, Kendall is an assistant leader in my group, RJ is in charge of recreation and Mitchell is just enjoying being a VBS attender in the 4th grade red group. I don't even have enough time or brain power to put the excitement of our Power Lab experience into words. So...here are a few pictures to give you a feel for how the week is going so far.RJ getting Joy to say the Bible verse at the end of recreation on Monday.

Mitchell's red mohawk

I found this in front of Kendall's door after her 2nd day of working with a group of 3rd grade girls. PS -- She napped for 5-1/2 hours before I woke her up. I love when teenagers get exhausted for Jesus!

There Must Have Been Something In The Water

That water being from the lake, and that lake being Hume; which is where my two oldest were this past week at camp with their church youth group. What other explanation could there be for a 16 year old brother to volunteer to pose for a photo with his 14 year old sister?
Or...for that same 16 year old to come home with his hair cut like this:

(It's a little difficult to tell from the photo, but in between the shaved portion made to look like eyebrows and a mustache, are eyes and a mouth that read, "Hi Mom!" written in permanent marker)



My first inclination was to call the camp and suggest a water analysis of the aforementioned lake, meanwhile rushing my son to the ER for detoxification. However, after hearing all of the great stories that they both had to share about their week at camp, I knew that the only water that had any effect on them was the living water also known as Jesus Christ.

I am so thankful for the time they spent with friends, pastors, other volunteer staff and most importantly God. I am also thankful for my dear friend and hairdresser who was able to fix the haircut that came by means of a bowl, scissors, and a bunch of guys looking to gain extra spirit points during recreation!

Mamma Mia!

Sunday afternoon I went to see Mamma Mia! The Movie and couldn't believe what I discovered; Matt Doan looks like Colin Firth! I have loved Colin Firth (in a movie star crush sort of way) since he was the wonderful Mr. Darcy in the TV mini series version of Pride and Prejudice. I have loved Matt Doan (in a thankful parent of a high schooler in his youth group sort of way) for the last 3 years. However, I have NEVER seen this resemblance before. For verification I immediately leaned over to my good friend Julia to share what I'd discovered. She gasped in agreement and couldn't believe that she'd never noticed it either. So, are we just a couple of 40-something-yr-old women who've completely lost it, or does anyone else see what we see?

I've never colored my hair

But it looks like I'm gonna have to start! My 16 yr old son, is on his first behind the wheel driving lesson as I'm writing this post. I thought I was OK with this and even though he wouldn't let me take a picture of him w/his instructor to forever remember this day, I was still OK. Then it happened...about an hour into his 2 hour lesson, my cell phone rang showing a number that I didn't recognize. I quickly checked the business card the instructor left and saw that it was his number. I took a deep breath and calmly answered the phone. It was RJ, "Hi Mom, I'm just checking to see if I'm available to take my next lesson on Aug. 1st?" I replied (hoping that he couldn't tell my heart was beating in my throat), "Yeah, that's fine, what time?" He told me the time and I hung up. OMG!!!! Could that not have waited 'til they returned? I was certain that the call was from the instructor letting me know that there had been some kind of horrible accident, or that my son wasn't trainable and that I'd have to come pick him up. Now I have to wait for another hour before he returns. All the while praying for calmness and that my good friend/hairdresser will be able to do something with the countless gray hairs I've just acquired.

Come Sail Away

The weather was perfect for the landsailer today in Punta Banda. We all took turns and had a blast. Below is RJ's video de la landsail that he filmed using his dad's Flip video camera. If you are prone to motion sickness, you may want to take some Dramamine. Since this gives a better view of RJ's feet than the landsailer itself, I will post photos of it along with other fun shots from our Punta Banda trip later. Now I need to get back to my lounge chair in the glorious sunshine.