Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't blogged a whole lot in the past few days because we've been real busy & I've been tired in the evenings (as one should be!). Nights are usually my online time, but in the past week there have been several nights when I was in the bed by 10:30 or 11:00 (or maybe 11:30!), so I haven't gotten in much blogging time. Let's see if I can recap a little.

On Wednesday evening, we had church like usual. That always makes for a crazy afternoon. To top it off, Larry felt nauseous, Savannah had bashed her head against the bars & brick wall at school (sigh...don't ask) & she was feeling dizzy & nauseous AND Samuel got in the car after school saying he felt funny, too. Hooray. (sigh) Seriously, I figured they were all coming down the stomach virus I had on Thanksgiving night...which is now making its way around town & our church like wildfire. Luckily, no one ever got sick. That evening, Sarah attended her first rehearsal for a live nativity scene she will be a part of in church tomorrow. The 3rd-5th grade choir practiced, too & will be a part of tomorrow morning's service as well. (Oh yes...there will be pictures of it all!)

After the practice, all the elementary kids had their quarterly awards ceremony for Royal Rangers & Missionettes. This is Sarah's group -- the Prims. They are K-2nd graders. She's at the far left end.




And this is Samuel's group. He's in the middle wearing the black MOB shirt. (Don't worry...MOB stands for Members of One Body, the name of our 3rd through 5th grade choir at church.)

After school on Thursday, Sarah had an appointment with her asthma/allergy doc again because one of their computerized lung capacity testing machines was broken when we were there last month. (I can't remember what the test is called, but that's what it tests!) She went in, did the test & was told that (hooray!) she was hitting over the 100% mark in each test the machine does. Great job, kiddo! That doesn't mean that she's outgrowing having asthma, but it is super good!! Later that evening, I took the kids & went to pick up Samuel's Cub Scout popcorn order. We filled up the back end of my van on the way home. WooHoo! As a prize for the popcorn sales, he chose a pocket knife (one that is sort of made like a Swiss Army knife) and Larry spent a little while this afternoon teaching him the proper way to sharpen it & use it without slicing off a limb (of your own or your siblings).

Friday was also a busy afternoon/evening. Savannah went to her usual Friday night social dancing & etiquette class that she's been attending recently. It's so much fun to see her dress up & go learn to dance (with boys!). Considering that she's still doing real good to walk out the front door in matching clothes with her hair brushed usually, it's pretty exciting to see her dress up once a week!

My niece is also taking the class, so she came home with Savannah last night. This morning, they both had to report to the band hall at 7:15am to go to All-Region Band auditions in a nearby town. Although neither one of them made it, they had a ball trying. I'm glad that it turned out the way it did. I was worried that if one of them made it & the other didn't, we'd have some sad cousins on our hands.

This morning was our town's Christmas parade. I love living in a little town. You see, I grew up in this same small town. Back then, it was a TINY town. We had 1 traffic light in the middle of the town. Everyone knew everyone. The schools were small & I liked it. I moved away after I got married, but eventually we roamed back toward home for the safety of a good school system, the nearness of family & the proximity to Larry's (then) job. It was interesting to see how much everything had grown since I moved away in 1994. And the best part is, the longer we live here, the more I realize that most of my high school classmates also moved back home at some point. I run into HS friends all the time. And the ones that I didn't know all that well back during our HS years have quickly become better friends now that we are adults! (Hi Jennifer C!) Anyway, back to the parade. I love little town parades. I love that I know someone on almost every float. I love seeing my kids involved in the community as they walk by their cheering mama in the school band or with the Scouts. I get a kick out of seeing Larry in his Scout leader uniform, waving to the crowds & throwing candy to the kids. I love waving to friends who are there with their church groups, "advertising" their church in the parade. We are lucky to live in the Bible-belt where things like that can happen without the float being boo'd as it passes by. I love the feel of sitting in a lawnchair on the roadside with my kids (or my mom at the last parade), sharing their presence, just talking & having a good time together. Yeah...I know. I live in a utopia something akin to a greeting card picture, but I like it that way. There's nothing quite like a parade. The newspaper photographer was there again today. I found some pictures I liked on the newspaper's website. See?

The Scouts actually started the whole parade! Larry's in this picture, wearing the cowboy hat.

Of course, he's also in this picture....


...and this one....


...and this one. I think the photographer was a little sweet on my husband. I can see why! :)


I could only find 2 pictures of Samuel. One was of his ear. I figured no one but his mama could pick him out in that shot, so here's the other one of him. He's turned sideways in front of the lady in the green shirt. Yes sir, that's my baby.


The photographer even came by where Sarah & I were sitting & snapped a picture of us! Sarah was so excited to get online tonight & find it!


After the parade, Larry took Samuel with him to my parents' house to fix the brakes on my van. While they were gone, Sarah & I took a short break from everything. Samuel completed a section in his Cub Scout book for helping Larry repair something using more than 2 tools. Hey...whatever. It means that he & his daddy got to spend time together so that's fine by me. (& if you ask me, that's the goal behind 99% of the badges he earns!)

Sarah & I left again and went to her church nativity scene practice after the boys got home. She did GREAT & we were home again by about 4:00. She wanted me to sit & watch her ride her scooter around in the street, so King & I got the best seats in the house, err, yard & watched her for a little while. Clearly, King was wow'd.



I took a quick peek at my emails & then went to cook supper. Yumm...meatballs in veggie gravy with garlic bread. After we ate, it was time for all the kids to take baths & head to bed.

After tucking them all in & doing the dishes in the kitchen, yada yada yada...you know, all the mom stuff, I sat down here and well, I haven't gotten up since.

And that, my friends, is why I have a pile of laundry that's been waiting on me all week. You know...the one that looks like this.



....and after I get home from the shower I'm helping host tomorrow afternoon after church, it'll be the first thing I tackle.




Editted to add: The laundry is CLEAN. I haven't had time to fold it & put it away. (I've had a comment & an email that seemed confused about that fact, so I figured I better let ya know.)