Weekend...

We had a great weekend. Very full, very busy, very tiring...but fun. VERY ready for Monday morning.

Friday was beautiful. It has been for the last week (until yesterday). Fall in the Adirondacks is unbeatable. The Ministry Center is breath-taking. I am drawn to that place and want to stay! We were there a lot this week.

Friday morning we were at the barn. We walked the donkeys down to the lake and spent time enjoying the beautiful scenery. We hiked up my mom's mountain (that's what we call it) behind her house to the lean-to and ate lunch looking at this:



After that, we ran home, grabbed girly off the bus and headed out to the boys soccer game. It was so beautiful and soooo much fun to watch all three of them (Tyler plays too) play together. They won 5-0!

Saturday was spent, again, up at the barn in the morning when four of us had the opportunity to ride. Dallas and I rode Pearl (the HUGE spotted draft horse) and Ethan and girly rode Snickers the cute pony.

That's me!

We finished at the barn and I got the chance for a night out with the girls to go shopping and have dinner. We didn't get home until almost midnight.

Last night our youth group did a progressive dinner for our senior citizens in the church. That is always so much fun. We love serving them in that way. It was a great night.

Today is back to normal...we are headed to the barn!

Beautiful Bride...

Ethan: Mom, do you know who I am going to marry?

Me: Who?

Ethan: No, do YOU know?

Me: No, why, do YOU think you know?

Ethan: No.

Me: Ethan, you can pray for the girl who will be your wife someday even if you don't know who it will be. You can pray that she will be a godly woman who loves Jesus with all her heart.

Ethan: I think I will ask all the wives (I am sure he meant potential wives) if they love Jesus and if they all say yes then I am going to pick the prettiest!

:)

Ouch!

I have shingles. IT HURTS!

I am WAY too young for this. It is common in people over 65! I am 38...doesn't it know that?!

I am thankful for my friend who listened when I was complaining about my aching back and my rash...looked at it and said, "That looks like shingles". (She had it last year. She should know.)

She was right! Thankfully if you get on meds within 72 hours of the rash (not fun) it makes it not quite as horrible, but still pretty yucky.

I wouldn't have thought of shingles but I went to see my doctor first thing this morning and she knew right away that is what I had.

Apparently, if you have had the chicken pox, it lays dormant in your body and something can trigger it, mine, they think, was triggered by my Remicade treatment. Possibly.

Anyway, the question that keeps coming to mind is, "How can I glorify my LORD in this situation?" I just want to complain, I want sympathy. (So any is welcome.) :)

We have a meeting with Social Services Friday. It is REALLY messed up (their fault). Long story that I probably can't print here anyway.

Side note: We are flying to Florida this February and weren't going to tell the kids until Christmas. I was so afraid I would slip (and have several times, but no one caught it). RYAN slipped (RYAN!!!) last night and Dallas caught it. I am sooooo excited that he slipped and not me!

I got to tell the rest of them (girly heard with Dallas) and they are so excited. None of them have ever flown before. Now we are all going to be researching and they will be able to help us plan what we want to do while we are down there. We are thinking Disney and/or Sea World will be on that list. Ethan wants to see an alligator....and look down on the clouds.

Back to School...

So yesterday was it. The first day of school for my kiddos. Dallas is in 9th grade (his last year in school), Michael 7th, my nephew, Tyler 7th (the one in the middle), our girly 1st and Ethan is the only one I am teaching at home this year. He is doing K/1.

In a way I was sad to send them off. It is a long day to not see them. In another way, I realize it is a good thing. They need the routine, the challenge, the chance to be with their dad for a good chunk of the day. How many kids get that?

Ryan shared his testimony the other night with a group of people and said he knew he wanted to work with kids since he was in high school. He said he loves what he does and both boys say you can tell by the way he teaches and manages the class. He loves the kids. I love that he is there with the boys.

Ethan and I had a great day. I had to see where he is in math, reading and writing. The things I had intended to start with this year...he already knows. All the sight words in the first (and second) list, the first chunk of math pages in the book, all the money, how much it is worth and all his letters/sounds and reads quite a bit. Don't know for sure where he learned it all but I really think he just pays attention in life.

He is a fun kid and I completely enjoyed our day. It was really quiet around the house. By five I was itchin' for them all to come home (they had soccer practice, which Ryan coaches too).

Girly had a great day. LOVES her teacher and her classmates. I really pray it is a good year for her. I am sad that I can not post her sweet little face. She looked so cute. Here is the outfit I made Saturday for her to wear for the first day.

It has been pretty calm with her lately. We go through a hard few weeks, then we will have a few weeks that are pretty calm. She can still be pretty punky but I guess I can too. :)

So, the "real" part? I am tired. I haven't gotten anything done that is on my "list" lately. As a mom you just make yourself keep going. I don't think my "list" will ever be done. That's okay.