Daybook: Second Week of School

I can't believe how quickly the time is flying by now. We are just starting our second week of school for all of the kids, even the homeschooled ones. Little Dude is walking, and I'm able to be away from him for a few hours at a time now, if need be. And the weather has finally turned. Finally. More on all of this throughout my daybook. 


Outside my window~

Sunshine. Blue skies. COOL temps. High of only 84 today... yes, only. We went from 100's to 80's in 2 days.  Lows at night in the 60's. Fall is here!!


I am listening to~

My two homeschoolers fighting. Oy. It's snack time, and apparently making the lemonade is sending them over the edge.


I am wearing~

Khaki shorts and long sleeve melon-colored v-neck shirt. Bare feet. Of course.

(on the ferry heading up the Georgia Strait)


I am so grateful for~

Cooler weather. After over 65 days straight of triple digits, the cooler breezes seem miraculous. Indeed, they are. I am SO grateful.


I am pondering~

The balance of homemaking.  Specifically, a home that is kid-friendly, but neat. Our house will never be Pottery-Barn perfect. Our furniture is mostly hand-me-downs... and when I have toddlers running through it hither and yon, I'm glad for that. I can let go of my worry about our things and focus on our company.  However, I also know that children love beauty and order. How to balance both. How to not obsess but be organized. It may seem like a no-brainer, but this is hard for me.


I am reading~

Just finished The Help for book club.  Highly. Recommend.  My goodness, what an amazing read. 
I'm now reading Innocent Blood for book club, and The Children's Homer for the Lit class I teach.


I am thinking~

About my school kids. All day I think about them, checking their schedules, seeing what class they are in, and I pray for them.  They are doing so well at school. I can hardly believe it. 

(excuse the early-morning, Papa-in-a-hurry shot)


I am creating~

New bedrooms. DH and I, side-by-side. Boo and Love's room is finished.  We painted the boys' room yesterday. DH is building lofts. It's slow, but we are making progress. What a crazy time. 


On my iPod~

Lots of painting music.  :)

(view from our bedroom at the beach house... sigh)



Towards a real education~

Our co-op is going really well. Little Dear's classes are more challenging this year, but not overwhelming. It's a good balance. We went on a nature walk this morning. It was glorious. I think we need to do that a bit more this Fall. 


Towards rhythm and beauty~

Less kids at home mean less mess. It's really true. But it also means less hands to help if I need it. Little Dude is so much happier now that he's more mobile. I can get some chores done! And also? I can write more. How I've missed it!

(Little Dude at the beach house)



I am hoping and praying~

For Suzanne, and Charlotte, and many other intentions. 


In the garden~

Need to re-plant. I can't wait until this weekend when I can go and buy fall blooms!!


Around the house~

The smell of paint and wood stain. How fun!

(missing our family in Canada... right Little Boo?)


From the kitchen~

I've been baking. :)  Apple pie and carrot cake, for starters. The promise of fall brings out the domestic side of me.



One of my favorite things~

Yummy kitchen smells. :)




A few plans for the week~

Our calendar is starting to fill up. Soccer practices, Irish step dance, Night out for mom, soccer tournament this weekend, a coffee get-together... it's nice to get back into socializing again!



A picture thought~

(from our trip to the Sunshine Coast, British Columbia, Canada)


:)

Welcome Fall!!

Tomorrow

 

Forecast:

 

 

Sunny 

 

Temperature:  76°

Chance of Precip:  0%

 

Wind: N at 9 mph

:)

Delayed Start

I think we'll take a page from the "brick and mortar" schools here and delay opening for a few hours today...











































































































DH (working from home today) just sent a note to his colleagues...

I'll be away from my desk for 20 minutes.
Going out to play in the snow.

:)

How We Survive The Winter

Early morning fires...



















Laundry and math by the warmth of the sun...






















Popcorn and PJ's in the afternoon...






















Hockey practice in the garage...






















A good movie in the evening...





















Or a good book...





















Stay warm, y'all!

:)

Afternoon Thoughts

A cold front is threatening to the North. An Arctic Blast is what they're calling it, plunging temperatures into the teens.

Trees rattle in fear, their limbs empty… dry and chilled with the winter air.
Walking through the backyard, I notice that even the outdoor chairs and toys huddle close to the house... waiting.

Funny how my shoulders relax in the seeming balmy 45 degree weather.
The sun plays off my crazy house-bound hair, and red abounds.
While, stark in his black and white, our cat rolls on the scratchy brick patio.
I pick at the weeds poking through the seams, eager to remain in the light.

Always, in the warmth, no matter how feeble.

Children bound in and out, wondering for me... puzzled at my position on the step.
As the wind picks up, they scurry inside.

Winter is not for the faint of heart.











:)

WTH?

We awoke to snow pouring from the sky this morning. Yes, it is snow, not rain. And that shot is the best I could muster in my pj's before becoming seriously frozen solid to the spot. I think it was 37 this morning.

Not that snow in December should be all that surprising. But snow in Texas during any time of the fall or winter is usually precipitated (heh heh) by days and days of newscasts about sand trucks and school delays and such.

This one snuck up on us with no warning whatsoever.
















And here is the aftermath. Maybe about 1/1000th of an inch. And that's if we're lucky. No need to praise my amazing photography skilz. I'm all about variety, apparently.

:P

Weather Words

There is nothing that lifts my sinus-clogged spirits like these words on my weather page:

Abundant Sunshine


:)

Drizzly

After days and days of cloudy stickiness, the reprieve has come.

A cold front blew in last night, starting with a gentle rain, and then reinforcing it's presence with a loud bang at 5:45am.

After the initial flash of light and house-shaking *BOOM* we played musical beds and I found myself lying amidst a bed of girls. Little Love, Little Boo, then Little Dear were all lined up, heads sharing my long body pillow, while DH took refuge in their room. The girls flounced here and there, snuggling under the blankets until all was still. I glanced down the row, and took a mental picture.

There will be many more nights like this, that I can be sure of.

This time of year in Texas is a strange one, and I marvel at it every year. A new friend, transplanted from California, announced to me the other day that she had packed up all the winter clothes for her family. Meeting my bewildered face, she asked, "Is that ok? Aren't we done with the colder temperatures?" I just laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is the time of year where I am folding the laundry for one season while wearing the other.

My children are old enough now to realize exactly what the words "cold front" and "warm front" mean. And they don't balk at having to dress accordingly.

Although they are still confused by the fact that although it is not Spring, they have already been out running in the sprinkler in their bathing suits.

March is a gray month in Texas. Lots of instability in the atmosphere, which lends itself to lots of clouds. While I don't mind the rain, the clouds get to me after a few days.

Our storms are amazing. I don't think I will ever get used to them. The fury can be beautiful, as long as the tornadoes stay far away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And so today and for the rest of the week our forecast is cold and rainy. Probably the last hurrah before our weather turns truly spring-like for good. We plan to cook and bake and have some indoor fun today. Hot tea and board games, new books and indoor hockey.

One last time.

:)

Fickle

That's the weather around here. Just like a teenage girl.

Fickle.

Not that I'd know anything about that, of course.

;)

We went from this less than a week ago...

To this:
















No need to feel sorry for me... even though we woke up this morning to a *frigid* 20 degrees!

It will be 45 and sunny by noon.

:)

Homeschooling in the South

Looks a lot like this:






















I cannot tell you how grateful I am for the 70 degree weather we've had yesterday and again today.

If I did, it would surely be bragging.

:)

Sending a wish for warm breezes your way,

It's No Wonder We Are Constantly Sick...

This is our projected 10 day forecast.

I'm not complaining about the 70 degree temps, no sir!

I'm just wishing we could get off the roller-coaster and decide what season we're in... mkay? Thx.

:)

Yoohoo, Margaret...

...and Mrs. Bear, and Barbara, and Karen, and Alicia.....

Can we come visit?

DH is threatening to relocate.

:)

Dog Days

It's summertime in Texas, and you know what that means!

We're getting out the board games.

I've written before how backwards our seasons seem to be. Every year, it's still a bit of a shock to feel true 100 degree heat beating through the car windows, wilting my very soul.

We're re-discovering the joys (?!) of Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders, Uno, and Hi-Ho-Cherry-O. We're remembering that there's nothing like a rousing card game of Speed. The "Homeschool Room" has become the playroom for the summer. Clay, paint, scissors, glue and marker projects abound. Gerbil mazes litter the floor, accompanied by many costumes and even a rock band drum set made of pots , pans and an orange Home Depot bucket.

Netflix has never been used so voraciously.

We have become hermits.

And yet, I still need to feel the sun on my face. Yes, even the 100 degree sun. And so we spend a lot of time in water. The pool, the water parks, the lake, the bath tub and the shower. Water has never felt so necessary as it does these days.

To all of my Northern friends, enjoy your summer. Revel in your backyard bbq's, baseball games and picnics. Glory in your bike rides and rollerblading escapades. Us southerners will just sit in our A/C boxes and live vicariously through your pictures and fun times as you plan events that are not even on our radar for at least 3 more months.

And we will wait for our chance at summer.

It's called Autumn.

:)

Guess Where We Went Today?

And the lovely Mamas who came with....

















Girly time...
















Boys and dirt/sand. Must. Dig.

















Little Love...





















Lunch-a-ble Little Boo...















But the question remains.....

Was it worth it?





















HMMMMM.....
















:)

It's Me, I know It

We have a humongous house-warming bash over here today.

As I was getting out of my chocolate and egg roll splattered clothes, I glanced out the window and saw HAIL pounding the ground.

WHAAA??

DH dashed outside and brought the patio chair cushions inside, while I checked the weather.

We are under a tornado watch tonight until 9pm.

Guess I should have cleaned out the tornado closet as well, eh?

:)

Our Triduum

... is looking very much like Margaret's.

It's nice to know that we're in such good company (even though it's only virtual).

;)

You see, we were supposed to be in Canada by now.

Of course, there's a story. Why else does one blog?

:)

Actually, it's not an uncommon one, given Texas at this time of year. It's called Spring Storms. And it caused over half of the flights out of Dallas to be cancelled earlier this week. For us folks who fly stand-by, it can throw a serious wrench into our vacation plans. As in, you-may-not-even-have-a-vacation type wrench.

Luckily, though, God is smiling on us.

The flights on Friday are open, one might even say optimistically... wide open. But, shhhh. Don't tell anyone. Throngs of people might decide that Canada is suddenly the place to be this Easter. Although I'm not sure why, given this.

Yes, rain and snow. You read that right. We are gluttons for punishment.

Either that, or we really love our families.

Obviously, it's the latter. And we'll bring as much sunshine as we can!

Blessings...

Wordless Wednesday*

:)

*h/t Margaret

Here We *Snow* Again!

Thanks, guys. But you can stop sending all that love our way....

ETA: And now I know who to thank for the Thundersnow, Alicia! (stop that evil cackling!)

:)

In Like a Lion...

Sorry all you Northerners... but y'all will have to indulge us Southerners tonight. This is an amazing sight. Usually the only snow we get are the dozen or so flakes that drift down in between the driving sleet and freezing rain.

One more blast before the Spring thaw I guess!

















Although I doubt there will be enough for a snowman, at least not a Texas-sized one, it 'shore is purty'...

:)