Daybook ::: End of August Version

Outside my Window ... sunny with a breeze. I'm hoping to eventually get some time out on our patio this afternoon or at least in the driveway watching the girls ride their bikes. It's beautiful today!

I am thinking ... that I am ready for fall. This summer has been wonderful - we've enjoyed lots of fun times swimming and being outside riding bikes, but I'm ready for long-sleeve shirts and cool evenings where T can light up our fire pit outside. We went swimming last Friday and it was almost chilly with the cool breeze - during the middle of the afternoon even. I love, love, love the changing of the seasons here where we live and cannot wait to see what the trees do here at our near house. I'm expecting breathtaking. : )

I am thankful for ... the sermons that my Dad has been preaching out of Ephesians lately. Good good stuff. I keep hoping I'll have time during the week to go back and ponder what he has said and go over the verses again, but I get sidetracked with other busy-ness, but there are things that stay with me. A favorite from Sunday:

We live at Jesus' disposal, at his direction, and for his display.

In the learning room ... We have three full weeks of school under our belt (with a few extra days added in because of our outings in Chattanooga). I've been pleased with how the girls have been doing on getting their work done and with (mostly) good attitudes. While I thought the boy would be the wild card in our schooling, it has been the 4yo that has been the most tricky. Not quite ready to sit and work on things with the big girls but wanting to be included so much. I'm having to be on the ball to keep her either occupied with us or otherwise, so that she doesn't feel left out. I don't want to rush into growing up too fast so that she can be included in the school mix, but she misses her previously constant and available playmate, N2. 

From the kitchen ... Working on getting back into my good eating habits that I have left slip over the last few weeks. I've gained and lost the same 1.5 pounds over the past month and I'm ready to jump over this plateau. The s'mores goldfish that I enjoyed on vacation and two batches of the Pioneer Woman's apple dumplings I have made in the last few weeks have not helped matters, but thankfully all are or have been eaten disposed of.

I am creating ... hoping to get back to my Project Life album this week. I've laid out several pages to cover our Chattanooga trip and have plenty of other pages that I need to catch up on the journaling. Shimelle's annual September class, Learn Something New Every Day, is starting soon, and I don't think I'm going to be participating this year, although I am signed up to get the prompts. (Once you take one of Shimelle's classes, you can take it again and again at no extra charge. Very cool). Lastly, I'm praying about taking part in Emily's (Chatting at the Sky) 31 days in October. (You can read more about it at that link).

I am going ... to have a fairly quiet week of going places. At some point the kids and I will venture out for groceries (if I must) but otherwise we are home all week. We have a little friend coming over for a playdate on Friday and that's it. T's schedule is a little nuts this week as he is playing in a wedding this weekend so we'll lose him to a rehearsal and (maybe) rehearsal dinner and some wedding stuff on Saturday. I'll be juggling kids and babysitter Saturday, but looking forward to celebrating this event with friends. 

I am wearing ... black capris and a grey Old Navy t-shirt. Nothing fancy.

I am reading ... The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. I have read this book before, but it's been a while and since it's a fictional story about Egyptian gods, I thought it might tie in with what we are reading for our history in Story of the World. (Note: this is something that only *I* am reading ... not with the girls. From what I remember, this book was more intense than the Percy Jackson series which I thoroughly enjoyed, but I refreshing my memory). I have several nonfictions on my want-to-read list and I can't decide what to start: Grace for the Good Girl (by Emily at Chatting at the Sky), Educating the Whole Hearted Child, Sacred Marriage, Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit ... they all take their turn rotating up, but I haven't made much progress on any of them.

I am hoping ... to get some creative time this week. I'm needing it.

I am hearing ... B talking to herself during rest time. She has a constant stream of dialogue or made-up song going at. all. times.

Around the house ... the goal is to make a HUGE dent in the laundry today. Two loads washed, five loads folded (do you see how those don't add up there?) and the plan is for it all to be put away after the kids' rest time. The house is in decent shape after the weekend - T hosted some of his friends of Friday night for a cookout and I hosted a few of my friends on Sunday night for a smallish baby shower. Hoping to keep up the housework momentum as I felt behind all last week after coming home from our trip.

One of my favorite things ... shameful confession: Cornnuts. I loooooove them. I had some on Saturday while I was waiting to pick N1 up from a birthday party. I think these are one of those foods that you either love or are totally icked out by, and I, most definitely, fall into the LOVE category. I can't remember which girl it was, but during one pregnancy, I was all about cornnuts. I did have to take a little break from them after that, but they still haven't lost their charm. : )

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week ... school, meal planning for September in lieu of the grocery store run that must happen this week, book organization ... I've been dying to tackle our bookshelves since we moved into this house and finally get the books moved around to where I want them. I think I may work on that some this week. Wedding weekend. Then next week .... EVERYTHING starts back as far as extra activities. Deep breaths. : )

A photo ... a memory from last week. B has had to have some pretty major dental work done and so far it's hasn't gone great. Last week was round two with the addition of some medicine to reeealllly relax her and make her sleepy. A little bit more was taken care of but the next step unfortunately is to go to a pediatric dentist that specializes in sedation. We (and the girls) love our family dentist but he thinks it will be easier on B in the long run to just sleep through the dental work so that she doesn't end up scared of going to the dentist in the long run. As a mama that has her own share of dental trauma, I'm not into her being knocked out, but if we can avoid a fear of the dentist, I'm all for it.

And on that note, happy Monday!