I Knew It Was Coming . . .

Ever since I held my wonderful little netbook in my hands (which, for the record, was at the beginning of my 3-month hospital stay when I HAD to have contact with the outside world!) I knew this day was coming. Someday it would die, or be destroyed. And in our house, something is much more likely to be destroyed with Bubba around.

Yesterday he was having a great day. He was mellow and played by himself after nap. But something, and I have no earthly idea what, upset him. And when that boy gets upset . . . watch out! He was in the bathroom and he just started screaming. I could hear the situation escalating but by the time I got to him it was too late. He took the toilet plunger, ran out of the bathroom, and started hitting everything in sight. One of those things, unfortunately, was my netbook. (Moment of silence, please.) He hit the screen and it shattered on the inside. I never would have left it open like that but I was following a recipe for dinner. Sigh.

One of the lessons I feel that God has tried to teach me since having Bubba is to not hold too tightly to my possessions. And I really never thought of myself as someone who struggled with that. But my son has moved me to tears on more than one occasion by breaking and destroying things -- my Scentsy candle, Spunky's tennis trophy, a special room decoration that was given to Calico. I know . . . it's just stuff. But it's still a challenge for me. I thank God that he has prepared a place for me that neither moth or rust or little boys can destroy!

Sad Goodbyes

Our little exchange student flew home yesterday morning and we are so SAD. She was such a great addition to our family.

Introducing her to street hockey was a must.

She already loved badmitton so we played a few times.

Rollerskating!

What a view. :)

Inside "the car".

Fun with games on the phone.

Banana splits!

So we hosted last summer and while it was okay, we definitely didn't bond with our student. This year was incredibly different. Mary is fun-loving and very polite. What cracked me up was how quickly she assumed the role of big sister. I heard her correcting the little ones (but it was always appropriate). Before we knew it she was unbuckling Calico from the car and taking her inside each day and playing in the backyard with Bubba.

We are going to miss our student but at least we have an email address for her. And who knows? Maybe someday we'll go to Korea!

What to Do?

The girls have been attending vacation Bible school this week and it has been so different around the house. They're gone from 9 a.m. 12 p.m. During that time Bubba's aide works with him and Calico takes a nap, so I have been getting a lot done! It's very strange. I also have a break this week from the little neighbor girl I homeschooled during the year, so it almost feels like I don't have kids for a couple of hours. I can't imagine if this was the norm. Stay-at-home moms who have their kids in school must get so much accomplished every day. I'm a little jealous. ;)

I've been doing smaller organizing projects around the house, leading up to the mother of all projects: our master bedroom. When we bought our house I was okay with having a huge bedroom, but also kind of wondering what we'd put in it. So we turned half of the room into a library/craft room. I hate to admit it, but it has become a craft dumping ground. Occasionally I wade in, grab some scrapbook papers or ribbon, and make my way out. Carefully.

Anyway, Ethan and I talked about it and decided we had to do something to make it better in there. So waaaaay back in February my mom and I went shopping for something to organize my craft materials. We lucked out big-time at a scrapbook store that was selling off their floor displays. This huge twirling display was only $25. (Actually free to me because it ended up being my birthday gift!) Anyway, from the first picture you can see that it even opens up for storage. And guess how much I've organized in that room so far? Um . . . . well, I threw enough stuff in to take a picture. That's it. So tomorrow and Friday IT IS GETTING ORGANIZED! I have no excuses now, no kids interrupting or lessons to plan. You blogging friends can hold me accountable, okay? Guess I better go get to work!

Life

Baby's first trip to the dentist! She doesn't look too upset in this picture but she did end up shedding some tears.

By the time she got to the treasure box and was allowed to pick out a toy she was all smiles again. She chose a pair of bright pink sunglasses.

Spunky and Giggles entered their first race. They did awesome and loved the medals they received.

A moment of joy - Bubba is extremely happy when he's buckled into his car seat. I'm not sure why his car seat ended up in the backyard but he took full advantage of the moment. He stayed out there for probably a good hour reading a book and cuddling with his blanket.

The first lemonade stand of the summer! Grand total earned (in 1 1/2 hours): $6

Calico and Fred have a conversation. :)