The Guilt that is Motherhood

Today I missed a school party. Luckily, it was only one since Jacob's principal doesn't allow parents at the harvest parties. I told Joshua this morning that I would try to make it, but I might not be able to leave work in time. The first words out of his mouth when he walked in the door today were "So I see you didn't make it to the Harvest party." He said that it was okay and he understood, but I know he was disappointed. I knew when I decided to go back to work that there would be days like this, but I could live without the guilt. I really intended to go, but this has been an odd week at work. Normally, I leave work by noon on Fridays, but today my boss had an extra project he wanted me to get done. I didn't leave work until after one. The party was at 12:30, so that's how life goes. My part time 20 hour a week job turned into about 30 hours this week. I am hoping that doesn't become the norm. On the bright side, I really like my job.

Tonight we went out for dinner and then came home for family movie night. John thought the boys would like Home Alone. He was right. They laughed so hard. I only had to cringe a few times because of the language. We started the movie all on the love seat, but before it was over the kids had moved to the couch.

The cat was busy trying to get into the hole behind the TV. Ever since she discovered the hole for the cords, she has been trying to get in it. She had another vet visit today for her last two shots of the year. Next week Oscar gets to go for his yearly checkup and shots. It amazes me how expensive having pets can be.

Florence had their trick or treating last night because of the football game tonight. We skipped the neighborhoods and just hit the trunk or treat at the Cleary Road Baptist Church. It was fun and the kids got plenty of candy. They posed today with their loot. Part of it is from trunk or treat and the rest is from their Harvest parties at school. Joshua is sporting the lovely Dracula teeth he got at school, and Jacob is showing off his new eye patch.

Pumpkins

The pirate is Jacob's and the haunted house is Joshua's. Never mind that John did all the carving.

Bobcat Badges and Pumpkins

We had the cub scout pack meeting tonight. Both the boys earned their bobcat badges. They got pins for now since the scout store has the badges on back order. John had to go up with each of the boys and put their pins on them.

The pack meeting only took about 30 minutes so we were home just after seven. John and the boys got busy carving their pumpkins. I have always managed to avoid pumpkin carving. While they have fun with that I am trying to catch up on some of my chores. I am already needing another weekend.

Weekend Recap

Wow. Where has the past week gone. It seems like I blinked and we went from Wednesday to Sunday. Anyway, it is hard to believe we have to start a new week in the morning. We have had a wonderful weekend.
Yesterday morning we slept in a little. I think I am getting old since getting up just before eight is sleeping in. Anyway, I spent the morning enjoying my coffee and reading the paper. John spent the morning cutting down trees. We have very different opinions about what Saturday morning are for.

After the morning fun we headed to the Clarion Ledger to learn how the daily paper is made. Jacob did a great job of listening. He really enjoyed getting to do something with his cub scout friends. I think the parents were more interested in the tour than most of the kids.

When the tour was over, we went and had lunch and then headed home to get ready for our next adventure. We went to the Mississippi Agriculture Museum for a Halloween Carnival. We walked through the haunted houses and went on the hay ride. We also went to a magic show. The boys enjoyed getting to wear their costumes. We only stayed about two hours. Since I absolutely hate crowds, that is pretty good for us.

Today was pretty busy as well. We went to church, had lunch, and then came home to start our many projects. While I went to the grocery store, John started a fire and split the wood from the tree that he cut down yesterday.

After I got home from the store, we covered the pool. It is kind of depressing all covered, but it was time. We haven't swam in over a month, and I am hoping not running the pool pump will help our electric bill. I had to post the pictures of the dunnage pillows we used to keep the tarp from sagging into the water. We are a bit redneck at times. The pillows are used to keep things from shifting while they are transported. Since John works for a transportation company we got them for free. They just throw them away at work, so John had them save some. We are all about free stuff. In addition to the free pillows, we used the logs from the tree John cut down yesterday to weight the tarp around the edges. It works and we saved a ton of money. We thought about actually buying a pool cover this year, but since they start at around $800, we decided the tarp would work great for at least another year.The fire burned down really well today. It was a perfect fire for roasting hot dogs for dinner. We followed it up by roasting marshmallows and having smores. It was a nice end to the day. The fire was so pretty as the sun went down. It made me wish that we could stay out and enjoy it for a while. Unfortunately, we all have to return to work and school tomorrow. The kids need to be in bed before eight and I need make sure we are ready to start another week. There is always next weekend.

Eiei oops

That was the name of the third graders musical this morning. Joshua is in the center in the blue shirt and gray hat.

Isn't he cute walking in. You can tell he is trying hard to do just what he is supposed to.

Joshua made a very handsome Farmer in the Dell. It was so fun to see the smile on his face when he saw John and I there. He remembered all his lines and did a great job. The singing and dancing were really cute. John got it all on video, so we can enjoy it again and again.

In other excitement today, I learned that Joshua has poison ivy on his stomach and both arms. This morning while I was combing his hair he said, "Mom I need to tell you something that has been bothering me." Then he pulls up his shirt and says, this is distracting me because it itches. I asked why he hadn't told me sooner and he said he didn't think it was a big deal, but now it was causing him to be distracted because it itched so bad. We put ointment on it and sent him on his way to school. I don't think it is still contagious at this point. I am sure he probably got it on our hike on Saturday. I wasn't feeling like the best mom this morning. Before I sent him to school, I told him that he should probably keep his poison ivy a secret. When he got home he told me that he told his teacher, but she said she would keep his secret. He has a great teacher.

Tonight at church the kids will start practicing for the Christmas play. It will be on December 14, and it is called "The First Leon". John asked me the other day if I had noticed the name of the play. I hadn't so he told me what it was. I didn't get it. He explained that Leon is Noel spelled backwards. Sometimes the obvious is lost on me.

Tuesday already

John and Joshua are gone to scouts, and Jacob and I are holding down the fort. Since Jacob's group will have a field trip to the Clarion Ledger on Saturday, they did not meet tonight. Yeah for me. It is nice to just stay home and not be so rushed. I was able to get the kitchen cleaned up from dinner, and Jacob has already showered and gotten ready for bed.

Joshua has a part in the third grade musical, and their performance is in the morning at eight. That means John and I will be going into work late. Joshua will play the Farmer in the Dell. He is pretty excited. I know he will do great. Hopefully, I can get some pictures to post tomorrow. I think John may be planning to video it as well.

Saturday Hikes

We went to Chautauqua Park in Crystal Springs this morning to go hiking. Since it is only about 35 miles from our house it is an easy trip to make. We had lots of fun. They have a trail called the treetop trail. It is basically a boardwalk built in the treetops. In addition, they have plenty of more traditional hiking trails. It was nice to have a Saturday with nothing planned.

We decided to forgo the above trail. I think it was a little too advanced for us.

On the way home we stopped at the swinging bridge in Byram. It was built for cars to go across, but it has been closed to traffic for some time. Now it is in a pretty sad state of disrepair. I was only a little nervous with my kids walking across it.

Friday Night

The boys helped John make dinner last night. They need to learn early how to make a good steak.

Oscar sits like this most nights while we have dinner.

It could be because he occasionally scores a bite from the table. Yes, John feeds him from his fork. To be fair he only feeds him once he is finished using his fork.

Pumpkins and friends

Our friend Jessica came over for dinner last night. She brought the boys some pumpkins. Can you tell they are excited to get them. They have been asking for pumpkins for weeks, and I keep telling them we are going to wait until closer to Halloween. We are still going to wait until a little closer to Halloween to carve them. They have already chosen the designs they want to carve.

Today, I only worked about 3 hours. I came home and got the laundry started. I need to make out a grocery list and get the shopping done. I don't know what the weekend has in store. It has been raining off and on today. If that continues we may just have a boring weekend in the house. There is a circus in town this weekend, but we haven't decided for sure if we need to go. John mentioned going hiking. I am sure the weather will be the deciding factor on that plan.

John took Joshua's fundraiser candy to work today. When I talked to him a little while ago he had already sold 21. He works with some great people. Joshua will be so excited when he gets home.

I guess that is all I need to ramble about for now. Have a good weekend.

Country Life

This silly squirrel spent all night on my front porch. I went out the front door this morning to give it some water. That was all it took to scare it away. Hopefully, it found a tree to climb instead of the bricks on the front of the house.Joshua found a turtle shell on his adventures yesterday. He is pretty proud of it, and he plans to take it to school to share with his Venture class tomorrow.Last night I told Joshua to go outside and tell his brother to come in and get cleaned up for dinner. Next thing I know I am looking out the window to see Joshua running through the sprinklers. Just for the record, the only sprinklers in our yard are part of the septic system. Needless to say, he had to have a shower before dinner. The picture is post shower. I am not sure how he translated get cleaned up for dinner into run through the septic system sprinkler.

Our world is getting back to normal today. John has been in South Carolina since Sunday. He came home for a minute this afternoon to drop off his bag. He then went to work for a little while, but he should be home for dinner. I am glad he doesn't travel often.

The boys brought home their first nine weeks report cards today so I have to brag a little. They are both doing really well. The grading system seems odd to me. 95-100 is an A, 85-94 is a B and so on. Joshua got all A's. This is the first year he has gotten actual number grades. Always before it has been either an N for needs improvement, S for satisfactory, or E for excellent. Jacob's report card has letters and two number grades. The letters are all S and he got one A and one B on the graded part. His one B is a 94 so I think he is doing great. We are at that critical time right now of learning to read and write. He is getting there.

Lazy Day Part 2

We started on the front flower beds after lunch. Our squirrel was still hanging out on the front porch.The flower beds were covered in leaves.

I know it is a pointless job, and they will just be covered with leaves again tomorrow. I am hoping that if we clean them out periodically throughout the fall then they won't be as bad in the spring.

We are done with our outside jobs for now. I need to get started cleaning the inside of the house. I may give in and let the kids play some video games. They have done a good job of helping out today.

Our Lazy Day Thus Far

We started slow this morning, but it turned out to be a productive morning. Apparently, my cat doesn't believe in sleeping in. Around 5 this morning she found a ball and started batting it from one side of the room to the other. The kids were up before 7 so we started our day about then. I made muffins for the kids, and mini quiche for myself. The quiche didn't look very good, but they were. It looks like a lot, but it was only two eggs. They really puffed up while they cooked. I got the new muffin pan yesterday. It was from one of the kids school fundraisers. I really like it. The muffins and quiche didn't stick to it at all.

After breakfast, the cat and dog needed a nap and the kids made a mess doing projects.

We finally got dressed around ten. Can you tell Joshua chose his own clothes? We then ventured outside to vacuum the pool and get all the leaves from the patio and deck.

The boys were good helpers. Now that the job is done we are taking a break for lunch. We will start on the front yard after lunch.
I almost forgot, at one point during the morning cleanup the boys took a short break to go play out front. When they went around the house this little squirrel was trying desperately to escape their notice. He sort of ran into the corner and then he didn't know where to go. Poor baby. I know the boys can be a little intimidating.

Cub Scouts

Tuesday night is cub scout night for us. I got all the patches sewn on their uniforms last week, so we were ready. The boys are out of school tomorrow, so I took the day off work. I have way too many things that need to get done, but chances are good they won't. I think we may just have a lazy day.

Our life has not been terribly exciting this week. I forgot to mention that Jacob pulled another tooth this past weekend. He always waits until they are so loose that you don't know how they are still hanging on. He gets a little dramatic and his daddy usually winds up pulling them.

Right now the boys are in their rooms reading. They are getting to stay up a little later than usual since tomorrow is a school holiday. I am really glad they both like to read.

They're Sweet while they Sleep

Last night we had the pleasure of traveling to Yazoo City for a church dinner. It is a little over an hour drive from our house. Our friends June and Larry picked us up so we could all make the trek together. The boys were a little tuckered out from our camping the night before. They enjoyed a little nap on the way.
The dinner was wonderful. Mr. Albert and his wife Mrs. Francis were the chefs. They served up some delicious fried fish. Mrs. Rosa led a time of devotion. Our hosts were Mr. Buddy and Mrs. Eloise. The dinner was to show appreciation for those who serve in the area of Christian education.
Today after church we had a quick lunch and then parted ways for the afternoon. John had work to do, and I had a ladies group to attend. My boys went and stayed with their newest babysitter, Ms. Chelsea. They had fun playing at the park and I enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with some dear friends. It has been a good weekend, but I am tired.
Luckily, I am off work tomorrow for Columbus Day. The kids have school so I will still have to get up and moving early. The kids will be out of school on Wednesday this week for a staff development day. That means I will be off work on Wednesday too. This will be an odd week.

Joshua is selling chocolate bars and chocolate covered almonds for a school fundraiser. He brought home 50. Last night June and Larry bought 2, so all we had left was 48. Joshua took 13 to church this morning and sold out pretty quickly. Of course, June and Larry bought 5 more. He has them wrapped around his little finger.

I know I have mentioned June and Larry several times, so I should probably give a little of our history. Last year on the first Sunday in December we attended church at the Madison First Church of God. The church has since completed construction on a new building and changed names. It is now Olde Towne Community Church and is in Ridgeland, MS. We were searching for a church home since we had just moved to the area. It was the second church we had visited. June and Larry took us out to lunch after church. Their son and daughter-in-law and two grandchildren joined us. That night June and her daughter-in-law, Dana, invited me to a ladies group at church. From that moment on she has been a dear friend. She and Larry treat my kids like their own grand kids and they treat John and I like their kids. They live about 2 miles from us and we try to get together pretty often. She keeps telling John and I we need to leave our kids overnight with her on some Friday, but we haven't taken her up on it yet. Her youngest granddaughter, who is six, spends the night with them often on the weekends. We are thinking we may have to take her up on the offer soon.

It is such a blessing to have friends you can depend on. Since this journey has taken us so far from family, I am so thankful God has placed such dear friends in our lives.

Another Fun Filled Weekend

We decided to camp in the backyard last night. John has been telling the boys we would for a while, but we have had trouble finding a free weekend. Last night was the night. The boys and I put up the tent before John got home from work.

As soon as John got home it was time to start the bonfire. We cooked dinner on the grill and ate on the patio.
Jacob was asleep long before time to get in the tent and go to sleep. It was really nice just to sit by the fire and do nothing.

We got up this morning and did a little shopping. We stopped at a garage sale on our way out and I bought this lovely purse. I don't know why. After that we ran by Kohl's and got the kids some jeans. Then we went to Stein Mart. They were having a sale and the first 50 or so customers through the door got a $10 gift card. John and I both got a card. We didn't really find any clothes we were wild about so we each got an umbrella. They were $10.99 each. So with tax and after using the gift cards we paid $3.58 cents for two Nautica umbrellas. Since we actually needed umbrellas it was a pretty good deal.

We filled up on the way home. Gas was only $2.86 a gallon. I really didn't think it would drop below $3 a gallon.

Tonight we are going to an appreciation dinner for all the children's workers at church. Our friends June and Larry are picking us up and we are all going to ride together. It should be fun.