Sunny Sunday

Sunday turned out sunny for the first time in weeks and I knew we absolutely had to get the boys out of the house and into the light. I'm calling it PhotoPsychoEudaimonia. Nice eh? After church we stopped at the house to change and pack up a lunch then headed to Sparkman Park. After the sandwiches and fruit were gone the boy went exploring a little. They came running back and told me to "get the camera quick". They had found an almost perfect fairy ring! (above) They loved dancing around it so much that I suggested they look around for more mushrooms since we'd had so much rain. Under the trees, they hit the jack pot:

Can you see all the little brown and red tops?

Griffin's Pancake mushrooms.










When we were finally able to drag the boys away from the 'shroomage, we practiced some tennis. I will have to have Lou take pictures of the older two and I next time.

Feeling Free

There is nothing like being forced to lay around for a few days to make you want to get up and DO something! The swine flu was... underwhelming. Three days of a low grade fever and some coughing. Maybe it was easier because I started us all on probiotics as soon as I knew we had been exposed. Maybe it was just because we were SO sick last year that we had a close enough immunity. Maybe it was lots of prayer. Maybe Sine Flu is JUST THE FLU like I've been saying since this pandemic farce started. However, I'm not going to look at this at anything less than a gift! I have been freed from fear of air travel and germy people while I am away. Thank you Lord! Now all I can think about is exchange rates and suitcase weights. It seems like the last several months have dragged and flown by at the same time. Twelve days from now I will be on a plane to London. What I would really like to be doing today is visiting my bank to find out about cash for travel and figuring out what I'm going to wear while I'm gone, but with one kid (Austin) running a low grade fever we are stuck at home for at least another 24-36 hours. What will most likely take place is some housecleaning and laundry followed by lunch and an Avatar marathon.

Lou was a sweety and got some groceries for me on Sunday. When I wrote the list I was expecting a week of stomach bug and/or fevers and didn't have him get much other than jello and soups. Now we are all REALLY hungry and there isn't much here. Time to get creative with my freezer and pantry! At least I feel good enough to get back to work. Ah, free! :o)

September Showers

They last few weeks have been a blur of school, daily chores and rain - lots of rain. Our school work has been going really well considering how the year started. Austin has been making leaps and bounds in spelling and math. Carson is still struggling along in spelling, but is just crazy good at reading and math. Griffin is loving his school time each day with his letter of the week work and nature study. I have been working on my parenting skills by making the boys more responsible for their own messes which is more time incentive for me, but I know it will pay off in the end. I have also been careful not to over-schedule myself which has helped SO much with the state of the house and the kids attitudes.

With my trip looming a mere two weeks away we are planning to start a study on mid-evil Europe to get them in the mood to hear about all the awesome things I'm sure to see while there. Well, IF we are well. It seems that the swine flu may have finally found us this week. I'm just hoping we can get this over with with as little drama as possible and move on with life. More rain is forecast for the rest of the week. I'm hoping all these September showers will make for a beautiful and illness free October - my favorite month of the year!

Menu Plan for this week:

Soup
Jello
Toast
Sandwiches for well people
Anything that is easy!!

Menu for September 6-12

Wonderful strides have been made this week in both my home and my planning. The house is clean and Lou and I are extra happy this weekend. It's amazing how much having the kids gone for the day helps! I have a menu plan for the first time in about a month. I was getting really upset about eating the same few "safe" things over and over so I'm hoping a menu with some new recipes will help my food blues and my budget.

Sunday
Church Breakfast
Roast, potatoes, carrots, salad, relish plate
Spaghetti

Monday
Home-made Doughnuts
Roast beef sandwiches, chips, relish plate
Barbecue Mac and Beef, side salad

Tuesday
Cereal
Packed lunches
Crock Pot Cranberry -Apple Pork, rolls and green beans

Wednesday
Eggs in a Basket
Tomato Soup with Crackers
Tacos

Thursday
Cereal
Out to eat or Beans and Rice
Sweet and Sour Meatballs, rolls and Broccoli

Friday
French Toast
Ham Sandwiches, Chips, Apples
Chili

Saturday
Cinnamon Rolls and Sausage links
Left overs
Date night

September?!

"By all these lovely tokens September days are here, With summer’s best of weather And autumn’s best of cheer." - Helen Hunt Jackso

I can't believe that August has slipped away and without all the scorching that it usually gives us. I have a serious case of pre-season mania. It isn't summer anymore (well, not weather wise anyway) and its isn't autumn yet either. This limbo makes me feel a bit disconnected from my life. There has been a real draw to clear things from my plate and find new ways to fill my hours. I haven't even been reading! ~gasp~ I have been doing a lot more cookbook perusing and furniture moving than exploring either new places or pages. Tomorrow will be the official end of summer at our house with Labor Day weekend blasting off at full steam. It's always extra special here with Lou's birthday kicking off all the autumn and winter holidays. If you factor in a four week count down to my trip to London and you might start to see where the disconnect comes in. I am not feeling much in the here and now... I am living four weeks away in my head half the time. Hopefully the part of me that is still here will leave a nice clean house and well fed family behind to miss her. I have a feeling September is going to fly by and October will blow by far too fast...