Notes in the Margins: The Tipping Point

Poor, woefully neglected blog. Did I really let the whole month of June slide through my fingers without one single post? Sad, sad day. Apparently four kids is my tipping point to make me start to (inadvertently) cut out parts of my life that don't include food, clothing, and sleep. And school. And church. And some fun, too.

Okay, so the blog has suffered. But we're back in the saddle, looking back down the last month and a half and wondering how to catch up on recording memories without making such a massive blog post that it makes the internet crash.

The highlights:
--Mason is sitting up like a champ, which means he plays so much better by himself. He has this orange basket of toys that he loves. Favorites include his moose from Grammy and Papa (which also clips onto his carseat and goes everywhere with us), his fisher price phone (old-school style with the rotary dial), a stuffed elephant that is the same brand as the moose (a gift from someone very special), and a bee that sings.

--We graduated a first grader and a pre-k-er. We celebrated the end of school by surprising the kids with a trip to Cracker Barrel. Sonlight Core A: done!

--Mason is eating baby food. His first reaction was typical: What is this vile thing?!? But now he likes it.

--The three big kids and I went camping with my family in Tennessee over Memorial Day weekend. It was SO COLD. In the 30's at night. I dressed the kids in two sets of footies each, hats, extra socks, etc. And we were still cold. We only made it one night and came home late the next night, but it was still a whole lot of fun.

--We've been enjoying summer without school (much school, anyway. Still doing math and reading.). I've been doing a lot of research and have a plan in place for next year.

--Swimming! This was a HUGE summer goal for me: to get the big boys swimming. After several unsuccessful attempts on our part to teach them (found it way to hard while keeping two others afloat), we ended up bartering swimming lessons and writing tutoring with a friend. LOVE IT. The boys are doing amazingly well after only three lessons so far.

--We had a staycation! See next blog post. :) After hitting a deer (well, it really hit us), and having to pay for van repairs, our planned vacation to PA went out the window. So we tried a staycation instead, and it was a hit! We planned it over a weekend, so Jeremy only had to take a Monday and a Friday off work. We did Atlanta one day, some crazy backyard water olympics, the zoo, and the capstone event: Six Flags! (Love the reading program!) We had an absolute blast and made some great memories. Success!

--We've been doing some fundraising, but not for us this time. Three families we love are adopting (see their blogs here, here, and here), and having just walked the difficult adoption road twice, we are so eager to help them. We've done a garage sale, some childcare for an event, and will soon be bringing back the birds' nest necklaces and unveiling some new designs. Stay tuned!

--Writing. Okay, I'm not writing much. But I'm actively praying, planning, and learning how this passion of mine fits in with my crazy life. I started by making myself a place to write (Stephen King would not approve of the lack of door--but he was never a mom of four mischief-makers, either. He would approve of the fact that the desk is in the corner, because "Life isn't a support system for art. It's the other way around.")