Our first adventure of the summer

This past couple of weeks have been sprinkled with days of sun and warmth hinting at summer as spring often does. The team and I had our first adventure of the season. It was just a local trip to our local little zoo, but it was fun. We were joined by friends and had a good time looking at all the animals that we all know so well. From the elephants to the walruses (or is it walri or walrusen?) we giggled and laughed. This visit there was a speaker in the Asian Animal display and the kids asked questions and learned something new which is the real purpose of our adventures. They had the most fun rolling down the hill over and over again with all their friends.

living space

Now that my front rooms are all chametz free and clean and neat and just about perfect, I can see why some people send their kids to school ^.^ Mine will definitely be spending time outside and in their rooms till next week!

Hobo

Do you remember the word "hobo"? I remember when my brother was in the 2nd grade, he was a hobo for halloween. Now they are "homeless". Somewhere along the line my children learned the word hobo and it has created a little phenomena here in our house hold. They had built a tent structure out of old lumber and blue tarps and nails and screws. It was a pretty amazing thing. But then they started telling each other that they needed to take it down at night so the hobo's wouldn't come move into it. At first they were saying it in fun, but then they started making each other nervous. Then one night one of them had to cross the yard to turn on the garage light and someone else yelled, watch out for the hobo. Then it took two of them to go turn on the garage light. Now they look at each other and say "HHHHOOOOOBBBBOOOOO" and waving their arms, and scaring each other. They hide behind doors and jump out and yell HOBO and then they start screaming and giggling. It has become quite the joke around here. I wonder where they learned the word. It is a lot more fun than "homeless person".

PAPER!!!!!

Okay, this whole paperwork thing is not good! It is so not fun! I have really been a lot more ruthless this year about what to keep. Basically if it isn't for taxes, it is out of here!! No more recipes, no more craft or homeschooling projects I never get to anyway. No more great books, folders, systems, plans for organizing. All gone. Taxes, that is it! And insurance, but that is all. My new system now consists of boxes with the year written on them. Not fancy new boxes made just for storage that I would have to go buy and probably find lots of other good stuff to get because it is such a good sale, just plain old boxes that I already have. No fancy tabby thingies or pretty labels from above store experience, plain old children's Crayola markers. So far, I do have to brag though, NO TOAST ^.^!

Cleaning for Passover

Passover cleaning is happening at our house right now, in fact it is what I should be doing now, but I needed a break. It has been interesting to hear all the things that others do from our "church" community. Some do SO much more and others hardly do anything. We are kinda in between. We start in the bedrooms cleaning out drawers and removing clothes that don't fit or are torn or stained beyond help. Then onto toy boxes and bins. It is amazing that we find bread or food crumbs in these places since technically they aren't allowed to eat in their rooms, but we do. Then it is onto closets throughout the house and bathroom, throwing out outdated and mostly empty product bottles, shoes that fit no one and more crumbs. Now we are into the 'big' room that houses our office, craft room, schoolroom and pantry, otherwise known as the Imaginarium. This is actually even harder to clean than the kitchen. There are so many ongoing projects in there right now. And there also lives my nemesis, the paper pilessssss. I hate doing paper work and filing. But last year we found an old piece of toast under one of those piles (I don't know) so they do need to be dealt with. Then the week before passover we do the deep down in the cracks clean of the main rooms in the house and the kitchen. Here, we know where the crumbs and the yeast full products are going to be, under the cushions, oven drawer, food cupboard, you know the usual culprits.

So why the detailed list? Passover season for my family is a time to do some internal cleaning too. As the family cleans, we discuss sin. Where are those places in our lives that sin is hidden? There are some places we look, never expecting to find sin and yet, there it is. There are some places in our lives that just shouldn't contain sin and yet again, there it is. There are also the places that are hidden to the outside and yet with inspection, there it is. Then there are the places that we deal with all the time and are plain and easy to see that we work on all the time. The trouble with those types of sin, is that we sorta become numb to them and expect them to be there. Those often need deeper introspection than we give them.

Passover is the time that God chose to take our sin by putting it on our Lord, Jesus Christ. He passed over the Hebews in the land of Egypt who obeyed Him and put the blood of the sacrificial lamb on the doorposts. Now we are commanded to forever and always celebrate this festival. Not as a fun little history lesson of biblical times, not as a curiosity, but because God commanded that we should. Always means always, He never changes that in the New Testament, so at our house, we celebrate Passover as generations have in the past. The searching out of sin in our lives as we search out the yeast in the house is just one of the many pictures that is painted out in this festival, which by the way is my favorite.

Guess I better get back to cleaning. The beginning of Passover comes quicker than I expect every year. I pray that I am ready for the return of Christ, with my sins acknowledged and forgiven, as I am sure it too will be sooner than I expect.

The Visit

This whole shingle/hip thing is making me crazy. I went to the doc primarily about my hips and what does she say....lose weight.....thanks, that was worth the 40 min. drive and copay. Nothing she can do. For the shingles, she gave me some anti-itch medicine that I think really works. I say think because I passed out and slept for the 6 hours it said it was good for. If I was itching, I had no memory of it. Calamine is going to have to do the trick during the day. She gave me no end date, she said it just depends. Not on what, but that it just depends. Well, I did get some good sleep...scratch scratch scratch....

So I guess I just keep moving on, resting when I have to. I was just thinking that every time I get really going on a diet and workout regime, something happens. I sprain an ankle, get swine flu, hurt my shoulder, shingles. I'm wonder if I really am allergic to vegetables ^.^!

Resting

I got diagnosed Friday lunch time. We had our weekend plans all made, nothing movable. 9:00 am I get a phone call from the doctors office. "Have you been getting rest?" Really!??! Since yesterday? Did the doctor not remember that I am a homeschool mom of 5 and running an internet business. She asked if I was stressed and I told her no more than usual. Rest?! I will rest when I'm dead has been a motto for a long time. But I'm trying to today. Trying not to think about Passover being in just a few short weeks and this pain on my body and my mom and school and laundry and the kitchen and dinner this week and .......

Shingles

Shingles!!!! Not a spider bite, not some exotic disease, just shingles....of which there is no cure. Well unless you count destressing...which I have done....mostly. I am not contagious, just itchy and burny and weird looking. At least no one can see it if my hair is down. Arrrggghhh! Now I have stress cuz I have shingles..... ^.^

As I sit here among the chaos of my children, I have to thank God for giving me such an awesome family. Sure they are highly excitable, but that just brings more excitement, right? I mean life's boring chores, like picking up your designated area, just wouldn't be as fun without at least one shouting match about who left what in whose area. And how boring would life be if everyone thought that "it" was fair? Then I wouldn't have to explain that a fair is a place where you are judged and slaughtered (Grandma had a steer once). Now that isn't really what you want, is it? And with out this amazing crew, I would not find pure joy by going to the bathroom...without being called, intruded upon or cried at. How boring would my life be if walking through the back room wasn't a maze of crayons, plaster ( from the Dalek project) and encyclopedia castles. (I knew they would be good for homeschooling). If all the laundry was ever all done, what would I do while watching Barbie Island Princess for the 124th time? And if it weren't for my darlings, how would I ever be able to pass on all the things my mother used to say to me and my brothers and share what a conniption really was? I really do love to see all my younglings tucked away in their beds, their eyes closed and their voices still. It really touches my heart.

The End

It is done! The absolute last thing I am doing for that movie is done! I am not posting it on youtube, I don't want to take the time to figure out how to split it. After the world debut on Sunday at the schul's Purim celebration I said I would try to get it online. I took the titles off the front and back and posted it on my facebook. It took three tries and I didn't think it worked last night before I went to bed so I gave up and said oh well. Got up this morning and there it was!!! God is good. All the kids in it have parents who are my facebook friends and I marked it so their friends could see it. So now it is all behind me and my duties are relinquished. I have been put on project restriction for awhile ^.^ Probably for their sake not my own ^.^ Now to get my house back together in time for Pesach!

Pain!

Pain is an amazing thing. It totally colors my world. Everything I do is changed by it. When I contemplate a new task, I calculate how much it will hurt first. If I am feeling pretty good I calculate whether or not an activity will change that. It is no fun. It makes me even more emotionally labile than I usually am. I cry at the drop of a hat normally, now all I have to do is think of a hat and there I go. One pain makes the rest of my body hurt too. It causes inflammation everywhere and then the tension of holding my body in a pain-lesser position causes more pain. My kids look at me and feel sorry, but there is nothing they can do and my sweetheart feels bad but there is nothing else he can do either. I'm waiting for an appointment, hopefully it some easy fix that I have been putting off for too long. I hate not feeling up to par!