Ch-Ch-Ch Changes

The last several days have been a whirlwind of a activity, a final sprint in this leg of the journey. Thursday the boys and I went to Concord for errands, and it was with a very strange sense of finality that we went to Walmart, the grocery store, and to Friendly's. It's starting to sink in to all of us that this is the last time we'll eat at a Friendly's; the last time we'll go to this Walmart; the last time we'll shop at this grocery store. God-willing, in just a couple of weeks, our whole sense of "normal" will be completely different. Friday someone came from Mike's work to pick up some furniture. She bought our remaining couch, two chairs, and three dressers. Our house feels big and strange and empty... and it echoes. Yesterday was packing, packing, and more packing. The boys are saying temporary goodbyes to many of their toys now. Mike took the bed frames apart - because they'll go in the trailer next - so we all camped out on the living room floor. We'll stay there for the next 8 nights (possibly up to 26 nights if the closing date gets extended again) but it is part of the adventure. Last night we all snuggled up, found The Parent Trap on tv, and stayed up way too late. This morning is pancakes - which is very normal for a Sunday morning - but this morning, my 8 year old is making them. He's helped before, but never done it on his own. At my last glance, they were round, fluffy, and perfectly golden.

Changes.

Rain

All this house-showing and rushing around is starting to take its toll on the kids. Yesterday, Paxton burst into tears when it was time to put the Playstation away to get ready to get out of the house. It didn't help that the realtor and prospective buyers were over 20 minutes early, and we had to rush even more than usual to get the last final things picked up. The mood was already somber for most of the weekend, because of the relentless rain. The rain is doing its fair share of damage too, with streets and roads and dams flooded and breached. Alstead got hit even harder... businesses and homes have been completely washed away. We watched the destruction on the news yesterday afternoon, and the boys found it awe-inspiring, after being reassured that everyone they loved was safe. Saturday was Mike's 31st birthday, so we all went out for breakfast (and then drove around in the rain during another showing) The rest of the weekend, and storm, was waited out at home, playing Playstation, computer games, and packing. The boys were asking about fractions when they went to bed last night, and made me promise we'd talk about them this morning.. And we will, as soon as they wake up.

The best laid plans...

We were supposed to be closing - and moving - 8 days from today. We will possibly be closing in a month, maybe with these buyers, perhaps with new buyers.

Possibly... maybe... perhaps.

We are in limbo more than ever right now, and our main concern at the moment is keeping things as normal as possible for the kids. This is difficult, as we only have one car, and have to shuffle our lives around the continually showings on the house. Still, even with the occasional tantrum (the kids also have tantrums sometimes), we are managing to keep our heads above water. The older boys had their physicals this week, and they are both healthy, strong, and good to go. On Tuesday, we all had to get up early to drive Mike to work so we could have the truck. We had two showings scheduled, and we spent the first one wandering around Walmart for nearly 2 hours. We came home and worked on the latest workbook from the kids' Top Secret Adventures, this time about Kenya. Luckily, the second showing was at 5, and we were already going to be out picking Mike up, so we didn't have to do anything differently. Yesterday the excavator came to do the digging for the neighbor's addition. This meant that Spencer spent most of the day camped at window, keeping me updated on the progress. We capped off the day by playing ball in the driveway. And "ball" by the way, means three different things to the three boys..... for Everett it means walking around carrying, and occasionally throwing, his big playground ball, all the while yelling "Ba! Ba!" with a big grin on his face.... for Paxton, it's a jumping, sliding, rolling, kicking, throwing combination of soccer, baseball and volleyball... and for Spencer, it's occasional pausing from his excited bouncing to either catch or throw the ball. We did a lot of packing yesterday too, which was put on hold for the moment, at least until we get a better idea of what's happening with our house and move. Today was cookie-making. And tomorrow? I couldn't even hazard a guess about what tomorrow will bring. I know it'll be interesting.

Doggie tea and other toddler adventures

Last night we got back from spending a few days at Maba and Pop's. We went up on Thursday night, both for the visit & the getaway, and also because we had yet another showing of the house on Friday.

Friday proved to be rewarding, yet incredibly exhausting. We started the day by watching The Sound of Music. The boys had never seen it, and it had been several years for me, so we all enjoyed it. We also played MadGab and got out some cards and poker chips, though we never got around to playing poker. Everett found the chips to be great fun, and spread them all over the living room. He also discovered Mom's shelf of teas, and before I could stop him he'd brewed himself a nice batch of tea in the dog's water bowl. While I was cleaning that up he returned to the living room to add the deck of cards and the MadGab game to the poker chips that were all over the floor. Deciding that the house would be safer if we weren't actually in it, we started picking up the messes and getting ready to head outside. Paxton wanted a snack, so they he went to look in the pantry for something to eat. Everett followed, and came out with a can of soup and some salad dressing. That wasn't working. I took him in the bathroom with me to get ready, where he flung open doors and drawers and at some point, relocated the bottle of salad dressing to a drawer in the vanity. We fared better outside, and had a nice day picking blueberries, swinging, and sliding. That night we played a two hour long game of Monopoly Jr while Everett napped in Pop's lap. Mike and I went to a late movie, which was a nice (and incredibly rare) treat, but it left us tired for yesterday - another day of hard playing outside.

Today is haircuts and packing and resting, and praying that this week we'll finally get an answer about when we'll actually be moving.

Goodbyes

Sunday was the last time we'll be seeing the McGrail side of the family for a long time. There were goodbyes and hugs and tears from almost everyone, but the boys took it remarkably in stride. They gave their hugs and kisses, happily waved at the door, and went back to the business of playing. Mike thinks that maybe they don't really understand that this was a real goodbye, for several months, but I tend to think the opposite is true. I think they understand better than we give them credit for, better than we as adults can understand.

A friend and I recently had a discussion about children and how they dealt with death. She recently lost a cousin to a car accident, and was telling me how her children were handling it. Her 8 year old (who is a lot like Spencer in many ways) accepted it in a way that many adults just can't. She told me that she just KNEW her cousin was in a better place, and that she WOULD see her again. There was no question in her mind.

Moving away from family is obviously different than death, but it is still a life-changing transition. And Spencer and Paxton seem to understand better than anybody that while, yes, it's a big deal, it's not something to be sad about. That relationships that are worth having are not going to dissipate just because of a few (or a few thousand) miles. That they will continue to see and share and talk with the people that love them. That this is a good, and positive, and exciting move for our family, and that it's where we need to be right now. Their hearts are pure and open and trusting, and not all clogged up with the negative garbage that us adults have accumulated.

They understand.

Sonic Heroes, math and the USA

Yesterday Paxton asked me what 3 x 5 was. I answered his question, and he asked another. I showed him what a multiplication table was, and his excitement drew Spencer over to see what we were doing. They both found it very very cool. Spencer wanted to check my answers, so I got him a calculator, and he spent most of the afternoon plugging in problems, amazed that I had them all right (or possibly amazed that the calculator got them all right) It was the last thing he did before he went to bed, and the first thing he did when he woke up.

Paxton spent a long portion of the past two days playing Sonic Heroes, both with and without me. It is one of five new PS2 games he got for his birthday, and it is pretty fun. He learns how to play new games almost instantly and I do not, so it took me awhile before I could even give him some honest competition.

This afternoon, I looked up a United States map on the internet. The one we had hanging on our wall is packed someplace, and I wanted to know what surrounded Utah. I stumbled across a really neat geography site, with games for learning and quizzing yourself on the states, capitals, rivers and lakes. We all played with it for quite awhile - and I do know where Utah is now - and the boys had me bookmark it for later.

Right now they are watching Cyberchase on TV, the baby is sleeping, and I can almost hear the house sighing as the day starts to wind down.

Moving

On August 10th, our house officially hit the market. 13 days later we received (and accepted) an offer. Barring any problems, we will close on October 14th, hitch up our trailer and start our new adventure in AZ. As the buyers have a home sale contingency on the contract, we are continuing to do showings, and our life very much feels like it is revolving around cleaning and getting out of the house for walk-throughs. Surprisingly, though it's not entirely pleasant scrubbing the house for strangers to critique it - whether we're in the mood for cleaning or not - everyone has been adjusting rather well. The boys have been very helpful in packing and keeping the house picked up; and have only complained minimally about leaving at a moments' notice when they'd much rather be home playing Playstation.

There are actually many upsides to having to be out of the house all the time. We've been going out to eat a lot, which while certainly pricey, has been really nice. We've also been spending a lot of time in the car together, which we always enjoy. If it weren't for the price of gas, we would likely be driving around even more. We explored miles of back roads the other day, when we came home after an hour and the people still hadn't left, and it was a lovely little detour.

We're all excited about moving, and are starting to shift our focus to Arizona. I've signed up with homeschool groups, researched churches, and searched for a gym. It's a strange state of limbo we're in right now, but in a way it's forcing us to live in the moment even more fully. The boys and I are appreciative of days like today, when we're home, together, and don't have any showings or plans.

Paxton started his day with Playstation today, and Spencer started by writing words on the chalkboard and quizzing me. He asked why his friend Becca (one year older than him) knew how to spell longer words than he did. I told him that it was probably because she went to school, and had to learn words for spelling tests... and that he could practice longer words any time he wanted to. He then got out a map of the world, taped it next to the chalkboard, and started copying the names of countries.

The mail distracted us, as it always does, and now the boys are pouring through a toy catalog, adding to their growing Christmas wish list. Very strange to think about our first Christmas without any snow.

Yard Sales, Roofers, and $80 Icecream

Saturday was our first foray into yard saling. We've been to yard sales before, but until this weekend had never held our own. Despite some pretty ominous looking clouds, the weather held out, and it was by and large a success. The boys were very excited about it, Spencer so much so that he had Mike wake him up at 6:30 in the morning to help set up. He was a great help, greeting everyone as they walked up, and trying his hardest to promote one of the old lawnmowers we were getting rid of. We'd promised the boys that they could keep all the money from their own items that sold, and they both happily deposited 5.50 into their banks at the end of the day. They helped us load all the leftovers into the garage, poised to be taken out again for try #2 next weekend.

Sunday I wanted to take the family out for icecream. We had to go grocery shopping, but didn't feel like driving all the way to Concord - ha - so we went to New London and planned on stopping at the TCBY on the way out. We'd forgotten that everything in New London closes insanely early on Sundays. We got there at 2:15, and they'd closed at 2:00. I had promised my boys icecream, so we weren't going home without icecream. We headed out to Newport, since we were out that way and it was only another 15 minutes. No icecream places. We couldn't turn around at that point, so we drove the next 10 miles to Claremont. Surely they would have a Friendly's. Couldn't find one. Hopped on the highway, and ended up driving into Vermont. We were on a mission. I thought of Lebanon, and was positive that they'd have icecream. The exit we wanted was several miles away, but we were having a grand time. I was slightly worried about the fact that the truck's gas gauge had said empty for awhile - we hadn't been planning a big outing - but we made it to the exit and the gas station on fumes. We were so empty, it cost over $40 to fill it, something that I think has happened only one other time since we've had it. And right down the street from the station was.....a Friendly's! By that time, it was after 5:00, so we were all hungry for dinner too. We had a nice dinner, followed by our long awaited icecream sundaes. They were worth it. The boys were happy and sticky when we headed home an hour later.

Yesterday, the men arrived to start working on our new roof. Days like that I am especially glad that we homeschool. The boys spent nearly all day outside... watching, asking questions, listening patiently and maturely to where they could and could not stand, taking pictures of the progress. Something you just can't get in public school.

Therapy

I have some pretty terrific kids.

There have been stresses lately - big ones - too big for even chocolate to fix. I was sitting and sipping my 3rd cup of coffee at the computer, trying to focus long enough to get something done. I turned on the computer's dvd player, loaded up with one of my mixes, and "Drift Away" started playing. I only halfway heard it, and it did nothing to raise my spirits.

Paxton, sweet sweet Paxton, came into the room without saying a word, took the mouse and selected track 16 - the theme song to Friends. Within minutes, all four of us were laughing and dancing around the living room. He played it again and again, and we danced and we danced. As far as I'm concerned, no matter what else we do today or this week, it'll all be secondary to that moment we spent together, just forgetting about everything and having fun together.

I love these kids so much. I'll never know what I ever did to deserve them.

Happy first birthday Everett!!!! We can't believe you are one already!!!

Road Trips

Yesterday the mailman brought our AAA triptik for our vacation to Phoenix. He also brought 2 money orders for some DVD's I sold, and a rebate check for our Tivo. Cool mail day! The boys ripped open the package for me, and weren't too excited about it until I explained what it was. The word "map" got them hooked! We looked through the triptik, then pulled down their dry-erase map of the United States. We just love that thing. We put it on the floor, carefully plotted out our route to Arizona, then drove it over and over again with Matchbox cars. Paxton decided it would be fun to take detours, so our little imaginery trip to the Southwest also took us to places like Canada, Alaska, and Africa (but we had to flip the map over for that.) We noticed that a lot of the state names and capitals were wearing off, so we fixed those, and added little notes along the way.... who lives where, we've been been, and where we want to go. We also had to freshen up our picture of the armadillo on Texas. We'd read that they live there awhile back, and for some reason the boys really enjoy that fact. I'm not 100% certain, but I'm really pretty sure that I didn't know that at their age.

Derbies and Birthday Parties

It's funny to me how our weekends seem to be one extreme or the other lately... either very lazy without any plans at all, or insanely busy. This past weekend was of the insanely busy variety, but I think I can speak for everyone when I say that it was a great one. Saturday was Spencer's pinewood derby finals. We had a good time, and were unbelievably proud of our little scout. He had a great attitude, and wonderful sportsmanship, and wasn't upset in the least that his car ended up 34th out of 34! All the boys took home special badges, medals, and t-shirts. It was neat to just be there, especially knowing that so many of the boys in his troop did not qualify. After the race we went out to lunch with Maba and Pop (who were kind enough to come up for the day to support Spencer in his race), then came back home for root beer floats. Sunday was lunch at Aunt Didi and Uncle Mich's, then play time for the boys while the girls all went out to enjoy a live showing of "The Full Monty" - just about the funniest thing I've ever seen. After the show I met the guys at Spencer's friend's birthday party. It was a space theme, and they happily played with frisbees, threw a hover craft around, and shot marshmellow "asteroids" out of homemade shooters. I love watching the boys run around with other kids.... it always makes me laugh inside, as I hear other people's inane concerns about "socialization" running around in my head. There were actually a lot of other homeschooled kids there, and amazingly enough, they too knew how to socialize appropriately. Even Everett joined in the fun, crawling around on the grass, waving at everyone, and pulling himself up on everything he could find. The only thing marring the otherwise perfect day was the ignorant, and somewhat insulting, comments I received from another mother about homeschooling. I just nodded and smiled a lot, and went home secure in the knowledge that I am doing what is absolutely and 100% right for us and our kids.

Happy days are here again

This has been a very long winter. We've been sick more often than not, and after this last bout of sicknesses, we were all left in a funk of epic proportions. This week, the cloud finally lifted. Our days have some rhythym to them again, we're all feeling connected, and the boys are happy and active. Today we spent most of the morning playing card games, and then headed out to the grocery store to get the ingredients for a frozen dessert they wanted to make. Everyone's been sick so often that even getting out to the grocery store was a big deal! We got our strawberries, watermelon, and yogurt, and Spencer chatted up one of the employees about the number codes that she was putting on the apples. We were in such a great mood that no one even stressed about the half a bottle of orange soda that spilled all over the back of the 4Runner. After we got home and had lunch, it was a time for a whirlwind cleaning of the house, because we had someone coming to give us an estimate on replacement windows. After he left, we all went outside to fetch the dog from the neighbor's house (we think something happened to her fence when part of the driveway washed away) and found CROCUSES BLOOMING!!! My favorite, no-question-about-it, official sign of spring. We decided we had to celebrate, so the whole family walked to the corner store - going by way of the old covered bridge where we stopped and threw rocks in the river - and got icecream sandwiches for after dinner. Paxton got tired on the way home, so I gave him a piggy-back ride while he caught his breath, and he hopped down in time to collect pine cones before we made it back to the house. Happy, happy Spring!!!

It's Spring!! (So why is it snowing?)

Last night Spencer's cub scout den was invited to a Spring carnival put on by the Awanas group at a local church here. It was such a great time. The church was PACKED - I don't think any of us was expecting that many kids and that much activity! Once they got acclimated though, there was no stopping them. They were all given a stack of play money when they went in, that they could use to buy turns on different games ... obstacle course, throwing darts at balloons, beanbag toss, ring toss, basketball, and Paxton's favorite - a variation on the dunking booth, where the kids could throw water soaked sponges at the teenaged volunteers. It was a fun night, and I loved watching the boys having such a good time. They tried almost all of the games, and ended up picking a couple favorites. They both did the darts several times, and got better with each shot. I was really proud that they both did the obstacle course too. While they love to do obstacle courses in the driveway at home, up until last night, neither one of them ever really wanted to do something like that in front of a roomful of people. But they did great! They both spent all their "money" and earned a fistful of tickets that they traded in at the end of the night for prizes like bouncy balls, little plastic games, and cardboard airplanes. It was really neat. We all went home tired and happy, and both boys requested - several times - that we do it again sometime. Today we are home, and it's just as well because it is snowing like crazy. Still, we've had a little taste of spring this week, with several days of warmer weather. The taste was nice, but we're ready for the real thing.

Original poetry

Spencer and Paxton wrote poems today:

Once there was a chicken
His name was Icken
He cut down a tree
He cut down a branch
He didn't know what he was thinkin.

by Spencer

Once there was a cow
His name was Wow
I'm still a cow
And my name is still Wow

by Paxton

An extra dose of Dad

At my request, Mike took a sick day on Monday. We'd spent the weekend whining our way through colds and fevers and misery, and I really needed that extra day to gather my bearings. It helped. The boys got to play Monopoly and Connect 4 and Whack-a-Mole with Daddy, while I both rested and cleaned up to get ready for the week. For some reason, the week still seemed extra slow, so yesterday we took a field trip out to his office to meet him for lunch. We went to a great little local diner that serves breakfast all day. I love taking the boys out to eat. For one thing, I just really enjoy their company & conversation, as I always do. But I also like the chance to watch them shine in public, to see how confidently they handle themselves. Spencer and Paxton place their own orders, and have since they were able to talk. They know they can order anything they want, and they do. Paxton has gotten some strange looks when he orders Diet Coke (actually, I think the strange looks are more for us, his parents, for letting him) but yesterday he chose a root beer, which the waitress found totally normal. Yesterday was also the first time we ordered an actual kids meal for Everett. We got him a grilled cheese and he ate half of it! We didn't get dessert, and instead headed back to Mike's office to raid the candy basket. On the way out, someone commented on how cute and well-behaved the boys were, which made me smile half the way home. Spencer slept for most of the 45 minute ride, so Paxton and I sang along to the radio, talked about what a soundtrack was, and theorized about the strange-looking construction vehicle we passed, that neither of us had seen before. Life is good.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

This has not been a very good week. Everyone has colds, everyone's on edge, the kids have been bickering more than usual, and I'm pretty sure I can speak for everyone when I say that we are more than ready for winter to be over. We are really feeling the claustrophobia that sets in this time of year (if not sooner) The boys were supposed to have an art show on Tuesday, but it was cancelled because of an ice storm. There was a scouts meeting last night, but Spencer was too sick to even feel like getting dressed. We've been in the house since Saturday. Yuck. I'm trying to focus on those little moments, those good little moments, because we did have them. Isaac and Anabelle visited on Monday, and everyone had a good time.... The boys got their Ladybug and Spider magazines, and we looked through those together. We did what we always do first, and pulled out the little games. We cut out and played a color bingo game yesterday.... We've had the Brio train track out most of the week, and have played with that nearly every day.... Paxton found a race-car math game that they got for Christmas a couple years ago. We lost the directions, so we had to make them up, but we had fun playing that too.... We read about Ramona's latest antics in Ramona and her Mother.... We pulled out maps of the United States, trying to find one that had the time zones listed on it. We finally found what we were looking for in the phone book, and talked about what time it was from California to New Hampshire. The boys thought there should be a different time zone for Maba and Pop and Aunt Didi since they live so far away. (an hour :).... We drank a lot of orange juice. And if my sore throat and sniffling boy are any indication, we're going to be drinking a lot more.

"A boy can never have too many projects"

That's what Spencer said to me this morning, as we were untangling a ball of yarn so that he could work on his knitting. I showed him how yesterday, and it was the last thing on his mind when he went to bed, and the first thing on his lips when he woke up. It's a good thing he feels that way too, because our house is fast turning into a haven for partially finished projects. As I type, I can see more than a few, and being the giver that I am, I thought that I would share....

On the chair to my left is a woodworking kit, basically a wooden box filled with pine pieces, nails, and a kid-size hammer (which is sometimes used, and sometimes set aside in order to use the real thing). There's something that looks like an airplane hanging out of it. On the couch is Spencer's bridge-building kit. It included everything to make three bridges, and he's finished 2 and a half of them. He got it out yesterday, but I don't think he did anything with it yet. Between the couch and the piano is MY running project, my dvds and boxes and bubble wrap and envelopes. There's a card table that I just set up in front of the door to the basement, since we were running out of usable flat surfaces. (I get a little nutty when the kitchen table is covered for too long, so the card table - which is easy to move around even when it's overflowing - is perfect) The paint-by-number of a horse, which Spencer started on Sunday, is drying there, as is a ceramic Eeyore. Actually, Eeyore dried quickly, but he's sitting there waiting for his final touches. Also on the table is an archeology kit that is so much fun we've all given it a try. It came as a brick with 3 artifacts buried inside, and you have to dig excavate them. When you're done you can mix it with water, re-bury them, let it dry, and start all over again. It's drying now, and I'm excited for them to do it again, because Mike hid some quarters in there too when the kids weren't looking. Mike's model car kit is on that table too, along with a hammer, some safety glasses, and the zipper pull that fell off my purse. On the end of the kitchen counter is Spencer's derby car kit. It's been sitting there for weeks, waiting for us to get the rest of what we need to make it. Mike picked up a tool kit, templates, decals, etc today, so they can work on it this weekend. The derby is in two weeks, so they're going to have to be pretty intense about it if he wants to race it.

There's more in the other room, but that's what I can see at the moment. In a few more days, it could all have changed.

Tractors and Birthday Parties

It's a season of milestones....
Paxton is reading, Everett is crawling, and Spencer can make scrambled eggs, from start to finish, by himself. They're doing lots of other things too, but those are a few I've become aware of this past week.

Yesterday was Spencer's 8th birthday party, and it was such a fun time. We had it at a children's science museum (that we've never been to before, but that came highly recommended) It was fantastic. The kids - and the grownups - had a great time exploring and playing with all the exhibits, from legos and mini golf, to lights, electricity, momentum, and gravity. We had lunch on Spencer's carefully selected John Deere plates, as well as dyed-to-match green cupcakes. Maba and Pop, in keeping with the theme, got him a very cool John Deere tractor & baseball cap. He got a lot of other really neat gifts too... everything from hover crafts to paint-by-number kits to tinker toys to bug books. We got home, exhausted, around 5. We munched on all the leftover party food while Spencer went through all his new things, taking them out of the packages and planning what he'd play with when. The tractor was the first thing unwrapped, and we all had a little family gripe about those twist tie things that they tie toys to their packages with. Very hard to stay patient while they're all twisted off! He played with the tractor nearly non-stop, and was very excited when he realized that he could fit his other little tractor into the trailer of his new big one. We also blew up his hover disc, tested out his other hover craft (both very cool, both of which freaked the baby out a little bit) and played with a balloon helicopter he picked up at the gift shop. It was getting late when he remembered that he had archaeology and painting sets that he wanted to look at, so he left them on the table for first thing this morning. He was so excited and happy, which of course makes me excited and happy too. I can't believe he is EIGHT!! He went to bed around 9:00, his new tractor beside him on the floor, and his John Deere hat hanging on his bed post.

Playing hooky

Mike took the afternoon off from work today so that we could take the boys to see Racing Stripes. We were planning on going this weekend, but the theatre we wanted to see it in is ending its run tomorrow. What a cute movie! We had a great time, and ate way more than our fill of chicken sandwiches, burgers, nachos and coke. It felt rather decadent seeing a movie at 3:30 in the middle of the week, and we shared the theatre with just one other family. Other happenings this week.... the boys have been in a contruction-oriented mood, and took apart and rebuilt a wobbly end table, nailed and glued and created about four different things out of pinewood, and helped me hang two new curtain rods. They learned to safely iron this week too. My poor curtains that I sewed about 2 years ago have been sitting folded in the closet just waiting for me to get around to buying the rods. We went to church on Sunday, to a church we haven't been to in a couple of years. I always remember it as a very relaxed and comfortable place, and this time was no exception. Spencer and Paxton went to the children's services, and LOVED it. They loved it so much that they nearly begged us to go back again, which I believe is a first for them. So we talked it over - more than once - and decided that it definitely wouldn't hurt to go again. And maybe again after that. It is an hour away, which is admittedly a bit of a drive, but we know that churches shouldn't be chosen based on their proximity.

"And since there's no place to go..."

Well the snow has stopped falling, but the ground and the trees are completely blanketed with the same kind of bright, clingy snow that always reminded me of the frosting on Frosted Flakes when I was little. It is so beautiful. With the exception of Cub Scouts, we have been home all week, and really enjoying it. We have spent an unusual amount of time in the kitchen, making everything from homemade bread to deviled eggs. Our reading marathon also continues, as does Paxton's computer playing. Spencer spent his fair share of time on the computer too, as he searched for the perfect thing to spend his last $20 on. We finally found a great online store that sold nothing but die-cast tractors and farm equipment, and he ultimately chose a little John Deere tractor with a plow and manure spreader. Now he just has to wait for the Big Brown Truck to bring it to him. Everett has been very busy this week, and keeping me on my toes even more than usual. For someone who is not yet crawling, he sure can travel. He loves to watch the big boys, and really got a kick out of the game they made up this morning, involving walking like a bear, kangaroo, robot, etc. I don't think it will be long before he is joining them.