1/3 of the way through August

How is it August 10th?

You may or may not have noticed, but I do most of my blogging at the end of each month. One of my 2020 New Year's resolutions was to blog 10 times per month. So far so good, but I often procrastinate until the latter half of the month, and then feel fresh out of words and thoughts by the time the new month starts.

I am looking at my phone's camera roll and I have nothing recent or interesting to share from that. Unless you count this interesting:

Last night Chet and I had to deal with an air conditioning issue RIGHT at bedtime (isn't that how it always goes?). The (old) filter in the picture is VERY disgusting, and Chet asked me to take a picture of the dimensions so we could have a new one on hand (we replaced the filter last night -- DON'T YOU WORRY -- but it was our last one).

Even though it was annoying to deal with a minor house emergency at bedtime, I'm thankful it WAS later in the day, because had we not been able to fix it we might have had a very hot, uncomfortable night (and it must be quite a big emergency for our maintenance company to make a Sunday house call).

What else?

Here is another picture from my camera roll (which I did not personally take):

The children treat the cat like a person. He has his own blanket and stuffed animal now, and earlier today I saw him wearing a shirt.

This evening we didn't let the kids go back outside to play after dinner. Instead they showered earlier, and then we all worked on sorting/folding/putting away a large laundry basket of clean clothes. Sydney and Lorelei were also helping me with miscellaneous tasks, and Ford (sent by Chet) kept asking, "What do you need me to do to help?!"

He's a good helper, but we were nearly done and there wasn't anything suitable for him to do, so I said, "You can go downstairs with Daddy."

Ford: "But Daddy said I needed to help."

Me: "It's okay, you can go downstairs because we're almost finished."

Ford: "Do you need me to help by staying out of the way?"

Me: "Yes."

Ford (scurrying away before I could change my mind): "Okay, BYE!"

Happy Monday! BYE!

Summer Schedule

The public and private schools start next week (Thursday, August 6th). 

Our homeschool group starts August 26th, and I'm always glad to have a little more time than most to "officially" start.

The kids and I vacationed in Texas the month of June, took a quick trip to Pensacola July 4th, and shortly thereafter Chet returned home from deployment. A few days after his return he and I decided our days needed more structure. So we came up with this schedule (Sydney wrote it out for me):

It has truly kept us sane these hot summer days.

Tonight the kids played outside until late, and as I was ushering (crying) Ruthie upstairs to the bathroom she said, "I have an ant bite! Why did God even make ants? I wish He didn't! And I wish He didn't make dinosaurs, because they bite and they chase you and they scratch you with their claws! They're MEAN!"

I didn't remind her dinosaurs were extinct.

TGIF!

Throwback Thursday

This isn't very far in the past, but I was scrolling through my pictures and found this cute one of Sydney, Ford, and Ruthie:

This was in May, and I was trying to get them to look at me, but they were more interested in the movie ("Up").

Lorelei was in Pensacola, spending a few days with her friend Nora, and the rest of the kids and I were enjoying one of life's sweet spots in which we had finished the school year, the weather wasn't too hot, and our fun Texas trip was far enough in the future that I didn't feel the need to start packing yet (I DETEST packing -- I think because I don't like things to be out of place, and that's ALL packing is). 

I love how even a fairly nondescript picture can take you right back to a specific moment in time.

Happy Thursday!

Wednesday

This evening was one of those evenings where all six of us were on edge for no apparent reason, but it meant we were all snippety toward each other (present company not excluded).

So here's a funny picture of Monster, who was wearing a homemade tie a few nights ago:

I'm thankful that "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great it your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Finished Bathroom

Here's what the bathroom with its new peel-and-stick wallpaper looks like from (semi) afar:

I JUST took this picture, which is why it's so dark (it's nearly 8 p.m. here). But I love, love, LOVE how it looks, and I find myself looking at it multiple times a day (it's also hard to miss since our downstairs is basically a giant room and the bathroom door is always open unless someone is using it).

Ruthie (again; and Ford)

This picture feels like a glimpse of Ruthie 10 years from now:

She and I were sitting on the back porch, listening to the "Frozen 2" soundtrack on that speaker.

I thought of two more funny things she said, plus something funny Ford said this summer.

When we were in Lufkin with my dad we visited the cemetery where my grandmother is buried. There was a statue of Jesus, and Ruthie asked, "Did Jesus turn into gold?!"

Along the same line, each week her Sunday school teacher mails to our house the materials (coloring page, etc.) Ruthie would be completing in Sunday school (if not for COVID). Ruthie exasperatingly asked, "Why does God keep mailing these things to me?!"

Now Ford. In Lufkin we took walks around my dad's neighborhood. There were a few houses who had graduating seniors living there, because there were yards signs that said so. One of the yard signs included a picture of the graduating senior with her cat in her lap. I pointed out the cat in the picture to the kids (because it was cute), and Ford (after studying the sign for SEVERAL seconds) asked, "Did the cat graduate?"

He's so literal. I love it (usually).

Reading

Sydney, Lorelei, and Ford read for 30+ minutes each afternoon when Ruthie goes down for a nap (around 1 p.m.).

This is a recently-instituted part of our summer routine, and IT'S MY FAVORITE. (I often sit down and read too, and sometimes doze.)

Apparently today reading and snuggle time coincided, because there was plenty of couch (and an armchair, not pictured) either one of them could have used. (Sydney prefers to read in her room.)

Lorelei's closest neighborhood friend moved last week, so she and Ford have been spending more time together. It's very sweet, but please pray for a (neighborhood) friend for Lorelei!

Happy Saturday!