Is it time for school yet?

I love the summer with my kids. Yesterday I came home from work around 1pm to find a hole in the girls' bedroom door. Seems the youngest was being kept out and decided to find a way in with the bathroom stool. Someday they will be gone and the house will have no more holes or broken windows......ahhh the dreams of the parent. Of course reality snaps back in and you realize that along with that neat house comes a very quiet house too. Yesterday afternoon we were dealing with the typical "there's nothing to do outside" and me saying "use your imagination" to which my youngest replied "I put mine in the closet and I'm not getting it back out!" He just turned 5. How do you argue with that! LOL!

I had youth last night and it was a very small crowd so we started trading stories about things that happen in our lives and my coffee habit came up......let's just say if I don't have a cup of coffee in my hand, you really don't want to talk to me yet. This is a well know fact at church camp. One of my campers the first year decided to get up with me (I get up an hour before them so I can have my coffee, wake up and get that all important alone time before kids). She very brightly said "Good Morning!" as i walked past her and muttered in a not so inviting voice something akin to "whatever". I was not aware that she had followed me out of the cabin as I was completely focused on the coffee I was promised would be ready at 6am. I got my cup and went out front to sit on the swing, drink my coffee, thank God for the beautiful day and just be alone and quiet when all of a sudden I became aware of this camper standing beside me. What was she doing? She appeared to be talking. I tried to non-chalantly glance around to see who she was talking to when I discovered it was me. My mind began to look back on the day before trying to decide what I had said or done that gave her the impression I wanted to speak to a teenager at 6am. Heck! I don't even really speak to my husband at that hour! And, yet there she was.... I started listening thinking maybe there was some great catastophe in her life that she was trying to overcome. To have disturbed my quiet coffee time it was going to have to be big.... much bigger than my boyfriend broke up with me or my mom doesn't like me. It was going to have to be something along the lines of I just found out I'm dying big. But as I began to listen I realized......this was just noise....mindless drivvle. I can only imagine the look on my face as my mind was still trying to comprehend WHY she was there. As the coffee began to soak into my brain and my brain began to function on a semi coherent level, I tried to explain to her that this was my time alone. She did not seem to be hearing what I was saying. So, I finally looked her in the eye and stated "you are interrupting my time with God". An uncertain look came over her face as she realized that I did not want her there at that particular moment. She took her leave and I realized what I had said. So, now, instead of pondering the days events I realized what I had done. And at church camp of all places. I had claimed I was spending time with God. Pretty sure he had been listening, I spent the next 20 minutes drinking my coffee and praying.......ALONE. :)

I did see the camper later that day and had a great conversation with her. She did not get up with me the rest of the week, though.

I started this about my kids and summer didnt' I? Well, after youth last night I got home and my husband asked me to get steaks for he and I. Like I am going to turn down a steak dinner. As I am heading to grocery store the kids are getting ready to sit down in front of the tv again. I yelled something as I walked out about shut it off and go outside not really thinking they would listen to me. I came home and there was nobody in the house. As I walked out the back door (I should mention it was now dark), I saw my husband mowing. (I will check how he did in a little while) . I walked out to our patio to see if he wanted the steaks inside or outside (we have a shop building where the grill is) when I saw my 6 and 8 yo doing something in the grass. The six year old (Jason) was doing pushups with the 8yo (Amanda) on his back. I should at this point say that Amanda is actually a pound lighter than Jason and just barely taller than him. Suddenly, I was passed by a streak of blue, it happened again and again when I realized my 5yo (Luke) was running laps around the patio. My 13yo (Drew) and 10yo (Sydney) were asking if they could go run in the neighborhood. As Luke went whizzing by for the 7th time or so I asked what everyone was doing. As he passed me on the next round he grinned and said they were all in training. I don't think I want to know for what but they were outside so I did not argue.

I cannot wait to see what today holds. This is one of my days off.

In case anyone just counted in that paragraph and only found 5 children, my oldest is living with my dad while he attends college. He is 18 and graduated in 2006. I will tell stories on him another day! :)

I am trying to figure out how to post pictures and as soon as I do I will put them up.


Off to the wonderful world of parenting!

Maggie