Joe left today on another business trip--this time to Milwaukee, WI for a trade show until Saturday. So the kids and I are mixing things up a bit to make the time go by without him. I had each boy pick a favorite meal and plan a dinner menu (including veggies which they are very picky about) to help me make one night this week. They were all very excited about it and got to pick a special dessert to make for their night. Grant was the first boy up today and did a GREAT job! He practically made the whole meal himself with my supervision. I noticed that he was the only one who cleared his plate completely. I think his involvement in the planning and making of the meal made him determined to have it be a success. The only glitch: He made chocolate cupcakes for dessert and Austin started chasing Joseph around the house while in the midst of eating his cupcake. It left a trail of moist chocolate cupcake crumbs all through the house on the light colored carpet. I attempted vacuuming them up only to realize that the vacuum was just smashing and smearing the chocolate into the carpet. I spent the night scrubbing several stains. But all in all I think it was a success and I can't wait to cook with the rest of the kids this week.
I'm also excited to sink my teeth into a book I've been wanting to read for a long time. I love, love, LOVE to read a good book. So why, oh why has it been over six months since I've read for pleasure? The answer is that I have no self control when it comes to reading. Once I start, everything else falls by the wayside. My kids, my husband, my household duties all suffer from neglect until I finish the book. The counsel "moderation in all things" goes in one ear and out the other and I spend a long time afterwards suffering shame and guilt because I wasn't able to control myself. So after the last fiasco over six months ago I decided I needed to abstain from reading for pleasure for a little while until I could figure out how to read in moderation and keep my priorities straight. With Joe out of town, this is the perfect chance for me to read at night after the kids go to bed. My goal is to exercise self-control during the day by not picking up the book again until the following night. I'm determined to be successful.
Everybody seems to be feeling better. My kidney stone has decided to settle again and I haven't had much pain this past week. The gastro-intestinal bug we had seems to have gone through the whole family except for Jennabee and Hans, so if they make it through the next couple of days, I think they will have escaped it.
We're spending the days doing homeschool, chores, sports (Hans--soccer, J & G--flag football), scouts, and planning for Halloween. We've been having a great time! Thanks for all the kind and supportive messages we received the last couple weeks--they helped cheer me up!
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Adam's 12th Birthday
10 years ago
7 comments:
Allison,
I know what you are going through, well at least part of it :o)! Nigel is gone for the month of October and we seem to have caught every bug since he has left and are doing anything to help the time pass and have a bit of fun. I like your dinner idea, I will have to give it a try with Isaac and Eliza and see how it goes. I will probably hold off on the twins, though Ben is sure that he can cook as good as the next person and I am sure wouldn't hesitate to try.
Kim Campbell
I have been meaning to do that dinner thing with Jerome so he can pass it off in his Wolf book. You are so organized! -Marie
What I want to know is...WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE BOOK? I was sitting on the edge of my seat wanting to see what it was so I could read it too! You are going to kill me but I'm going to tell you to read "Twilight", (Cecily got me hooked on it and its sequels), but pick a day when you don't care if the house goes crazy.
I was also wanting to know what book! I understand what you mean about neglecting everything else in favor of a good read. Everyone has been telling me to read the Twilight books, too, but I haven't found the self-control yet. I barely get my chores done as it is!
Oh man, I'm also with you on the reading thing. But even when I only read at night, it's until 1:00am and a little hard to get up for work the next day! You better tell us the name of that book or face blogger mutiny! :)
The book I read was "Mr. Darcy's Daughters" by Elizabeth Aston. It's a book based on the characters of Pride and Prejudice, Darcy and Elizabeth have 5 teenage/young adult daughters who are put in the care of their cousin while Darcy and Elizabeth are away on a diplomatic mission to Constantinople. It was pretty good. Good enough, like Julie said, to keep myself awake til 1 am reading (so much for self control!!) But I felt like it kind of copied Pride and Prejudice a lot. Two flighty flirtatious younger sisters threaten to ruin the reputation of the family and destroy the "good" sisters chances at a good marriage etc. But it was still a fun, light, read.
Allison--and Kim! I'm always impressed and left in awe when I read about everything that is going on in your lives with busy husbands and all of your beautiful children! I wish I was close by--Audrey and I would LOVE to come and help/play while your hubbies are away. (Esp during this time of the year...Cory is gone hunting A LOT!) We've been praying for Cousin Joe Joe (& cousin Kai) to "feel better" (Audrey's words) in our family prayers each night, so we'll add Allison to the list as well. We love you! Thanks for being such shining examples! Missing you...
Smiles,
Maria
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