Quick, before I get Sidetrack'd

Yesterday we had a super busy day planned. Doctor appointment at 9, meeting a friend at the mall at 10 to shop for family picture clothes, meeting 2 people at 12:45 to pick up items I was buying, and squeezing in sometime a trip to Target. We are also having VBS at church this week in the evening.

So, I get everyone up and ready and am about to head out the door at 8:40 only to find that I have no car keys! Yep, searched everywhere and no keys. Ugh! I called Matt, and he had to leave work to bring me a key to my car. Then I realized I had left them on the nursery desk at church.

Normally I would have just said, okay, we aren’t going anywhere today, but I really needed to do these things. M has a recurring rash that I’m trying to figure out. Family pictures are Friday! I had made arrangements with the two ladies. We had to have wipes, bread (I didn’t have time to make any), and laundry detergent!

Matt got here, and we immediately set out. Now, I don’t usually plan more than a couple of stops in a day because the kids get tired and whiny. And I do, too. But yesterday they were real troopers!

The doc didn’t know anymore about the rash than I already knew, so I’m trying a medicine recommended by a friend and hoping for the best.

I found clothes for pictures! I bought dresses for the girls several weeks ago but needed things for the rest of us. I found shirts for Matt and J and a complete outfit for me. Never happens that easily!

And my wonderful friend, Liz…she spent all morning with us at the mall helping me find things that coordinated and wrangling my gang (as well as her son) while I tried on clothes. And then, she went to Target for me! She was going anyway, so she picked up my things so I wouldn’t have to get the kids in and out again. She’s amazing!

We made it home about 1:30 tired, hungry, and with Chick-Fil-A in hand.

And today? We’re not leaving the house!

So, last night the dinner conversation somehow turned to pirates. I don’t know exactly how it happens, but it tends to be a pretty regular thing around here.

Anyway, we were talking about whether or not pirates drink smoothies. E insisted that pirates do, in fact, drink smoothies. Matt asked how she knew….

Matt: “Have you ever met a smoothie drinking pirate?”

E: “Yep.”

Matt: “When did you meet any pirate, let alone a smoothie drinking pirate?”

E: “The other morning, while you were at work and mommy was sleeping. A pirate came into my room. His name was Boyfriend. He was a very, very nice pirate!”

I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes!

Life keeps moving at a rapid pace. It’s hard to keep up. Sometimes I long for the “quiet” days when our children were younger and there were less commitments and outside demands. If I feel this way now, what will it be like in 5 years or so when our children are deep into sports, dance, friends, etc that fill our time as well as theirs?

We are filling our Summer with trips to the park, zoo visits, outside play, water play, and lots of time with friends (both for the kids and the mommy). It has been good, but I think things have sped up instead of slowing down since we finished school. I guess that’s inherent with our homeschooling; we slow down during the school year because we need to be home to do school and all of the kids friends are in school. Seems counterintuitive, but seems to be true. For this year at least.

E and J love to be outside to ride their bikes. It is impossible to keep M in one place while we’re out (without lugging the pack ‘n play out there). Yesterday M was crawling all over the front yard, driveway, and carport. I don’t know how she managed to not scrape up her legs and feet. That girl is busy!

E is asking when we’ll start first grade. Our curriculum came a few weeks ago, so I guess I’ll take some time the next few days to look over it, and we’ll start school again next week. I’m excited about our curriculum, and this will give us a good way to keep our time occupied on the hot, hot days. Doesn’t hurt that it will give us a little flexibility for the school year.

So, that’s the summary of our Summer so far. Hope you’re enjoying June!