As always, so much is happening around here.
On the drive back from Solvang, we listened to
Artemis Fowl on audio. My older girls were looking for a good series to get into, I had heard good things about it and heard that the audio was very engaging. (plus, it was an easy way for me to read it and make sure it would pass parental approval- the way they blaze through books these days it is hard to keep up!)
The Meg Cabot book I devoured on the trip is *this one*, and while I enjoyed it- I did figure out "who did it" fairly early on...and I am not sure how much I like the heroine. I liked her, and yet her obsession with food was starting to get to me. Not that I don't like food, I mention it often here on the blog- but looking forward to rare treats like a truffle or two once or twice a year and a filet mignon is not the same as thinking often about the kit-kats stuffed in your purse to tide you over, etc. I was having a hard time admiring her, I think is what I am trying to say.
I picked up Lies my teacher told me- everything your American History textbook got wrong tonight at Barnes & Nobles. It looks very, very interesting. History is my favorite subject.
I have been toying with the idea of dusting off my French and maybe taking a course to re-learn it, such as this one- which is on sale right now *here*, and with free shipping it is a good deal...
I find that when teaching Spanish to my kids, or er- rather, facilitating Spanish lessons with my kids- because I cannot speak it... My mind scurries to answer in French mostly, sometimes Spanish ( I know a very little) or even more often- my mind comes up with two words and cannot remember which is Spanish, which is French. I've decided that my brain is just not that elastic anymore...if I am going to learn a language, I think it will have to be one I had some success with in my youth. This all does spin into more questioning if I should add French to my younger's learning- since I am working on it...or just worry about Spanish since we live in So. Ca. (so little time, so many teaching possibilities!!) (Gracefulmom is laughing out her kidney right now- I am running amok again, aren't I??)
Most of So. California seems to be on fire. We are not affected at our house, but one of our parkday friends was waiting to see if they would be evacuated. It's all very eerie and scary and makes you think about what it would feel like to lose your home. We are praying tonight for all those in peril, for all of those displaced. Tonight has been very windy, we will go to bed tonight wondering what we will find tomorrow morning.
Even without horrible, awful wildfires, we don't enjoy the windy season here. It plays havoc with our allergies (the box of lotion tissue is suddenly the most coveted item in the house, drat!- I forgot to go out and buy more...!!)
And, you have not seen anything as grouchy as a wind-swept hen! My-o-my, the girls waxed eloquent this morning when let out of the coop- much "fowlish" language bandied about. They were not happy and let us all know it! It is actually a sorry sight right now, since 4 of them are molting- they look pretty rakish already, without being so disheveled!
Amy over at Amy's humble musings has been writing lately about 'being there' for your kids.
I liked this post *here*-"All needing something"
I really liked how she said this;
"I fill up their cups so that they are free to pour themselves into one another: my olders reading to the babies, my athletic nine-year-old content with a wild toddler as an afternoon playmate, my five-year-old singing the alphabet to the three-year-old. I give as much as I can and then trust God for the rest."
sometimes in the midst of all the schooling, driving to an fro', the cleaning and care taking,
it's good to stop and remember the uncomplicated calling we have to simply fill them up, and trust God.