1. Or, according to Wikipedia, we still can, because, in the US, there isn't a better term for it, even though it's not exactly complimentary. Still, the beginning of this week was warm and sunny and when we went to the park on Wednesday, it was like September again, warm and comfortable. Of course, on the same day in Wisconsin where my parents were madly packing, it was snowing. Since Wednesday, it's been colder and more of the leaves have fallen and are making mini-hurricanes in the wind.
Why, you might wonder, am I writing about the weather? Well, it's Day Five of being home with my children (no school this week, thank you, Mt. Laurel) and I'm certain I've lost important brain cells in the last 5 days. Hopefully, function will be restored on Monday, but there are no guarantees.
2. Alex did not cope well with the change in schedule and all the accumulated stress. (I keep forgetting that he is like my brother, a stress barometer, and even though he cannot communicate how worried he is or how he's reading the fact that Marshall and I are very stressed, he still feels it.) So he had temper tantrums every day, Sunday - Wednesday, and it was like deja vu from earlier moments in his life. Except that now, in addition to stomping and screaming, he says things like "I want to break everything" and "Nobody likes me." Talk about the best way to break a parents' heart! He would eventually calm down and apologize, but I haven't asked a lot of him this week in order to head off, if possible, any additional explosions. Which means he's played Angry Birds for hours on end. I'm sure his teachers are going to love me on Monday when they shove him back into his regular school schedule and expect him to work hard in class, like he has been. This is one of those times that feels like there is no way to win; we're just choosing the least worst outcome. Ugh.
3. We did leave the house and do a few fun things this week. We went to get hair cuts for both kids on Monday and did a little grocery shopping beforehand. Both kids were very well behaved in the store, which I was grateful for. ShopRite doesn't have the open space that Costco or even Target have and so it's harder to keep them out of trouble there. Tuesday we went to the Adventure Aquarium in Camden (our yearly pass expires at the end of the month) with a HS student who is great with my kids. Wednesday we went to Laurel Acres. Thursday we made a trip to Target, for groceries and a new pair of headphones for Alex (Miranda has managed to break 3 pairs of his headphones days after we buy them). Later today I'm taking them to Chick Fil'A to play and then Mimi will come over before dinner to help us do some clean up. And then we will have reached that wonderful thing known as the weekend!
Miranda's reward for sitting still for her haircut.
Fun at the aquarium.
4. There are two girls who live across the street that we've been playing with lately. Yesterday afternoon, Miranda spent time with them planning to re-enact the story of the 3 little pigs. Here are their representations of the straw house, the stick house, and the brick house (they creatively used pine cones to stand in for bricks):
Here they are in the brick house.
After making the houses, they came inside to make masks out of paper plates but it got dark before rehearsals could start, so they've postponed their performance until later in the week. It was amazingly adorable to watch.
5. I managed to finish Prohibition and, then, in 48 hours, get all caught up on Castle, 9 episodes in all. That really is a fun show. Of course, I haven't really cut down on the amount of video sitting on the DVR, just shifted it a little, because we are recording more every day! I have started the pilot of Grimm twice now and been interrupted twice, so I'm still only half-way through it. Considering how dark it is, I shouldn't have been surprised to see David Greenwalt's name under executive producer. I still haven't touched the backlog on at least half a dozen other shows.
6. I haven't started Pride & Prejudice and Zombies yet; just haven't had the energy. And who knows when I'll ever get back to Harry Dresden. My mother-in-law has almost finished the series, so at least someone is enjoying his adventures.
7. If you haven't yet bought a copy of my mother's book, Bathsheba's Lament, don't worry, she'll be here in 1 week with copies to sell to you! And if you missed The Circle of Seasons: Meeting God in the Church Year, written by my dear friend Kimberlee Conway Ireton, you're in luck, because she's trying to sell off her stockpile of copies, cheap. Read about it here. I just ordered 8 for my MOPS table ladies and may order more for our church book store.
Bonus 8. I'm hoping to sneak out sometime in the next few days and see this.
And here's Jen.
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