Busy week over here! Anika got the cast off of her
arm this morning, which she was hugely excited about; tomorrow we’re
going over to my parents house for dinner and to see how their
remodeling is going (they’re getting ready to sell the house I grew up
in. It will be weird to see what they’ve done); and then Saturday we’re
leaving for our church’s Family Camp at the beach and won’t return for
a full week.

Needless to say, the rest of my week has been filled
with exciting things like packing and planning the packing. I have this
gigantic master packing list just for my Family Camp packing that I use
every year. It’s eight pages long (one page for miscellaneous stuff,
one clothing page each for myself and all five of the kids, and one
page for food).

I told Handsome Hubby Tuesday that I printed off
the list and was going to get started, and he couldn’t figure out why
it might take me so long and seemed shocked when I told him I had eight
pages of packing lists. His packing consists of throwing a few things
in a duffel bag. Hmph! He did sound sympathetic, however. I packed all
the clothes Tuesday night and yesterday, which is usually the most time
consuming part of the job. Today I schmoozed Kathy, my SIL, into hanging around for a couple hours so I could get some food prep done. THANK YOU, KATHY!!!

A couple years ago there was a tsunami
warning while we were at camp, which apparently made a big impression
on the kids. The other day they told me that they were going to leave their
favorite toys at home so that if there was a tsunami, they wouldn’t
lose their toys. Georgie did decide to bring his new prized chess set
though, explaining that if his got washed away he could always go to
his Grandmother’s house and borrow hers. Since we got bought it for him
on sale for $4, I told him I thought we could probably buy him a new
one if the ocean eats his first one (I didn’t tell him how much we paid
in the first place).

So, I started doing summer school with
the kids last week. I swear that is going to be the cause of death
listed in the coroner’s report when they find me keeled over in two
months.

“How did she die, Doctor?”
“Death due to educational poisoning, Detective.”
“Don’t see much of that anymore.”
“No, now it’s mostly educational deficiency; but that’s more of a
childhood disease than the poisoning, which mostly strikes teachers.”

Somehow between the workbooks, music
class, Bible class, and penmanship copy work (I sort of made up
curriculum for those last three), we’re doing a very solid two to three
hours of school every morning from nine o’ clock to around noon. Then
it’s lunch and after that it’s at least another hour of Mommy this and
Mommy that. By that time my ears usually hurt from all the racket and
I’m about ready to lock myself in the bathroom (which works
depressingly badly). They seem to be having a great time, but I’ve been
utterly exhausted for two weeks now.

Overall
I’m happy with what we’re doing for summer work. It’s keeping them
occupied, and I have yet to hear the dreaded “I’m bored” complaint yet;
however, that could be because when they do try that one out, I usually
say something like “Oh goodie! I needed someone to go clean out all the
toilets, sweep the floors, empty the trash bags, fold all the laundry,
and vacuum.” At that point they usually recant and run away as fast as
they can. I think they’ve only been “bored” a couple of times…. Hehe.

Rachel

Written by Rachel Shubin ~ Fiendish friend for effusive fun!