The Story, With Lots of Inserts

I blinked four times- or was it only three?- and suddenly here we are, on day 70 in school, only a week away from Thanksgiving, and with a baby who is four months old!!!

That's a lot for one day to handle, not?

The Story:
It was a lovely day- unlike what we would normally expect in mid November- and when the children ran out to play in the sunshine while I finished my breakfast, the feeling that I was *tired* of schoolbooks and just ready for a change of scenery began to take root!

It didn't take long to talk myself into a field day, and it took no effort at all to convince the children!

I felt mildly guilty packing everyone up and heading out mid-morning with the children only having completed one subject each, but again, I hushed my conscience, told myself that teachers have rights, and headed for the library.

Insert:
You're wondering how often I do this, right? Believe me, not very often! I am, for the most part, very committed to doing school five days a week out of real schoolbooks, and I have 2 log books to prove it! But every now and then, it comes time to shake it up a bit, and I know of no better place to do the shaking then at the library!

The Story:
I thought maybe the library had story time this morning, and that maybe Parker could join in, as he's the underprivileged third-born who doesn't get some of the "benefits" his older siblings did at his age, but it turned out that they had play-group instead, so the boys were able to join in that and play in a room and with toys that are usually off limits save for events like these!

In the afternoon, my sister stopped by to drop off some things on her way to the library (it must run in the family!) and she had two of her children along who ended up staying here while she went on to the library without them! Of course my children were thrilled at the unexpected treat of time with cousins...

And what did I do while the five children were entertained and the baby was taking a nap? Ventured up to the attic to get some bigger clothes down for Finley and to put away a horde of things that no longer fit him!

Insert:
Oh, but it happens so fast! Only four short months ago I was holding that little newborn, and now? Now I am pulling out 6-9 month clothing and feeling a bit sentimental when I see his littlest outfits and think about how fast it all goes.

I was smitten with all of my babies and it is no less with number 4! If anything, I might enjoy him more, just because I know how quickly they go from zero to 8.

And you know what else? I get all these wonderful little breaks where I get to sit in my rocking chair and feed the baby and read while other people do the dishes and things like that! It's perfectly lovely, and one of the special perks that comes with having a baby in the house.

The Story:
After the cousins left, Elasa and Gavin helped make a batch of molasses cookies. Elasa did most of the mixing herself, with only the barest of oversight, and it made me realize that yes indeed, 8 does come quickly, and before long you have children scampering around who can do all kinds of handy things! I scooped the dough into balls, Gavin rolled most of the balls in sugar, and we soon had cookies, all warm and fragrant coming out of the oven!

Insert:
Molasses cookies are one of those things that just seems so fitting for fall, and they would feel a little out of place at any other time, a little like cranberry salad and pumpkin pie!

And speaking of cranberry salad and pumpkin pie, is anyone else getting hungry for Thanksgiving? We are planning to have dinner at my parent's, with 3 of my 7 siblings, and I am already looking forward to it! I think Wesley & I  might be doing the turkey, which kind of makes me feel grown up and responsible, which, come to think of it, kind of comes with the territory of being a mother of four!  

The Story:
Once supper was finished and the dishes done (and no, I don't always get out of dishes- tonight I took my turn with a right good will!) we headed into town for some milk, groceries and a wedding gift. Wesley dropped me & Elasa off at Wal-mart and then took the boys (and can you believe there are three of them?) with him to the farm for milk. I collected the groceries and the wedding gift and a purple hat for Elasa, which made up for the fact that I took far too long, in her opinion, to put together my gift!!!

Insert:
This will be Finley's first wedding, and I am hoping to make it out of the nursery at least long enough for the vows! The last wedding I went to was the day before Finley was born, and while I wasn't in labor or anything too traumatic, I am expecting this wedding to be a little more comfortable!

The Story: 
It was nigh unto bedtime when we arrived home, and the boys, who had all taken naps in the van, were in various stages of sleep, but Elasa wanted a story yet, so I read Seven Silly Eaters! I saw the book recommended somewhere, so I ordered it from the library and picked it up today and it is a classic! As I was reading, Wesley and Gavin wandered over to listen, and we all got a kick out of it! It's funny, has a great ending, and has the kind of illustrations that you could look at and laugh over for a very long time. If you've never read this one, get it! You will thank me.

The End:
All stories have an ending, and all days do too! Some endings are better than others, in both stories and real life, but at the close of both, we usually have something to be thankful for (and sometimes we're just plain down thankful that we. are. finished!!!)

Today, I am thankful for variety.

Tomorrow I will sit at the school table again and do flash cards, but today it was a balm to call library books literature and baking cookies math. (Oh, yes! And don't forget the phys-ed, which was galloping through the leaves and jumping from the playhouse roof!)

Life is too short to be dictated by the laundry piles, and homeschooling is too flexible to be ruled by a textbook!

After all, I suspect that I only have a couple more blinks between now and planning Finley's graduation party, and I have a feeling that I should enjoy the ride, because it's going to be short.