I’m Blessed

I actually got up this morning on time.  I’m not sure why I turn the act of getting out of bed into this long discussion/negotiation with God.  I could just get up.  However, I feel the need to analyze, debate, justify, and any other delaying tactic.  It ends up messing up most of the day.  Today I got out of bed in time to have some quiet moments before the kids got up.

We are now a few weeks into our Fall school schedule, and I feel myself giving this sigh of relief.  Yes, we are busy, but we’re not over-busy.  My kids are learning.  My house is slowly starting to get put back together from the chaos of Summer.

Last week, Elias read his first 2 readers.  They were along the lines of: “Cat ran.  Rat ran.  Rat sat on cat.”  You should have seen his face.  He’s been grinning ear to ear, and has been pushing for more reading.  He also started choir this week, and he feels so big.  I asked him what they did in choir that was so fun.  He said, “We sang a lot of silly songs, and we exercised our vocal cords!!”  He just loves it.  We’ve been trying for awhile to pull Elias out of this sad slump he gets stuck in.  I’m not sure if it’s personality, or nutrition, or just being the middle child, but he always seems down.  About a month ago, his doctor suggested I double his Vitamin D dosage.  We did, and then Fall activities started, many of them for the very first time for this kindergartener.  He’s just happy and smiling all the time.  I’m not sure if it’s the Vitamin D, or the activities, or the big leaps he’s taking in learning, but I don’t think I’m going to rock any boats right now trying to figure it out!

David got to compete in his very first chess tournament.  It was him and a bunch of old guys, but he didn’t care.  They beat him royally, but he did win one game, in which he beat someone rated much higher than him, and won the award of the “biggest upset” where the brackets and estimations and rankings all got messed up from what was expected because he one that game in the 3rd round.  The older gentlemen gave him a beautiful carved wood chess set as a prize for this upset.  The tournament ran from 9am to about 8pm, so Knut spent the day with him there (I had no clue it would be so long!) and it was pretty much non-stop chess.  AKA, David’s Disneyland.

In the meantime, I dropped Ingrid off at the grandparents, and took Silje, Elias, and Solveig, as well as our 2 adopted exchange students, Tiffany and Lulu to a “local” zoo.  It was a bit of a drive, but it was a fun outing, and it was so easy to take out 3 kids when I had 2 teenagers along as well.  I got to just walk, not chase.  I got to have conversations with people.  Can you even imagine?

Also, we got to go on a hayride with Knut’s family.  We got to host a small group at our church this weekend as well.  It’s been non-stop people, and the introvert in me surprisingly handled it all well, and actually enjoying it!  This whole taking care of myself thing has been paying off.

Knut was home on an overcast day, and I asked him quick to reshoot some of the Lady Pearl Vest pictures, because I have the pattern back from the tech editor, and I just need a few better pictures before I publish it.  I also got him to do a longer photo shoot for the Cozy Morning Sweater that is up next after I get the Lady Pearl out.  I know many designers don’t wear their designs, but keep them in prime condition for showing all the time.  I probably should do that.  But I’ll admit now that I’m totally going to be living in this sweater this winter.  I never want to take it off.  Also, Knut and I were having a bit of fun taking pictures…