Summer Break

Would you believe we're in Summer Break mode already? Chris, of course, won't graduate until May 23, but since he doesn't rely on ME to teach him, I don't really count him. We finished our 180 days of Kindergarten and K4 last week, so now, we're FREE!

And what wonderful weather in which to be free. Our days are spent outside, running, playing, biking, and picking flowers (which, by the way, are not ours.)

Saja likes to play with the older girls in the neighborhood. Yesterday, they picked a handful of azalea flowers each, and they made a bed for Pocket Pals. It was so cute that I forgot to reprimand them for picking the flowers.

Kora and David like to climb to the top of the monkey bars and hang upside down. You know, we have already been to the ER for a CT Scan when Kora broke her skull, yet somehow, I rest in God's sovereignty (and practice stress-relief breathing) when my children are suspended six feet from the ground head-down. So far, no problems.

Yesterday, David was playing outside barefoot. I let them play barefoot most of the time, because they usually take their shoes off first chance they get, and then the management throws them in the dumpster when they forget to pick them up. (It really happens.) So David, in the infinite wisdom of a 3-year-old, decided to stomp an anthill yesterday... barefoot. When I finally reached him, he was writhing on the ground, screaming, rubbing his feet on the grass. He perked up in less than a minute, though. Then, of his own accord, he went inside to get shoes. Why? you may ask. Because he wanted to stomp on the poor little ants some more. Seriously.

Well, at least he chose to wear his shoes.

Tyler and Tobias have learned that they can wander away if they're not strapped into the wagon or the stroller. They know not to go into the street, yet they test the waters every minute that we're outside. David's terrible 2's prepared me for this stage, so I'm cracking down with training right away.

Tobias loves to pick on Tyler. He grabs the back of his shirt collar and pulls. Tyler screams like a girl. Tobias roars in laughter. Yesterday, Tobias approached a slightly older boy on the playground and just hit him for no reason. Then he laughed. So... it seems like David has taught them this is how you play. I think we'll just have to seclude ourselves until we grow out of this (like, when the boys are 25?!)

We're making plans to move to Chattanooga this summer. Please pray with us that God will preserve a large house with a fenced-in backyard in a good neighborhood near Tennessee Temple University for us to reasonably rent. Chris' position is unpaid, but we have some savings to see us through the year. What an amazing lifestyle, so distant from the world, to be relatively unworried about finances.

Maybe that's why our marriage is so fun.

Finally, on a side note that has no functional bearing whatsoever, something has happened in the world of Catan. I'm the champion, and I love it. =) I think I've won 6 out of the last 8 games I've played. "So, eat that, marshmallow boy!" (Sorry, that's from Monsters, Inc., which is playing in the background, and making it very difficult for me to concentrate.)

Life is fun now. I thank God for that!