Wow...

I suppose I could say time flies when you're having fun; but, in this case it's really more appropriate to say time flies when you are too busy to realize that it has passed.
I started a post last week to put up the school pictures that are long overdue, but I was fighting with our new computer and finally gave up and went to bed. I haven't had the time or energy to try again yet. I have reverted to the safety of my laptop to type this... a place I feel completely comfortable. However, the card with all our pictures is safely nestled in the tower of the new desktop. I don't have the energy to retrieve it.... So, a quick update without pictures must suffice for the time being.

I'm amazed that with four little kids I can be so busy running around outside of our home. Alexa started 2nd grade, Callie is in Kindergarten, and Leah is in Preschool. They all start at the same time, but end at different times throughout the day. Fun times! My saving grace is my friend, Melissa, who also has three kids in school- 3rd, Kindergarten, and Preschool. Our morning ritual is to drop kids off at one house or the other so we can split up the driving responsibilities. She is the best! So, you'd think with only Quinten around a couple days a week, I'd have more free time. Nope. I'm not that smart. Monday mornings we head straight to the school to help with Level Library books for both Callie and Alexa's classes. Every other Monday I help in Alexa's class after I've done Level Library, taken Quinten to a friends, and returned to the school. Melissa and I signed up to be Room Moms for our girls' Kindergarten class... (I told her I wouldn't do it alone). Once a month on Wednesdays I help in Leah's Preschool class. I trade babysitting with friends so we can help in our kids' classes, so some mornings are filled with playdates. We have piano, soccer practice, soccer games, homework to be done, schoolbooks to be read, spelling pretests to administer, etc. The list goes on and on. Primary is a constant worry in the back of my mind. There is always something that needs to be done or thought about. I'm grateful to not have Selma's calling! (Sorry, Selma... I'm quite happy just being your counselor). The days fly by without even realizing it.

But, even with the busy schedule and the minimal downtime after the dishes are done, the laundry folded, the kids are bathed and in bed, and the living room is picked up, we're happy. We're doing good. Our kids are healthy (except for Quinten's cold), I think they are relatively happy, and I truly can't complain. I would be completely ungrateful if I started listing all the things that go wrong in our life on a day to day basis. Everybody has them- mine are no bigger than anyone else I know. Life is full of surprises, twists and turns. You can't get away from them; what matters most is how you react to the surprises, and how you bend with the twists and turns. I'm still learning. I probably always will be learning because I've never been a fan of surprises and I get carsick during twists and turns. It's life. You paste a smile on your face and grab a barf bag because it's not going to change just because you want it to. So, today things are good. Tomorrow may be hard. The next day may be even harder. Who knows? I do know that I control my attitude on my hard days. I can let it get to me or I can take my five minute breather in my bathroom where my kids can be locked out. Some days I do both- hey, I'm not perfect. But, I hope I'm at least moving in that general direction. :)