Filling our days

It has been a busy week, but I can’t remember a week that wasn’t.  I am fairly confident that if I was not busy I would turn in circles looking for something to do and just go nuts.  As it is I still turn in circles to keep up with it all, and there are plenty of nutty days.

This week we have pushed the school work.  The girls are doing a writing class with a group of other 9 to 11 year old homeschoolers.  My friend Amy is working with them using The Institute for Excellence in Writing.   They meet on Mondays to read their essays, and begin assignments for the next week.  Every couple of weeks we all watch a video lesson to get them started off on a new lesson concept.  It has been great for the kids to keep them on track for the week, and great for me to give them some direction. 

They also participate in a Young Statemens Book Club, also hosted by Amy. (check it out) Yes, she seems to be one of those Super Home School Moms, and she helps inspire me.  Their first book club meeting was this past Wednesday, and the kids were all super excited.  I think they were more excited for the pizza party to kick off the book club year, but still really excited.  And they all loved the book.  We read Hatchet by Gary Paulsen, and the kids started thinking about how they would survive it they were alone in the wilderness.   It was great to see them start to think about it and put them selves into the book.

Each day there is always the challenge of getting chores and school work done while maintaining positive attitudes.  Most days that is hard, but there are some where they get it, and just get to it on their own.  Those are the days I live for, when I know that I am making a difference.  Other days just get packed with stuff and there is little we can do but keep going.  Those days school books get packed along with us and we fit it all in where we can. 

Tomorrow will be one of the days.  I am going to be bottling meat out at a friends house.  The idea of bottled meat might sound strange, but it is really very good.  I love seeing my shelves filled with bottles, it give me a reassuring feeling to know that we have food ready to eat.  You can eat the meat straight out of the bottle, it is all cooked and perfectly preserved.  Often we use it in tacos, soup, or sandwiches.  Now Melanie has become a fan of bottling, so we have set a goal to work on something each week.  In no time we should both have some packed shelves. 

This is just one of my many projects this week, and each day seems to get filled up.  I am trying to train for a 1/2 marathon in a couple of weeks.  So each morning the alarm goes off at 5:15 and I get up to run on the treadmill for an hour.  It does help me get a good start for the day, but I am usually pretty worn out by the time 3:00 hits.  It has become a good habit though, and one that I hope I can maintain.

One night we rode our bikes down to the playground before dark.  It is nice that we don’t have to worry so much about bed time.  One of the many perks about home school.   Days like these I really enjoy what we do.

         

  So now I should head off to bed so it can all start over again tomorrow.  There is always too much to do, and too little time. 

Too tired for words

Went for a run.

8.23 miles

1 hour 36 minutes

Beautiful Day!

Shower

Nap!

Shocked!

The week is once again passing in a blur as my days are filling with kids, school, house cleaning, and all the usual running around.  It almost seems like any other week.  There are just a couple of details that have thrown off my rhythm and turned me into a zombie for the first part of the week.  Now the shock has worn off and I can begin to face the future.

The first detail is really more of a relief.  Chad works for a company who has a contract with the Coast Guard.  This fall the contract with the Coast Guard was again up for bids.  It is a 5 year contract so we have been through this once before with no problems.  This year however was a little different.  Last time the contract was signed the first part of August, almost as soon as bidding opened.  The current contract expires the end of September and until  this week had not been signed.  That meant that we have faced the uncertainty of not knowing if Chad would have a job come the end of September.  He had actually received a termination notice the first of the month as a precaution to not having a contract.  If there was no contract in place by September 30 Chad would be out of a job.  Can you say “a Little Worrying”?  We received word Monday morning with 2 and 1/2 weeks remaining of job certainty that the contract had been signed and jobs are secure for another 5 years.  Hooray!!!  Cause for Celebration and time to breath a little easier.  I had already been monitoring the food storage situation, which was not as good and I would have liked.  We could live for a while on bread, rice, and beans, but things were not looking so good for the fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy.

Detail number 2 is a little more responsible for the blur of the week.  The weekend had already been a bit hectic (check out why) and it didn’t help when we got a call Saturday night to come and meet with the Stake Presidency.  The Stake Presidency is the regional leadership in our church.  Being on an island the Stake Presidency doesn’t come very often, so meeting with the whole presidency means something.   Sunday Chad was sustained as the first councilor in the bishopric, our local leadership.   We have been in this position before, Chad served in a previous bishopric for 4 years right after we moved to Kodiak.   So, Sunday after church I pretty much crashed on the coach with an upset stomach.  It is terrible that my first thought was how this would effect me.  I wonder what would it be like to hide in our ward, to have small callings where we could go unnoticed?  We have never had that here.  We have a very small congregation, no one gets to hide.  He will do a great job, and I know that the Lord has called him to help the people in the Kodiak Ward.  I am thankful I have a wonderful husband who is worthy of this call, and who does his best in any calling.  It will be hard to remember that when I am sitting on the pew wrestling 4 kids to be quiet and listen.  Thank goodness this time I have two older ones to set an example for the younger ones, I hope.   

I do really have a wonderful husband thought.  He took the morning off work on Monday to get the kids going and get breakfast until I was feeling better.   Thank you Chad, for your help this week.

Birthday Cakes

Happy Birthday to Connor and Kaylin!  Yes, they share a birthday.  Yesterday Connor turned 5 and Kaylin turned 2, and birthday has been the main topic of conversation in our home for the last couple of weeks.  Particularly the cake.  The cake is always the big thing for our birthdays, and the kids love coming up with wild and crazy ideas for Mom to create.  This year was no exception. 

Last week we cleaned out the nursery at church and Connor came home with a treasure, an x-wing fighter from Star Wars.  So he asked to have an x-wing for his cake and images began swirling through my head. 

It took two days to complete, but Connor was very happy and everyone was amazed.   

While I took care of the cake for Connor, Alyssa decorated a cake for Kaylin.

So the party was great(at the pool), the cake was a success, and everyone was happy.  

Today the top priority was another birthday cake that someone ordered.   It was another wild and crazy day, major clean up at the church, other meetings, and this cake.

   

Kaylin had fun with it too. 

The Fair is here again!

For the last several years we have entered different baked goods at the Kodiak State Fair and Rodeo.  This year we were just a little too busy, or I was being a little bit lazy.  Either way I did not make anything to enter so Alyssa took over the reigns.  For the past year she has been taking over as cookie maker in our home, and perfecting her technique.  So she made chocolate chip cookies and we rushed them out to the fair grounds Friday night. 

We didn’t make it back to see how her cookies fared, but went out after church today to pick up her cookies and ribbon. I was not surprised to see the blue first place ribbon sitting next to her plate of cookies.  From my own critique I thought they were perfect, just a little browned, done in the center, fluffy and soft.   Someone asked if they could buy her cookies, but she refused wanting to give them to her dad.  They didn’t last long once we got home, but she still had her $3.00 prize money for a first place ribbon.  She is already starting to plan what she wants to learn to make for next year.

Behind in posting

We have been home from our grand vacation for a couple of weeks now.  I have been working on going through pictures and getting posts written, but I have not posted anything yet. 

Am I getting a little carried away?  Possibly!  What can I say, the whole Waters clan caravanning across Alaska.   Keep watching for all the great posts to come filled with pictures and great (or not so great) stories.  

I also have a bunch of great pictures from girls camp to post as well.  We had a great time with the young women right before we left on vacation. The kids had been waiting all summer to go camping and we couldn’t have picked a better time to go.   Here are just a few pictures that I wanted to share from this adventure.

The first day they learned first aid.  They we found out who was the most long winded as they had a contest to blow up a long balloon.  You know the kind, the ones you need a pump because it kills you otherwise.

 

 

Building a rope swing at the edge of the camp site.

 

The bishopric came out for devotional and to  make dessert.

   

The sun came out and it was a perfect afternoon.  We all walked down to the lake where most of the girls went swimming. Even the babies got in on the action.  

The girls did pedicures and facials and cleaned up from a day of swimming.