MaeLyn's Musings

In the Doctor Who TV series, there is an alien race called the silence. According to the show, they have lived here on earth since the dawn of time. However, the silence have a strange defense mechanism - as soon as a person looks away from them, he forgets the silent's very existence. The silence use post-hypnotic suggestion to manipulate people to do what they want them to do. A few minutes ago, the boys climbed into a car and drove away to spend the rest of the afternoon playing at a friend's house. Hannah was in her room, and the house was silent. For a moment, it reminded me of what it was like when school was in session, when all the kids were at school and I had several hours of silence during which I could think, and blog about what I was thinking of. It reminded me of someone seeing one of the Doctor Who Silents for the second time and saying, "Oh yeah! I remember you! How on earth could I have forgotten you?" Except that my re-encounter with peaceful sil...

We've gone over the first little bump in the roller coaster of summer, and almost before our stomachs have settled from the last drop, we feel ourselves being tugged up a hill several times as high, and we know that the rest of the summer will be one very wild ride. Picture taken at Father's & Son's Camp Out May 17th, 2014 Yesterday was spent washing laundry, not only clothes from our last camping trip, but also washing all the sleeping bags because they had a kind of musty odor to them - like they were packed away damp at some point in time and never had a chance to air out properly. (That could have been at the Father's and Sons' Camp Out... I think Steven said something about them packing up in the rain. One of the sleeping bags was full of sand - also from that trip, I imagine.) They don't get dry completely in our dryer, so I had to drape them over chairs and stuff all over the living room so they could finish drying before rolling them up and pac...

Yesterday morning, Hannah and I walked to the high school for a mandatory freshman orientation meeting, and then filed through long lines to turn in papers, get her schedule, have her picture taken, have her vision and hearing checked and get her ID card. The entire process took about an hour and thirty eight minutes. Then we walked home again. Last night the boys had their back-to school night, as well, and once again, I got to walk to the school, sit through an orientation meeting, find out schedules and teachers, visit those teachers and fill out paperwork, and finally walk home again. The orientation meetings covered exciting topics like pick-up and drop-off procedures, dress codes, tardy policies, and school staff, most of which information was included in packets that were mailed to us a couple weeks ago. I am looking forward to school starting again. I think that my kids will appreciate having regular schedules. I think having a reason to get dressed in the morning will be...

In the movie, Song of the South, Brer Rabbit has a laughing place. I don't remember much of the movie, but I do remember a part where Brer Fox and Brer Bear had Brer Rabbit tied up, ready to roast, and Brer Rabbit starts laughing. Brer Bear asks, "Why you laughin?" "I's thinkin' about my laughin' place!" replies Brer Rabbit. Brer Bear wants to see this laughin' place, but Brer Rabbit asks, "How can I show you where it is when I'm all tied up?" Although Brer Fox is sure it is a trick, they allow Brer Rabbit to lead them to his laughing place, which happens to be a clump of bushes containing a bee hive. When a sore Brer Bear complains that he isn't laughing, Brer Rabbit replies, "I didn't say it was YOUR laughing place; I said it was MY laughing place!" Brer Bear and Brer Fox get into a fight with the bees, and Brer Rabbit manages to escape, laughing. I thought about this story this morning, while I was in...

Summer heat has finally arrived. Yesterday I think temperatures reached almost 100 degrees, and I turned on our swamp cooler for the first time. For FHE last night, we wanted to go swimming, but got to the pool only to find a sign saying it was closed due to chemical imbalance. Instead, we set up a sprinkler on the lawn and let the kids run through it. It cooled us off and gave the lawn some needed watering. Here are some pictures: John jumps over the sprinkler Josh runs over the sprinkler Peter jumps over the sprinkler Hannah leaps over the sprinkler   Hannah got a bowl and the kids played water tag, filling the bowl with water and flinging it at each other. It was fun!

Yesterday the kids made forts in the living room. When it was almost dinner time and I needed the chairs for dinner, I asked them to take them down, but I took pictures of them first. Josh with his fort. The inside of Josh's fort. He had a battery candle so he could read. John peeking out the window of his fort Peter in his fort Hannah built a fort too, but she took hers down earlier.

Summer began for us about a month ago. The time has passed quickly, I think. We celebrated Memorial Day by going to the park and having hamburgers for dinner. I had a birthday. Don't ask how old I am... I don't remember any more. I received gift cards to JoAnn and Hobby Lobby that I made use of. I also received new flip flops, ice cream and yogurt, post-it notes, a big package of Kit Kats, a new serving spoon (our old one had broken) and a scented candle. John and Josh went to Cub Scout Day Camp. I did too, one of the days. They played games, learned skills, shot arrows and make crafts. I think they had a lot of fun. Josh hula-hooping Josh and friend learn to fold a flag Archery John stand waiting for his turn to hoist the flag on a pole. Notice the cool building in the background! The pool opened a couple weeks ago after some major renovations, and we've been swimming quite a bit since then. With the 100+ degree weather we've been having...

The summer is coming to a close. We've had our back to school nights. We've bought school supplies. Hannah is attending her first day of school as I write this. The boys have one more weekend of freedom before they, too, will be back in school. I always approach the end of the school year with mixed feelings. I am happy to have more time with my children at home. I look forward to having time to teach them things I don't have time to teach them when they are in school all day. I look forward to outings to the park and the library. I look forward to not having the rigid schedules: of having to be at school at this time to drop them off, at that time to pick them up. I look forward to not having the morning stress of making sure lunches are packed, homework was completed and put in backpacks the night before, both shoes are present on sock covered feet. At the same time, I worry about the "boredom blues" and the bickering that comes with the summer. The first fe...

Summer is here in all its glory. The last few days of school were a whirl wind of parties, celebrations, and awards ceremonies. These were followed by my birthday and Memorial Day, a week of summer vacation, and then this past week busy with John's cub scout day camp. I wonder if the entire summer is going to pass this quickly! On the next to last day of school, Peter had a Kindergarten celebration. He sang some songs and they did a play with puppets that was really cute. After school let out, John's teacher gave us a sofa that she has had in her classroom all year that she no longer wanted. My birthday was an enjoyable and relaxing day. We went to church and Steven made the meals and let me sit back and relax all day. The following day was Memorial Day and my sisters Heather and April and their families were able to come up and join us for fun games and a barbecue. Summer activities so far have included swimming, summer home school (Reading, writing, math games, and we...

I'm way overdue for an update, but it's been hard to find the time this summer. The week after our South Dakota Adventure was busy. John had Cub Scout Day Camp that week. I was busy unpacking, cleaning, doing laundry, enjoying Kristy and Family's visit, and on Friday of that week I got to leave the other three kids with a friend while I went to help out with the day camp. That was fun. Since it was the last day, the boys got to shoot off rockets that they had made earlier in the week. They pounded stamps into leather, learned about putting up and taking down tents, learned how to play some volley ball, and played dodge ball. The challenge was keeping track of the boys' water bottles and making sure they were all drinking enough in the hot sun. John and I ended up leaving a little early, and I'm glad we did: at the time that they were supposed to let out, a summer storm had arrived and it was pouring rain and hailing! The following week we were finally able to settle...