Shirtless Wonder

That's my little Sarah. I came in from taking out the garbage this morning after seeing the boys off to the bus stop and found Sarah had climbed out of her crib (a new feat) and was at the table eating breakfast - shirtless! It's become her favorite way to be. Her shirtlessness began at first as a sign she needed to go potty. She couldn't get her pants off, so she would take her shirt off. Finding her shirtless was an indication she had or was about to go potty. Next, a couple of weeks ago I asked Sarah if she wanted to go outside and get wet. She immediately took her shirt off as she ran for the door. I tried to get her to put it back on her and told her she couldn't go outside without it on. She screamed bloody murder and I couldn't figure out why until I went out a little later to check on the kids. There she was getting wet - with her shirt off - just like all the boys! She refused to put it back on, but at least I understood where she was coming from. So, sex ed is beginning already - see Mom, see Rachel, see Sarah, we are girls and Mama has her shirt on and Rachel has her shirt on and so should Sarah...
The last few nights, I would check on her in the middle of the night and find her sleeping shirtless. Then last night she climbed out and came downstairs - several times. She really learns from the other children what her role as a child is and Rachel gets out of bed and runs around so Sarah was determined to do it too. She has very few words, but has taken to bringing me things and excitedly telling me to say, "Thank you" (ta to). She has also picked up "why-y?" after everything I tell her to do. She has no understanding of what she's doing, but that's what the older kids do so she does it too. Irks me and I have to remind myself that she doesn't understand. Warms my heart though when I explain something (first this, then we'll do that) and she says "kay!"


Other news: The boys have their first week of school under their belt and we've had our first illness go through the house. I always expect something within in the first few weeks of school, but we don't usually get hit within the first days. It was a headcold. Thankfully I was able to get some rest Saturday and Sunday. We spent Saturday laying around and watching the Glen Beck Return to Honor rally. By Monday morning I felt for the first time since we had been to Mom's in May like I had had sufficient sleep. With AJ home yesterday I didn't get a great nap and stayed up to ready a batch of peaches to put on first thing this morning so I was dragging again already. I just wanted to go back to bed when the boys left, but then the girls were up. Some of the inertia is just too many things to decide to do. I need to get the pickles started and am out of pineapple juice for treating the peaches so that means a trip out, but I need to exercise again now that I'm feeling better and we want to do a neighborhood bbq this weekend so I need to plan and clean for that....so many choices... It sure was so nice though to feel like I had had enough sleep - even if it only lasted for a day.

Back to school - Sam is very excited this year about his life science class - they might get to go the college and see the college students work on a "real dead human!" He's in honors everything and came home from the first day of school pleased that everything had "a familiar feeling to it." He likes the way his days go: get up and do his chores and take care of the chickens, school, come home and wash the eggs, homework...
A.J. really was anxious about going and threw a humongous fit Sunday night unable to cope with the stress. It was after 11 I think before we got him to bed. It didn't help that his ex best friend greeted him with "hi, loser" and the teacher he was expecting last minute took a position at another school and so he got a surprise teacher. I still have yet to go in and meet the new teacher. They have a dress code/uniform this year and so I had to buy him an entirely new wardrobe despite him already having so many clothes they don't fit in his dresser.
Matthew seems ho-hum about it all now. I asked him about his teacher again this morning. The first day he said she seemed kind of nice and today he said he should skip a grade because it was all too easy. The other boys I started them reading the scripture readers in first grade as soon as they were reading. I gave them to Matthew last year and started reading with him, but it only lasted a few days and then we petered out and life went on. A few weeks ago, I finally got him started on it again and we are half way through the Book of Mormon now and then he'll get to go out for ice cream. I have them read all the readers and then they are usually at a reading level that they can take on the real scriptures on their own. That helps them get the stories too and they get excited when they recognize them in the real books and helps them understand the bigger stories.
I need to work with AJ on his too. He tends to just skip around and read wherever, which makes it hard to define when he's read the whole book. They get an ice cream outing each time they finish one of the Book of scriptures.
I'm making progress on the house and beginning the canning: peaches and pickles are this week. I planted 24 tomato plants, some fell victim to Richard spraying for weeds and some to the lady that came and weeded last week. They only have blossoms though so I think I need to give up on them and just buy or ask around for some extra tomatoes to can to get them done too before the holidays are upon us.
Time is flying as fast as a Merry-go-round. It's like it went from a nice pleasant, but fast, spin to everyone leaning in to the center and it speeding up so much that I can no longer see anything - it just goes round and round and it's all I can do just to not fall off, let alone get something done or enjoy the ride. A few weeks ago I was buying stuff for Richard's office party for Christmas with all the summer clearance. I thought I was crazy buying it almost a half a year ahead. I took it almost all back because we checked the reviews and they had only one star on the reviews. They would have been some awesome awesome presents for cheap at the prices I paid if they had not been garbage. (For example, originally marked $40 and I got them for $10) :( Now, I'm feeling the holiday rush though and thinking if I don't get on top of Christmas soon I will be so stressed again this year that I won't be able to enjoy it. There's the canning, taxes due for the company in a couple of weeks, followed by our personal taxes, 4 family birthdays and Halloween and Thanksgiving all in the next 3 months. And add in a back to school illness or two wiping out a week or two at unexpected times. For those of you not at this point in life, you will be thinking 3 months is a long time and more than sufficient, but at this stage it is practically a blink of an eye. Months go like weeks used to and years seem what a month did just a few years ago. At the end of all that is the Christmas party (usually in early December) because everyone gets busy with church and school Christmas activities.

There I finally blogged, even though it was the least important of all that needed done today, it probably has been on the list longest.- taxes being the other.