October 24, 2009

I'm running so low on sleep, I'm not sure how I'm even functioning today. It must have something to do with the beautiful Fall scenery.



And Elvis seems to have an attitude this morning . . . JUST what I need; a cat with attitude.


Bayleigh is learning some "string" tricks. Here's her version of 'The Fish Spear' . . .

And I truly did try to get everyone to sleep early tonight, but we had an unforeseen occurrence. While I was reading Eli's bedtime stories to him, Bayleigh was brushing all of her My Little Ponies' hair out and putting them away.

When I came in to help her put them up, I noticed a strange, nasty odor coming from the vicinity of her Ponies. CAT PEE! Apparently Elvis had relieved himself amidst her Ponies and their container.

No rest for the weary around here. I took her container into the bathroom and cleaned it as well as I could (and disinfected the tar out of it) . . . then we dumped all 44 My Little Ponies in the bathtub full of running hot water and I washed every single one of them off, and laid them out on some towels to dry. It was after 11:00 before I made it to bed. I'm thinking it's time to research what might be causing the cat to do this . . . don'tcha think? I'm tired . . . just tired.

October 23, 2009

Another overcast day! The sun did manage to peek out for a few seconds before lunch time . . .



but then it commenced to rain the rest of the afternoon. Since Bayleigh was off school today, I decided to treat the kids to a trip to the library. Bayleigh played "hopscotch" on the alphabet rug . . .



and found some of her favorite style books . . .



while Eli did some exploring of his own.




I checked out two books for each of the kids, two movies, and even managed to squeeze in a few seconds to pick out two books for me! YAY! A good day indeed!

October 22, 2009

So much for that good night's sleep I was hoping for. Up at 3:00 a.m. this time. Then Dave had to get up at 3:30 a.m. to make it to class in Columbia. No pretty sunrise this morning . . . dull, gloomy and rainy.

The view all day from my living room window. Although I'm severely in need of sleep, I managed to pull off a couple loads of laundry, a couple loads of dishes and sorted/organized more stuff in my retreat. I'm praying the kids sleep through the night. I don't know if I can make it without at least five hours of straight sleep tonight. Here's hoping!

October 21, 2009

I've been up since 2:00 a.m. Since I spotted that baby scorpion and disposed of it yesterday evening, my oldest has decided that she's afraid to go to sleep now. So I sat on the end of her bed until she fell asleep last night . . . then I snuck off to my own bed. I was only able to get a couple hours of sleep before she woke up crying and afraid of every shadow she saw on her bedroom wall. I finally just gave up and took her into the living room around 4:30. I turned on the lights, fired up my computer and within 15 minutes she was fast asleep. *sigh*



I wish I could have went back to sleep. But I would have missed this . . .

and that would have been a shame. Although I am running very low on fuel and patience, I managed to make it through the day. Once again I ended sitting up with Bayleigh. I'm hoping tonight goes better. MUCH better.

October 20, 2009

What a day, what a day! Bayleigh wasn't feeling well before bedtime last night, and this morning she got up with me at 5:00. As soon as the pediatrician's office opened I made an appointment to get her in, and after lunch we dashed to the doctor. We made a fairly quick trip of it . . . at least until we came upon this . . .



which I don't mind at all. The folks behind me might have been a little impatient, but living in a rural area like this, I'm used to such things. I wish others were a little more tolerant of farm machinery. And of course, I had to make a few side stops. Like the beach . . .




and although I had an unwilling subject, the scenery was beautiful!




After giving her permission to run . . . I DID manage to capture a few fun shots.




I also couldn't help but stop and grab this shot out of my side mirror, on the way home.




Bayleigh told me I was crazy for stopping in the middle of the highway to take a picture. And maybe I am! But I'm okay with that. Besides, I made sure no one was behind me before I stopped . . .



As soon as I got home, I had a call from Stacey, wondering if I could grab her kid +1 off the bus for her. So Bayleigh had a little company to play "Ponies" with. While they were playing, and Dave had Eli occupied, I ran upstairs to work on my daily layout.

Later, when I was picking up in Eli's room, I stumbled across a baby scorpion. He got flushed. I guess it's time to call the exterminator again . . . *sigh*

And after supper, baths and bedtime stories, Bayleigh insisted I sit at the end of her bed until she went to sleep. She's been doing this for the past week, which means I've been up until 11:00. This sure makes my 5:00 wake up come around WAY too early. This momma needs some SLEEP!

October 19,2009

The washer, dryer and dishwasher have been going non-stop, and so have I. Mondays are my crazy cleaning day each week. Playing catch up from the weekend, washing every one's bedding, and trying to keep up with meals and such.

I was so busy, I didn't even think to take any pictures, until I went out to do the chores. The sun was setting and the light was hitting Dave's old "hunting shed" at just the right angle to get this shot. Something about that duck decoy and the shelves full of misc. grabbed my attention, and I was lucky I had my camera with me, because it was gone in a few seconds.


And those baby chicks that we got back in April . . . well, they've grow into these striking, and yet "simple" creatures.



Mr. Attitude is of course in the lead. He wasn't sure if he should retreat or come closer for a better view of my camera.

October 18, 2009

I spotted a hint of frost on the pumpkin this morning, and seeing the sun out again was an added bonus.



In Sunday School, Eli plays in a bag of toys, while I teach the older kids. Today he picked up the phone and called Jesus. How precious is THAT?!




As for the girls . . . we studied about Stephen. One of first people to die for Jesus' sake.




I've stopped trying to be so rigid in getting these lessons across to the girls, as I want to make it more fun and interesting for them. So I've gotten very casual about letting them color coloring book pages while I read a story and then we just do some question and answer stuff. I'm hoping that by the time we finish this quarter, the girls will both have a better concept of prayer and who God really is. Bayleigh has the basics down, but my little niece isn't quite sure what to think of it all. And it wouldn't hurt my little girl to get a refresher either!



And maybe I can work with Eli on memorizing some verses, like the "big" girls.



On the way home, I decided to take "the road less traveled", to enjoy some of the fall scenery.




I was surprised and a little disappointed, that the trees weren't as vivid as I would have liked, but taking the kids across the old bridge was a treat in itself.

After the kids ate and changed into their everyday clothes, Bayleigh went over to visit grandma and play with Kasey, while Eli and I attempted to nap. Eli got his nap in, but as soon as I dozed off, the doorbell rang. The neighbor stopped by to verify some directions, and not long after that another neighbor stopped by to pick up a pair of my old tennis shoes for one of her foster kids, and a little while after that, the preacher called to discuss some church business. I gave up on my nap and worked upstairs sorting and purging more scrapbooking stuff. And I'm glad I did. I feel like I'm finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel!