Chase-ing Life

Oh, Summer, where is your sting? 'Twould seem Mother Nature has finally gotten out the can of summer spray and is ending your tyrannical reign. I delight in watching you writhe in agony, desperately trying to cling to your pathetic muggy existence, but you are dying and I am happy.

The demise of summer marks the cleansing from the streets of myriad children, leaving adults free to go out without fear of being run over by some kid running wild with the delirium of the season. One of theses such children happens to be my own son Tanner, who is now facing nearly a decade and a half of SCHOOL. On August 17 wee little Tanner donned his backpack (actually my backpack and then Rob's backpack from college), toted his lunch, and smiled for the camera before being hauled off to his first day of state-sponsored torture. I think, however, that the torture part doesn't really apply to kindergarteners. He seems to enjoy school, even if he is extra weepy thus far. He needs to get used to the rigorous schedule.


Tanner being gone during the day leaves me with only two small children, and what a luxury that has been! Did I once consider two children to be a handful? Pah! Kevin and Amy get along well, if only Kevin would leave Amy's hair alone. She has beautiful golden curls that have inspired me to actually start a hobby: Hair bows! I make clippies for her hair with ribbons and flowers and any sparkly things that suit my fancy. Pictured below is one such creation. From this angle it looks a little like a creepy tarantula on her head, but trust me, it's a lovely flower with a jeweled pink center.

Shortly after school started we packed up for an overnighter in Oklahoma City so Rob and I could take turns going to the temple. Interestingly enough, it was during Rob's turn inside that Tanner decided to throw up in the temple waiting room. Rob overheard the temple workers talking about some kid that threw up downstairs, but Rob, being carried away with his spiritual experience, never once considered that that poor kid was his own and that that poor kid's mom was his own pregnant wife.

Here's a shot of the kids outside the temple. Notice Tanner's pale face (this is pre-barfing) and Kevin's hand pulling Amy's hair. We feared Tanner may have caught something at school, but it proved to be a one-time, just-for-mommy kind of thing. : )

Another end-of-summer adventure was the continuance of the hair cycle: I had been wearing my hair in a messy bun for weeks and decided it was time to chop it again. I was pleased with the result. Also, I used a gift from my mother-in-law to get new sleeves on a not-quite-modest-enough dress, and wore that with my new haircut to receive more compliments than I've ever received on a single Sunday. Huzzah!

August was also the most expensive month we've had since moving here (and therefore, the most expensive month we've had ever). We decided to have some work done in the basement (see previous post) and shortly after making the Big Payment to our contractor, Rob got released from the Bishopric. I had always suspected that our blessings for Rob's service were blessings of omission: bad things weren't happening because he was in the Bishopric. Within three weeks of his release we had spent over $900 on car repairs. Amazingly, two Sundays after his release we were all ready to go to church only to find a flat tire on the van and a dead battery in the other car. Rob changed his clothes to stick on the spare and we arrived just after the sacrament.

(This is precisely why I never asked for Rob's release---I knew this would happen.) (He was instantly made Young Men's president, and we're not seeing much difference except he can sit with us in Sacrament meeting now.)

Anyway, the work on the basement is done for now (translate: we have spent enough on the basement for now) and we are enjoying our two new rooms. One for food storage and tornado preparedness:

And one for Rob's laptop and calling-related materials and my crafting table:

It's all still rather a mess, and the carpet is a big old remnant from Lowes that doesn't actually cover the whole floor, but we have sprayed for bugs and painted the walls and the rooms are ever so much more delightful than they were when they were unfinished and full of Rob's tools, which have no been banished to the garage (One step closer to the garbage can, as he says with fear in his voice).

So now we look forward to September and lower house payments from our refinance and hopefully replenishing some of what we lost in August.

The kids are healthy, the wee girl in my tummy wiggles with reassuring regularity, and life continues. And, mercifully, this blog post doesn't.