Homecoming at our house

Last evening was homecoming for our school district. JR was in the parade with his sixth grade team, and my husband was one of the coach supervisor's on the "float" (really a flatbed). He took HT with him, and JC and I watched from along the parade route. Because we only live a block from the parade route, several of our good friends met us here and we all walked over together. As we were walking back, we were discussing dinner. We decided to order a few pizzas to feed the seven adults and eight kids, and we are ended up spending several hours here. It was a gorgeous evening, and the adults enjoyed our time on the front porch while the kids enjoyed lots of fun outdoor activities before setting down to some board games later in the evening. It was so fun having an impromptu gathering at our house with so many good friends!

A pretty crappy day

Sadly, it was a pretty crappy day, and most unfortunately, I mean that literally. I subbed in kindergarten today, and one of the little ones had an unfortunate accident in her pants. Thanks to poor decisions made at school I also have two grounded children, and I spent the evening at a scout meeting where a child (thankfully not mine!) was completely and totally out of control. He was rude, disrespectful, and disruptive, and his mom just sat there and did nothing. I'm enjoying a glass of wine and some peace and quiet before I have to deal with another day...which will undoubtedly be better!

Date night

Last evening, after football practice had finished, my husband and I treated ourselves to a date night. Someone mentioned that it was a shame that we had to wait until football practice was over, but that made me laugh. Our very first date ever was also on October 4 (which is why we decided to treat ourselves last night) and it was also worked around football. It was on a Thursday evening because we obviously couldn't go on a Friday night (games), our next several Saturdays already had commitments, and Thursday was the day that practice ended the earliest and my (now) wonderful husband could make the 75 minute drive from where he taught to where I lived. The one year anniversary of our very first date is very memorable. We didn't celebrate that night because it fell on a Friday and guess what...there was a football game. I vividly remember sitting in what was considered to be hurricane remnant rains and just wanting the game to end. We did celebrate the next evening though, and that was actually the evening we became engaged. That however, is another post for another day. Anyway, my husband and I really enjoyed taking about an hour to escape the house and just hang out as the two of us. It's definitely a rare treat these days!

It makes all the difference

About once a month, our school district has a one hour delay for teacher inservice. I love those days! Today was one of those mornings. I am amazed at how that extra hour of sleep makes things run more smoothly here. We still have 65 minutes until school begins, and the kids leave 15 minutes before that. Normally at this time frame before school begins I haven't seen any of my children physically moving and I'm hollering up the stairs to make sure they are doing so. Today though, not only are they all up, but they are dressed and have already completed some of their morning chores. It's really a much nicer way to begin the morning. I can't really blame them for not being so happy/jolly/jump-out-of bed on the other mornings though. They have a mom who is most certainly NOT a morning person!

Little houses

Our house is small, and some days it feels unbelievably small! We've done many things over the last several years to make our tiny house more functional, and there are so many things I absolutely love about our house. I love our location, and that we are able to walk to the school, the bank, the library, several eateries (Mexican is only a block away!), the hardware store, and even the little one screen theater in town. We have amazing neighbors for whom we are very grateful. This is the only house my husband and I have lived in during our married life and this is the house where we brought our children home. Our house was built in 1865 and in my opinion, has a lot of charm. Of course there are drawbacks, not the least of which is the size and the lack of storage. Some days, especially in the cooler months, it feels as though we just can't get away from each other. But that makes me think of a song that was out when I was in college. Doug Stone sang a song entitled, Little Houses. I absolutely love the lyrics of that song and have decided to share them here. I choose to think about those things when I think about our house!

Little Houses lyrics
Songwriters: Ewing, Skip; Cates, Mickey;

A little white house, in the heart of town
On a little sad street, just a little run down
Became a home, for Bill and Sue
Two newlyweds, who did the best that they could do

And when they brush each other, passin' in the hall
Sue would smile and say, "This place is pretty small"

"But you know, love grows best in little houses
With fewer walls to separate
Where you eat and sleep so close together
You can't help but communicate
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we'd miss
Love grows best, in houses just like this"

Before too long, Sue and Bill
Were makin' plans, for Jack and Jill
Oh, happy day, when the news came in
But what to do, when they found out Sue was having twins

When they could not pass each other in the hall
Well, Sue would smile and say, "This place is really, really small"

"But you know, love grows best in little houses
With fewer walls to separate
Where you eat and sleep so close together
You can't help but communicate
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we'd miss
Love grows best, in houses just like this"

That little white frame house still keeps them warm
Though it's been thirty-two years, since the kids were born
And when they look back now, they hold each other tight
And whisper in each other's ears, "You know you were right"

"Because love grows best in little houses
With fewer walls to separate
Where you eat and sleep so close together
You can't help but communicate
Oh, and if we had more room between us, think of all we'd miss
Love grows best, in houses just like this
Yeah, love grows best, in houses just like this

Midwest Living

There are so many things I love about living in the midwest, and almost all of them have to do with fall! When I was younger I never particularly liked the fall decorations...so many things were brown and orange that I didn't find it appealing. Now though, I love decorating for fall. To me, it is the coziest season. Rarely is it so cold that it's unpleasant, but the coziness of a sweatshirt or a warm jacket can't be beat. And the colors are so gorgeous! I love the pumpkins and I love the beauty of the leaves changing color. I love the sound of the crisp leaves under our feet and I love the smells of the fireplaces. Fall in the midwest also means football, and we all know I love that! Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season.

And yet, I also find fall marked with a tinge of sadness in it. After all, it's the season of dying, the leaves, the plants, outdoors is shutting down. It's also heading into the end of the year. And while the holidays are an absolutely wonderful time, the end of the year always makes me reflective and a little sad about the passage of time. The fall is also when the school year starts again. While that is obviously a beginning and not an ending (although it does mean the end to our glorious carefree days!) it too marks the passage of time and the fact that my "babies" are another year older. With my obsessive personality, I find that I have to fight very hard against focusing on these things in the fall. Instead, I make sure I decorate (in those wonderful orange and browns!) and I cheer for our favorite football teams, and I soak in all the wonderful, absolutely wonderful things that living in the midwest brings us each fall!

Still undefeated

JR's team won again last evening. I'm amazed that we started this game in the 5:00 range. As I pointed out to my sister at the time, at 5:50 it was halftime...the week before we were still 15 minutes away from even starting the game. Anyway, it was a good game, and it pretty much sealed the fact that his team ought to make the playoffs. Not sure if I had mentioned, but as of last week JR has been moved to playing wide receiver. They'd had lots of injuries at that position and had asked if he was willing to move. The head coach had told my husband that he'd get more playing time by making the move. We are disappointed, very disappointed, that he's getting less time than he did before. We know that it's hard to get 50 kids playing time (yep, that's how big the team is!) and we also recognize that JR isn't the best, but we'd still like to see him be able to play a little more. He enjoys the victories though, no matter how much or how little he plays, and we are glad that he's learning that lesson...the lesson about the team.