Back Again

July is winding down in a frenzy of activity. I hope this is not portentous of the rest of the school year! I have spent a great deal of time the past couple of weeks with a family project that really isn't bloggable right now. Maybe later. In the meantime, I got behind on everything else around here and am desperately trying to catch up again. The older kids also have assignments due on the first day of co-op next week, so we've been reluctantly moving back into a "school groove". We have a family reunion this weekend and probably company here as well, so the house has to get cleaned too.

For several days we had had internet connection problems, so finally the comcast guy came out and removed a filter- Presto! Problem fixed! The big bonus is that until they come out and replace the filter, we have been upgraded from the Limited Basic cable, which is basically nothing, to... everything! John has been in TV heaven and is hoping that they will forget about us, at least until football season is over. I rarely sit down to watch TV, but John and I did enjoy Sci-Fi Friday nights during the brief period a couple of years ago in which we had the special Digital promo package. We grieved the loss of "Stargate" and "Battlestar Galactica" when we had to demote ourselves back to the nothingness of Limited Basic. So, for however long it lasts, Sci-Fi Friday is back!

The kids' new piano teacher is coming over today to meet them and hear them play for the first time. This is one thing I hope will make my life a lot easier this year- she is coming to us, so I don't have to drive the kids across town a couple of times a week to accommodate a class schedule, as we had been doing the past few years.

Becca and Philip got back from CoC camp this weekend, which is about 45 minutes away. John had to go pick them up since I was on my family mission. Each year I grow more and more dissatisfied with this camp, but the younger kids look forward to camp so much that I haven't had the heart to tell them "no" yet (the older ones get to go to Palmetto in South Carolina once they get to Middle School). But "no" may be coming next year. Each year, John and I have to prepare for "de-programming" our kids. This year, Becca got fussed at for clapping, and the kids were told that "Days of Elijah" was not a suitable song choice. Becca had won "Outstanding Bible Student" for the past two years, but not this year- I'm sure that clapping would probably disqualify one from such an award. Philip reported that one of his missionary-to-be counselors called him "Dumb-o" for several days, until the other counselor told him to stop. Both kids report that there is a lot of pressure among the kids to "pair up"; they call it "Dating". So name-calling, "dating", and other questionable behaviors are tolerated, but this camp is holding the line against clapping! I think that's called "majoring in the minors". In spite of all this, the kids say they had a good time, and I haven't discovered missing clothing or towels or swimsuits... yet.

John Mark goes to Soul Lift at Six Flags St. Louis with the Youth Group on Sunday and Monday morning, school starts. I can barely contain my enthusiasm.

Maybe I'm just cranky today... I have all this house and school work to do, and one of my most favorite activities of the whole year got cancelled: working the Friends of the Library Book Sale. It's Bibliophile heaven, and workers get first dibs at the books and half off their already cheap prices (.50 instead of 1.00 for hardbacks!) Our 4-H club was supposed to go and work this morning and have a pizza party afterwards, but the book lady called and said they had so many volunteers yesterday that no one needed to come today. Sigh. So today I am cranky. But, as Scarlett would say, "After all... tomorrow is another day!"