No thanks to Benjamin Franklin and his Poor Richard's Almanac.   I've been getting up early, around 5:23 a.m. to head out the door for a step aerobics class at 6:00 a.m.   This has been going on for three weeks now, and for the first time in many years I'm getting up at a semi-reasonable hour.   I like it when the house is dark, lonely, and quiet.   I tend to think better when the atmosphere is free of baby babble and child chatter.   Just the other day, Nathan randomly brought up this odd question:

"If somebody chopped off my leg with a chainsaw, would they go to jail?"

This is the tip of the iceberg as far as questions go.   Many of them I cannot answer, and I don't pretend I can.   If it's theological, I'll tell Nathan, "Go ask Pastor Booth or Pastor Brainerd, they can help you with that."   And for the inquisitive among my two whole readers (assuming you have all of your body parts), no, Nathan isn't allowed to watch horror flicks on the tele.   He does however see my husband with power tools and we own a chainsaw (call it a Mississippi thing or east Texas).    I just think that some things  naturally  occur in the mind  of a  6 year old boy, I'm not in the habit of begetting or encouraging violence in our home (unless I see a snake that needs to be obliterated).  

On the upside, I really like step aerobics in the morning, it frees me to exercise without interruptions from those who might try to interpret my dance moves.   One of my children is particularly gifted at swiveling his hips, and  he likes to taunt me with imitation.   It's really pretty funny, but if I start laughing I can't breath well enough to exercise. 

On the school front, I still haven't selected all of my curriculum for the kids, but I think I've got most of it eyeballed.  I indulge them (and myself) with book buying.   I'll take them to the Battered Woman's Thrift Store (I don't know exactly why they call it that), and while I stroll around looking at various things, they go to the kid book section and get what they want.   Who can refuse a book for $.39?   I actually found a kid's book on the life of a medieval woman.   I thought that was pretty neat, it even had the British price tag still on the back.   I think it was 4.99 pounds.    I've also recently bought several of the DK Eyewitness books on Sharks, Poisonous Animals and Birds.   It's a whole series dedicated to answering all of the odd questions you (or your kids) might think of.   I've already fielded a couple of questions about the megamouth shark and general shark reproduction.   One of the best things my mom ever did for me was buy me unlimited books (or supply me with them).   I can't turn down a good book, and our shelves are evidence of it.     I'd be woebegone if I couldn't buy books, especially the ones for my own indulgence.  

On the subject of Texas, I'm still adjusting to life here.   In many ways, my functions are the same:  hospitality, homeschooling, and hair brushing.   We had a Wednesday night church group here last night, and I think we had 24 people (we're just doing this for the summer, back to regular church schedule during the school year).   I feel like I've lived here longer than 6 months, but I suppose the stability of my lot in life has made the transition easier.    I like to think in terms of being a useful and a credit to the railway (thank you, Sir Toppem Hat), but sometimes your innards flinch when you don't know exactly where you fit in or how people perceive you.   When you live with the same people for 8 years, you have mileage with them and you know their liabilities and strong points.   I suppose the unknown here is just getting to know people and "living amongst them."   After all, causing confusion and delay is not an option, unless you see a snake.   But, there is much to be thankful for, particularly teenage boys that I want my sons to emulate, I think that's worth much.   It's just maintaining that equilibrium in a still new setting that's hard, and not letting your emotions get the best of you when you strike out to form new friendships.  

But, as the night is drawing on I need to end my diatribe.   I ought to try to write more here, but I just don't seem to have words or the inclination to do it all the time.   I like to document my life, but somehow it just seems some of the things I write don't need to be posted.   I'm thankful for my own editing inclinations, but I ought to keep more of a documentation for the people who like to read this blog (all two of you!).  

Well, again I have been prodded into writing on the internet, walking on the bands of fiber optics that stretch from my house to some unknown locale.   I have needed to update this site, and my miserable squirrel picture, but I've been just a tad busy the past few weeks.   It seems like I'm busier more in Texas than I was in Mississippi, I know that is probably just the time factor, but perhaps life is gaining more momentum since the kids are getting older and I'm shuttling them from one activity to the next.  

We just ended a three week whirlwind of art lessons for Elise and swim lessons for all three of the older kids.   Ian just rode on with us, blissfully unaware of his trips to and fro.   He did grunt occasionally for food, but otherwise he was a great baby.   As a highlight of these past three weeks, Ian turned 1.   Here is the cake I attempted to make for him:






Bear in mind that I'm not the best cake baker, and the aluminum pan was the only smallish portable thing I could find in a jiffy (we transported the cake to a friend's house, but Ian fell asleep before we could sing to him, so he got it the next day instead).   The fondant cut-outs are actually trains, I have the cake upside down in this picture.  

As for my budding left-handed artist, she enjoyed her two weeks of morning art camp.    Elise is a child of few words, but I realized that the time she spent at camp meant so much to her.   She's really in her element when she's messing around with paint, crayons and water color.   I can't duplicate that experience at home with three boys around, they really don't have much of a an artistic bent yet (not that they won't, Elise has just demonstrated a distinct talent for art since an early age).   At the end of her two weeks the students had an art show, here are some of the things that Elise showed us in the "gallery"--


I don't know exactly what this is supposed to be, but the other art students had similar projects.  




This is a flower painted onto glass with some type of marker. 




This funny guy is a clay  face eating a meatball.   This was my favorite one of all the projects she produced, I thought that it was really creative and funny.   This photograph really doesn't do it justice, you'll just have to take my word for it.  

Lastly, the class did a mural for the art show at the end of the camp, and Elise drew these upside down ants on the top of the mural and the butterfly:




Here's a picture of the entire mural so that you can get an idea of the thematics, rather  bucolic in some regards. 





We ended this month of June with a week of swim lessons.   In a class of 5, three of the pupils were mine.   Seth and Nathan were quite good, and at the end of the class they both jumped off of the diving board into the deep end (with help).   Elise didn't like the class so much, I don't think she liked getting her hair wet.   Her distaste for the water was most obvious, she started the crying thing a couple of times, but her teacher was tough and wouldn't let her stop kicking or blowing bubbles.   It's beyond me though how somebody who enjoys baths so much would freeze-up when it comes to a pool.    Nathan and Seth aren't afraid of much, save snakes, banshees, and roaches, and  at least they will flush the roaches.   I'm thankful the kids  could take a class together rather than apart, besides the transportation issue, Elise does so much better with her brothers than when alone. 


For some odd reason, Nathan's bathing suit retained air bubbles all week.   They actually helped him float (or so his teacher said), but he looked like a bubble bottom for the duration of class.   You can see his personal flotation device on his hinder parts if you examine closely.  



Seth was always ready to jump in when his teacher called for him.






And lastly, here is Elise donning her shrinking violet act, after Wednesday she decided that swimming was not her favorite activity.  She didn't want all of her head in the water.  







Lastly, as I leave you tonight I will leave you with the picture that Elise drew from one of her coloring book pictures this evening while in bed,  I have posted the original and her interpretation: 











And no, she didn't trace it (I asked!).   I think the eyes are particularly good.