Friday...er, Saturday bullets, Aug. 24, 2019

J. and I were able to go out to dinner last night, so blogging didn't happen.

• There are many moments throughout my day that I am overcome with how blessed I am and overcome with how God has provided for us all these years. This was especially true as I was riding one of my horses on Friday. I am still wrapping my mind around the fact that I live in such a beautiful place and actually have horses.

• G. and L. are having a sleepover with B. at his apartment tonight. Do you think they are having a little fun?

• We have a new microwave. The microwave which came with the house was not terrific, and slowly, over the past two years, it has become more and more decrepit. We knew when the door handle came off that its days were numbered. Finally, it went out with a bang when the glass in the door fell down, shattering all over the kitchen. We lived without one for nearly two weeks, but yesterday, I couldn't take warming my coffee up in a pot on the stove any longer and went and bought one. There was great rejoicing as now everyone can easily reheat leftovers for lunch.

• Today our church had a service day where members went to various places around the community and did service projects for them. We signed up to work in our favorite forest preserve and our job was to gather native seeds for the county to use to replant prairies. Since it was possibly the most beautiful day we've had in a very long time, it was hardly any effort to wander around in a  prairie in bloom gathering seeds.

These are some of the seeds we were gathering. H. was especially good at spying them out. 

• I have my school planning about 95% done. We are doing ancient cultures (including Egypt, of course), marine science, and also focusing on writing. With the youngest being in fifth grade, it feels a little different to plan. (I'll still work with R. individually on developmentally appropriate tasks and she can listen and join in on any projects we do.)
• I (with G.'s help) have gotten morning barn chores down to just an hour. That's including doing the chickens and ducks. I would love to shave off a few more minutes, though.
• P. helped both M. and D. do some riding this afternoon.

• The van is repaired and back home. It was the water pump which failed, causing the serpentine belt to come off. So much for an inexpensive fix.
• The new schedule A. made is working pretty darn well. We discovered, though, that everyone drawing for their daily job needs to happen the night before. This serves two purposes. First, those who are up know who to ask if something needs to be done, and second, it allows the child to come to terms with their job for the next day. Sometimes time to process things makes all the difference in the world. I'm sure A. would be more than happy to come and organize any of you if you were interested.
• I have been so tired for the past couple of weeks, that I am still reading a book I started two weeks ago. I read a couple of pages, can't keep my eyes open, and go to sleep. This kind of stinks because I have four books waiting to be read, and I want to read them.
• Bedtime continues to be a huge issue with R. This couldn't have anything to do with my fatigue, could it?
• In case you missed it, I have two new articles published. Feel free to click and share. How Can I Prepare to Parent an Adopted Child? and How Does the Dynamic Change in Your Family When You Adopt?
• Because of the van being in the shop, my whole grocery shopping routine has been messed up this week. I have now gone to the store twice in as many days, getting the things I need for dinner that night. I hope tomorrow to have time to make a menu and shopping list so I can go to the store one last time and be done with it for a few days.

And that's it. I can feel my sleepy brain turning off. Time for bed.