HS: Week 7

Such an unusual week.  I stayed up late Sunday night to organize lesson plans and was so excited that I managed to get out of bed at 5am and spend a good, solid hour with Jesus.  I was so anticipating doing this again on Tuesday, that I had almost no issue bounding out of bed once again at 5am, already looking forward to that quiet, restful hour.  Instead, I find that both my boys are up in bed, playing quietly and waiting for the first sound of movement so that they can have an excuse to jump out of bed and attack me.  So much for peace and quiet.  This was the morning God had planned for me.  Why, I'm not sure.  But apparently I'm supposed to be hanging out with these two guys before the sun has even come up.  -- Oh, what's that I hear?  Their little sister? Yes.  Elinor is up and crying now, too.  In a moment of Holy Spirit inspiration, I announced that we were all going an early morning walk.  We regularly go on morning walks, but this was different.  Why?  Well, for starters the moon was still bright and shining along with hundreds of twinkling stars.  The street lights were lit, and we were literally walking around our neighborhood in the dark.  We got to the end of one street and happened upon cows out to pasture.  Seriously, they were quite close and were making lots of fabulous "moo" sounds to show off.  I was amazed.  The boys asked if we were in "Texas Wild,"  a part of the Fort Worth Zoo that features the natural landscape of Texas.  I assured that that we were in Texas, but not at the Fort Worth Zoo.  They wondered and wondered at how the shrubbery and the cows got there.  They were quite enchanted.  Also, they didn't know how the plants were covered in water.  I suppose they'd never witnessed early morning dew drops, and it was just amazing to them that all those little droplets were suspended on the individual leaves and blades of grass. It was a long walk and we managed to go from a twinkling night sky to a sunrise by the time we got home. 

We've been enjoying the crisp fall weather -- which necessitates enjoying caramel apples -- and bridge building.  After reading (and loving) The Three Billy Goats Gruff last week, the boys valiantly made and crossed a bridge.  I played the part of the troll, naturally.

To close out the week, we went to the state fair as a family.  I thought it would be appropriate to rent Rodgers and Hammerstein's "State Fair" or at the very least listen to the soundtrack, but Trey assured me it wasn't.  So I sang the opening song to myself "Our state fair is a great state fair; don't miss it -- don't even be late" because that's the kind of thing one ought to sing to oneself when anticipating such an event.  Anyhow -- the state fair was wildly educational.  The kids got to learn all about the workings of a farm, planting seeds and feeding livestock -- and they sat in on their very first pig races.  Justin Bee-boar beat Christina Hoguilera.  Seriously.  It was very close, but Justin pulled through at the end.  Need I say more?