Last night, Jamie took inventory of everything the kids have and still need for school. He did all the school shopping this year-on line with Staples. It was all shipped to us via 3 different boxes last week. Shipping was free because our order for 3 kids was over $50! Today I told Audra to load up her back pack and we went over to the school to meet her teacher, Mr. Bambey and see the classroom. As soon as I set foot inside of that building, I noticed the smell. It doesn't smell bad...but it smells like the school. Probably a mixture of all the markers, pencils and papers in that place! You could tell excitemenet was in the air as kids filed in one by one to see the class and meet the teacher. School starts next Thursday and we are ready!
Lots of changes are in the air. It is definitely feeling cooler and I've noticed a few different changes in leaf coloring here and there. Allergies are at full hilt for me, which isn't fun...but I'll survive! On Wednesday the kids and I drove a couple of hours to meet up with our friends, the Falkes. Amy was saying that she finally is getting the hang of changing seasons. She grew up in Zaire as a missionary kid right on the equator. The weather there was pretty consistent all year round. She said when she first moved here, the change of seasons always caught her off guard and she didn't know what "fall stuff was." Now she has learned to appreciate pumpkins, crisp apples, cider mills, fall colors....school starting again!
I remember as a kid, we used to always take a drive in the fall to see the fall colors. (See picture above. I am on the far right) Quite often we would end up in the town of Naples. Naples seemed like it was hours and hours away from our house. Now that I am an adult, I live closer to Naples and it is actually the next school district over from us. But in any case, I remember driving down, getting food at Bob and Ruth's (a classic restaurant there that still exists today!), walking through the quaint shops, looking at the pioneer cemetery there...and even taking a wine tour once (but not being able to taste because I was a kid).
So we will be donning more sweaters and packing away the swimsuits and shorts soon...but I look forward to the new season and it's beauty!
I am having a bad allergy day. Managed to get the kids off to school. I'm glad we have lots of leftover soup for dinner!
Alicia and I came in dead last. There was someone else who came in with us and she actually medaled. (ok...Dorothy is in her 80's and she won 2nd place for her age division) Anyway...we were soaked to the skin when we were finished. When we got back to the church we went to the awards ceremony. I saw a guy I went to high school with whom I hadn't seen in years. It was nice to see him.
This morning Alicia told me she would like to have "tea" with me. So I poured her a cup of "tea" in her favorite little teacup. It is a yellow flowered teacup that has a butterfly on it for a handle. What she was really drinking was apple cider...while I had a cup of coffee. Last week she had a little friend over and they played dress up. They both dressed in gowns out of Alicia's dress-up box and wore tiaras on their heads. They got out the tea set and had "tea" out on the front porch together...(that day the "tea" was really water).
It was the 1970's. Her name was Sue. My mother called her Sues. I thought she was the coolest. She dated my older brother for a while...and even after their romance ended, she still came by the house. This time to visit my mother. My mother took her under her wing so to speak. Sue was a pretty emotionally damaged young woman. (Her mother had committed suicide when Sue was in her early teens.) My mother became a second mother to her. She would talk for hours with Mom; drinking coffee and smoking. Sometimes she would cry on Mom's shoulder. Mom loved and encouraged her. She also loved Mom back...sometimes driving her to stores or to a doctor's appointment. One time she drove to my school to pick me up at the nurse's office becaue I was sick. (Dad worked and my mother never had a driver's liscence)
Stare at the center dots for about 30-40 seconds. Then look at a wall or solid white or light-colored surface. What do you see?
Yesterday I took the kids to the dentist. There was a mennonite boy waiting in the lobby for members of his family to come out of the examining room. He had a hat similar to the one shown here...except that the mennonite men and boys in our area wear black straw hats without a ribbon. He observed my children quietly. I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking. I watched as the family came out...two women in dresses and caps...holding a baby and another boy about aged 8. They sat in the waiting room for awhile...quietly chatting in their Pennsylvania Dutch. After speaking to the dentist, they left without fanfare...probably to resume activities at their farm on a dirt backroad. I couldn't help but envy them a little for their simple livestyles. They are hardworking citizens of our community and quiet...they aren't distracted by computers, television and the technology of today. They rise up with the sun and go to bed at its setting. I was looking at this boy and thinking he probably works hard on his family's farm...while I can barely get my children to do a sink full of dishes without a fight.