Writer's Block?

It's been a while since I last wrote. We were busy. Some of the busy-ness was fun, but a lot of it was many, many personal trials that just needed to be endured. And then I felt like every time I had something to say, it was negative. So here is a brief update, just to let you know that we are alive and (relatively) well.

In July, we went on "vacation" (this is what we call it for the kids' benefit) to two family reunions, back-to-back. Bryan's family's reunion was first. He got to enjoy it for a couple days. Then came the phone call. The annual state survey had just entered the nursing home, and he had to fly back immediately. So I braved my own family's reunion alone with four kids. It was fun, except the fact that Bryan wasn't there. He was able to fly back, we extended our "vacation" for a couple more days so he could see my family. The end result of the survey was 4 tags (the average is 8), so he actually did very well.

Last week, a federal survey entered the building. Now, this was a real jackpot. Because you have to be a real lightning rod to catch one of these. Bryan knows people who worked in nursing homes for over 15 years and never saw one of these. Timing, circumstances, and pure luck (or pure trial, depending on how you view it) created this opportunity. Because it commandeered his full time and attention, we didn't see much of him. And because he has so much to catch up on this week, we are still not seeing as much of him as we would like. The end result of this survey was 5 tags (the average is 12), so again, he did very well.

In the meantime, he did get to enjoy the local 5K last week. It was tough, but he won by 3 seconds.

Caleb had a birthday: unbelievable that I have a seven-year-old! He actually started school today--second grade! He lost another tooth this week (that's 5 so far).

Savanna got a haircut this week. Actually, I cut her hair. It's not perfect, but I figured I needed to learn how to do this sooner or later. Better sooner when she is less aware of the imperfections.

Joseph narrates everything he does or thinks. He is even adding abstract ideas to his vocabulary, like "I don't know" and "I think" and "I had good dreams."

Isaac can roll both ways and sit by himself (as long as I'm nearby to catch him). He still hasn't figured out the value to trying to crawl. Mostly he just wants me to hold him all day long. He loves food, and he's very adept at grabbing anything in his reach. Anything.

I am currently in the process of figuring out the best schedule for our family, including naps and extracurricular activities. So far, I haven't been successful because I can't make my brain work. So for now, I'm trying to see if things will just fall into place for me. Also, next week the local choir starts up again. I am really looking forward to that.

The end.