Quickie

Just a quick little post, with no pictures, and nothing terribly exciting to say. Spring break is in full swing around our house. The boys are enjoying staying up too late, watching movies, and playing the Wii.

Saturday we got up EARLY to head for Regional 4-H day. T did his talk first. Now I have to go back a little bit and mention that we arrived a little early. We got to see the first senior talk perform. I felt a little ill when I realized that she had powerpoint slides, AND posters, as well as a number of props on her table. . .all the while thinking. . OH GREAT--all his mother sent with him was a broken BB gun and typing paper. Live and learn right? He had nearly his whole presentation memorized. Unfortunately, not long after he started, he put the wrong sentence in, which would have taken him down a path farther into his talk than he wanted to be. A sheer look of confusion and horror struck his face, which made Grant choke trying not to laugh out loud. That was it--after he re-composed and found his spot, he read much of the rest of the presentation. I was proud of him because he was little less fidgety than he was in February. The judge gave him a blue ribbon and then crossed it out and awarded him a red. T was OK with it, and so was his mom. We did have the opportunity to watch a number of other talks, which gave us some ideas, and was helpful.

G's ensemble played well and recieved a blue ribbon. They have been practicing for weeks now. Once weekly they have gathered at our house for a jam session. We all knew those songs in our sleep. We could always hear D downstairs with them tapping the metal bed frame and singing the right notes along with them--and he would let them know if someone messed up the tempo or the notes. We would usually just smile to ourselves to listen to him--though occassionally we tried to find something else for him to do. G also gave his talk. He had most of his memorized too, and did a nice job. He heard T be advised from the judge that he should look around the room at different people, rather than just talking solely to the judge. So he was going to "one-up" his brother by doing that. I could see it in his eyes. Unfortunately, he made his mistake by looking at his older brother, who was still a little bitter about messing up his talk. I still do not know if T made a face at him or what, what I do know is that G got the giggles. This has proved to be catastrophic before, because usually he can't stop giggling! It only took him a few paragraphs until he got himself back together. At any rate, he was pleased to receive a blue ribbon for his work. They were running early, so we were pleased to be home by noon!!

The rest of the weekend was spent cutting the last load of firewood for the season (J is so pleased with the amount of money we saved this winter by using the new outdoor wood burning stove) and cleaning up around the yard. The daffodils are tall, the tulips are coming up in places that I had forgotten I planted them, hyacinths are still emerging, naked ladies are showing foliage, and the iris stalks are growing! The forsythia will be blooming within the next week or so, and my new inferno strip garden planted last fall seems to be all alive still.

Yesterday was spent going through bedrooms. Much as I hate that. T and D's room was indescribable!! We finally quit asking D to do stuff and were just glad that he found some other things outside to keep him busy. T and I worked for 4 hours sorting, cleaning, and throwing stuff away! I always swear that I will not help them if it gets beyond a certain point, but I always cave, because I know that it will not be cleaned to my expectations if I don't help/oversee. I must have been on a roll because then we headed down to G's room to weed through his stuff, and finally on to C's room to price the old clothes for a garage sale. Got her closet cleaned out too. Yippee!!

With that overdue task completed, that leaves me with just one more "put-off" task left. . .my scrapbook. I have had that thing laid out on my laundry counters for nearly a month now, working on it a little bit here and a little bit there. I have had several hours to work on it this past weekend and yesterday afternoon and evening. I have everything done up to Christmas--and in a few more evenings, that will be finished as well as catching up each kiddo's book for the last year. Last night I went to bed with the feeling that the weight of the world was nearly gone. I am feeling so refreshed and blessed that the mountain of "undone tasks" has nearly dissolved, and soon I will be able to focus solely on raising my family and keeping my life caught up, instead of always coming from behind!

We anticipate the visit from my sister and her family at the end of the week. We look forward to good food, good visiting, and good fun. We are planning to hang out at Exploration Place on Saturday and enjoying the day out! Don't forget that spring starts this week. HOORAY!