We made it!

We made it to the end of the day. Yes, for some of us, that is quite an accomplishment, thank you. ;^)

Steph, yes, they'll read them all. With the exception of the read-alouds, they have already read every book on there at least once so far. I try to pace them on the read alouds, but it's not uncommon for James to chew his way through 15 books in a day. John is picking up the habit, too, of looking through books and asking to be read to more frequently. We spend a lot of time reading, although I can't claim some high virtue or discipline as the cause of it. It's just too hot and humid to go outside (really, just ask me!), we don't have cable, and the house is not fit for company. So, what do you want to do, kids? Do you want me to read to you or do you want to read to me? Ha! My poor children. My list, however, is rather slow. The house related books came first, and then I could begin interspersing my pleasure reads with my second reads. My "completed" list is a lot shorter than the boys' lists are!

I had a weird thought today. As I prepared for my day, I opened the new body wash I'd picked up the other day. It smells so good (and is much nicer than the Dial I've been using the past few years!) I paid closer attention to the scents in the things I use: my shampoo is citrus, the conditioner is eucalyptus and mint and coconut oil, the body wash is almond. My facial cleaner has echinacea and ginseng in it, as well as something else I can't remember. I started thinking about the way "Moms" smell- mine always smelled lovely. As far back as I can remember, she smelled like Zest for everyday, and Shalimar Guerlain for special occasions. As I donned my "spring musk" deodorant and rubbed more of the almond lotion on my arms, I realized something... I smell like a schizophrenic ecosystem! Good grief. Something has got to give.

The boys earn beads at VBS- not beads like Mardis Gras, obviously. It's something that goes on their name badges. They didn't mention this until supper. Sometimes our conversations just seem so... weird.

Mom: So, how do you get beads for your badges?
James: You do stuff.
Mom: What kind of stuff do you do?
James: Tasks, mostly.
Mom: (thinking to herself: Thank you, Captain Obvious) What tasks do you do to earn your beads?
James: Most all of them, I would imagine.
John: And God loved the world!

At this point, I'm not sure I'll ever find out, short of staying there in the morning and seeing for myself! However, we now know that they will earn beads for performing tasks, and both boys seem completely at peace with this. I'm really glad we've taught the boys to be ok with questioning authority...*

Zorak has found a jacket! Gosh, that could be an entry unto itself. He has one in his crosshairs. Oh, happy day! But don't let out that sigh of relief just yet... it's not paid for or shipped yet! (But still, he FOUND ONE!)

And if you have a blog, as you can see, my sidebar is DOA. It needs to be rejuvenated. This is a painful process, as I generally have to go wending about the blogosphere to gather all my favorite links (and they never end up on my list)- if you know I read you, would ya lend me your URL? As soon as I figure out how to put things up on the sidebar, I'll need 'em. ;^) Thanks.

Alright, done blogging before nine. Off for a fresh cup of coffee and one more chapter in a Mommy book before it's time to knock out the Smidget and go read about Bilbo's current adventure.

G'nite!
~Dy

(*As a side note, no, there's not a question in my mind about the integrity of the staff at VBS- I'm just feeling back to my smart alecky little self this evening!)