this ain't Green Acres.

do I really need to look up from my kitchen table to see this creature about to peck at the window?
This chicken thing may have just gone too far...

Hotel Excursion '09

What do you do in the midwest when the kids are on a school break just as  weather turns a bit foul?

You take them to a hotel with a swimming pool.   You let them eat junk food and stay up later than usual.  You all sleep in the same room and pray for daylight.

Last year we ventured to Splash Universe in fabulous Indiana,  this year we kept it local.

Here's the thing;  Dan was already gone out west on a pheasant hunting trip.   I promsied the kids that we would go stay a night in a hotel and it seemed like a good idea at the time.  Just me and the 4 kids.  What could go wrong? 

I saw the look of concern on mother's face when she said good-bye to us for the night.   I will admit.   I don't always think things through.    I often leap into something without thinking of the downside.   As the door closed and Mom went on home it wasn't the first time I felt a little nervous about this adventure.    The first time was when I (briefly) lost Juliet.  She slithered out an open door and took off down the hall as fast as her little feet would take her.    The second time was when she fell face first in the kiddie pool,  cause I was keeping an eye on Chase.   I quickly snatched her up, crisis averted.    The third time was soon to come when we were all laying in bed and from about 9:15 to 9:30 it was a chorus of sneezing, coughing, crying, and yes, farting.  

Normally, Mom would have stayed with me overnight  to help me maintain control,  but thankfully she had just recovered from pneumonia and sleeping (or not sleeping well) at a hotel was not what the doctor ordered.     I convinced her I had it under control,  that the kids were getting more and more independent,  that the night would be smooth sailing.  

Believe it or not,  once the kids fell asleep and the riff-raff out in the hallway settled down   the night was great.    Breakfast was hot in the morning, and we had time to take one more dip in the pool.   All  that was missing was Daddy! 

fall fotos.

Dear Fall, it's time we chat.

Dear Fall (or shall I greet you as Autumn?),

Just the thought of you used to send shivers up my spine. I would dread your arrival from the 4th of July forward. I considered you an unweclome precursor to the the season that follows you. I could not understand the attraction, the anticipation others felt when they spoke of you. Fall lovers would talk of you so lovingly. They love your color, your temperature, your fun offerings. I honestly thought I had no use for you. I wanted to close my eyes and wake up in April.

One early fall day I asked myself why I disliked you so. Did I have the evidence to support my stance that Fall was a necessary evil? What exactly was it about you that turned me into a harvest time scrooge?

My introspection provided me with a few reasons not listed in any particular order.

• You indicate the official end of summer. (lazy days, 80 degrees, vacation,)
  

• You make our lives overly committed with the commencement of school, soccer, church activities.

• You shorten daylight hours

• You make us search for socks, shoes, jackets, hats.

• You bring us one step closer to the looooonng, cold winter with its treacherous driving.
  

• You remind me that my kids are not getting any younger, nor are any of us.

The list of offenses against you are kind of laughable. How can a change of season be blamed for life just-- well, happening? Why must I use my energy to hate on fall, when I am really just hating on change ?

Just because I want my babies to be babies forever, and for the structure and responsibility of school time to go away, or for the weather to be 85 degrees forever, does that mean I am some kind of wingnut?

wingnut :

(noun) A person appearing to be moderately to severely crazy, disoriented, jumbled and more often than not, a total mess. A wingnut is a constant source of entertainment to those surrounding it and can easily be found in any type of setting or venue. Example: grocery stores, sporting events, cross-walks, public transportation, school, work…you may even have one in your house.

But, I digress. This year, Autumn, I decided to look at you with new eyes. Before, you could do no right by me. This year I watched you develop.

• I noticed the joy in my family and friends at your arrival.
  

• I took a good hard look at your colorful display and appreciated you.
  

• I wrapped my first cozy scarf around me neck and enjoyed it.
  

• I sipped hot coffee to warm me as I cheered my sons on during their soccer games.

• I felt the confidence in my daughter's step as she ran out of the van to join her classmates.
  

• I sat and enjoyed the pure silence as my baby slept and the older kids were at school for I had not experienced that kind of deafening silence in 3 months.

Fall, you bring certain change. I can now embrace you next we meet, instead of speaking ill about you. I can look to your appearance as the demonstration of God's promise in Geneis 8:22:

"As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease."