The title is a song from Phinneas and Ferb, if you didn’t know.
I’M ALONE. I’ve talked to my mom, I’ve checked email and Facebook and I’m even blogging!
I’ve got a huge to-do list, but I’m not in any massive hurry to start. It’s pouring outside, so going to the bank and the library are a little less appealing!
I think I’ll go and spend some time with God. That would be a good way to start my alone time, doncha think? 
Today is Labor Day. I’ve been laboring on laundry all yesterday and today (7 loads and counting and it’s almost all children’s clothes!) and not QUITE counting down, but getting close.
I’m doing all this laundry because tomorrow is one of the best days of the whole year. Almost up there with Christmas, but that’s the Lord’s birth and thusly gets top billing forever. Almost up there with Thanksgiving, but that has pumpkin pie and whipped cream and thusly gets 2nd to top billing. Almost up there with the day I go to the spa and get a massage but that, well, that’s obvious. So, ok, the FOURTH best day of the year.
Because people, THEY ARE ALL GOING TO BE IN SCHOOL TOMORROW! Not just one, like we had in the middle of June. Not just three, like we had last week, BUT EVERYONE.
ALL FOUR OF MY CHILDREN WILL BE OUT OF THE HOUSE! For a LONG TIME!
I know I have completely offended those of you who homeschool and manage to love your children all day long. But Oh My WORD. These past few weeks remind me of why I love those big giant (and also short) yellow buses. Because oh my WORD, does Ethan need STRUCTURE!! By the end of the summer he just can’t handle all this time. He has to yell and bug and hit and annoy. Not just the kids but also Jim and me.
But tomorrow he will be in a “structured environment” for more hours of the day than he’ll be at home. He’ll leave at 7:05 am and get home at 3:30pm. And then we’ll have homework and dinner and a little playtime and it will be time for bed. And there won’t be a whole lot of time leftover for fighting.
Happy Sigh. Peace is good.
Plus, as an added bonus, I’ll be back to my regularly-scheduled blogging. I’ve missed you all. Have you missed me?? 
Bennett, Laura and Catie are stepping off their bus into a new school right now. I’m excited for them, for what they will learn and how they will grow this year.
Blue’s Clues is on in the playroom for Ethan. We’ll hang out alone together today, maybe go to the grocery store, maybe go to the library, maybe do nothing but laundry and hanging out!
With taking over the care for Jim’s mom, Jacki, as of next week (when all the kids will be in school), I’d like to enjoy the quiet as I can.
School ends in 45 minutes for Bennett, Laura and Catie. I will pick them up, hop on over to McDonald’s and let them get HAPPY MEALS. We never, ever get HM’s because they are so stinkin’ expensive.
Hey, Big Spender!
Here’s the kicker. I still have to get up early for another two days until Ethan is finished. That doesn’t seem right. Philadelphia and Coatesville need to get their heads together and finish on the same day, darnit, so I can sleep in!
It’s 4:17 in the afternoon on a snow/ice day. I don’t know what it is about having the kids home, but man do I NOT get anything accomplished. The fact that Jim is in the basement on conference calls and I can’t do laundry only adds to the mix.
I really hope we’re back to school tomorrow!
That’s an old song by maybe Newsboys or someone else for those of you who are too young to know. It’s not a quote from MLK. That would be a bit of a light usage even for me!
Ethan got on the bus at 7:10 this morning, the others got on at 8:33. I went to the dentist, and then grocery shopping. Since then, other than Jim being home sick, it has been a peaceful and quiet home. THANK YOU GOD!!!
Our baby, Catherine Sarah, just stepped on the bus for the first day of kindergarten. :sniff, sniff:
Two weeks from now I will be at Hershey, well, ok. I will be at the Ronald McDonald House down the street from Hershey! It’s getting close enough that it’s starting to get “real”. I have to start putting down the mental lists I’ve been making. I have to start thinking in terms of reality instead of “oh, down the road in the far future when we finally go” It’s 14 days now. We’ve submitted a request for one meal a week from our church family. I’ve made a general 4 week meal plan for Jim to follow (easy enough for him to make or pick up the food).
School ends in two days. I’m of two minds, as with most things. On the one hand, no more getting up at 6 to get everyone up and out the door on time, no more lunches or snacks to make (!) in the morning, that is, and no more worrying about homework and library books. But then, we’ll have 14 hours of children awake at home and getting on each others’ nerves. Oh joy.
