I don't feel that way very often at the end of the day (I have that pesky Melancholy conscience forever riddling me with guilt over the things I didn't do, you know?!), so this is GREAT! :-)

Had another good devotions with the kids this morning, then headed right into school with the kids. It's been going much better ever since James talked to Joe about kids in public school and how if the teacher has any trouble with them she'll send them to the principal's office, and what happens once they get there. He then declared himself to be the principal and told Joe he'd be really, really sorry if he got sent "to the office." :-)

I fed the kids lunch and did a few things around the house, then James rounded us all up and took us into town to take care of some urgent business.

First stop: Hobby Lobby, to check out the fall and Christmas stuff. ~sigh~ James was soooooo excited about the Assembly being so early this year because after the Assembly we come home and get full-force into the fall season. I petitioned him and asked if we could please refrain from dragging out the fall stuff until at least September 1st, which is still a full three weeks before the season truly begins. He agreed, but still couldn't keep from going to look and see what's available! Ha! We came home with a few pumpkins and some leafy garlands. ~sigh~ What am I supposed to do with him?!

Second stop: Sam's Club. In discussing our options, James and I decided to stick with our Sam's Club books for the kids' homeschooling, at least for a little while longer. We talked about what we were doing in school at their age and made a list of the things we want to incorporate. Most of those things won't require a book anyway, so I think we'll be good. We got each kid the next level comprehensive curriculum book (4th Grade for Kate, 3rd for Joe, and Kindergarten for Sam) along with some extras for Katie and Joe. The comprehensive curriculum books always include reading, comprehension, english, math... and another subject or two that don't come to mind right now. Our kids do a ton of leisure reading, so we're going to start incorporating spelling lists and book reports, as well as some creative writing assignments. The other books we got for Katie and Joe are: handwriting (something they both REALLY need to work on!), math (much more intensive that just what's in the big book--we're going to start some timed drills, too), and a maps and geography book. We also have a science book that we've all been going through together.The trick is going to be easing them into all of the "extra" work without them freaking out on us! Ha! I'm really happy with what we were able to get today and--for all three kids--we spent a total of $56. That makes me very, very happy! I intend to spend some time in the next several months doing some research on what we'll do after we quit the Sam's Club thing. I don't want to suddenly discover it's time for a change and then be forced into a snap decision, you know?! For now, we're good.

Stop three: Lumber Liquidators!!!

That's right--it's my new floor!!! Isn't it purty??? I'm guessing I'll like it even better once it's out of the boxes and actually ON the floor. ;-) Still, it's exciting just knowing that it's here!!!

We grabbed a bite at McAllister's, then let the kids play in the fountain for a little while before heading home. Katie had fun, Sam was a wild man (he was drenched within the first 30 seconds), and Joe was the weenie--suddenly not wanting to get wet. I grabbed him and pushed him into the spray several times. We all had a great time, or so I thought. One moment everybody was laughing, we said, "Okay, time to go" and as we were walking away all three kids were in tears! --Joe because his mean mom had shoved him into the water one too many times, but Katie and Sam I couldn't figure out at all. Katie was walking up ahead of us and was crying and sobbing and Sam wasn't much better. I had to laugh that all of the fun and laughter had come to such an abrupt end. After 20' or better Katie turned around to see if we were coming and we saw that her face was COVERED in blood!!! Who knew?! All of the people in front of us had been seeing a little girl crying, her mouth full of blood and more blood pouring from her nose... and her parents walking several feet behind her just laughing and talking about all the "fun"!!! Apparently she and Sam had had a pretty rough collision just as we called them to leave, thus explaining Sam's crying, too. We found a bench and sat Katie down and I worked a few minutes to stop the bleeding before we finally headed for home.

We got home and unloaded the van, then I did some picking up around the house. I was feeling hot and gross, so I decided to go take a bath. It's the first bath I've had in MONTHS and it was sooooooo nice!!! (Don't be grossed out--I have been showering, but our tub was out of commission until the now-extremely-wealthy plumbers came yesterday.)

I read some Chicken Soup stories to the kids before devotions (they love those!), then after I put them down I dove into the ironing. I pulled up the Church website and watched the Wednesday morning session of the Assembly. Soooooo good! James just LOVES Sharon Morrow's message and I was convicted anew by Brother VanDeventer's lesson. That's a good thing! I don't want to forget what God began in my heart at the Assembly.

Anyway, I ironed and ironed and ironed. Nearly 4 hours, I think. (It was ALL of our dress clothes and most of our casual clothes--big trip recovery, you know!) I was down to the very bottom of the laundry basket when the iron DIED. Just died on me. Aaaaauuuuuugggggghhhhhh!!! Do you have any idea how frustrating it is to iron until 12:30 at night with the thought, "I'm going to finish TONIGHT!!!" in your mind, only to fall short by 10 minutes' worth of work?! ~sigh~ That's just wrong. And I got to thinking... this is now the FOURTH household appliance that has kicked the bucket since a certain electrician visited our house a few months ago. I've had two curling irons, a blow dryer and now an iron go ka-put since he came--some of them that had worked perfectly for years, others that were brand-spankin' new. Hhmmm... If I thought he was clever enough to mastermind such sabotage I would accuse him. ;-) HA! So much for Brother VanDeventer's lesson, I guess! ;-)

I really haven't taken any pictures since the trip, so I figured tonight was as good a time as any. There really wasn't anything to take pictures of though, so I went and shot the kids sleeping. (Ha! Doesn't that sound terrible?!)

Katie usually sleeps with a host of stuffed animals, but Hershey always finds a way to make room for himself--usually stretched out across Katie's neck! She got off easy tonight.

Joe refuses to sleep with covers. Even if I go cover him up after he's asleep, he's kicked them off again in just a matter of minutes. Weird-o!

And Sam has this new thing about sleeping with the blanket wrapped around his head. Strange. Very strange.

That's it from here! Gotta get some sleep. It's sooooooo past my bedtime!