How To Keep Busy When Daddy Is Away

Today marks the ninth day Kerry has been in Brazil on business. He was supposed to fly home all night last night and get home early this morning, but the partner asked him to stay an extra day for an unexpected meeting. Thus - our jack-o-lantern carving night has been postponed 'till tomorrow night. I've done really well this week as long as I do not think about just how far Brazil (Rio de Janeiro) is from Texas - or the continent of North America for that matter - but who's counting? It wasn't until day 6 (but again, who's counting) that my single-motherness routine began to get really old. Of course, this is when the weekend hit. I do better on any given day when we are in school and have a routine to go off of, but routine is especially helpful when Kerry is out of town. Lazy Daddyless Saturdays really end up being annoying Saturdays, and Sundays just about do me in as I teach the 2nd/3rd grade Bible class. I can teach anything language/writing/reading any day, but throw me into teaching a Bible class of 16 silly kiddos, and I'm about as stressed as I can be. I want to make the lesson fun and hands-on, but at the same time I have to be sure they're taking God's Word home in their little hearts. It's QUITE the task. The main thing that makes it tricky is that I usually end up changing the curriculum - not the Bible lesson itself since that's pretty much a done deal - but the activities that go along with it. And while the kids enjoy it, it really wears me out. The other issue that makes teaching the class extra stressful is telling the Bible stories in a way in which the young ones can "get" them. The Bible is full of what I call "Big Kid Words" and difficult themes that are too "above" their developmental level to truly be able to grasp. Whew! What a job. Guess I need more practice at bringing it all down to their level. Between ALL of that and getting myself and both boys dressed and out the door and in car seats in time to get to church before the 1st service is over so I can set up my classroom, I'm basically left in a mild to moderate panic and I am sweating. Oh, wait. I live in Houston. Of course I'm sweating. But wait! Isn't it October? Yes, yes it is. But Houston doesn't seem to know it should feel like fall outside. Moving on... So in order to pass the time this week, I have cleaned the house top to bottom, bought a new vacuum to make the house even cleaner, cleaned out (ended up with three trash bags full of junk), organized and vacuumed Grant's very scary closet, made some baby gifts, decorated this pillowcase for one of my " babies" who just had a tonsillectomy- actually she's a seventh grader, but I've had her since she was in the fourth grade - thus she has been christened one of "my babies" (She said her favorite colors are lime green and purple. Just a word of warning for all you sewers out there - finding lime green and purple on the same fabric is almost impossible. I had to improvise, and I HATE improvising on gifts!!!!! This gift is not as gaudy as I would've preferred, but oh well. I hated to put her name on the part of the pillowcase where you lay your head - rubbing one's cheek across a raised layer of thread did not sound comfy to me. I think it would've looked spunkier though. Again, oh well...)took care of odds and ends, attended a birthday party, got my eyebrows waxed with Rhett lying on my belly, went grocery shopping with my "keybay" and even bought Rhett's Halloween costume (he's going to be Elvis - fake sideburns and all). But Saturday - Day 6 - just got too slow, so the boys and I made pumpkin cupcakes. I figured what better way to make the house feel warm and cozy and full than to make sweets. It worked at making me feel better until I stepped back and studied the baking mess that was going to have to be picked up by someone, and I was pretty sure that someone was me. You know the mess I'm talking about. The one with sticky, bacteria-filled egg goo strings that are smeared from the mixing bowl to the sink, and orange food coloring that has stained the counter and your clothes, and lest I forget the splattered batter that flew across the kitchen when Rhett picked up the beaters from the bowl before I could turn them off? I really wanted to add some contours to the pumpkins and possibly add some darker/lighter streaks for effect, but the mess was calling me... I decided that perfecting my cupcakes was the least of my worries. The boys did enjoy themselves though. Grant tries to eat five cupcakes day. Rhett wants nothing to do with them, and I don't really want to eat them either since they don't have a speck of chocolate in them. We are pretty sure Daddy will like them though. Grant, my little chef, helped to mix the cake, and he cut the stems for the pumpkins (thus some stems are quite long). Rhett, as I stated earlier, just made messes. But, hey! We did manage to pass some time, didn't we?

Bet you can't do better than this, Heather. (Just kidding!!!!!!! I have no doubt that you could totally beat me down with a Halloween cake that people would stand in awe of and be afraid to cut into so as not to disturb your perfect design... I'm' sure you have a Halloween cake brewing in that head of yours. Be sure to post pictures of it!!!)

Daddy, we miss you so much! We can't fill the void anymore. We need YOU!