Saturday summary

Ben took the boys fishing this morning, out to Inks Lake (one of the few that actually has some water in it anymore), as part of an Elders Quorum activity.  I had been worried yesterday that Joseph wouldn't get to go, since he woke up sick and throwing up.  What is it with my boys and the stomach bug?!  Since the time they were babies they are so susceptible!  I feel so bad for them when they're sick like that-- there's nothing I can do for them.  Yesterday, Joseph asked in such a pitiful voice if I had some medicine he could take to make him stop throwing up.  I know just how he feels, having spent many, many weeks of my life feeling just as miserable.  There's nothing I could do but tuck him into my bed and put on The Lord of the Rings to try and distract him.  Thankfully, by yesterday afternoon he was feeling better and this morning he was totally fine for the fishing trip.  That meant I had the morning free!  I really went wild and crazy and got some laundry done.  :-)  I also met with Erica, the new 2nd counselor, handing off material she will need, and trying to train her in the calling as best I could.  She'll do a good job. I spent a couple of hours last night summarizing my calling and everything I felt like I had learned about it.  I also went back and summarized all the activities that I was in charge of over the past 2 1/2 years.  Twenty-one different activities!  Wow.  I got a little bit tired just remembering them all.  :-)
While Erica was here, she also offered the boys their 2nd dog-sitting gig, over Thanksgiving weekend.  (Their first starts on Monday, for a dog of another couple in our ward, and the boys are very excited.)  $10/day is a deal for dog-sitting, and a fortune for little boys.  Joseph in particular can't wait. 
When I told the boys about it, Mosey said, "Maybe we can just dog sit a whole bunch of dogs instead of getting a dog."
This has crossed my mind, although for Joseph I'm not sure dog sitting will really be an adequate replacement.  But maybe I'll be surprised.  He has spent several hours researching different dog breeds online, and got a couple of books on Golden Retrievers at the library the last time we were there.  That's the breed he has gravitated toward after all his reading.  My grandpa always had a Golden Retriever when I was growing up, and they are sure good, good dogs.  Also very, very hairy dogs.  Why am I so obsessed with having clean floors?  Is that obsession really worth denying my boy the companionship of a dog that I know he will love so much?  Having a dog is so much responsibility, though.  You have to figure out arrangements for it whenever you leave, you have to clean up dog poop from the back yard (it's been really nice not having dog poop back there), you have to train them and feed them and clean up after them and accept the responsibility for the next 12-14 years!  It's a lot!  I'm not ready to make any decision yet, but if we do get a dog, we'll have it for at least as long as the boys are in the house, and probably a few years longer than that.  It's a big, long-term responsibility that's a scary proposition to take on when you don't know what the future will bring.
Anyway, the rest of the day went well.  In the afternoon a woman from our ward came over to talk about homeschooling, as she is thinking of pulling her kids out of school after Christmas.  It was fun talking to her and getting excited about it all over again, and remembering all the reasons I'm doing this crazy thing.  While I was talking to her about something-- I think about possibly doing an intensive foreign language unit over the summer, Mosey was listening and said, "Mom, we hardly ever study our Greek and Latin roots anymore, it's annoying!  Can't we study them again?"  Talk about a well-timed commercial for homeschooling!  I looked at Andrea and said, "I doubt you hear things like that from many public-schooled kids."  :-)  (Of course, Mosey is a pretty unusual kid-- you may not hear that from many homeschooled kids either!)
We're 9 weeks into our school year-- 1/4 of the way done already!  That's amazing.  I'm still really happy with how things are going.  We've been able to keep up with everything, instead of slowly sliding into a less and less rigorous schedule as the semester progresses.  I still always think I should be doing more, but I think I will always feel that way, no matter what.  We haven't fallen behind in anything, and I consider that a big plus for the year so far.  This has also been, by far, the most cooperative year we've had, in terms of the boys not resisting getting their lessons done.  (To be fair, they've always been mostly cooperative in getting almost all of their lessons done, but there have been a couple of lessons for a couple of my children that have been the battleground for many a battle over the past 3 years.)  There are still some complaints, of course, but nothing like what we've experienced in years past.  It's so good to see progress being made.
In the evening I had delightful practicing sessions with Joseph on his flute, and Mosey on his cello.  Really, delightful!  (An adjective I don't always use for practicing sessions... :-))  And then it was off to get crickets for the lizards with Joseph, and to the grocery store.  It was the 3rd time in as many days that I've been to HEB, and sure enough, a couple of the employees there commented on me coming in yet again.  What can I say, HEB is just the happening place to be around here!
Then back home, groceries put away, kids put to bed, and the floors swept and mopped before the Sabbath tomorrow. (How is it that my floors can get so dirty in less than 24 hours-- during 17 of which my boys are either sleeping or not even at home??!!), and now I'm off to bed myself.