The Saturday 7

I cranked out a long, detailed Saturday 7 yesterday afternoon. As I was proofing it, I tried to erase one sentence that didn't fit . . . and somehow deleted my whole post!! I frantically pushed ctrl z, ctrl z! But nothing worked. It's gone. So here's the re-write, which will not be nearly as thorough as the original. Stupid technology.

1. We had a great Halloween despite the dismal weather (drizzly rain and 38*). Some of my friends do the bare minimum so their kids get the experience of trick or treating without hordes of candy. But I'm all about the candy, so we made the rounds.

The girls picked their own costumes. (Zebra and mermaid) I found Levi's (monkey) in a bin of hand me downs from a friend. Win!

Halloween in Michigan: hats, coats, gloves, boots

Our wonderful friends. Believe it or not, it's hard to get a good picture of 12 kids at one time . . .

We made a stop at Aunt Niki's for bags full of candy and a visit with Baby Nova.

2. I realized this week that I'm entering hibernation mode. It's too cold and gross outside to go anywhere. I hate being cooped up at home all week, but I hate going out in the cold even more. Cue the seasonal affective disorder . . .

3. I read a couple great articles this week. The first has been making the rounds on facebook, so you've probably seen it (The Fragile Generation). It was a fascinating read about how our generation is raising coddled, over-protected children who can't function as capable adults. The author's antidote to such a dilemma is letting kids play by themselves - with little to no adult interaction or supervision. I love reading that kind of advice and telling myself that it's ok that I don't entertain my kids all the time. But then I read another article that was even more convicting: Hey Mama, Your Child is Your Neighbor. She talks about how often as Christian moms we treat our neighbors better than our own kids. That our kids become nuisances and they know it. This is something God has really been trying to beat into my brain this year.

4. I also came across this saying this week:

My immediate reaction is "ahhhhh, silence to drink tea and read in peace! Glorious!" But the more I think about it, the more I realize that is a gut-reaction based on my current stage of life - when my kids are needy and clingy. I might love that kind of freedom a couple nights a week. But if I had to come home to a quiet, empty house every night, I'd be horribly lonely and sad! Another reminder to cherish these days with my kids.

5. We had conferences with Lena's teacher on Wednesday. She had nothing but good things to say about Lena. She's mastering everything, is obedient, respectful, helpful, and kind. Mrs. Ellsworth gave us some good advice about handling her anxiety, so hopefully it will help!

6. I can't remember what my 6th was, so I'm just going to wrap it up with pictures and try harder next week.