Adventures in La La Land

1. Thank you everyone who prayed that school would go better for us this week. I can only explain Lucy's change of attitude as divine intervention. She's still by no means overjoyed to do anything, but she did it all much more willingly this week. Whew! We actually had fun with one activity: measuring Noah's ark. Did you know that a cubit is the length from fingertip to elbow? It's estimated as 18 inches. So we measured out 10 cubits' worth of string, then stretched it over our sidewalk 30 times to see the visual of 300 cubits. Can you see the girls on the sidewalk in this picture? That's how far 300 cubits is. Wowza! It really made me want to go the Ark museum in Kentucky. Maybe someday . . . 2. I took a break from Harry Potter this week. I've started the first chapter of book 5 at least 3 times, but just can't force myself to keep going. I went back to my Christian fiction roots, instead, and read Now and Then and Always  by Melissa Tagg. Loved i

1. I was stressed about our family pictures last week - worried that it would rain or the kids would be grumpy or I'd look horribly fat, but it all went very well! Levi had a bit of an attitude at one point, but Stacie is a pro and got him to cooperate. He did well for the first half, so I know we got some good ones. And the other kids were great! We've just gotten some sneak peeks so far, but I love  them, and can't wait to see the rest! Aren't you proud of our color coordination?? 2. We started school on Monday. By Tuesday I was looking up ACS's prices again and trying to figure out if we could afford to just send one of the girls. Sigh. It did get better from then on. I'm hoping it's just rough transitioning from the ease of summer to the routine and expectations of school. Ideally, the girls' attitudes will get better as we get back into a routine. And mine too for that matter. 3. In other big news, our basement is finally 95

1. Last Saturday, after posting my freakishly early Saturday 7, we had a family bonfire in the backyard. Lena was dyyyyying to make s'mores, so she talked Justin into taking her to the store for the ingredients. Then we all sat around our little fire, stuffed our faces, and ran around the backyard catching fireflies. These are the moments summer is made of. Marshmallow roasting is serious business. You know it's a good s'more when you get it on your forehead . . . My kind of s'more. #saynotograhamcrackers  2. On Monday, Justin climbed on the roof to put up our TV antenna. He let the kids go up there as well. Levi thought it was so awesome . He cannot stop talking about it! When he came down (reluctantly), he said, "I think I did see China!" Hahahaha. Lena surprisingly enjoyed it as well, despite her fear of heights. Lucy made it up a couple rungs on the ladder, said, "Nope" and turned back around. Lol. 3. The big news a