Our crazy little "dance"

These days I simply feel there are not enough hours in the day to get things done. Perhaps I should rephrase--there are plenty of hours in my day. There are, however, not enough kid-free hours of the day!

At this point in my life, I feel like I am in a very awkward dance--take 2 steps forward, and 10 steps back! Then every now and then do a few zig-zag kind of moves, spin around till you get dizzy and nearly fall over, then start again by taking 2 steps forward and 10 steps back!

We have simply had so much going on these days. We are nearly finished with our home projects, hooray! Ez is in the middle of staining our beautiful new fences, which we love! No longer can Duke run through the hole in the fence to our neighbor's yard, and their dog and rabbit stay on the right side as well. The painting projects are finally finished. The bedrooms are starting to finally feel put back together....it is taking far more time than anticipated, but there does seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel!

As for the rest of the craziness:
1. Alexis had another book report and project due this month, plus her California Missions project to work on! She fully impressed herself (and me) when she finished her book and her project 1 1/2 weeks before it was actually due! Bravo. Alexis has been also taking a little eight-week tennis class after school. She sadly gets most of her coordination and athletic ability from me, but I truly admire that she is simply not afraid to try something new. Also, we have finally gotten Alexis back into piano lessons--we took a very long break, but I think she is more ready and interested now.

2. David took a 3 week art class after school and thoroughly enjoyed that. His biggest thing these days has been getting ready for his first Pinewood Derby with Scouts. It was fun to watch David and Dad figure out how to carve out that car. The original plan ended up being poorly drawn and wrongly cut out. David did his best to fight back tears of sorrow, but he ended up with a car he was happy with. He got to spray paint it gold, which apparently was way cool. We learned all about the addition of weights and tricks like that from Ez's friend who is a bit more seasoned in the derby department. Tonight was the big race and David ended up coming in 2nd place, and lost only by a little bit! Hooray!

3. Now that the weather is nice Lily and Joe spend much of their days in the back yard. They hunt lady bugs and spiders, ride bikes, play in the water table. We pulled out our jump house last week and everyone has had a great time in that the past few days. Joe was a good sport and let Lily give him a make-over the other day. We limited it to lip gloss and hair brushing, however. Joe has taken to calling me old lady every now and then. Lovely.

4. Evie is just a little busy body. She gets into everything and goes everywhere. She is getting better at standing on her own and I am afraid she will be walking in no time! She is also teething like crazy, getting 4 teeth in a matter of a few weeks and has 2 more on their way out. She is not thrilled when I try to take a peek...