I heard this story on NPR today. At last, The Elements of Style will be a book for everyone–not just for writers, editors, and students who have papers to write.

October has passed, and it is November already. Our Nevin turned 8 last Thursday. It is sort of sad that we can no longer say, “Nevin is seven.” So along with the typical end of October children’s activities that most families have, we also had some birthday celebrating to do at the place “where a kid can be a kid.”

Tomorrow brings parent-teacher conferences. The children brought home report cards last week, and overall, we were pleased. While we have had some struggles with the kids being back in school, they all ended up with better than acceptable grades. Tomorrow we’ll get more of the commentary behind the grades.

Yesterday 2-year-old Charis started carrying around a back-pack on her back so she can be like her older siblings. She insisted on taking it along in the van no matter where we were heading. She seemed so serious about it. It was really cute.

Not much more to say about life here. We’re trudging along. Happy November everyone!

This picture shows our kids having fun around the house together. It was taken on a weekend night a little more than a month ago. When I look at it, I am reminded of how great it is to just hang out in the living room and watch them enjoy each other. Lately with school and work and all of the “stuff” in our lives, we haven’t been doing that nearly as much as I would like. I am looking forward to our routine getting into more of a rythm so we have more time to relax like this. Until then, I can enjoy this picture

The first of what will hopefully be many press releases written by me for a school can be found here (click on the “school news” link on the left–it’s the first story). I was really pleased that our suburban weekly newspaper published it. This is one of the 3 part-time jobs I am doing from my home this year to help pay for tuition for our kids. I must say that writing and dealing with newspapers is the most enjoyable job of the three, and I hope it continues to go well. The school’s principal was very pleased with this, and he actually referred to me as the school’s “PR person.” This made my day, well, really my week. I needed some encouragement, and the publication of this short piece and my conversation with the principal came at just the right time.

I really wonder how people manage everything in their lives. I’ve come to the conclusion that some things just have to slide occassionally, and I can’t stress over them when this happens.

What about you? Do you reasonably accomplish all that you set out to do each day? Or, do you accept the fact that not everything can be done without stressing? Just curious.

My mind is bumping up against many different thoughts this morning like a pinbll machine. Perhaps it is because Mark and Calvin are gone for the day, and I have to form my schedule around the other 3 children without any hope of his running “interferance.”

Mark and Calvin are on Calvin’s first boy scout campout. They left after school yesterday. Calvin was sooooo excited. Let’s just say, Mark was NOT. But I am sure there will be fond memories of the outing long into the future.

The remaining 3 children and I went to a birthday party for one of Nevin’s new classmates last night. This boy and his brother were celebrating their birthdays together because the older one’s birthday was the day of Katrina, and their family was in the process of fleeing Gulfport, MS. The party was being held during the week of the younger boy’s actual birthday. There were a lot of children from the boys’ school there. It was held at a park where the kids played until it was nearly dark before the party festivities got started. Before things got going for very long, the county police showed up because the parents didn’t know they needed to have a permit to use the park pavillion. Fortunately, they were given a warning, and we were not forced to leave immediately. Before it was all over, the kids watched a magic show that was pretty amazing. It included hypnotizing a woman from the audience and semi-levitating her. I certainly had no clue how this was done! The party went pretty late for family fare, so I am moving slowly this morning.

I’ve also been thinking about our new nephew, baby Josiah . I am so grateful to God that he has arrived in this world safely. For some reason, I was more concerned for him than most babies I know are about to be delivered. So I prayed a little more than I might normally have done. I am not saying that is why he and his mom are safe and well now, but I am thankful God took care of them both.

Finally, I have been watching our youngest, Charis, just being 2. She is talking so much now, and she comes up with some pretty cute stuff. I know Mark blogged about her praying already, but I just love to hear her pray for her siblings and I love the way she specifically names what she is thankful for–her waffle, her chocolate milk, etc. She also has a determination to do things her way that is remarkable. She is stubborn and sweet altogether. I guess I am savoring her little ways since I know this is the last time I’ll witness a child of mine being 2.

The school year is in full swing, and so are my various part-time jobs. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be doing most of my work from home so I don’t have to put Charis is childcare, but I am finding balancing everything to be something of a challenge. So here I am blogging instead of working. Hmmmm. . . Better get back to work.

Kudos to my husband, Mark. No, he hasn’t signed a contract with a big publisher for his latest book idea. No, he hasn’t been named “theologian of the year.” But he has been great about caring for the kids and just running things around the house when I’ve been gone for my new job efforts. Today I was gone most of the day, and he handled after-school pickup, homework, and dinner with no problems. He was glad to see me when I walked in the door tonight, but he is really handling a lot with me gone more than I have been since before we had kids.

We still call our youngest child who is a 2-year-old girl “the baby.” Seeing that she is our last, she will probably always be “the baby.” I know because as the youngest of 9 children, at 40, I am still, “the baby.”

Today after awaking from her nap, our littlest girl needed her diaper changed. I said, “You’re dirty. You need your diaper changed.”

She was laying on the changing table, and she said, “I am not.”

I said, “You are dirty,” and I proceeded with changing her diaper.

She put her hands over her ears and shouted, “I can’t hear you!”

As mentioned in an earlier post, our 3 older kids are attending school this year. Our oldest boy has some learning issues–he is easily distracted; he can’t seem to write fast enough to keep up with the things he has to copy from the board; he has a hard time keeping all his stuff organized. Despite all this, he loves to learn and he wants to do well. He is also enjoying his overall school experience. He has a great teacher who is willing to help him work through some of his deficient areas. In the weeks since school has started, he has improved in many areas, and he has demonstrated dilligence in completing all his homework and studying for his tests that has made me very proud of him. His first report card comes home at the end of next week. I am sure his grades will not be “great,” but he gets an A from me and his dad for working so hard and sticking with it when things get tough.