On Borrowed Time

So, how much time do I have left?  Specifically, I'm talking about ice-cream-sneaking time.  Because if I were anywhere in the house and someone opened the freezer in the middle of the day, I would know exactly what they were up to.  Somehow, thankfully, my kids are oblivious to the sound.  Of course, it probably has something to do with the fact that I wait until they are engrossed in screen time, which is so precious that they don't want to miss one second.

Today they're watching Star Wars, episode one.  They do not normally get to watch this much television, except for the fact that Micah was stung by a yellow jacket at VBS this morning and I simply want to tranquilize him with young Annikin.  Because the ibuprofen just isn't cutting it.  It simply hurts.

It's been a crazy summer---a crazy 2012.  I haven't written regularly in oh, so long.  I've been thinking about taking the blog down for months and months, but I didn't want it to simply disappear.  I knew you would worry.  :)

Know this---everything is good.
Health is good, kids and Todd are fine.
As of late, Todd and I have been given new opportunities to live out our calling, which is a dizzying, roller-coastery sort of exciting.  For him, this came in a partnership with a professor at Gettysburg to assist with a summer class on Ecotheology.  For me, it's a real return to teaching this fall.

Juli is ten.  When she was born, I was firmly convinced that I would not return to the classroom for anything---not because of the students, but because of The System.

(As a side note, I have so much love and respect for my friends and colleagues who have dedicated their lives to teaching in public education.  A word to the wise---always be kinder than necessary to your child's teacher.  Nine times out of ten, they are committed individuals working to the best of their ability in a broken environment.)  

The thing is, I didn't know what I was going to do instead.  And at some point, Todd and I knew there would need to be a paycheck coming from "instead."

For ten years I've prayed for direction---over and over again.
And sometimes it felt like a crazy, mixed-up ride, because year after year, I felt like I didn't have any answers.

But over the past three years, I've subbed and worked very part-time hours at a local Lutheran school.  God has used this time to show me that it wasn't the teaching that I didn't like---it was the setting.  And though I never expected it to happen, He used the setting and the faculty of this small school to speak to my heart, to help me fall in love with my profession all over again.

Is it perfect?  Of course not.  Nothing ever is.
But I'll tell you something.  I've been around different stressful situations in this school, and I'm amazed at the attempts the faculty make to live as Christ calls us---to be accountable to one another, to curb gossip, and to spread peace.  It's a community that I'm very excited to be part of.

I'll be doing a lot of different things this fall, teaching different subjects to different grade levels.  When it comes down to it, hour-wise it ends up being about 3/4-time.  And while I've been away from teaching full-time for a number of years, I remember clearly the kind of commitment it takes, time-wise.  I'm going to need to do some things more efficiently here at home.  (Not as much Facebook time!)  And there will be some things I won't have time to do, like take care of my chickens.  And as much as I've enjoyed this online space, Life Under a Blue Roof will be undergoing a change.  In the next few weeks, I'll be stripping it down to what it was originally intended to be---an online resource for fellow straw bale builders.

I'll miss this space, no doubt about it.  Life Under a Blue Roof was the perfect outlet for my creativity during straw bale construction and during these past few years as a mostly-stay-at-home mom.  I appreciate each and every one of you who found time to visit me here.

I will still find time to visit Facebook, so friends are more than welcome to find me there.
Thanks for the time we've shared.

-Shayne

 

Horsin' Around

We arrived home in a timely fashion from Gettysburg the other day.

Couldn't miss this, the new horsewoman demonstrating the pieces in her tack box and the function of each.

Or this, the close-up of Juli with her new best friend, Andy.

Juli just came home from her week of Horse Camp at Lutherlyn.  These shots were from her first-ever horse show, where the campers get to tell their parents about all the horsey things they learned and do a little riding demonstration to show their new-found riding skills.

  

She can't stop talking about her time at camp---about her horse...her friends...the pool...the craft cabin...the worships/campfires...and her amazing counselor.

She had a Life-Changing-Adventure in Faith---Lutherlyn's specialty.

I daresay from the smile in this picture, we'll be arranging to visit Andy at some point in the future.
She's been bitten by the horsey bug.

Whirlwind

It's quiet.
Todd's gone to see the SpiderMan movie with a good friend.  Juli and Micah are passed out upstairs, sleeping the deep sleep of the truly weary.  We've had wonderful visits from two sets of cousins in the past ten days, and they enjoyed every busy minute of it.

There have been picnics in the treehouse and games of Kermit Yatzee.  American Girls have been dressed for fashion shows.  Uno Attack shot out cards to the sound of laughter.  Walls were climbed at the bouldering room at Lutherlyn.  We went to see Madagascar 3 and enjoyed several swims in the pool.  It has been blissfully busy.

The cousins that just left gave me a wonderful gift, and they don't even know it.  (They're actually my first cousins once removed---my cousin Wendy's children.)  It was so nice to have them visit.  I saw her smile in their eyes and heard her inflection in their voices, and I was reminded of the fun that we four girl cousins* had when we visited one another.  

What can I say?  Cousins are special people.  They're close enough to love you, but not so close as to get easily irritated with you, like a sibling does.  They have different games and toys, and their houses are endlessly more interesting than your own.  Cousins share your vision for forts and secret plans, always up for a new adventure at the island in the woods.

They're special, and we miss them when they go.


* * * * *


(*Those of you who know our family know that there were four girls and a boy on my mom's side.  Don't think I've forgotten; that's simply a story for another day---9/1/12, to be exact.) 

O.T.R.

Some of you know that my husband is a teacher/naturalist.
So when he came to me a few weeks ago and said, "Hear that?  That's a Gray Tree Frog," I took it as fact.
(He is right about almost everything.)

He pointed out that the frog call was near the pool.
We've had a lack of rain this spring.
It wasn't long until he and Micah found the frog stuck to the side of the pool.

A pool that had not been prepared for summer.
Which means that the black tarp was still over the top and had collected what rainwater had fallen.
It was a perfect...should we say...pond?

Juli and Micah's code name for our activity?
Operation Tadpole Rescue.

My dad jumped in the very chilly water to walk the tarp over without dumping the pond into the fairly clean pool.

Mom and I used the skimming net to gather group after group of tadpoles.
And did you know...in the UK, this would be called a "cloud" of tadpoles?  And in Australia, it would be referred to as a "school"?  Here in the U.S., apparently we refer to a group of frog tadpoles as an "army".
So be it.
We rounded up the army of tadpoles.

As in a true army, there were many, many members.
More than a hundred.
Many hundreds.

It caused quite a bit of excitement among the younger members in the family.
We all need some excitement now and then.

It was decided that Todd would take the vast majority of the tadpoles to the Upper Lake at Lutherlyn.
(So if you're there for campfire this summer and hear a cacophony of tree frogs, we may have had something to do with that...)

It was also decided that we couldn't let this opportunity for summer learning just pass us by.
So Juli's old hexagon fish tank was turned into a temporary home for approximately 10-15 members of the army.
They are sitting on the table, and there have been arguments about whose turn it is to sit near the tadpoles.

Has an army of tadpoles ever felt more love?

Graduation Day

Twenty-four eager faces wait for their moment under the arch.

So many days have passed.  

Once-new backpacks now smudged with dirt and experience.

Tennis shoes begin to fall apart under the demand of miles run on the playground.

Their eyes, once filled with a tiny bit of fear at the unknown of School, now glisten with the glint of experience.

They own this.

They are graduating.

And Kindergarten is over.

Alleluia, indeed!

The faintest hint of rainbow graces the sky, as Micah looks forward to his future.

(The immediate future that is, which is Summer Vacation.)

Congratulations Micah!