10 Quick Takes

So friends, life seems to be quite busy...not just for me but for most of my bloggy friends. Posts come few and far between these days. But I think this is a good minute to make a little blog update;

1. My freshly-turned-8-year-old has a new found awareness of other people. He got an enormous amount of cash for his big day, and recently decided to spend a lot of that cash on Christmas gifts for his brothers. I was so amazed to take him to the store today and watch him unselfishly choose large gifts for his brothers. Gifts he knew his brothers would love. How sweet is that?
2. The sweet sunshine called me out to go running today. I haven't been out there for too long and it felt great to go out today. Juneau was happy to run too.
3. Please pray for this family. A family has several bio kids, and several foster kids. Rumor has it that the foster kids will not be getting Christmas gifts this year because they have to "earn" them, and they haven't. Pray for the parents of these little ones, that their hearts will be melted when they realize how awful this would be for their foster children. Pray that someone respected will confront these parents and give them some kind advice, be so kind to these little ones.
4. I bought my boys some cutsie soft jammies for the season. Eli has peeled his off ONLY for swim lessons and for outings...he loves them. I love that.
5. Ralph is still recovering. He has been going without crutches for a few days now, and still moves slowly, still wears the boot but he's getting around better. Sadly though, he's been sick and it's really wearing on his immune system. Today he went to the doctor after his hands and legs have been covered in a rash that made him swell up like crazy and has given him an awful gut-ache. It seems his body is tired of fighting. He was given antihistamines to take over the weekend, hopefully he'll feel better.
6. School in December is tricky. I hear that from more and more homeschool mamas. We have taken the angle of doing minimal school...doing about 1/2 of what's normal. It's a good way for us to keep school going & to keep sane and paced too.
   
7. Joey is in his first theatre production next week. With 6 lines, his cute little face will make an appearance on the stage for 4 nights next week. It will be exhausting and fun. I'm anxious to see the finished product.
8. I'm hosting Christmas this year. In order to keep myself sane, I made up a special calendar assigning myself to a few tasks to prepare a day. So far, it's working well. I don't always get everything done, but things are getting done and I'm hoping in two weeks I have a lot of the details done so I can just enjoy the season, bake with my kiddos, attend parties and scrub my house up for company. Fun!
9. Speaking of fun, head over to Mama Drama to read a little and watch an interesting snippet about simplicity in living. I love the concept, but it's not so American...not so cozy. I do however, want to simplify as much as I can. One question that reigns in my brain? Kids that go to school don't seem to need too too many toys. But homeschool kiddos...they're home all day- how few toys can we get away with? Oh, and here comes Christmas...