Suddenly, Things Have Been Very Busy!

Last Friday night, the kids and I went back to see a musical at Wheaton Academy that so many friends and acquaintances where in. It was Into The Woods, and they did a wonderful job! It had been 15 years or so since I'd last seen the show, and it was amazing how differently it hit me at this stage of life. I never really "got" the darker Act Two, last time, but as a parent now launching teenagers, it was most poignant! I realized how much the show is about the pain of growing up, even at my age.

Then on Saturday, I met with a family who is considering homeschooling...went to the grocery and made food for guests on Sunday while the kids cleaned up the kids...enjoyed our guests for a relaxing Sunday afternoon...then Papa Rooster and I had a great visit with our friend who had surgery, and her husband, on Sunday night.

On Monday, the older kids had a day off of school, so I took Blondechick16 to our two favorite resale shops to freshen up her wardrobe...then back home to drop her off and pick up boys for dental check-ups...then driver education classes and piano lessons.

And now it's Tuesday and we're headed back to the dentist, since Bantam13 needs sealants, preferably before he gets braces put on next week. As long as I had to go, I asked for appointments for the three youngest as well--and then everybody's 6 month cleanings will be done except for Blondechick's. (One of the only things that really bugs me about having a large family is getting everybody in to the dentist! Not counting Papa Rooster, that's 14 appointments a year to schedule and sit through!)

Then this afternoon, a new session of theater classes begins. This time just the two middle boys are taking them. B13 is going to try out a film-making class, a new offering by the California director who's here to direct this session's production, The Wizard of Oz. (Auditions Friday!) And B10 didn't blink when I asked him what class he wanted to be in--he wants to take a dance class again, and this time he wants his OWN tap shoes!

(Remember the kid who couldn't stop doing somersaults? Same one! As his dance teacher said, "Some kids just want to stand there, but he really likes to move!")

There have been so many good readings in the Daily Office, but time is short, so I will excerpt one that needs little comment. This should be a warning to our own nation, as it was to Israel! But during Lent, especially, we need to search our hearts as individuals for ways that we fall into this thinking, maybe not about wealth, but about accomplishment:

Be careful that you do not forget the LORD your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." ...If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed...for not obeying the LORD your God. (Deuteronomy 8:11-20)