How much candy...

is too much candy?  Well, according to our fair city, there is no such thing.  Yesterday, after school was the High School Homecoming parade.  My monkeys were beside themselves with excitement when I picked them up from school (my district was out early for Homecoming, as well).  The annual parade would begin in two hours.  During our wait for the festivities, we visited the library and got milkshakes (as it was Friday).  We went home to pick up Dad (who took the whole day after working 80 hours the week before).  We made our way to the street down from the High School about 20 minutes early (you have to, if you want a parking spot because EVERYONE in town comes out) and waited.  This year, I had the good sense to change out of my spirit shirt before going to the parade (not so much last year, and I stuck out like a sore thumb).  Finally, the parade began (after my children had greeted everyone they knew...which in a small town is just about everyone).  It only lasted 18 minutes, but in that time the monkeys collected a whole Walmart sack of candy.  The way I figure it, they got about 1/2 pound of candy per minute.  This will take us about a year to eat (not hyperbole, we just don't really eat much candy around here, although I did confiscate and consume 1 mini Snickers).  Although I know the district where I teach is awesome, I will never regret sending the Cub and Clover to their hometown school (where everybody knows your name, the streets are paved with Tootsie Rolls and the academics are second to none.).

Dear Chickens,

The purpose of this letter is to remind you of our agreement.  You agree to give our family some eggs and I agree to make sure you have food, water and shelter.  Nowhere (even in the fine print) is there any wording that allows you to roam free in the yard or escape to the neighbor's field behind ours.  I do realize that life can get a little boring on the inside of your pen, but escaping then refusing to be caught is not the answer.  I would like to remind you that the dog, coyotes or hawks would be more than happy to eat you, should you wander into their territory.  If you should choose not to heed this warning, and make a subsequent escape, please know that I will not use a full hour of the family's time to catch you.

Sincerely,
Frau M.

P.S.  Wed Woosta and Penny this letter is not to you, so please disregard.

Q: How do you know it's a bad day?

A:  You're good friend texts you saying you are on her mind and she is praying for you. 

I believe sometimes God brings people to mind and you should pray for them when you think of them.  It happens to me sometimes.  I already pray for people I know (especially if I know that they are going through something hard), but sometimes I feel like I should pray for someone for no reason.  So I do.  My friend had no idea that my day was headed south in a hurry, but knowing that she was praying for me helped.  So it is important to listen and follow directions (just like we teach the kiddos).

Weekend Update

This week just flew on by and now we are starting the new one (yikes!).  Maybe the flying has something to do with all the Starbucks I have been drinking (unfortunately, I just used the last of my giftcards).  So here's a brief rundown.

• The coop for the chickens is complete and they have moved in (and out of my garage which was smelling a little like the fair).
• The Cubscout started selling the dreaded popcorn (overpriced if you ask me, and oh so hard to sell, but please do send me a message if you want some).
• The Clover has decided on a hatching chick project for the 4H.  I think this means that we will end up having even more chickens. 
• We attended the PTA carnival and for some reason, all the Clover wanted to do was fishing booth.  I guess she was attracted to the mystery of it all.  The Cub and Clover burned through $10 worth of tickets like it was nothing (originally they were supposed to split $5, but the principal saw the bill in the Cub's hand and said, "$10 worth of tickets?  No problem," and the Cub is too shy to correct an adult).
• The best thing though was picking my parents up from the airport after their 4 month journey across Russia.  My monkeys were so, so, so glad to see them after a long hot summer with no Nan and Poppy time.

So that's last week at a glance posted on Monday of the following week (a good indicator of the crazies that I am experiencing).