Faithful blog readers

I haven't been posting.  I'm very aware of this.  I've been trying to cut back on the amount of time I spend on the computer because I feel like it's taking away from the real life aspect of my life.  I feel like I do this instead of taking time for me in the afternoon, spending time with the kids, or spending time with Dusty.  So if I don't post as often for a while, it's because I'm busy most times when I would have normally been able to post.

We've been doing school with Hannah, and she did 20 pages yesterday, and she wanted to call Grandma and Grandpa and tell them about it.  We called Grandpa, since Grandma was busy, and she told him she had done 20 pages in school.  Seth said he wanted to talk to Grandpa.  He said, "Grandpa I did eleventwelve pages!"  Grandpa was undeniably impressed with both of them.  A little confused at the exact amount of pages Seth had done, but impressed nonetheless.

We started reading the 5th book in the Little House series.  Hannah finished the 4th book, with a little coaxing at the end.  She had about 60 pages left, and she read it two naps in a row.  She had 16 pages left, and I asked her to go ahead and finish it, so we could take it back to the library that day.  She didn't really want to, but she did because she wanted to finish it.  When she finished it, she jumped up and down on the couch.  :) She was ecstatic.  We got the 5th book that day, and when we got home she said she didn't want to read that one; she wanted me to read it.  So I'm reading it.  I really like reading those books, and even more so when I'm reading to them, so it's a win-win. :)  In the reading of the 5th book yesterday, Jack died.  Jack was their dog.  She wrote it in a way that was a little obscure to younger readers as to what had just happened.  She said, "Pa had spoken to Jack, but he didn't stir.  All that was left of Jack was the stiff, cold body..."  That's not a direct quote, but it's a close enough quote, so I don't have to get out of bed and go upstairs to have a direct quote.  Hannah completely missed the subtext of those sentences, so when I said it was sad that Jack had died, she said, "Jack DIED?!? WHY?!?!?"  I explained that Jack was old (exactly what I had just read in the book), but she still had more questions.  She wanted to know if he would be in "our" heaven.  Dusty answered affirmatively, that God had created all creatures, and that he thinks there will be animals in heaven (but not certain ones, right, Dad?).  She said when she goes to heaven she wants to pet and play with Jack, too, just like Laura did.  Dusty said she might not want to call for him by name because there are probably a lot of dogs named Jack in heaven, and they'd all come running to her.  She said, "Oh, yes.  There are 109 Jack dogs in heaven."  109?  Where in the world did that come from?  (That last phrase, what or where in the world, has been said by my daughter, in an appropriate way, a few times recently.  It cracks me up.)

A member of our family had a birthday recently, and we called to sing.  Hannah asked how old she was, and I said 38.  She said, "Whoa.  Her head is almost to touch the ceiling."  I told her no, at some point people stop growing, but still have birthdays.  Seth said, "Is it going to touch the car ceiling?"  Nope.  Hannah asked, "When will she be 39?"  I said, "On this day, next year."  She said, "Soooo.....Tuesday?"  Ah, the inability of a child to understand time.  Love that.

We were supposed to have a Bible study tonight.  No one came.  Dusty didn't send out a reminder email, but we did announce it in Sunday school that we'd have it.  No one came.  It wouldn't have been as frustrating had someone not told me about an hour before everyone was to arrive that at least one of the people in the couple would be coming.  Forty minutes after it should have started, I texted.  No response.  Twenty minutes later, I texted again.  They were actually coming to pick up something of ours to borrow, but she responded telling me they weren't going to borrow it after all, so they weren't coming.  Um, thanks for letting us know.

I think I'll choose to focus on the cuteness of my kids instead of the unreliability of certain adults.  And now, I'll go to bed.  We've been going to bed WAY too late recently, and I'm completely drained.  Hopefully, I will post again soon.  Thanks for sticking around to read this, those of you who are still reading.