Last night, when I was already in bed, Dave brought in a toad to show me….and it promptly hopped under it.

He returned covered in dust and fuzz.

We cleaned him up and Dave set him free.

This morning my little Caleb went to the hair salon with me.

I asked him if I looked weird and told him to tell the truth…..”yes”……

We went to Moe’s for lunch.  I had two steak tacos with pinto beans, grilled mushrooms, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, salsa, cilantro, and chipolte ranch dressing.

I told him he was one of the best boys in the world.

We walked hand in hand to the bookstore.  He said, “You should do a blog about this and call it ‘A Fun Day With Mom.'”  He mentioned my blog because he was reading it while he waited for my hair to get done.

We went to the bookstore and he asked me for a Darth Vador light saber and I said yes.  (did you notice the shirt he was wearing in the “moe’s” picture?)

We stopped to pick up forms from the doctor’s office and then went to the school to drop one off.  When we came home I went outside to go for a walk and saw Ethan and Grace walking home with the neighbor girls.

Dave was with me.  We had a nice time together looking at all the creatures.  He pointed at a honeybee and caught a big grasshopper.

We have a small swampy pond in the bushes next to the garage that Dave wanted to look in, and sure enough he saw several bull frogs.

There was one a pretty chicken,
but his friends were pretty few,
For he thought that there was nothing
in the world but what he knew.

~Marion Douglas

We went back in the house with two fresh eggs and found Jacob just about to leave for the neighbor’s house, to mow the lawn for him.

We are leaving tomorrow to drive to Georgia.  We have Michael coming to stay in the house and take care of the animals for us and Emily will be coming over now and then, too.

Things are actually pretty organized in my mind…..on the table is a collapsable cooler (black) that I bought at Costco to hold cold food for the drive down.  I made potato salad and will take cheese sticks and fruit.  There is a second cooler for drinks.  There are granola bars and applesauce pouches in the rubbermaid containers and I bought 24 single serving cups of mandarin oranges.  I have a bag of spoons and a bag of forks, hand wipes, a bag of first aid supplies, laundry detergent packets, & another of bathroom supplies.  The clothes on the chair are Jacob’s and the ones in the basket are David’s.  I need them put into suitcases tonight along with Ethan’s clothes on the table.

Sarah’s suitcase has 8 outfits in it, shoes, and her swim floats.

I wrote names and numbers on each bag so I knew how many outfits I had completed.  Each bag has a shirt, a pair of shorts, underpants, and socks.  In a couple bags I put an extra long sleeved shirt and a pair of pants in case it gets cooler at nights.  I’m only packing 2 pairs of pajamas per person.  I am hoping to be able to do some laundry while we are gone.  I can’t believe I just wrote that.

I am packing bags of electronics.  One bag holds Sarah’s leapster with games and the children’s headphones, another one holds 2 kindles and the charger with another pair of headphones.  I also have a bag with the DS’s, games, and charger.  Jacob and Ethan will have their iPhones.  I spent some time storing audio books on my kindle…Mary Poppins was one of them.

These are the books I am taking for myself.  I was worried that I wouldn’t find a book to get lost in during vacation but I started The Night Circus last night and it’s reading really well and interestingly.  Very imaginative and creative.  I find myself smiling over the author’s fresh word style.  I respect her writing and so far am enjoying the book.  The top one is my Bible in a Year Bible that has a reading for each day of the year, I love it.  There is a portion of OT, NT, Psalms and a few verses of Proverbs every day.

It’s the end of the day now (well, it’s 7pm) and I’m very tired.  I hope to put my pj’s on early and go lay on the couch for a while with a big glass of tea, perhaps.  I’m feeling very drained but excited to finally get the packing done (I have done most of it all by myself.)  There are a few more odds and ends to finish up tomorrow.  We have rented a 12 passenger van so please pray for our safety.  The van came with a print out warning us all about roll-overs so I’m pretty much convinced we’ll have one.  I hate being a worrier, although I am forever thankful for God’s grace in the midst of my messy-beautiful-scary life.