Hello! Life is beautiful and wonderful, and sometimes incredibly busy and stressful, in case anyone was wondering. I was sorting back through some old blog entries today and got so happy and sappy, remembering how much I enjoyed certain memories. AND, remembering how much I enjoyed WRITING about all those memories. I miss writing. I rarely take the time anymore, which is too bad, really, because it's such a great stress reliever and memory keeper for me.
I remember, waaay back in the day, my mom used to keep journals in the plain-jane spiral-bound notebooks. She used to read some of the entries to us, of things we did and said when we were little. We would sit around the living room and just listen to her reading, and she'd stop and tell us stories about the various things she read. It was so fun! Then, I remember, she told us that she stopped journaling when all of us kids got into school and she went back to work and things just got hectic and busy... Ummm... I think I better understand her big lapse in writing, now that I'm HERE!!
Anyway, rather than complaining and pontificating about why and how it's hard to find the time, I might as well just write a bit here that's actually worth reading later, eh?!
So, here's the latest from the Bishop household...
It's been a very busy fall season around here! The kids' school schedules seem pretty rigorous, with Samantha and Spencer both at middle school this year, and Natalie and Camille both at elementary school. What do I do with all my spare time? -- people ask me. Well, I do sometimes go back to sleep for an hour once I get them all sent off to school. Not often, but sometimes. See, I always DREAMED of doing that, when I had rough nights with babies, and still had to get up and function with the toddlers the next day. So... well, now I'm doing it when I need to. And, it's good! I actually went to the doctor a few weeks ago to talk about my extreme fatigue. We came to no conclusions during our discussion, but afterward, I decided I need to start by really taking care of me, making sure I'm getting as much sleep as my body needs. It's easier said than done, right? But not feeling guilty about going back to sleep if I need to is a place to start. So, I've started. And it's helping, I think!
I also try to stay on top of the house and keep things a little more organized than they've been. I painted our living room in September, and ordered a new rug and curtains, to spruce things up a bit. And, we hired some guys to come paint our entryway, to a nice, light off-white color that I LOVE! It looks soooo much brighter and so fresh and crisp now. Yay! I'm also hoping to get some quotes on putting some new tile in our entryway. And maybe we'll replace the chandelier, too. These kinds of changes are exciting to me, just because they go beyond the everyday monotony of housekeeping, and they are changes that will actually STAY DONE for a long time... much longer than a load of laundry, anyway.
I'm also heavily involved with Musettes, my singing group. It's lots of fun, but also lots of work. I'm helping with the publicity and promotions this time, which has been stressful. For some reason, I feel like this position showcases my lack of organization and my procrastination tendencies, ugh! But I'm trying, and one way or another it will all come together fairly soon. Our production is coming up, December 7. yay!
Also on December 7, our kids are having their Christmas concert for TVYA. They were supposed to have it on the 14th, but it just got changed to the 7th. I'm super frustrated about that, because I will have to miss it. But I'm trying not to think about that... It'll be ok, I guess. sigh. Also on the 7th, Brian is supposed to be in a performance for MCO choir group at the Morrison Center. Hmmm... can anyone else see the problem with this?! Ugh! We'll work out the logistics eventually, I'm sure. But in the meantime, it sounds like a very frustrating scheduling nightmare -- not to mention that is practically the ONLY night in the whole month of December that we have ANY plans at ALL!!!
Brian might not actually get to sing with MCO -- not because of the scheduling debacle, but because he has been sooooo busy! I think this is the worst stretch he's worked since we moved back from NYC. And, it doesn't entirely show signs of slowing down yet. I honestly don't really know HOW he is able to do it, because he just NEVER seems to have a moment to breathe, let alone SLEEP! He only sleeps in our bed about once or twice a week right now, and it's been that way for several weeks. He catches a couple or three hours on the couch downstairs, then is back to work by the time I'm getting everyone up for school. He's really worn out right now, and hoping to catch a bit of a break, maybe this weekend?
We better change the subject before I start to sound way to whiny... Let's talk about the kids, I guess?
Samantha is doing so good right now. She is so organized and efficient, and loves setting goals and making schedules and charts of things she's working on. She started playing the cello at school this fall and is really enjoying it, along with the violin and the piano. She also really loves choir -- our little musical genius girl! I love to see her come alive when she's in her music. It's neat to see her passion for it. She also has such a passion for school and learning. She's doing so well in her classes at school, and has such a great brain for math and science and technology. She's also so artistic and still loves to create things... on paper, with tape, or fabric, or online.
Spencer also has quite the brain for science and math! He started sixth grade this fall, and the diagnostic testing they did at the first of the school year showed he scored the very top math score of ALL the sixth graders in the school! It's been a bit of an adjustment for him, going to middle school. I think he likes it, but he gets sensory overload from all the noise in the halls. And he has a hard time paying attention in his afternoon classes. But he's making lots of progress, which is good. He is playing the trombone in band and really likes it a lot! He says it makes him nervous if he accidentally plays a wrong note, so he's working hard to get his parts down on all the songs they're working on for their winter concert in a few weeks here. He's also still in scouts, which he likes because his friends, Daniel, and Tayson, are also doing scouts. Spencer also spends lots of time reading fantasy books these days... if we can't find him, he's in his room with a Brandon Mull or Rick Riordan novel.
Natalie is our resident baker in the family! I came home tonight to her standing at the mixer, whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies. That happens fairly often around here. (But tonight I did ask her to please call me and ask first, mainly because I'm trying not to eat all the junk right now, so I need to prepare myself! ha!) She's loving third grade and is in the district's GT program for accelerated learning. That's definitely her favorite part of school. She's been doing gymnastics, and has some REALLY strong abs and biceps as a result. Right now she's taking a little break, but she wants to get back into it after the new year. She's quite athletic and agile (must take after her dad? because I'm sure she didn't get those qualities from her mom, sad but true!) She's also really taken off with reading... another bookwork in our midst. Right now she's finishing Shannon Hale's Princess Academy series.
And Camille. She goes by Millie almost exclusively these days. I'm still not so sure how I feel about that! At the start of the school year, she told us she wants the kids and her teachers at school to call her Millie. I like it ok, but... well, it's not Camille. Hmm... mixed feelings that aren't going to change by writing about them tonight. So instead, I'll just tell you, our Millie is the most enthusiastic, happy little kindergarten girl EVER! She LOVES her teacher and LOVES school soooo much! She's just a little sponge, and is soaking up every bit of learning, at a very fast pace. She's sounding out words and writing phonetically allllll the time. She writes little notes to every member of our family, and writes notes to her teacher, along with beautiful drawings and pictures. Some of her spelling is just so adorably cute, too -- the other night, she left a note on Brian's door telling him, "I had a RUF day!" too cute! (The rough part was that she had been chased by boys at recess. haha! And, she confessed she had also been CHASING one of them back! heh!) Millie is taking a little ballet class once a week and seems to really like it. I'm not sure she's catching on really good yet, but she enjoys going and likes the girls and her teacher a lot.
That's the quick update on all our people, for now. And, it took me quite awhile to write all of this. I guess I'm out of practice! Sorry if there are typos-- I'll fix them later I guess, because, for now, I'm headed to bed -- maybe I can get enough sleep for Brian, too?
