Weather, Whether You Like It or Not

The past couple of weeks have been crazy.  The weather has fluctuated from scorching hot to freezing cold literally within a day of each other.  The thunderstorm that passed over our house was so LOUD that James and I were jumping out of our chairs but incredibly the children both slept through it without so much as a murmur.  I guess the previous night where they'd stayed up until about 10pm held them in good stead.

One of the major jobs we need to undertake on our house is the roof and gutters. Who knew that rain could reach such  a fever pitch?  Well we've known for quite a while actually, the gutters around here are shot.  But spending over eight thousand dollars on something that leaves you pretty much exactly where you started is surely the definition of financially disheartening.

 

But the weekends have been more than busy enough to keep us out of the house and away from the thundering reminder of our failure to uphold home maintenance.  In fact the weekdays have been our opportunity to calm down before the onslaught of the weekend hits us.  Birthday parties galore for both children, on top of end of year commitments to every other little commitment we have - school, dance class, violin - you name it, it has a special end of year spectacular.

 Harriet has been on a learning curve this year, exploring what is required from her at school; what she can offer and what she can expect.  This past weekend she has embraced a topic on light with a fair amount of intellectual energy, and has had me out and about purchasing glow in the dark paint.  Beware before any unsuspecting parents think this would be a fun activity - a single spray can cost $30!

However her presentation does include one of our all-time favourite sites which I have linked to before here, but I encourage everyone to look at again.  The scale of our universe is only one click away. 

 

Next year Ted is going to kindy, so it's the end of his at-home era.  I could say I'm going to miss him (which I will) and I could say that I honestly believe he will thrive (which I hope) and I could say that I'm going to enjoy the time being without a dependent child nearby 24/7 for the first time in over eight years (oh gosh yes).  But my first thought is actually "When will he fit in the pretend play?".  Because as you may know from this blog, Ted and I engage in day-long play for at least one of the days he is home from school.  I can foresee some highly imaginative Saturday mornings in 2014 for this family.

 I don't think I've mentioned it explicitly on the blog yet, but next year I have been accepted to study for my DipEd, so those child-free days are looking full before they even start.  The new routine will no doubt be a challenge for everyone, and we're already getting into the swing of increased domestic responsibility for the children (Harriet is on clothes washing duties for the weekend now) and me learning to be happy with a lower level of attention to detail.  James will also be studying part-time, so our evenings will start to consist of fascinating snippets of conversation such as "Time for a tea?" "After I summarise this chapter." and other bastions of domestic-academic pioneering glory.

 

But before we move ahead to 2014 we still have the next few weeks of 2013 to contend with, and as I mentioned, it's a busy set.  I'm currently relishing my evenings of having to do absolutely bugger all.  

And no doubt the children will continue to do exactly what they do best - play, run, yell, pretend, argue, eat and read.  Assemble those verbs into a few different sentences and there you have our upcoming summer holidays.  I can't wait!