Saturday update (could not think of a more original title)

We are back home after a long day of travel last night. You cannot believe how fast we made the treck of 740ish miles. As I mentioned before, S had put the bench seats facing each other and made a table in between, so the children had their own cabin in the back of the van. They could draw, play, eat and so on at that table, plus my computer was hooked up with speaker sounds so they could watch movies too. In the middle of the van was the luggage and a porta-potty that we could use. So there was very little need to stop. In fact, yesterday the children had a 20 min. stop to run around and that was it. Pretty good little travelers, if you ask me.

Me, well, I slept....and slept...and slept some more. Turns out, my tonsilitus may indeed be strep throat. So, no wonder it has wiped me out. I ended up taking an antibiotic, which is already helping me. But, I have been pretty out of it. I would wake up a little, stare a little, and then sleep some more. S at one point was going to voice record my snoring...I NEVER snore (really, you can count on one hand...!) To top that off, you would think after all that sleeping that I could not sleep, but boy could it, until after 11am, this morning...and I STILL feel wiped. But, I am so glad I am getting more relief from the sore throat now. E who had this while we were in Hot Springs after her fever and sore throat has gone away still has extremely swollen lymph nodes and so the Dr has called in an antibiotic for her now too, cause it looks like she might be harboring it still too. We don't like to take antibiotics at all, but I am thankful for them at times like this.

S and the 4 older children are off to look for Blackie, who was gone when we got home last night. Yes, we may have lost our dear dog. Our neighbor who was feeding her said that she was here as late as Thursday afternoon, and he saw her run after something down the dirt road. So they are going down a couple of these dirt roads that lead down to the river. I am wondering, could she have gone into heat and decided to have a honeymoon somewhere? If so, she will probably be back in a couple days. Otherwise, I am afraid she has gotten hurt, or killed. She is not one to wander away for very long, that has been one thing we have been amazed at with her, how quickly our porch was just her home, and how she fit in here so fast. The poor children were crying last night, not having their doggy to greet them. But, these things too are in the hand of the Lord and they are learning that.

On another note, I am taking up the weight loss challenge again. I lost a good amount through weight watchers last year, but before I had shed those last 10-15 pounds I lost my momentum and have had a hard time getting it back. Well, Amy at Amy's Humble Musings (one of my favorite blogs) is taking a 12 week challenge and asking who will join her, so I am in. I want to lose another 16-20 lbs. So, I am going to go back to really watching what I eat and increasing my exercise again. I still have been doing Curves, but not as much as I should be. Anyone else want to join the challenge? Click on the link above. By the way, congrats to my dear sister in law, who got to her goal with weight watchers exactly one year ago this month, and she has kept it off beautifully!

Time to gear up for school again next week. S and I also need to sit down soon and do a semi annual portfolio of each of the children's progress this year. I know I say this alot on my blog, but life moves on so swiftly, my "baby" will be three in Feb. Things are shifting here in this household, from diapers to questions from the heart and logical reasoning, biblical thinking. We all have need to "Remember thy Creator, in the days of thy youth". As S puts it, what are the days of your youth? The days of our youth, is right now.