Getting Ready for School

In an effort to be ready for school to start, the kids and I went to Staples to take advantage of the chair sale going on. Well, actually, I didn't realize that there was a sale, we just happened to be there at the right time.

We were looking for just a simple student desk chair on wheels. Nothing big, nothing fancy. Just something comfortable. We found one for $60 and it was the simplest. Oh well, ok. As we were walking to the front of the store, we saw these. The kids went berzerk! A pink chair and a blue chair! And, then I went berzerk. The were on sale for $24. Yee haw. We scooped them up and jammed home.

They are soooooo excited about school now. I can not believe how something so simple (a chair) and, albeit boring, can add so much dazzle to the humdrum. WAIT a minute. I get it!! I guess this is their version of how I would react to new kitchen towels. It makes sense now.

Only 21 more days of leisure time and sleeping in.

And our Jacob. He is so like Lenny that is scares me. He has that same adventurous, unafraid, almost conquering spirit that gave his grandma many gray hairs so long ago. He called Lenny at work this afternoon and asked him where the rope was. What?

What does he need rope for? I wondered.

I went out to get something out of the van and this is what I saw.

This is Jacob trying to pull himself up the tree. Notice where the rope is going? Through the belt loops on the shorts. I think two things: 1) torn belt loops and, 2) MAJOR wedgie! He doesn't care. He is gonna try it.

There he goes. He actually got a bit higher on the tree but I didn't get the picture. And, he refused to wear shoes or gloves. So his feet and hands gave out before his heart and spirit. What I saw this afternoon made me thank God for the gift of leisure time. I am thankful that we have committed to not over extending our schedules. Otherwise, times like this would be rare or impossible. Our kids have the luxury of using their imaginations and running wild with them.

I realize that there is a time for everything. In fact, it is biblical. Check it out.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
A Time for Everything

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

Playtime is not for a lifetime. It is for a season. This season has just but 3 weeks left of it. Then work time comes for them. But while we have this season, while we are in it, we are going to take hold of it and fully enjoy it. And, when school starts, we will take hold of that too and put our hearts into it.

Enjoy what is left of summer. Go to the beach, go on a picnic, get a tan, go camping. Do something while the days are long and the weather is agreeable. And take lots of pictures while you are at it.