Prep Time

Every August for the last several years, we have used the SAME scripture for Scripture Time.  It's our "Back to School" scripture.  Because after a summer long fest of chaos and hubbub and lack of order, this scripture is precisely what we need to get back on track --

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;  (Doctrine and Covenants 88:119)

Last Monday for Family Home Evening, when we were {re}introducing the scripture for the month, I gave a quick lesson about the verse and asked everyone to name one thing that really stood out to them from it.  It was not the most cooperative of evenings, and even though everyone managed to say something, I doubt any of the children even remember that Family Home Evening, much less the thing that they said.  Hahaha.  Meanwhile, MY stand-out phrase of "prepare every needful thing," has been on my mind this whole last week as I've been trying to figure out what are the most important things to do as we get ready for school to start next week.

With school starting on Tuesday, it is officially CRUNCH time for getting everything ready to go!  I woke up this morning feeling like the biggest thing to focus on for today was prepping for LUNCH PACKING next week.  And throughout the school year.  We struggled {to say the least} with packing actual real lunch material last year (if you'll recall) and between pickiness, laziness, and actual dietary restriction-ness, it was difficult to get Ethan, Grace, and Sophie to pack something of balance and substance that made everyone happy.  As a result, I lived each day in fear that the school was going to call me and tell me that I was a totally negligent parent and that my children's lunches were completely insufficient.  True Story.

Anyway, I printed out a picture this morning of the "choose my plate" graphic that they learned about in school, and went over various options with them of what they could pack for each of the categories -- fruits, vegetables, grains, and protein -- and thankfully everyone seems on board with the challenge of packing a real lunch this year!  Perhaps they were just excited that I suggested buying some thermoses to increase their hot lunch options, but regardless -- I'll take it.

Other than that, this is how the day played out:

• I set a new PR this morning while running my 3 miles!  I wanted to try and break my fastest 1 mile record and I totally did.  Which left me completely and totally shot for the rest of the day.  I went out so fast at the beginning that I felt like I was going to die!  I wanted to quit before I even finished the first quarter mile, but I persevered and made it to the 1 mile mark before stopping to walk and catch my breath.  I ended up walking A LOT more of the last 2 miles, and like I said -- it took more out of me for the rest of the day than I even thought possible -- but I beat my old record by almost a minute! 

See that first lap there??  7:50.

• Ethan spearheaded a movie-making venture this afternoon with Grace and Sophie.  I don't know how to upload it yet, but the trailer they made on iMovie was hiLARious.  Pure comic gold.  

• Another birthday present came in the mail today from grandma, and Alex LOVED it.  It's still summer time, and it got pretty warm today, but he kept that new Spiderman jacket on for most of the day!  Hahaha. 

• And finally, a trip to Target was made in the afternoon to purchase all those necessary school prep items.  We were successful in finding some thermoses and water bottles and, as an added bonus, were able to score with the Buy One Get One 50% deal on shoes.  Grace, Sophie, and Jane were all in need, and we were able to stock up on gym shoes as well as new church shoes which made EVERYONE happy.

And that is basically that.  I'm tired.  It's time for me to go to bed!  T-minus-5-days-and-counting!!!