Patchy

I love the Fall and all the activities that come with it.  I usually try to cram in so many activities that by Halloween day we are all sick of costumes and candy.  This year, however, I feel like we are just busier than ever.  This morning I realized today was literally our last day to be able to even go to a pumpkin patch (since Jeremy will be out of town again tomorrow), so as soon as we were done with work we packed the girls in the car and got to the pumpkin patch an hour before they closed.  It wasn't a huge place (actually, it was the same place Joey went on her field trip), but it was perfect for Lucy to run around hugging the pumpkins and chasing the girls through the hay maze.  We bought one large pumpkin for $10, because I felt we should pay something for letting us hang out at their patch, and then headed to Aldi where we bought 6 more pumpkins of the same size for $9.  Haha!

Field Trip

Today was Joey's first ever field trip.  She got to go to the pumpkin patch and couldn't have been more excited about it!  Jeremy was able to go along as a chaperone and take pictures.

The first update I got was at about 9:15 when Jeremy texted me this picture.  We have never heard Joey talking about this boy before, but apparently she and Jensen are friends.  Jeremy was not happy.

He finally told them to just play and not hold hands.  I can't blame the kid though.  Joey is cute, super funny, and she likes princesses as much as she likes superheroes and digging in the dirt for bugs.  What's not to like?!

The whole trip was exciting for her- getting to take the school bus, playing with friends all day, getting a pumpkin, and getting to have a picnic at the park!  Plus, her school day was 2 hours longer than normal, so she thought was extra great, since she's always ticked with us when we come pick her up from school as she says she hasn't been there long enough.

Being Prepared

The past couple of weeks I have felt myself getting more and more anxious.  It is a combination of things- I am on the cusp of the busiest time of year at work, the girls are getting busier and busier with school, we've been working on lots of house projects, etc.  But mostly I think it has to do with Ebola, or rather being unprepared.  We are being inundated by the news right now with stories about Ebola and every little detail of what is going on with the cases of Ebola here in the US.  And now I am adding one more story to that. 

I understand that the chances of contracting this virus are slim, however I am tired of people telling others to stop worrying about it and blaming the media for causing fear and panic.  It is very easy for people in other states to sit back and say people are freaking out over nothing.  That would be true if the CDC and other health officials had been able to keep Ebola out of the US, or at the very least contain it to patient zero.  However, when there are now 2 nurses who have contracted the virus, and 70+ other health care workers, and hundreds of others who were exposed because one of the nurses flew on an airplane, I think there is some justification in the upset over this.  These people live and work close to where I live.  They potentially could have children that go to school with my kids, shop at the same grocery store I do, etc.  People have every right to be concerned about being exposed to this.  I am not in agreement that people should freak out to the extent that they are boarding up their houses, but they do have a right to be concerned, especially with the way this was handled.

Time and again in history we have seen disasters that have proved we are not ready for them.  9/11, Katrina, Ebola.  (Obviously those are just a few I am naming because those are ones that have had a direct impact on me.)  We have a personal responsibility to be prepared for disasters, but our government agencies have a responsibility as well.  I think we have failed on every level with this and I for one am thankful for the public outcry and the media covering this as it forced everyone to stop and realize that things need to change.  We can contain this, but everyone needs to come together and get a better plan in place, and I think that is happening now. 

This has also forced us to look at ourselves and evaluate how prepared we are as a family.  We fell very short of where we needed to be.  So I got over my fears of canning and forced myself to learn.  Why was I so scared?  It is so easy!  I even canned chicken!  Our food storage is still not quite where it needs to be, but it's better than it was.  And we are now working on getting water storage and first aid.  This is all stuff we should have already been working on, but at least we are now getting our act together and will be prepared for whatever may come in the future.

It is true that "If ye are prepared, ye shall not fear", and I think that all of this has helped us- the government, state and local health departments, and us individually and as families- realize we need to be better prepared.

(Check out the link below.  Comforting, huh?)

http://us6.campaign-archive2.com/?u=9432bfb2c8acd4a5f9e05590b&id=0e7a5b121a&e=415d7c100a

Great Weekend

We had such a great weekend.  Nothing adventurous or anything, but definitely exciting.  We were able to watch conference, Ole Miss beat Alabama and State beat Texas A&M!  What a great day for football in Mississippi!  I made homemade wings, and canned homemade salsa and strawberry jam, and the girls played outside in the awesome weather for about 4 hours straight.  Today we watched more conference, made homemade cinnamon rolls and potato soup, the Saints won, and Jeremy is very close to being finished with the built-ins in the "conservatory"- yep that's what we're calling it.  We're fancy.  Anyway, what a great weekend !

Love the Conference Center Board I made.