hodge-podge

What's up in the Hartter household lately? If you don't want to know, click the X in the upper right-hand corner.

1. Chess. Our new family game. Jared is the all-time champion, but I've been studying chess moves online to develop a more effective strategy. It's worked twice.

2. Boredom. The bikes are in the basement, but the kids are finding better things to do:

3. Jobs. As a kid, my mom wrote lists. It was actually a table of jobs with each of our initials rotating through 4 jobs each week. There were 5 of us, so that meant the list was 20-jobs-long. We hated these jobs, especially the week where we had to load the dishwasher AND fold the laundry. Loading the dishwasher meant getting your hands smeary, and folding the laundry meant having to sit and fold for a long time. Our kids had 3 snow days this week. They have been running around crazy. Winter blues are here. Time for JOBS! (Even though I probably promised at one time that I would never give my kids jobs.) Who said that the mom has to scrub the floor? Carly and Isaac got Mr. Clean-sopped rags, and they scrubbed the floors and the bathrooms. They even seemed to enjoy it.

4. Snow. We are so thankful for the snowplow. However, we do not like the speed bumps he sometimes leaves on the roads he clears. Yesterday, I hit a series of bumps, and lost control of the car. The Trailblazer slammed into a fencepost and some fencing. We hitched a ride home and pulled the car out later with a tractor. The kids have a new appreciation for seat belts, and I'm trying to ignore the shouldas and couldas running around in my head. The car is suffering several scratches, a couple dents, busted taillight, and a missing mirror. (Those mirrors were massive anyway.) Do you ever catch a glimpse of God's mercy? We were completely spared (in more ways than one), and we didn't deserve it. Not one bit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeFnd7Q_1Gg