Idle hands here...NEVER!!!

We Sloans tend to take the saying "idle hands are the devil's playground" very seriously. Either that, or we have a serious disorder that prevents us from sitting still for long periods of time. We are always on the go and we like it that way. So when Jacob's teacher workdays were coming up, I started making plans. Boy, did we have things to do and places to go!!

On Monday, we started our day with regular household chores. (BTW, I discovered the "daily jobs list" from Katherine at Raising Five and it has worked beautifully and saved me from repeating myself 'til the cows come home! She has some awesome hints for raising kids based on her experiences!!) Jacob did his "before school" stuff then played legos, while I completed my "to dos." We ate some lunch, then Jacob settled in to paint some letters for his door. I think they turned out wonderfully.



After he finished his letters, we moved on to baking. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip cookies--yum! I love to bake and Jacob is picking up on that love. It's so neat to see him getting more and more comfortable in the kitchen. He's gonna make a great hubby to someone one day. Sidenote: I shared with Jacob not long ago, that I pray for his future wife. I told him that I pray that God provides him with a really cute, Godly girl. He laughed and said, "What about Eli...do you pray for an ugly one for him." Wha???? :)



Later that night, we had a rousing game of Scene It, Jr. No pictures of that, but I will admit that Jacob and I got stomped by Matt. It was an ugly defeat! But it was fun!

On Tuesday, Jacob and I headed out to vote. We went while Eli was napping (Matt works from home and had the monitor...don't call DSS), so it was easy peasy. In and out in 15 minutes! I think it was a great learning experience for Jacob. Of course, we're still old school and had paper and pen ballots. I think that surprised Jacob more than anything.

We headed home and Jacob and I settled in for some reading. We are reading The Horse and His Boy from the Narnia series. I am really enjoying the book and the time with Jacob. He's working on earning those Accelerated Reader points for school and the Narnia books are worth lots of points!

After the other brother woke up, we loaded up the van and off we went to Target. We all know that no long weekend is complete without a trip to Target! Jacob was a little disappointed in the toy selection, so he opted to save his money. Eli, however spent his $5 on a cute little Elmo doll! In reality I could have just bought Elmo's tag and he would have been happy. Who needs an Elmo doll when you can play with the plastic taggie thing used to hang him from the store hook?!

After lunch, Jacob practiced guitar. Check out his progress. He's practicing the chords from "Every Rose Has It's Thorn." Gotta love those 80's Power Ballads. Reminds me of pegged multi-color jeans, and Rave hairspray!

Jacob finished his last day off on a high note. Nonnie and D (Niki's parents) met us at guitar lessons and swept him away to the world of toy stores and restaurant food--a nine year old's fantasy land!

So, here's what I learned over the past two days. When I taught school, I loved teacher workdays. My classroom was empty and calm. I was able to write lesson plans, sanitize and clean everything, change bulletin boards, chit-chat with coworkers, and actually leave the building for lunch!! Monday and Tuesday I loved teacher workdays for a whole 'nother reason. I spent tons of quality time with the kiddos and wouldn't trade it for chit-chat or lunch out.

Reflecting, I just realized that Jacob is already halfway through his time at home with us. And I don't want to miss one minute of what we have left!