Ready or not...

Just two days of school left, and I'm finding myself oddly excited! I'm really getting tired of making sure the kids get to bed early enough that they won't be little devils at school the next day, being the 'home-work Nazi' and not having enough time in the afternoon to go anywhere fun before dinner. I'm planning on getting a season pass to the Deseret Peak Complex swimming pool and Dave suggested maybe getting a pass to Lagoon. Hmmm... we'll have to scrutinize the budget before we commit to that one.
This past weekend Dave got all of us outside to help prune the trees and bushes in the backyard. I don't think the previous owners had heard of pruning. We filled our trailer with branches and we can see the whole backyard now (vs. seeing half the yard, then trees). Yard work is hard, but so much more rewarding than house work. I love having a clean house, but it seems to stay clean for only a fraction of the time that the yard looks nice after a good days work.
We ALMOST had our second house fire last night. A while back we had a little water problem in the basement, so Dave had hauled his big shop light downstairs to try and heat things up enough that it would dry out faster. Dave and I don't really go downstairs very often, so it didn't surprise me that the light was still down there last night. Well, the boys thought it would be fun to build a 'hut' out of blankets in the family room. They spread blankets out over tables and chairs, and (of course) the shop light, which they figured, would create a nice way to light up their new abode. They plugged it in, and played for a while. It was about that time I called them up for family prayer. After prayer, it was off to bed. The kids wanted to sleep in their hut, but I turned them down because I knew they wouldn't actually sleep and they had school the next day. They obediently went to their rooms and went to bed, but did insist on having the hall light on because they were scared... (probably of muskrats chewing on their toes; we got a muskrat in the basement last week. I'll have to post the video). Anyway, a couple of hours after the boys went to bed, I went downstairs to turn off the light, and discovered that the basement was starting to fill with smoke! I couldn't understand why the smoke alarm hadn't got off. I ran around the basement, looking for the source, and remembered that Dave's shop light was down there. I ran to the hut, and sure enough, I had to peel the blankets off the light. Turns out, there is no smoke alarm in that part of the basement (HELLO, Mr. Inspector)! I keep thinking of all the little things that happened that night that lead to the way the whole thing played out. Yes, my quilt does have a nice big hole in it, but things could have been so much worse! I'm so thankful for a Heavenly Father who looks out for me and my family!