Pros and Cons

So, we leave in 3 days for 33 to 36 days (depending on what we do on the tail end of the trip.) I have explained to only a handful of people what our trip is all about. So, I'm going to lay it all out here!
Being on Young Life staff, Nick has a job to do at one of the camps. He will be working long hard hours in the dining hall. I have heard that he will get up around 5:30 AM and return around midnight!!! I am planning to not see him very much at all. Now, this is really hard because our girls are used to getting ample "daddy-time" in daily!!!
So, while I'm excited that we will not be abandoned for a month, I'm nervous because we will be out of our element and without a father/husband really there. So, this would be a great place for me to begin my "list."
Cons:
Nick not really being there even though he'll be close to being there.
Not having PBS for the kids to go to when they wake up.
(I sit here watching the cursor flash realizing that I have overall fears of the unknown since I've never done this before.)

Pros:
No cooking.
No grocery shopping.
No cleaning.
My kids being saturated with followers of Christ.
Exposure to a world outside of our walls at home!!!
Watching my husband do what he was made to do!!!
Being away from TV (something I was considering unplugging recently.... and, we don't even have cable!)

I am thrilled that I got to go to Frontier Ranch to watch camp happen and know a little bit of what to expect. Now, as we head off to Sharp Top Cove, I'm excited and a bit anxious all at the same time. Where do I even begin in the packing department?

House Cleaning

So, for the first time EVER I actually gave up the control that I have over my house and thought I'd start the process of teaching my children how to do some chores. I actually heard the words that came out of my mouth and wondered if the first time my Mom said it to me if she felt what I felt. I said: "A job worth doing is a job worth doing well." You know, as an 8 year old learning the chore, I hated hearing that. And it just came out to my 5 1/2 year old trying to work a vacuum cleaner. I felt shock and the desire to laugh the moment I spoke the familiar quote.

I wanted them so badly to just "get it" the first time so that I could have three built-in maids. But then, I realized that I am instilling in them the ability to take care of home. So, a half hour chunk of one weekend, I realize they are not going to have it all down. I need patience in the process. A process that I am glad that I have finally begun.

Life here has been strange. We head off to a pool first thing each day and come in right around dinner time just tired and physically spent! I say strange because I'm still just filling our days with stuff to minimize the sibling rivalry that is going on within the walls of this house. Of course, leaving means that it really just happens in the car. :(
I still have the BIG anticipation of Young Life Camp Assignment hanging around with everything I do. My life as I know it is about to DRASTICALLY change. I mean, Nick will not be around like he is in the mornings and the evenings. These kiddos will be stuck with ME for 30 days straight. So, we leave on July 10th. A little over a week left of what we're doing then... it's off to camp we go to venture into something totally new to us as Young Lifer's! I'll do my best to keep ya posted on that adventure. For now, we'll be at the pool, cramming in delayed efforts for dinner and attempting to tackle the hard to reach dust bunnies on the shelves!