Buried Alive! (or Don't give up on me, I'm still breathing)

Hi y'all!
It is me, your long lost bloggin' friend.
I have buried under an avalanche of boxes and books and papers and dirty laundry -- clean laundry too (Lord knows it doesn't fold itself!!) -- and sick kittens and sick kids and lesson plans and meetings . . . you get the picture.
There have been many times I saw something (like the Luna moth outside the school, or the sun setting out our living room window, or the sight of my oldest son in his football gear for the first time etc.) or have experienced something (like the last days of summer, the first day of school, Isaac's initiation into the world of tackle football, the death of a beloved kitty, Josiah's front teeth getting knocked loose, a new kitty, settling into the new house, etc.) and thought, "I need to blog about that!"
But alas, by the time I get home at night, get homework done with the boys (who have more homework than ever! That's how it goes) and everyone fed and through the bath time/bed time routines, lunches made, and my own clothes out for the next day (and that's on a night when nothings going on!!!) all I want to do with my last waking hours or minutes is sit and stare into the abyss that is t.v., or read my latest read, Chosen By A Horse, which had nothing to do with anything else going on in my life right now, and thus can be considered an "escape" for me.
Sounds like I'm whining, I'm sure. Really, I'm just a bit overwhelmed and trying to find time to fit it all in.
I do regret, though, that this is what has suffered. So, in spite of my stupor at the end of the day, I will try to nobly resist the temptation to "veg out" and do something useful with my time . . . i.e. blogging.
A quick update . . . the house is coming along. Probably not as quickly as I would like, but I'm learning to relax a little, too.
School began well. Two days before it started, God dropped ideas about what my classroom is supposed to be like and how it should function. He is always right on time! My classroom is set up like an Italian cafe. Cafe Roma, I call it. There are jars filled with Italian chocolates and biscotti cookies and treats like that. Also, displays of hot cocoas and cappuccino. There is a menu, and the students can "buy" cafe items by redeeming coupons they receive from me for behavior that honors God and for daily participation and contributions to the class. They can also redeem grades of 100 on their tests and quizzes. It has made the classroom so much fun, and the kids are really anxious to "buy" items, which has been seen in their actions and their grades so far.
I am sorry to report that Josiah's kitten, Jaguire, died on Monday. He had a very rare disease that caused his bones to be weakened, and his legs were breaking when he would walk. It was very sad for all of us. Jaguire was a good little cat, and Josiah loved him very much. He was such a good caretaker of him, very gentle and loving and concerned. It broke my heart when we had to tell him Jaguire didn't make it. He was so sad. But he is young, and ever hopeful, and his heart is big with the childlike capacity to love again even after the stinging pain of loss. We got another kitty for him on Tuesday from the local Humane Society. He is a stripety tabby with patches of white on his nose, his chest and his feet. Josiah named him Tiger. So now we have a Tiger and a Tigger. Isaac calls him "Socks" because of his white feet, and Joe calls him Patches O'Peaches, but his name is Tiger, and that is what we will call him.
Isaac's football season started last week. He is so handsome in his gear! The first day of practice, he wasn't sure he liked the whole thing. But now, several practices in, he is loving it more and more. I have to say, sitting out there on folding chairs, watching him practice in the setting late summer sun with the cool of night air beginning to come on, crickets fiddling up for their grand finales, you know that these days are what it is about. My boy is growing up. He's out there on a field of battle, in more ways than one, and I watch him, and I wonder . . . is he ready for all this? Did we prepare him enough for what is happening right now? And I know that in many ways, he is getting, on that field, things we could not equip him with. He is becoming . . . him, and somehow, this is all a part of it.
It is crazy to look at your ten year old boy, who just yesterday was a blond haired baby boy walking toward you with arms outstretched, and to watch him growing up right in front of your eyes!
Daniel remains the best baby in the world, of course, even though at this very moment he is trying to type a blog of his very own. I will add pictures later, and promise to write more often . . . maybe.