Where are all the flashlights?!?!

As I was playing on the computer last night the house suddenly went dark and quiet. Very dark. The remnants of Ike had knocked out our power.

I felt around for the flashlight which wasn't there. Then I started searching for matches. It wasn't long before I heard footsteps on the stairs approaching. Josiah and Nathan were awake and probably wondering what happened to their nightlight. Even Noah woke up .... probably from hearing me gathering the jar candles from my room.

We only found one working flashlight. All the others we found didn't have batteries. Who knew? We lit plenty of candles and even two oil lamps.

John rocked Noah until he was calm enough to go back to sleep. Meanwhile, the boys and I hung out together talking about electricity, its invention and what people did before it was harnessed.


One of the oil lamps we used is an old one that has been hanging in our basement for a very, very long time. It was fuel for the imagination to wonder how old it is. I told Josiah that since I couldn't find a date on it, I'll have to do some research on it.

John said he did not get to watch the end of the Steelers game. The power returned shortly after the game ended.

It was a fun little spontaneous adventure that lent itself to sharing and learning.

Josiah's First School Bus Ride

August 27th was Josiah's first day of school. We got up early, ate breakfast, got dressed and went to the porch to wait for the school bus. This would be the first time Josiah has ever rode on a school bus!

He was more excited about than me. I was thankful that he would be picked up at our driveway. It is a huge blessing in the amount of gas money it will save us for the year.


We waited and waited. Then I began to worry. At 8:00 the bus was half an hour late. John called from work to ask how Josiah did getting on the bus. "We're still waiting. I'm going to call and see what I can find out.", I reply. I called the bus company first and got the answering machine. Then I called the school. From the school I learn that the bus is running very late but that it will come. Okaaay. We wait longer. I call the school again at 8:30. The bus is still coming and has picked up the first student. It should be there any time. Okaaaay. FYI - school starts at 8:45. The students are supposed to arrive by 8:40. It takes me 15 minutes to get there from my house - that's with no stops. I'm getting anxious. At 9:00 I call the school again. Pastor Diane, the principal, is in the chapel service. Since the lady answering the phone that time was a volunteer, she didn't have any information for me. Okaaaaay.

This whole time I'm thinking that I could take Josiah to school myself but I didn't want to mess up the school bus driver if we weren't here when the bus arrived. I was also disappointed that Josiah would be late for the first day of school.

Well, we wait some more. At 9:30 I call the school again. By this time, they know my number on caller ID and answer, "Hi. We were just about to call you." The school bus arrived to school and there was no Josiah. Mmm hmmm. I thought so!! Apparently, the bus company decided that they were picking up the students at the nearest corner this year. The bus company never communicated this to the school or the parents!

Brothers waiting together.

I quickly got Noah out of bed, put him in the car seat and gave him a bottle. Nathan and Josiah got in the car and away we went. Josiah finally made it to school. Yay!

Josiah arriving to school in our family car.

Josiah had a wonderful time at school and did get to ride the bus home.

Josiah getting on the bus the second morning of school.