Where's Laura?

I am still alive.  I have been chugging along on project after project with very little time to sit down at my computer.  The August Madness that we deal with every year began at the end of July this year for us.  Here is a sampling of what the last 3 weeks have looked like for me:

Celebrating Abby's 11th Bday

 Yard Sale Prep, Execution, Tear Down, and Recovery

 Soccer Camp for Isaiah (Lauren was an assistant coach)

 Hair Week(Enough Said)

 School supply Sorting

 School Supply Shopping

 Uniform sale Preparations

 Organizing and trying on uniforms with the kids

This time of year is traumatic for me.  There are lots of big expenses coming our way all at once.  I find my stomach in knots all the time as I feel like I am just shelling out money left and right.  Maybe it's the 19 Expo markers, 13 boxes of Kleenex, 13 glue sticks, (I could go on and on), that are overwhelming me.

  This is also the first time I have ever been working on a Swazi trip at the same time.  That brings its own set of challenges and financial stresses.  We are moving forward with our team and beginning to plan the details of what we will be doing.

This phase of parenting has pretty much rocked my world.  That is a whole blog post on its own that I am working through in my mind.

In the midst of all of these activities, there have been even more that I hope to share in the next week.  The Clapp Family calendar has been full, and we are trying our best to suck every bit of life out of the last two weeks before school start!!