Trying to find normal

Our world has been out of sorts lately, to say the least.  It's been almost two weeks since my father died and we just haven't quite gotten fully back on track.  I feel like I'm living in a fog similar to the fog that comes when a new baby arrives.  You just kind of get up and keep moving because really, what choice do you have?  The difference here is that instead of a baby, we have grief and instead of diapers and feedings, we have lots of questions.  Allen and I have really tried to keep things as normal as possible for the kids but it's not always easy.  School has definitely not been what I hoped but we haven't completely lost focus.  Rachel started learning about the seven continents focusing on Asia this week.  We read a book about wind today and made a weather vane for the yard.  We haven't worked together on spelling hardly at all, but the other night when I left her room, she said, "Mama!  G-o-o-d n-i-g-h-t.". I was so proud of her for learning to spell that on her own!!  Ford has drastically improved at soccer.  He's finally taking the initiative to go up to the kid with the ball and kick it away before he/she can score.  I think we have a defender on our hands.  He has been the one with the most questions lately and wants to know all about why your body gets sick and where our bones go.  He told us out of the blue today that when he dies he wants to be beside Rachel's box because she's his best friend...pretty sweet in a creepy kind of way!  Ruby has become even more of an extremist than I ever thought possible.  She has hit a stage of not liking anything from the clothes we pick out to the food we serve for any meal.  I just keep trying to move on and let her throw a fit and then watch her go back to sweet when she gets over it.  She is really into coloring and pasting these days, so I'm trying to sit down with her more to do that.  Not quite ready to let her do the cutting yet!
     Our day is all about keeping things balanced and helping everyone get what they need.  We're also at the point of the year where time seems to speed up, so it feels even harder to catch up some days.  We've got Halloween costumes ready (thank goodness!) and then we'll have to figure out what our plan is for Thanksgiving.  Then we'll start that game of will the baby come before or after Christmas?!?!  My hope is we'll make it to January before we meet Baxter, but we've got to be ready for him just in case!  It's a wild ride around here and I know for the next year I'm going to be doing just as much hanging on as I will be driving!!