2017 :: week 24

SUMMER :: WEEK 4

the week of VBS and pool time

June 11

Cousins in nursery! Emily texted me this picture from the nursery on Sunday. Tyler and Lauren are 29 months apart in age while Tyler and Elliott are 18 months apart in age. At this point, Tyler considers himself to a big kid and Elliott to be a baby even though they are much closer in age to each other. Elliott's speech delay does make him seem younger than he is. It will be interesting to see how their relationship develops. So far, so good.

June 12

The older kids attended a vacation bible school (VBS) this week. Elliott was my little buddy while the big kids were gone. We delivered Meals on Wheels, went grocery shopping and ran a few errands that are more pleasant with just one kid in tow. The timing couldn't have been better being that Anthony had work in Dahlgren, VA, for four days this week. There are many things I love about having my kids home all day in the summer, but grocery shopping with the crew is not one of them.

June 13

Saffi spent the day with us while her mom Tabitha spent the day with Soren at Cub Scout Camp. (Not sure if I am looking forward to that next year.) I was pleasantly surprised that the girls got along so well and the only "fight" during the 5 hours she was with us was over the star cookie cutter.

June 14

Elder Kelly has served in our ward since a few days after Christmas. He got transferred this week and came by (along with Elder Limon) to say goodbye. He also gifted the kids some nerf guns that they have loved playing with since then. He is a good missionary and we'll miss him.

June 15

We met the Kanaks and Steiners at the Marty Pool instead of our usual Bluejacket Thursday afternoon. I was tempted to buy dinner on the way home (Chipotle was sounding really good), but decided to be "good" and stick to my plan of making spaghetti. I started cooking dinner immediately after we arrived at home and pretty soon was feeling pretty hot. The fan on our microwave does not work and the boiling pasta was making the kitchen feel really humid. When I went to turn the AC down a few degrees I was surprised to see how warm it was. I turn it up to 77 when we are going to be gone for several hours, but it has never gone about 78 before. It was at 81 degrees and rose to 84 before holding steady at 80 overnight. Our HVAC guy was able to come over Friday afternoon and replace the capacitor. It was a relatively quick and inexpensive fix.

June 16

Will and Lauren spent the week at the Valley View United Methodist Church's Vacation Bible School. The theme was Treehouse Tales of God's Love. They learned about God's love throughout the week with the following themes: Jesus is Coming (“You are the light of the world.”), Jesus is Born (“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.”), Jesus Serves (“Love each other.  Just as I have loved you.”), Jesus Lives (“He is not here, for he has risen, as he said.”) and Jesus Sends (“Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.”). Both kids listed singing time as their favorite, with science, gym, service and snack tied for second place. They made several cute crafts that I want to keep in mind for the next time I am a primary teacher. The kids attended a VBS at this church last year with several neighborhood friends. This year cub scout camp was the same week and none of Will's friends were at the VBS. Two girls from his class (Olivia B and Harper) were in his group and he had a great time playing with them instead.

June 17

Lauren is a prolific artist. She creates a pretty steady stream of art work and she likes to display as much as possible. I saw some cute gallery rails at Land of Nod, but with the price of shipping one three foot rail was almost $40. I found a similar item on amazon for less than half the price, took a gamble and bought it. Anthony helped me hang it Saturday afternoon while we crossed off a few things on the never-ending to-do list.