2017 :: week 30

SUMMER 2017 :: Week 10

July 23

While we were eating lunch after church on Sunday Will complained that his tooth was hurting. I had my doubts (he was eating Ramen Noodles after all!) but the next thing I know he was holding his tooth in his hand.

July 24

Elliott is a funny little guy. The older he gets the more clearly he expresses his opinions and preferences. He is very possessive of his towel. My mom bought it for him when we went to Florida and he has been using it ever since. If either of his siblings or parents touches the beloved towel to do anything besides hang it up to dry or wrap it around him he gets chippy. He also commandeered the swim shirt he is wearing. It is Will's and Elliott insists on wearing it. I gave in and put it on him one morning before swimming lessons and now he wants to wear it every time we go to the pool.

July 25

My favorite time to visit the farmstead is on a Tuesday or Thursday nights during the summer. Admission is free, it is open until 8pm, and there are no crowds. I love being able to let Elliott wander without worrying about him getting lost or hidden behind groups of taller kids. Emily and I took our kids Tuesday evening while our husbands were at mutual. It was hot and humid, but still fairly pleasant.

July 26

I decided we needed to get the kids closets cleaned out and went to work on Elliott's closet Wednesday and Thursday. He has the largest walk-in closet in the house, but it doubles as our linen closet. I went through and refolded, washed and got rid of things. I also keep my bins of kid clothing in there. When the weather turned warm back in the spring I went through the kids' drawers and took out all the small stuff, I just never organized it. Finally did that. In the end everything is back in and organized and on Saturday we dropped three boxes and one large bag off at Catholic Charities. I took this picture of Elliott while I was taking everything out of the closet. He is wearing his favorite pj's, which is the only thing he would wear for a few days this week. Later in the week he tracked down the pants and carried them around the house when I made him put on other clothes.

July 27

Thursday we said goodbye to our good friends, the Cooks. They left town early Friday morning for California and we were able to spent their last night in town together. I made pizza, which was a menu staple when we did our babysitting trades. They have been some of our closest friends this past year. We are really going to miss them!

July 28

Friday was a big day for Lauren at the pool. Even though she went off the diving board last year, she had decided she wasn't going to even try this year until after she finished swimming lessons. Both her and Will completed and passed their classes on Thursday. She nervously went of the diving board once, and then spent the rest of our time at the pool Thursday jumping off the board over and over. She was still not ready to go down the slide. I tried bribing her (chick-fil-a, legos, and ice cream were all on the table, not my finest parenting moment) but she stubbornly refused. Then Friday evening while we were swimming with some friends she ran over to me after she had gone down the slide by herself. When I talked to her about why she avoided it so long she said that a lifeguard told her she had to go down on her bum (as opposed to her stomach) and last year when she went down the force of the slide was strong enough that she ended up on her belly a few times. Lauren HATES to receive negative feedback of any kind from any authority figure (even mildly disinterested teenage lifeguards) so she avoided the slides for over a year. I feel like this is a learning moment for me as Lauren's parent that I need to be careful with the feedback I give her and to help her process negative feedback, because life is FULL of negative feedback. It also reinforces what I already know, that once Lauren makes a decision she will stick to her guns no matter how many Lego sets or popsicles she's offered.

July 29

The main branch of our library system put on a Harry Potter party Saturday morning. The kids dressed up in their robes and house scarves and we checked out the fun. Both Will and Lauren played one round of Muggle Quidditch, and Will went on to play several more rounds. Lauren and I went to the different houses and did the various crafts and activities offered there. It was a fun morning. We ended in the photo booth where we got this fun picture next to the Hogwart's express. Anthony was wearing a green shirt and it was a green screen so it looks like he is a floating head which fits the theme. We stopped by Pie 5 for some pizza on the way home.