2020 :: week 35

 

August 23

The plants in our yard have brought me a lot of joy this spring and summer, despite the many battles with bunnies than have ensued. We have two moss rose portulaca plants in our front of our house, one with yellow flowers and one with purple. This is our first year incorporating them into our landscaping and I plan on getting some again next year. Dana suggested we get them because they love the sun and the plants on the front side of our house get a lot of direct sunlight. They require a lot of sun to open their flowers, and in the evening and on cloudy days they close. I find their behavior to be so fascinating! Unfortunately a bunny chewed off a lot of the flowers on the purple plant. What I assume is the same bunny also ate the flowers off our plumbago plants right after they started to bloom, and chewed our black eyed Susans down to the nub right after they flowered as well! Only the cleomes and roses have been spared. Dana gave me a clematis for my birthday and we are working on getting that to grow around the gate. Dana created a wire cage to keep the rabbits from eating it, and since then it has grown rather quickly, even producing a flower which we didn't think it would do this year. Dana had a book about "edible landscaping" so we also planted some okra, eggplants and lettuce. The okra has grown quite large and we harvested our first pods this week. Will has been harvesting lettuce throughout the summer. The eggplant started off great, but as soon as it flowered, like so many of our other plants, it was consumed by wildlife. Will has been a great help, watering the plants 1-2 times a day. 

August 24

Monday afternoon I caught Lauren and Elliott snuggling together while watching Chip and Dale: Rescue Rangers. Something I did not anticipate about Disney Plus is introducing my kids to shows I enjoyed when I was their age. The kids have also loved DuckTales.

August 25

Nicholas and Daphne came over for a playdate in the afternoon. The boys picked up just where they left off and swam in the pool, played Transformers and discussed Star Wars in detail. Considering both of them are new Star Wars fans their conversations were riddled with inaccuracies, but funny to listen to nonetheless. Lauren and Daphne played with their Our Generation Dolls and crafted and swam as well. I enjoyed visiting with Jolie and couldn't believe how much Gabriel had grown since March. When I last saw him he wasn't even crawling and now on Tuesday he was so close to walking and demanding Jolie's fingers.

August 26

Wednesday was our 14th anniversary. It was a long, hot day. Will and Lauren had piano lessons with Miss Julie (Lauren't first lesson!) at her house from 3:30-4:30. Then Lauren had soccer practice from 5-6pm at Stoll Park. I left the boys at home and Anthony arrived home just after I left to get ready for a socially distanced BBQ with the youth in our backyard. He spent the evening making smashburgers and visiting with the youth in person for the first time since March. Will had pitching practice at Bluejacket park from 7-8pm, thankfully it was close and he could walk there himself. I don't know what I would have expected my life to be like fourteen years after we got married on that hot late August day, but I can't imagine my 23-year-old self would have been too disappointed. 

August 27

The "Blue Crew" is back at it again. Several times this week the kids walked over to the baseball diamond at the park and held "practice." Will instructed Lauren and Elliott on their hitting and throwing and they played catch and took turns fielding for each other. It brings me immense joy seeing my kids have fun together. At one point while the big kids were gone and I put Miles down for his nap and I sat down on the couch and just sat there. I think it was the first time I have been able to sit down and put my feet up in absolute silence in a long time. 

August 28

Pokemon has been the name of the game with the neighborhood gang this week. The kids are busting out their Pokemon binders and making trades all over the place. I've never seen them actually *play* the game, just make trades. Will, Lauren and Elliott even pooled their money to buy MORE cards to trade via amazon. 

August 29

Lauren and I have been making weekly trips to the library. I have the kids read for 30 minutes after lunch and then she reads again with me for another 30 minutes or so on my bed before she gets into her own bed at night. I often catch her reading throughout the day, so the girl is logging a lot of time reading. She has turned into a voracious reader this summer and it is hard to keep her stocked with enough books. Will is okay requesting books, and having me pick them up from the library for him, but Lauren loves browsing the shelves. I can't say that I blame her. I remember the Bookmobile stopping by our house when we lived in Fargo when I was about her age and loving the excitement of selecting new books to read.

2020 :: week 31

July 26

Lauren worked on her Doodle Crate early Sunday morning. She ended up making a cool portfolio that holds a sketch book. I really like how these crates come with detailed directions and are designed for the kids to be able to do themselves. All of our kids, Lauren especially, love making things. Usually she is pretty independent, but sometimes I go a little crazy when I am trying to do another task and she requests immediate assistance. Last week I took her to Hobby Lobby and she picked out a bunch of felt to make pillow and stuffed animals for her dolls.

July 27

This is not what I was expecting when Elliott wanted to show me his "new trick." He stands on the windowsill and then "flies" onto the big beanbag.

July 28

The Gessells stayed the night Tuesday as they head back home to Virginia. It had been a long day in the car, so the kids were happy to play in the back yard for awhile. After the kids played outside everyone came inside and got ready for bed. Elliott and Brigham decided to "spy" on everyone and used Will's bow to shoot arrows at the rest of us. They are two imaginative boys who have a tendency to be sneaky. Brigham slept on Will's bed in the big boys room and Adalaide slept on the bottom bunk in Lauren's room. The girls talked about books and read together for quite awhile before falling asleep. Will slept on the floor in his room because he got to stay up a bit later and sauna with the adults.

July 29

We were able to squeeze in a little more play time before the Gessells left Wednesday morning. I made the kids line up for a picture. It ended up raining most of the day, so we mostly played inside. At one point, when the rain was coming down very hard, Will, Lauren and Elliott ran outside and danced in the rain. They were absolutely soaked when they came back in, but had huge grins on their faces. Elliott splashed in so many puddles he had little specks of dirt in his hair.

July 30

My favorite time of day is after dinner when the kids and I read together in my bed. Lauren and I read together most nights, and sometimes Will joins us. Now that baseball is back, Will sometimes listens to the Royals broadcast, which is why he is wearing headphones. I have been feeling tired this week and so the overcast and rainy weather we experienced fit my mood perfectly.

 July 31

The Allreds and Staritas are in town! On Friday morning we met up at Scouting Park and played for a few hours. Elliott and Tyler riding on the zipline together was one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time. Miles had a fun time swinging with Arthur and following him around, though Arthur is so much faster there as more watching than actual following. Will, Lauren and the uncles played "the floor is lava" and tried to make it from one end of the playground to the other. This park trip also marks the first time Elliott successfully made it across the monkey bars.

 

 August 1

This is my life now. Will is old enough to make cookies by himself, and also old enough to care about the Royals game and chose to listen to the entire radio broadcast on his kindle. We made a lot of chocolate chip cookies this week, with the Gessells passing through and then the Staritas and Allreds in town.