Ammon's ears were hurting this week. We were very blessed that he mostly slept through the night, but I spent a lot of time holding and worrying about my babe.
I love taking care of sick people (when I feel like I know what I am doing and I am being helpful)! This picture was on day one, when I was confident in my nurturing abilities! Note I am already struggling to prop up my eyelids. A few days later... we won't go there. But today- 4 days later- he was all the way better! Whew!
Katie turned 5!
She is so fun and loving, she brings lots of sunshine to our family!
She wanted to eat popsicles and watch fireworks at Grandpa Mark's house for her birthday (she must have some great 4th of July memories!). Grandpa Mark obliged, and the big and little kids had a great time making lots of noise and smoke with him!
She started tantruming first thing on her birthday.
MAKE MY BED? Are you serious? She wouldn't have been
surprised if she woke up and we were dancing and playing tambourines and eating
ice cream all day, but I explained we would be having her favorite things for
dinner, the dessert she requested, presents, and a princess movie, and she was
willing to accept the reality of the rest of the day!
We went to Lake Rogers on her
birthday. I had clear boundaries this time, brought candy to back me up
(more importantly- they KNEW I had candy. I wasn't willing to have a
learning experience that day), and we had NO mud escapades...
This monkey bar Noah is swinging on is the BEST! You run and it lifts you up in the air (a little bit if you are tall, a LOT if you are little!) and the other side lowers down toward the ground so you can run along and then get lifted up again. It is an excellent arm work-out!
Mark and I had a great time playing king-of-the-mountain on a bouncy triangle there.
Other highlights of this week:
Mark practiced
magic tricks. He did a great job on the magic, but I was even more
impressed with his resilience. He didn't get discouraged when he messed
up, even if Sarah was giving him a rough time. He just kept practicing.
We finished White
Fang and are reading Heidi.
I went on a hike
in the woods, and the kids were concerned I might get lost, so Nathan went
along as my guide. He was quite the gentleman and host! He brought
a long stick so he could point out where NOT to step- he pointed out that
wherever there was a fallen tree, there would be a pit, because that is where
its roots used to be. He
showed me the best spots to cross the creek at, and letters that had been
carved into an old tree a long time ago. He pointed out trees that
were rotting, that he thought were turning into petrified wood. We saw a cocoon-shaped wasps nest, and
looked at crystals embedded in the roots of an old tree tipped over. I pointed out a purple one, and he has
praised me several times for my rock finding skills! I don’t mind saying- he is a fantastic
young man! He was very
protective and kind to me.
The kids favorite
part of the week- John put new speakers and MP3s in their rooms (he found
inexpensive ones with good reviews)! Now they can listen to 'audiobooks'
(John is trying to train me to quit saying 'books on tape'!) in style.
John enjoyed setting it up for them, and they were thrilled.
