In which we do not mention anything about spruce tips
This week Alison is proud of getting the family outside a lot. We hit our "4+ hours a day outside" on most days, which was fun. Mostly she took the kids to the wilderness park, but on Friday they joined our ward's play group at the neighborhood park. There was a great turn-out, and Alison and the kids had a fun time. Everyone is enjoying the nice weather.
We did take one day off of being outside, because Sara got a stomach bug and was up in the night throwing up. The girls got to watch movies on Wednesday and rest, and Rea tried to convince Sara that being sick was very fun. Sara did not agree. Then Rea was up Friday night throwing up and spent Saturday laying around listening to the audio book of "The Secret Garden." (Libri Vox is so cool.) We reminded her of how fun being sick was. She was not impressed.
Timmy hit another milestone this week: he has begun shrieking as a major form of communication. It's an annoying stage, and we hope that he gets through it quickly. On a more positive note, he can now stand independently for a few seconds at a time.
Thursday the mom of one of Rea's preschool friends invited us to her free community orchestra concert. We were so excited! They played an array of mostly classical chamber music, including some songs we love. We decided to bring the kids, so as not to get a last-second babysitter and to expose them to some culture ("not the kind in food," Mike commented). Unfortunately, we didn't realize how difficult listening to a concert would be for them. Timmy was so excited to hear the music (he loves music right now) that he beat his hands and sang along as loud as he could, so he had to go out in the hall. Rea and Sara whined about bored, so the parent who wasn't out with Timmy whispered stories to them about what the music was playing. Flutes were generally owls, we decided, and the bassoon was definitely a baby elephant. So we made it through, but next time we either need to work on listening in advance, or leave the kids at home.
On Friday we went to Sheila and Scott's, to congratulate Scott on graduating. We had a good time, and they made cotton candy, so the kids were in heaven. Rea has been asking and asking to play with Max, so she was so happy to finally go there. (We did not actually see them play together very much, but it still made her happy.)
Saturday morning we did not have to make a cheese, because the soap-maker asked if we could sell her some milk. That was nice, because it was a busy Saturday. Alison was asked to lead the music at the stake baptism, and our ward was also in charge of providing a special musical number, so Rea and Sara came and sang. They got lots of compliments. (The discerning reader may notice that this was the day Rea was sick. We thought at that point that she had just thrown up from too much cotton candy the night before, but when she acted sick all day we had second thoughts. Oops.)
Then we went home and mucked out the goat shed. It's a difficult task, but this time we actually invested in a pitchfork, which helped a lot. The goats were not thankful for their newly cleaned quarters; they bleated really loudly about it. Maybe they were cold without their insulating layers of decomposing straw.
That evening we baby sat for Max and Shylo (we learned the correct spelling!). Actually, Alison accidentally double-booked herself, so for most of the evening it was Mike with Max, Rea, Sara, and Shylo (Alison took Timmy with her so that there wouldn't be two babies demanding to be held while the older kids needed interventions). It went pretty well.
Today (Sunday) Rea and Sara both bore their testimonies, and Rea gave a talk in Primary! She and Alison discussed the topic last Sunday, and then Rea dictated a talk and Alison wrote it down. She practiced reading it about three times during the week and in Primary went up and read it very well. It was great.
On Thursday I borrowed an electronic drawing pad from Scott and started a drawing regimen. I have always wanted to be better at art, and it seems like this is a good way to go about it. You can see the results here.
This week we also made muffins a lot. We have a good recipe:
Dry: 2 cups wheat flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt,
Wet: 1 egg, 1.5 cups milk, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup honey.
add rasins, chocolate chips, dates, whatever to taste
mix wet and dry and combine then bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes. yields 15-18 muffins.
We did take one day off of being outside, because Sara got a stomach bug and was up in the night throwing up. The girls got to watch movies on Wednesday and rest, and Rea tried to convince Sara that being sick was very fun. Sara did not agree. Then Rea was up Friday night throwing up and spent Saturday laying around listening to the audio book of "The Secret Garden." (Libri Vox is so cool.) We reminded her of how fun being sick was. She was not impressed.
Timmy hit another milestone this week: he has begun shrieking as a major form of communication. It's an annoying stage, and we hope that he gets through it quickly. On a more positive note, he can now stand independently for a few seconds at a time.
Thursday the mom of one of Rea's preschool friends invited us to her free community orchestra concert. We were so excited! They played an array of mostly classical chamber music, including some songs we love. We decided to bring the kids, so as not to get a last-second babysitter and to expose them to some culture ("not the kind in food," Mike commented). Unfortunately, we didn't realize how difficult listening to a concert would be for them. Timmy was so excited to hear the music (he loves music right now) that he beat his hands and sang along as loud as he could, so he had to go out in the hall. Rea and Sara whined about bored, so the parent who wasn't out with Timmy whispered stories to them about what the music was playing. Flutes were generally owls, we decided, and the bassoon was definitely a baby elephant. So we made it through, but next time we either need to work on listening in advance, or leave the kids at home.
On Friday we went to Sheila and Scott's, to congratulate Scott on graduating. We had a good time, and they made cotton candy, so the kids were in heaven. Rea has been asking and asking to play with Max, so she was so happy to finally go there. (We did not actually see them play together very much, but it still made her happy.)
Saturday morning we did not have to make a cheese, because the soap-maker asked if we could sell her some milk. That was nice, because it was a busy Saturday. Alison was asked to lead the music at the stake baptism, and our ward was also in charge of providing a special musical number, so Rea and Sara came and sang. They got lots of compliments. (The discerning reader may notice that this was the day Rea was sick. We thought at that point that she had just thrown up from too much cotton candy the night before, but when she acted sick all day we had second thoughts. Oops.)
Then we went home and mucked out the goat shed. It's a difficult task, but this time we actually invested in a pitchfork, which helped a lot. The goats were not thankful for their newly cleaned quarters; they bleated really loudly about it. Maybe they were cold without their insulating layers of decomposing straw.
That evening we baby sat for Max and Shylo (we learned the correct spelling!). Actually, Alison accidentally double-booked herself, so for most of the evening it was Mike with Max, Rea, Sara, and Shylo (Alison took Timmy with her so that there wouldn't be two babies demanding to be held while the older kids needed interventions). It went pretty well.
Today (Sunday) Rea and Sara both bore their testimonies, and Rea gave a talk in Primary! She and Alison discussed the topic last Sunday, and then Rea dictated a talk and Alison wrote it down. She practiced reading it about three times during the week and in Primary went up and read it very well. It was great.
On Thursday I borrowed an electronic drawing pad from Scott and started a drawing regimen. I have always wanted to be better at art, and it seems like this is a good way to go about it. You can see the results here.This week we also made muffins a lot. We have a good recipe:
Dry: 2 cups wheat flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1/2 tsp salt,
Wet: 1 egg, 1.5 cups milk, 1/2 cup oil, 1/2 cup honey.
add rasins, chocolate chips, dates, whatever to taste
mix wet and dry and combine then bake 400 degrees for 15 minutes. yields 15-18 muffins.
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