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Another Fun Week

Weekly Happenings: This past week contained the regular stuff (work, school, errand-running, etc.) but fun stuff as well: trips to the park (I think we went four times), a trip to the zoo, and tons of home fun.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been mostly warm (with cool mornings and mild evenings). Yesterday a cold front moved through, dropping the temperature about 25 degrees. It was interesting having to dig the winter stuff back out for just one day (today it’s supposed to be back up to almost 80).

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s finishing up his final projects for this semester. He’ll have a short break before diving into his final semester before getting his Bachelor’s Degree.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Taking the kids to the park, doing the back-and-forth school drop-off and pick-up, running errands, keeping the house in a {relatively} organized manner, etc.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at school but has loved afternoon park visits and play dates at the house.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s starting to respond to simple phrases and commands. For example, if I ask her if she wants to give one of her stuffed animals (or one of us, or anything, really) “loves”, she’ll hug it close to her and pat it. The other day I was cleaning up the toys in the loft. She was watching me rather intently, so I handed her a car, and as I was putting other cars away, I said, “Come put your car away.” She sat for a moment (I could tell she was processing) and then crawled over and put her car in the bin (and was rewarded with a “Good job, Baby-girl!” which she loved to hear). We have to spell the word “bath” unless we’re ready to put her in the bathtub right then, or else she gets rather upset (she LOVES bath time). Oh, and while I was making dinner one night, I was letting her play with some kitchen utensils that I keep just for her in a plastic bowl. I tuned around to pick them all up (since I heard her playing with toys in the living room) to find that she’d put them all back in the bowl before crawling off to the living room. It was a rather nice surprise, haha.

This Week in Pictures:

[1]
My first attempt at an {almost} homemade pie (for convenience I used a pre-made crust) turned out pretty tasty. It’s strawberry (a favorite fruit in our house). Even Joseph, who is a somewhat picky pie eater said he liked it a lot. He did say that the whipped cream (which I did make from scratch) was his favorite part. 😄
[2]
Joseph’s model of a pill bug that he did at school as part of a research project. I love how his teacher stretches his brain in fun ways!
[3]
Paul moved the coffee table from its more traditional placement (it was rather cramped the way it had to be in order to accommodate the recliners) and moved the smaller table as well (since the coffee table is now where it once resided). I instantly loved it. The area is much more open to walk around, and now the board games (which are in the plastic bins under the coffee table) are much more accessible to bring to the table to play.
[4]
I love seeing her looking at books!
[5]
She loves this plush milk carton (yes, you read that correctly) a friend of mine got for her.
[6]
Giving it “loves”.
[7]
Miss Fiesta came to visit Joseph’s school (Fiesta is a big event in San Antonio during the month of April) and Abigail was rather enamored with her crown. When Miss Fiesta asked if we wanted to take a picture with her, I couldn’t really say no. I did have a hard time keeping Abigail from grabbing all her Fiesta medals (the things pinned to her sash), though.
[8]
She climbed into Joseph’s beanbag chair with this book and proceeded to just sit back and relax with it.
[9]
She looks so big in these pictures. I can hardly believe it!
[10]
Roaring like a bear (unlike the actual bear behind him…who, I think, is getting ready for a nap, haha).
[11]
Surfing the Komodo dragon.
[12]
Saying hello to a giraffe…I couldn’t believe how close they were this time.
[13]
I’m not quite sure what’s going on in this picture…maybe he’s making a giraffe face? Or just a silly face for the camera…either is possible.
[14]
After the zoo, we went to The Cracker Barrel for dinner. They had games at each table to play. Joseph loved this peg game. As we were paying for our meal later, we noticed they had them for sale right by the register (well played, Cracker Barrel, well played) and decided we would get him one (we decided $4 was rather reasonable).
[15]
Putting Daddy’s slippers back up on the bench after getting them down to play with.
[16]
Paul got this shot. I sense a theme starting with her, books, and this spot. We might need to get another beanbag chair eventually (since Joseph still likes to snuggle into this spot on occasion).