Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: This past week was another one of those “bookend weeks” as I sometimes call them. We did fun stuff at the beginning and the end, but the middle was pretty average. Since Paul had Monday off, we got up, got ready, and headed downtown to hit up the Kiddie Park and the zoo. Well, we were supposed to go to the zoo after the Kiddie Park, but after the train ride to the Kiddie Park (the train depot is in the same parking lot as where we park for the zoo, so we planned to ride the train to the Park, ride it back, go to the zoo, and then head home after that) and tiring himself out on all the rides, Joseph said he didn’t really feel like going to the zoo (I think his legs were tired, haha). We opted for stopping at the mall on the way home to get lunch and visit the LEGO store, which he liked a lot (especially since we decided to get him a small LEGO kit as a special treat for his birthday, which was the day before). Yesterday we had the actual party for his birthday. It was as we always plan them: laid back and easy. The kids played video games, played outside, had cake and ice cream…that was it. They loved it, and I loved it because it was the most stress-less party ever.

The Weekly Weather: It has been gorgeous! It’s still been warm, but not nearly as hot as it normally is this time of year. The mornings and evenings have actually cooled down, and the afternoons have been mild. I love it!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly enjoying his last little bit of freedom before another semester starts up tomorrow. Other than that, he’s been pretty busy with work and other things.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Not too much for me, either. I attended the orientation for Joseph’s kindergarten class. I found out that other than reading and practicing letters and sight words, Joseph won’t have any homework being sent home. I am so excited about that! I feel like there is plenty of time to be teaching him what he needs to know while he’s at school…he doesn’t need more to do once he gets home. He can relax and get rested for the next day. It’s so nice!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been having a good time at school and loved his fun days on Monday as well as yesterday. It’s so hard to believe he’s six now! Oh, and at his annual check-up he weighed 44 pounds and is now 45.5 inches tall.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Rolling, shrieking, and just being pleasant overall. The other day, I thought I heard her grinding her teeth, which confused me since, to my knowledge, she only has her bottom two center ones. I decided to investigate (which she found mildly irritating, haha) and found that she’s got her top two teeth coming in at the exact same time! She’s getting so big!

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: If you’ve been on any form of social media at all or watched the news, you’ve heard about Hurricane Harvey. We were a bit nervous because it was projected to head straight for us. In fact, they canceled all church services last Sunday in anticipation of possible severe weather and flooding. We made sure our emergency supplies were stocked and…waited. Then, as is the way with unpredictable things like hurricanes, the storm switched directions. While the southeast portion of San Antonio saw some flooding and whatnot, all we had was a bit of wind and rain. Other parts of South Texas were not so lucky. Coastal beach cities (like Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Port Aransas) sustained heavy damage and Houston had some devastating flooding. Aid has started flowing in though, so hopefully things will get better soon. One thing we have been dealing with here is a sort of self-created gasoline shortage of sorts. People got scared that we would run out of gas (because a lot of our foundries are in the Corpus or Houston areas) and started loading up on gasoline, even though they didn’t really need to. Because of that, it’s been hard to find gasoline. Luckily, Paul and I filled up before the storm and haven’t really been driving places, so hopefully by the time we need to fill up, things will have calmed down. The other major thing that happened this past week was that Joseph started kindergarten…and loves it (no surprise there, though).

The Weekly Weather: It’s been really nice, actually. The first part of the week was breezy and cool (probably lingering effects from the storm). It did start to warm back up by then, but it hasn’t been too bad, really. Can’t ask for more than that for the end of August!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly just work and the normal upkeep of the house and yard.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I almost forgot that Friday was my birthday! Paul had the day off, so we had a fun lunch at home (so Abigail could still nap), he made me dinner, and then we had cake and ice cream with friends. Other than that, it was a pretty typical week.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been loving school and was excited to have me bring in cookies on Friday to share with his class to celebrate his birthday (which is today). It’s hard to believe we have a six-year-old! He also got to go to a friend’s birthday party (which is always fun). He’s looking forward to having friends come over this weekend to officially celebrate his birthday.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: Mainly just being her normal awesome cute self. She seems to finally be getting over the side-effects of her antibiotic, which makes everyone happy!

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: This past week held a couple of big events, both on the same day, oddly enough. Thursday was our fifteenth wedding anniversary (it’s crazy to think it’s been that long). It was also Meet the Teacher where Joseph got to meet his new teacher for this upcoming school year. She seems really great and we’re all excited for the new year to begin tomorrow.

The Weekly Weather: The week started out pretty normal. Towards the end of the week, we started seeing the effects of Hurricane Harvey. It pretty much ravaged the coast, around Corpus Christi, Rockport, and Port Aransas. Houston is experiencing some flooding. So far, we’ve only experienced some gusty and rainy days. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days as a continued result. Hopefully we won’t experience any flooding out here, but we’ll see.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Not too much out of the ordinary. He had a good week at work and even got off a bit early on Friday since they wanted everyone to get home before the storms hit.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Other than having a dentist appointment, this was a pretty average week for me, too. One fun thing I did was to put up our fall decorations. I know it’s early, but I couldn’t wait any longer, haha. I love the holidays!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s enjoyed one last week of summer vacation and was super excited to find out that a couple of his pre-k friends will be in his kindergarten class.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s still fighting the effects of the antibiotics from her bout with salmonella, but seems to slowly be getting them out of her system. She’s pretty much her happy, smiley self again. She has been experimenting more with sounds (usually at an increased volume, haha) and has shown interest in playing peek-a-boo (though I’ve learned that if you hide for more than five seconds, she forgets you’re still there and is genuinely startled when you appear again). Oh, and she also officially hit the eight month mark. It’s hard to believe that in four months we’ll be celebrating her first birthday.

This Week in Pictures: