Weekly Happenings: There were two main events that happened this past week that were pretty fun. The first one was the neighborhood party we attended at our park for National Night Out (a night meant for neighbors to get together and know each other a little better) this past Tuesday. Our HOA always puts together a great event at the park. This year was no different. There were tables for vendors (many who are also people who live in our neighborhood), the local petting zoo was there, first responders showed up, there was a balloon artist (one of Joseph’s favorites, for sure), the middle school band performed, there was a DJ, and there were food trucks to make sure everyone stayed well-fed. We had a lot of fun. 🙂 The other fun thing we did was to actually hike out to the dinosaur tracks in Government Canyon yesterday. Paul and I were not sure Joseph would make it (it is a five mile hike there and back, after all), but he managed to walk about three of the five miles. Paul would intermittently give him shoulder rides so that his little legs could get a rest. While looking at the tracks, we could hear a wild hog oinking somewhere farther off in the brush. This was sort of funny because we had just finished telling Joseph we didn’t have to worry about them coming out in the middle of the day (for some reason, he worries about running into one each time we hike there). Luckily, we didn’t see it (they can be mean if they feel threatened). After we finished, we celebrated by having In N’ Out and getting Joseph a Happy Meal. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: It’s been sunny and warm for the most part. Friday, we had a good-sized storm move through that brought cooler temperatures and quite a bit of rain. It only lasted a day, though, before everything was back to normal. 😉
What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly keeping busy with work, school, and house/yard maintenance. Oh, and he helped me add Halloween decorations to the fall decorations we already had up. 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly keeping busy with Joseph, piano teaching, and baby-growing. 😉
What Joseph’s Been Up To: Mainly school, the occasional homework, and enjoying childhood to its fullest (playing with LEGOS, paying outside, playing dress-up, etc.).
This Week in Pictures:
Our tried-and-true Halloween door decoration.We added Halloween stuff (mainly spiders) to the fall stuff on the piano. I love that I can flip the two craft pumpkins.The white one has a Thanksgiving saying that I keep facing out during September and November. For Halloween, I just flip it around and drape spiders over it. The orange one usually stays flipped around in September and November (so that it looks like a plain orange pumpkin) and then gets flipped in October to show the Halloween scene on it. I love multi-functional stuff!A spiderweb cloth centerpiece and a green and black bucket add some spooky to the table (I also pulled back out the bright green napkin holder since it matches).Orange lights under the breakfast bar create a spooky glow. You can also see the massive amounts of basil Paul pulled off my basil bush, er, I mean plant. 😉 I ended up blending it with olive oil and freezing the concoction in ice cube trays so that I can keep it in the freezer and add a bit of basil to things (or make pesto) over time.One of my favorite spots of the house. I love when Paul does this to our bookshelves. The jack-o-lantern lights are on a timer, so they turn on and off on their own.Spooky ghost lights.A Halloween doormat, some jack-o-lanterns, and a light-up skeleton round out the bunch. I like that we go for fun and slightly spooky for our Halloween stuff. This way, Joseph can enjoy this time of year without being too freaked out.His school shirt came in! He was excited to wear it, even though it’s a bit big. He’s got plenty of room to grow into it, I guess. 🙂Pausing in his playing to smile for Daddy while at National Night Out.Playing on the bridge at the park.Petting a bunny.Enjoying his first taco truck taco.Sampling some shaved ice…while looking directly into the sun, apparently. Whoops.When Joseph asked the balloon artist for a snake, I was intrigued to see what the result would be. The artist overheard Joseph talking about a certain Pokémon (a purple snake), so when Joseph asked him for a purple snake, this is what the result was. We were all rather impressed.My on-site handyman can fix pretty much anything.A new hook Paul hung up in our kitchen, so I have a better place to hang my dishrag while it’s drying. I love that Paul let me splurge on a “pretty” one as opposed to going with a purely utilitarian one.They clearly have a common love of LEGOS. I love that they can spend time together doing stuff like this!Hiking out to the dinosaur tracks. I wish the entire trail was like this (this part is right next to the park’s visitors’ center). There were parts of the trail that were level and dirt, but a lot of the trail was rocky and sort of challenging to navigate at times.The actual trailhead to the dino tracks.Taking a rest mid-hike. Between a pregnant momma and a 5YO, we took a lot of rests, actually. 😉A sign near the tracks, explaining different species that may have left the tracks.A cool cliff near the tracks.Paul and Joseph in front of some of the tracks.A theropod dinosaur left these tracks.He was really excited to get to see them “in real life”, as opposed to seeing the pictures that Paul showed him from when the Scouts hiked out here not too long ago.Those big indentations were left by sauropods, most likely.Joseph created a “guy” who was eating all his mini Pokémon figures…this kid’s imagination…
Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty average. I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday, so Paul stayed home for half the day in order to be able to drop Joseph off at school. I’m so grateful his job allows him to do stuff like that on occasion! On Tuesday, our AC guy came and installed the new part into our system. It’s so nice having a fully functioning air conditioner! Wednesday, I was able to go hang out with some of my girlfriends (which is always fun). Yesterday we had a relaxing day at home, watching conference (and we’re planning on doing the same today…in addition to having some friends over for dinner). It’s kind of nice being an hour ahead of Salt Lake because that means we get to sleep in before conference starts. 😉
The Weekly Weather: The first part of the week was glorious! It was rainy and cool…really fall-like. It warmed up a little bit after a few days, but it has still been quite pleasant. I’m not holding my breath, though. It’s supposed to be back up in the high 80s this upcoming week. :/
What Paul’s Been Up To: Pretty much just work, school, and Scouts. He also spends quite a bit of his free time playing with Joseph, which Joseph loves.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Pretty much just being a school-shuttling, baby-cooking, piano-teaching, momma. Life is pretty good right now. 🙂
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He has been having fun at school. The highlights of this week: getting to go to the book fair with me, getting to go to the computer lab with his class, getting to go to music time with his class (where they got to play with wood blocks and mallets), and getting to choose out of the treasure box for good behavior. He chose a pair of bright green vampire teeth. His latest scheme is to add them to his Halloween costume. He’s going to be Link again this year, so he said that he could wear his vampire teeth and be “dark Link”. 😀 He finds a new way to entertain me every day. 🙂
This Week in Pictures:
A favorite evening activity: watching the latest Peanuts movie while munching on popcorn. This time, he needed all his “buddies” with him. 😀I couldn’t help but turn on the fireplace on Monday, when the weather was all rainy. I was practical and didn’t turn on the heat feature. I love the ambiance it creates, though!This little boy loves drawing pictures! He was really concentrating on something he was drawing when I snapped this one.A family picture Joseph drew in school. I love that he now includes Abigail in all the pictures he draws of our family, even though she isn’t officially here yet.Doughnuts for breakfast on Conference Sunday. I’m totally on board with this new-to-us tradition! Joseph loves to dunk his doughnuts in milk. 🙂
Weekly Happenings: This past week was really a relaxing one. We mainly just stuck to doing the regular stuff. Monday, we went to the library to trade out books. Wednesday, I went to a book club meeting while the boys hung out at home. Thursday, we had an AC guy come out to look at our air conditioner. It wasn’t acting up per se, but it wasn’t cooling the way it ought to have been, which meant it was probably low on refrigerant again. It’s done this roughly once a year since we moved in, but we’ve never been able to find the leak until this last time. It looks like the coil was damaged (probably during install), so it needs to be replaced. Our AC guy checked, and it SHOULD still be under warranty (fingers crossed), but it’s still going to cost some money. Luckily, Paul thought something like this might happen, so when we got our tax return earlier this year, he made sure we set aside most of it into our savings to cover potential costs. I’m so glad I’m married to a man who thinks of these things! Our AC guy is coming back tomorrow to fix everything, hopefully for good! Friday, Paul went on an overnight camp out with the Scouts to Government Canyon while Joseph and I had a date night (dinner out; his choice and a trip to Target where he got to pick out a book). Yesterday we mainly hung out at home (Paul was understandably tired after his camp out) and then in the evening I went to the General Women’s Broadcast while the boys hung out at home.
The Weekly Weather: Warm and humid, as usual. The last couple of days there has been a cool-ish breeze accompanying it, which has been refreshing. Apparently, part of San Antonio got rained on yesterday, just not our part, haha. We’re supposed to have a cold front move in over the next couple of days, bringing rain and cooler temps before it heats up again.
What Paul’s Been Up To: Mainly work and school. As mentioned before, he went on a camp out Friday and Saturday. From what he’s told me, sleeping in a tent towards the end of September makes for a sweaty, uncomfortable night. I did happen to check the weather right about bedtime and it was still 81 degrees, but with the humidity being so high, it said it felt more like 89 degrees. Poor man! Joseph and I made sure to let him get in a nap in the nice, air conditioned house after he got home and cleaned up. One fun thing he mentioned about the camp out was that they got to hike far enough in to go see the dinosaur tracks (some actual dinosaur tracks that are preserved in some rock). It was cool to get to see the pictures (it’s still a bit too much of a walk for Joseph and, to be honest, me…at least while pregnant). One freaky thing that happened was that Paul was able to show the boys that it’s much easier to find a scorpion using a black-light flashlight. Apparently it makes them look bright green. *shudder* I suppose it’s better that they found it with their flashlight and not with their feet.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Piano teaching, shuttling Joseph back and forth to school, and sleeping! I have been so tired this past week. I think it’s due in part to Abigail being so, so, so active. There are mornings that I wake up sore and tired because it becomes quickly apparent that she has hosted a dance party for one all night. I don’t know that I would have it any other way, though. I love feeling the nudges and kicks. She is getting pretty strong, though. I’ve actually started seeing my stomach move in response. Going to book club was fun (as always) and going to the broadcast was so nice and relaxing. The leaders who speak always seem to know exactly what I need to hear. Amazing, huh? 🙂
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been settling into the school routine quite nicely. It sure is a blessing that he gets to do pre-k this year. Having a half-day experience will, I think, help him transition more smoothly into the full-day experience that is kindergarten and up. He loves school! Every day, he tells me about fun stuff he gets to do (go to the library, go to the computer lab, making mini pizzas and getting to eat them). To me, it sounds like what kindergarten used to be when I was going. I’m so glad he gets this positive experience! He’s also spent quite a bit of time making LEGO creations, playing outside, and dressing up as various characters. I’m so blessed to be his momma!
This Week in Pictures:
He still likes playing with these magnetic snowmen that my sister, Alice got him several years ago (they come with clothing you can put on top of them to dress them up).The weather forecast for the first official week of fall in San Antonio (not a crisp breeze or tree with changing leaves in sight, haha). Look at Monday, though! It’s almost there! 😉Paul’s shot of the dinosaur tracks. They have them chained off so that you can’t get too close. They don’t want people to accidentally damage them.Sitting in the shade of the patio, enjoying a cool-ish breeze, and blowing bubbles. It doesn’t get much better than this!Building LEGO masterpieces. He played like this for well over an hour.Sneaking in a little screen time. I thought it was cute that he was all snuggled up to Mickey. Joseph has a few favorite stuffed animals, but Mickey still reigns supreme, apparently.
