What Sarah’s Been Up To: I had quite the packed week as far as evenings went. I went to a meeting for one of my book clubs and a Relief Society meeting. I also hosted a LuLaRoe party, which is always fun. I love the clothes and love being able to try them on at someone’s house as opposed to trying on clothes in a dressing room. I can get my friends’ input on how things look…it’s just a lot of fun.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: I’ve kind of already mentioned all the fun stuff Joseph got to do this past week (fireworks, swimming, birthday party, sleepover). He is such a social kid and loves to play with friends SO much. It kind of surprises me. Paul and I are social, but we like our quiet times, too. Yet, I remember being like Joseph as a kid…so I suppose I ought not be too surprised. I do make sure that Joseph gets quiet down-time so that he doesn’t think someone needs to be entertaining him 24/7.
This Week in Pictures:
Getting to do one of his favorite Fourth of July things: holding a giant sparkler. 🙂 I really like these sparklers because the fuse is really far away from him and burns out WAY before it gets even remotely close to him (it was already almost completely spent at this point).i pretty much leave this stuff up year round (I only change the bottom banners out for other holidays), but thought taking another picture of it since it was Fourth of July was warranted.One day, I got a major craving for Chinese food. Paul, being the amazing man that he is, found where the nearest good place was, and we headed out. Joseph loved getting to use the kid chopsticks (though his love for noodles, veggies, and chicken won out and he eventually switched to a fork).Another major craving: cold, crisp watermelon. Paul knows how to pick them!I haven’t done much “cook book cooking” (survival, put food in our bellies cooking is more accurate, haha), but Joseph had been asking for shells and cheese for a couple of weeks. I would always forget by the time it came to meal plan and go grocery shopping, though. He happened to ask about it (again) the morning I was doing the meal plan and making the shopping list, so I was finally able to grant his request. 🙂He insisted on bringing his swim ring to the pool, but once more of his friends showed up, he abandoned it in pursuit of just splashing around in the shallow end with them.We were at Target getting the present for his friend’s birthday party and he saw this mask. He really wanted it, but we told him if that was the case, he’d need to use his allowance money to buy it. We went home, counted up how much he had (barely enough for the mask after tithing was taken out), and the next day headed back to get it. He was just a LITTLE excited.Striking a pose…Enjoying birthday cake at the party yesterday.
Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty average (at leas during the week). We mainly stuck around the house, ran a few errands, etc. Paul spent Wednesday evening and Thursday up with the Scouts at camp (the boys were there for several days, but since it was combined with boys from other troops and our troop only had two boys present, the leaders for our troop were taking turns going up different days). The real fun was yesterday. We woke up, got ready right away, and then headed out to the zoo. We had fun there for a few hours and then headed home so that Paul could do his homework. Towards the evening, some friends of ours asked if we were going to the Helotes 4th of July celebration. Helotes is a small city that is close to us that has a really small town feel. The celebration was at the park and was a lot of fun. There was music, free food, and fireworks. It was really fun to hang out with our friends! We got home pretty late, and by the time we got everyone bathed/showered (as part of the fireworks show they had some people dressed up in 1776-style clothing firing off cannons…consequently, we all smelled like cannon-fire, hahaha) and into pajamas, it was 11:00. Thankfully, Joseph slept in until 8:00 this morning!
The Weekly Weather: It’s been pretty stable, surprisingly. There was only one day where we had a random thunderstorm come through (I say random because rain wasn’t even showing up on the forecast…and it literally poured). The rest of the time it’s been typical South Texas summer weather: warm, humid, and super-sunny.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been kept busy with work, school, and Scouts. He’s gearing up for finals (coming towards the end of this month) after which he’ll be on break from school until mid-September (something I think he’s really looking forward to).
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I haven’t been up to too much…mainly just puttering through the week. I did go out with my girlfriends for dessert one evening, which was really fun. Oh, and Joseph and I went to one of my friend’s house for a housewarming party (we left Paul home doing homework that he missed doing because of Scout camp).
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been puttering through the week with me. 😉 He experienced a Texas-life-lesson at my friend’s housewarming party, though. When one is out in the backyard playing tag with new friends, one just might run into a fire-ant hill and get ants into one’s shoe…and they (being what they are) will bite. I could hear him crying (mommas have an uncanny way of recognizing their kid’s cry) and met him at the back door. He was telling me about stepping on the ant hill and I looked down and realized they were still crawling on him. I ripped his shoes off (he was wearing his knock-off Crocs) and hit off most of the ants (some I had to pull off since they were actively biting him…they tend to bite and then curl up tight so it’s hard to get them off…I think it’s safe to say that I hate fire ants). I started putting some liquid Benadryl on the bites (I keep a stick of it in my purse) and my friend ran and got some cream she has that’s especially meant for chiggers, ticks, and fire ants. After I got him home (he was understandably done at that point), I put him in the bath and then we applied more of a similar cream (Paul had some left over from his Army days). He’s feeling quite a bit better now (it’s been a few days). Now to chase a sad story with a funny one: He was in the bath one evening and had fashioned an “ice cream cone” out of a washcloth and one of his toys. He called my attention to what he had done (I was sitting on the couch in the loft, reading, so I could still sort of monitor him while he was in the bath). I told him it looked cool, and went back to my book. A few seconds later, I heard him say, “Blech!” followed by spitting sounds. I asked him if he has tasted his “ice cream”. He said, “Yup. It didn’t taste very good.” Hahaha! I love that kid!
This Week in Pictures:
Link checking out the map of Hyrule…Going in for the perfect shot.Our tomato plants are going crazy! Oh, and the yellow thing is a bell pepper I accidentally left on longer than planned. Whoops, hahaha.Oh yeah, I rearranged the loft. This is the before……and this is the after. I moved Joseph’s play tent out of his room (which opens his room up a ton) so that he and his friends can play with it more (when his friends come over, I usually close off his room so that only one room gets destroyed, haha.He wanted to snuggle, so he brought over a blanket and snuggled up to me (with a sword to fight off any foes that might appear, of course). I’m trying to soak up these snuggle sessions as much as I can because they are definitely getting fewer and farther in-between.Then he realized I had taken a picture…so he wanted to make silly faces, of course.On the carousel at the zoo.I sure love these boys!Saying hello to Momma (who cannot handle the spinny carousel right now).He told us he wanted to feed the koi. When he told us, it took us a second to realize he was talking about the fish. I forgot that we had told him their proper name, once, several months ago. I guess it stuck!Spinning pinwheels with one of his best buddies at the Helotes 4th of July celebration.Joseph enjoying some ice cream.Glow sticks are so much fun!
Weekly Happenings: Our week was pretty run of the mill. On Monday, Paul took a half day and went with me to my doctor’s appointment. We got to see baby wriggling around, hear the heartbeat, and got an official due date: 12/28/16. It looks like Paul might get his wish of a “precious little tax deduction” for next year, afterall. 😉 The only other things out of the ordinary that happened was that yesterday Paul successfuly hunted up a school desk for Joseph to use at home. We had gone to a used desk store and hadn’t found anything that quite matched what we wanted (an old-school desk that either had a cubby in front or a lift-top lid, like we had in elementary school). Paul checked back with Craigslist (basically an online garage sale site), found one, sent the guy a message, got an affirmative answer (yes, he still had the desk), called him to get the address, and we headed over. Joseph and I waited in the car and Paul picked up the desk. It’s in practically new condition and we only spent $20.00! I think we’re all pretty happy. 🙂 We also ran by the mall since I needed a new pair of shoes…and Joseph may or may not have convinced Paul that he needed a new LEGO kit (it’s not too hard when they have some relatively inexpensive smaller sets). 😉
The Weekly Weather: It’s been hot and muggy, but in reality, not as bad as it could be (or that we’ve had in the past) this time of year. There were a couple of days where it may have broken 100 degrees, either according to the thermometer itself or according to the heat index (which factors in humidity), but it’s mosty been in the low- to mid-90s. This pregnant lady sure is grateful for that!
What Paul’s Been Up To: Pretty much his regular stuff: work, school, Scouts, and maintaining the house.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Pretty much my regular stuff, too. It’s been a little different not having piano students, but I am grateful for the extra rest I’ve been getting. I’m feeling so much better than I was a few weeks ago (other than occasional bouts with an unsettled stomach that luckily only yields a stomachache that is relatively easily settled by some Tums, as opposed to my stomach insisting on emptying itself). I think that when September comes along, I’ll be more than ready to start back up again with my students for a few months before baby comes.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been spending a lot of time playing with LEGOs, dressing up as different people, and just being a genuinely good kid. He did get to go over to a friend’s house to play in their wading pool and sprinklers, which he loved (I loved it, too, since my friend basically told me to drop him off and then go home and take a nap). 🙂 I don’t think I can ever adequately express how grateful I am for the friends we’ve made since moving here!
This Week in Pictures:
Baby!It was really wriggling around.You can see both arms, the head, and the tummy.Side shot…Another side-shot.You can see a little fist up close to the head.Extra close-up of the face and body.He was a “swim ring jumpasaurus”.Jumping rope while wearing a swim ring takes special skills…Sometimes I just can’t help taking a picture of our beautiful Texas skies. They just blow me away!He loves to dress up. His two favorite people to dress up as are Mario (with his basball hat and winter gloves) and Link (as pictured here).Showing off his two Star Wars LEGO kits. His AT-AT (which he got a while back) and his X-wing fighter (which he got yesterday).The face of a kid who is over the moon about two things he loves (LEGOs and Star Wars) being mashed into one.Flying his X-wing fighter around.Watch out! He’s gonna get you!They are pretty cool…I helped him build both of these, and I have to say, I’m so grateful for how clear the instruction books are!Joseph’s desk.It’s got a really good hinge that keeps the lid from slamming back down. I still can hardly believe we got such a good deal on this. It’s practically new!
