Darr Family Blog – Page 160 – The place to follow the Darr Family

A Bit of Divine Intervention and the {official} End of a Drought

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty chill. Since summer has pretty much set in, we try to do things early in the day or later in the evening since it is rather warm out during the middle of the day (truth be told, it’s warm in the evening as well, but that’s because it doesn’t cool down at night out here like I’m used to, growing up in California). One morning I stepped out the front door, barefoot, to hang our flag up. As I turned to go back in, I saw a pretty substantially-sized scorpion just chilling on the stoop…which means that I had literally stepped over it as I had walked out, BAREFOOT. I hadn’t seen it because it was on the part of the doorstep that isn’t flat. I didn’t dare walk back over it to get into the garage for the shovel. Luckily, we have some large rocks sitting on the front porch. I was able to use one of those to…dispose of the scorpion. I’m so grateful that Joseph hadn’t followed me out like he normally does and that I did not get stung. I KNOW that my Heavenly Father protected me in that instance! As for the rest of the week, several of my students are taking the summer off from piano, so I have a bit more time to do one-on-one stuff with Joseph. We got to go to the zoo twice this week, which was really fun. 🙂 The other bit of exciting news is that we are officially done with water restrictions. The water in the Edwards Aquifer has been above 660 feet for more than 10 days. That means that while we are still being encouraged to conserve water, there are no restrictions as to how often we can water (we were previously only allowed to water during a certain day and time). They are still asking us to water either before 11 AM or after 7 PM, but that is common sense to us. This is a big deal because San Antonio has been under some form of water restrictions since 2011. We’re so grateful for all the rain we have received (and continue to receive). Here’s a news article about the end of the restrictions.

The Weekly Weather: During the past week, it was warm and sunny. Yesterday was a bit more overcast (with a smattering of rain) and today has been quite the change weather-wise. While we were at church it started pouring and continued to pour. People’s phones started going off in Relief Society, notifying them of flash flood warnings (even if their phones are on silent, some people have settings that will still make them go off if there is a severe-weather warning). We made it home (which was kind of nerve-wracking because I don’t think I could see more than 10 feet in front of me because the rain was coming down so hard. It’s let up a bit, but we’re supposed to have thunderstorms all this week.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He continues to plug away at school, work hard at work, and work hard to keep our yards looking great. He was mowing the lawn the other evening and I kept hearing the mower shut off. As I went out to take some trash to the curb, I noticed him chasing down a huge frog who had jumped into our garage. As he caught it and was in the process of relocating it, he told me that he kept having to stop the lawnmower because the thing kept jumping right in front of the mower, freaking him out each time because he was trying desperately not to hit it (he has unfortunately gotten a few smaller frogs with the weedeater because he wasn’t able to stop in time).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Same-old, same-old for me. I’m continuing to teach my students, I have almost all my visiting teaching assignments handed out (I think I’m going to mail the rest), and choir is singing some really things. I cancelled choir practice today because of the crazy weather. My major plans for this week are to gear up for Father’s Day and prepare a lesson for Relief Society next week (the regular teacher is out of town).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been rather…strong-willed at times this week (luckily his easy-going moments still outnumber the strong-willed ones). He really loved going to the zoo (I’m really grateful for zoo passes). He also enjoyed snuggling with me on the couch while we caught one of his shows. Paul has put some fun stuff for him to do (like preschool games) and watch (the kids’ YouTube channel) on the Nook, so as a treat (or, truthfully, if I need to keep him busy while I’m doing something), he gets to have some “tablet time”. He has some special earphones that only let the volume go up to a certain level so that he can’t hurt his ears, which is great!

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20150608_152049589 — He has expressed wanting to stay downstairs while I have students over. Since he can be a bit too social with them (to the point of distraction), we have come to the agreement that he can have some “tablet-time” while I have students. That way, he is still downstairs, but he’s quiet. 🙂

IMG_20150609_135032021 — Some of the fruits of our gardening labors.

15 - 1 (43) — I love this picture that I managed to get of him on the lion sculpture at the zoo. He said, “Hey! I’m gonna climb the lion and you take my picture! The zoo has several sculptures that are meant for the kids to climb all over.

15 - 2 (13) — For example, the elephant sculpture is another one that he likes to get on.

15 - 3 (10) — There is a train by the zoo that takes you around Brackenridge Park (named after the guy who donated the land for the park and the zoo) and makes stops at the Witte Museum (science/history), the Kiddie Park (a 1920s-era theme park meant for toddlers), and the Japanese Tea Gardens (formed from an old stone quarry in 1917 or so). They’ve recently added two more trains so that people don’t have to wait so long for the train during peak times. Joseph wanted to get his picture taken up by the engine because it was blue and had the number one (like Thomas the Tank Engine).

IMG_20150612_144314966 — Funny face time!

IMG_20150612_144215556 — I love this little boy so much!!

IMG_20150614_125011 — We’ve seen water collect in the yard before…

IMG_20150614_125006 — …but never this much. The grass is completely submerged. *update* since this picture was taken (2.5 hours previous to this post): the yard has since absorbed all of the water, but it’s still pretty squishy out.

Hey, June…when did YOU get here?!

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty average. I got the oil in the van changed, taught piano, got visiting teaching stuff figured out, etc. Saturday was my combined recital (my piano students and my friend Aili’s voice students). It went really well. Many people came up to us afterward and said they really liked hearing both types of music. I think we’ll do it that way again! 🙂

Weekly Weather: It seems that with the commencement of the month of June, we’re done with the rain for a while at least, and the warm weather is here for good. Having said that, it’s been a pretty mild June. I think the warmest we’ve been temperature-wise is in the low 90s. Not bad, at all!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school (he just finished midterms) as usual. He’s also working with the Sunday School presidency (of which he is the first counselor) to plan the 4th of July ward party.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Now that my recital is finished and my visiting teaching organizing is taken care of for the month, I can devote more time to getting my choir stuff learned (singing and directing are two WAY different things, I am learning). There are times when I feel stretched a bit thin, but I know Heavenly Father will not give me anything that I can’t handle, so I need to remember to put my trust in Him, and it will all get done. 🙂

What Joseph’s Been Up To: Showing me love…in his own way: the other night before I left him in his bed to go to sleep, he told me, in a very sweet voice, that he loved me…and then in that same sweet voice, he said “fist bump” and held up a little fist that I could bump and do the “Bah-la-la-la-la” sound from that move, Big Hero 6.

This Week in Pictures: I’m also throwing in a couple of pictures that Paul’s boss’s husband got of us at the work picnic two weeks ago.

Walking along at the picnic. People got a kick out of the boys’ “matching” shirts. 🙂

Our little man is full of silliness, as usual. 😉

15 - 1 (42) — Joseph’s first taste of watermelon. Believe it or not, he hadn’t had it before (he always declined when we offered). He really liked it (it was a really good watermelon) and said, “this is the best watermelon night, ever!”

IMG_20150531_202111571 — My four o’ clocks. They only open in the late afternoon (hence their name), so if you aren’t there at the right time, you miss it.

IMG_20150603_130455748 — We were able to pick some blackberries!!

IMG_20150603_131144030 — Joseph’s first “family portrait”. We’re the orange blobs. 😀

IMG_20150605_103527692_HDR — Playing preschool games on Paul’s nook. He loves to snuggle down in the pillows on our bed to do so.

15 - 1 (41) — I love everything about this picture. It’s more than a little boy having fun. It reminds me a lot of my childhood, actually. It also shows the effort that (mostly) Paul and (occasionally) I put into the back yard to have a nice place for Joseph to play and grow up. I feel so blessed to have Paul’s help to be able to provide Joseph with such a great childhood!

IMG_20150606_145525210 — We stopped by a yard sale and found this little table (the legs are folded up in this picture) that Joseph can use to build with his Mega Bloks. Best $3.00, ever!

Finally Starting to Dry Out…and a few family fun days

Weekly Happenings: This past week was pretty fun. Paul had Monday off (since it was Memorial Day), so we headed to the zoo. It was surprisingly not crowded. The weather also cooperated with us (it didn’t start raining until we were heading to the car), so it was a fun trip. We then went to eat at Bobby J’s (one of our favorite hamburger places) before heading home to relax. The middle of the week was normal as usual and then Friday we went to Paul’s annual work family lunch. They had really good food, fun things to do (there was a dunk tank, some games, face painting, etc.), and we had a great time. After we left there, we decided to hit up the zoo again (the major benefit of having passes). We got there right before closing and it was awesome! It was practically deserted, so it was quiet and peaceful. We then grabbed a bite to eat on the way home. Yesterday we went and cleaned up our park (as part of the monthly clean-up that we try to do), ran to the store to get a few things, and then headed home so that Paul could have some much needed time to devote to homework. After dinner we went out for a special treat and got some frozen yogurt (Joseph says that Orange Leaf is his favorite restaurant). 🙂

The Weekly Weather: As the title of this post alludes to, we are finally starting to dry out. Texas has received an insane amount of rain this spring. A week ago, there were flash floods, tornado warnings, the works…luckily in our part of town, with the exception of torrential rain fall (and crazy thunder and lightning), we stayed pretty high and dry, considering. This past week has been quite a bit better. A few rainstorms have come through, but nothing like what we were getting. I even took Joseph to the park a few times!

What Paul’s Been Up To: We finally got word that he will be starting his new job…sort of. He will still be in the library until they can essentially figure out how to get someone to replace him, but starting tomorrow he will be getting the amount of money that he is supposed to get with the new job (and start the timetable ticking for the year-mark where he will get another raise). Once they have someone in to replace him in the library, he’ll move over to the IT department.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: My recital is this coming Saturday, so I have been getting my students ready for it. I have also been working hard to get my visiting teaching numbers collected since tomorrow starts a new month. This year is just flying by!

What Joseph’s Been Up To: His imaginative play is getting quite involved. There was one day that I was on the elliptical, and he ran into the room with his pool noodle. An intense sword fight with an invisible foe ensued, followed by him running triumphantly out of the room. Not a sound was uttered during the entire experience. I can only guess that he saved me from a horde of invisible ninjas or something…

This Week in Pictures:

IMG_20150525_125625 — On the bronze elephant.

IMG_20150525_125648 — Momma decided to hop on…I love his face in the picture!

IMG_20150525_125652 — I sure do love being his momma!

IMG_20150528_083551951 — Hanging out with his best buddy…of the plush variety, of course. There are days when these two are inseparable.

IMG_20150528_132729425 — He wanted to try one my dark chocolate Hershey’s kisses. I didn’t think he’d like it (since dark chocolate has a slight bitter taste to it), but I was wrong! He actually asked for another one after he finished the first one.

IMG_20150528_145702403 — We have so many blackberries on our bushes!

IMG_20150528_145708845 — They are finally starting to darken…we have to watch the ants, though…they will ruthlessly attack them as they start to ripen.

IMG_20150529_120625 — Family “selfie” while waiting in line for food at Paul’s work party. People thought that Paul and Joseph’s matching shirts were awesome.

IMG_20150529_124747 — Getting his face painted. I was surprised that he held still for it (it helps that he chose something small that was completed quickly).

IMG_20150529_125109 — He loved his turtle!

IMG_20150529_171626 — Hanging out in front of the Nile crocodile…this captures his personality so well, I think.

IMG_20150529_171631 — There’s a good smile for the camera…we get them, on occasion.

IMG_20150529_170914772 — My sweet and handsome men…

IMG_20150529_164937961 — Feeding the lorikeets.

IMG_20150529_164956618 — This was the first time Joseph was brave enough to hold the cup of nectar.

IMG_20150530_193531338 — He fashioned his own light sabers out of portions of a pool noodle and cylindrical wood blocks. He and Paul had quite a few “battles” yesterday.