Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: As a family, we didn’t do too much out of the ordinary last week. We did take advantage of the coolish weather and took a trip to the zoo on Saturday morning. It’s so nice to go during the “off season” because even on the weekend, it’s way less busy than in the summer.

The Weekly Weather: We’ve officially hit San Antonio fall weather: low- to mid-80s for the most part with a few 70s days and a few 90s days.

What Paul’s Been Up To: Paul had last Monday off, so he spent the majority of the day painting the chairs for our dining room. They look so good! He also painted the napkin holder I have so that it matches the chairs. Other than that, it was pretty much an average week for him with work and school.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: The only real thing of note was that I hosted my first piano recital. It wasn’t very long, since I only have 8 students (7 of which were performing) and they are all beginners, which means shorter pieces. Paul helped my set up the living room for all the family members (we borrowed some chairs from a friend) and I served refreshments afterward. Paul took Joseph to the park so that he wouldn’t want to socialize with everyone. It went really well. 🙂 I also did one Messiah rehearsal and decided that it’s going to be too much for my already full plate, so I asked them if they would be able to find another pianist. They said it would not be an issue, so I can breathe a bit more.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: Cuteness as usual. He loves to sing along to songs on the radio, or on the TV, or when I’m singing (though he will sometimes tell me to stop, lol). His favorite songs right now are what he calls “Grandma’s song” (My little baby doesn’t want to go to sleep) and “Grandpa’s song” (the song my dad used to hum as he bounced Joseph on his knee; it originally came from my mom’s dad). He’s also been really into Spiderman, pretending to shoot webs at us.

This Week in Pictures:

 

Weekly Happenings: Since it’s been cooling down a bit, we spent more time outside this past week. We also went to our neighborhood party for National Night Out (a night where people are supposed to get together with their neighbors to get to know them better). The party was at our park and there were a lot of different booths set up, free food, games, petting zoo animals, etc. It was really great! Joseph and I also had a fun afternoon out when we met up with friends for lunch and then took the opportunity to walk around the temple grounds since the temple was right across the street from where we had lunch. We also had a fun family day on Friday. Paul got done with work early and we went out to eat, followed by a trip to La Cantera to walk around and to let Joseph play at the play place. The only draw-back to that was we didn’t think to put on bug spray and we got bit up pretty bad (dumb mosquitoes).

The Weekly Weather: It’s been a bit cooler than before, but still not as cool as I’d like (I’m yearning for the 60 degree temps that we probably won’t get until mid-November). We did get an awesome thunderstorm yesterday that dumped a bunch of rain. This week is supposed to be cooler. I’m looking forward to it!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Work and school as always…he got to be in charge of the discussion at his last meeting (kind of a student-led lesson). He also got to hang out with Joseph yesterday while I went to my Super Saturday Relief Society meeting. They were going to go to the zoo, but the rain messed up those plans. He took Joseph to the mall instead. Joseph got to play with the free-play Legos at the Lego store (and got his very first Lego Kit: a Lego excavator) and he got to ride on some of the quarter-rides (they are more like 75 cents now, but I still think of them as quarter-rides).

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Gearing up for my recital which is this Saturday, teaching piano students, tweaking my visiting teaching lists (we’ve always got people moving in and out of the ward, so my lists are constantly needing updating), and getting Christmas music ready for the ward choir to sing. I also got to go to a Super Saturday activity for Relief Society. This is where a bunch of crafts are offered for people to do. I decided to only do one craft: a growth ruler. It’s a large board decorated like a ruler that can be hung up on the wall so that we can measure Joseph (and future kids) as he (they) grow. I’ll post a picture once Paul gets the chance to hang it up.

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: We didn’t do too much out of the ordinary, just regular weekly stuff. I did, on a whim, take Joseph to the zoo on Friday, but other than that, the week was pretty laid back.

The Weekly Weather: It’s been a pretty even mix of warmer and cooler days, which is typical for the start of fall in San Antonio. I still keep hoping that it will cool down for good before Halloween, but in all likelihood, that won’t happen. :/

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been keeping busy with work and school. He also just got called to be the first counselor in the Sunday School presidency. This will be a better calling for him to hold while working and going to school because it won’t take up any of his time during the week.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been keeping busy with piano (I have a new student starting this week and my first recital is in a couple of weeks), my visiting teaching stuff, and getting geared up for not only getting the ward choir ready for Christmas (as well as everything in-between) but getting myself ready for the Messiah production that will be happening the first part of December.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s been experiencing life in many new ways (I took him for a walk around the neighborhood while he rode his bike…every incline was met with huffing and puffing on the way up and with him raising his feet off the ground and saying “Weeeeee!” as he coasted down). He’s also recognized his cuteness…the other day I told him, “Joseph, you are so cute!” He answered with, “I’m so cute!” using the same inflection that I did and everything. Another thing he’s displayed is his ever-growing sense of humor. Yesterday he told me, “Mommy, my tummy says, (insert a different voice) ‘I need more food!'”. He also pretended to burp just so that he could say “Excuuuse ME!” I’m glad that he’s been able to be so happy because physically, he’s been dealing with quite a severe allergy attack which has lasted several days. I have been giving him his allergy medicine, along with Ibuprofen. He had a couple of rough nights with coughing fits (though he slept all the way through the night last night), and has been asking me if I could take him to the doctor so that he can feel better (sorry, kid…not really anything they can do).

This Week in Pictures: