Weekly Happenings: This past week seemed to just fly by. We were busy with work, school, running errands, teaching piano, and the like. I’m trying to wrap my head around how September is almost over. The holidays will be here before we know it!
The Weekly Weather: It’s been all over the map, really. We’ve had a couple of good storms which we desperately needed. One was overnight with quite a bit of thunder. Joseph ended up spending the night on the extra mattress we have on the floor in our room. Abigail thankfully slept through it all. We’ve had some slightly cooler temps and then some slightly hotter temps. It’s been quite the adventure checking my weather app several times a day to see it change, haha.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy at work. He’s also been helping me with some organizational bits around the house. When we first moved in, we had a set of shelves to hold a lot of his military awards, coins, and the like. They’ve been fine up there until Senorita Grabs-a-Lot came along (she won’t leave the “shinies”alone). So Paul ordered some shadow boxes for his medals and coins and got some frames for some of his awards. I noticed it feels a lot more open with the shelves gone, which is another plus. Oh, and his birthday was this past week! We’re celebrating tonight with friends and cheesecake (of course). 🙂
What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mostly just my ordinary stuff. I did drive out to New Braunfels (about an hour away) to visit with a friend who recently moved out there. It was so good to see her and hang out.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He’s back into the groove of school. He’s doing GT again this year and is excited to get to do some extra project-based learning.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s…keeping me on my toes and giving me the opportunity to try many different parenting styles/techniques to see which one works best. 😉 I think we’ll leave it at that, haha. One cute thing that happened was that at dinner one night she told me her tomato slice (which was cut in half) looked like a rainbow. 🙂 She’s constantly using her imagination (one day she held a toy up to her eye and told me that she had a telescope). Life is definitely an adventure with her.
This Week in Pictures:
All ready for church.The result of me telling her I wanted to take her picture.Here’s one of the boy all ready for church.I asked him to keep her occupied while I put dinner together. He did a great job (and got a nap in to boot…that’s my kind of multi-tasking).We ordered her a new windbreaker. As soon as it came, she wanted to put it on…and refused to take it off. I think I told her I would give her broccoli if she would let me hang it up.We had a visitor one morning (Paul had to chase it out of the garage because he didn’t want to have it trapped in there and he didn’t want to have Joseph encounter it in there since Joseph does NOT like any flying bugs).It’s called an Imperial Moth and it’s about the size of my hand, length-wise.Smelling a flower that Paul picked to give to her (if she promised to go inside from the garage…life seems to be a constant stream of negotiations with this one). She didn’t want me to brush her teeth until she saw Joseph brushing his. Then she needed to do hers on her own, next to him.Girl clothes are fun.I moved Abigail’s kitchen upstairs to be with the rest of the toys.I did need to reposition some of the other toys up there to make it work.I like it much better up here. There are fewer places for her to squirrel away her toy food (which she then gets upset about being missing and I have to hunt around for it).It’s also a lot more open downstairs, too.We were getting ready to go out to run errands. She insisted on putting some toys into a backpack and have me help her to put it on. Then she told me she was going to school. Not quite yet, my wee one.When one is playing dress-up, one doesn’t care if one’s costume is a conglomeration of two totally different costumes. I love when the sun is trying to break through the clouds. Those white streaks are rays of sunshine that my camera just couldn’t capture the way my eye could.I scrounged up a few quarters for the kids to go for a ride on the bike.Joseph’s turn on the bike. Bye-bye shelves and hello shadow boxes! I had a few things on the shelves that I still wanted displayed, so I just found a different place for them (along with Paul’s two eagles that he got at different times during his military service). Abigail really likes mayonnaise on her sandwich, apparently. A really cute crocheted dress one of my sweet friends made for Abigail. Why have the shark OR the narwhal when you can have both the shark AND the narwhal?
Weekly Happenings: This past week contained Joseph’s eight-year physical, a shopping trip for new clothes (to fill in the gaps in Abigail’s new wardrobe), ordering new clothes for both kids on Amazon (seriously, why do they have to grow out of their clothes at the same time? haha), and a fun couple of play dates (on Friday, I took Abigail to the park for a play date with kiddos her age and then this morning, Joseph was able to go across the street to our friends’ house to play sans his little sister, which was great for him).
The Weekly Weather: it rained pretty good on Wednesday. Abigail and I got caught in it on our way home from dropping Joseph off at school, but luckily Paul was at home (he was planning on staying home to watch Abigail when I took Joseph to his doctor’s appointment later that morning), so he hopped into the car to come get us. Other than that, it’s been pretty humid and sticky, but thankfully a bit on the cooler side (low- to mid-90s).
What Paul’s Been Up To: work, yard work, etc. He also met with the HOA leaders this week to iron out the most recent issues (it’s never-ending, it seems).
What Sarah’s Been Up To: My piano students are pretty much settled back into their routines, which means my routine is getting back to normal. I’ve had a few drop (due to moving and bust schedules), but haven’t picked any up to replace them. I like being done a little earlier in the afternoon so I still have time to cook dinner each night.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: He did pretty good at his appointment. He did NOT want to get a flu shot, but we got it done. He’s 4’1″ and 59 lbs. He’s back in GT on Mondays (during class), which he really enjoys, settling into the new routine and rules (which can always be a little tough at the beginning) of his new classroom and teacher, and really enjoyed getting to play with his friends this morning (they’re home-schooled, so he doesn’t get to see them often during the school year).
What Abigail’s Been Up To: Her stubbornness has gotten to be quite trying at times. I often have to take a deeeeeep breath (or two…or three) before dealing with the aftermath. There’s a lot of negotiating that happens in the household (she does better if she gets a choice rather than just being told what to do, but that can’t happen every time, so I try to come up with incentives for when those times happen). Luckily, much of the time she is her sweet little self which is a good breather for in-between the tough times. I took her shopping for some new clothes and a pair of shoes (she needed some more dresses for church and a few more short-sleeved shirts…the shoes were somewhat of an impulse buy, but she should be able to wear them with quite a few outfits, so I’m happy (and excited to get her dressed for church tomorrow, haha) She is currently obsessed with Baby Shark (a cute music video that’s gone rather viral with the toddler-crowd) and with anything Halloween (she calls it Trick-or-Treat and gets excited whenever she sees pumpkins). She also wants to watch Christmas specials of different cartoons (thank you, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, haha), which kind of makes me long for cooler weather and the holidays.
This Week in Pictures:
My impulse-buy for Abigail. She can wear them to church, but also with a couple of her more casual outfits. I couldn’t pass up the color. She looks so good in mustard.I was able to combine a coupon and some rewards dollars to get a pretty good deal. I love it when I can do that (especially if I have to buy a lot at once).Walking in Momma’s shoes. I was able to find her some Bermuda shorts on clearance online (seriously, it’s so hard when all that’s in the stores is pants and long-sleeved shirts…and sweaters…it’s still 90+ degrees, people!).Years ago, one of my brothers gave me a piece of his artwork (fashioned after the concept of a Klein bottle, for anyone who is familiar with what that is). It lives on our front porch and usually collects a bit of water every time we get a decent amount of rain. I usually dump it out right away (sitting water is just asking for mosquitoes to breed in it) and was about to do so, but then I noticed that one of our resident toads (who have burrows along the edge of our front walk) decided he’d hang out in the new “pool”. Loving the swings at the park.Also loving the big slide.Trying to figure out how to navigate the bridge (mainly trying to keep her feet from going through the holes…this part of the play equipment is really meant for slightly older kids).Figuring out how to walk in-between the holes.I came down from taking my shower this morning to find this…cutie-patooties.She got a little…over-zealous when eating her toast. She loves swinging…
Weekly Happenings: This week started off with my birthday on Sunday. It was a nice day. 🙂 We were then going to have Joseph’s birthday party on Monday (since it was a holiday and also the day before his birthday), but he got sick. 🙁 I kept him home on Tuesday because he wasn’t quite over his illness (I think it was a cold with a dash of a tummy bug, but thankfully no puke). The plus side was that he was able to enjoy a birthday doughnut that we snuck out to get and bring home to eat (fun fact: Abigail is capable of eating half a dozen doughnut holes on her own, within a matter of less than ten minutes). He was able to bring in doughnuts to share with his class on Wednesday. Today, he was baptized! The whole thing went really well. It was a stake baptism, so a member of the stake Primary presidency gave a talk about baptism and also on bearing one another’s burdens. Joseph handled going under the water very well (which is huge for a kid who doesn’t like to get his face wet). Then a good friend gave a talk about the how Holy Ghost can be like a flashlight to help us see in darkness and how the Sacrament is like batteries that help the flashlight (Holy Ghost) work. I thought it was a great analogy! We had his birthday party tonight, which he was excited about. 🙂
The Weekly Weather: Warm and dry, but it did start to cool down a smidge towards the end of the week.
What Paul’s Been Up To: He added some shelves in the office so that he could get a bookshelf out of there to make it feel a bit more open (an important feeling in such a small space). Other than that, he’s been just putting along at work.
What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been nurse, comforter, taxi driver, piano teacher, referee (between the 8YO and the 2YO), snuggler, and errand-runner extraordinaire.
What Joseph’s Been Up To: I’ve already described his baptism, which was a huge thing. He was really looking forward to seeing friends tonight (they had a blast playing Super Smash Bros. Brawl). He was also excited to find that we got him his own set of scriptures and has even spent some time reading through some of them.
What Abigail’s Been Up To: She’s been wild this week, but I just try to take a deep breath and survive each day one at a time. I know that it will get better. 🙂 She has had plenty of cute moments during the week, too. One milestone: I switched her out to the next size up in clothes. It’s hard to believe she’s wearing 3T stuff now, but I suppose she WILL be three in December.
This Week in Pictures:
My birthday present: a new bread box. I love the rustic look!Since he was sick on his birthday party day, we let him open up his presents from us.Paul wrapped them really well, which proved to be a bit of a challenge to get into.We got him some Pokemon games for his DS.He also got some more Beyblades so that it’ll be easier to battle with friends.Finally feeling hungry enough (he hadn’t felt like eating anything for almost two days) for a birthday doughnut: glazed with sprinkles.Pumpkin thief! She though she had gotten away with it when I asked her what she was doing. She jumped so high!Bigger clothes are so much more comfortable!Wearing one of Joseph’s old shirts. It’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex with a grabber in each arm. The bottom says “Unstoppable-Rex” which I think is totally appropriate for our spitfire of a girl.When I pulled out the bigger clothes, she was excited to find these jammies. She hasn’t seen Frozen, but I think she recognized that these were girly and had princesses on them, so she was excited to put them on.She told me “I take your picture?” with her play remote. She even made me say “Cheese!” 😀We’re two weeks into the new school year and I’m still impressed that I can get them to this point by 7:20 in the morning.She was “riding” the duster around the house.She said, “I a cowboy! Yee-haw!”Opening his present from Jason, Saira, and Luna.It’s a mini drone.He was pretty excited to get it.I had stepped behind Paul to get Abigail to look at the camera…she was pointing at me, haha.My sweet babies.Paul got them both looking at the camera AND smiling. It’s a miracle!Our family!I wanted one of just the boys, but we had a little photo-bomber who wanted to be included.I was telling my sweet SIL about how I had wanted just one of the boys and she jokingly cropped out Abigail (and the exit sign…yay!). While I love the original (it pretty much captures real life, haha), I love this one of my Darr men, too. I had pulled out Abigail’s tablet (with the sound off, of course) because she was getting wiggly (and wanted to play the piano during the last part of the baptism…so I had to give her something cooler than the piano). After everything was done, Joseph and his friends immediately bee-lined over there to see what she was up to, haha.Joseph’s birthday cake. I’m glad he still asks for designs that I can somewhat replicate.It’s the final countdown… Excited about a robot he could build. A card and some money…always appreciated! Pokémon cards. Lighting the cake… …and blow!
