Darr Family Blog

Weekly Happenings: It’s the last day of August, school has been back in session for a week, and we are on the cusp of the holiday season. I can’t say that I’m sad to see summer go (and I don’t really have to because it’s still going to be hot for a couple more months, haha) because while I love having both kiddos with me, we all thrive on being on a schedule. Also, I love the holiday season (and the eventual cooler weather). Main events from this past week: Joseph had his first day back to school and…we got a new fridge. We weighed the potential cost of nailing down the exact problem (and the potential of “well, if we fix this and then something else breaks, how much money are we willing to potentially put into an old fridge”) vs. buying a new fridge. We then decided to put the old fridge in the garage to use as surplus for those times we need more fridge space. It’s been great!

The Weekly Weather: Let’s just say that Mother Nature and I need to have a serious talk about humidity, dewpoint, and temperature here… 😉

What Paul’s Been Up To: After moving the fridge into the garage, we decided that it would be nice to get some more shelving to get more of the stuff in the garage up off the floor and more organized. Paul put up one shelf to start with (to see how it looked and functioned as well as to gauge how much it would hold) and today he’s been putting up some more.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Running errands with one less kid is quite interesting…and a bit calmer (the two of them can kind of ramp each other up, which can be…challenging in public places). I’ve also been getting piano students settled back into their time slots.

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He had a good first day back to school and was happy to see his school friends. He also got to go to a friend’s birthday party, which he enjoyed immensely.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: I’ve been keeping her busy so she doesn’t notice the absence of her playmate too much. She is always excited to go get Joseph from school, though. One funny story: she and I sat down to have lunch and she looked over at the raw veggies and dip I had on my plate. She then asked me for “bro-gak-ga-gee”. It took a few times before I realized she was asking for the broccoli that was on my plate. I gave her a taste…and then eventually almost all the broccoli on my plate. She especially liked it dipped in the dip, but she still ate it plain, too. Always on my toes with that one.

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: Today is our seventeenth wedding anniversary. It doesn’t seem like it’s been that long! I think of all that has happened in the last seventeen years and I am struck with a wave of gratitude for Paul and for the amazing partner he’s been through it all. We went out for dinner yesterday and gave each other gifts. I got him an electric chainsaw and he got me a watch and some kitchen stuff (new mats and some new knives) as well as some flowers and chocolate. Other things that happened this week were dentist appointments for both me and Joseph and then we got to go meet Joseph’s second grade teacher. He should be all set to start school on Monday. 🙂 Oh, and we bought a new fridge. After the water stopped working in our current one, we tried a couple of different things to fix it without any success, so we’re going to move it into the garage to use as an extra fridge and freezer (since both of those still work). The new fridge is being delivered tomorrow!

The Weekly Weather: The heat has continued but we did have one surprise rainstorm move through on Thursday. I hope we get more of those, because it’s been pretty dry around here!

What Paul’s Been Up To: Work, as usual…he also cleared out the space in the garage where our current fridge will go, which was a big job. He needed to get rid of some extra things we’d been storing in there but no longer needed (luckily, by putting them at the curb, our neighbors or people driving by took them off our hands, just like we were hoping) and relocate some things that were in that corner.

What Sarah’s Been Up To: I’ve been making sure Joseph’s got what he needs for school and have been busy with piano students as usual. I also went to book club (yay!).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He enjoyed meeting his teacher and seeing his new classroom. He is super-ready for Monday.

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She has been doing this cute thing at bedtime. She asks if she can kiss different parts of my face (head, eyes, nose, cheeks, ears). The only one I say “no” to is my mouth (because only Daddy kisses me there). I’m not sure if she’s being sweet or if she’s stalling, haha.

This Week in Pictures:

Weekly Happenings: Well. we’ve survived another week. I’m now convinced that August in Texas is like childbirth. You get through the tough part and then the memory of the pain (or in this case, discomfort, really) fades until the next time you experience it. 😉 The only really noteworthy thing that happened this past week was haircuts for the kids. Other than that, we basically just sat in the AC as much as possible.

The Weekly Weather: I think we’ve already determined that it’s hotter than all get-out. I don’t feel I need to expound, haha.

What Paul’s Been Up To: He’s been busy with work as usual. He’s currently trying to figure out why our fridge’s water system isn’t working. Yay…

What Sarah’s Been Up To: Mainly keeping the kids from get cabin fever…I wouldn’t complain if a cold front came through…even if it rained (we could use it!).

What Joseph’s Been Up To: He got to go to a kids’ game night where they did their own roll-playing game. He had a blast! He also had his baptismal interview (where the bishop of our ward meets with him and makes sure he understands what he needs about baptism before committing to it). It’s hard to believe we’re getting to this point!

What Abigail’s Been Up To: She has thoroughly enjoyed playing with toys, dancing to fun music, and pestering her brother. 😉

This Week in Pictures: