Triumphs

The triumph this week is that the Scout no longer has an oil slick under the body of the car. L4 put all the nuts, bolts, and parts together and has driven it every where he goes since late Saturday afternoon. He said, “It’s a great relief. The Scout is fully operational. Let’s accentuate the positive!” The smile has not left his face.

Our garden has grown beautifully especially with the rains that we have received. While L4 built the pergola, I planted an assortment of vine plants (zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon, Galia melon, cantaloupe, pumpkins, and gourds). The gourds have gone crazy. We’ve seen a watermelon and a few Galia melons but besides that it is just green with flowers. We have even hand fertilized. Nothing except green. We don’t dare go venturing into the jungle it has created because we don’t know what critters are in there waiting for us. The tomatoes have continued, and the basil has replanted itself throughout our yard.

We had a movie moment from the movie “Mr. Mom” last night while shopping. K2 is our helpful child by pulling out all the toilet paper, filling the toilet with random objects, pulling out all the food storage containers, emptying the garbage cans plus more helpful tasks. In the movie, the Dad goes on his first shopping trip with 2 little children. There are frequent aisle clean ups. K2 threw a glass jar of pickles from the cart followed by an “Uh oh.” Then came the announcement “Clean up in aisle 3.” It was very comical and embarrassing. L4 held K2 for the rest of the trip.


We continued with swimming lessons. Hopefully it should be done by the end of this coming week.

Underfoot has talked about going camping since he and L4 went on the church Fathers- and-Sons camp out. On Friday, I found a tent for $10 at a yard sale. Since it has been raining a lot, the tent has been set up in our front room for the last 3 days. Underfoot and I have slept in the tent the last 2 nights for most of the night. K2 ends up crying at some point during the night rousing me from the floor to take care of him. Last night all 4 of us tried sleeping in the tent. K2 spent most of the night rolling from one side to the other and finally just sat up and cried for what seemed like forever. We fed him a yogurt after he had nursed for quiet a while. We ended up in our bed at 4:30 am. We have decided it might be a while before we really go camping in the wild.

The week in bullets:
L4 worked on the Scout all day Saturday. The transmission is back in. The transfer case goes back in next Saturday.
K2 is a climbing fiend. He loves to climb anything that he can grab onto. He especially likes to climb kitchen chairs and make his way to the kitchen table.
Underfoot loves Joy School. He likes learning and playing with friends.
K2 has discovered the joy of ripping the keys off the computer keyboard (one at a time.) Both computers are missing at least one key. At one point, he torn off more than 1/2 the keys on the computer. L4 has the magic touch to putting them keys back on.
Mama made prickly pear jam this week. The prickly pears are the fruit of a local cactus. Mama had fun making the jam but isn’t sure if she’ll do it again. The color is amazing.
Underfoot got stickers in him when helping Mama pick the prickly pears.
Mama and L4 sanded down a bench that we got from some friends who recently moved back to the East Coast. Hopefully it will turn out beautifully and be nice place to keep our shoes.
K2 has been up in the middle of the night several times this week. We know he is getting at least two teeth. It is hard to tell just how many because he doesn’t like to open his mouth when we’re inspecting for teeth.
Underfoot has started to play pretend this week. He loves to share pretend candies with mom and dad. He also likes to pretend that he is the dad and his Uncle Aaron (sometimes the CA Uncle Aaron and sometimes the ID Uncle Aaron).
Mama played cops and robbers with Tucson PD at Bountiful Baskets Saturday morning. Gratefully no one was arrested.

HOA & More Stuff

L4 made arrangements so that I could have a car on Wednesday because we were going to go swimming, but unfortunately the family we were going to swim with got sick. We picked up L4 from work and went to Scouts with him.

We rushed home and threw together a little dinner so L4 could rush off to an HOA meeting. Currently a parking policy is being enforced to follow what the law says. A few home owners have received notices because of being in violation. L4 wanted to have an email available where people could response to issues or ideas concerning the community. He has mostly got complaints. One of the funnier complaints was that the HOA board should turn over their salaries from being on the board and decrease the monthly HOA fees. It is an all volunteer board meaning there is no monetary compensation for the time put in and if there arises a problem in the future and the board did not address it, L4 could be held legally responsible. Great compensation if you ask me!

Underfoot has shown a flare for playing games: Candyland, Uno, Memory, and Connect 4. He likes to take his time on his move (like his Uncle Aaron) and have a discussion. He is also enjoying reading books. Lots of books all the time. We follow a blog that has a few recommendations to good books that a parent can read over and over again and not feel grouchy about reading the same book. He loves Joy School and learned about his joints and why they are so important! One day this week, Underfoot found ice cream in the freezer in the morning, ate it, and gave the rest to K2 Gideon who was still in his bed. I got to clean the carpet and bed linens. Underfoot has learned how to open Otter Pops and will eat as many as he can before I find the wrappers.

K2 Gideon continues to express his opinion by screaming. Most of the time he is just hungry. He inherited that from me. He is more confident in walking and climbing. Tonight he climbed up our swing set and threw off the toys from the tower. He was very proud. He climbs up on all things that he has the strength to get upon. He is also starting to say words. I understand him mostly, but he is trying to say things like banana, thank you, phone (this is a favorite), applesauce. It is coming.

We enjoyed a visit with L4’s sister’s family too this weekend. Their children were very excited about the meteor shower that was to occur on Thursday night.

On Saturday afternoon, we entered the world of texting. If you want please send us a text to our cell phones. I, for one, am very excited.

Practicing Medicine

K2 has shown his true strength. Again. This week he decided to stand up and walk. He’s still a bit wobbly, but he is determined. His cast came off two weeks ago. The doctor told Mama not to expect him to walk for two months. Clearly doctors practice medicine.

Underfoot started Joy School this week and loves going. He goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. His first day we walked him to the front door. He actually thought the house was across the street and ran across the street to get there before I told him it was a different house. His second day he got unbuckled, kissed me at the car, and ran to the door by himself. He has never looked back.

Saturday was an opening social for Joy School. We went swimming as a family in a community pool. K2 loves to swim. He is a fish. Underfoot tolerates it. He needs time to warm up to the idea and then likes it okay.

We celebrated 5 years of being married this week L4 was given suggestions on where to take me to dinner from a good friend. He didn’t feel very well but was a great sport. He took me to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. Then we went and shopped for new shoes for him. After that we went for dessert at The Melting Pot, a fondue restaurant. So if you are looking for a romantic quiet evening together we suggest The Melting Pot. It was a great evening to be together.

The Scout: L4 picked up the repaired transmission and transfer case. He wasn’t feeling very well and has not installed them yet but will when he gets 5 minutes to himself. Once the Scout is put together again....well see how life changes around here.

Author Switch... Underfoot writing now... Mama continues to thrive in her role as the Tucson Area Coordinator for Bountiful Baskets. She was able to help a woman run a site on Saturday morning and solved several problems during the week.

Bountiful Baskets has been good for her because it gives her a chance to interact with adults on a subject that is totally outside of child rearing. It is good for her to get out and do new things. It also has greatly increased the amount of produce that we consume as a family. I’ve been exposed to all sorts of new things. Mango is a new fruit that I’ve tried as a result of the baskets. Underfoot calls it candy. It does taste like candy.

I Fought For You By The Sound Tank

My Grandpa sent this video to me. I am very appreciative of the men and women that serve and contribute and very a great sense of love for them and their families. I hope you enjoy.

Pictures

Here is a link to see some pictures. I know that a blog is SO much more exciting with a picture story book.....

This is as good as it gets.

Most are labeled. We hope it gives a glimpse of our cuteness.

K2 has shown his true strength. He is a determined child and has developed the talent to scream when he doesn’t get what he wants and screams especially when his sweet Father is at home because K2 loves his Daddy. (And Daddy loves him.)

He got his cast off on Monday and has a repaired leg. After getting his cast off we ran an errand to get a bulk meat order done. As I was filling out the order, I handed K2 my phone to keep him occupied. He then said, “Uh-oh.” He handed me the screen to my cell phone and then bent down to hand me the other half of the cell phone. He was mad when I put the broken phone in the backpack. We journeyed then to the phone store where the personnel didn’t think it was as funny as I did and insisted that I purchase a new phone right then with a new 2-year phone contract. I left the store and picked up L4 from work. On our way home, I handed K2 the phone. He pushed a few buttons, and it made noise. So we tried it out and called home. The number pad works just fine as a speaker phone. I don’t know if I have missed calls or any phone messages, but it works until we update our cell phone contract in two weeks. Outside of that, K2 has learned to crawl on all the furniture and tables. He is the newest table dancer at our home. He is getting more teeth and is generally a very happy child especially if he is outside.

Underfoot continues to develop in his speech and manners. He is aware of his jobs and does most without complaint. He has been invited to participate in a Dr. Seuss book group with a Dr. Seuss Story and accompanying treat. It was a fun group and we look forward to participating in the group throughout the fall.

L4 had his semi-annual performance work review and is meeting the needs of his company. We are grateful to have employment. We took a family trip and stayed in a hotel on Thursday night. On Friday, we retrieved our stroller that we left in Idaho. My Mom found a sweet lady to bring the stroller south for us. It is good to have it back.

On Saturday we made 7 1/2 quarts tomato guck (tomatoes, pepper, garlic, basil, rosemary, onions, mushrooms, no squash this time) from garden tomatoes. We had 3 buckets worth.

Since the Scout is mentioned weekly, we might give it the status as a family member. An update on the Scout’s illness: The transmission and transfer case were taken to a mechanic to be resealed. L4 spent Saturday afternoon installing new motor mounts.