Three New Posts

I have been behind and have added three weeks of our weekly letter....

November 13
November 20
November 27

None are in order.....

November 20

The annual pie party was on Friday. We had a wonderful time with the friends that came. Many different types of pie were served, and children ran wild in the backyard. The adults talked and talked. We have portable fireplace and enjoyed  a small fire. The older boys loved to add kindling. The adults sat around the fire and talked. We sent all the leftovers home with others so there is no pie left in our house.

Sweetheart

• Sweetheart worked a lot of overtime to meet a deadline at work. Most of the work was accomplished by the time the customer presentation took place. Sweetheart presented a lot of his work and was able to have a successful week.
• Sweetheart did all the heavy lifting and cleaning up outside before the pie party. The backyard looks great!
  

Mama

• I went to another conference on Monday to complete the live credits I need for licensure. The conference was on grief and how to support and counsel individuals in their grief process. The presenter talked mostly about death grief.
• I made pies this week. I had a goal to make the pie crusts. I did it. I made 8 pie crusts. It was a little daunting because I didn’t want to fail. One pie I looked forward to making was a banoffee pie (a banana and toffee pie). It was a hit.
  

Underfoot

• Underfoot finished his music class. He loves to go to music class and sings throughout the week.
• Sweetheart and I have been talking about what we need to do as parents to get Underfoot ready for kindergarten. One night Hurricane fell asleep early, and the three of us just sat and talked and talked. Underfoot told us all types of things and asked lots of questions. He is a really good boy and eager to learn.
  

Hurricane

• Hurricane continues with his boundless energy. He has a new thing he does when he is really tired. He will run in circles so he doesn’t have to go to sleep. If he sits still for just a moment he will go to sleep.
• He has an iron-will. When he does something he knows he probably shouldn’t, he stands on his feet and looks us straight in the eye and says, “I am Hurricane.” Some times he says his whole name. This is the signal to us that he is firm in his decision. We hope that it will focus him to do good when he stands for something.
  

Family

• On Saturday, we had a family day. We spent the time doing some errands and then came home for a nap. All of us napped. It is very unusual for all of us to take a nap.

Happy Thanksgiving this coming week! We hope this letter finds you surrounded by joy, peace, and loving friendships.


More Pictures.

Be Well.

November 13

This letter comes one week late. The week previous we went 100 miles an hour and this week we got hit with being sick. Underfoot, Hurricane, and I were sick while Sweetheart worked 12 hour days for a project at work.

Sweetheart

• Sweetheart worked a lot of overtime to meet a deadline at work. He took one day off because boys were sick and I had registered for a continuing education conference for my licensure. Sweetheart would leave for work early each day and come home late.
  

Mama

• I got ready for a $1 sale. A $1 sale is selling clothes or other items for $1 a piece. I went through all our clothes to organize and inventory what we had and what we didn’t need. I did it with a group of ladies. In the end, I donated a lot more clothes than I sold. It was a great way to purge and be prepared for the future.
  
• On Tuesday I went to a conference on the brain. The topic was teaching the brain new habits and how the pathways within the brain are created. It was interesting to learn about how the hormones in our body will create automatic responses.
  

Underfoot

• On Wednesday, Underfoot was diagnosed with a double ear infection. He had a high fever since Sunday evening until Thursday morning. He was a champ and would lay down when he was tired and sleep. Once he started the antibiotics his fever broke, and he started to feel better.
• Underfoot played t-ball and has caught on to fielding. He loves to get the ball in the shortstop position and throw to first base.
  

Hurricane

• Hurricane’s boundless energy finally slowed down, if for only a short while. At his doctor’s appointment, he was diagnosed with bronchitis and given breathing treatments along with an antibiotic. He hated doing the breathing treatments and would cry and cry. The crying helped the medication get into his lungs and his coughing went away. He would come and crawl in our bed and breath on me all night long. He shared with me his cold but not the bronchitis.
• On Thursday a vintage steam engine #844 came through our neck of the woods. It is in commemoration of Arizona statehood in 1912. Hurricane is a HUGE fan of trains. He didn’t really care for the whistle but has asked frequently about riding the train since that day. He has even said we need to pack our clothes and go to the train for an overnight adventures.
  

Family

• We bought a fire pit a few months ago. In our efforts to get ready for the pie party, we cleaned the backyard and had a campfire. Hurricane thought it was too hot. Underfoot sat by the fire and just watched.
  

Be Well

November 27

Hurricane continues to amaze us with his determination, his funny facial expressions, and his occasionally hilarious comments. On Saturday we went with some friends to the Desert Museum. While watching an exhibit on live raptors, Hurricane said, “I got guns.” He would take a leaf off of a tree and pretend that it was his gun. Hurricane has started practicing using the big boy potty. We are so excited for that! On Saturday Hurricane told us numerous times of his desire to “climb the mountain.” We told him that we “climbed the mountain” at the Desert Museum.

Underfoot has taken to writing his letters. This is very exciting for  Mama. He also likes to draw Star Wars figures for Daddy to take to work. Luke Skywalker is his favorite Star Wars guy.  Underfoot has also expressed great interest in Legos.  Underfoot says, “ I saw animals. I saw snakes. I saw scorpions. I walked on the path at the Desert Museum.”

Mama has kept her self busy this week with a Jesse Tree Advent. This is a way of preparing for Christmas.  Mama made 25 copies of 4 ornaments- a heart, a sling, a star, and a stem of Jesse. She shares her ornaments with other women who have also made ornaments, so that each family gets a set of 25 different ornaments. Then you wrap them up and open one “present” each day in December.

Mama also whipped up a Thanksgiving dinner on 24 hours notice. We had planed to each with some friends. They called on Wednesday afternoon to let us know that a child was sick and they were canceling their plans to host Thanksgiving Dinner.  Mama pulled a rabbit out of her hat and prepared a delicious meal on Thursday evening.

Sweetheart took it easy at work this week. No long hours. On Wednesday after work and on Thursday he helped some friends put in a laminate floor. The work brought back memories of State College, PA. On Friday  Sweetheart removed a mesquite tree from our front yard and transplanted one from the back yard to the front yard. He also changed the oil on Fred.

On Saturday we enjoyed the day together. The Desert Museum is a unique Tucson experience. We all had a good time and will likely go back. After the museum we braved the crowds and did some Christmas shopping.

Be Well.

More Pictures

November 6

100 miles per hour. Maybe faster.

Halloween

The week in bullets:

• Sweetheart was in San Diego from Sunday night until Wednesday evening for an Acoustical Society of America meeting.
• Mama taught the lesson for the ladies at church today. She attended a ‘Time Out for Women’ conference in Phoenix on Friday and Saturday.
• Underfoot says, “I want to write a note to Jilli- Dear Jilli, you must come to my house some day. And Grandpa Kirki. And your son Aaron. This is from Underfoot.” While I was gone, I told Underfoot that he was in charge of taking care of Mama. Mama shared with me that as soon as I walked out the door, Underfoot told Mama that it was time for bed and that everyone was to go to be because he was now in charge. He also assumed that meant he was to sleep in daddy’s bed next to Mama, as part of his duties. One night Mama was cleaning and Underfoot refused to go to bed until Mama was done cleaning. He fell off the table onto the floor, onto his head, and Mama stayed up another hour and a half to make sure that he didn’t have a concussion. It was a long night, but the kitchen floor was clean!
• Hurricane has developed a cough. He is still as capable as ever.

We had a community yard sale on Saturday. It rained early in the morning and it was cold. We didn’t have a lot of traffic. We made a few dollars. Mama and I have really enjoyed taking the Dave Ramsey class at Raytheon. It has really changed our perspective on money and helped us to have a common goal. I would recommend it to anyone, at any stage of life.

While Mama was at the conference on Saturday afternoon, I took the boys to an open pit copper mine here in Arizona. We learned that it takes a lot of electricity to mine copper. We saw several very large mining trucks. Hurricane did not like standing underneath the large mining truck.