September 30

Hurricane says, "Dear Good Friends. We played at Aunt Merris' house. I got to eat some nuts. I went swimming. In nursery today at church we played outside and picked up pine cones. I didn't get to bring the pine cones home." Hurricane also decided that he likes to wear pull-ups instead of underwear because going to the bathroom cuts into play time. It takes too much time to stop and use the bathroom. Two steps forward with the potty and one HUGE step back. His cousin, C, patted Hurricane's belly while we were visiting and said, "You are a cute little man." He is a little man in many ways. He has crossed the threshold from being a baby to being a big boy. He doesn't fit in our laps any more.

Underfoot said, "Dear Family and Friends, I love you. You are fun to play with. I like you. I am on fall break. For fall break you cannot go to school. We went to Aunt M's house and had a good time there. I swam. I came home. I went to the Desert Museum. I went and helped my Mom at baskets and I'm super strong." Since we are on a modified school calendar we have a 3 week fall break. We went on vacation see Aunt Merris after having a birthday lunch with a friend. The boys played and played and played and didn't want to go to sleep.

As mentioned above, we went to M's house (Sweetheat's sister) to help do some family history.On the way, I sold my old bike. While in Phoenix area we went to lunch, shopped a little, went to an Institute class, and swam. We liked having a swimming pool. We returned home to see Sweetheart before he went to a BSA Wood Badge course. Sweetheart stayed home and worked many, many hours to guard his precious time off. We helped him pack. A comedy of errors happened when Sweetheart couldn't find his Class A Scout shirt that he had used the weekend before on a camp out. It turns out that we still haven't found the shirt and he borrowed another shirt from someone else. He spent 3 days learning between an outdoor and class room settings. He came home exhausted with a quite the beard stubble.

We truly enjoyed going to the Desert Museum on Friday. I finished a few more details on the bathroom that I painted last weekend. Saturday evening I attended the General Relief Society broadcast. I hope to have a lot of things done before this coming Thursday's surgery.

Be well

September 16

Hurricane:
Hurricane has taken to using the word 'poopy' in every phrase that comes out of his mouth. At first it was funny. Then it became annoying. Finally, he got to enjoy a little soap. He has agreed not to say 'poopy' any more.

Underfoot:
Underfoot loves to write. He practices whenever he can.  Mama got a bunch of little note books, and Underfoot writes in his 'book' nearly every day. Today in Church was the annual children's presentation. Underfoot recited a poem that was dear to his Great Grandpa K called "A Bag of Tools". Underfoot loves to go to school.

Mama:
This week  Mama got in a fight with her mountain bike over a flat tire. After an hour of great struggle, the mountain bike lost. It was replaced by a new bike. (The old bike will be listed on Craig's list in the very near future... anyone want a bike?)  Mama is not accustomed to getting new toys very often. The new bike is light enough that Mama can pick it up and lift it up over her head.

Sweetheart:
I like being able to open the windows at night again. The daytime highs right now are in the low 90's, but it is getting down to about 65 degrees at night, which is plenty cool enough to cool down the house. Tonight we enjoyed supper outside on our patio for the first time in months. It is really nice to eat outside. The grass is not quite ready to be walked on, but it is getting close. The lawn mower arrived this week. I haven't put it together yet, but will sometime in the next couple days. It is an old school reel type mower. I hope it is the only lawn mower I ever have to buy (at least as long as we live in the Southwest!)

I've been assigned a new task at work which is extremely challenging. It is the task that no one on the team wants to do. Wendy can tell when I'm stressed out at work by my inability to compartmentalize when I get home. I hope to be better about leaving work at work. (I'm not very good at it yet... )

Family:
On Saturday night we headed north to attend Sweetheart's nephew's baptism. It was a quick trip but we are glad that we went. Earlier in the day we took down the rickety old swing set in preparation for the new arrival. This afternoon I took some time to review the 70 page instruction manual. Hurricane was sitting next to me, looking at the computer monitor, and casually instructed me to buy the swing set. He was convinced that it was a good choice.

Be Well.

September 5

Here are the highlights from last week:

Family:

• We decided to put in a lawn. With REAL grass. That may not seem like a big deal for those who have water come out of the sky and in the air all the time but it is a HUGE deal for us! It means less dirt, weeds, and a play area for us.
• Underfoot, Hurricane, and I went to 1/2 day at Underfoot's school and participated in art, music, Spanish, and P.E. In art, they mixed the primary colors to make secondary colors by blowing the water colors around with straws. They learned colors in Spanish, bounced balls in P.E., and threw bean bags in music. Hurricane loved being with Underfoot, and Underfoot would ask each team if his brother could participate.

Sweetheart

• He started on Thursday night with a jack hammer to break up the soil to sift it through a sifter to get out the rocks. He worked on it Friday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, and finished today around 11 am with all the hammering, digging, and sifting. He had help on all but 2 days. We were all VERY GRATEFUL for the help. He is exhausted.
• Sweetheart is very excited about the grass.
• Sweetheart is SUPER supportive about my training for the triathlon. He says I'm happier, kinder, and more productive. He must like me that way instead of grouchy and frazzled which happens.

Underfoot

• Underfoot has been quite a good helper with our family project. He has tried to shovel dirt, carry rocks, and be supportive of his Dad. My Dad said to me once if you play with the big boys you need to take what the big boys dish out. Underfoot tried so hard to keep up with the big boys, but they didn't want him to get hurt. So it all came to an end when he came outside and asked, "Dad could I be helpful to you and not interrupt your work and stay inside?" We found it darling with his eagerness to work.
• Underfoot is learning to read. He is sounding out more and more words. We are so happy for him. It is still very hard, and he likes the encouragement.
• I observed Underfoot being very helpful in his class. He wanted to help Hurricane in everything that happened there, help other children when they couldn't open their snacks, and watch out for others on the play ground. He has a tender heart and wants everyone to be happy.
• Underfoot learned to dive to the bottom of the pool. He tried to teach another child how to do it later in the week.
  

Hurricane

• Hurricane continues to be a Hurricane. He has learned how to draw his own bubble bath. If we can't find him, he is in the tub some times. He LOVES the water and loves to be wet. He doesn't like wet clothes.
• He has used the potty on his own often. If he is encouraged to use the potty, all progress ceases. He is going to do this at his own pace and in his own time. I think I just need to take away all the pull ups and tell him there is only underwear and he needs to use the potty. He did it for one day and only had 2 accidents. That's amazing for a boy who wouldn't use the potty once the day before. He is the captain of that ship.

I keep busy with training, cleaning house, cooking delicious food, and being the organizer general around here. We have 3 jobs to do after school each day. The earlier they get done the happier all 3 of us at home are.

 Be well in all the good you do.