Busy Bees

On Monday Mama had an MRI. On Friday we learned that she has a benign cyst. She will talk to the doctor in two weeks about treatment options. We got approval this week from our HOA to repaint the front door red and to move the mailbox. Mama repainted the front door on Wednesday and did some touch up on Friday. In addition, Mama primed and painted the chicken coop to match the shed. Mama planted the garden throughout the week. We made some changes to the irrigation system to improve efficiency. Mama did baskets on Saturday morning. She has volunteered to be an area coordinator for Bountiful Baskets.

Underfoot found an action-figure man. His “man” goes everywhere with us. On Wednesday, he named the man J.. J. can go with us on errands unlike his diecast cars. J. is missing in action since last night. We hope he will be recovered soon. Also as Mama and the boys drive to swimming lessons, they listen to songs. The other day Underfoot was singing a lot of the songs word for word BY HIMSELF. Mama was very impressed since the feedback for teaching children isn’t always immediate. One of the songs says “I know that my Savior loves me.” He sang, “I know that my Savior, Mama, Daddy, Baby K2, and President Monson love me.”


Baby K2 can stand on his own but once he realizes that he is standing he sits back down.

I attended a board meeting on Wednesday. On Saturday I got the main posts of the pergola up. I was blessed to receive help from several friends and neighbors throughout the day.

The Civic broke on Friday morning. We are weighing our options because repair costs could approach the value of the vehicle. We have worked our guts out this week.

Run Faster

We wonder especially lately what we can cut out. We have taken on a lot of projects and improvements. We worked our hearts out again this week. Our eventual goal is to recreate as a family and have a beautiful home to return to after our adventures. In our efforts to complete our goals, we aren’t taking as much joy in the journey as we could.

The boys completed their third week for swimming lessons. They are doing marvelous. K2 can float for quite a while by himself. Underfoot is learning how to swim-float-swim. The swimming lessons are more of water survival. Eventually they will learn how to do strokes and hopefully feel confident in the water. There is a video clip on this website to show what they are learning. l

L4 worked on the Scout to fix more of the oil leaks. A man from church volunteered to come help him fix it on Saturday. L4 said that without R’s help, he wouldn’t have accomplished what he did. He was very grateful.

Our ward held its annual Eggstravaganza (a pinewood derby car with an egg as a passenger). My part was to plan and carry out the meal for the evening. We served taco salad. L4 helped me get the meat cooked. We also pulled a lot our lettuce from the garden. I think we fed about 200 people.

On Thursday evening, we ate supper and played games at the A. home. The A. family gave us their chickens and coop (which we are very grateful for) because they were moving to Alabama. This was the last hurrah at their home. It was great fun to get together and to talk and play games.

Easter Week

The week in review:

Sunday: We decided that for the week of Easter we would try to teach something from Jesus’ last week of mortal life. We walked around the block to commemorate Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem.

Monday: We did a simple Seder (a passover supper). The boys did swimming lessons and Mama had a CT scan in the morning. The purpose of the CT scan is to determine what the neck mass is in her neck. The doctor was on vacation this week so we don’t yet know the results of the CT scan. We should find out early this coming week. We talked about Christ cleaning the temple and how our bodies are like temples. A friend helped me understand the weaknesses in my pergola plan. (The Fathers in my life expressed concern that the original concept would not work.)

Tuesday: Mama had two more doctor’s appointments. One was a normal checkup, the other was an annual eye exam. We stayed up late and cleaned the house to increase the amount of order in our home.

Wednesday: I worked late (because of the late night). We got an Easter puzzle and used it to teach Underfoot about Jesus. Mama taught piano lessons.

Thursday: I did a redesign on the pergola. This necessitated another trip to Lowe’s. After work I took the Scout and the trailer to Lowe’s. Over an hour later I left with a full load of lumber and hardware. The Scout grunted under the heavy load, but we (the Scout and I) got home safe. We were up late unloading lumber into the garage so it could dry out. We talked about Jesus having the Last Supper, washing the feet of His apostles, and the Garden of Gethsemane ending with the arrest of Jesus.

Friday: Mama had a party at our home with neighbors and friends. Mama and children went to a friend’s house for an Easter Egg hunt and lunch. K2 was able to float by himself for about 10 seconds which is a major milestone. Underfoot swam with Mama and showed off his skills. Later some friends came to play games after supper. We enjoyed a round of Ticket to Ride.

Saturday: We got up early and worked our guts out. Mama did baskets. We got two flats of strawberries (about 16 lbs worth). I made progress on the pergola. (The new design involves a lot of wood with some decorative copper tubing.) In the evening I went to Priesthood session of LDS General Conference with a friend. We made “tomb roles” and put up pictures of Jesus and the events of the last week.\
Sunday: We’ve enjoyed LDS General Conference from our living room. It is nice to be able to spend some time in our home.

We are grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ and for his sacrifice which makes it possible for us to be resurrected also. We have enjoyed seeing our children develop this week. K2 has shown a lot of personality this week. He is very tender. He lets us know when he is hungry by a scream/screech. He loves to laugh with his brother. Underfoot is having a learning curve about boundaries. He has done great job with toilet training. We even went one whole day on errands without any accidents. We are so glad that K2 and Underfoot are members of our family.

AC

What a week. We helped some friends move this week. Their children spent time at our house. I finished (mostly) the chicken coop on Monday night.

Underfoot has been using the potty this week. Mommy and Daddy are very excited about his progress. He’s had a few accidents, but for the most part he’s been using the big boy potty.

On Saturday we played catch up. Mama did baskets in the morning. I worked on the Honda air conditioning system all day. I started about 10 a.m. I finished working on the Honda about 1 a.m. this morning, after two trips to the auto parts store (including a run to the all night store at 10:45 p.m.) There are still some kinks to work out, but it does blow cold.

K2 has taken to standing up whenever possible. He has reached the point where he can walk by holding on to the couch.

Chickens

Underfoot had a well child check up with the doctor the day after his birthday. He is a normal healthy child. After the appointment, he asked if he could drive the car home. He is a year older but not ready for the responsibility of the driving.

K2 has taken off on crawling and is attempting to stand up whenever he gets the chance. He is a little tentative still and goes down on his bum. He has a new game he likes to play. I will puff up my cheeks, and he will pat them empty and then laugh like it is the funniest thing ever.

I have my quilt frames up from my Grandpa George, and I am finally finishing Underfoot's baby blanket. It is so nice to have the quilt frames.

We have chickens. Yes chickens. Five to be exact. We have been talking about getting chickens since before we moved in to our house. They are laying hens that have laid three eggs in the first 24 hours. We have checked with our neighbors since we do live in a community if they were okay with it. If there are any complaints, the chickens will have to find a new home. But we don’t foresee any challenges there except for a squawk or two for an egg. Where did the chickens come from? Eggs of course. They were given to us by a family that will be moving to Alabama. They gave us the coop and all the fixings for a run. We are excited. We will not have a rooster. Roosters are TOO noisy.

L4 went and got the coop and put it in place. He worked all day Saturday.

We also had some house guests for a few days. Four extra children came to play. They were very well behaved and helped quite a bit. They are moving to a new house in the next few days, and Mom and Dad needed to take care of a few details.

We hope you are happy and doing much good where you are!

Birthday

L4 has been a trooper this week. Underfoot, K2, and I have all been sick enough to stay in bed for three days. We visited the doctor’s office 3 times and only one appointment had been scheduled in January. Underfoot had a double ear infection; K2 had a single ear infection, and I had strep throat. It hurt so much to swallow. I went to to the doctor Monday and could swallow without any discomfort by Thursday. L4 held down the fort. He would prepare meals and do a load of laundry or two.

After our illness, we have tried to catch up with household chores and get ready for Underfoot’s birthday.

Underfoot was asked what kind of a cake he would like. He had requests in for Bob the Tomato, Lighting McQueen, Mater, Mack Truck, or a race track. He has talked about his cake for over two weeks. Little did he know we were looking into getting him a few diecast cars from the movie “Cars.” After watching various auctions on Ebay, we won a lot of 35 cars and made a race track cake. Underfoot helped make the actual cake and then I decorated it. The final touch was to put the cars on the cake before presenting it to him. When he saw the cake with the cars on it, he smiled and waved his hands and was speechless. Underfoot usually has something to say. It was a classic moment! He loved his cake.

On Monday K2 exploded again in the car at Costco. This time Mama was prepared. She caught the explosion before it happened in the store. Unfortunately, it was raining so Mama had to change K2 while getting rained on.

On Tuesday she and a friend decided to turn 80 pounds of apples into applesauce. About 6 hours later they had 36 quarts to show for their efforts. On Wednesday I had scouts and Mama taught piano lessons.

On Thursday Mama and a friend set up our tent. It had been almost 10 years since it was last used. Underfoot was very excited to play in the tent. After supper Underfoot and I went outside to play in the tent. We ended up sleeping in it. Well, almost. We came inside about 2 a.m. The following morning Underfoot wasn’t feeling well. (He actually hadn’t been feeling well for a couple days, but he was more vocal about it on Friday morning.) On Saturday morning Mama took Underfoot to see a nurse practitioner. It turns out Underfoot has a double ear infection. That would explain his behavior and his fever.

On Saturday I worked on the scout. I changed the oil pan gasket. I attempted to change the oil pump, but it turned out that the new one I got was the wrong part. So I put the old one back in, using a seal from the new pump. (At least that was the same.) I also did a few other things to the scout. By changing the oil pan gasket I removed one of the leaks. Unfortunately, I tightened up the bolts on the valve covers and now the scout leaks even more than before. One step forward, two steps back.

Mama and I both had the impression that we should take down our tent on Saturday. Neither of us followed it. We woke up this morning to heavy rain and a very soggy tent. We were able to move the tent (in the rain) into the garage. It is now drying out.

Baby K2 now has three teeth on his bottom jaw. He did sleep through the night at least once this week. (I can’t remember which, though...) Mama hasn’t been feeling well and is a bit under the weather. We’ve had a surprising amount of rain this month.