Super Busy Saturday

A sweet story from this week is from Underfoot. The boys were getting ready for bed and taking their bath. Underfoot and K2 were playing really well together. Underfoot looked up at me and said, “K2 is my best friend.” It touched my heart. They played and laughed together. They can get each other to laugh better than anyone else.

We went to Mount Lemmon on Tuesday night to check out Camp Zion.
In October our ward has the opportunity to use the camp ground. I wanted to see what the facilities are like. We went with Grandpa and Grandma Massey and had supper. The air was crisp and cool in comparison to the 100 degrees in our neighborhood. The sunset was beautiful, and it felt like fall for a few minutes. I miss the fall colors and change of seasons.
It was a late evening, but we enjoyed being together.

Joy School was at our house this week. Underfoot was THRILLED! He woke up on the morning of Joy School by himself with no encouragement. He opened the door and welcomed everyone. He really didn’t have a sense of time so he would ask if it was time for Joy School about every 5 minutes. We learned about taking care of the earth by not littering and caring for our natural resources. We also learned about gardens and made bread. We went through all the steps from grinding the grains to baking it in the oven. I was very nervous, but all went well. We look forward to having Joy School in our home again.

K2 has not slept super well this week. He is getting a molar and will stay up throughout the night. He is starting to laugh more and more. He likes to play cars, go down the slide, be outside, and wrestle with Underfoot. He also likes to throw things. He doesn’t yet understand about how he can hurt others that way. L4 went with the 11 year old scouts to an overnighter on Friday. They were participating in a council clean-up at the scout camp. Since so many fathers went up, he came home late on Friday night and slept in his own bed.

Saturday was SUPER busy. We were involved with our HOA yard sale by putting out and picking up the signs, a parent meeting for t-ball for Underfoot, and Bountiful Baskets distribution. We also went and looked at a 1914 Model T Roadster. In the evening was a community fair in a neighboring community and the Relief Society broadcast. L4 also got in the mail his Arduino system and put it together. He is very excited about it. We fell into bed exhausted.

Paint and Pie Party Changes

The big news this week is swimming. Underfoot and K2 finished their swim lessons. Underfoot had a great day and really enjoyed swimming on Wednesday. This is a big deal because he’s had some reservations about swimming recently. When Underfoot left the pool, he was all smiles and wondered when he could go swimming again. He swam the length of the backyard pool multiple times on his own initiative. K2 loves to swim. He always wants to be in the pool.

Underfoot signed up to play t-ball this fall. We will see how it goes.

On Friday we pressure washed the play structure in the sand box. It got a coat of paint on Saturday. On Friday morning L4 woke up with an idea for how to solve a problem at work and went in for a few hours to implement the idea. (Friday was his “off” Friday.) He was pleased to solve a problem and grateful for the divine inspiration to get it implemented.

On Friday we went to the Temple and left the boys with a sitter. It was nice to be out for a few hours. We stopped at Home Depot on our way back home and got the paint for the play structure.

On Saturday night we went to a local festival put on by the Catholic church that our neighbors attend. It was fun to be out. Underfoot really liked playing in the inflatable play structure.

Tonight we had our adopted grandparents over for supper. It was fun to watch K2 interact with his adopted grandma. He would laugh and laugh as she chased him and tickled him. K2’s serious demeanor is giving way to a playful streak.

We’ve been reading Louis L’Amour’s book Lonesome Gods. It is great to read his novels. The only problem is that they suck us in and we want to read them and disengage from the rest of the world. Children and engaging books don’t mix well.

For Joy School, this week a chicken went. When asked if anyone had a pet for Joy School, we responded that we had a few chickens. The chicken did very well along with the children. I am surprised that I did so well picking up the chicken and carrying her.

CHANGE IN DATE: The infamous pie party has been changed from Saturday, November 20th to Friday, November 19th. All are invited to attend. We will be starting around 5:30 pm and will play games after the party slows down a bit. We hope to see you there.

Labor Day

On Monday we labored. We started the day by moving our mailbox. I dug it up, then dug a new hole in a different part of the yard. By moving the mail box, Mama can now sit in the kitchen and watch Underfoot walk to the mail box. It also makes it easier to get the trailer in and out of the back yard. Hallelujah!! We also pulled and pulled weeds. We were sore the next day from so many weeds.

Underfoot has started to use his imagination a lot more. He gives each family member character names like Lighting McQueen, Sally, Mack, Buzz, Jesse, or Woody. They are all characters from different movies he’s seen. Mama remembers as a child playing make believe like this with the different StarWars characters. Her favorite to play was Princess Leia and her least favorite was Chewbacca.

Underfoot also slammed his finger in the car door. Mama didn’t know that a fingernail would bleed. Underfoot took it in stride and cried a little. He asked for a band-aid and moved on. He’s got pain receptors like a rock.


On Thursday Mama was working diligently to clean the kitchen floor. K2 needed a diaper change, so she took a break to change his diaper. She set the poopy diaper aside and went back to cleaning the floor. A few minutes later, K2 came into the kitchen with a dripping diaper. He had taken the loaded diaper, carried it to the toilet, and washed it out. Mama didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry. She was grateful that K2 did not “experiment” with the contents of the diaper. K2 helping with the laundry.

On Friday we had some friends over for supper and to play Ticket to Ride. It was fun to make and eat homemade pizza. We were able to eat watermelon from our garden. It was delicious! Also on Friday Mama took me to a yard sale after work. We picked up a gas powered pressure washer and an electric fan for the scout for 40 bucks. I got the pressure washer running on Saturday. We will use it to prep the play structure in the sand box for painting. On Saturday we worked. Mama did Bountiful Baskets in the morning. I made up signs for the community Yard Sale that will occur in two weeks.

K2’s personality continues to blossom. He has taken to smiling a lot more, especially around people that he doesn’t know. He has discovered the joy of jumping on our little trampoline. He puts his arms in the air, jumps up and down, and then giggles and squeals in delight.

Funny Stories

This week we’ve had a couple funny things happen.

Today during church K2 was a little bit fussy. Mama was holding him tightly on her lap when the sacrament bread tray was passed to our pew. Underfoot was the first to get it. He passed it to Mama. As she passed it to me, K2 took a huge handful of bread and stuffed it all in his mouth. It happened so fast that we were all shocked. Mama laughed so hard she turned red and started to cry. Underfoot consoled her, saying, “Don’t cry mama.” I’ve rarely seen Mama turn red from embarrassment, but it happened today. The family in the pew behind us watched the whole episode. The mother (who has six grown children) leaned over and told Mama it may have been the first time, but it certainly wasn’t going to be the last.

This morning K2 decided that he wanted to empty one of the drawers in the kitchen. He did multiple times. He then wanted to turn on the stove. He started by moving Underfoot’ stool in position so he could get to the knobs. I took the stool away. K2 then found another, shorter stool. I took it away. He found a laundry basket. I took it away. He then got a box. I took it away too. How do you spell persistent? K-2.

Some friends from PA, came for a short visit this week. They were out west dropping children off at College and came to visit family in Tucson. They brought Mama a new supply of Amish treats- various spices and elixirs available only in Central Pennsylvania from a wonderful Mennonite store called Peight’s. My mother-in-law loves the place, as does Mama. We’re grateful they took the time to come visit us.

On Monday after I left for work, Mama awoke to the door bell. A neighbor who walks her dogs every morning let her know that we had a bee hive growing in the tree in our front yard. I looked t it when I got home that night and it was scary! A mass the size of a football with bees completely covering the outside. On Tuesday I called a bee hive remover. He said to wait 24 hours. On Wednesday it was still there so Mama called to have him remove it on Friday morning. When I left for work Friday morning, the hive was totally gone. All that was left were three bees. We’ve checked the rafters on our house and our trees and shed. There is no sign of the bees. We’re grateful they are gone because some bees here are “African” or “killer” bees. We don’t want to find out the hard way.

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.