A year goes by so quickly

Tuesday Nights

Andi started her new ballet classes tonight. She has so missed this and I hadn't realized just how much until tonight.

Dance is from 5:00-5:30. Then we have ten minutes to get to the pool and have her dressed for swim lessons. She did very well there, too.

Peter and I did not swim today. Peter is teething and he got slammed with allergies last week. Then it started to change and has turned into a sinus cold. So he stayed out of the cold water.

David did very well during his lessons, too. He really loves the lessons. The first week there was a young boy who was not paying attention to the teacher and not following the rules. David ended up being by this boy and was very happy to go along with his antics. After explaining how dangerous it is to not listen to the teacher (especially in the water) and how he really needed to listen to and obey the teacher David thought a moment. He said, "Maybe I should play with another boy in the class. And maybe I should be a good example to Travis so that he is safe, too." True to his word he has listened attentively to the teacher and swims with another boy who also listens to the teacher and encourages everyone else to do the same. I'm proud of him.

On our way out I realized that I could not find my keys anywhere. We looked in the car but I could not see them. We went back and retraced our steps but still could not find the silly things. I figured I'd probably set them on the floor when I pulled the stroller out. I haven't used the stroller before now, so it was an addition to my routine and that almost always throws me off. So after talking to the life guards they secured a wire hanger for me and I was able to get it through the windows (that I'd left open a crack, not something I generally like to do but did for some reason today, probably Divine intervention), unlock the car and find the keys. Yahoo! We all prayed our thanks for finding the keys and for our ability to get into the car without calling road-side assistance. :)

Faire Friday

We arrived to the Michigan Renaissance Faire grounds a bit later than we'd wanted on Friday. It was their school day, and so we were anticipating some screaming deals to get in. However, we lucked out and got the best deal of them all! A couple of people at the gates complimented the kids on their amazing costumes and offered us their extra, free tickets. WHOOP!! We got in for FREE!!

It was a gorgeous day. It was a tad warm, but there was plenty of shade and a nice breeze. We missed the costume contest by 15 minutes, so wandered around looking at the crafts, the wooden swords, and shows.

Oh, and we met the Queen!

 She and her royal entourage ADORED the kids and their costumes.

 Andi was terrified by all of the attention. We'd already been stopped a couple of times so people could look at the outfits, I think she found it a little overwhelming.

 Funny story, when I took the above picture my camera was competing with another flash! Another photographer was jumping on the photo-op of the queen with these gorgeously dressed children and snapped pictures.

 Then we went and watched the falconry show. It wasn't nearly as good as the one at Scarborough in Texas. But it was still fun to watch these beautiful birds (two Harris hawks and a falcon) fly.

 Peter enjoyed it. ;)

 Andi was not amused. She had to be taken away for screaming. But not before a couple people asked if they could please take her picture. It was not the last time that happened that day, either.

 All in all I think we were asked by 16 different people. Jonathan says there were people who asked the couple of times I wandered off, but I'm not sure how many. All together, though, we had a ton of people asking for their photos, and we got a lot of attention.

We all had a fabulous day! I will definitely go back on the school day, it was a quieter crowd and a lot of fun.

Fast-Forward

This weekend we said a temporary good-bye to David's the Ottos. They were David's Primary teachers a few months ago and they really meant a lot to him. David really looks up to them and enjoyed having them as teachers. We were doubly lucky because Brother Otto was also our home teacher. David was always so excited to see him and made a special point to say hello to both of them at church.

They are currently expecting (a girl!!) and are moving to Mexico for work for two years. David is really sad about that and hopes that we will still be in Michigan when they get back. I do, too!

Saturday night Andi and I went grocery shopping, just us two girls. It was a fun night.

Then we used her free meal coupon and went to Chili's for dinner, just us  two girls. We had fun, and it was nice to focus on Andi for a little bit without the distraction of her brothers.

Sunday we stopped by the garden and brought home some goodies.

The kids were so excited to pull up the carrots. So was I! Nothing beats the flavor of a garden-grown carrot.

That night Jonathan and I watched a few Doctor Who episodes while tying a baby quilt.

I discovered a really nice batting that makes the quilts even more squishy and soft after washing them. I'm never going back!! It was on sale at JoAnn's, otherwise I would never have tried it. But now that I have that's all I'm going to get from now on; Extra-Loft batting - it is good stuff!

Now this quilt is winging its way across the country. Should be at its new home tomorrow, ready to be loved on by a new baby. :)

Last Friday, half-way through our jog, David decided to step up his game and just jog. It was tough for me to keep up, and so I said, "David! You can't do that! It was so hard!" He got all wide-eyed and looked at me and said, "Mom! Are you WHINING?" He thought it was hysterical that our roles were so reversed. So Monday David decided he was done whining and was going to set the pace for our jog. It was incredibly hard! For our jogging stints he was keeping a pretty steady 11 min. mile. I wanted to die. 

After that we had speech, and David did his school work...

After which we all went up to the church where David has his reading class.

For FHE we ran errands. Lame, I know, but we're doing the REAL project tonight. So Monday night we went and found David new running shoes, shoes for Peter (he's still not walking, and shows no interest, so he needs to soft-soles shoes but no-one but the specialty shops carry soft-sole shoes for a size 5.5 baby), and socks for Peter and Andi. I can't believe how big my kids are getting. It is crazy!! David is no longer in the kids sizes, he's in youth 1 - 1.5. When did that happen? Target didn't have church shoes in David's size, so we've still got to stop somewhere and find those.

Monday night I finished off Peter's dress tunic. He's also got pumpkin pants now. All he is missing is the hat. That's on today's to-do list.

I don't have a whole lot left with those costumes:

Andi - Skirt waistband needs extending and buttons; collar needs ruffle; she needs a hat.

Peter - Needs a hat.

David - Doublet needs more buttons, zipper, and collar; shirt collar needs ruffles; he needs a hat.

I'll totally be done by Thursday night. ;)

In other news I went to my weight-loss therapy group yesterday and weighed in. Lost 6 lbs since last weigh in two weeks ago. Yay!! Between that number, David's desire to win something at the Chocolate Run 5k, and the MyFitnessPal app I think I'm headed in a good direction. :)

Friday

Today was a quiet day. We did lots of catching up with school work. We did lots of cleaning. We did lots of chasing after Peter who likes to climb on top of things and stare out windows. I sewed some, David rode his bike, Andi peed her pants (only once today, progress! She's taken to peeing her pants five or six times in a day... Go figure.), Jonathan went to a school thing. We had spaghetti for dinner and enjoyed a relaxing evening. It was a happy, quiet day.

Thursday

We woke up this morning to David running into our room and saying "I think I'm having a heart attack, my chest hurts!" at which point he threw up all over the floor. And there went out day. He felt better by about 11:00 and was eating normally, but we kept him inside and quiet the entire day.

Meanwhile, I went nuts in the basement and reorganized a few things and got to work on a baby quilt.

I'm excited to welcome my new nephew soon! Any day now. I so wish I were closer to my sister so I could pinch the little guys cheeks myself before he's several months (or a year :( ) old. Someday I hope I can be closer to family, not just for me but for my kids, too. Oh well, maybe someday.

Wednesday

We've been lucky (?) lately and have seen some fun things this week on our runs. So what do you think we found here?

 Yep. A mad garter snake.

 Then we finished out our run. We went a lot faster yesterday and managed to go a little bit further than before. Hopefully we can keep that up!

 Andi decided to ride her bike today. She went the full two miles without a complaint. She needed a bit of help up the hills and while we were running, but she still did it.

Peter, on the other hand...

Yep, he was out by the time we got home.

Just a couple more months until our run!