This Week, In Recap

This week was exhausting!  But eventful, too, so I thought I'd recap it here for the record...

Sunday

Church service.  The worship music rocked!  Pastor Dan spoke about raising courageous children once again and the part that stuck out to me was how much appreciation he showed for his wife and her gifts as a mother to their children.  I made sure to tell her (she was back teaching in the kids' program) and she was thrilled!

J complained about her legs aching again.  She's done that a lot this year.  She's been sprouting like a weed.  In December she was 4', in early April she was 4'2" and on this day, I measured her again and she's 4'4" now.  Crazy.  She's been pretty emotional this week, too, so I'm not sure if she's just tired or what, but it's definitely added a layer of complication to most events.

J and S made cute puffy-paint shirts.  They love crafting together!

We celebrated L's 13th birthday as a family.  She picked hamburgers (C's are the best!), cucumbers with homemade Ranch dressing and a red velvet cake with cheesecake filling for her special dinner.  And C did not disappoint.  He even decided to do a beef brisket and dark chocolate truffles (from scratch), just to show off.  Everything was mouth-wateringly delicious.


Monday

J and O started their AM-VBS for the week at a church down the street from ours.  They came out that first day just talking up a storm!  They had a blast.

We all went to the park after VBS and enjoyed a free lunch.  In our region, there are many community programs providing free lunches all summer long at various parks.  They draw a large crowd and the kids have a great time with so many extra kids on the playground.  This day, they served warm chicken sandwiches (the rolls were so good!), broccoli, applesauce and vanilla milk boxes (they were even chilled and tasted like melty vanilla milkshakes).

I gave the kids a Second Favorite questionnaire and N fell asleep on the couch for a good hour-long nap.  She's beyond naps, but when she's sleepy, she puts herself down pretty quickly.

J started her summer dance class: Lyrical.  There are only three girls in the class, but one of them was a neighbor of ours, so that gave her some comfort to see a familiar face.


Tuesday

S's 17th birthday!  I blogged descriptively about this day, so I'll try to keep this to the main points.

AM-VBS.  Flooded yard at D's house, due to a broken water main.  Lunch at Chick-FilA.  Library class. C, with help from three guys from church, worked 6 hours on the broken water main -- C got sick somewhere along the way.  PM-VBS at our church.

Late night for everyone; not the best day overall.  Tired, tired, tired.


Wednesday

E's 10 month anniversary.  Our church had an AM-VBS day, so J and O skipped AM-VBS at the other church.  All the younger kids attended, all the older kids volunteered.  I took photos.

We went with D to the doctor for her check up (she'd had the day off for some other appointments), so I could watch the girls while she was in the office.  A big group field trip to the doctor's office, yay!  N and J made fast friends with one of the volunteers who was serving juice from her drink cart.  They were so cute and I think they brought the lady a lot of joy.  Plus, they got extra juice and a lollipop.

Youth group, but only H went tonight because...

Many of us took L to the airport.  She flew alone to Oregon to visit my other sister.  Far as I know, she's having a fun time.  She's at the ocean today (Saturday) and I'm so jealous!  I hope they take lots of pictures to share.

Meanwhile, C and two other guys continued the work on D's water main.  After multiple attempts, they got it all fixed up.  The water is back on over there after two days of no water in the house, no running the swamp cooler and high temperatures.  C still sick with stomach bug.


Thursday

AM-VBS for J and O.

C worked from home today due to stomach bug and exhaustion from two long evenings digging up the yard at D's house.  Later, we took him to the doctor where he was treated for dehydration and he was told to eat a banana because his potassium was a little low.

Pastors Dan and Carl came to the doctor's while C was being re-hydrated and hung out with C for a bit, which was really good for his health and mental well-being.  They are good guys and it was super cool that they came.  C got to talk about his week, complications at work and pray with them about stuff.

I won't forget when Pastor Dan walked in the room, he had a Sonic milkshake in his hand (for himself) and the tech was just inserting the IV into C's arm and Dan said, "Geez, that's a big needle!"  Ha.  Nice supportive pastor there.  Just saying it like it is.  And thanks a lot for bringing all of us milkshakes!  I think we will laugh a long time about that moment.

Thanks to the other moms who helped take care of our kids when I went with C to the doctor.  My sister, our pastor's wife, and a few other ladies saw that the kids ate and checked in with them by phone because I know they were worried about their dad.  And S's friend EG who came and helped her watch the kids for three or four hours.  It was nice that I was able to go be with him, too, which is rare -- usually we tag-team parent and don't often get to go to appointments together like that.  I didn't have to feel guilty about it either, since I know we have so many good friends to pitch in and who don't mind a bit to do so.

PM-VBS at our church.  Younger kids attended, older kids volunteered.  I took pictures.


Friday

Last day of AM-VBS for J and O.  I got called by the nurse at that church because O had gotten overheated (he wore long sleeves, for some reason -- it's been in the 90s here) and wanted to go home early.  I took J, too, and she was devastated to miss the final ten minutes of VBS.  This devastation was made even worse when O went skipping to the van and played like a maniac at home.  Ug.

Scheduled eye appointment for H, whose glasses are falling apart and beyond warranty.  As much as I'd like to avoid more doctor's appointments, I can't send him to camp with taped together glasses -- that's just mean.  He'll see the optometrist at Costco on Monday.

C went in to work, he was feeling a bit better after seeing the doctor Thursday.  Plus, he'll be gone next week at a conference for work, so he had some stuff to finish up.

S skipped her teen group so that C could rest.  It's an hour each way and while normally, they enjoy their time together, I thought it was nice of her to give him the evening off.

H attended youth movie night at our church.  They saw Nacho Libre, which I still haven't seen.


Saturday

This morning, I got up early to do some laundry and enjoy the peace and quiet of the house.  I also wrote in my Father's Day card for C and wrapped the gift we got for him.

I didn't have to bring anyone anywhere first thing, I didn't have our nieces to watch and I'm still in my pajamas at 10:00am.  I hope the rest of today can be as relaxing.  But somehow, I'm thinking the kids will probably give me a run for my money once they grow bored of television, which they've been watching for a couple hours already.  But for now, I'm just enjoying being able to wrap up this post.

J has already come up with her first craft project of the day: re-purposing my empty Icebreakers gum box into a travel tissue container for her purse.  She folded tissues and put them inside.  She peeled off the label and now she's decorating it with puffy stickers.  Such a creative mind!

There's a downtown event to celebrate New Mexico's centennial today, maybe I'll see who wants to go do that.  Looks like fun.  Probably crowded, but at least it'll help the kids learn what a centennial is about!

UPDATE: No, we're not going downtown.  Thunderstorms are predicted and that seems like a real challenge to do with all the kids, plus C still not feeling great.  Probably a down day today ... unless I can find a good movie to take the kids to see or something else indoors.