Busy Summer

It seems like we have little down-time this summer. Well, that's not exactly true, but things are quite busy!

They got busier than we'd have liked when I had emergency surgery the week before last. I'm SOOOOOOO thankful for my dad and step-mom for taking the kids for several days. The kids and the grandparents thoroughly enjoyed themselves while they were there, and I really appreciated being able to rest and recover, with Jock to take care of me. I think I surprised everyone - including myself - letting them go for a few days. I missed them so much, but it worked out great for everyone.

We'd planned to go to Adventureland - a nearby amusement park, the day before my surgery - well, that didn't happen. Our back-up day (in case of weather - ha!) was for the following week. Well, I was recovering, so that didn't happen either. We wanted to hit the park during the week to avoid the weekend crowds, but no luck, we'll be fighting crowds. We already bought discounted tickets from Jock's employer, so we just have to find a weekend day to go before Elijah's birthday, or else the admission cost goes up by about 60%! (Elijah & Josephine's admission is free while they are 3 years old.) I think we'll be able to do it though.

Kaylen has one more t-ball game left. The season would have been finished this past weekend, but due to rainy weather pattern we've been in for the past few weeks, she's got one game to make up. I'm surprised she doesn't have more than one to make up, but just the luck of the timing of her previous games, they got them in. It actually worked out well, because the game that was postponed because of rain was while she was at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Kaylen does a great job with t-ball, so long as her competitive nature (even against her own teammates) is kept in check. But she decided that she'd rather play soccer, so I've signed her up for the league that plays two seasons per year, and no more softball.

This week and next, Kaylen has swimming lessons in the evenings. It's at a nearby indoor pool, so our "rainy season" should not cause problems. She's taking Red Cross Level 2, and she's got a small class. I didn't get much of a sense for her teacher, but I'm sure she'll do fine. She's turning into quite a good swimmer, and really enjoys the water! The only challenge is picking her up at daycare without the little kids seeing me. Jock's been picking them up since my illness, so he's going to continue that thru the swimming lesson weeks. It helps that Elijah's class is split up this week and next while his lead teacher is on vacation - so he's in Josephine's room, which is enclosed instead of the open room near the front that he's usually in.

After swimming lessons, we'll be off for a little vacation - at Grandma and Grandpa's house again. Jock has to work part of the time, but we're looking forward to spending time with my family, and also attending my high school class reunion.

A couple weeks after my high school class reunion, we're all excited to be going to St Louis for a reunion of the kids from Elijah & Josephine's orphanage. I can't wait to see some of the other families and children that we've met on our trips to Haiti. It'll be awesome to see so many children with their forever families!

Then we'll have a few more weekends to stay home and maybe relax and keep (catch) up with the garden before Kaylen starts back to school. It seems like this summer is FLYING by! But I wouldn't have it any other way - time with family, time with friends, and time to enjoy each other at home.

...and time to style Josephine's hair. Up next: box braids with beads themed for Independence Day - red, white, and blue, with silver stars!

Hair Day!

Elijah got his hair cut. I was working on Josephine, so he had to sit still by himself - and he did awesome! He didn't even complain too much this time. He thinks it's so funny to see the chunks of hair fall out, and likes Daddy to hand them to him as they are cut so he can throw them on the floor. Doesn't he look so handsome with his hair really short?!?











I wanted to post before-and-after photos of Josephine's cornrows. They lasted four weeks, the first two pix are from the day after I did them, and the next two are from yesterday right before I took them out - how fuzzy they were!



It probably took me 45 min to an hour to take the cornrows out, then washed, parted and put in these double-stranded hanging twists. LOVE how cute they look on her. I need to take advantage of this style while she's still young, because she likely won't like them when she gets a little older.
I'll probably touch them up weekly, but I hope they last three weeks. Then I'll be putting in box braids again, decorated nicely for the 4th of July!