Bobby's memorial day summary

Sorry I did not write yesterday. It was a very busy day. I had home teaching and we had some friends from out of town come over for dinner. It was a lot of fun. We had Julia over, one of Susan's friends from college and also some friends that used to live just through the block from us about 3 years ago. They have kids just a bit older then both Robert and Alice. So Alice had lots of fun playing with "new" old friends again, and Robert got to play with someone new. He actually played with them, which is a bit of a first. Susan also got to play with her friends too.

This past week was kind of busy anyways. Alice had a preschool commencement ceremony, but I did not get to go, because Robert was feeling sick that day. He has actually been sick quite a bit recently. He had a fever at the end of last week and the beginning of this week. Then yesterday he work up with a rash all over. I think it was something he ate, but we don't know for sure. The rash was mostly gone this morning, so we will probably never know for sure what happened, but he will not be eating any more fresh pineapple for a while.

House Nibble

Someone wants to make us an offer on our house. They haven't done it yet, but they say they want to.

Why on earth does this bother me?

A few of the thoughts rattling around upstairs:

"Hey, you can't take my life, er, I mean, house!"
"Oh thank goodness!"
"Wait a minute, I was just getting to like this arrangement."
"So much can go wrong between now and closing. Don't get excited."
"I'm so excited."
"Where the heck are we going to move?!"
"Why do they want this house? What do they see that I'm not seeing?"
"Yippee! Does this mean I can let the housework go? No more showings?"
"Where am I going to fit in house hunting?"
"Aw crap, now I might actually have to move."
"I don't want to leave my friends."
"Curses."
"What. Have. We. Done?!"

I suppose my mixed feelings come from our mixed motivation to sell. You see, we're not going TO anything. If there were another job or a graduation that had propelled us to a new location, then we would be going TOWARD something. As it is, we're just LEAVING some things and trying to keep everything else the same. Strange feeling. Irritating to my planner-personality. It's soothing to look over possible homes, though. I've been avoiding the official "search for a new home" thing because it feels like we're SO far away from selling this one...why spin my wheels for nothing? But maybe it is time...for my own sanity, at least...to envision something we're moving towards. Otherwise, I might not want to leave this house. Ever.

But I do. Sort of?

New Neighbor Friends

Yesterday, Alice struck up a friendship with two kids whose backyard is "kitty corner" to ours, Y and B. The three of them suddenly, somehow, got the idea to start giving each other toys. Alice isn't strong/practiced enough to throw her gifts into their yard, so Y has to climb over a different neighbor's fence to get them. I took this movie from inside the house, holding Robert, who manages to point out a few birds while I'm recording. Why did I take it? I don't really know. I just found it fascinating. This exact toy exchange took place after several other exchanges and you can see their mom come to the back door to ask what they're doing. You can tell that Y knows he's not supposed to be hopping the fence...so many quick glances back towards the house:

A couple exchanges after this one, their mom decides it's enough. I think it's Y's fence-hopping that got him into trouble, but it's hard to tell across the language/culture differences. Their mom only told Alice, "Not today, please." I have mixed feelings about this activity. They exchanged items again this evening. The kids are all obviously excited about the "new" toys, I've only let Alice give away toys that are truly hers to give, and yet I wish she wouldn't do it. Among other things, we are now the proud owners of half a dozen Happy Meal toys that Alice carts around in a dirty Tinkerbell backpack. Erk.

Bobby's Sunday Summary

Well, This week has seemed kind of calm, which is good. Robert and Alice went to the doctor on Monday. It turned out OK, especially wen ALice learned that she would not need any shots. Robert, however, did need shots. He seamed to react fairly well, but on Saturday he developed a fever. We kind of think it may have been a reaction to the shots, but just to be sure we did not let him go out much. I stayed home with Robert while Susan and Alice went to a ward activity on Saturday night. Today Susan stayed home with Robert during church, and I stayed with the kids while Susan went to a later Sacrament meeting. This is the first time that we have had a sick child since I was called into the Bishopric. We had to think things through to know how I could still be on the stand and also let Alice go to church. We are very lucky with how obedient Alice is.

But this week was not all about Robert. Alice got to go on a field trip to the Nature center. She got to see snakes and turtles. She also found several mosquitoes, or perhaps more appropriately they found her.

Alice's First Babysitting Gig

She did a lovely job! Violet is one month younger than Robert and one of the easiest "babies" I've ever watched, but that's only because of Alice. Alice offered her toys, showed her how to do things, and generally talked/sang/played with her the entire time. I just sat in the same room, nearby-ish, and monitored the play. Violet tolerated Alice's overly affectionate mothering very well and even let her hold her for a little snack at the end. What a fun little afternoon!