This is posted late - I was hoping to find our card reader so I could include some pictures. The kids have got the upper hand again!
Just as the title of this post infers, this week was full of happenings - some planned and some a surprise. It was Peter's "spring break" through his online school, and it also happened to be his cousins' and Aunt Michelle's spring break as well - so we all got together and had a fun-filled week. My sister Michelle came with my nieces, Eden and Cosette, on Monday afternoon. Elsie and Eden were so excited to see each other and play. They quickly disappeared amongst the mayhem. Cosette, being almost 3, had a fun time exploring the baby toys and the plethora of books at our home. It was fun and cute to watch her wanderings. Between Kimball's moodiness, Anna's clinginess, and Cosette's potty-training, Michelle and I were on our toes! I tried to fix dinner that evening, but gave up after messing up the biscuits due to so many interruptions and called Mike to bring home some hamburgers. The kids had a great time eating burgers and watching part of Frozen that evening.
Tuesday was a lot of fun. Michelle and I made paper bag lunches, got the team of kiddos together, and we headed out to feed the ducks- first stop to the day-old store to get some bread. When we got there, we couldn't resist getting all the kids a yummy hostess treat as well, and what a bargain! Again, our trip to First Dam was a success. The kids had such a great time throwing bread at the geese and ducks. We went through three loaves! It was feast day for those fowl, for sure. It was fun watching the ducks chase each other, and when we saw the geese fighting, I cracked up. Peter, Elsie, and Eden tried their hardest to sneak-up on the ducks and try to catch them. They explored, climbed, Kimball found a "cave", they all found secret hiding spots, and they even found a couple green duck eggs. They all felt like they had some great adventures! That afternoon a guy from the city stopped by and told us we had a leak in our water line. Surprise! I quickly finished my laundry for the week and we turned off the water.
On Wednesday our visitors got to enter the realm of homeschooling for a bit with us as we went to biography club. Peter did a short presentation on Almanzo Wilder, Elsie on a fictional character, Kirsten (an American Girl), and Eden dressed up as Abraham Lincoln and she and Peter both talked about him. Eden was the cutest Lincoln there ever was! That afternoon my sister Michelle had to go back home, and I was left solo. As brave as I may have seemed, I was a little scared, I must admit. However, everyone continued to have fun, and no one got hurt, so I count that a success! Our water situation at this point, hadn't changed much. We used lots of hand-sanitizer, paper products, and water stored in bins and sinks to drink and wash in.
Thursday Mike started digging a hole, in hopes of finding the leak. That evening he called and scheduled for a back-hoe to come and dig the whole pipe out first thing Friday morning. I continued to watch kids and have a fun, busy time. Eden joined Elsie for her American Girl Club, as they talked about Kirsten and St. Loisa day. Eden is a no nonsense girl and wanted to dress up in an apron. Elsie, however, needed a white robe, red sash, and a grapevine wreath to wear in her hair. We had fun making wreaths that morning (and pruning our much needed grapes at that), and somehow we all managed to be out the door at 10:30 with homemade lunches and bottled waters in our hands. While the two girls were at their club, the rest of us had a great time at our little park. The rest afternoon was full of naps, reading books, eating cookies, and playing outside.
Friday morning was exciting when a back-hoe showed up at our home and dug a massive hole. The kids were mostly captivated. Afterwards we went to the park and played before it was time to go home. Everyone played hard and had fun, but alas, 12:30 came and Eden and Cosette said their good-byes and piled in the car to meet Grammy part-way home. With cousins gone, it was time to shift my attention to the bit pit in our front yard, until I realized our breaks to the van were going out as I went to get more burgers with my in-laws that evening.
Saturday was full of first-of-the-season soccer games for Elsie and Peter, fixing car breaks, and shoveling dirt back into our pit. I worked as hard as I could being 7 1/2 months pregnant, but Mike really wore himself out with a very long day of shoveling. We have great neighbors that helped here and there as well. We got a little over half done, and will finish up this week, I'm sure. This is a lengthy post, and more info than most wanted, but it was one of those weeks I wanted to remember.
