Monday: VBS

Today was the first day of VBS.  I'm a teacher for the fifth grade orange group.

The morning went quite a bit better than I expected, actually.  The biggest problem was that the craft took two minutes of the allotted twenty minutes.  We ended up playing duck-duck-goose.  All the groups ended up playing it and it looked a little funny, with seven small circles duck-duck-goosing.  The Bible study time was probably what I was most nervous about.  But the kids interacted with the lesson very well...and they all spoke up and answered questions.  Phew.  I'm always worried that I'll end up with extra time because the lesson flopped.

I was caught in one of the pictures.  I knew the guy had the camera, but someone did something funny at the same time.  So it wasn't completely a fake smile.

Minnesota pictures

We got all of the pictures that everyone took from our Minnesota trip a few days ago.  Here are (many) of my favorites.  There were lots of cute ones of the other children too, but if I included those I would have too many pictures.  So these are the highlights that mostly include Isaac.

Day 1:

Day 2:

 

Ladderball was a hit with the boys

Isaac liked playing with the girls though too.

Day 3:

Smoothies are delicious!

Isaac loved dumping rocks in the water.

Day 4:

Tired out after the zoo.

Day 5:

Can't forget a foot and arm photo!

She smiled every time I showed her my frozen yogurt.  Until it was gone.  Then she got grumpy, but who can blame her?

Day 6:

The boys in red, all looking disinterested in the camera

Day 7:

Time to try and get all the kids in a picture!  But Isaac stood up too soon.

Then the other boy got up too.

The girl gave the boys a stern talking to.

We got one!

Time to go!

Day 8:

The boys were all tired out.  

Our group!

Saturday: bubbles

Isaac and I were walking into the house today after doing some errands and he kept saying something and pointing.  After he said it a few times I realized that he was pointing to the bubbles.  Now, all in all this wouldn't be noteworthy but for two things...

1) We haven't worked on the word bubble.  It's been around and he's played with bubbles, but it's probably been at least two weeks since bubbles have been out.
2) The bubbles aren't in a normal bubble container.  I just made some with dish soap after I realized my actual bubbles weren't bubbling, so they're in a Tupperware container.  We probably haven't gotten these bubbles out for a month.

So, hooray for Isaac!  He had to put a lot of things together in order to communicate with me.  So we got the bubbles out for a few minutes.

Friday: toys, pool, don'ts

Lately, when Isaac and I go to help Ben wake up, Isaac brings a toy with him.  It's a little annoying, but he gets so mad otherwise that I go with it.  (It also means that we always have random toys in our bedroom.)  Anyway, today it was MegaBlocks.  He had one in each hand when we went in.  He gave them to Ben and left to get some more.  Bringing in two at a time, Isaac probably took about fifteen trips back and forth over the next ten minutes.

We again joined Betsy and Ethan at the pool this morning.  The boys seem to slowly be understanding that you're supposed to spend time in the water and not running away from it.  We still had to chase them a little bit, but it felt so much better than the last several times.

And finally, the things I have found myself saying the last few days that I never thought I'd have to teach someone...
"Don't lick the floor."
"Don't lick the deck."
"Don't kiss the wall."
"Don't bite the bed."

Thursday: grocery store adventures

I choose a slow line at the grocery store check out today.  So slow.  Slow enough that I ended up giving Isaac my phone to play with and I rarely do that when we're out and about.  I just hope the poor mother with the screaming baby got a special line.

It was finally our turn to check out.  Yay!  I'm asked if I have any coupons or bottle returns...not today. The cashier set up my two reusable bags - bags that have been well used but are still in decent condition.  The bottom plastic thing is mangled, but the bags themselves are fine.  Then she puts a brown paper bag in both...what??  I brought the reusable bags so that she didn't have to use those!  Well, by the time I got over my shock I decided it wasn't worth saying anything.  Maybe she didn't like the condition of my bags.  She asked again if I have any coupons or bottle returns...I still didn't.

I had more groceries than bags, and so I figured she'd just put the rest in a plastic bag.  She got out a paper bag.  Ok...I'm fine with paper.  Then she put the paper bag in the plastic bag...what??  What was going on?  Why was she using so many bags?  Again, by the time I got over my shock it was really too late to say anything.  But I have now figured out why the line was so slow.  Right before ringing up the final total she asked again if I had any coupons or bottle returns.  Sigh...I still didn't.

I've since then thought of many reasons why I might ask for a double bag, but no reasons for the cashier to do it without prompting.  But I do have a good coupon now for the next time I check out.

Tuesday: Isaac loves Dad

When Ben came home today Isaac was so excited to see him.  "Yay!  Dad's home!"  Unfortunately, Ben needed to do some stuff and needed Isaac to not be around, so after spending some time together Isaac and I headed out of the room.  We closed the door and Isaac started crying.  Tears came.  Toys couldn't distract him.  Curious George finally helped for a little bit, but when that was done he remembered Ben again.  A little more crying, although we finally found some toys that were distracting enough.

Monday: change of plans

Today's activities ended up being completely different than I expected when I woke up this morning.  We ended up spending the morning with Abby and her daughters...first going out for breakfast and then playing at the park.  It was hot out!  It was still mid-morning when we were at the park, but we were drenched in sweat.  The kids probably would have happily played longer, but the mothers said it was too hot.  (As a side note, the high today was 100 degrees and probably felt warmer.  It's currently 10:30 pm and 85 degrees but feels like 90 degrees.)

Then this afternoon my aunts unexpectedly stopped by!  It was lovely to see them.  Isaac was just waking up so it took him a little bit to warm up to them, but by the end he was laughing at Aunt C and "talking" to them.   At the beginning I had given him some puffs to help him wake up.  Aunt C gave one to Aunt Sue on the other side of the room and Isaac immediately got off the couch and retrieved it.  She was not allowed to have his puffs!