Wednesday/Thursday: briefly

VBS: It went well, especially today (Thursday).  The kids and I are getting to know each other a bit better, and that has helped.

It's fun seeing Isaac here and there.

The four year old classes got a sneak reveal of Bolt Voltage, and it totally calmed Joshua down.  It went from all he could talk about to, "oh, it's just Tyler with an orange shirt."  (He wears an orange shirt in another part of the morning.)  While sad that it needed to be done early, it was probably a good choice.

Yesterday we went to the GR public museum.  We did it with a friend whom I haven't seen in a while.  It was maybe not the best place to talk because the boys needed a lot of help with stuff, but it was still lovely to see them.

Tuesday: VBS, tired

Today was the second day of VBS.  It went better than the first, as expected.  

Joshua wouldn't stop talking about Bolt Voltage again.  As he told Ben, ""It's really not safe at church right now. The criminal is ruining VBS."  The stories he told seemed to get more elaborate as the afternoon went on.  Also, the puppet set a trap by the bathrooms for Bolt Voltage and didn't capture BV but instead captured the raccoon (costume).  Joshua's take away was this: "This was a trap by the stop sign bathroom but it didn't capture the criminal.  It captured the hedgehog's brother.  [The puppet] needs to save him!"  Obviously it couldn't have been the raccoon that was on stage because he was on stage, so it had to be the brother.

Isaac started ice skating lessons again.  He picked up about where he left off, so that's good.  There were also twice as many teachers and about half the students, which I was very excited to see.

Monday: VBS and swimming

Today was the first day of VBS.  I have third graders this year, instead of my normal forth or fifth graders.  I can tell they're a bit younger, but some of that could just be personality too.  The fun thing about being with this group is that I also get to see Isaac for a few of the group things.  He was sitting right in front of me for one and it took me about five minutes to notice.  As always, I didn't feel like a great leader.  But since this happens every year, I'm rolling with it.

This year there is a bad guy called "Bolt Voltage."  And oh my, the kids loved him.  He would run through areas really fast and the kids would all be like, "there he is!  Get a picture for [the puppet]!"  Isaac and Joshua, especially Joshua, talked about him non-stop from the time I picked them up from their classes until we reached our next destination.  Although the puppet has said he is a criminal, both boys think he might actually be a good guy.  Joshua was very clear that you can't get close to him or chase him because you might get zapped.  Joshua also said, "We need to sing more songs and play more games so that Bolt Voltage comes back."  I said, "Wait a minute.  We don't sing songs to get the Bolt Voltage to come back.  We sing them for God."  Needless to say, I didn't really hear anything else about their mornings at VBS.

(If you look carefully, you can see a black caped person running in the middle of the picture.)

After VBS we went to the pool with Betsy.  It was a nice fun time too...it's nice being able to do things in the early afternoon.  Near the end Isaac realized he could do a bit of a bob and swim a (very) short distance...we'll have to get him in a pool again soon.  Joshua did a bob and put his ears in the water for a float too, so that was good.

Sunday: child of God

We sang a song in church today - "No longer Slaves" and the lyric that really hit me was "I'm no longer a slave to fear, I am a child of God."

It made me start thinking about what it meant to be a child of God.  Usually when I've heard 'child of God' the underlying meaning is that our inheritance in is heaven and that's where we will be going when we die.  This time I started thinking about the parent-child relationship.  (Not to be confused with the parent-teen relationship or the parent-adult relationship.)  How I, as a parent, can cause or let {small} harms come to my child and they come running to me for comfort.  It really amazes me that I can be the cause of their discontent, and yet I'm also their comfort.  I can change the analogy to God and me.  Sometimes it's worrisome that if something really, really bad happens I won't run to God.  I can take comfort in the promise that if, and when, bad things happen I'll run to God because where else would I go?

A child can also say incorrect and mean things.  The parent doesn't disown the child...the parent can see the reasons for the statements and understand the real meaning of what the child is trying to say.  God can understand me too, even when my words are incorrect.

Saturday: more balloon animals

I offered to make hats today.  Joshua wanted his with a stick on the front.

I also made an octopus.  I was surprised to find it in the advanced section, since there are only two twists.  However, the second twist involves twisting eight balloons at once, and my hands aren't that large.

Isaac put the octopus on his stick hat, turning it into a fishing hat.

Joshua wanted a picture too.  I made him wear shorts today, but then left before he put his shirt on.  I would have told him to put a short sleeve shirt on, but by the time he had it on I decided it didn't matter.

I also made a mouse that I'm rather proud of.  The actual twisting of it wasn't hard, but getting the right amount of air in the balloon was harder. 

Friday: this and that

I made a lion snake today.  I finally got the head finished, only to realize there was no more unfilled balloon tail to make the rest of the body.  My other attempts all popped.

The second mattress fell over, and the boys proceeded to spend well over an hour bouncing on them.  It seemed obvious that they should sleep on them too.  (However, getting to sleep was a bit rough...Ben and I haven't had to go upstairs to help with stuff that often for quite a while.)

When I went up a bit later Flurry was all curled up.  I don't think she's ever slept with either boy before.

Thursday: balloon animals

I decided I wanted to learn to make balloon animals.

Here we are, about to start.

Our first dogs didn't turn out so well.  They're noses are all pointed to the left.  From left to right we have mine, whose legs are different sizes and ears are too big.  Then Ben's, whose ears and neck are too big, and then Isaac's, whose nose is too big.

The second time around I knew what I was doing and made this one.  The red one is supposed to have a long body, although the tail is a bit long.

Ben's second one turned out as it was supposed to.

Isaac's turned out a bunch better too.

Joshua didn't enjoy the activity quite as much as I was expected.  However, we blew up a few balloons and let him release them and he did enjoy that.

I was most proud of my snail.

Ben made some lovebirds.  (They're supposed to be in a heart, but that part didn't turn out so well.  The birds turned out quite well though.)

Isaac was most proud of his snake. He made it himself and it had some eyes and a curl.  The making of the snake caused the only balloon pop, because he had been trying to make it from the tip to the knot of the balloon instead of from the knot to the tip.  Ben and I were both surprised a few times when the balloons didn't break on us.

Joshua made some presents.  I felt a bit bad for him, but we had played with him quite a bit in the morning.

Which reminds me, we brought Isaac back to the doctor for his cough and the current diagnosis is cough variant asthma.  We have an inhaler for daily use.  If there is an episode, we can increase the dosage and use another medication to calm everything down.  He should grow out of it in a few years.

We also got a new mattress today.  I took off the old one, and will be putting it on the guest bed, but in the meantime it is being used to jump on for a day or until someone gets really hurt.