May 24, 2009

May 24, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Here’s the update for our week. Monday was a relatively normal day. After M got home we had dinner and then FHE. The lesson was on repentance. It had not been a day where I felt like I was a good mom. So I wanted B-man to know that moms and dads repent too. After FHE M went to a HOA meeting for our neighborhood.

Tuesday was a wonderful day! We didn’t have preschool because two of the kids were out of town. Instead B-man and I went on an adventure. We drove to DC and went to the Smithsonian Natural History museum. They have an exhibit with live butterflies that you can walk through (free on Tuesdays), and since we have a caterpillar I thought it would be a great outing. After finding parking we walked to the museum. Our tickets were for a certain time so we explored some of the other exhibits first. We then walked through the butterflies. We stayed in with the butterflies for a very long time. B-man kept trying to get one to land on him. We had a great time! Once we left the butterflies we had just enough time to run back to our car and put some more money in the parking meter. We then had an absolutely delightful picnic in the grass on the mall. It was one of those days that just are wonderful. I had originally wanted to invite a bunch of other mothers to come, but in the end I was grateful for just a mother/son day with B-man. There won’t be too many more days with just the two of us, and I guess I was feeling a little nostalgic. I hope he remembers this day when he is older. After our fun picnic we headed home. The rest of the afternoon I was working on dinner. That night we had a couple of people over for dinner. All of them have spouses out of town and took great care of me when M was gone. B-man had a great time with the kids that came. That night after dinner M went out with the missionaries.

Wednesday was another great day. The morning was pretty quiet. B-man and I stayed close to home and worked on projects around the house. That afternoon we picked up M from work and then drove to Silver Spring, MD. Aunt Christine and Uncle Vance (from M’ side) were visiting their son and his wife from Kansas. They were kind enough to spend some time with us. It was so wonderful to see them! The boys threw the football around outside while the women chatted inside. Eventually we all piled in our van and drove to a pizza place for dinner. The pizza was so good. Maybe it is just because I am pregnant, but it was the best pizza I have ever eaten! The only thing better than the food was the company. The time passed too quickly and we had to head back home.

Thursday was a slower day. In the morning B-man and I went to a local nursery for the last of the plants that we needed for our garden. As we were going into our house we saw that our neighbors a few houses down were moving. They have a little boy about B-man’s age and so we had him over at our house while I was planting so that they could move things out a little easier. The rest of the afternoon we stayed inside and worked. B-man helped me scrub the walls in his room in preparation for painting it. That night M went to his “Man’s Club” after B-man was in bed.

Friday was a great day! M got to sleep in and go into work a little late, and then he only had to stay an hour before coming home! He had worked extra hours during the week, and then got a little extra off because of the upcoming holiday. When he got home we immediately started prepping and working on painting B-man’s room. We were done with all the prep a little before lunch. After a quick lunch we then started the painting. B-man did a great job! He finally has reached a point where he can be mostly helpful. As the time wore on it got harder for him to be helping, but this was the first time we have been able to paint with him awake. After finishing the painting we cleaned up and then ran a few errands. We stopped quickly at the outlet mall, and happened to find some incredible deals on shirts for M. We found a bunch of no-iron shirts that are long sleeve and actually fit him for $8! We were so excited. His birthday just came a little early… We stayed so long that we had to rush home because we were having some company for dinner. A friend whose wife and son are out of town. We got home just as he was knocking on our door. Luckily dinner was quick and easy, so we were able to chat and get dinner on the table in not too long. After a delightful dinner our friend left and we put B-man to bed. That night we watched a movie before going to bed.

Saturday morning we were all up early and so the boys came with me to hunt at garage sales. It was a very slow day, but just when it looked like I might not buy anything we found a few houses with some great clothes for B-man and the new baby. When we got home we ate lunch and then got ready to go to our pool. It was the first day that our pool was opened, and B-man has been waiting very eagerly to go swimming. Eventually we made it to the pool. Q drove down and even made it to the pool with us for a while. After the swimming we then all got cleaned up and into some regular clothes. M and I then packed a picnic and headed off to see Garrison Keillor and “A Prairie Home Companion” radio show from a nearby venue. M grew up listening to Garrison Keillor who does a very funny and interesting radio show with comedy sketches and music. We were sitting on the lawn, and it is first come first serve seating. We thought we were getting there early, but we were obviously not as early as we thought. We decided to try and walk down closer to see if we could find any open patches of grass. We ended up finding a great spot. It was very close to the seats and had a great view of the stage. We had to wait just over an hour for the show to begin, and it was a hot long wait. But it could have been worse. We were grateful for the breeze that kept us slightly cool. We ate our picnic just as the radio show got started. It was a two hour live radio broadcast, and it was a lot of fun. It’s a hard thing to explain unless you have actually heard the show before. At the end of the show we felt like it was well worth the money to see the show and we can’t wait to see it next year. (Rumor is the show comes every summer.) When we got home Q reported that everything went well with B-man. They had a great time. That is not surprising since B-man loves Q so much. We went to bed early that night. It had been a long great day!

Today has been a full day. M didn’t have meetings (because of Memorial Day) and since it was a “Slow Sunday” we had pancakes. Q spent the night and joined us for breakfast. I then worked on my lesson, and we had time for a couple games of Candy Land before we all had to get ready for church. Q joined us for church. It was fun to have her in Young Women’s during me lesson. It’s nice to have some honest feedback after a lesson. After church we rested and played a game before going to a friend’s house for dinner. We had a nice dinner and enjoyed being with the other family. We then came home and put B-man to bed.

We love you all! We’re so grateful for you!

R, M, and B-man