Sarah Saves the Day

When we heard the exciting news that Shawn and Sandra were going to be married in the Mexico City LDS temple we were thrilled. Of course both Keith and I wanted to be there to support them and to visit Mexico. It quickly became clear though that unless someone was found who could take on Charlie's school schedule and PKU diet, I wouldn't be able to go. I racked my mind for the longest time. All of my friends here had kids of their own that needed to get to school as well, none of which went to Charlie's school. Further more I couldn't see asking any of them to take on Charlie's diet. My parents are in Ghana, Liz just had a baby, and Sarah had two small kids of her own. However, she seemed like the best option and I knew I could trust her completely to take on it all especially Charlie's diet.

So I called her fully expecting her to turn me down. Much to my surprise she said a very enthusiastic yes! We planned for some "fun" days before we left for Mexico and had a great time introducing them to some of the main attractions of St. Louis. Those days were also used to prepare her for the task ahead. We meal planned (including Charlie's meals and lunches), went over school schedules and bedtime routines. I explained to Charlie and Jane multiple times that Aunt Sarah would do some things differently while we were gone and prayed that it would all go well. Or at least that Sarah wouldn't have her bags packed and ready to catch the first flight home once we returned. 

The doctor kit is always a hit with these two. They got along splendidly.

The butterfly house!

The Blue Morpho butterfly is Jane's favorite. Usually they are difficult to take a picture of because as soon as they land they close their wings exposing the underside which is mostly brown. This one is the first I have seen that kept it's wings open. They only live for a few weeks so there is a good chance that it was just old and tired.

Across the hall from the large glass butterfly room is a small room where there are various activities for kids to do. They change frequently so we popped in to see what was there. One of the activities was pretending to be an entomologist and sort "chrysalises" by shape.

Night time stories with Aunt Sarah were big hits. For several days after Sarah left, every time I read to Jane she would stop me and ask me to do a certain character's voice "the way Aunt Sarah does."

No visit to St. Louis would be complete without a trip to the zoo...

(Braids courtesy of Aunt Sarah.)

...and the science center! This was the activity Charlie requested we save to do on Saturday when he could come. So even though he evaded the camera, he was there. :)

Sarah the engineer designing a nuclear power plant.

The Discovery room is great. Among other things, it is completely contained. That means that for the hour we are in there I can relax a bit and turn off my high alert mommy mode that is constantly on in crowded places. The kids like it because there is a limit to the number of people in there each hour so they get to play with more things. It is also focused more on little kids so it is Jane's favorite part of the science center.


Grant and Jane quickly went over to the space center. Jane picked up the play astronaut helmet and plopped it on Grant's head.

Jane is very particular about her outfits these days. She wore her butterfly shirt to the butterfly house, her "zebra" shirt to the zoo, so she wanted to wear a "sciencey" shirt to the science center. Her shape shirt fit the bill. Her desire to coordinate clothes with activities rubbed off on Grant so he wore his dinosaur shirt.

Last, but not least, Sarah brought the ties that my mom had picked out in Ghana and shipped to Sarah to distribute to the male members of the family. Keith, Charlie and Grant all wore them for the first time to church on Sunday. Charlie thought it was pretty neat to have a real tie that ties like daddy's, as opposed to a clip on tie. They were a big hit!

And the next day (and all too soon) Keith and I were off to Mexico!

Halloween 2017

Ever since last Halloween Charlie had wanted to be an octopus and Jane a cat (just like she was that Halloween). Month after month the whole year round it never changed. So October comes and I ask Charlie what color of octopus he wants to be. Turns out that he didn't want to be any old octopus. No, he wanted to be his favorite animal, the Pacific Mimic Octopus. This octopus changes color, shape and texture to camouflage which apparently was why he wanted to be it for Halloween. When I told him that it just wasn't going to work for me to make him a shape-shifting, color-changing octopus costume, he reluctantly decided to settle for his second favorite, the Mexican Red-kneed Tarantula. It was easier than his previous request so I agreed. (As a side note: it was surprisingly easier to change his mind this year than it was the year when he was bound and determined to be one of those baboons with the red bottoms that he saw at the zoo. He thought the red butts were awesome and could not comprehend why on earth I wouldn't let him go as one.)

Jane wanted to wear the same "costume" as last year. It was pink sweat pants with a pink jacket that had a cat face on it. Not really a costume but she sure loved it! Unfortunately she had grown out of it. Jane was crushed. So we went to Walmart to see what we could find. We first went to see if there were any cat costumes still available. There weren't and I was starting to dread the idea of making two costumes, when we turned down an isle of princess costumes and Jane exclaimed that she wanted to be Rapunzel for Halloween. Done. One french braid with flowers, dress and she was Rapunzel.

The turtle is subbing for Pascal, her chameleon.

I was pretty proud of my french braiding skills.

Armed with a photo of a Mexican Red-kneed Trantula and materials to make one, I spent the next several evenings watching shows and sewing (I don't have a sewing machine so it was done by hand). It was a labor of love but seeing his face light up when he saw it made it all worth while.

One day Charlie's class wrote what they were each going to be for Halloween. In case you are rusty on your "reading 6-year old writing without spaces"skills, here is a translation: "My costume is a spider. The spider is a tarantula. Tarantulas are hairy. Tarantulas have stinging hairs. My mom is making my costume. I love bugs."

His school also had a costume parade and he was thrilled that we came to see him in it.

In the past Keith has braved the cold and taken the kids trick-or-treating while I stayed in the warmth of the house handing out treats to kids. That didn't work this year since the missionaries are supposed to be in a member's home that evening. We have elders so Keith got to stay and pass out the play-doh while I took the kids. I admit that I enjoyed it though. It was fun to see the smiles on the kids faces, the costumes of neighbor kids, people passing out candy as they sit next to a fire on their driveway. Not to mention the house directly across the street that has Halloween lights synced to music that plays in the street on Halloween night. It was a street party in the cul-de-sac! (It also boosted my ego a bit to over hear parents and kids talk about how cool and unique Charlie's costume was.)

 Two little pumpkins and our jack-o-lanterns.

Photo Dump

Some random pics from the last couple of months...

One of the best part of moving, at least for the kids, is jumping in and crawling through the loads of packing paper the movers use.

When Charlie and Jane pretend to be going some place it is almost always to one of the grandparent's houses or... Costco, which is where Jane was headed in her little pink car.

Three mountain jays hogging the feeder. The majority of the birds show up to eat right around the time my family wants to eat as well. This has resulted in more than a few late dinners because I have a rather difficult time focusing on getting our food ready when there is so much avian action right outside the window.

One of the Ruby-throated Hummingbirds guarding the feeder. Do you see her perched on the wire?

Hummingbird feeder aren't just for the hummers. Downy Woodpeckers apparently are fans too! These two are frequent visitors to our yard.

Jane's morning hair. Always impressive, always a mess.

Jane got the side taken off her crib! About a week after she got it taken off she started getting out of bed a lot so Keith put it back on. The entire time he was putting it on both kids cried and pleaded with him to leave it off. We apparently are the meanest parents ever. Ever since it came back off a few days later, though, she has been pretty good at staying in. Oh, and she pretty much potty trained herself. Keith and I are still in shock at the stark difference between our drawn-out disaster experience of potty training Charlie and her. I would have kept her in diapers until she was in kindergarten if it meant not going through a Charlie experience again. Maybe she picked up on that...

The week before school started the nearest cousins drove down for a visit! It included a trip to the huge and free zoo here. That is right, it is free. Just another reason people should come visit us. ;)

There was this gorilla statue that every kid wanted to get onto. It couldn't fit all without a major disaster so we compromised with doing boy/girl pics.

Jane was super cool and cute with her pink hat, purple sunglasses and little attitude that I had to get a picture. She didn't want anything to do with it but I got this one and I think it represents it well.

Merrill Water Park! It was all fun and games until they broke the sprinkler. The good news is that we haven't had to water the lawn since.

 

They were making mud pies but it looked like more of a mud puddle.

I like to think that I handle kids playing in mud fairly well. I think it is healthy for kids to be free to get their hands in the dirt. Mud worked deep into hair however, is a different story. It took loads of shampoo and a rather unpleasant wrestling match in the tub to get it out.

You can't see them in the picture, but Jane is staring intently at a little group of baby bunnies hiding in our tiny garden box. Bunnies seem to like us this summer.
 
My super awesome hubby designed and made this super awesome bookshelf for the kids...

...with a little help from our super awesome kids.

 

Bugs, bugs and...

...more bugs! Jane is actually becoming more drawn to them and cautiously wants to hold them now. Well, most of them.

And THIS big guy started kindergarten!

He likes it a lot although it has been quite the adjustment for both of us. I am getting used to a less flexible routine and so is he. There were about three weeks there when almost everyday he would come home and I would wonder what happened to my Charlie. He was mister grouchy pants! I was describing what he was like to a friend and she pretty accurately said that it is like he used up all his energy to sit still and behave well at school that when he got home he just couldn't keep his crazy emotions in check any more. Gratefully we are learning together how to make the transition from school to home better and things are improving. At least the adjustment didn't seem to dampen his excitement for school!

With Charlie in school I have had more time to spend just with Jane. At first she was grouchy because she missed her older brother, but now she seems to be happy to spend time with me. It also helped when she realized that when Charlie is away she can play with whatever she wants, how ever she wants without Charlie there to boss her around. In the above picture she is showing off the bagel with cream cheese that she made for me. :)

Still she loves going to get Charlie from the bus; rain or shine.

Life is good.