Stop in and stay a while

We have been so busy with family the last 3 weeks. First we had Grandma staying with us for a few days then Aunt Kadi for a whole week. 3 days after she left Aunt Casi and Uncle Jonathan showed up to spend part of their spring break with us. That was a great 4 days! Then Aunt Lori and Uncle Richard stopped in for a night with 3 of their kids. We've been so busy seeing everyone that the house has been neglected a bit, but we had a GREAT time seeing everyone, playing games, talking, etc. We went kite flying 3 times, checked out the Fort Worth longhorns, did some Yoga, went on a few walks, ate great, and played games until we were sick of them, watched movies, even enjoyed some snow. So much fun, you are all welcome to come back any time you like, and if anyone else wants to stop in, there is always room!

Tree down

This is the remains of our beautiful tree. You can see where we lost the big branch, the rest of the tree was weighted all towards the back and would have taken out some power lines if we waited for it to come down on it's own, so Christopher called a friend and the two of them hacked up our tree. It makes me feel like a tree-murderer. Christopher thinks it will sprout new life, but I don't believe it. With the shade of the beautiful tree, I used to sit outside and pretend that since I couldn't see my neighbors they didn't exist, now all I see are houses and powerlines. Yuck. On the bright side, my garden will be getting more sun this year!

Kite flying with Grandma

While sitting at the park with Jack, Grandma noticed some folks out in the baseball field flying kites and thought it had been a while since she'd flown one. She marched the little man right over to Walmart to pick out a couple good ones, one for him and one for each sister. He choose a beautiful Transformer kite for himself, Ariel for Eva, and Barbie for Isabelle. Friday when he got home from school we packed a picnic lunch, checked Isabelle out of school for the afternoon, and headed to the park. Here are some pictures of the kite flying and the picnic. The kids all had a blast, Eva was such a natural at the kite flying, she seemed to know when to pull the string tighter and when to let it out some, without any assistance. Thanks Grandma!

Jack and Grandma

Jack has been having a hard time, I don't know if it's middle child syndrome or what. He just has a breakdown on a daily basis. His Primary teacher doesn't know what to do with him. At school he has a behavior sheet sent home each day on his folder that has either a sticker to indicate a good day or a note to indicate something less than a good day. Usually his sheet is covered in stickers by the end of the six weeks, but the last one was riddled with notes. They usually say what he was doing that was wrong like 'talking to much' or 'not following directions.' I knew he was having trouble last week when his note said simply 'I'll call you'. His teacher explained to me how his behavior has changed and she wanted us to know that she's doing all she can to help him. Well, one of the things he says regularly when he's having a fit is "I want Grandma" or "fine, then I'll go live at Grandma's." One time he was arguing with Christopher over something trivial and he finally got so mad he proclaimed his intention of walking to Grandma's to which Christopher replied "have a nice trip." Jack pondered for a moment then said calmly "Dad, I need a map and my emergency backpack." I laughed so hard at his sincerity. So I finally broke down and called Mom and begged her to come stay for a few days and give Jack whatever extra love it is that he is needing. She was all too willing, she showed up on Thursday and stayed through Sunday. We had a wonderful visit, Jack took Grandma to the park to feed the ducks, they went to Walmart together, she sat by him at meals, she cuddled him while he watched to TV, she sang to him at bedtime. I guess sometimes a boy just needs his Grandma!