Wheat Bug

We had a good week last week.  My parents visited for several days, and we were able to get some stuff done, go see a movie (a real date!), and then we took them to a marriage conference led by none other than Kirk Cameron.  It was my mom's birthday present from us.  Of course they had to make the trip down here, but I think she thought it was worth it.  And I suppose that spending time with the grandbabies didn't hurt, either.

So for the first time ever, we had all 3 kids watched by someone other than my parents.  And for the first time ever, we had to pay a babysitter.  I was wondering how we were going to find quality care for a decent price with such short notice.  The preschool director at our new church gave us a few names and numbers, and after the first person turned out to be unavailable, we found Miss Ashlyn.  She is 18 years old, has 4 younger siblings, and has been babysitting for a LONG time.  She was available, willing, and only charges $5 per hour.  TOTAL.  She was able to come out and visit us on Thursday evening so we could all meet her ahead of time, and I felt confident that she would be great with the boys.  And they were very excited to get to play with her.

I only thought about calling her maybe 10 times that evening, since she was going to have to do dinner AND bedtime.  But I restrained myself, and figured she'd call if she needed us.  And as it turned out, everything went swell and the boys had a blast.  They went to bed early, even (8:30)!  She is a lovely girl, and homeschooled as well.  So we talked a bit about that once we got home, because it is something Chris and I are considering.  She told us that when she was putting George & Josh to bed, she sang Jesus Loves Me (that's the song we sing every night), and they were telling her that she wasn't singing the right words.  Josh informed her that she needed to say "wheat bug."  She was confused, and kept asking what he meant, and he made her go through the song again so he could tell her where.  So instead of "they are weak but he is strong," they wanted her to sing "they are wheat bug he is strong."  So she had to sing it again all the way through, including "wheat bug."  

Now I'm pretty sure that they know the correct words to this song, as we've sung it hundreds of times (and we even do a few motions on occasion).  Either they were just changing the words up for fun, or they were playing with her since she was someone new to mess with.  Or perhaps they've always thought that the lyrics included wheat bug.  Whatever the case, it was a pretty funny story.

Needless to say, we will be using Miss Ashlyn again.  Soon, and probably often.  She also has a 16-year-old sister who is similarly experienced.  So we have a couple of quality babysitters already!  Praise God for providing for us in this way.

One Thing About Trenches...

They sure can be mucky.  Take, for example, the fact that my adorable baby boy pooped in the pool the other day.  Yes, he had a swim diaper on.  And swim trunks (just because they are cute).  And thank goodness for those two layers.  Chris brought him to the door so I could get him and clean him up - oh.my.goodness.  The entire inside of his swim shorts was soiled.  I suggested to Chris that maybe we should drain the pool (he had wanted to from the get-go) and then sanitize it (I love using peroxide and vinegar sprays - check out this article for more information - it's cheap and totally non-toxic!  Just make sure to use two separate spray bottles.).

So today we re-filled the pool and all went well.  Until bath time.  When Blake did his business in the tub.  With the other two in there with him.  And the toys.  Mega-ICK (I won't go into details).  So I drained the tub, got the naked kids out, sprayed all of the toys and the tub and the tub mat, scrubbed the tub, and started over.  *sigh*  And not 2 minutes after I got them out to clean up, Blake peed on the floor.  

Did I mention it was 7:00pm and we hadn't even had dinner yet?  

Some days are just like that.  At least now that it's over I can laugh about it.  

Random Update

Good grief, it's been a long time since I posted last.  This cannot continue - I must update with some regularity!  I am so behind with all of the updates.  I still need to post about the boys' 4th birthday, and Blake's last checkup, and many other things.  

I'll try to get to that, but for now I'll try to briefly highlight our goings on as of the last week or two:

*We think we found a new home church, right here in Corryton!  We feel very good about it, and we think maybe God led us here so we could become a part of this very special church.

*My parents visited this week, from Tuesday afternoon until Friday morning (they left before we got up - boohoo!).  They came here as part of a trip they were already taking to Virginia for a family reunion (which was today, and we missed it for a few different reasons).

*With extra hands and help, we got some more boxes unpacked, a couple of rooms worked on, and most of our garden is planted!  Yes, we started VERY late in the growing season, but warm weather lasts longer down here, so we should get something out of it, anyway.

*We celebrated the 4th by buying and setting off our own fireworks.  We did one batch when my parents were here, and then another one last night (Blake missed the first one entirely).  The big boys are in LOVE with fireworks (who can blame them?).  And the baby?  Not so much.  He lasted about 15 minutes, and then was crying and asking to go night-night. Maybe next year.

I haven't been very good about taking pictures lately, shame on me.  I need to get back into that habit.  I do have some that I need to post, and hopefully soon I'll get to a regular routine.  

We've been spending our time still trying to get the house organized and finish unpacking - it's going painstakingly slow since most of our time is spent caring for the little ones and just doing the daily stuff.  Not to mention all of the other projects we have to do (like putting up the shed, which is going to be a doozy!).  On top of that, we need to find (and go to) a dentist, doctor, pediatrician, dermatologist...all of that good stuff. 

Our first month here was a good one, despite the generous amounts of rain, mass quantities of bugs, and the poison ivy that Chris and I accidentally discovered was growing on the edges of our property.  We have wild blackberries (and a few of my personal favorite - black raspberries) all around here; we see wildlife and farm animals all the time, the scenery is awesome, the people are really friendly, and we love our house.  God has truly blessed us by bringing us here.  Yes, we miss our families, but we feel this is the right place for us for as long as God intends.