This Week at Our House #3

Heihachi, the love of Kate's life

1. John hates his job, a lot! But he goes and does it every single week. I am grateful that he does. I am certain that if he wasn't married and had a bunch of  kids, he would have quit this job a long time ago. John helped a neighbor remove 200 pounds of icicles dangerously hanging over her central air unit. He just saw them and offered to take them down.
2. My schedule worked. If I make it so I have to exercise before cleaning, I exercise and clean. The other way around is not a guarantee. I just can't let my house go for anything. I never have. I do not even remember a week since well before I got married that I did not deep clean the bathroom. 
3. There is this guy, Rob, that Ruth goes to school with. (Or should I be grammatically correct and say, with whom Ruth goes to school?) He is in at least two of her classes. She says that he does not have very many friends; he constantly makes off the wall comments and makes fun of people. He likes Ruth. She can't stand him. Ruth's science teacher has assigned Ruth to be his lab partner, and Ruth's seminary teacher has assigned him to work on a project with her. I asked Ruth if she is ever mean to him. She said no. Aha, I think I know what is going on. Not many kids will work with Rob so Ruth who is nice gets saddled with him. Ruth's not too happy about this, so she and I agreed that she would try really hard to be nice to him, work well with him, and make it her Young Woman's Value Project for good works. Ruth's a good girl.
4. I have a lot I could say about Kate. She is in that transition from kid to young adult--aka teenager. First, Kate is feeling desperate for friends. At the beginning of the month, I had to force Kate to try out for the school musical. This week, musical practice was cancelled and Kate cried. She is feeling lonely. I am so glad that It have already insisted she goes back to school next year. I don't think she would have made that decision on her own. Second, while, I exercise, I have been watching an anime series called Samurai Seven. Since, Kate was nine, she said that she was in love with one of the characters, Hayashida Heihachi. While they were watching it, Anya pointed to a picture of him and said, "He's cute. He's mine". Kate pulled her aside and in no uncertain terms told Anya no way, he is Kate's and she is not going to share. She was serious too. John even made her do a chore because she would not settle down. Eventually John just said, "He's a cartoon. I'll just give you both a photocopy. That's as good as it ever gets. I have always wondered if Ruth and Kate would like the same guy and have hard feelings over it. I never imagined Kate and Anya would like the same cartoon character guy and have hard feelings over it.
5. I made the rule of no computer or videos games at all Sunday through Thursday. Johnny got back to writing a book, he started last summer. He made a whole ton of stuff with legos. He helped me clear ice off the driveway, he played board games and card games with Adam and Kate. Johnny played tag and hide and seek and had friends over plenty. It's like he has woken up and found out that life has some fun things to offer. 
6. Adam woke up too. My mother bought Adam Skylanders Wii game for his birthday. It is a video game that you buy physical characters for. Adam is obsessed. He has spent every penny he has earned or been gifted on Skylanders. He has spent every free moment on this game. I have had enough and made the rule that began last Friday. Adam is back into life again. I was really surprised that when Friday and Saturday came Adam didn't spend every waking moment playing SkyLanders. Sometimes I feel mean taking away things the kids love, but not this time.
7. I heard Rachel saying to Adam, "I promise I will never tell on you again, if you don't tell on me now."
8. I asked Anya if I could help her get dressed. She said. "I can do it myself". After she got dressed, she came over to me and said, "See, I can do it. I am 5 now. I am all growed up."
9. Again this week, Joseph didn't whine as much. It is nice to know that Joseph has a voice that isn't just high pitched and weepy. Joseph still won't write his name, but just from playing on Starfall, Joseph knows about half the alphabet. That just makes me happy. I love Starfall because it teaches my children things that I find painful to teach, and my kids just think it is fun and games.
10. Joshua woke up screaming at 7am this morning and didn't stop until about 10am. I guess he has decided to be a terrible two. 
11. Arwen is six months old today and has begun fake coughing and sneezing to get attention. She is just darling and delightful. I love the baby stage.

This Weeks Pictures

Arwen sad because she dropped her toy