This Week at Our House #38 More Hurricane Aftermath and Normalcy

One thing we did not anticipate with the hurricane was all the mosquitoes that would come afterwards from the flood waters. By Wednesday, the mosquitoes were so bad, we had to keep the kids in the house even during the day. I would hang out laundry to dry in the direct and hot sun and there would be mosquitoes buzzing all around me. Each night, the big boys would go through the house killing all the mosquitoes that made it in during the day whenever the door had to opened and it was always at least 50. Hopefully, they will die out soon and the kids will be able to enjoy the outdoors again. Other than that it was a fairly normal week with school, especially once the internet came back on.

1. John worked very hard on his third game all week. He is doing a lot of art work, so the graphics will be good and interesting. He has not heard from any jobs still. We have now been a year without a paycheck.
2. I took the van the get registered on Monday. This is a yearly chore that I absolutely detest. We are never prepared either financially or the condition of the vehicle and I hate all the bureaucracy involved in obtaining permission to drive a car I own. I found out from the men at the place I had the van inspected that since I live in the little town of Maysville, I could go the fire station where there happens to be a tiny side part of the building that does vehicle registration. That was such a blessing. Even though there was a change of address and all, I got through with it in less than five minutes.
3. Ruth has 14 investigators on date for baptism and she said that 13 of them are very interested and dedicated. She also has a great many other investigators that she is teaching. Neither she nor her companion were transferred, but they have a 3rd companion with them now.
4. Kate has been going over the Joseph Smith papers and documents and teaching the family the words of Joseph Smith. She really seems to love original documents and true historical research. She has taught our family a lot this year.
5. Johnny is down loading all of the Joseph Smith papers, so if they are ever taken away, our family will still have them available. As soon as the internet came back on, Johnny began taking this project very seriously. We had to remind him to take breaks to eat.
6. Adam used to be a quiet sort of boy. He had very little conversation. Now Adam talks and jokes a lot and is never quiet. 
7. Rachel is always at an age where we are trying to push her to do more and to learn more and expand herself. She would be quite content to stay a little child forever and always needs a bit of a push to try new things and learn new skills. Teaching her to cook is on our agenda for right now. She wants the food, but wants other people to make it for her. She will even ask Joseph to make her cookies.
8. Anya plays memory with the little kids everyday. She also makes up different games with the memory cards that the kids like even better because then they can choose the matches they want.
9. Joseph has taken to reading. While he still jumps all over the house and all over anyone he dares, he has been staying up late into the night reading books. I love it when my kids find reading fascinating. 
10. Josh keeps drawing made up creatures and asking us to guess the names he made up for them. It's half funny and half annoying since none of us have any idea what he has made up. For example, he draws a large dinosaur that looks something like a t-rex, but he has named it huntasaurus.
11. Arwen really likes to play computer games now, but I only allow her if she does a big chore and does it well. That has been nice for me because if there is a big mess that needs cleaning and I don't feel like nagging to get it done, I can bribe Arwen with an hour of computer time.
12. Susan has said and done a few cute things recently. I said to her, "You are pretty, Susan." She responded, "Yes. It is because I have curly hair, boing." Then she pulled on one of her curls. She has become very concerned about Sam. She will not allow us to shut his bedroom door when he is sent to bed because she thinks that it scares him. it makes bedtime hard because Sam has a harder time falling asleep when he sees people walking by his room, but Susan screams and cries if she thinks Sam is being treated harshly with a closed door. The other day, Susan got under our bathroom sink and we are pretty sure she swung from the pipe because she separated it from the sink. She was there practically in tears yelling, "I need help to fix this bathroom. I need help to fix this bathroom." Before the mosquitoes came out in force, all of the kids were playing outside. I told them to come in, but Josh would not, so he was left outside alone. The thought of Josh being outside alone worried her. Susan tried pulling Josh in, but he would not come. Susan then came in for help to get Josh in. She said, "I don't want Josh to die. I don't want Josh to die. The dragon is going to come from the sky to get him, and I don't want Josh to die."
13. Sam has been really cute lately. He LOVES food, and I feel like that understates the matter. As soon as he sees me putting dinner out, he gets himself a plate and fork, comes up to the bar, where we serve food, and starts chanting: "I want food. I want food. I want food." Most of what he talks about is related to food and eating. He always asks for cheese and juice. For breakfast, he typically wants several items. 2 mornings ago, he ate a bowl of cereal, a yogurt, a cup of orange juice, a clementine, an orange, and a piece of apple pie. 
14. We have a new baby due Jan 20th?? I have been trying to hide this, but my body is no longer cooperating on the matter. I was hoping things would be more settled financially for us before people knew, but they are not. Still, I know this child is a gift from the Lord, and while it is very hard to be pregnant this late in life, we will be forever grateful that we allowed this baby to come, especially since given mu age, if we waited longer, we would not get this child.

Pictures

thinking about ice cream

He has never liked getting his picture taken