This was one of the most busy weeks of the year for me at work and that led to kind of a crazy family week too. I was busy almost every morning this week with our annual NI Week conference. I had to be at work super early in the morning to catch the bus downtown to see the keynotes at 8:30 in the morning. This time they actually talked about the product that I’ve been working on for the last several years and that was nice. I had hoped it would get more attention but it didn’t. At least we didn’t have to keep our mouths shut about it this year!
We’ve had an interesting week with food. James is a bit of a picky eater. When he likes what he has, he eats like a champ. When he doesn’t like it, it’s a tantrum fest to try to get him to eat. He has an issue with textures. He doesn’t like anything that isn’t a perfectly smooth puree or something that he can pick up with his fingers. We tried homemade green beans and broccoli this week and he didn’t like either. Eliza still eats anything you put in front of her. Sometimes she likes to steal the attention from James by asking us to “help her.” Basically this means that she wants us to feed her and she doesn’t want to feed herself anymore.
On Wednesday we were invited to Lydia’s (Eliza’s friend) birthday party. We went over to our friends’ house and had cake and ice cream. They played some kid games like Duck-Duck-Goose and London Bridge. Eliza didn’t get it at all and just wanted daddy to hold her. When they got out the balloons and bubbles everything was better. She loves blowing bubbles and she’s still asking to sleep with her purple balloon that she got from the party. We’re glad that she has such a good little friend in Lydia. They get to play a lot and get along pretty well.
On Friday we had a bunch of kids over before dinner while their parents were out doing missionary work or going to the temple. It was fun to have a house full of kids! Eliza and daddy were at the pool before and we had a great time. She loves swimming. This week at the pool she found a noodle that another girl had left in the water and we borrowed it. She liked holding it and kicking her way around the pool. She’s not super fast but she’s getting the hang of it.
On Saturday we were also busy. In the morning Eliza helped Daddy mow the lawn. Last time we tried this she was super afraid of the mower but this time she kept on wanting to help push. She would get a pair of gloves from the garage and then come ask if she could help. She would hold on to the handle and push with me all over the lawn. When we got to the back yard she got bored of that and decided to ride her bike instead.
Also on Saturday we had our mini block party. We decided it was a success. We had three families come. Our next-door neighbors came and two families from the other end of the street. Two of them have kids around Eliza’s age and it was fun to see them get comfortable with each other and start playing. We pulled our grill around to the front and put up some shade and just grilled some meat. People that came brought meat and some sides to share. It was pretty low key but we got to meet some people and had a good time.
On Monday, Sarah took dinner to a lady that she visit teaches that had recently moved out of the ward. She took her a lasagna (that was delicious by the way). She thought that she was just going to be there for just a few minutes to drop off the dish but she ended up getting to stay and talk for a while. It has been fun to see her interact with this lady and become her friend. Sarah and her companion have been one of the few contacts this family has had with the church and they have been diligent in reaching out to them and have built a good friendship with this sister.
