Two weeks in a row of blogging again. I guess we're getting back into the swing of things. This was Tim's last week off before starting work tomorrow so we were hopeful to do a few more fun things, but we ended up just simplifying a little because 1) some kids got sick and 2) while we love Owen, his sleep schedule (or lack thereof) makes it difficult to get out and do much.
On Monday, we had to take care of vehicles. The tags on our car expired at the end of June so we just parked it in the garage and were sharing the van until Tim finished his boards. We were going to take care of it sooner, but Tim was nervous about being given a temporary license which might not suffice as an ID for his board exam he took last week. We got a late start in the morning and made it to the DMV just before 11 AM. We got really lucky. It was busy when we arrived, but it got really busy soon thereafter. For both of our vehicles, we managed to take care of titles and registration, and we both got Arkansas drivers licenses all within an hour and a half from when we arrived! The kids did surprisingly well, although we did have to resort to letting them do some education games on my phone. Owen somehow did great (tender mercy) and was happy as long as he was held until he was so exhausted that he fell asleep 15-20 minutes before we left. It was nice to cross the DMV off our list.
In the afternoon, the moment Hyrum has long awaited finally arrived. He receives a small allowance which is divided into 3 containers--tithing, savings, and spending money. In saving money from Christmas and birthday presents in combination with his meager allowance, he had accumulated a small fortune and has been begging to spend his money on toys and would bring it up everytime we went to the store and 100 times in between, but since we were about to move we kept telling him we would do it once we got to Fort Smith. Lila and Liam also got to bring $10 they had been gifted, though Hyrum didn't actually have a spending cap. Tim took them to Walmart and said it was interesting to see their approaches. For the first 5-10 minutes Liam--as expected for a 2 1/2-year-old--said he wanted lots of things initially and was heavily influenced by the suggestions of his siblings, but Tim just said no to everything until he got used to being in the store and had seen what some of his options were. Thereafter, if he decided he wanted something and it was less than $10 then Tim would let him carry it around until he found something else he wanted, and then Tim would make him put the prior item back on the shelf. It didn't take him but 2 or 3 toy exchanges to ultimately settle on a "nano racer," which is a remote control car the size of a Hot Wheels. He surprisingly didn't put up a fuss about getting more toys for the rest of the trip. Hyrum was patient for a few minutes, and then he found his aisle and wanted everything. He grabbed a variety of Pokemon, Mario, Bakugan (what's that?), and other toys. When Tim caught up to they calculate his expected bill and discussed he may not have enough money. Hyrum returned half of his shopping spree to the shelf (sorry Mario) and settled on Pokemon cards, Bakugan battle balls, a BeyBlade spinner, and Pokemon ball with Pikachu figurine. Tim was surprised he ended up not wanting to spend all of his money (sigh of relief for improved impulsivity), and in the end he had quite a bit of money leftover because a toy he thought was $30 was only $12. Lila was reportedly more thoughtful than impulsive. Most of the toys she actually wanted were above her spending limit, which she was okay with, and she just wandered and looked until she found the princess/doll/"girly" aisle. She was stuck because most things were more than $10 and she could find 2 small things less than $10. Finally, the lightbulb turned on and she grabbed a princess wand and then asked if she could use the rest of her money on candy. This revelation brought an end to their shopping after Lila quickly picked out some Hi-Chews and Liam found some SourPatch Kids (a little past his limit but he's too young to understand that and wanted some candy). Hyrum resisted the temptation to spend more money on candy (again surprising), and they went to the check out where Hyrum had to count out his money and pay the cashier. He apparently favored using extra pennies instead of his nickel, haha, but his little math brain was efficient.
Tuesday, Tim was gone all day. He volunteered as "security" at girls camp and had a shift from 6 am - 6 pm with a 2-hour drive to the camp in Oklahoma. It was his first time helping with girls camp, and he enjoyed meeting more people from our stake and cruising around in an side-by-side ATV. It was hot and humid (which seems to a theme around here), but he had fun and made it home safely. We had a fairly routine day, but managed to explore a new park in the area.
My brain can't remember Wednesday. I know we went shopping, and I think that is when Liam's sniffles picked up quite a bit. Lila was affected a little and just needed an occasional tissue, and Hyrum started commenting on a sore throat on Saturday and woke up with a runny nose on Sunday. Overall, I think Wednesday was pretty basic.
The highlight of Thursday was that Tim took Hyrum and Lila to the main library to watch a movie. During the summer they host a weekly matinee, and this week they were watching The Bad Guys. Their excitement doubled when we told them they could invite some friends so they invited the Pratts from church--the same family who had us over for the Fourth of July. They had tons of fun and all did very well during the movie, though Hyrum needed several reminders to lower his volume (a daily struggle) but hey, he gets excited.
Friday morning Tim went for a 6:30 AM run. There is a running group in the ward, and he has joined them twice now. They go several miles, and Tim hasn't run consistently for a while so he doesn't go as often as many in the group. Later in the morning he took the older 3 kids to our local branch of the library to actually check out books. It always does my heart good that our kids like books, and adding books into our day keeps us sane.
On Saturday, Tim helped a member of the ward move their stuff out of storage into their new rental. Tim asked for the address where the truck would be unloaded and was surprised to learn their rental is only 3 houses down from us. We are excited as we don't know many people in our neighborhood yet. They are an older couple in their 70s and they seem nice. Tim and the kids ate lunch at the park and then after Liam's nap we all went to a splash pad we haven't been to (most things are still new to us). It was a nice park. The splash pad was mostly shaded and there was an adjacent playground where we let the kids play when it was time to dry off.
My time this week was primarily occupied by Owen. He is still struggling with sleep, and it hasn't helped that he is cutting his first tooth and maybe a second. Oh, I almost forgot. We did haircuts on Saturday, and the first customer was Owen. We felt a little guilty about cutting his hair because it is definitely his most notable feature, but his hair was quite unruly, and he would always get so sweaty during naps that we thought it would be a good idea to give him a trim (meaning, the biggest clip is 1-inch so he got buzzed). See before and after pics below. Hyrum wasn't a fan and was a little upset briefly because he liked the long-haired Owen more. Side note: you probably all know this, but cutting a 4-month-old's hair is challenging. We knew that as well, and that is one of the reasons we postponed for so long. Anyway, the deed is done. His hair is a lot lighter now, almost blond. We'll see what happens as it grows out again. The remainder of the boys got haircuts by the end of the day, but that was all routine.
I took Lila and Owen to church today, and Tim stayed at home with Hyrum and Liam who were sick. Hyrum was actually sad that he would be missing the primary song for Pioneer Day, which is a welcomed change. He often remarks that he doesn't want to go to church, but he had learned a new pioneer song and seemed eager to get to sing it with the primary. As a part of my calling in the Relief Society presidency, I attend a bimonthly meeting on the temple and family history. It is before church, and today was my first day in attendance. It will be a learning curve with a new calling in a new ward, but we'll get there. Some of the nursery leaders were at girls camp with Tim, and he made sure to let them know he'd be happy to serve in the nursery. He hasn't been given a calling yet, but we'll see how long that lasts.
Tim starts work tomorrow. It will be a couple of weeks before he starts seeing patients, but he'll be doing other trainings. They haven't given him much information so we have no idea what his schedule will be. They told him where to go tomorrow but didn't say what time, haha.
Until next week. Take care everyone!
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