There wasn't an update last week, due to a meeting that I had that went late. The ladies like to chat! So, here we go with a two week update.
We'll, start off with our late night visitor. Tim and I were playing a game with Hyrum and Tim saw something and said everyone move back. I was thinking a spider, because that's normally what we get, but then he said scorpion. We had no idea that they even existed in Arkansas. Apparently, there is one species and thankfully it isn't to dangerous. You'd be in for an uncomfortable recovery, but you'd most likely make it through. Tim and Hyrum took him outside to dispose of him. We think he might have come in with the load of dirt I bought.
As we seem to be in a rental for longer than we anticipated, I have decided to go ahead with a garden. I am going to do a container garden, because I don't want to destroy the yard too much. We had four containers last summer, but I think I have about 13 tomato plants and a smattering of pepper plants. This year will be significantly bigger. The kids helped me to lay some weed barrier and carry 32 bags of dirt to the back yard. We think the scorpion might have been in one of those bags. At least we are hoping it was there and we don't have scorpions to deal with on top of all the biting ants.
March is a fabulous month in Arkansas. The temps are starting to climb. We broke out the popsicles. The older kids were all over them, but Owen wasn't so sure about it. He's pretty funny about what he will eat and not eat. He's also just plain funny. His language is exploding and he is getting easier to understand. He loves to be outside with the big kids. Besides mowing with his mower, he is really loving his bike. He makes the funniest connections. He loves sunglasses and insists on wearing his glasses while he rides. I think he looks like one of those serious bikers.
Lila is a reading machine. She is probably close to a second grade level of reading. I love how she goes to the library and is searching for chapter books that she can read. I'm guessing next year she iwll have enough confidence and knowledge to really dive in! She is also doing so well with all other subjects. We already ordered all our curriculum for next year and she is pumped for all her first grade books.
With the weather warming up, it's also time for the mowers to come back. They came this last week and it was a great day. Our neighborhood is filled with homes that are managed by the same company, so they usually spend most of the day mowing all the yards. After they finishing mowing, they weed eat and blow all the grass. It's an all day event, which means the kids are entertained!
Liam is Liam. He is full of personality and emotions. He's going through a difficult patch of a four year old, where he is battling his inner toddler and trying to problem solve and be more mature. He's learning that hitting and yelling isn't okay. On the flip side his creativity is exploding. It's a little hard to see, but he created and sword with a legit handle. Tim and I were super impressed. He is also coloring and drawing things. He never likes to be left behind and this week he created his own piano composition. It included an apple not and holes that were for really loud parts. He's super funny to watch play the piano.
Hyrum was excited to begin working angles in math. He wanted to use his protractor, so he did a few extra lessons, so he could get started. He too is doing well with school and loves piano. Both kids finished their current level and are starting a new level. Hyrum loves new music and honestly he goes through most of it before his teacher actually gets to it. It's just fun to listen to him playing around on the piano. Not only is it cool, it also means that he isn't picking on siblings.
Another thing that happened in the last couple of weeks is we got a new couch. Our old one had been broken for a few years. We thought we would wait until we bought a house, but again we are moving forward. The kids love them and it's great that we can spread them out.
The big news of the weekend was that Elder Renlund came to our stake conference. There was a bunch of meetings in NW Arkansas, but he came to our stake conference. The kids got to shake hands with the leaders. Liam true to form did a really rough shake and tried to give knuckles to Sister Renlund. I felt bad, because our house is a lot more loud and rough than they are probably used to. Despite us telling them to be gentle and practicing, he still ended up doing his own thing. It was great to see an apostle in person and hopefully the kids remember it.
Any who, it been a busy, warm couple of weeks with ups and down. I'm loving the warmer weather and excited for it to get warmer. Until next week!
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