Settling Into Summer

Lately, we've been getting into a pretty good routine around here. Nathan goes to work, and I clean the house while the kids mess it up again behind me. Occasionally, I get Libby to do something constructive and actually help me with the work. I took some pictures of her helping me the other day. She ran the vacuum, mopped the kitchen floor, dusted and washed dishes. What a big helper! Click here for more pictures of Libby helping.

Caleb is crawling farther and faster every day. He had his first mishap with the stairs the other day. He decided to try to give Grandma a heart attack while she was watching him and while I was at work. He went into silent mode as he sneaked behind her into the kitchen and then went bumpety-bump down the first three stairs to the basement landing. He came out relatively unscathed - only a small bruise on the bridge of his nose. He has learned nothing from his experience, apparently, as he tried to do it again the very next day. This time we just caught him trying to dive off the edge of the bed and, having been foiled in this attempt at self destruction, he barreled full steam ahead toward the hall stairs where we had to head him off again. Sometimes, as I watch these children constantly injuring themselves, I am amazed that the human race survives childhood at all and continues to thrive. Survival of the fittest, eh? I think not.

We are down to the final two kittens from the group of 11 that we took in a month ago. These two should be gone soon. They are the smallest of the litter and need another week or so to grow before they are adopted. Libby has developed a particular affinity for little Scrat (named after the ill-fated squirrel on Ice Age) and drags him all over the house with her. I caught her putting him to bed in her bed the other day. She was covering him with blankets while she was admonishing him to stay in bed and to not go "pee-pee" in the bed. Poor little Scrat.

This past weekend has been a fun one. We went down to Grandma and Papa's house on Saturday. When we arrived, Papa was mowing and Grandma was at a bridal shower. We played with the kids inside for a while and then put on our swim suits and headed for the pool. Caleb had to take a nap and missed out on the swimming again. Libby hasn't been swimming in almost a month, but she did really well! She took turns wearing a life jacket, arm floaties, and a special Nemo floatation suit that Papa bought her. She had a great time paddling, kicking and splashing. She even went under a few times and loved it. What a little fish!

Josh came up Saturday evening and spent the night. He went to church with us on Sunday morning as well. On the way home from church, Caleb fell soundly asleep and didn't wake up when I got him out of his car seat. He's never been this sleepy before. We took a picture of him zonked on my shoulder. We also got a few shots of Libby tossing her Bun-bun up on the mantle and modeling her pretty blue dress with a dress for Bun-bun to match hers.

Finally, we trekked upstairs with both little rascals in tow and got them ready for bed. I read Libby her bedtime stories in Caleb's room for a change, and they played together for a few minutes before we separated them and put them to bed. Caleb promptly loaded his clean diaper and warranted another change. Some things never change, or rather, never change themselves. :)

Click here for more pictures of Caleb and Libby from the past week.