cogito ergo sum: Summertime

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Summertime

As soon as we got back from our aforementioned vacation, we went straight to work. Elijah and Gillian were going to sing at church on Sunday, so on Friday they practiced with Gillian's voice teacher, and on Saturday they went to the chapel to rehearse a few times with the microphone. I remembered to record them singing toward the end, so although it isn't a full song, I hope you enjoy it. They sounded even better on Sunday.

The week of July 15th went by really fast. The kids and I worked hard and had fun. They started piano again after a few weeks of taking a break. We also worked on math and spelling, as well as on a lot of projects around the house. One of them Elijah and I have been wanting to do for a while: cleaning out the shed. Jefferson is the child in our household who comes up with tens of ideas for various projects each day, and his ideas require space and specialized tools. The problem is we don't have any room to set up shop for him. The shed was the only option in our minds. We took everything out, gave half away, threw away a bunch, and cleared out one half of the shed to be used by just Jefferson. We placed a table and chairs, and gradually we'll start buying him some tools to work with. While cleaning the shed, the kids and I found this cool train set that Elijah used to play when he was very little. James and Charlton had a blast playing with it for the rest of the day.

During that week, besides school work and various projects, we had a lot of fun as well. I took the kids to Pump-it-Up, a structure filled with adventurous giant inflatable slides and bounce houses. It was too noisy for me, but the kids enjoyed themselves. Charlton and Jefferson were inseparable.

We continued to attend the pool everyday, swimming, diving, and sunbathing. Charlton has developed a love for the water, and that has made me think that he might be ready for some swim lessons. The boys also played with cushions (a favorite pastime in my house), used the garden for hide and seek, and just read and chilled outside.

We ended our week with a karaoke party at one of our friends' home. I love Janelle's garden: it's simple and yet beautiful. The kids had a great time playing with their friends in the trampoline, zip line, or in Charlton's case, in the tree house or relaxing on a beach chair. Singing karaoke was the icing to the cake. The Websters sure know how to party.

Wishful thinking :)

On Monday morning, I had Charlton start swim lessons. It took five minutes for him to warm up, and then he went straight into swimming. The swim instructor was expecting a timid and inexperienced little 4-year old, but Charlton surprised both of us with his perfect breathing under water, swimming on his own, and wanting to dive off the diving board. I guess all of those afternoons at the swimming pool paid off.

Gillian was spending a few days at music camp nearby Yosemite with her chorus. On Monday night, Elijah picked up his brother, Abel, from the airport, and surprised my boys. Abel was looking forward to seeing Gillian's face when she got back and found him home the next day. That night Elijah, Abel and the boys worked hard into building one of Gillian's birthday surprises: a trampoline.

When Gillian came back from her camp, she was so shocked and overjoyed to see a trampoline in her own backyard. When she got inside, she opened her birthday wishes from family and friends. Abel had hidden himself, but had written a letter to her with the captions "open immediately" on the envelope. In the letter he had suggested that they try the Chronicles of Narnia closet magic and see if it works. Gillian followed Abel's instructions all the way. She went to her room and opened the door of her closet hoping that Abel would be there - and he was there!!! She was surprised, scared, and so happy to see her sweet uncle drop out of nowhere right in front of her. The best birthday gift ever! Later on, Gillian couldn't believe we had kept such a secret from her for so long, but she was really touched that her uncle made it for her birthday.