But I am a hell of a superwoman...
We have been keeping very busy, going here, there and everywhere.
Memorial Day weekend we headed out to Seven Devils near Boone, NC. Pop Pop and Nana rented a cabin which we shared with them and my brother Paul and his wife Rosalie, who live in Boone and are students at ASU. In addition to a lot of relaxing on the wrap around porch and enjoying the view of Grandfather Mountain at this amazing cabin, we also hiked to Linvlle Falls, went gem mining in Foscoe, and shopped at a general store in Valle Crucis. I felt it neccessary for a little economics lesson before we went in the store. We talked about China (Chas has noticed that a lot of his toys are 'made in China') and we talked about the poverty there. I explained how, while it's great that the people of China have jobs making things to send to America for children to play with, we are visiting a special part of our state and we should look for things to buy that are made in the mountains, by people who live in the mountains. This proved more difficult than I thought it would be. We settled on some old fashioned toys, and a few that could have been made in the mountains, and a few that we had never seen before that we probably couldn't buy at home.
While in the mountains, Mia cut two new teeth. For a total of four at the time. Now she's up to six in all! She has been going gangbusters these last few weeks. Walking with out being prompted (5 or 6 steps), babbling with lots of new sounds, eating a little more table food, and of course putting those new teeth to use _biting_. She has tried to bite her brothers and somehow has learned to hit them if she is frustrated. I have been trying to help the boys transition to accepting her as a sister instead of a baby. She is nearly ten months old and still takes a lot of time to put to sleep, and likes to be held a lot. I can sense some animosity building between her and the boys, and I am trying to head it off.
Simon is talking so much clearer now. We hear him correct himself sometimes, and other times we only have to say 'I don't understand', and he'll repeat himself more clearly. Simon will be three years old on June 27th. When asked how old he is going to be, he'll hold up three fingers, but instead of holding down his pinky with his thumb, he holds down his ring finger. He has his own [very cute] way of doing things.
Chas is growing up so fast. He wants the Cranky the Crane set from the Take Along Thomas collection. I have explained that (at $50) it would have to be a birthday or Christmas present. He was obviously thinking about it the other morning when we came to me and suggested that he could do chores to earn the money to pay for it. Normally, I expect them to help out around the house when asked without the promise of money, toys or priveleges. Families help each other. But since it was his idea, and he even began writing a list of the chores he could do, I think I'll go with it this time.
We have joined a military support group. It is offered by a small Baptist church in Garner. They are a small group of mostly National Guard wives, and some mothers. They meet twice a month, last week was a pot luck dinner, next week a yoga instructor will visit. They have refreshments and childcare. There are other women with small children, like me. I have been feeling overwhelmed by the amount of strings I have attached to me. I feel like I am on the phone constantly talking to this person or that. Every one cares so much about us and wants to help. I thought the last thing I needed was another person/group to suuport me. But this group is small, meets infrequently, and spends real time in prayer for each other, and no one has called on the phone.
And we joined the pool in Garner. The same pool I went to every day growing up. The boys love it, I think they would go everyday if I could manage. But alas, I cannot. We try to go twice a week, somtimes more. Right now I am fighting a stomach bug, that miraculously the kids have not gotten yet. But they are fighting the same sniffles for the last month. So I will try to keep up with the posting better. We will be spending some time just being home for a while. I save all of Tim's answering machine messages so we can go back and listen to his voice (especially for the baby). But the other night I realized there were 15 calls we had missed since Mother's Day. There was a time when it would have crushed me to miss one call. Now, I guess with the kids, we have to keep busy or go crazy. But the flip side of that is, we are _too_ busy and we are going crazy. As long as I recognize it and adjust, we'll be fine.
Speaking of Tim, though... he is well, but really missing home. Rough count is about 13 weeks left. He left on February 22, so June 22 makes four out of the seven months.
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