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Last Week's Activities

Last Monday, Emily participated in a district-wide track meet for 5th and 6th graders. I was able to go for some of it. I liked watching the races. Emily participated in the agility course, the 50 meter dash, and the three-legged race. I have included a video of the three-legged race at the end of this post. It's pretty shaky because I was holding Sean and Andrew and standing up to film, but you get the idea. On Friday, Andrew went to Kalona with me to a flower auction. Last year, I went to the auction with some friends to get flowers for our yard. I figured it was the cheapest way to get flowers, so I went again this year. The trick about the auction is that you are buying in bulk. I didn't get much variety because I couldn't fit everything in my van, but I ended up with some beautiful, inexpensive flowers.

I bought 9 large hanging baskets for $6 each and 17 pots of geraniums for $2.50. I have kept the flowers I wanted and sold the rest to friends. The auction was tons of fun for me, but Andrew got kind of bored and hungry.
After the auction, we went over to the cheese factory. I haven't been there since we moved here, and let me tell you, I was not missing out on much.
Andrew thought watching the machines was cool.But, he was more excited about the squeaky cheese (cheese curds). Guess what he said when I asked him to smile for the pictures at the cheese factory?
CHEESE!
Ricky is doing well in t-ball. He has games on Tuesdays and Fridays. He can whack the ball pretty hard. He is the tallest kid on the team. He likes going to t-ball, but I'm not sure how much actual baseball experience one can get from playing on a team with fifteen 4-6 year old children. He has learned which side of the plate to stand on when batting, what to do after he bats, and which direction to run around the bases. He also knows that when he is in the outfield and he catches a ball he is supposed to throw it to first base. That's about the extent of his skills at this point.

I guess that is about it for now--sorry no funny stories today--just news.

One more piece of news: we have another temporary member of our family. A boy from church is living with us. He was sent here from Mexico by his mom to help his older sister out with her children last summer. Now, however, the situation at his sister's house isn't good for him--especially since it is important for him to do well in school. So he's staying at our house for a little while. He has very good manners and is very respectful and patient. He knows English pretty well, but sometimes doesn't understand things. I hope we aren't driving him nuts with our busy, noisy house. He put up with a lot of chaos today, his first day here. We kept asking him how to say things in Spanish. He played Monopoly with us and the kids insisted on counting their spaces in Spanish.

It will be interesting for me to be in charge of a high schooler. Already, we are working out how to get him to and from seminary, school, and soccer practice. He is so polite that he doesn't ask for much, so we have to keep asking him to tell us if he needs anything. I hope he feels more comfortable here as he gets to know us better.

Comments

The Nedrys said…
I think it is so awesome that you are helping that young man out. My parents took in teens that needed some stability several times throughout my life and it was always a huge blessing to our family. We still keep in contact with several of them, including my husband :) Glad all is well with your family!
May 27, 2010 at 3:00 PM
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