February 25-March 11

It was the Bossards' turn to visit us, so Justine and the kids drove over on Tuesday.  We've decided to have exactly one goal for each visit (other than seeing each other), so this time we recorded psalms.  Bryan watched all the kids on Thursday afternoon and Justine and I fiddled with the software and recorded... one psalm before Dorothea decided that Uncle Bryan was definitely not good enough.  She took a nap later, though, and we were able to go back to the basement and finish ten more, which made us feel accomplished.  Next visit's goal: play duets!  :)

What else did we do while the cousins were here?  I don't actually remember.  We went to church one night.  Children played.  We started reading Prince Caspian together (having independently finished The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe since our last visit).  Justine joined me for a Bible study of John.  I do remember that the Bossard kids were sick every night.  But only at night, and my kids somehow managed to not catch anything.  Dorothea and Matthias pretty much ignored each other, but if we put them down close enough together then they would steal toys from each other.  And Dorothea tried to pull Matthias over once.  He objected.  Uncle Ted, Aunt Ruth, and Grandma stopped by for lunch one day on their way down to Florida.  Grandma took some pictures and the girls put on shows for her.

On Saturday night we hosted our annual Happy March card club.  Poor Justine had to just hang out because I was unaware when I planned it that she would still be here that day.  She did sub in for several different people, so she at least got to play.  I was fighting a terrible headache the whole time and ended up with my best score card ever.  I guess my secret weapon for euchre is a headache.

On Sunday afternoon, Bryan and I went to the St Charles open house to talk to people about enrolling Olivia there in the fall.  We saw the first grade classroom, which was fun, and the second grade classroom, which was less fun.  Olivia seems to be academically pretty solidly in first grade right now, but it sounds like we'll be putting her in first grade anyway for social reasons.  There will be an assessment of some sort, so that could affect our decision.

After the open house ended, I had to get ready for my orchestra concert.  March is always the family concert, and the theme of this one was Just Dance.  Most of the pieces we played were accompanied by dancers, and the ones that weren't were straight from Disney soundtracks.  The Weys took Olivia and Gretchen for me and they loved it.

We're now in the week of March 4, and it's time to visit our other cousins!  On Tuesday we headed to Sidney at bedtime and visited with Keshia and her kids at Bryan's parents' house.  Rudy and Kaitlyn had a grand time playing together when they weren't being terrible at sharing toys.  Olivia and Gretchen got to feel very important because Rudy was only allowed to play in the basement if one of the big girls went down with her.  Around day three, everyone was tired of going to Rudy's dance parties, so Keshia rebranded them as Royal Balls and suddenly that was the highlight of the week.  All the girls got dressed up and Keshia did their hair and after the dance party Royal Ball we made construction paper crowns.

On Thursday, Bryan and I were supposed to go to an adults only game exhibit at COSI, but when we got on the road we decided that the drive was too long and the games didn't sound like ones we really cared about.  So instead we went shopping, got dinner, and went to Scene 75, where we played mini golf, mini bowling, and arcade games.  On Saturday, Murry and I took the two older girls to La Comedia for their Lunch and Learn show.  Their favorite part was when Fredrick Mouse was hiding in plain sight on the stage and the other mice couldn't find him.

Other things:

Olivia has a weird habit of trying to slip her foot into my shoe while she's talking to me.  Yes, the same shoe that my foot is already occupying.

Gretchen has learned that th is a sound.  She doesn't know where it belongs, though, so she still talks about "Maffias sucking his fum."  More exciting is when she does try to use it: "I can do it myselth."  "I'm going to be fithe on my birfday."

Things Kaitlyn says:
How older is [Kaitlyn] is?
Pinch pies (french fries)

Matthias learned to crawl while we were in Sidney.

Current weights (because there was a scale at Grandma's house):
Olivia - 49
Gretchen - 41
Kaitlyn - 33
Matthias - 19

Pictures:
Happy Matthias:

Grandma (my Grandma) took pictures while she was here:

Olivia reads to Gretchen, James, and William:

Cousin line-ups:

Learning how to be men on mountains.  By camp they will have mastered this:

Movie and popcorn:

Looks like maybe lunch:

Matthias again:

Carrie was massaging my head in an attempt to help my headache go away, and this happened:

Someone is proud of himself for pulling down the tablecloth:

Kaitlyn loves Matthias: 

Look at those cute kids!

Kaitlyn and Rudy are "bess frens."

Bryan just wanted evidence of how fat my sandwich was:

The royal ball: