Happenings

We've had a few things going on in the past couple of weeks. Grant has been putting in hours working on a really nice shed.....I'll post separately about that, because I have lots of pictures and I didn't want this post being too long.

Annika is now "plug-free" - meaning she doesn't use a pacifier anymore. All of our kids have been extremely fond of their pacifiers and reluctant to give them up.....and each situation has been different. We typically just use the plug for bedtimes once the child turns a year or so. Corban lost his for good at 19 months, due to a sore in his mouth that we wanted to heal. Marissa's was taken away just past turning 2, I can't remember exactly when. Annika presented me with a broken (nearly torn off the base) plug after her naptime last week, and I helped her throw it in the garbage. I told her that the pluggie went bye-bye and she didn't need it anymore. I do have a spare one, but that just seemed like a good opportunity, since we were wanting her to be rid of it long before the baby comes anyways.
The first night and following nap were tear-free - and I thought we were extremely lucky. Well, I guess reality sunk in, and she's been fussy about bedtimes ever since. She's getting a little better, but is certainly not the super-easy child to put to bed she was a week ago. But at least it's done. The following picture was taken just a day or so before the fateful day the plug broke. Isn't she sweet?

Also last week, Grant was presented a "Commander's Award for Civilian Service", which included a certificate signed by a Lieutenant General (3 Star) and a medal. This was a very distinguished honor - they don't give those out very often. It was given for exceptional service on a project he worked on during 2007 and 2008. The kids and I went to his awards ceremony and got to be a part of it, which was really nice.

Family shot before the ceremony

Getting the medal pinned on by a 1 Star General.

Corban has mastered climbing the rope on the swingset and is always coming up with new tricks to perform, one of which is making his way over to the fort. He's really good at it and very entertaining to watch. He does pick up more splinters these days....the price of being an active boy, I suppose.

Corban has also officially finished kindergarten - of which he is extremely proud. The rejoicing that took place the day he completed those last books was pretty exciting, let me tell you. We'll still work on reading over the summer, of course, and we'll be starting up 1st grade in August, but this will be a nice break.


For his little celebration we had, I made chocolate chip cookies (recipe coming soon) and decorated Corban's with little graduation caps. He was thrilled.

He also got a little gift, a bug cage for all the critters he's bound to catch this summer. He liked it, but confessed to me later, "It's really nice, but it would have been better if it was Playmobil".

Well.

Guess I flubbed that one up. I thought he had been wanting a bug cage for a long time. But he's still happy. It's all okay.