Racing Swatson

For our week off, Caroline went on a hunger strike most likely to protest school being out.  We do not know what came over her, except that she refused to eat anything that was not bread, pasta, toast, crackers, or jelly bars (more carbs).  It seriously drove us crazy because it went on all week long.  She went to bed without dinner for two nights in a row because she refused to eat the food.  (Not that she wasn't given food, she just refused to eat it.)  The strike ended Saturday evening when she ate a plateful of broccoli and some leftover chicken noodle soup (though she left the chicken in the bowl).  We thought she was going to give us trouble again today but instead found a new favorite - liverwurst.  Of all the foods...

And just as a side note, hunger strikes in 4-year-olds make for very pleasant attitudes.

Josiah started the week off crushing me in board games.  He beat me in Catan and followed that up with crushing me in Yahtzee (312 to 167).  He couldn't even remember how to play Yahtzee when he got out the board, but he's a typical kid in that he went for a Yahtzee every roll and it just so happened to work out fairly well for him.

The boys spent a long time decorating our driveway with chalk while we put some mulch out under our trees.

They pushed and pulled eachother around.

The kids had their last day of Awana.  They have their award ceremony in a few weeks, so they have that on their minds still.  For the last night it was Awana Store which meant they could use the points they earned all semester on little plastic trinkets.  Not too surprisingly, we're 48 hours out from the Awana Store and we've already had a few broken casualties find their fate in the trash can.  I had several people tell me that Caroline had really come out of her shell at Awana.  I was in her room and the little girl she calls her best friend and Caroline had to be told to quiet down multiple, multiple times.  They were a giggle fest.  (But I am very happy that she has a friend that seems to enjoy Caroline as much as Caroline enjoys her.)

We ended our week going to a Skeeter's game.  A cold front had blown through that day, so Saturday evening was actually quite windy and chilly.  Todd and I failed to bring a jacket and we were paying for it.  I kept trying to hold Caroline for warmth.  We got there early because it was free hat night and we wanted to ensure we got our free hats.

Plus we wanted to walk around and see the stadium.  It was a very small, family friendly place.  Right after we made it to our seats, a Skeeter's employee came by and asked if any of our kids wanted to race the mascot, Swatson, after the first inning.  Only one could do it, but she let them decide.  They were all unsure what it meant, but Josiah finally said he'd do it.  After she left, and he had a chance to sit and think about it, he tried to back out, but I told him it would be fun and he'd have a good time.  All he had to do was run, he could do that.  So, after the National Anthem, she came and got Josiah and they sat on the front row for the whole first inning.  Then they got on the field.  Swatson started at second base, Josiah at first.  They started running, and Josiah was running fast.  He didn't know that Swatson would get distracted after touching third base and walk towards the stands, so Josiah won the race.

And and this is how the rest of the evening went.
Josiah said (a thousand times), "I can't believe I beat Swatson!"  and "Where's Swatson?"  and "I can't believe I beat Swatson!"
Henry said (a thousand and one times), "I can't see."  (whine, whine, whine)  "I can't see." (slumps in chair) [Let me tell you, it was delightful.]
Caroline said (a never ending number of times), "I'm hungry."  and "I'm thirsty." and "Can we go for a walk?"

I ended up taking the kids all on their own walks and then walks together.  On one such walk, Josiah and Caroline got to meet up with Swatson.


And this team has got to have the best name ever.  There is nothing like a South Texas team named after mosquitoes.  Sugar Land Skeeters and Swatson.

What we learned was that Josiah, age 8, did great.  Todd's looking forward to going back with him on free jersey night.

Henry in a happy moment with popcorn.

And we are back in school this week.  We'll be working until the end of May.  We are finally in the home stretch.