You Should Chew Gum

Caroline had a very good experience at Awana this week.  During game time, the kids played a field hockey-type game with pool noodles and two Nerf soccer balls.  Each team had two goalies as they had to defend a large area.  The kids playing could only hit the ball with their pool noodles.  For Caroline's team, she and her friend, Hannah, were given the goalie positions.  Before the game began, Caroline and Hannah were just talking and whispering and giggling.  I really thought they would get scored upon right and left because they were more interested in chatting than goal-keeping.  But then Caroline surprised me.  I don't know if it was because Henry was on the opposing team and she was determined to not let him score, but whatever it was, she went after the ball.  She'd chat with Hannah when the balls were on the other side of the court, but the minute the balls were about to pass her goal line, she ran and threw herself on it.  She made many saves.  And, after every save, she went back to chat with Hannah.  At the end when the leader gathered all the children up he said that there was one person who played exceptionally well out there.  Caroline.  He said that she sacrificed herself over and over again to run and save the balls.  She'd dive on her knees to get to them in time.  He was much more eloquent with his words and he made Caroline feel pretty special.

The kids had another birthday party this weekend.  This one was a pool party at our CC friend's house.  The kids had a ton of fun with all their CC friends and I enjoyed talking to our CC moms.  We seriously have the best CC group.  The kids play so well together.

We were the first ones to the party.

When it came to cake time, they gave out giant portions. Our kids were in chocolate heaven.

It was a great time.
The whole drive home I fielded questions like:
Why do they have a pool?  Because it's hot as Hades in Houston.
Why don't we have a pool?  Because our yard is too small.  (the easiest answer)
Why do they have a pool?  Because they wanted a pool. 
Why can't we have a pool? ...

While we were at the pool party enjoying life, Todd was working hard and trimming our trees.

The following night I was able to do a paint night with some of our CC moms.  We had a fun ladies night out.  The boards went from this:

To this:

The kids have watched The Voice on TV a couple of times this week.  We like to watch the blind auditions.  Josiah woke up early one morning and got to work on this picture of the judges from the show.  From left to right: Adam Levine, Kelly Clarkson, Jennifer Hudson, & Blake Shelton.  Obviously.

We had a plumber come to check out a leak that we have been having in our laundry room.  The water was dripping from the light fixture on the ceiling.  Over the laundry room is the master shower.  They cut three little squares in our ceiling to try and find the leak, but didn't see anything.  They ran the water in our shower, splashed it everywhere, and finally thought it was coming from a little hole in our shower door.  They caulked it and charged us $0.00.  That part was nice.  But they told us not to patch the holes in the ceiling, because the problem could be our fiberglass shower floor, which would need to be replaced.  At least the pipes are all alright.  And now we have a little extra ventilation in the laundry room.

And in Henry news from this week:

Henry's latest artwork: football plays and baseball diamonds (complete with a parking lot).  He was inspired by both the Texans and Astros playing today.

This may look like a simple picture, but if you heard Henry's explanation, it's quite complex.

Henry was able to retrieve all of his balls that he had lost to the ledge in our foyer.  They had been gathering there over many weeks.  Henry never stops throwing balls around.  Never. Ever. Ever. Stops.

I also opened the refrigerator to see this:

Orange bowl = Henry.  So I asked him, "Henry, why is your cereal bowl in the refrigerator?"  His answer, "I didn't want to waste it."  Needless to say, he did not go back and finish the cereal.  I cannot imagine how soggy the Cheerios would have been and it certainly didn't look appetizing anymore.

In the car, Henry was reading National Geographic Weird But True Facts.  This is how the ride went:
H-"On Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean, red crabs outnumber people by about 29,000 to 1."
H-"A study found that babies born in winter tend to crawl sooner than babies born in summer."
H-"A Farmer in China grows pears shaped like babies."
H-"A study found that chewing gum puts you in a better mood."
H-"Mom, you should chew gum."
Me - ...