Sunday, August 12, 2012

Sibling Class

The other day I was reminded of a class that is given at the hospital to help prepare sibling for the new arrival of their brother or sister.  Unfortunately I was reminded of the class the night before the class and you had to preregister for the class.  Oops!  Luckily we were able to make it in class and I am so glad we made the effort.  I really hesitated, not thinking it would be worth it, but Lucas is still talking about what he learned from the class.  The teacher talked about how to wash the baby, while the kids washed and dressed their babies dolls, and talked about what babies can play with and what they can't.  They gave Lucas this little cup and explained that if you can fit a toy inside the cup then it is too small for the baby.  Lucas understands this and spent the next day fitting some of his toys in the cup.  They also took them upstairs to the maternity ward, were it was really busy that day.  They saw a newborn baby, which Lucas thought this was pretty neat!  He really enjoyed this class and seemed to understand more than I thought he would!

Getting Baby Ready!

We are finally coming to the realization that we will soon have a little person in our mist, we have come to the conclusion that we are not prepared and should probably start to get ready!  We have been clearing out the house of extra clutter, organizing, cleaning, and getting baby ready!  It has been exhausting and overwhelming at times, but I think we are starting to make some head way!

Craig survives Scout Camp

While Lucas and I were having a week of fun!  Craig was experiencing the outdoors at Scout Camp.   He did get to come home for one night during the week and then a night earlier than planned at the end.  Besides getting rained out on one of the nights, starting out with 13 scouts and ending the week a night early with only 2 scouts it was a successful week, in that Craig survived.

Rain, Rain, Rain and Humidity?

Though we have had several good thunderstorms and rain showers you can still feel the humidity hanging in the air  with temperatures in the mid eighties.  What is up with that!?  It figures we would have a heat wave and abnormal temperatures this summer when I am carrying around a watermelon sized mound under my shirt.

Making the most of our Summer!

We have been having lots of fun this summer!  Though we live in a small community (accentuated even more when the students are gone) , there is still a lot going on with various festivals and events!  The library has their big reading program going on.  There are free movies on a weekly basis at the theater downtown.  We have done it all and continue to play and play.

This is just a portion of the activities we have participated in this week:  We went to an activity hosted by the local professional baseball team, the State College Spikes.  Lucas talked with the players, played with water balloons, and colored a picture.


We made our weekly trek to the library and attended storytime.  Went to the theater and saw, "How to Train your Dragon" (Yes we own the movie, but Lucas loves going to the movie theater!), and then back to the library the next day to see a puppet show, which was so entertaining and fun!


Went to the 47th annual peanut festival, where you buy a bag of peanuts and use them either as payment to play a game or as the part of the games themselves and toss them through loops or what not to get treats!  Though Lucas is small he does have quite an arm on him and we were impressed with his throws.  He did struggle to get it through the actual holes, but he could toss it pretty far.


The pigs are pretty scary looking.  More like they're attacking you than inviting you to play a game.
We ended the week by dragging Lucas to the dreaded mall, where I had him try on a variety of clothes for next summer, but he was rewarded with a hamburger and ice cream, and then got to attend a birthday party!  What a week!

Goodbye James Family!!!

Our really good friends have abandoned us.  We have lived across the street from them for the past six years!  Two years in Utah and four years in Pennsylvania.  Lucas has known them his entire life.  Their two kids, Cooper and Sadie are his best friends, and are more like siblings then friends.  We have been everywhere and done everything with them!  Lucas would go anywhere with them in a heartbeat.  He has been known to get in the car and want to ride home with them rather than his own parents.

I have been prepping Lucas for their departure for the past week, trying to explain to him that they are moving to a new house far away, but in a few months we will get on a plane and go see them and their new house.  When they were packing I took him over there so he could see the boxes and the moving truck.  When their apartment was completely cleared out we went over there and I explained it to him again.   At one point I told him that he will get to go to preschool in the fall and meet new friends. Lucas responded by asking me if Cooper and Sadie were going to preschool, and I said that were going to a different preschool, far away.  He said, "I don't want to make new friends."  How do you answer that when you are feeling the same way you don't want to make new friends either.  I have had the nursery leaders at our church telling me how they don't know what Lucas is going to do without Sadie in nursery, they walk to nursery together and then they are pretty much inseperable during nursery.  Though it was tough and is still tough, a day doesn't go by without Lucas mentioning them.  "Where is Sadie and Cooper?", "Will Sadie and Cooper be there?"  "Is Sadie and Cooper eating dinner?"  Sadie and Cooper wear underwear and go potty."  "I went potty like Cooper."  We have been making a great effort to continue to take him to different activities in the community and with church members and he is doing great, though we think of and miss our friends, dearly!

People's Choice Festival

The same week of the Arts Fest, Boalsburg holds their annual People's Choice Festival.  They also have some fun things for kids to do and we don't have to mess with parking because it is within walking distance.  We fed the baby animals, which was a little traumatizing for Lucas since the animals literally maul you.  Lucas was unfortunately bit by the pony, but he managed to enjoy the experience, though he preferred petting the big horses over being bit.


They had a tent set up with different hands-on things kids could do, Lucas seemed to enjoy that!  To help him have a memorable experience, despite the animal attack, I let him ride the train.  I couldn't bring myself to let him ride the horses, it was too expensive and not worth it, especially when he has had opportunities in the past to ride a horse for free!  He loved the train, and rode it all by himself, without any hesitation.