Weekly Notes

The routine resumes, which means:

• Jonny started work.  JJ wakes up every morning and asks, "where dada?"  When I tell him he went to work, Jared considers this, and then responds, "Dada went biking."
• Speaking of JJ's speech, he has shot from the bottom of the age appropriate language curve to the top.  In the past two weeks he decided to begin saying six (or so) word sentences like, "I want to go ina lolo (stroller)," and, "bad ants bite foot...owie," and, "I want a piece of gum...buy gum?"  We had a good laugh over the dinner table at his joke, "Drink pillow?!!"  And, I really do think he was joking.
• JJ continues to adore his dada.  He even says, "Ok, dada" when Jonny tells him to go to time out, and when Jonny puts him to bed there are no tears.  When Jonny and I discussed his bond with J (and my slightly injured ego that he doesn't "like" me as much) Jonny said, "just let it be, Mel."  And so, I shall.
• I'm waking up super early to seek solitude on my morning runs again.  
• A couple of days this week I didn't make it out in time and therefore went out with the boys after breakfast.  Aaron rides his bike by me while I push Jared in the bob. The roads have no shoulder so we are super cautious to pull over when we hear and see cars approaching.   
• JJ knows our route well, and points out all the familiar sights as we go.  There's "drew's truck," the "bad doggies," the "boat," and the "tall trees."  
• We found a "secret passage way" on a dirt road that links our running path into one full circle back to the house.  But, I have to run up a large hill with both boys in the stroller and Aaron's new bike on top.  It makes me feel like wonder woman when I'm done.  So awesome.
• Weekly biking adventures are planned.  Aaron is really good at riding his new bike (the one that we found on Craigs list and drove for three hours to retrieve...it's a "specialized" and has a kickstand, so it was, of course, worth every minute) and he loves setting out on the road with Jonny.  We sent Jonny out on one of his longer rides this week--Aaron on his bike, and me and J chugging not far behind in the lolo.
• Jonny enjoys scouting out and riding multiple safe(ish) routes to get good workouts in SC.  With no shoulder, it can be tricky, but he's enjoying himself.  He did get sort of lost once this week, but somehow found his way home.  He also found a few hillside mansions in the country that he brought me to the next day on a drive with the kiddos.  It is beautiful country.  Every day we live here we are reminded that God is so mindful of our family.
• We are so grateful for our kind landlords/neighbors/pseudo grandparents.
• Sister Scott took me shopping to all her favorite bargain grocery and goods stores this week.  She was excited to introduce me to "Aldies," a German grocery chain that sells a small selection of items for small prices.  
• Brother Scott loves to work in the yard and Aaron joins him any chance he can get.  Poor Brother Scott fell and injured his knee very badly yesterday--a separated tendon above the knee or something horrible like that. We're glad we're here to help with extra "to dos."
• I'm trying to train clean little boys.  Popsicles are a great motivational tool. 
• We planted our little garden: tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, pumpkins, watermelon and cilantro.  I hope something grows.  Aaron's favorite household job is to water it in the morning.
• The boys helped me wash the windows and mop the floors this week.
• Our favorite new cleaning phrase is, "clean 10!" where we all wander and clean 10 things.
• The stench coming from the linoleum floor in the bathroom is unbearable and aggravating.  It just won't go away.
• I love to hang my laundry to dry.  There is something peaceful about it.  JJ loves to hand it to me to hang on the line.  And he loves to stand on anything/everything he can to pull it back down.
• Nothing ever feels completely dry here...including my hair.  It reminds me of Hawaii. Fond memories.
• Positive commands help enforce positive behavior.  Negative commands make everyone grumpy.
• Duh...but, really...taking the words "don't do______, and stop____, and can't ______" out of my vocabulary have really helped the kiddos understand what my expectations are right away.  And, it helps us all avoid a little frustration.  Remembering to say, "Take your hands away," or "Leave the screens alone" or "Use kind words" rather than "don't touch that," or "you can't push on the screen doors," or "don't yell at your brother" is awesome.
• We're on super budget mode.
• Which means that the thermostat is kept at around 88 degrees.  And, we all sweat all day.  It's not as hot in the basement.  And we can't get enough of our screened in porch.
• I went back to the dollar store when the receipt was off by seven dollars.
• We stack "city" errands together as much as possible, and we love Goodwill (always have and always will).
• I'm scheming about ways I can help bring in a little extra money.
• I'm typing in the dark right now.
• We love living on a lake.
• JJ's favorite thing to do here is go out on the "boat" with dada.  He means the Kayak, and it is super fun (especially with dada). 
• We're meeting new people and enjoying our associations. The lakefront is a gathering place for friends of the Scott family....which means a lot of people come to visit.  We love it--especially when kids come around.
• Aaron got a lot more comfortable in the water this week.  He broke away from the side of the dock and started swimming with his life jacket.  He paddles his arms and kicks his legs back and forth between the neighbors dock and ours.  He even went out with me past the dock on Saturday.  We spent all afternoon out there.  And we loved it. 
• We miss home, but we're adapting.
• Jonny gets called "doctor" at church and a "marathon athlete" by our neighbors.
• Most days I don't wear make up and I'm learning to braid my fuzzy hair into all sorts of different maintenance do's.
• Aaron and I devised a great alarm system to help him remember to go potty.
• JJ prays for all of his aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents regularly.