Peeschool and baatime

Hello there. Hope you are all well this warm (for you and chilly for me) June evening. I have belatedly learned of the terrible flooding in certain parts of the US. My sister in Wisconsin had their carpet immediately replaced after their basement flooded in preparation to be away in Australia for the next few weeks. They are hoping to get up in the air tomorrow with no delay (heavy rain) and that they return to a dry house. I am truly out of the loop now, having only learned of the floods a week later. It seems that we at least have one thing in common weather wise: lots of rain. Although my aunt Janice tells me that in Montana they had no snow in winter and now have no rain and are in a major drought. If only we could share the wealth with the driest parts of the globe. Maybe someone will come up with the technology someday…then we’ll have to pay for rain! Hopefully not 

Things are good here, the girls have gotten through the worst of their colds, left only with a few coughs a day. I have not caught the infection yet and Matt is holding his at bay, somehow with very little sleep and a lot of work. Keith is having the roughest time of us all. Getting used to his stents is one issue, not being able to lift, having less energy are others. But now his chest infection has turned into pleurisy and keeps him awake from 11:30pm until 6:30am coughing. He then must sleep in the day and feels terrible. Keith is such a cockeyed optimist, it takes one to know one. Hearing him actually admit how bad he feels is a sign. He even accepts help now. Keith loves seeing the girls more than ever now, they bring him joy and a break from his long, silent, sleepless nights. He has less energy but always finds a way to make them happy anyway. Jacinta loves a good story anytime and will sit for as long as you will reading to her. She also finds a good drawing partner in Keith. He has the patience and focus that she needs. Unlike me who umms and ahhs while trying to do something else at the same time. The other day Jacinta tagged along to a nurse consultation with Keith. The nurse showed her a picture of Pop’s heart and what the stents looked like. Four year olds can not imagine the insides of a body, but she enjoyed herself nonetheless.

Genevieve is a busy little bee, she never stops moving or thinking. She doesn’t sit contentedly and smile like Jacinta did as a baby. The expression on her face is most often one of great concentration or mischief. When Evie gets too busy for Keith, he gets out the grapes to convince her to stay put. He holds her on his lap and helps her draw, but she wiggles free every other minute and then comes back a little later to climb up his chair again. Genevieve is the tiring one of my two so I try to keep her with me as much as possible. This increases her desire to escape my realm, forbidden fruits taste so much better!

Genevieve’s vocabulary is still exploding. Now she picks up little books with pictures and names things like, “key,” “roo (kangaroo),” and “cah (cat).” She asks for milk, dates, Jacinta’s friend Lilly, and “paydough.” She loves visiting Jess’s “peeschool” and especially loves, “baatime (bathtime).” She has started taking long naps in the middle of the day, which then keep her up rocking until 10pm. She spends the evenings rearranging the cupboards, taking out every item and filling up another shelf with her discoveries. It’s quite funny, and she’s great company. I surely love the break in the daytime. Jacinta and I really enjoy our time together. We do things we can not easily do in Evie’s presence like beading, reading or drawing together. One day this week we took down a little fence, dug up the poorly place fig tree and trimmed weeds. But I’ll admit, Genevieve had a tiny nap today and was asleep by 7pm tonight and I am thankful. There are benefits to short naps.

The girls were well enough to get back to our weekly outings like preschool, playgroup and choir. They enjoyed getting out and spending time with others, but otherwise we stayed home and enjoyed our lovely spot here. Now that the patterns have been established (no snacks unless breakfast and lunch are finished) Jacinta doesn’t bother whining, “I’m hungry.” She just waits until the next meal and hopes she’ll get something she likes. Less focus on food leaves space for different activities. Keith slept a lot in the day so we snuck around like little mice (he might not think so) and played outside and cleaned up around the place. I have really enjoyed preparing for my sister’s visit. No other time would I enjoy cleaning windows, knocking down wasp nests, cleaning up trash and clearing cob webs. Making up the beds for Paige and Kai was pretty fun.

Matt is no longer on call and is very happy with his renewed liberty. Jacinta started to commiserate with him by the end, “Oh no, the work phone again.” Between the calls, she and Matt painted some wooden checker pieces and she learned to play checkers (called drafts here). He works a bit each night on the book after putting the girls to bed. He is looking forward to the solitude this week when we will be in Sydney and plans to complete most of the book. Today he took the girls out to our friends’ house and left me to pack and prepare for my sister’s visit.

What a lovely day, a sigh of relief. I really needed some silence, solitude and hard work. I packed, cleaned, tried to make the outdoors a little more kid friendly and built a fire pit for Jacinta’s upcoming birthday party. Now I must finish preparing for our eight hour train ride tomorrow morning to Sydney. We all need a little luck this week: me on the train with wild child Evie trekking around Sydney on busses and trains with both girls, Matt with his book, and Keith with his health. My step dad needs a boost in his health too. My sister and her family board the plane to Sydney in a few hours. Wow.

If you are stuck in a flood, I wish you sun and dryness. If you are stuck in a drought, I wish you buckets of rain. If you are feeling tired and weak, I wish you the energy of a curious one year old.

Peace,
Shana