7/14/16 Service and a Swim

       This morning we headed over to Humanitarian. Heidi first stopped at Heather's. She fed and played with Valentine. She also payed the handyman who had come to fix some wiring. The outlet the freezer is on was going out without warning. This caused the contents of the freezer to thaw (and go bad). Things should be better now. 

      At Humanitarian Heidi, David and Rebecca helped make blankets. David was a big help to the sisters who were setting up. He loaded boxes of crafty supplies onto the dolly and hauled them to the various tables. It's a big operation, with around 30 people making things. That's not counting kids and grownups helping in the nursery. That probably shoots the total number of people north of 50. 

      At home the kids worked on math and reading. Rebecca is close to finishing her 5th Grade Mission on Khan academy. Sarah is not far behind. We call it "four for fun", the kids need to do four things before they can play. We have them do math, reading, music and a clean up type chore. We think naming it "four for fun" has made it easier for the kids to want to do it. Joseph (who has not been expected to do the four things) will come up to me and say "I want to do one for fun, I want to do Legos". I have found some counting games at his level. I enjoy spending some one on one time with him. He is working on learning to count to 10. We'd love him to get the basics down before he starts kindergarten next year. 

       This evening when we went to feed and water Valentine we also went for a swim. Some of the Hallsted family joined us. Peter's kicking is improving. He has also learned to jump in without help. This means he's super dangerous and needs to be closely watched. Happily the older kids are glad to be extra eyes for Mom and Dad to keep Peter safe.