The New Deck

It took about a month, but Chris finally finished the deck earlier this month. I think I mentioned a while back that we had several boys from the church youth group come over to help fix the fence and start on the deck. They had to move the swingset to the other side of the yard and then they helped frame the large deck and get the posts dug and in the ground.

Chris did the rest himself. First, he attached all the boards to the top of the large deck. Then he built the smaller deck. Then he put up the covered canopy thing we used to have over our porch and attached it to the deck. After that he built the steps up to the large deck and put the rails up. He bought them already assembled so that wasn't too bad of a job.

Now that it's finally rained a couple of times and the boards have shifted and swelled, he'll be pulling up the boards and screwing them back down again and I will weatherproof it. We love it and are out there most evenings. Chris especially is enjoying the fruits of his labor. He enjoys going out there after the kids are in bed to read and listen to music most every night.

Betty the Teddy is Ready for the Prom

Clara went to a new allergist last week and he recommended that we not continue with the daily antihistamine that she's been on since December. He says that antihistamines only treat the symptoms and that in the long run, they actually cause your body to create new cells that release histamines and eventually you become immune to them. He did give me the option of leaving her on them since they are working so well for her but I decided to give his recommendations a try. He spoke a lot about allergy shots and I went away feeling a lot more informed about them, so we may be going that route if this doesn't work.

He wants us to concentrate on improving the indoor air quality (air purifiers, mattress and pillow covers, etc.) and daily use of saline and nasonex, saving the antihistamine for flare-ups. I hadn't really considered the indoor air since all of her allergies are outdoor, but we bring the outdoors in on our clothes, shoes and hair and the dogs bring them in as well. Duh. I never really thought of that. I'm also getting our ducts cleaned next week. We had a very large leak in the a/c return in the attic that we discovered a couple of weeks ago, so the a/c guy said the ducts are probably very dirty.

So, what's all that have to do with Betty? Well, Clara is not too fond of her new medication routine. Nor should she be. The saline rinse is a stream, not a mist, so it gives her quite a jolt and she starts sputtering, coughing and crying when I do it. Poor thing. I felt so bad for her the first night, knowing she has to do this from now on. I told her if she could be good and not throw a fit and cry for the first week of taking her medicine, I would get her a new toy. I just really wanted her to see something good about taking her medicine while she got used to the idea. And it worked! She had a really hard time and doesn't like it at all, but she came when I called her and sat still while I did it each time. She decided she wanted an outfit for Betty, so she got the Hello Kitty little black dress with black heels. Just what every fashionable teddy bear needs. (Am I the only one who finds the Build-a-Bear craze just a little ridiculous?)

I've only just given her a quick squirt in each nostril and only before bed. She is supposed to do the rinse in 2-3 second squirts, blow, and then another 2-3 second squirt. Morning and night. Oy. Might have to promise another outfit for Betty.

Who Wants to Tell Her?

Well, I just learned that our school district will only be providing transportation services to those who live at least two miles from their school.

We live less than two miles from Clara's school.

This, I fear, is not going to go over well.

Blast From the Past

I was having just as much fun as Clara as we colored our mermaids and sea creatures and then watched them curl up in the oven and come out all teeny-tiny. Gotta love shrinky dinks! And now she's busily playing with them, making up a soundtrack as she goes along.

The New and Improved Bellissia

My parents visited us for a couple of days and left Saturday afternoon. We took Bellissia out on the little lake near our house on Saturday morning. Chris and Clara have been working hard to transform her into a sailboat. She sails like a charm, but it does help to have a little wind.

Robert and I took our first ride in the boat as well. He did ok for the first couple of minutes and then decided that he wanted OFF. STAT. I was trying to keep him from going overboard while Chris started rowing to shore. One of the pieces kept popping off and I was having to hold it in the water while holding Robert who was trying to climb up me. Yeah, he's not quite ready for boating. Lesson learned.

Then Clara wanted to go out by herself. She got all set with her bottle of water, an oar and a compass and set sail. She was one proud captain. I think she's going to have loads of fun learning to sail and I know Daddy's going to relish teaching her. He's been waiting five and a half years for this.

At the Club

One of Chris' co-workers is a drummer in a band and he invited us to come see them play last weekend at a country club on Lake Conroe. Clara and Robert enjoyed dancing to the music. Clara flutterered around like a butterfly and Robert had an awesome move I like to call the "squat and twist". It must have been a very effective dance move because several ladies ended up asking him to dance. Both of their husbands were in the band so they didn't have dance partners. He had a blast. Clara made a few friends and spent a good deal of time running around with them. It was nice being able to give her a little freedom and trust her to stay nearby.

More Backyard Entertaining

Y'all are probably getting tired of seeing backyard playtime pictures, but that's pretty much our life right now, so that's all I got. This little one is quite a handful when we venture out in public so it's much easier to just strip him down and throw him out back with something to eat. You've noticed this trend, I'm sure.

Last Saturday we had the Courington's over for burgers and dogs. It had been way too long since we had hung out so it was very nice catching up. Leah and Kate got to play on a slip and slide for the first time and it pained Glenn to see all four kids shimmying their way to the end like snakes, so he decided he needed to demonstrate the proper technique (and got very wet in the process).

The kids then feasted on watermelon. Kate's keeping a close eye on Max in the second picture.

And ice cream.

No sooner had they left than Clara started asking when Leah could come over and play again.

Enjoying Rain and Bananas

I took this picture of Robert a couple of weeks ago when we had a little rain shower. I let him and Clara out in the backyard to enjoy the rain and eat popsicles.

And here are some pictures of Robert thoroughly enjoying a banana.

Champions

Clara finished her first soccer season last Saturday which is good because we were beginning to melt in this summer heat. Her team ended up taking first place. The funny thing is, they messed up on the schedule during the regular season and there were two teams that never played each other and they both went into the playoffs undefeated. And both lost to us in the end.

The last two weeks of the season were playoffs and we played both of the undefeated teams and won both times. Clara's team played so well those last few weeks. I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but Chris started coaching a few weeks in to the season. The coach was lamenting to him that it would be so nice to have an assistant coach to help and Chris took pity on him and started helping out. He even went the weekend the kids and I were in Abilene. It really helped the team to have a second coach. I think they won every game after Chris started. It's just so hard for one person to direct so many little clueless players. Chris and the other coach started to put the kids in positions that they excelled at which is why I think they ended up winning in the end. There was a sort of order in the way that her team played that the other teams didn't seem to have. The only problem with having her daddy as coach was that Clara wanted to stand by him and hold his hand the whole time.