Happy summer to everyone, June has come and gone at a seemingly quick pace. Both planned and unplanned activities during this month making it a very busy month. The first weekend in June we got our new puppy addition, Strider. He is a Cockapoo with lots of curly fluffy fur and an adorable face to match. We got him at 8 weeks old and at the end of the month he’s 12 weeks. We also hosted Danny and Bekah this month and watched their kids while they took a belated anniversary weekend.
Backyard remodel was completed end of the first full week of June. We are very happy with how it turned out and look forward to using the grass in July. The kids have been enjoying the playground. Unfortunately our portion of the yard work proved more challenging than anticipated. Over the course of two weeks Tim dug up the dirt well enough to put some think 5 inch pavers down and then plant the ground cover. So now we have half of the top area near the patio completed. Additionally we had another surprise house repair. The main pipe from the street main to the house main burst under our side driveway causing our house water to be out over Father’s Day weekend. While the plumber was fixing the main issue he found that we have a leak in one of the pipes under our house. So now we just finished having the whole house re-piped to avoid any future issues.
Cordelia had a fun filled month. It took her about a week to get used to how to play with a puppy but now she is really enjoying him. She likes holding him a lot, especially down by the playground while sitting on a swing. She also had some bonus days at preschool and got to participate in the first “water day.” She ended the month with a week at Grandma and Grandpa’s house doing zoo camp and other fun activities. She has been helpful with Anthony and Strider, her nurturing personality is a joy to watch. We’re now starting to deal with honesty and how to talk respectfully. Since she’s in preschool she gets exposed to a more kids and when kids get together some silly things can happen.
Anthony is doing great with his potty training. He’s really getting the idea and rarely has a #1 accident. We’re still working with him to consistently get #2 in the potty and he’s been having some trouble since he usually likes to hide. But we have had some successes and we’re focusing on how to encourage him when he does it right. We have been dealing with more attitude from him so we’ve been trying to determine the best way to discipline him. He also does a little more babble than he used to, likely due to being in preschool with other kids who don’t talk as well as he does. Overall he seems to do fine at preschool, though he still tends have sad face when we drop him off. Anthony got invited to his first preschool birthday party and we had a fun time meeting several kids and parents from Anthony’s class.
Alicia has been enjoying her work, focusing mostly on the details for one of her projects. It has been more of a challenge balancing home and work this month with the puppy addition, coming home to take care of him over lunch and still get in a full day’s work. The last two weeks she has been focusing on getting all her projects documented and archived so other people can take them over while she’s out for 3 months. House life has been focused on potty training both for Anthony and Strider. Additionally she’s been assisting with the yard work as much as permissible with a 8.5 month pregnant belly. In the midst of all the yard work and surprise plumbing, it has been a challenge to maintain normalcy and feel like we’re prepared for a new baby. While Alicia is personally getting tired and done with being pregnant, the collective house and family does not seem ready to welcome a new addition. Hopefully we’ll manage to get everything in order over the next week and half.
Tim’s work has been lack-luster this month. While he’s been keeping occupied it’s not always stimulating and hard to see the value added. Tim has also been balancing work and home life while helping out with Strider. His workout routine has suffered in support of the dog. House life has certainly been an added stress with getting the yard completed and then dealing with the plumbing. As the plumbing work finishes up, Tim now has drywall fixing to add to the house work list in addition to all the other things that were already piling up. But he was able to squeeze in some garage clean up during the last few days of June.
We are still continuing to enjoy our church. Tim got a chance to play guitar again one Sunday in June. We also had the music pastor and his wife over for dinner and an evening. We attended the membership class and plan to become official members. While it’s not a great time for us to add serving to our tasks with a new baby soon arriving we’re still hoping to continue getting involved and make some close friendships.
Overall we are happy with where we are at. We feel very blessed to have great neighbors who helped us out with the new puppy. We also are starting to enjoy the backyard and appreciate the space we’ve been given.
In July we’re looking forward to a fun 4th of July celebration with the Powers clan. Then Mimi will be visiting for two weeks to help us be ready to welcome our new baby whenever she decides to make her entrance. In July the kids will be taking a break from preschool. We will also be saying good bye to our nanny, Haylee, after the second week of July.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. If you’re in the area and want to stop by to say hi, see our new backyard or new baby we’d be happy to have you.
