U and V

Life has been different these past two weeks. We have been without Carbutt. Jessica has been dealing with an Upward issue. Chris had to go to school at 6 am when he caught a ride with a fellow teacher. The children have been lacking sleep on days we took Chris to school because they were pulled from bed at 645. You can see Elijah's attitude about the whole thing. He is UNDER the blue blanket. We did have Presidents' Day off. All three kids went to see the dentist. It's a highlight of Rebekah's year. Caleb likewise thinks it's cool. Elijah's last appointment, the dentist saw more of simba's teeth than his. This time was another story. Elijah let Dr. Kaler count his teeth. He showed her how he brushes them. He let her polish them and he used the "Bubbler"...the little vacuum that sucks the extra water and spit out. He is now a "big boy" at the dentist. Elijah was very proud of himself! Caleb of course loves the bubbler and water spout. Rebekah's next tooth is loose. Chris' car (Carbutt) went down two weeks ago. He is 13 years old. He had oil, he had gas, he had electric power, but







he wouldn't turn over. We had him towed to the interest of the kids and it fit T week--a tow truck. Still Carbutt was out for 2 days. Fuel pump was the diagnosis. They replaced the relay and got him going for $100 and we were VERY happy. Jessica drove him up to the high school from the shop. The gear shift was sticky. She couldn't put him in park at the school then after the game couldn't get him in drive. Prayerfully Carbutt got in gear and we got him home. The shop saw him again and worked pleasantly with us and the tow company. Wednesday morning Carbutt did the same thing. So we are officially looking at the Toyota Sienna. Actually today is Friday and we will be test driving some this afternoon.

The kids are growing and learning. Caleb came home on Sunday after dressing most spiffily for church, complete with sports jacket. He asked if we would be going anywhere else today and when Jessica told him "No" he said "Then I will take my shirt off because I'm getting sweaty playing". That's what he did. Sorry in all his spiffiness, Jess got a chuckle at the boxer line. The picture that's not here is him flexing his muscles.

Elijah's auditory memory is quite amazing and he is cranking on the Bible verses. His newest skill that was never noted is that the day after Christmas break (January 5--his birthday) he learned how to (dun dun dun) open the fridge. The results have yet to a problem and I don't think anything is going unnoticed. Elijah likes matching up manipulatives on letters--this picture is pasta shells. Elijah finally took to the whole one room schoolhouse concept. He's given up his nap most of the week. Last Thursday the 12th he wrote an "E" for the first time. On Friday the 13th we were making a Valentines and he was deligently working signing each one with an "E". The older two needed a break so we threw on "Shout" at Caleb's request and they went to dance. Jessica encouraged Elijah to go but he said, "No, Mama, I working 'berry' hard on my school." Jessica was pleasantly floored, thought the day would never come.

Rebekah's penmanship is amazing! Her highs and lows (where letters belong in relation to the lines) is finally just right and she likes striving for it. She is reading small "chapter books", mostly Junie B. Jones. In the heat of things we've totally forgotten to mention that Rebekah is playing Upward Basketball this year. She's waited 5 years to join in the fun. She's on the Panthers team and shamelessly begged Mama to coach her. It has been going surprisingly well. Rebekah remembers to call Jessica "Coach Shully". She's been learning her Bible verses for it, and our baby can GET NET! It's a 7' rim with a 27" ball. She shares the title of "tallest kid in the K league" with another boy on the team.

The washing machine died yesterday in the middle of laundry. Chris and Rebekah went out to get a new one to be delivered Tuesday. Jessica never liked the washer--it came with the house. She has no complaints except a secret prayer that Caleb's clothes last through next Friday when laundry day comes again.

U week was for Umbrella and Under and Up and some other things. There's nothing more fun than trying to spray your children with water. Then we let Elijah do it. V week came early with Valentine's Day. On Friday the 13th Chris brought Jessica 6 roses from the horticulture class at the high school. Rebekah received a pink rose. Caleb and Elijah got yellow ones. We got to show them off at game night. Game night had new faces from Rebekah's kindergarten class, turns out they're an Upward family, and a friend from church came for the first time. Apples to Apples dominated the night. The video is Chris lobbying for his card "Flipper". Everyone loves a dolphin that can clap his fins right? He almost won the category.

Now the car update. We got as far as all the paperwork Friday night and could not reach a happy monthly payment. Apparently $350/month doesn't get you very far in the minivan department. There isn't no room for the down payment needed. We know we want a Sienna with 8 seats. We stuck to our guns even when they pulled the payment down to $390. There are no financing incentives at the moment. We may continue to look at the Sienna but in a used version and blessings do abound from that. The older models get better gas mileage. You should have seen us test drive and flip the seats around and experiment with where the kids sat. Rebekah liked the reading like. Elijah liked the door button to close it. Caleb liked the ride.