Quick General Update

It's too early to do a "10 on Tuesday" post, but I have some random things to share and a little bit of time, so we'll do a very quick kid update here.

LUCAN
Last week Lucan apparently came down with roseola. It hit Tuesday morning, and he had a high fever for 2 days, a mild fever for a day, and then the rash broke out. He still has the rash, but he is a MUCH happier little guy now and seems to have his appetite back. Whew. He did a lot of sleeping and clinging to/cuddling with Mommy last week. Today for the first time he signed for "milk" completely unprompted. Yay! He is also finally starting to make some sounds that seem to be consistently spoken words, the easiest to understand being "hi" and "mamamamama." We think he also says "yeah," but we're not sure. Definitely not the most verbal of my offspring.

CHARIS
Charis and Tobin had a BLAST at camp. I really must make Charis sit down and blog about it! She has been having too much fun playing with My Digital Studio on my laptop, creating her first digital photo book about camp. I think I'm going to turn over the family scrapbooking to my firstborn. Seriously, she has done a wonderful job, and I can't wait to see her first little 5x5 book! She continues to disappear for hours at a time in our craft room, emerging only for meals and family activities.

TOBIN
On the day they got home from camp, Tobin spent some time playing with neighbor friends. He came home with one of them in tow, explaining to me that Ian believed you "havta be good enough to get to heaven." He said, "Mom, can you explain to Ian that you can't?" I was so proud of Tobin for sharing his faith as soon as he got home! The two of them had had a good conversation, and I tried to follow up with a quick run-down since we were expecting company at any moment. Besides trying to proselytize the neighbors, Tobin keeps busy with books and bikes.

ARDEN
Arden has a new obsession: Hamsters. While the older kids were at camp, he started talking to me about wanting to buy his own pet. I took him to the pet store along with Kenna and Lucan, and we wrote down some prices and looked at what all is necessary to keep a pet. He has his heart set on a hamster. Since this is much more doable for our family than a cat or dog, we have been supporting him, and by "supporting," I mean we have checked out books from the library about hamster care and encouraged him to spend a whopping $6 on a hamster cage from the neighbors at the community garage sale. (Yay!) Now all that remains is to actually go to the pet store, pick out the furry li'l critter, and buy the food and bedding. Sigh. One more living, breathing being in our house to take care of.

KENNA
This little stinker got her own post recently, so we'll skip her for now.

US
Ted and I FINALLY got to enjoy an evening of Catan with other adults! Our friends the L family came over for dinner the night the kids came home from camp. We had a pizza dinner, and 8 of our kids played very happily together. Kenna and Lucan went down early for the night. :-)

We spent a good portion of last weekend preparing for this week's VBS, which is happening from 6-9 p.m. at our church. Ted took the week of leave so he could be available to help out--we're both doing the drama that takes place during the opening portion of the evening activities. Also, I'll be cooking "Simple Suppers" Tuesday and Thursday for the VBS workers and their kids, so it will be nice to not have to haul 5 children to the church kitchen to "work" with me. We take two vehicles, and I bring Lucan home after my drama portion is finished. Sounds like Ted and the other kids are home, so I'll wrap up here!