Top of the Week

After our big top experience in the back yard, the beginning of the week showed up to say hello! Yes, there were still clowns . . . in superhero capes . . . in the living room . . . :) But there were also regularly-scheduled activities to attend and special events to arrange. One of these special events was wardrobe upgrade 101 :) Grandma wanted to take Gabby shopping for her birthday gift. She also wanted to find each of the kids something they need for the upcoming season. We made it a girls' trip, and set out for the stores!

My girls are still learning the shopping process :) They've almost always just been given new clothes--for birthdays, for Christmas, for season changes. I know their sizes and the styles (well when they were little, style isn't a huge factor because everything is cute :) that work, and that's what they wear. But now that they are teens, we're trying to give them more say in their fashion choices. But they don't seem to want them! Lol! They have some pretty specific standards, which I appreciate . . . however it does make buying summer clothes more of a challenge when they insist on only Bermudas or Capris. Also, the eldest is drawn toward dresses, which is wonderful--for church on Sunday . . . but the rest of the days of the week, well . . . :)

Another thing I noticed--they seem to think whatever they pick up off the tables or racks . . . they must buy! It was kind of a slow process to encourage them to try on lots of different items, in different sizes, and it was okay to not select them all for purchase. At least they're not crazy "must have it all!" kind of shoppers--I'm okay with thoughtful selection :)

After lunch, which of course Buck made, we had a little time before karate. We shortened this time by deciding to shop for the boys before karate began. All the shopping in one day! We are get-stuff-doners :) The boys liked just about everything . . . t-shirts, polos, shorts, sunglasses, etc. etc. We had to put on the brakes for those two! Ha :) Graysen even found a special little something for his cousin-to-be; "Can I pay you back later mom?" Sure, buddy :)

We made it to karate with seconds to spare. At about this point, Buck started grimacing and sharing how he was having shooting pains in his lower back and down his legs. He was kind of moving slowly and not walking very comfortably. It turns out those retaining wall and lawn mowing activities of the previous days did more damage than he first realized. So, on the way home from karate, we dropped him off at the chiropractor. The chiropractor could do nothing because the muscles in Buck's back were freaking out, and he couldn't get to the bones. They tried some therapy, but that was too painful, so he rescheduled for later in the week (before the bakery birthday to be exact).

With my six passengers in back, we picked Buck up from the chiropractor and headed off to art lessons and ASL. When we arrived, dinner was not quite ready, so the kids went ahead with art and I held a sleepy little baby girl. We rocked and rocked, and I almost fell asleep with her :) Ahhh, that was nice!



Our meal was a Romanian dish that I cannot pronounce, but it was similar to deconstructed Polish gwumpkes. The kids all had taco salad, just in case this new food was not their jam. We growns all liked it, though I had to put some taco salad lettuce in mine to balance out the saur kraut (normally it is cabbage, but Mrs. K tried something new :)

After dinner, we ALL gathered around for a Sign Language lesson--so much to learn! Buck's back was really bothering him, but he braved through as long as he could. We thanked our hosts for a nice evening of food, fellowship, and education :)

The next day, we cancelled all our plans and spent the day at home . . . working on baby shower planning, quilting, laundry, and a million other things I needed to accomplish. Though it wasn't the original plan, it actually worked out very nicely. We all needed a rest after our busy start to the vacation, and the gloomy, rainy weather was good inspiration to flip on the fire place and spend the day together at home.