This Week in Review

This week has been filled with preparations for Isabella. Jessica has been nesting like crazy, cleaning and reorganizing everything. Grandpa Spaulding came over and steam cleaned the carpets. Its amazing how many stains we can get in just a few months of living in this apartment! Richard has been swimming every day this week, even during the all the rainstorms we had. Andrew has been real busy this week working on his solar radiation study. He has to get up every morning by 4:00, before the sun, and set the experiment up for the day. It's even more difficult when the kids want to play all night long too. Kathryn has been entertaining her friends this week, inviting them over for hot chocolate, popcorn, and chicken nuggets, all of which she prepares by herself. Our butter dish was the only casualty this week, part of which Katie found in her foot the following morning. Naomi spent most of her time this week helping her mother around the house, cleaning up after her messes, taking naps, and playing quietly on the floor. The family spent all day Saturday out at the pool, swimming, playing, and sun burning. Naomi finally feels safe enough to wade in the hot tub alone. It took a few hours at a time, coaxing her with toys in the water before she would even put her toes in. Her favorite spot to sit over the 5 foot mark, dangling her feet in the water. It was probably the most dangerous spot in the whole pool but that's where she felt safest. It took an entire week to get her comfortable enough to leave her 'safe' spot and walk around in the hot tub by herself (with supervision). She's joining the ranks of Hobson swimmers, just like we began back in California, playing in swimming pools all summer long. As part of Jessica's slumber party as part of her 13 going on 30 birthday celebration, Richard is planning a Summer Survival Camp since all the men are banned from her party. To prepare, he did a photo shoot for some flyers he created, and then delivered them to all his friends. Even if the only people that go are he and Andrew, it will have been a great experience and lots of fun. Gardening has not been one of our family's strong traits, as we've been born with more of a brown thumb, or weedy thumb, but nothing close to green. As an attempt to shed our destiny, Andrew and Jessica rented a garden plot for the summer. Andrew bought squash, zucchini, pumpkin, and artichoke seeds. Jessica bought tomatoes, green peppers, and magnolias. This was a month ago. Jessica's plants are still out on our front porch. Priding himself with a sense of duty, Andrew planted all his seeds, but didn't return to water the garden for the whole month. Andrew visited the garden this morning and is happy to report the morning glory is flourishing! It is everywhere, choking the life out of the few remaining survivors of the month long drought. If any vegetables make it to our table, it will be no small miracle.