Mattress coils

When we exchanged Phoebe and Zoë's old bunk bed for Benjamin's new loft bed, we were left with a couple of old mattresses on our hands (because Benjamin's new bed frame is a full not a twin). They were rather inexpensive mattresses in the first place, so were never very comfortable, but various children have used them for...at least 13 years...so they'd...been through some...stuff. 

I won't list all the bodily fluids they encountered. And, I mean, we used mattress covers...but they got gross anyway. 

I don't really blame anyone for not wanting them. 

But—goodness sakes!—do you know how much it costs to dispose of a mattress?

Luckily, I know a guy!

The kids in Utah

At this time last week we were either all weeping as we drove home in the rain...or were off to Kroger to do a snack run for a long road trip. 

The older kids have now been gone for a week and their whirlwind trip to Utah is just about over. Tomorrow is their last full day there (except for Rachel, who will be there for longer). 

Miriam has been enjoying her time at the organ workshop. She had a private lesson with Joseph Peeples (a tabernacle organist), which I assume went well. My mom went with her to that (because Miriam is a minor she was required to have an adult present at her private lesson).

Before a trip...

At our house, asking a child to do a chore somehow stimulates their bladder.

"I...have to go potty first!" they'll say.

And then I'll say something like, "Well, good thing I ask you to help out around the house, otherwise you'd never remember to go potty!"

*****

This is like that but it's like "good thing we send these kids on trips, otherwise we'd never take care of them."

I jest, of course...but this morning as we took Benjamin off to the doctor to finally fish a splinter out of his finger (that he got at YM camp the first week of June, wouldn't let me pull out, and assured me it would work its way out on its own...only to come to me the other day with a swollen, pussy finger...as if I'm the one who should have been keeping track of it all summer) so that it could be healing instead of festering while he's on his trip, I couldn't help laugh. 

We've taken Miriam to the urgent care twice before a big trip—once for a broken arm and once for an illness. 

It's not precisely that we plan these things, but it might seem like we only take them to urgent care immediately before sending them on a trip.

Here's Benjamin getting ready for exploratory...digging about:

Two beautiful moments to bookend my day

While I was still in bed this morning, Benjamin came into my room—dressed for working out—and asked me if I wanted to go for a run with him before the day got too hot. 

To think I used to have to bribe him to run with me!

Of course I had to say yes!

While we were out, I told him that soon he won't want to run with me because he'll think I'm too slow for him. But right now—in this moment—we make a good little team. 

It was still hot. And so humid—ridiculously humid. 

So we ran two miles. And chatted. And called it good. 

It was delightful.

*****

Phoebe just got out of bed a little while ago, all on her own.

I heard her jiggling the bathroom door, so I looked over (I can see the bathroom from my desk) and saw her standing there, fiddling with her pyjamas. 

I got up to help her and she held up her hand to stop me.

"I just can do it myself!" she whispered. 

And That's A Wrap: Benjamin's County Meet

Benjamin was awfully excited for the county swim meet this afternoon. I was both surprised—and not surprised—to look over and see his meet suit underneath his church clothes...

Miriam's Music Theory Exam (and other morning chaos)

"Why is sugar water so good?!"

Those are the words I was greeted with when I came down the stairs this morning. Zoë, Alexander, and Phoebe were having a tea party for breakfast, with oatmeal and a little charcuterie board of animal crackers, craisins, and pistachios. They had peppermint tea with sugar. Or, in Phoebe's case, plain ol' sugar water. 

"I just don't understand how it can be this good!" she said. 

"Because it's just...sugar..." I told her. "People tend to like sugar."

We skipped swim practice this morning so we could all just sleep and sleep and sleep. Alexander is feeling better. Phoebe seems to be on the mend. They got up with Zoë early in the morning. Zoë and Rachel have what seem to be lingering head colds. And Benjamin crashed hard last night. 

He was perfectly fine all day. He even said the closing prayer in sacrament meeting. 

And then he just...crashed. He slept in until around 11:30 this morning, as did multiple other people in the house. We are a tired household these days.

We had just been lining up all the awake kids (Rachel, Zoë, Alex, and Phoebe) to take their temperatures (mostly normal today—just Phoebe with a fever still!) when Benjamin came skidding down the hallway, crashing through our little group, to fling himself over the toilet in the bathroom. We all grimaced at each other while he puked. 

"How are you feeling, Benjamin?" I asked when his regurgitation noises had subsided. 

In response he hurled some more.

"Not up for conversation, eh?" I asked. 

More retching.

*****

Now, Phoebe has thrown up a few times with this sickness, but those instances have clearly been linked to uncontrollable coughing fits. Benjamin's stomach issues seem like a whole new set of symptoms. 

While he was in the midst of vomiting, Miriam came running up the stairs screaming.

The basement stairs spit traffic into the hallway right at the bathroom door, but somehow she missed the fact that Benjamin was in there puking and rounded the corner to find our preassembled crew. 

"Uh-oh. What's wrong?" we asked, like...what else could possibly be happening?

"I GOT A 5!!!!" she squealed, jumping up and down.

Benjamin's woodworking class

Andrew posted online about a swim meet the other day and someone commented on his post something like: "Lord, if I have but one day to live, let there be a swim meet, because those things last forever!"

With two swim meets this week, it has felt like this week has been at least two weeks (three swim meets within eight days). 

Add in the girls going to YW camp, a heat wave, the girls being sent home from YW camp, daily swim practices, class, work, and everything else...it feels like we've lived an entire lifetime since last week. 

Oh, and Benjamin had his woodworking camp this week as well! It was every afternoon from 1 to 5. And I think everyone had a good time—from the youngest boy up to the oldest teacher. Here's Benjamin when I dropped him off on the first day:

Ribbons galore!

As you can see, the kids did well at their swim meets this week!

Benjamin had a whole fistful of blue (first place) ribbons:

Coach Heidi approached me about the possibility of him swimming on the high school team, which he's super excited about! He wouldn't be a star swimmer (to start out with; he'd probably be in the slowest lane), but he's showing a lot of potential and she'd love to have him when he graduates from middle school. He'll be heading to the county meet on the freestyle relay.

Last meet of the year!

We did it! We made it through the swim season! 

Our final meet was tonight and it was a little...touch and go in the beginning. A thunder storm rolled in just as we were setting up so we spent the next 1.5+ hours waiting it out. We got our meet started at 6:30 pm and the officiants really moved through things quickly!

Make-up Meet: A Boon for Benjamin

It was a scorcher today, but as hot as it was, tomorrow is supposed to be hotter! 

Poor Rachel and Miriam are off to YW camp, where they'll have to suffer through the heat all week (their cabin has electricity, so they've each packed a fan and have a few more items to help keep cool). 

The rest of us only had to suffer for a few hours at the swim meet this evening. Everybody was dripping—either from having just climbed out of the pool or from sweating to death on the sidelines—but we had a really great meet!

It was such a busy day between morning practice and Benjamin's woodworking camp in the afternoon. I changed into my blue shorts but somehow forgot to change into my white top (which I have to wear as a stroke and turn official) until I was walking out the door and Alexander said, "Oh, cool! You can wear navy blue and purple to judge now?"

No—I cannot! Good thing he said something! I had time to go back and change before heading to the pool. Andrew picked Benjamin up from his woodworking camp and brought him straight to the pool...it was chaotic.

But so good!

I worked with Alexander on his backstroke last Friday. I haven't been working with the kids as much this summer—in part because Rachel and Miriam haven't been around to help with Phoebe, who is still pretty hands-on in the pool, and in part because I've had bronchitis (have I mentioned that?)—but on Friday I did pull Alexander aside and we worked on getting his arms windmilling up-up-up into the air and down straight behind his head before pulling through the water. 

And just look at how high his arm is, whizzing by his head just perfectly:

Fun Friday and the end of babyhood

And it was a good meet after all! 

The kids had some tough events, swimming longer and harder sequences, so they were pretty exhausted (which meant they didn't always break their speed records in their regular events), but overall they did just great!

Alexander walked away with several speed breakers for his backstroke, 25 free, and 50 free—he is making great progress! His freestyle relay came in 6th...of 6...but since they had Alexander (7) and Atlas (6) swimming up with the 9/10 year olds...I think they about got what they paid for.

Zoë got 4th place in her IM, 5th place in the 50 yard free, and 3rd in breast stroke. Her medley relay got 3rd (and her freestyle was DQ'd). Benjamin got 4th place in his IM, 3rd in his 50 yard free, and 6th in his 50 yard backstroke. His medley relay came in 3rd and his freestyle medley came in 2nd. 

Swim meet

We spent 9 hours at the pool today...which was...a lot. But we had another great meet tonight!

Cancelled Swim Meet

These are the faces of some very disappointed children whose swim meet got cancelled this evening: 

Benjamin's 13!

Benjamin celebrated his birthday at camp this year—along with two other boys. Their camp leaders threw a little party for the three of them, complete with cake and candles. The highlight of Benjamin's time at camp was canoeing on the lake. He's also proud of the fact that they put four kids in a ten-man tent and stuffed ten kids on a two-man canoe—getting all into the stats side of thing. 

He was a little bummed that he missed the last swim meet (especially since Zoë did so well and he didn't get any ribbons at Fun Friday...because...well...he didn't swim), but he's excited that he gets to try swimming an IM at this coming meet (that's and "individual medley," where he'll swim butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle).

We opened presents after Fun Friday (so Benjamin is in his swimming suit). Phoebe wanted to have the best seat in the house right beside the birthday boy. And is she still in her pyjamas? Why, yes, she is! 

More swimming news

As we suspected Zoë had quite a few ribbons waiting for her at Fun Friday this morning. Uncle Patrick asked if she had robbed the ribbon giver—but, no! These ribbons were all hard-earned!

Early this afternoon Benjamin opened his birthday presents (more on that later), but we also got fun packages for most of the other kids that I felt kind of bad giving to them, considering we're technically celebrating Benjamin...but there the packages were nonetheless. 

First swim meet of the season

The kids had their first swim meet of the season this afternoon. It was drizzling when we arrived and soon started a veritable downpour. The chairs that I brought got completely soaked. All the children's towels were drenched. Everything was soggy.

I had Andrew bring an extra canopy for the kids when he came. I should have brought one when we set out, but ran out of time to grab it. Next time we'll be better prepared. It would probably be good to set up the canopies when it's sunny outside as well, truth be told, so it's good we dug them out.

Here's Alexander doing his warm up (he's adjusting his goggles—you can see "A Heiss" on his back):

Official Canucks!

Something else that has been taking up a fair bit of my time lately has been getting all our paperwork in order to apply for proof of citizenship in Canada for the kids. They've all been citizens since birth...I've simply never registered their births with the government...if that makes sense. So they are Canadian by right...but had no evidence of it.

It was not unlike the process we had to go through to get Miriam her American citizenship of birth abroad record. She was never not American, but she doesn't have an American birth certificate. She has a record of birth abroad. Her birth certificate is Egyptian. But she doesn't have Egyptian citizenship.

I submitted her birth abroad certificate when I applied for Canadian citizenship, but that didn't count. I had to send in her Egyptian birth certificate (along with a translation...and an affidavit from the translator...who was Andrew). It worked out fine.

Other than that we had to provide:

• my birth certificate
• our marriage license
• birth records (ideally certificates of live birth) for each of the kids
• (digital) passport pictures from the last six months
• an affidavit or receipt from the photographer proving the photos weren't manipulated
• copies of our passport ID pages
• along with copies of any stamps/visas inside
• a second form of government ID
• driver's licenses for the girls
• a valid immunization record on Georgia letterhead for Benjamin

And then I had to fill out a million forms online. It was quite a bit of work, but it all came together!

I was only able to do the three oldest kids (because you can only have three applications open online at a time), so I'll do the younger kids in a bit (after their older siblings are all official and before their passport pictures "expire"). 

Benjamin's application was the first to be approved. He was rather proud of that!

All the important information is on the back of the certificate (sorry, scammers)

Swimming

It's not unusual to see some swimming regression in young children at the start of the swim season. Typically I've made my kids pass a little "swim test" before I unleash them in the pool, but with a season of competitive swimming under their belts, I wasn't too worried about Benjamin, Zoë, or Alexander this year. In fact, I told Benjamin that he's 100% in my worry-free zone (along with Rachel, Miriam, and honestly Zoë). Alexander was a bit of a grey zone for me, but he jumped in the pool and started swimming like a champ so I think he's fully confident.

Phoebe, on the other hand, who has been asking "When's it gonna be May?" and begging to go to the pool since the beginning of October (the pool closes at the end of September), was a little less confident when she dipped her toes into the chilly water earlier this month. 

And then we had a spate of unseasonably cold weather that prevented us from going to the pool at all...so we've only been to the pool three times this month (maybe four)!

The first day Phoebe would hardly do anything. Yesterday she saw some of her little friends from co-op (who are a bit older than her) doing things like bobbing under water to look at each other and they invited her to join in their game...and she did! They'd count out—1, 2, 3!—and then all the little girls would go under water, blow some bubbles, and bounce back up to yammer about how good they all were at holding their breath. It was cute and really helped Phoebe feel brave again.

Today she declared that she "can swim now!"

And she's really doing pretty well—she even held a back float for a few seconds!

Rope swing kind of day

After field day, a friend took us into the woods to show us where the much-raved-about rope swing is. We've gone walking in these woods before but have never found the rope swing...for whatever reason. I'm honestly not sure why. But here it is in all its glory:

Benjamin On Campus

After all the chaos that was today (though we're not even finished yet because the reason I went to the dentist was to have my attachments be put back on my teeth—they've been off the last couple of weeks because I had a tooth that wasn't tracking so I had to get new trays fitted to try to get that tooth to move...but two of my new attachments have popped off and I'm a little sad about it because it means I'll have to go back in again), Rachel, Benjamin, and I were finally able to leave for campus. 

Murder on the Orient Express was playing at UGA, we knew...because we saw it being advertised when we were looking for shows Rachel could go to for her class. We went to John Proctor is the Villain and Rachel really wanted to go to Murder on the Orient Express as well, but since it's just playing now and her semester is over...it wouldn't really work for her class. So she and Miriam and I went to The Addam's Family at a local high school. It was decent...

But then one of my classes hosted an outing to Murder on the Orient Express this evening so I thought I should go. And Rachel would go as well. And then I decided Benjamin should come along as well. 

At first, the outing was going to cover the cost of my ticket. But then I was told we'd have enough to cover Rachel, too, and I then thought for sure that I'd have to buy Benjamin's ticket...but no! They had enough tickets for him as well, so we sure lucked out there! 

We went to campus before rush hour traffic and had enough time to go on a little hike near campus along the Oconee River that Rachel and I have been wanting to try. We'd walked as far as the graveyard before, but pressed on until we came to these rapids by Easley Mill Dam—that was a treat to come upon: