I had to post this picture when the girls had just dressed themselves. These two could not be more different. Jessica (my sister-in-law) and I talk about this a lot. Notice the outfits. Madilyn dressed herself in sweats with a sports t-shirt and converse. Ella dressed herself in a skirt complete with sparkly shoes,a necklace, and bracelets. Seriously. Madilyn wouldn't wear a skirt on a day other than Sunday?? That's unheard of in her world.
We ventured to the Science Center in downtown Cleveland. We plan to go there at the end of the week when Collin and Hannah don't have to be in school and its a free activity because they have passes. Gotta love that planning. I spent the whole time with the girls--the majority of it in the play place. The boys were excited that I told them "they were old enough" to stay together and be on their own. I am not sure how my brother and his wife feel about that, but they did great.
I didn't get the full picture here,but I loved how the girls spent forever filling a bucket above their heads with balls. After it was all full, they were able to dump the bucket on their heads. I wanted part of that!
In the above photo you will see my new friend, Rutsy (spelling? Rootsie)??. Actually, we got talking because I asked how old her little girl was. It wasn't a girl. This boy had long hair with a ponytail in the front. I had to ask if it was a religious thing. Yep, they were Jewish. A few of Rutsy's friends showed up with their children. I discussed more about the Jewish religion than I ever had before in my life. It was very interesting. I never came right out and said I was a Mormon, but I bore testimony to my beliefs quite a few times throughout the day. I love learning about other people's religions.
Whenever talking to people I don't know, the subject always comes up about how many kids I have. I always answer that I have four. They continue asking ages and where they are, etc. It inevitably ends up in a conversation about Ethan. I love talking about it, so that is probably part of it too. These Jewish women were in "Awe of me" as I told them my story. I told them not to be. Its just one day at a time and we all deal with loss one way or another. (They even told me about their friend who lost her little boy because he choked on a balloon at preschool!)
They also kept telling me what a saint I was because I came from Arizona to watch my brother's kids. They made jokes about that quite a bit. And...coming here is really not a big deal for me! Plus, my brother and his wife would do it for me anytime!
I finally lured the children out of the play place.
Terrible picture of the girls. I was trying to get Lake Erie in the background. Its a Great Lake! However, its a terrible picture. Just picture dirty water and you'll know what Lake Erie looks like.
The boys did most of these activities on their own, but I managed to take a few pics.
Love this one. Cute how Parker is helping...and Logan in the next one.
This was our closing song during Family Home Evening. We were singing "Nephi's Courage." Logan and Parker gave the lesson on Nephi's bow and how we should rely on the Lord and find solutions to our problems before we murmur (or don't murmur at all). It was an excellent lesson. They even used visual aides (impressive!). They took comments from the family and insisted on ending with their testimonies. They each bore a simple and profound testimony of the gospel. It was so great to hear. I kind of wish I had recorded it.
The other sideof the room during our song.
Brady just going with the flow! Besides the fact that he didn't sleep last night he has been great. I swear he has an ear infection, so I am living with next to no sleep. I'm calling my pediatrician now.
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