While Tab and I were at CCHA, Dad and the others got to go to AHG for the pot luck and box packing.
Katriel
Katriel’s bicycling badge
She had her new bike a whopping three days and it was time to go to the park with her unit to work on a cycling badge.
It was her first time cycling any actual distance. And she was wobbly. And she had to take breaks. And she fell. And she started over. She would give herself sweet pep talks and turn any negative things she was about to say about her abilities into a positive thing.
And I love her.
After they did all the piece of the badge (making a map, talking about the parts of a bike) they got to take a train ride.
AHG is a blessing we really really needed.
Warm and Wonderful Wednesday? (Katriel would say so.)
The cold snap from last week is gone, and 3/4 of the big “kids” tossed the football a little while.
Wednesdays are on the busy side, so it was nice they got out for a while.
After AWANA and youth group, John and I took Johanna and Tabitha home and took Katriel on a clandestine trip to Walmart. She didn’t know what was up.
Even as we got to the bicycle aisle, she was just enjoying looking at them and talking about them. It was clear she had not figured out what was going on. I gently said, “Katriel, we brought you here so you could get a new bike.”
She developed a happy, yet shy, smile as she absorbed that. She was clearly touched and immediately suggested any one would be fine. We identified that the one she had recently been standing closest to was, in fact, one she liked a lot, and she was careful about trying it out to make sure we were all sure about it.
John and I began to discuss the helmet situation at home. Here she perked right up. She was able to describe all the helmets we had, and I knew that the one she’d been wearing most often was from when Nigel was about 8.
So she picked out a helmet to. She knew exactly what she was looking for.
Not too many Butlers have gotten brand new bike. Truth be told, we’ve barely been bike riders up until now.
**The next day – she named the bike… Monica. ♥
AWANA party
Katriel was invited to dress up for the AWANA party tonight. She decided she would go as Princess Catherine (?) and we straightened her hair and put on make up. She work sneakers, however, because smart princesses know they should always be ready for gymnasium games!
True story – with CBS on Wednesday mornings and AHG on Thursdays nights (and I drive hither and yon every Thursday to boot), we had zero intentions of enrolling Katriel in AWANA. I mean, how busy does an 8 year old need to be? BUT – that first Wednesday night that I was prepping to take Johanna and Tab to youth group, I half-heartedly asked Katriel if she wanted to check AWANA out.
She hasn’t missed an evening since.
Katriel’s first hike – AHG
While Mama took Hanny to her bike ride, Daddy took Katriel in the other direction down to Cedar Falls Park where she worked on her hiking badge. In the top photo is holding her friend Paisley’s hand. These two met in the elevator on the first night of AHG have have been buddies ever since.
Full uniforms for AHG
Aunt Het and Katriel
Katriel, Nan, and I went to the Aunt Het Festival for an hour or two this morning. We skipped most of the rides, but she did do the Dinosaur bounce house.
Virus talk–number 6
It’s funny how there are a few things I am going through with Katriel that I’ve been through five other times and yet they have taken on a higher level of applicability.
For example – talking about T cells and Killer cells and how you carry antibodies after infection.
Also – she’s had two South Carolina related stories that only slightly got our attention with all other kids. Did you know that colonists in South Carolina initiated the planting of indigo and rice in this country?
The little things
There have been something frustrating me lately.
But then there was this guy.
It’s hard to get frustrated when someone like this greets you in the kitchen.
And we finally got some pretty shelves up in J and K’s room. You know – for frogs.
Dayspring Disciples 