The Call Project, Fellow Edition

Call Day #161, 6/25/16, The LAST One!

The last swim meet of the season. Eleanor holds her time card, proud of a fast swim. She was excited to be picked to swim a relay with older swimmers on the team.

Claire has been really excelling in swimming this season after initially not wanting to compete. Her best strokes seem to be the ones that are tricky for others, breast and butterfly. She placed first in both today. Nanny and Papa took all the kids to the meet this morning while I was home with friends visiting on their way through town.

Our kids had never met each other but were immediately happy to play together. The boxes we have ready for packing were big hit with everyone. Doghouses and forts were made from them.

Our friends shared Magnatiles that they had brought with them. Oliver had never played with them before, but really enjoyed them and Mr. Jon.

Liam and Eleanor really hit it off and played together the whole time. I found them out in the garage "making weapons" out of rubber bands, rocks, and sticks.

We tried to get a group shot with the kids. Getting six kids to cooperate at once is asking a lot.

Oliver was the least cooperative of all.

We had dinner at Nanny and Papa's house, and the kids did Perler beads with Mimi afterwards.

Oliver works intently.

Reading with Mimi and Papa Jimmy.

Everyone gathers around when dessert is being served!

The girls have a job feeding a neighbor's cat while they're away. Oliver watches how it's done while wearing his new baseball mitt from Mimi and Papa Jimmy.

Thus ends our days missing Erik in Durham for today marks his last day not just of call but his last shift ever at Duke. Fellowship is complete! We look forward to what lies ahead in St. Louis!

Call Day #160, 6/17/16

We have a list of things we want to do before we leave Durham. We checked off two of those things today. First, we invited friends to play with us at the pool and at our house. It was the last time we see them because they're moving too and before we do. Eleanor helped the youngest in their family while his mom went to get something from the car.

All the girls play in the pool.

Thankful for these friends and the fun they've had together.

We went back to the pool in the evening for swim team practice. Nanny came and gave Oliver some tips on how to move his arms to swim.

One of Claire's requests before we move was to have dinner at the pool. Even better was dinner at the pool with Nanny and Papa from the food truck that came to our neighborhood tonight.

Oliver enjoyed riding around on Claire for a while, and we stayed at the pool til bedtime.

Headed home after lots of swimming! Showing off ribbons from their last swim meet which were awarded today. We'll be up early tomorrow morning for another swim meet!

Call Day #159, 5/29/16

Quick picture before Grandma and Grandpa left for home this morning. Oliver was cuddly and didn't want them to leave. The kids all loved having Grandma and Grandpa with them for the past several days while Erik and I were in St. Louis house hunting. They're looking forward to time in Nashville on our way to St. Louis.

Eleanor and Grandma made this dress together this week. Eleanor was excited to wear it for the first time today, telling friends and teachers at church that she made it.

Claire wanted to have her picture taken with Grandma too!

A fancy breakfast table. Eleanor did a lot of work getting a "Welcome Home" party ready for us last night, not knowing that we'd be eating dinner at Nanny and Papa's house. So, we enjoyed it this morning and will leave it up for a few days instead. She worked hard to make it festive with personalized cups and plates, "Welcome Home" napkins, flowers, a "Welcome Home Mom + Dad" banner, and artwork displayed by every window.

After church and lunch at Nanny and Papa's house, someone asked to watch TV. Oliver liked hearing there would only be sports on it on a Sunday afternoon. We watched a little bit of the Indy 500.

There was a fair amount of Wii playing this afternoon. The games were new to Eleanor so they were extra fun!

We all tackled a challenging puzzle together. It is only black and white. Once assembled it can be colored. Oliver has recently taken to big puzzles and can help put them together. He lasted as long as the rest of us doing this one. We spent the whole afternoon and evening at Nanny and Papa's house, heading home at bedtime. It was a fun, relaxing Sunday!

While Grandma and Grandpa were visiting Claire spent a night each in Eleanor's room and Oliver's room. I agreed to one last night of "sleepovers," and they all wanted to be in Oliver's room. It lasted all of 20 minutes before the girls decided on their own to return to their own rooms.

Call Day #158, 5/19/16

Eleanor's been eager to make chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter filling for a few days now. We finally had the chance to work on them this morning. It took longer than either of us expected. I was a bit frustrated that it was interfering with school, but then we started talking about fractions. With just a little discussion, she figured out that she could measure 3/4c with 1/2c and 1/4c. When she needed 3/4tsp a few minutes later, she knew what to do.

We finally took a break from baking to go see Nanny. Eleanor enjoyed buying her a cup of coffee at Fresh Market with the gift card she won there a few months back. Eleanor also got the powdered sugar she needed to finish her cupcakes.

We all went to lunch at Taco Bell, a restaurant the kids had never been too before. Oliver's frown is pretty indicative of how he was feeling by this point in the day. A few minutes before he had had to stay in the van to stop crying and screaming and calm down while others went in the restaurant.

When we got back to Nanny and Papa's house, he said he was tired and cuddled on the couch with Claire. He was glad to nap at their house.

After Papa came home, we played dominoes.

Oliver helped me play.

Call Day #157, 5/17/16

Claire wanted to start the day off with chocolate milk. Papa had some for dinner at our house last night. Now they know it's possible to MAKE chocolate milk at home, a new discovery.

He's long been able to spell his name, but now Oliver is getting really good at writing it too. (No help at all.)

He started a trend. Claire wanted to do her whole name.

Well, we are finally back to doing school after about 6 weeks off.

There was a fair amount of TV watching today after picking up the house for another showing--it keeps the house neat to not have kids playing with everything. TV watching is also good when there are many phone calls to be made concerning both selling this house and getting ready to find another.

Finally, at the end of the day, we got to go visit Nanny and have dinner together. We've all been enjoying eating out on her porch almost every day.

Call Day #156, 5/14/16

Our neighborhood had a big yard sale, and Eleanor was so excited to have her much-anticipated lemonade stand. We had agreed that I'd help her set up at 7:30am, but she was already eagerly knocking on my door before 7am. She was able to sell her lemonade for about 3 hours before we left for soccer.

As soon as Claire got a snack after her game, she shared it with both Oliver and Eleanor.

Octopus hat.

Entertaining himself during Eleanor's game with peek-a-boo.

Eleanor was goalie for the first half of the game.

She did a good job keeping the ball out.

By halftime, the score was 0-0. This is a real success for her team!

They didn't win the game, but I was proud of Eleanor. She never gave up and played hard til the end, despite the fact that there weren't enough players for anyone to ever have a rest.

Eleanor didn't really want to take a bath/shower tonight, so she talked Oliver into joining her. Apparently, that makes it much more fun. She got him cleaned and dressed. The came down in jammies, bathrobes, and slippers calling themselves the "Bath Buddies."

Hugs!

Call Day #155, 5/11/16

We picked strawberries yesterday, so this morning we decided to make shortcake to go with them. Eleanor read the recipe, overseeing its preparation but let Oliver and Claire help.

Eleanor still had money to spend at Fresh Market from winning a contest there. She wanted to go there to buy lemonades for a lemonade stand on Saturday and coffee for Nanny. She also offered to let both Claire and Oliver pick out something they'd like. No surprise-they picked candy.