...In With the New

This week was full of upgrades!

On Sunday, I'd planned to make burgers for a meal, but nobody was hungry after the Linger Longer event at church, and so we delayed the burgers until dinner time. Boy did they hit the spot! We tried to keep the kids occupied after dinner, and Merritt lost it after some scuffle with his brothers over a game they were playing. He was fuming, and so I thought I'd try to channel that rage. I had to dismantle the old cabinets in the garage that I had just replaced, so I thought Merritt might want to help out because it involved smashing. He calmed down enough to come and look at the task, and said that he would "hit it just one time and then be done." Instead, he stayed out there for about 30 minutes feeding his bloodlust through smashing the old cabinets:

That sure seemed to have improved his mood for the rest of the evening. He enjoyed it so much that even after the cabinets were all apart, he asked to smash something the next day, so I gave him one of the cabinet doors to destroy:

He really cracked me up when it was bedtime on Sunday and he put on his big red boxing gloves for a game. He wore them when I brushed his teeth, and he likes to wipe off his lips with a tissue after I brush them, but he didn't want to take off his boxing gloves, so he clumsily tried to do it with them on! He pulled a tissue out of the box, but then lost his grip and dropped it on the floor, and then he spent a good minute or two trying to pick it up off of the floor with the gloves on. At least he's determined...

Monday was another basketball practice for Hakan, so Kira took him and brought Merritt along. Merritt was really hoping that they could bring his bike like last time, but he didn't tell Kira that, and so he was mad about that. I worked on my day job, but then I got a phone call from the piano moving company. We inherited Kira's grandmother's baby grand piano after she passed, and so we arranged to have it delivered. They called to say that they would be there 3 hours earlier than they had told us. That actually worked out even better, so I ran downstairs and got our double doors opened and everything out of the way to make it as easy as possible.

The big semi-truck pulled up in front of the house, and we all watched in excitement as they brought in our new piano!

It's a beautiful addition to our house, and I love how it works in the room! The kids have so far been very respectful of it, and we are excited to get better at it.

I picked up Hakan, and then brought him home to see what he'd missed. I then fed the kids lunch and took them to a park before going to some stores. We left Kira home alone so that she could get a good break. She wisely took a little nap, and felt like a new woman when she awoke. Once we were home, Carver rode his bike around the block a few more times, and ran into a neighborhood kid who invited him to ride to his house, so he went over there for a little while, and Hakan played with some other neighbors while Merritt smashed stuff.

Kira left for her clients for the evening, so I put the kids to bed and then built a bookshelf I had bought for the boys' room, while Avey worked on someone's birthday gift. Hannah joined us for some TV.

I had made an appointment with the vet for Tuesday morning. Apollo's been acting lethargic: even when we take him to play with his dog friend, he just lies there, so I figured I should see if there's something up. We figured it was mostly just the heat, but he's done it even on days that are cool. Anyway, they did some bloodwork and said that he looks totally fine. They are trying an anti-inflammatory in case it's some joint pain or something, so we'll see...

I picked up some donuts on the way home just for fun, and then I got to work, reading a dissertation a student is working on.

The weather was gloriously cool, so Kira worked out a plan to take the kids to a nearby forest and stream where Hakan could try to fish and they could all get some fresh air and a little adventure. Avey and I had projects in mind instead, so we dropped them off and went to the hardware store to find what we needed. It was a little tough meeting back up with them, as they had hiked on a trail to a different spot, but we located them. Merritt was very sad again after having got his feet all wet and then walking with his wet shoes for so long that he got a blister. Poor guy...

We came home for dinner and I got going on one of my projects - putting up some shelves in our mudroom bathroom for more storage. I am quite pleased with them.

Wednesday was another basketball day. I worked and then picked up Hakan, hoping to see him in action. They said that they won't allow parents to stay and watch due to Covid stuff, but Hakan said that there are always some parents there, so I thought I could just show up early and see him play a little. I got to the gym and he wasn't there. I looked all around and didn't find him. Eventually, I figured out that there was a second gym on the other side of the school, and so I went down there to find him playing. I watched him for the last 10 minutes of practice. he had a good time, and made a friend, too.

Once back home, we did lunch and I spent a good chunk of the afternoon putting up some fancy shelves in the piano room. Our cheap bookcases that don't match the rest of the room now look even worse in contrast to the fancy piano, so I figured it was time to upgrade the room a bit. I'd actually had the bookshelves in mind since we moved in, but it was a low priority until now. Anyway, I think it's much better now.

The next big project was sorting through the books on the bookcases so that we can remove the bookcases. Of course, now I want to add in more shelves, too, to complete the room.

While I was messing with the shelves, Carver went out on his bike and went around the block 12 times - a new record for him. He did it because I had promised him a new bike if he went around the block 30 times (as a way to prove to me that he would stick with the bike riding). He did it, and so we went the next day to get his bike.

Kira took Avey to an appointment in the afternoon, and then she built a sort of end table thing she wanted for her room. She finished it the next day and got it just where she wants it.

Hannah came over that night and reported that she had caught three sparrows in her trap, and she disposed of two of them, but the third one escaped. We figure it must have warned the neighborhood, because she hasn't caught any others since then.

We had Hakan scheduled for the dentist follow-up early Thursday, so Kira offered to take him. She even fed the boys breakfast before leaving, saving me the effort. Unfortunately, she and Hakan waited for the dentist for 30 minutes while he was "stuck in traffic." He didn't do anything to the tooth either, but it looks like the tooth is dead, so now he's got Hakan on an antibiotic to prevent any infection. We'll go back again to see what can be done in another week.

At home, I started some laundry and then worked before Merritt interrupted, and then I read some books with him. I got lunch going before taking Apollo back to the vet, this time just to get a vaccine before our Colorado trip. When we were back home, I took Avey and Carver to get his bike and some other groceries. As soon as we got home, he went out to try it out, and then Merritt wanted to go on a bike ride, too. I went with him.

I showered after dinner and found that the crack in our tub is back. I'm about ready to give up on that stupid thing, but I contacted the resurface guys who said that they'll come and try to fix it again.

Hannah stayed home that night, and Kira was on a call with her mom, so Avey stayed in her room and I got the TV to myself while I sorted laundry.

Friday morning started with a big but brief thunderstorm, waking us all up. I had a hard time sleeping because our trash and recycling were out, and I kept thinking about how the wind probably blew it all over the neighborhood, but I finally got up to check and saw that it was fine.

Avey found out that a movie Hakan really wanted to watch was available on one of our streaming services, so we planned to work that in so that he might shut up about it. It seems like every day he brings it up...

Our neighbor invited us to use her pool that afternoon, and so after I was done with my work for the morning, I cut the grass and then took the kids over to swim. They had a really good time, and it's so nice to have them a year older than last year, so that they are more independent. Kira eventually came over to trade me places, so then I went home to shower. When they were all done, I got the kids fed and then Kira and I went out to dinner for a little date, trying out a local restaurant that was pretty good.

On Saturday, I was in a mood to get more clutter gone. I fed the kids breakfast and then started sorting their old toys that they never play with, and organizing the ones we're keeping. In that frenzy, Carver worked on rearranging his room, and wanted a night stand. He, Avey, and I went to my favorite used furniture place and found a night stand that will work great, so then we were home to finish his room up. Kira took Avey to some stores to finish getting supplies for Girls' Camp next week, and Hakan went to play at a neighbor's house while Carver rode his bike around the neighborhood. Merritt couldn't let me finish what I was working on, so he complained about me building a tent out of our couches and a bed sheet. I did that, and then he played with it for about 60 seconds before getting distracted by something else.

The boys needed to put away all of their laundry and tidy up their room and shower before they could sit down to watch that new movie Hakan talked about. Hakan was very good with encouraging and helping Merritt to do his part, and then even helped him shower. They finally sat down to enjoy the movie, and it looks like it was everything Hakan had hoped for. Hannah came over to watch the movie with the girls, but I wasn't too interested, so I fiddled around on a computer game while they watched.

Today is Fathers' Day, and so Kira's going to let me take a break from cooking, and I am not going to do any projects (for now). Happy Fathers' Day to all of you dads, grandpas, uncles, and otherwise good influences on kids! Keep up the good work!