Parentheticals

This week in Family Meeting we decided that Alison would speak French with the kids when Mike was home. We have been trying it. The kids complain sometimes, but they're getting better at figuring out what Alison means. Mike had to translate a lot at first, but less as the week went by. Sara also really enjoys getting a French lesson every day. Rea and Alison saw an ad for a collection of books called the Herb Fairies. They are very excited about the idea of learning about medicinal plants in fun stories, but the company only opens enrollment for one week a year, and Alison bought an expensive music program this month, so we'll have to wait. Rea read the free sample and now is eager to collect and use medicinal herbs. She regularly gets a collecting bag and gathers supplies for her herbal shop. Tuesday we got lots of exercise. We walked about half a mile to playgroup, then Mommy and Gideon walked home and rode the bucket bike a mile to the grocery store and a mile home. Then

This week Mike mostly spent working on the rulebook for Terran League of Defense Robots. It is getting much better. The entire internet decided to help him out, so he  had lots of good ideas to incorporate. Wednesday it snowed. That was crazy. On Saturday (among other things) Mike created an extractor for the laser cutter (to blow the cardboard fumes outside instead of leaving them in our house) It worked really well until he forgot to turn on the fan one time. Next time he vows to not forget. It was also announced this weekend that Mike's "The Perfect Moment" card game is a finalist in the Button Shy Games 18 card game contest. If he keeps getting finalists at this rate, he is eventually bound to win a contest some time... Right? This week Sara has been really helpful. It is nice to have such a helpful girl around. This week Timmy has loved robots a lot. 1) He named his toy robot "Anemia". 2) He has been wearing a t-shirt that he got from his grandma.

Mike left for a work convention last Sunday after church, so we didn't do our blog post. So this post will cover two weeks. Last week, Alison and the kids started doing Forest Kindergarten again. After mushroom hunting, the kids really wanted to go to Dimple Dell, so we went there all week. The kids loved it. Alison was not huge fan of the switchbacks, but the creek and trees at the bottom are nice. The kids had a fabulous time, and Alison and Gideon sat and read and cuddled. Friday we had Brown Family Dinner, because Daniel had graduated and his parents were in town. We met at Amy's house and had pizza. It was fun. Mike showed off the Brave Lala illustrations Sheila made; they are awesome! The kids loved playing in the playhouse and on the trampoline. The adults talked about investments. Saturday morning Alison had to attend a Stake Baptism for a girl in our ward. Rea was invited along to sing, and all the kids ended up coming. They were decently well-behaved, and Rea sa