Day 2 Day Joys: Mar 8-14

Week of March 8
Sweet Savannah is always excited to hold Sorraya!
Savannah will be a big sister again to a little brother at the end of the month!

After the evening service, Chris got out the hockey sticks, pucks and nets and some of the boys and men played a little bit! Ryken did pretty good at hitting the puck into the net!

Raya got a hold of the puck at one point!!

So you remember that house we saw being moved on Ryken's birthday?...well we haven't been able to find where it went. The news report said some field in Horace (which is the little town we can see behind our house) so we knew where it was -but just not specifics! Ryken has asked a number of times "Where did that house go?" and I could only say "I'm not sure!" So after our trip to Walmart we went on a hunt for the house that has been moved. We went down one road and it was muddy and we weren't seeing anything...so we turned around and as we were coming back to the main road I saw it in the distance!! So we went to the next street and there it was... in the middle of the dirt field that will be a new subdivision in the near future. There were 2 -3 other houses up on wheels as well like they have been moved to this location as well!

Oh and we had the windows down too!! YAY!

We had an unusually warm week this week and we took advantage of it and went out for walks and to parks as much as we could!! It was fabulous to feel some warm sun!!

Monday afternoon, we took one of the mom's in my Exhale group a meal because she had a new baby recently! She said we could come for a play date too...so we took a walk to the park and let the kids play a little bit! The snow had been melting like crazy, so there was tons of big puddles that the boys liked to jump in. They had wet socks, shoes and pant legs - but they had a blast together!

Sorraya happy to be in a swing again!

Leo was doing a fabulous job at pushing Sorraya in the swing!

Tuesday we went to open gym and both kids were very clingy. They didn't play like they usually do. Ryken did a lot of watching the other kids and I had either Ryken or Sorraya in my lap -they kept taking turns. 

After naps, we took a walk around the neighborhood!

Here we are outside waiting to go into Costco and notice they do not have jackets on!! BIG deal!!

By the way, Ryken loves Costco- he is always looking for the next sample to try!! 

Sorraya started this new game this week! She found her jacket and she would put it over her head and then crawl around. If it would fall off, she would put it back on and crawl some more. 

Ryken was just cracking up and I couldn't see Sorraya at first...he kept laughing and so I got where I could see her and we both had a great time watching her be such a silly girl!

New box from Costco for the kids to play with. Sorraya loves sitting in the boxes, but this one was very tricky for her to get into. She got in this way, but then she couldn't get her head up because it was stuck in the corner! 

Ryken isn't usually up when Dad leaves for work, but he had a rough night last night and ended up sleeping with us, so he was awake and was so excited to wave bye to dad from out the window!

Today was the warmest day of the week! I think it got to 75 at the peak of the day! We had to have lunch outside to enjoy this beautiful weather that God gave us!

I got the bike from the garage and brought it out and both kids had a blast on it!

Sorraya would just push from the back and go around and around in circles! Sometimes it would get a little fast and she would fall down, but she was quick to get back up and try again!

So Ryken started being afraid to sleep this week! He would just wake up screaming. The first time I heard him, got an adrenaline rush and ran down stairs, because his scream was just filled with fear. I thought someone was in the house or in his room. We snuggled and then he went back into his room and before I could get back upstairs and look at the monitor again, he was out of his bed and screaming again. I went down again, but this time I couldn't open his door - something was in the way. I got it open and found all this piles of books spread all over the floor and right in front of his door. We still don't know what the matter was. One night it was the dark, one night it was he was afraid of animals getting him, he said he was scared of the books, he was scared of too much light, he was scared of too little light. 

So here is Chris, the next night trying to comfort and reassure Ryken that there is nothing to be afraid of. We had a long week! Very little sleep! It was hard to be compassionate- especially in the middle of the night when all you want to do it sleep!

Another beautiful day to draw with chalk outside!!

Ryken calls it chalking! :)

Usually the kids nap at the same time, but this day they didn't! So Ryken and I took a walk close by the house, so that the monitor would reach and we could keep an eye on Raya. 

Once Raya got up, we went on another walk!

They were holding hands here! So sweet!

One morning, when I went in to get Raya up, I found her like this. One arm out! She sure would have had to struggle to make that one happen... but she is a determined one, so we weren't too surprised!

We had dinner over at the Davidson's house this weekend! It was so tasty and nice too spend time together!

Busy reading!

Sorraya loves climbing up in this rocking chair and she even taught herself how to get down nicely! It was such a relief to see!

Silly boy! He took the sticker from a tomato and put it on his noes! 

Ryken and Dad ran an errand together and Ryken got to sit on a cool red lawn mower!

Ryken helping dad bring in the wood they went to go get for our home improvement project.

Chris is putting shelves in our garage. Will show a picture when it is all done!

I think this was night 5 of Ryken waking up in the middle of the night scared and screaming! So to let us all get some sleep Chris went and made himself a bed and slept on the floor next to Ryken. Raya had been up a lot this week as well for not feeling well!! 

Ryken had 4 nightlights in his room at one point. He had his door open and the hall light on as well! That seemed to help, but just wasn't enough! Even with Chris laying there, Ryken kept asking Chris if he was going to leave and if he could keep the door open and hall light on. 

Sunday night was the first night that Ryken slept all through the night again with no scary episodes!

As Chris was putting him to bed and singing Psalms to him, in one of the Psalms Ryken heard the word scared and afraid. So Chris used that as an opportunity to remind Ryken that God protects us when we sleep and we do not need to be afraid. He prayed over him and he has every night since and that really has helped tremendously! 

In the morning, we made a big deal about Ryken sleeping through the night again without being scared and trusting that God protects him while he sleeps. Chris sent him a recorded voice message that Ryken loved. We listened to it a number of times...and in fact, we listened to it every morning the following week! :)

It was a tough week with little sleep...but we think we are on the other side. And we got some good stories out of it!!

Celebrating the ordinary moments that make life extraordinary!