Surprise!

Yesterday we decided to surprise the older two with "new to them" bikes.  They've all been "trying" to share the little trike, but it hasn't always gone well. We were having the older two work to earn it and at first had planned to get completely new bikes.  We didn't want the summer to be over before that happened, so we found an alternative plan that would still be showing them the value of hard work and earning something.  Elyssia earned hers for all the extra work that she did while I was sick.  She was a life-saver when it came to entertaining Kiersten and keeping her out of trouble.  I didn't have her fixing meals, but did teach her how to do a couple lunches by herself.  Garrison was the garbage man and was good at hauling the clean laundry up the stairs.  I didn't get a photo capturing their first excitement when they saw the bikes, but here are some pretty good ones after:

She was very excited to discover that it had a bell!

"I love it"

Garrison said that it was the best surprise ever:).

I need a push!

Sam the pest blocking Caleb

Sam has proved to be the great annoyance while they're trying to ride.  He has this infatuation with wheels and is constantly trying to bite the tires while they're riding.  Scott puts him on the porch and he destroys it by trying to bite through the railing and the gate.  I'm thinking a big chain attached to the side of the shed is going to be needed if we're going to have any peaceful riding.  The older two did pretty good without training wheels.  It'll take lots of practice, but they've got all summer to learn.  Caleb is quite the showman on his trike. He rides it forward, backward, in circles, etc...  I have to keep reminding him to keep it on the porch and not into the house.  It's small and I've found him in the back hallway a couple times. The little stinker.
  Today is another gorgeous day. Scott is mowing and painting his green house, then heading in to help with a table at the Trade Fair.  We're praying that it stays nice for the weekend.  The men have a work day planned for tomorrow.  They're replacing shingles at the church and the forecast just changed to predict thunder showers in the afternoon.  Maybe they can get it done in the morning...  Besides, the weather people are wrong quite a bit of the time:).
  Well, other than that, it's been pretty quiet the second half of the week.  Elyssia hasn't been feeling very energetic and has gone back to bed this morning.  I don't know if it's the after effects of the flu hanging on or if she's having a growth spurt.  Either way, she's tired and it's kinda like Caleb and Garrison's behavior the past couple days.  We'll just take it easy and get things done when we can. Enjoy the weekend everyone!