Saturday, August 18, 2012

Life, simple Life.

As we pulled into the bank drive through the other morning, the teller woman said, "Hi Kagan, how's Annaliese feeling after those five shots?"  It was barely nine in the morning; Annaliese had had those shots maybe 16 hours earlier, and had been miserable since.  Turns out Alexe had been through the bank earlier that morning, (when I have no idea, maybe they also open early for her, part of the hand-delivered change and deposit pickup service she somehow gets,) and shared the story of our harrowing night with Annaliese.

Back in our small town.

Those shots, by the way, were part of Annaliese's prepping for pre-school.  Turns out the pre-school requires all the immunizations of the public schools here, so after finding this out on Thursday afternoon, we jetted to the pediatrician that same afternoon and had them catch her up.  They left her sore in her legs for two days, and feverish for a good 24 hours.

On immunizations: Alexe and I spent a long time looking into the various opinions and studies on the possible risks around these preventative measures right after Annaliese was born.  Where we came down was this:  the only reason anyone today can possibly-safely choose to avoid these immunizations for their children is because the majority of the population DOES get them.  We did not feel right about enjoying the benefits of a world with such a low infant mortality rate, while not sharing any of the possible risks.  We wouldn't preach that at anyone, but it's where we landed.

The kids seem happy to be home, in this small town, running around with us between the building, the blue house, and the many parties and activities that our small community churns out.




Alexe is happy in her busy store schedule, and we are happy when she gets off, and we can swing by to pick her up and go somewhere.  This day was the park, where the kids are much better at letting us sit on a bench and catch up while they play together.



There's a large pecan tree above the chicken house, which seems to be slowly throwing itself on that chicken house.  I came home to a limb filling the yard, that I chopped up and removed.  The other night, we heard a snap and a crash, and the tree had deposited another big section in the same spot.



Caspian went on the produce run with Alexe, and Annaliese and I did errands around town.  

She helped me clean out the cooling fins (radiators) of all the store freezers and coolers:



She came to my office and grabbed her laptop to get some work done before lunch:



And when she decided it was lunch time, she gave me one end of this belt thingy, and dragged me downstairs.  Something I've noticed since our return home, Annaliese in particular is used to having my attention, and is not happy sharing me with adults.  We're having to review the "excuse me" lesson, and waiting her turn if I'm talking to someone else.







A game of doctor.  



The third child, (the BTC,) is getting prettier and more organized under Alexe's passionate eye.  You know how you hear about people who love what they do?  Not because it's easy, not because of the result or the monetary or other reward, but because they like doing it?  That's Alexe right now.  

I am pleased and jealous, and can't wait to get started on my next thing.  I can only hope I feel the same way about it.



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