I have the best job

Today I started the day pretty grumpy. It's my day to take my kids to a friend's and have the morning to get things done alone. But we both have sick kids, so I needed to keep them with me. It's turned out to be a fun day, though. Everybody's feeling better today so we went to run errands including a donut shop. They patiently waited while I picked out the supplies to make a fall wreath, and we found some cute bedding for Drew's big boy room. Then, out of the blue, this came out of Jenna's mouth during lunch. The girls say it every so often, but I'd never videoed it. I decided it was time. Scroll up to "Sweet Jenna" to see this video.

Then, Lydia liked the idea of being on camera, so Jenna captured "Sweet Lydia." (scroll up)

In other news, we've started our fall activities and are having fun. I'm still questioning if we're doing one too many things, because the kids are pretty worn out at one point in the week. We'll have to keep evaluating. We're doing library story time, a marriage course at church (it's our best option for a date night right now because they include dinner and childcare in the cost for the course), MOPS, AWANA, and a ladies Bible study at church. The girls' definite favorite is AWANA--they love it!

No, they don't always match, and they don't usually sit so still right next to each other. But I had to seize the moment this week at story time.

Oh, and the girls just joined gymnastics. We've been pursuing non-surgery options for treating Lydia's strabismus (eye crossing), and we went to see a developmental optometrist in a town 2.5 hours away (it's the closest we could find). She helped me understand the implications of Lydia not using her eyes together, primarily a lack of depth perception. She says surgery can fix the cosmetic problem but doesn't address the brain problem of using the eyes in sync. So... she says this can lead to trouble with eye-hand coordination, tracking when reading, etc. This all rang a bell based on what we had noticed in Lydia, so we're ready to follow her suggestions in hopes that her brain can be re-trained to use both sides and also both eyes at once. One idea was to start gymnastics because she says using both sides of her body's large muscles will start to train the brain to do the same with the smaller muscles. She's also put tape on the inside of her glasses in hopes of giving her feedback when her eyes do cross and make them want to straighten out so that she can actually see. So, that's why we've started gymnastics for both girls. What a fun therapy option! We're praying for wisdom in knowing what steps to take next, especially since this doctor is so far away and isn't in network with our insurance.