4.1: Counts Fam - Week of Firsts

This week was a busy week for our family. A week of "firsts". Earlier in the week, Zachary used his new-found standing skills to stand in his crib. Once I went in there after he woke from his nap and found him standing up - that was a surprise. Then later he did not want to take a nap, and I caught him cruising around his crib...until he wore himself out, sat down and just scramed. Sigh.

Later in the week, Zach went to the playground for the very first time. I had planned on just walking by there to see if there was anything for babies, but once we got there, it just seemed like so much fun. There was a big sandbox that I thought Zach would love, so out of his stroller he came and put into the sandbox. He was very tenative at first, and not sure how he liked the feel of sand on his fingers, but by the time it was time to go, he had played w/ the sand, crawled after a bigger boy through the sand, and borrowed another boy's toys to play with the sand. A success I would say. So because of that, I went to a discount store here and bought Zach some sand toys (dump truck, shovels, molds, sifters, etc). He got to use them for the first time on Saturday when Art and I both took Zach to the sandbox. There was another bigger boy (~2yr) who took all Zach's toys, but then used him to make things for him. The little boy, Jason, would make a sand mold, and Zach would come pound it. They did that for awhile; Zach having a great time. When it was time for us to go, Jason gathered all of Zach's toys for him. I was glad that Art could take part in this 'first' for Zach.

On Thursday, a 'first' was grilling food! It has been so long since we have been able to grill, that it was wonderful. We had steaks and used some chipolte marinade that the Ulrickson's sent us, and it was a slice of heaven! It is not a great grill, but it will do while we are here.

A 'first' for Dexter was when I caught him sleeping in his cat house. I had never seen that before, and of course thought it was cute.

Another first happened on Saturday. A coworker of Art's came over with his wife. This is the first time we have had another female over, which was exciting for me. We grilled for them as well, and used the chipolte sauce. Art also made a big batch of salsa which was quite tasty!

Then Sunday was our big "first". Art and I have agreed to lead the highschool youth group at church. This is a huge step for us since we have no idea what we are doing, and have been quite nervous about it. I had dreams concerning interacting w/ teens all week, and Art could not concentrate during communion on Sunday b/c of thoughts of what we should say to them. Our first meeting was farily easy, b/c we did not have a lesson planned. We just told them about us, and asked about them, and talked a little about what they want from a youth group, and a Sunday school. This is going to be a big time committment for us; one we are still nervous about. The meeting went well, and the teens seem pretty open to us. There were about 10 of them. Zach kept flirting with the girls and laughing at the guys, so he was a hit.

We are hoping this next week won't be quite so busy with 'firsts'. Of course this weekend will because of our Easter trip to France.