Hughes Family: August 20th – 26th

School started this past week. One in kindergarten, one in second grade and one in third. Not too bad! On Sunday Fran said “Ahhhh! I wish they could go to school every day!” (we can say this stuff since our kids don’t read the blog). These are a few pics and a video from the kids’ first trip to school. Cam is taking them most days- helps him get his butt out of bed.

We’re trying a new parenting method. We used to give the kids beads each time they did their chores. Beads could them be redeemed for money. However, this past week we switched to the “fear of loss” method. Each month the kids start out with a glass filled with quarters. We remove quarters when they don’t do do chores. Effectiveness is TBA. And some sad news: The other day Mike rode Claire’s bike off a ramp. Didn’t go well. Mike landed badly (on his face). He made it home but with some gaps in his memory. “What happened to me?” He had no recollection of the crash. Fran popped him in bed and he would periodically wake up and ask where he was. Poor kid. Except for the fact that he has forgotten how to stay clean he’s doing fine now.

The Scouts have a lot of fun activities like racing vegetables down a water filled ditch (this fulfills part of the “Nutrition” and “Orphan Games” merit badge requirements). Mike used an avocado (technically a fruit, but it was sanctioned by the racing coordinator). While light, the avocado boat didn’t fare well when it took in water. It’s erratic maneuvering patterns lead many to believe the captain of the small vessel was intoxicated. In the end it was a cucumber which proved the most sea worthy.

On Saturday we went out to celebrate Greg’s 27th birthday. Per Greg’s request Mom & Dad took us all to P.F. Chang’s (thank you guys!). This birthday was especially significant because we didn’t know if Greg would make it this long.

Look at all these happy people eating [what some may call] Chinese food!

Fran is trying to help the kids develop some skills in the kitchen. Each week she tries to work with at least one of them. Sometimes it can be trying though. On Sunday they all wanted to help. “How long until dinner is ready?” Cam asked. “Well, now that I have help it will be longer.” It took two hours. But you could totally taste the love.