The Hayes Herald: Hayes Family Happenings

I've been trying to catch up on the blog, so I thought it'd be easiest to group some details together.

In May I received a new calling at church--Young Women Personal Progress Leader. For those who don't know what this means, you can learn more about it here. Personal Progress is a special program for girls ages 12-18, where they work on goals in 8 different values that help them to grow and develop their relationship with Christ, as well as improve on their relationships with their families, and help them realize and achieve their potential. Luckily for me there are tons of awesome resources online to give me good ideas on what I want to do with the YW. I've currently been holding personal interviews with each girl (there are 15) to get to know them and go over their PP with them and help set new goals. (I'll probably do these quarterly.) I also prepare two fun/creative handout reminders per month. And I am in charge of one mutual activity night/month. For June's activity, I put on a 'P' Party for the Beehives (ages 12-13), while the older girls were at Youth Conference. Its purpose was to introduce/explain the PP program to them, count off a Value Experience, and just have fun.

I gave out invitations to the girls the Sunday before, and told them whoever came dressed in the most 'p' items would win a prize. Here was the prize bag I put together:

I brought pink balloons, popsicles, and we also played some Personal Progress PINGO!

Unfortunately only one Beehive came (we usually have 6 active). Four of them had parents who had to be at the Youth Conference, so I guess it just turned out to be poor timing after all. (I had a Mia Maid come, too.) Even though I was bummed at the small number, I think it went as well as it could have, and the few of us there had fun while learning and doing our Personal Progress!

One day we didn't have any set plans. We had spent the last two days at the splash pad, and Eli didn't want to go again. When I asked him what he wanted to do he replied, "Go to Goodwill! With Mommy!" (He was really excited about this idea, because it's usually just him and dad who go together.) I laughed at his answer, but agreed, and off we went. (I bought him a Dr. Suess book of tongue twisters, as well as the games High-Ho-Cherry-O and Boggle Jr., all of which he loves, so it was a successful trip.) After Goodwill I took the kids out for lunch at Wendy's. They both LOVED it. Both kids simply love people--people-watching and getting people to smile/talk to them. We never go out to eat, so it was a special treat to them, and we all really enjoyed it.

We've had quite a lot of storms lately. Lots of heavy rain, loud thunder, lightning, and wind. A few weeks ago our county had a Tornado Warning. Eli and I hung out in the bathroom together, while I let Clara continue to nap in her crib. The weather didn't seem bad at all then, and thankfully the tornado went south of us. I'm sure glad both kids can sleep through storms, though, because we've sure had our fill of them this summer! Thankful we've been safe, too.

On Wednesday, David and Eli went to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game together, with David's work. Eli had fun shouting at the players, "Hit the ball!"; talking to strangers; riding the bus; eating a cookie; and his favorite part--playing in a misty water sprayer. David said Eli was a handful. ; ) I think he still had some fun, though. Eli crashed on the way home! David unfortunately forgot to take a camera, so the only pic of the day is this one with his phone.

A few weeks ago I got a ginormous sore on my thigh. Originally I thought maybe it was an infected bug bite, but I guess it was a really bad boil. It was about the size of a quarter, but it was SUPER swollen, and with all of the swelling and redness it took up almost my entire thigh. It was incredibly painful. At its worst I could barely stand/walk and cried myself to sleep at night (I had to stay completely still in bed. Any movement was excruciating.) It was nuts! Finally I started taking Ibuprofen and it helped a great deal. Then it opened on its own and the pain lessened. It's been weeks and I'm still dealing with it, but thankfully it's mostly all gone now. (Though I imagine the hole and scarring will last forever, drat.)

With all our crazy sickness in May and part of June, we missed out on some planned extended family time. We were finally able to make visits to both grandparents recently.

Eli & Grammie playing "Picnic Panic." Can you see the ants flying up out of the basket? : )

While at David's parents, he decided to attempt to climb the big tree in their yard. He managed to get up there (though it didn't feel quite as easy as when he was young :), and then Eli said he wanted to climb it, too. David just placed Eli in the tree, but that was good enough for him! When Eli came back down, he proudly exclaimed, "I knew I could do it!"