work vs. play -- a constant battle

This week, I have been working really hard to get as much work in a day as I can. Because of this, I am 6 lessons away from completing my first semester of English! Which also means when we travel to China, I won't have to worry about catching up in the least (although I will have to worry about an irresistibly adorable best friend that might distract me a tad.)

So, after a week of finishing SEVEN whole lessons, I thought I deserved a little bit of a break today I accepted another invitation to babysit while my YW's president and her husband went to the temple. She only has one kid that isn't in some type of schooling, so it was bound to be an exciting day!

At first, Luke had a little bit of a hard time warming up. I grabbed a ton of the toys that we have lurking downstairs, but for a long time, the expression on his face was similar to the one in the picture above. A little healthy mix of intrigue and "who-the-heck-are-you?" syndrome.

But once I brought out the cookie dough, he warmed right up! It was adorable to see him grab a handful of a "pre-good stuff" dough and then put his hand right back in for more. The picture on the far right is him stuffing his face with the cookie. He left the ordeal with flour all over him, and chocolate coating his face and hands.

All of those cookies were starting to make Miss Laney's little tummy feel fat, so after a quick gulp of ice water (the perfect drink with any chocolate chip cookie), Luke and I headed out to play with the scooters. There was only ONE wipe out, and it took Luke about three seconds to totally recover. What a resilient little dude!

After Luke got tired of scootering AND biking, we went inside to eat more cookies with lunch this time, and we also watched a rousing movie that is dear to my heart. Tangled seems to be the babysitting miracle of the year, because I have watched it FIVE-THOUSAND times since this volunteer craziness started happening. Not that I mind. I love this movie actually, especially the hunkahunka Flynn Ryder. And I like the music. Actually, there is a lot I like! I won't list them all. (PS. can you tell that I love my iPhone camera?)

Near the end of the day, and near nap time, Luke began the TENNIS infatuation. Every three seconds, he would lift up the rackets and say, "I want to play tennis!" So, we would go outside and play for about ten seconds, and then it would get too hot. "Let me go in, Laney!" He would say, "I wanna drink!" So we went in, and the cycle continued until we left to go pick up his brothers and sisters from school.

It was a pretty fantastic day, and was never dull! I can't wait to have Minsy here all the time (I know I say that a lot now. I apologize! I get more and more excited by the day!) I started doing some crafty things to prepare for Eliza today as well. I have been reading more and more Chinese adoption blogs (my new addiction) and I found one called "Baseballs to Bows" and the little bows and outfits were killing me! I just melted, they were so adorable. I know Minsy won't have any problems being beautiful on her own, but I really just needed an excuse to make something. That's what missing a sewing lesson does to me. So I went to Wal-Mart and grabbed some cute ribbon and clips, and I made six matching bows for my ribbon board! I have decided to make a different bow each Friday until we get Minsy, and then I will give them to her as a "gotcha" present in China. And so far, they've been super cute.

Yup, I think I'm going to like this ... I just know it!