Ridley Update - In which we seem to eat a lot of free meals and Matthew gets stuck at 4096

7/17/11 - 7/27/11

In our last episode, the Ridleys were just sending children to bed after watching some amazing and varied nature shows...when suddenly...

Sunday - Children who would not settle down and go to sleep were rousted into the back yard to pull weeds in the dark. No such bedtime troubles have recurred since.

Monday - Tuesday - Emily and David waiting in agony wondering if David would be awarded the coveted LMFT from the Idaho Board of Licensure. Tuesday night, the blessed announcement came and we are all grateful. That night, the children were reminded of pulling weeds and told that any child making noise after lights out would gain the distinguished honor of scrubbing toilets.

Wednesday - David and Emily played baseball with a mixed-denomination gathering of local churches. Dave had 1 RBI, a double, a single, and 2 outs as center fielder. Emily had fun. Los Padres Tres played nearby and batted tennis balls to each other.

Thursday - Hayley woke to discover she was under the power of a villainous eye infection that has since spread its evil influence to her brothers. But fear not, citizens - she sought aid from her trusty eye doctor and was equipped with powerful eye drops to eradicate the foe.

Friday - To start the day off right, David gracefully tripped down five stairs and banged up his side, partly pulled out a toenail, tore the skin off under one arm and pulled the triceps of the other. We attended a lunch with Grandma & Grandpa Stahn and the Stephanie Blodgett family in Firth, Idaho. Grandpa gifted the family with a whole bunch of books on prophecy, government, and politics which David has been charged to read.

Saturday - We attended the Pioneer Day breakfast at church. Dave helped crack 60 dozen eggs. Emily took many pictures. HayNatMat then marched with a troupe of primary kids in a "parade of values" holding the individualized plastic banners they made themselves.

Sunday - We had an overnight visit from Joe Blodgett's family. The adults threw health, wealth, and wisdom to the wind and stayed up until 2 in the morning. For some reason, the children didn't wake up any later than usual. We brought Jello and Emily's amazing 9-layer bean dip to the weekly dinner at the Stahns celebrating a variety of relatives including the Oliana Scott family, the Grandparents Stahn, and the Blodgetts Ginger, Joe, Marlowe and their younglings.

Monday - We had four Owen girls at our house all day long and the kids loved it. We were invited to enjoy a pulled-pork dinner at Aunt Tana's house with Grandma & Grandpa Stahn, Aunt Ginger, the Bob Stahn Family, Jennie Parkinson, and Holly Burkman's children. Someone suggested the "Water in the Face Game" (AKA Thimble Game) wherein the water-bearer chooses a category (such as "languages") and goes from person to person until someone names the predetermined item in that category (such as "Gaelic") and rewards the item-namer with a splash (or bath if you are using a cup rather than a thimble). The strategy of the dry, then, is to name extravagant and unique items (like "Klingon") to avoid the "prize." Bob and Donella Stahn were such sports as to help us to inherit some new furniture and move two old couches which our boys subsequently acquired to the basement to jump, dive, & flip on.

Tuesday - Home Summer School as usual. Then Mary Jo, Ginger Stahn, and the Burkman children came to play in the afternoon. We had a visit in our home for the first time from our home teacher who talked shop about mental health and PSR at length with Dave. Around bed time, Matthew added one plus one. This was not impressive to anyone. Then he drew more and more attention from his astonished family as he doubled numbers in his head from 1 to 4096 with no help. (I tested him again just now and he did it again, so it was no fluke). Try it yourself! Doubling 4096 presents problems that stymie his five-year-old brain for some reason. Professor Emily says it is because he has to handle 4 place values and carry too many ones and because he's not that good yet at distinguishing the ones and thousands place. But that didn't slow him down much before this obstinate barrier.

Wednesday - While on assignment with LDS missionaries, David arranges an interim visiting teacher (Emily) for a woman who is trying to leave her abusive alcoholic husband, blesses a home, invites four families to come to dinner with the ward that night, schedules for a young family to come to our home for a missionary discussion this Friday. Emily & David attended the church dinner and had an excellent time getting to know interesting people in our community. It was a very pleasant evening to be without children - who were home watching Incredibles and getting into no trouble whatsoever.