Kids...too funny!

Eleanor is starting to write her letters. I think she looks at Zoe and Emily's schoolwork on the kitchen wall and copies them. Yesterday she reminded me of Zoe at her age. Zoe used to pretend to be a waitress and take our food order and then write it down on her notebook. Eleanor was doing the same thing yesterday, only instead of taking my food order, she was asking me what I was thankful for.

Zoe made Matt and I laugh this morning when I told her to take care of her pencil box, which she got out to look for my pens that have disappeared from the fridge, and she said something like, "Well, uh I need to finish getting ready for school, not be the maid!!!"
After Matt, Zoe, and Emily left, I went into the kids' room to look for a pen, which I found in Emily's box under her bed, and I also found a paper with a drawing of a girl that says, "Mom come back"...which I'm sure Zoe made one night when I left after the kids were in bed to run some errands. On the back of the paper, it says "Mom~good, Elenor~good, Zack~good, Grampy~good, Dad~Bad...only Dad. I had to laugh.

Zach is now sleeping with the girls. He goes to bed with them and sleeps in the crib. Eleanor sleeps on a mattress on the floor and Zoe & Emily sleep on the bunk beds. We decided it was time to get Eleanor out of the crib after she fell getting out of it and she hurt her foot. Zach adjusted to his new bedtime and bed really well. He cried on and off the first night, but not as much as Matt and I expected. Now he says bye to us and waves after we put him in bed.
Now Matt and I have a few months to enjoy quiet, restful, alone time in the evening before the baby comes :-)

My mom pinched something in her back relating to a disk last Friday and she has been hurting since Sunday. She is in a lot of pain and can hardly move, so the kids and I are going to go over to my parents' home today and help. She went to the chiropractor on Monday and I'm sure she will get to see him consistently for awhile until she is better. She has missed a lot of work with the Thanksgiving break and now her back, so I know she is stressed about all the work that is piling up there. I hope I can eliminate some stress at her home and help her to be as comfortable as possible. My dad stayed home with her yesterday, but as far as I know, he's planning on going to work today. I haven't talked to her yet today, but so far she has felt worse every day that I talk to her. Hopefully today she is feeling a bit better.

Mission Accomplished

We survived a family picture last night at Walmart. Before we even started, Zach was showing signs of not being cooperative. The photographer focused on getting Zach to smile, which worked, but then the girls would have funny faces or wouldn't be looking at the camera. After a few tries, Zach got tired of being entertained and he wanted to get down. So I ended up holding him and we switched our focus to the girls. The lady would count to 3 and then Matt would take Zach's binky out and we'd smile. The first time we did that, the picture was good, but you could see the binky in the picture, so we tried again. The second time was a keeper. Everyone is smiling except Zach, but he's not crying, he doesn't have a binky in his mouth, and he's looking at the camera. The standard of what you want the picture to look like gets lower and lower the longer you are in the studio!
We went to McDonalds for dinner, in our white shirts, which weren't so white when we left there. But our bellies were full and it was time to go home and end the eventful evening.

About Me:
Describe a typical school day as a child in Elementary school...I rode the bus to school, played outside until the bell rang with my friends, went to my homeroom, learned, played outside for recess some more, learned, ate lunch, learned some more, and rode the bus home. Or something like that. I liked recess and lunch just as much as my kids do :-) I started playing the saxophone in there somewhere, so I had lessons and band, probably from 5th grade on. Zoe is showing interest in playing the flute, which will start when she's in 5th grade. I can't say that I miss school, but I'm glad that I went and my parents wanted me to get a good education. My school experience was very positive.

November 9, 1989

About Me:
Where were you and what were you doing the day the wall came down in East Germany?
I don't know, but I had just turned 15 and I'm sure I was too involved with my teenage self to give this big news story a second thought. It's interesting that one day can change the life of a person in a big way, but be an ordinary day for someone else. It happens all the time.
Where were you and what were you doing that day?

Doctor results

I took Eleanor to the doctor on Wednesday and once again the x-rays showed nothing broken and she is fine. Not long after we went to the doctor, Eleanor was walking on her foot instead of just on her heel. I'm sure she bruised her foot a week ago and was afraid to walk on it again because it hurt to do so the last time she had tried. She is becoming an expensive child!

We had a nice Thanksgiving yesterday. We went out to eat with my parents at a nearby truck stop/restaurant called Dysarts. There was a long wait, but the food was delicious and worth the wait.

Zoe had the traditional turkey dinner and cleaned her plate.


Emily had a cheese sandwich with smiley face fries and applesauce. She cleaned her plate, too.


Eleanor wanted bread and butter. She enjoyed buttering her rolls by herself, and eating chunks of butter.


Zach drank his chocolate milk and then played with his straw and cup. He was quite a mess by the time we left the restaurant.




I've had the desire to listen to Christmas music the past few weeks, but I held off until today. The Christmas season has begun! The kids were excited when I put up some Christmas lights in our living room this afternoon.

Time for the doctor

Zoe and Emily are on their Thanksgiving break, so they are home today. It's nice to have a more relaxing morning. Our day is still up in the air of exactly what we're going to do. We'll most likely go to storytime.

I'm going to call the doctor's office today and see when I can get Eleanor in to see someone. It has been a week now with a hurt foot, and she'll only walk on the heel of it. She never forgets about her foot and has not accidentally walked on it. A friend of mine who is a nurse looked at Eleanor's foot last night at pie night (which by the way went well and the pies were delicious!). She said there is a bone where Eleanor is pointing to when asked where it hurts that could be fractured, or it may just be sprained. We just won't know until it's x-rayed and I'm feeling it's time to have that done. So, if the doctor's office can get Eleanor in today we'll go, but it probably won't be until next week.

I'm going to make another pumpkin and chocolate pie today, so we'll have more delicious pie to eat tomorrow :-)

About Me:
Write a want ad that describes your mother.
WANTED:
A generous, kind, loving, supportive mother. One who is a good listener and enjoys talking with me. She has to enjoy watching "Reba", playing phase 10, and eating out at restaurants with me. She has to enjoy watching my children on Friday nights and even claim to look forward to it. She will enjoy having our family over for Sunday dinner and provide snacks for our children to eat on the way home from church. She needs to have a big heart and be willing to give out her great hugs at a moment's notice.

Busy

Yesterday morning I went to Zoe's school for a few hours to help out with the math fair. The kids spend all day going to different rooms in the school to play math games. I took Zoe's group around to different rooms in the morning. Emily's school did the math fair as well. When I left the school, I picked up Eleanor and Zach from home (my dad was watching them) and we headed for my doctor's appointment. Matt met me there, which was a big help because Zach fell asleep and Eleanor still isn't walking very well. She'll walk on the heel of her hurt foot, but she's very slow. I am 30 weeks along in my pregnancy and everything is going well. I stopped at the grocery store on my way home and then settled into home, ready to make some pies for pie night at our church, which is tonight. I made a pumpkin pie and two graham cracker crusts before Matt got home. We ate dinner and had Family Home Evening. I gave Zoe and Emily both a shower, got the kids ready for bed with Matt's help and in bed, and then made a cheesecake and a chocolate pie. (the visualization of eating these yummy desserts tonight prompted this craziness!) By 9pm, everything on my to-do list was completed.

Today, I have laundry to do (and I am thankful to have a washer at home that works!), I'm taking Eleanor and Zach with me to Zoe's school later on in the morning to see a short Thanksgiving play that Zoe's class is performing for the parents, and I will finish preparing for the Family Home Evening part of pie night this evening. Usually pie night is very low-key, set up some tables and chairs, everyone brings a pie, and we eat and talk until we feel like we're going to burst. We're doing that tonight, but before we eat our pie, we're going to separate into two classes, one with adults with children at home and the other class with adults without children at home, for about 20 minutes to learn more about FHE. Our family is going to do a sample FHE for the adults with children at home, and the adult only group will have a discussion and hopefully will gain new ideas and perspective on having FHE alone, with a group, or with a spouse. I was thinking about Family Home Evening a few weeks ago on a Monday, when the desire came to present a lesson on FHE to the branch. I e-mailed Matt and our Relief Society President about it and the R.S. President thought it was a great idea and suggested we do it during pie night. So we are, and I will finish preparing for it today.

I haven't forgotten about the About Me series, I'm just taking a little break from it on these days I have overloaded my schedule :-)

My handyman

I started to do some laundry Saturday morning since today was going to be too busy of a day to do laundry like I usually do on Monday. I had the first load of clothes in the washer when our washer stopped working. I was ready to go buy a new washer/dryer combo, but Matt convinced me that he should look at it first to see if he could figure out the problem and fix it. We went to a baptism and then I went to my parents' house with the kids to do some laundry there so Matt could work on the washer without anyone getting in the way. I am glad Matt looked at the washer because by some miracle, he was able to find the wire that wasn't working properly and he fixed it! Here is the evidence of his hard work...when the kids and I got back home, the kitchen looked the same as we had left it, and Matt had dinner on the table, so without these pictures I would have wondered if he had done anything major at all.

It's Friday!

Zoe brought home this beautiful turkey yesterday.

Today at school, Zoe's class will be making apple turkeys, so I'm going to go in and help. They're also making a Thanksgiving feast to eat at lunchtime. They have made costumes to wear today. They're supposed to walk to the middle school in the afternoon to watch the high school play, "Bye Bye Birdie", but it's raining so I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not. It is going to be a fun-filled day for Zoe today!

Friday is always a fun day for Emily with all her "specials", gym class, art, music, library, and a special activity to end the day. She always enjoys bringing her library book to school on Friday, so she can bring home a different one.

They also enjoy knowing that their grammie will be babysitting in the evening, which means movie time! Matt and I enjoy getting out, usually to eat at Pizzeria Uno. It's a nice break for all of us :-) Speaking of datenight, my About Me topic is about a special date I have had. Every date I have with Matt is fun and enjoyable. For our first date, we went to see "Emma" at the movie theater. It was a great movie, and I enjoyed the company. Matt has been my date ever since, and I like it that way.

What to do?

I was talking with Eleanor the other day about going to "grandma's" house for Christmas. So now whenever we talk about plans for the day she'll say, "and then we're going to grandma's house!" I'm afraid it's going to be a long December for her waiting to go to grandma's house.
Eleanor's still not walking. We think she sprained or bruised her ankle like she did her other ankle, so we're still waiting it out. I hope we're making the right decision.

I've been meaning to write the fact that Emily wrote her first sentence all by herself last week without copying it. It said, "Iseethecat". (I see the cat) She said she learned it at school.

About Me:
What games did you play in your house or neighborhood?
I played a lot outside with my friends. Playing tag, hide and go seek, playing catch, riding bikes. I loved playing board games and card games, too and I still do. I remember playing PayDay, Life, Monopoly, Connect 4, Stratego, and Uno. I know there are many more. I would play solitaire by myself with cards.
I would much rather play a board game or card game now with my children than pretend play like Barbies. Matt doesn't like to play games much, but my mom does, so we get together and play Phase 10 every so often. We'll let Zoe play with us if we have a couple of hours to spare. Maybe I'll dig out our go fish cards and play that with Eleanor today. She's sitting on my chair right now looking at books. I hope her ankle feels better soon.

Need to relax

My body is exhausted. I spent Monday doing laundry and then yesterday I vacuumed and organized the girls' room. Today, my mind is focused on more cleaning that needs to be done, but my body is refusing to do anything...except get up every few minutes to wipe Zach's nose and get Eleanor out of her chair when she's done snacking or playing, and take her potty when she needs to go (she hurt her ankle last night and refuses to walk on it...does this sound familiar??? If she's not walking on her own in a week, we'll take her to the doctor.) I'm debating whether or not to take Zach and Eleanor to storytime this morning. I'm leaning towards going since we need to go out for milk anyway, but the thought of dealing with Eleanor not walking doesn't sound fun. I do know that a nice, long nap is in store for all of us this afternoon.

About Me:
Describe your wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses.
I got married exactly one year after I graduated from high school. Fancy wedding gown, bridesmaids, the whole works...and walked into a bad marriage.
Several years later, I had a very simple wedding and walked into a great marriage.
Here is a picture of Matt and I on our wedding day.

It was a small wedding on a Tuesday evening with family at our church...2 months and a day after our first date. Having Matt's family there was special since they lived so far away and were given short notice about the wedding. Do I dare ask Matt's parents what was going through their minds as they got on a plane to attend their son's wedding to someone they had never met? It just might come up next month during our Christmas visit...I'm curious now.

Odds and ends

Emily decided to downsize her blanket. Every once in awhile she'll try to go to sleep without it, but she'll end up with it by morning. She has claimed that she's not taking her blanket to Utah. Matt and I both had the thought that we would pack the blanket in our suitcase just in case she decides after we get there that she really needs it afterall.


My birthday feast...yummy!


More birthday money :-)


A no nap day is starting to show...


Goodnight Zach.


About Me:
Describe a "sound" from childhood. What was it? When did you hear it? What does it bring to mind? The sound of the pouring rain here is distracting me...okay, the sound of the Ground Round was a lot different when I was a child then it is now. When I walked into the restaurant as a child, I heard the show playing on the big screen in the children's area, I heard children playing and laughing, I heard people stepping on peanut shells. It was a very inviting place for kids and I enjoyed going there. They still have a kids' night, the excitement being a balloon animal or object to bring home. The penny a pound deal is great for parents. But now the atmosphere is for adults, which is okay with me, but I'm sure my kids would enjoy it more the way it used to be.

It's Monday

I can't think of much to write this morning, and my About Me topic is one I have little to say about so I'm at a loss here. My energy level is dwindling with each passing week of pregnancy. I get done what I need to, but that's about all I have the desire to do. I do manage to get up every few minutes to wipe Zach's nose. We have another round of colds going around here. I determined early on when we had our first colds that this is going to be a winter of sickness for us. We were quite healthy last winter, so I suppose it's only fair that we catch everything going around this season.
Zoe and Emily are getting along great with each other, playing in their room together, but they have also developed an attitude toward the rest of the family. I feel bad for Eleanor who enjoys being with them, but they don't want to be with her. It's sad to see her playing by herself when everyone is around. She doesn't seem to mind as much as I do though. Zoe and Emily are back to school today after a long weekend, which means that Eleanor gets to be the big sister for awhile and have access to whatever she wants to play with. Yesterday, Eleanor asked if Zoe and Emily were going to school after we got up...I think part of her was hoping they were.
The washer just stopped. If I want to get done the laundry before bedtime, I better go switch the loads.

About Me:
Talk about your ancestors...Remember those binders full of geneology under our bed? Well, I have intentions of going through them once I dig them out. Matt tried putting up our shelves on Saturday, but the glue he bought didn't work, so the books remain hidden. I do know that a lot of my ancestors came from Canada and England. Maybe that's why the only country I've had any interest in visiting is England. I remember doing a speech in speech class in college about some ancestors on my mom's side (through her dad) that owned a castle in England. But the details have left my memory. Whenever Matt mentions Canada, he includes in the same breath that it is my native land. I would like to visit Prince Edward Island someday...mainly because of the Anne of Green Gables books. Family History/Geneology is not one of my strong points, but whenever I come back from the temple I do have a stronger desire to get into it.

My mother

Matt had work to do in Canada this morning, so he spent the night in a hotel there last night. I decided it would be fun to stay at my parents' home with the kids since the kids are off from school today and my parents are off from work. It was fun...until bedtime. Around 8pm, Zoe and Emily were wound right up, playing tag and hide and go seek. I ignored them for as long as I could, and then we got their beds made and told them it was time for lights out...if they gave us any problems, then we were going home. They went to bed very good, Zach fell asleep as my mom rocked him, so we put him in his bed, and then I layed down with Eleanor so she would settle down and go to sleep. Eleanor decided she'd rather settle down with her grammie, so my mom ended up laying down with her until she fell asleep. All the kids are asleep, yay!...until Zach wakes up crying around midnight I believe (the early morning is a blur by now). I put him in bed with me and Eleanor, but he's still not happy. My mom comes in to get him, thinking he is still in his bed. She finds him crying next to me and takes him downstairs to rock him. He falls asleep again and my mom puts him in bed with her and my dad. He wakes up again a little while later around 3am. I decided it was time to take Zach home so at least some people in our family could get some sleep. By then, Zoe was the only one sleeping! I found it interesting on my way home with Zach that a lot of people are either awake in their homes at 3am or a lot of people sleep with lights on in their homes. I personally do not like any lights to be on when I am sleeping. So far, none of my children have needed night lights on to sleep. It is as dark as it can be at our house throughout the night.
I don't know if Zach missed home or his pillow, but he slept great the rest of the night (I mean morning). Zach and I went back to my parents home when we woke up and stayed until around 12:30pm when Zach was miserably tired and needed a nap. My mom is going to bring the girls to McDonalds for dinner and then bring them home to babysit while Matt and I go out for datenight. So, I am enjoying more quiet time right now :-)

About Me:
Tell about your mother...As you can probably tell from this post, my mother enjoys being around her family, even at 3am with a crying grandchild. She is the only mother I know who looks forward to spending every Friday night watching her grandchildren. She is the type of grandmother any child would love to have, we call her the marshmallow. She can't say no to beautiful eyes and pouty faces. I have accused my mother in the past of being too nice (my teenager days). My mother would go out on a limb for anyone...maybe not a tall limb since she is afraid of heights. She thinks about everyone else before herself, which is sweet, but maybe not always in her best interest. Which is why I told her we're not going over to her house on Sunday after church like we usually do because she is going to need time to herself by then.
I take after my mother in personality, but my mother has light skin and hair, and blue eyes, whereas I have darker skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair.
My mother has a talent for jigsaw puzzles. She puts together puzzle, after puzzle, after puzzle. She finds it relaxing and enjoyable. She loves to watch movies. Her favorite month is January when she can relax on a cold, snowy Saturday and put a movie in, and eat chocolate of course!
I've always seen my mother as one who has a strong testimony of the gospel. She is faithful and obedient. I have never doubted my mother's testimony or commitment to the gospel.
I love my mother very much and I am very glad she is who she is. I love spending time with her. I'm glad she is close by...what would I do without our girls' night out when I really need it?!

Back to reality

I had a very nice birthday. I didn't spend as much time at home as I thought I would, but I was able to do a little bit of everything I wanted to, which was nice. We had a nice family celebration in the evening. It included whiney children, bickering children, tired children, and crying, but after my day by myself, it didn't seem to bother me as much. Being alone was nice, but by the end of the day, I was missing the commotion of the children. I did enjoy having the house stay clean all day after I cleaned it up in the morning after Zach and Eleanor left. I could get used to that happening more often.

About Me:
Tell about your favorite aunt. I have 3 aunts, all my mother's sisters. One lives in Pennsylvania, the oldest of the 6 kids. I don't get to see her very often, but when I do see her, I enjoy her company and learn more about her. Another aunt lives somewhere here in Maine. She lives a very different lifestyle than myself, so I basically only see her at funerals. The aunt I see the most and know the most about lives in Maine as well. She and her family are members of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. She stays home to raise her children (8 at home, 2 grown and live out of state). She is very good at making her home welcoming and comfortable. She is very handy around her house and I admire that. I think she is the quietest of all her siblings, but she always comes up with funny things to say when she gets talking. She just became a Pampered Chef consultant to earn some extra money and to get out of the house more (can you blame her???). My mom is having a party for her on Saturday. I'm looking forward to seeing her and hearing all about what's going on in her wonderful family.

Happy Birthday to me

32 years ago, my parents welcomed my arrival :-) I am looking forward to my birthday today. My very thoughtful mother took the day off from work to take care of Zach and Eleanor, so I can have a day to myself. I'm going out for breakfast this morning with my parents, Zach and Eleanor, and then I get to say goodbye to them until we gather again for dinner. Zoe and Emily will take the bus to my parents' house after school. What to do with myself? I'm thinking that eating, relaxing, and shopping are part of my plans. I snuck into my package from Matt's parents this morning to see if there was money, and I wasn't disappointed. Thanks Janet and Steve! Matt is taking me to Pizzeria Uno for lunch and then I'm going to enjoy some shopping. It will be nice not having to worry about cranky children, children needing to use the bathroom, or children wanting everything they see. And, I get to shop for something more exciting than diapers. I had a dream last night that I bought a new skirt...maybe it was a vision. The evening will end surrounded by my family...and empty lobster shells :-)

About Me:
What instrument do you play or wish you could play? I played the saxophone when I was in school, and I enjoyed playing in the band, but I haven't played it since the end of my junior year in high school. I took piano lessons for 3 years as a child, but I hated to practice and I wasn't too fond of my teacher, so the most useful I am with the piano is playing with one finger during Primary when needed. I would like to be able to play the piano, and I have tried practicing at home on my keyboard, but the keyboard keys are more narrow than the piano keys, so I can master something on the keyboard, but then I have trouble playing it on the piano. Eventually, I would like to master 4 hymns that I could play during Sacrament meeting. Maybe when all the kids are in school, I will make the time to travel to a piano and practice.

Get out and vote

It's Election Day. Here in Maine, it's a beautiful day to get out to the polls. How blessed we are to live in a free country!

The girls have been taking longer than usual at night to settle down and go to sleep after they are put in bed. After about the 5th time of telling Zoe to get in bed and go to sleep last night, I hear Eleanor say, "Mom, you're grumpy!" Boy was she right!

About Me:
Describe your conversion to the gospel. I actually did this two days ago, so check out my Sunday post if you haven't already.

Famous

Zoe and Emily are in our local paper this week.


About Me:
What were prices like when you were young? The thing that comes to mind is walking to a local store as a child to buy penny candy. I can picture myself sitting in my room, enjoying delicious swedish fish and grape flavored swedish fish after a walk to the store. You could buy pre-made bags of candy or fill up your own bag. I would often buy the .50 or 1.00 bags of swedish fish.
There was going to be a candy store opening up in our town, featuring "penny" candy, which rumor had it that the candy would actually cost 5 cents a piece, but the store either never opened or wasn't open for long. Our children have the experience of spending one of their precious dollars on ONE candy bar, which doesn't happen very often. They have more fun going to Target and spending their money at the $1 spot.

My Testimony

I was raised as a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints, and I am still an active member. I developed a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout my childhood, but as I grew into a young woman, I regretfully kept one foot planted in the church and the other foot planted in the world. Because of this, I made many choices that led me away from my Heavenly Father instead of toward Him. It wasn't until I was 21 going on 22 (when I met Matt) that I made the choice to have both feet planted in the church, the start of my true conversion. This choice included repenting for the sins I was committing, praying and reading my scriptures daily, attending church weekly, having Family Home Evening each week starting when Matt and I got married, and being ready and willing to serve in the church. Doing these things has strengthened my testimony of the Savior and His gospel, and has increased my desire to follow Him and to keep His commandments. I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the only church upon the earth with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that Joseph Smith saw Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as he was praying in the sacred grove. I know that Joseph Smith restored the gospel to the earth and became the first prophet in the latter days. I know the priesthood has been restored to the earth. I know that Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that reading the Book of Mormon will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father and to our Savior, Jesus Christ. This will bring many blessings and much happiness into our lives. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and He cares for us. I know our burdens can become light if we seek our Heavenly Father's help. Daily prayer will keep us in tune with the Holy Ghost. I know we are eternal beings. I know our families can be together forever if we participate in marriage or sealings in the temple. I know our families will be blessed as we pray together, read scriptures together, and have Family Home Evening together each week. I know that as we pay our tithing, we will receive both temporal and spiritual blessings. I know our Heavenly Father doesn't ask more of us than we can handle. I know we can receive many blessings, including personal growth and happiness as we serve in callings. I know we will have peace as we choose what is right. I know that I have a Savior and I know He lives. I know that through the atonement of Jesus Christ, I can repent of my mistakes and return to live with my Heavenly Father again. I am truly grateful for this sacrifice. I know that Gordon B. Hinckley is our prophet today. I know that if I follow his counsel, I will be led on the strait and narrow path leading back to my Heavenly Father.

Random pictures

The duck that didn't get away...


Matt took Zoe and Emily canoeing this morning. The girls were very cold when they got home!






Mr. Buckethead

Roar!

About Me:
If you could be an animal, which one would you choose and why? I'm very content being human, but for the sake of the question, I would be a lion (lioness). I would be muscular with beautiful fur. I would spend 2-3 hours hunting for food and then spend the remainder of my day lounging around and sleeping. I can handle that. I would have 2-3 cubs every 2 years and only be pregnant for 110 days or so :-)...but would deliver with no epidural, not so great. I would be surrounded by family and friends, which would be great, however I would only be with my sons for about 3 1/2 years before they go off on their own. I would be able to run fast and leap far. I would take pride in supporting my family by getting food and taking care of my cubs.

Lion joke:
Where do lions live?

About Me

I'm starting a new series using my journal jar. I hesitate doing this because a lot of what I'll be writing about is my childhood and since I have the worst long-term memory in history, there just won't be a lot of detail. I think this is one reason why I am so good at keeping up with photo albums and scrapbooking (although the more children I have, the more behind I keep getting!) Pictures and keeping a record of what's going on in our family helps me to remember better. Sometimes Matt will be amazed at how well I can remember something we did several years ago, but it's usually because I had just read about it in my journal. So, we'll see how this goes...the first strip of paper asks: Did you have a bicycle? Yes (that was easy) What was it like?...well, it had a frame, two wheels, a seat, handle bars, and peddles! The older I got, the more speeds my bike would have. I can picture in my mind the photographs of me learning how to ride my bike. I remember falling as many children do as they learn to ride without training wheels. But I was persistent and became a successful bike rider, I even mastered the peddling with no hands...which we as parents of course discourage our children from doing! I loved riding my bike with two of my closest friends that lived on our road. I can picture the houses we would pass and the people who lived in them. Riding my bike in the summer was a favorite activity. I would ride my bike to the town next to ours to play baseball with one of my friends. I remember riding my bike down our road on Labor Day one year, sad that summer was ending and nervous about the first day of school coming the next morning. I'm glad I had a bike to ride and a place to ride it. I wish our children could do the same, but we have to pile their bikes in the car and go into town to ride, which means they don't get to ride them as often as they'd like to. But, we like where we live, so we'll just have to deal with it.

Zach is sitting on the table, turning the kitchen light on and off...my cue to get off the computer and get on with the day.

Good news

No broken bones for Eleanor :-) She actually started walking fairly normal, and was jumping around the room when we were waiting for the nurse to come in. Matt was ready to leave without having her checked, but I figured since we were there and she consistently pointed to the back of her ankle today when asked where she hurt, we were having her checked out. She probably has a bruised or sprained ankle. The nurse put an ace bandage around her ankle to help Eleanor feel better. Eleanor proudly showed her bandage to Zoe and Emily when we got home.
My mom, after reading my blog this morning, left work to watch Zach for me. That was a huge help. She also came over to our house when it was time for Zoe and Emily to get home from school. It was nice not having to worry about getting home at a certain time. Thank you again, mom!

The witch, butterfly, cat, and teddy bear

Wondering why Eleanor is being pushed around in a stroller? She hurt herself when I sent the girls out to the car while I finished getting Zach dressed. I heard her crying and found her climbing back up the steps. She had lost the toy ring she was wearing and was saying she wanted to find it. I walked past her to get Zach in the car and she started to follow me, but she was limping and complaining that her toe hurt. When we were at the mall she seemed fine being pushed around in the stroller. Zach was tired and cranky, so we asked Eleanor if Zach could sit in the stroller. She said yes and got out, but after trying to walk, she cried and said she couldn't walk. After several attempts to get information out of Zoe and Emily, they finally told us that Eleanor fell when she was trying to get in the car (the word pushed was used, but I'll leave the guilty unnamed. We checked Eleanor's legs before leaving the mall (we weren't sure which leg or area of the leg to check). Nothing looked swollen or bruised so we headed home. Unfortunately, our experience with children not wanting to walk on a leg has resulted in that leg being put in a cast. Since Eleanor still won't walk this morning, I'm going into the emergency room with her and Zach today...after I have my own lab work done that I'm scheduled for, which will take an hour just for that. I'm still not sure what hurts on Eleanor. First she said her toe hurt, but when I asked her to point to where it hurt, she pointed to the back of her heel. When I pulled her pant leg up to check her knee, she freaked out. I'm mentally preparing myself to be at the hospital all.day.long today. I'll keep you posted.