Weigh in

Goal weight: 121
Weight last week: 136.6
Weight today: 135.8
Still moving in the right direction. :-)

S is for school

We had a fun Back 2 School party with "the gang" today. Four members will start school on Tuesday, which will make our playdates quieter, but I'm sure they will still be eventful!
Then we went into Emily's classroom for Emily to look around and spend a little bit of time with her teacher. I think this informal meeting will eliminate some anxiety about the first day of school for Emily.
Here is Emily with her teacher, Mrs. O'Roak.


I unexpectedly met the new principal today and she reminds me of the principal who just retired, so it was a good first impression. :-)

Oh Yeah

I keep forgetting to tell you that I noticed Kate's first tooth last Friday. She's not going to be a toothless kid after all! She is having a cranky day today, so I checked for another tooth and sure enough...tooth #2 is making its debut. At least Kate has a good reason to be cranky now.

1 more week

Zoe went into her classroom this morning to help organize with her teacher and classmates. School starts next Tuesday and Zoe is more than ready! She has mentioned several times that being home is boring and she's ready to get out of the house and go to school. Frankly, I'm ready too!

Here is Zoe with her teacher, Mrs. Lalonde.

A glimpse

It's laundry day, the kids are wound up, and it's hot...
Zoe to me: "Can we have a new rule that you only get mad at 10pm?"
It has been one of those days!

Weigh in

Goal weight: 121 (The weight I was before I got pregnant with Eleanor)
Weight last Friday: 138.8
Weight yesterday: 136.6
Yay!

A taste of 7

A trip to the park, the dentist for Emily's cleaning, and McDonald's with my 5 plus 2 went smoother than expected and wasn't much different than our usual chaos. The only challenging time was when I woke Zach up when we got to the park and he was grumpy, grumpy, grumpy, but after ignoring him for awhile and then offering him crackers he perked up. It was quite amusing to see the receptionist at the dentist's office watch us pile in..."You have 5 kids, right?"...She counted heads, then I explained I'm watching 2 more. Then a co-worker reminisced about her family of 7 kids growing up. I brought Legos and Magnetix Jr. toys for the kids to play with. They played in the kids' area and were very patient waiting. When I came back into the waiting room after going into the room with Emily to talk with the dentist, I went to the kids area to tell the kids to clean up and noticed all the toys were put away and the kids were ready to go...I was impressed! The lady walking out the same time as us commented several times on how well the kids behaved. It is so nice when the kids are on their best behavior in public. :-)
At McDonald's I smiled at the question, "Are those ALL yours?" Pretty much. They were good at McDonald's too.

Since the girl I am watching is Zoe's best friend, it was no surprise that when Zoe found out that Morgan was coming over for the day that a sleepover would be requested. So our adventure of 7 continues until tomorrow. An eventful day and having Matt home at bedtime has proven to be wise because they are all asleep in their beds...and it didn't take long for that to happen. :-)

Commenters wanted

Zoe has updated her blog.

Go Emily, go!

It was so sweet to see Emily trying to ride a bike with no training wheels this morning with Zoe by her side cheering her on. Emily was on the grass for a softer landing and she pedaled a few times by herself when I looked out the window. It was a very sweet picture.

Correct!

Eleanor counted the girls on a movie cover 1,2,3...then she counted the boys on the cover 1,2,3...I asked her what 3+3 equals thinking she would count them all or be confused, but without missing a beat she shouted 6! I'm thinking this was an accurate guess, but it still amazed me!

Observation

Zoe and Zach could play outside all day long, but Emily and Eleanor prefer to be inside. Which means the kids spend most of their time inside unless I go outside with them.

Smart boy

I wrote the name Kayla on a scrapbook page when Zach pointed at the letter K and said, "K mommy, K!" I think the Leapfrog Fridge Phonics Magnets we bought Zach for his birthday are paying off.

Sorry Zach!

I've been scrapbooking this morning and I noticed that I don't have one single picture of Zach's 2nd birthday. Zero, zip, nothing. How did that happen?

Gone fishin'

Matt and the kids had a productive morning catching fish, while Kate, my mom, and I went to Sam's Club to shop and get our tire fixed...which resulted in a new tire. I knew I was in trouble when the lady asked me what size tire I had...ummm...



The lucky fish selected for lunch was caught by Emily...


The only thing left for me when I got home was the smell of fish...oh and some yummy sourdough pancakes.

Pleasant day

Kate had her 6 month check-up today. She is always a happy girl at the doctor's...why is that? I realized I left her binky out in the car when we got into a room and wondered how long it would be before Kate started screaming, but she never got upset (no shots today). She was all smiles for the doc. Kate is 25 3/4" long (50th percentile) and weighs 16 pounds (50th percentile). She is a healthy girl.

I took the kids to the playground and was pleasantly surprised to meet up with Jenn and Andrea and their kids there. It looked like it was going to rain when we first got there, but the rain held off and the kids had a great time swinging and sliding. When it did start to rain, we went over to Jenn's for lunch. What would I do without good friends?
Andrea is going to let me borrow her weight watcher's scale, which she won't need until after she has her baby in February...we're all hoping for a girl! I don't trust the scale we have. My mom likes it because it shows that she weighs less than her scale at home. I got on our scale 3 different times last Friday and I lost a pound or two each time I got on the scale. I could have reached my goal weight in no time last Friday with a few more weigh ins :-) I am definitely losing weight. I put on my capri jeans this morning, which are usually a little tight after I wash them, but this morning they weren't tight at all...love it!

Something was bothering Zach this afternoon and we thought it was a hurt finger since he kept pointing to it and saying "ow", but this afternoon he came down with a fever, so I wonder if he was feeling achy earlier. Fortunately for him he'll take medicine unlike Eleanor who had a fever a few days ago and refused to take any medicine at all. Zach perked up this evening and his fever was going away.

Kate used her big girl seat in the tub tonight for the first time...which put her in a better position to eat the shower curtain.

Recent Photos

Here are some pictures we took the last evening we spent with Jon, Kerri, their kids, & Kerri's Mom, Nancy at their Maine "home"...

Kerri & Zach enjoying a book. I love that Zach likes to be read to...Eleanor would much rather play than cuddle with a book.


Kerri & Jon with Zach & Kate


Cousins! Zach, Sarah, Zoe, Emily, Jacob, Eleanor, Aimee, Kate, Sam, & Ashley


The kids & I along with my parents went to my cousin Crystal's wedding in Bar Harbor on Saturday. Here is my cousin April, sister of the bride.


Crystal & her husband, Mark


The beautiful wedding cake with their initials on top.


Eleanor drinking water...she almost had a taste of champagne later in the evening, but I grabbed the glass before it touched her lips.


Zach being a big boy drinking his water.


It was a beautiful day and evening in Bar Harbor.


Eleanor listening to the bell her seating card was attached to. By the end of the evening, Zach had collected and claimed all the bells at our table.


Crystal & my Uncle Billy


My cousin, Scott


Zoe dancing with the groom. The kids had a lot of fun dancing!


The centerpiece that Mom got to take home because her birthday is in August. Sorry for the sideways glance, but my photo program is not recognizing the folder this picture is in for me to rotate it. This centerpiece is huge!


My Uncle Mal, Aunt Donna (Mom's sister), Mom & Dad


Zoe just asked me if she can update my blog when I die (we're listening to President Faust's funeral)...sure!

Kate in a nutshell

I asked Zoe to describe me in 5 words the other day, but she chose to describe Kate instead.

1) Mean (Kate was grabbing at Zoe's face & hair at the time)
2) cries
3) rolls around everywhere
4) Has a pink & purple binky
5) Is annoying

...but loved by all of course!

Much better

Yesterday was a long, rainy day which ended with a very frazzled me. Today has been quite delightful. My one goal this morning was to do some scrapbooking today...which did not happen BUT we did take Emily and Eleanor to their swimming lessons where Eleanor was the only one there for most of her class so she basically had a private lesson, we got the Yukon inspected...which was supposed to be done last month, we played at the park (playground)...we saw Zoe & Emily's Kindergarten teacher and got the 411 on the new principal (I was happy with the report), we stopped at the Dairy Port for ice cream...Eleanor took a bath in hers, she was covered from head to toe! (Zoe and Emily had 1 or 2 more smiley faces than frowny faces...yay!), I deposited money in the bank which resulted in free lollipops for the kids, we drove home to change into swimming suits and grab a snack before heading to the pool, went to the pool where Zach insisted on getting back into the pool during the break and walked toward the middle of the pool so I couldn't reach him (I wasn't dressed for swimming) so I told Zoe to go get him, but she refused until the lifeguard told her it was okay for her to go get her brother...and then after the whistle blew to swim again, Zach decided to play on his towel (sigh)...and now we are home after stopping at the movie store and spending almost as much as I do for a month of Netflix (another sigh). I am a much more relaxed mom tonight, letting my kids watch a movie and eat popcorn before bed...no one has called me Cruella today. :-)

Surviving

1 day down, 3 more to go. Matt left this morning to go on the young men's canoe trip. He'll be back Saturday evening. I'm too tired right now to add more.

Wordless Wednesday

What's missing?

ummmmm

I feel like I should write something, but there's not much to say. We've been hanging out with Matt's brother and his family as much as we can. Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, and Zach stayed over at my parents' house Friday night while the rest of us went to eat at Bugaboo Creek. That's a popular place for us to eat when Matt's family is in town. We were having quite a thunder/lightning storm when we left the restaurant to head home. It was funny to see all the men (including Matt & Jon) run out to get the cars as people left the restaurant. We had power when we got home, but Jon & Kerri weren't so lucky.
We picked up our kids Saturday morning and went to Jon & Kerri's for a delicious breakfast of sourdough pancakes, eggs, and sausage. Then the rest of the day was spent in the lake. We have had such great weather lately. :-)
We went to church yesterday and then we all went over to my parents' house for dinner. The cousins have had a great time playing together this past week!
We're hoping to see Matt's family one more time this evening before they head back to Utah tomorrow. Vacations go by too quick!

Kate is 6 months old today! She is still a mama's girl. She has a new love for paper, and she gets her hand in my food whenever she gets the chance. I need to buy her some fruits & vegetables to try because she is ready to eat!

I lost 2 pounds last week...my first week on weight watchers. I want to lose 13 more pounds. We'll see how well this second week goes.

Okay, I guess I did have something to say after all.

13 things I've done the last two days...

1) walked around the Bangor State fair on Tuesday
2) walked around Bar Harbor yesterday (I'm tired today!)
3) Ate delicious Pizza Hut pizza
4) Ate delicious chocolate ice cream
5) Listened to Kate cry because I wouldn't share my ice cream
6) Picked up my ice cream cup from the ground when Kate knocked it out of my hand
7) Discovered I didn't have any wipes with me in Bar Harbor...hoping for no dirty diapers!
8) Watched the girls make stuffed animals at the Teddy Bear factory
9) Watched the girls pay for their animals with their own money :-)
10) Watched Zoe throw up
11) Listened to Eleanor make up princess songs
12) Listened to Zach sing Old MacDonald had a farm in the car
13) Caught up on blogs :-)

Wordless Wednesday