Making ME smile

My family has me up early on this Saturday morning, so I'm taking the opportunity to catch up on blogs. My friend, Cindy has made my day awarding me this...



I miss having Cindy in our branch at church. Her husband is in the Navy, so they moved on from Winter Harbor around 5 years ago (is that right, Cindy...I'm thinking Emily was 1 when you moved). Cindy was my counselor in Young Women's and she always had great ideas for our secret pal activities. The young women would pick one sister in our branch to surprise with a gift each month for a year, and Cindy was the brain and talent behind those gifts the girls would make. I also think of Cindy when I see the quilt she and the young women made for me and Emily when Emily was born. She is such a talented, crafty person...just like me (HA!). Cindy is also very sweet and I can't imagine anyone not wanting to be around her. She makes ME smile. :-)

The creator of the award had this to say -"The thing that I love most about blogging is that I learn so much about a person just by reading their blog. I have met MANY wonderful people with wonderful stories to tell, and I am grateful every day for each person that I have the pleasure of crossing paths in life with. I wanted to create something special for the people who have inspired me through their blogging; the stories they tell, and the lives they lead with grace and dignity. I visit their blogs for inspiration and encouragement...

Please grab your badge and wear it (with a smile) proudly, and pass it on because you inspire and encourage me---thank you!"

So I'd like to pass this award on to several wonderful ladies who I have "met" through blogging and I just love getting to know them better through each post they write.

PJ...who inspires me to love my family more and to have fun with them
Mindy...who inspires me to appreciate the words of Isaiah (not an easy task!)
Dawn...who inspires me to be more spiritual
Gabriella...who inspires me to be a little more adventurous

Thank you for being you!

Weigh In

Goal Weight: 121
Weight last Friday: 130.8
Weight today: 130.6

I'm creeping along here, but at least I haven't gained weight. I'm not good at keeping track of points on the weekend, but I am getting better at eating smaller portions.

Don't blame the dog

You know the saying, "The dog ate my homework", well around here we say "Kate is eating your homework!" She just ripped a page out of Zoe's library book and was putting it into her mouth when she was caught. Who's turn was it to watch Kate anyway??? Sorry, Zoe.

Random Ramblings:

1) Kate wants to be held, but she is getting too wiggly and it is wearing me out!
2) Being at home all day with Eleanor is tiring. She insists that I play with her all.day.long!
3) Eleanor's attention span is not very long these days. She bounces from activity to activity...another thing that wears me out!
4) Zach can sit and play for a long time with his legos.
5) Zach's new favorite movie is "Cars".
6) It was in the 90's yesterday...where was that weather in July???
7) I had to stop for turkeys crossing the road today.
8) Then I had to stop for a cat several minutes later.
9) I found a dead snake on the ground and did what any other mother would do...I picked it up with a stick and put it on a rock to see who would notice it first (it's just a tiny snake)...our 4 year old neighbor, Connor was the winner.
10) Zoe has discovered the wonder of Nancy Drew. She's reading now and just said, "Oh no!" It's fun to watch her read.
11) Emily wants to be able to read. She's very good at sounding out words, so it won't be long.
12) Matt has planned a camp out tomorrow night with Courtney's husband, Matt, so I have a date with Kate, Goodwill, and since Movie Gallery called and informed me I have a free rental, I have added a good chick flick to my evening...any suggestions?
13) Season 4 of "The Office" starts tonight! My very thoughtful Dad offered to tape it for us in case we can't watch it on-line. Fact: If you're not hooked on "The Office" yet, you are missing out!

I love it!

Matt's Mom has a tradition to make a quilt for each grandchild when they are born. We received Kate's yesterday and it is absolutely beautiful! I love the colors, and the first thing Matt and I noticed about it after we held it was how soft it is! Our children are blessed to have such a talented Grandma. Thanks, Janet!

Sharks!

Eleanor learned about sharks today at storytime. She was very excited to go to her "class" today and was worried they would start without her. She was happy when we arrived a few minutes early. She picked her brown colored rug to sit on and waited anxiously to start.
Here is her creation for the day (her teacher drew the fish on her picture). The shark is taped to a popsicle stick and there is a slit in the paper.


We enjoyed some playtime at the park before heading home.

1st Field trip

Today was my first time going on a field trip with Emily and the first time going on a field trip with a baby. I was nervous about bringing Kate, but everything worked out great. She was happy because I carried her around in the sling and Emily was happy because I was there with her. We went to the Craig Pond Fish Hatchery...

Craig Brook National Fish Hatchery on Alamoosook Lake in East Orland offers something for everyone. The nation's oldest salmon hatchery, Craig Brook has been raising Atlantic salmon to replenish the Penobscot and other Downeast rivers since 1871. Craig Brook is one of more than 70 federal hatcheries in the U.S. operated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Learn about past and present at Craig Brook at the Visitor's Center (open daily Memorial Day to Columbus Day, 8-5)

Summertime: View adult and juvenile salmon in a natural brook, hike the 1-mile interpretive nature trail, suitable for all ages, or climb Great Pond Mountain. A public boat launch and picnic area at Alamoosook Lake is open 6 am to sunset. A picnic area at Craig Pond is open daily to foot and bicycle traffic only. Memorial day through Labor Day; park about a half mile up Craig Pond Trail from the hatchery and walk another half mile into Craig Pond.

Wintertime: Hike or ski the trails, ice-fish, snowmobile.

...where the kids went on a nature walk and found items that didn't belong, had a snack and then lunch later on next to the pond which was very enjoyable on this beautiful day, watched a short video about Atlantic Salmon migration and then did an activity where each child was given a container with a scent in it that they smelled and then had to remember the scent so when they went into a different room they would be able to find their scent again. Emily's scent was lemon.

It was a good field trip and the kids were good. Emily has 19 kids in her class and only 7 of them are girls. It took less than a minute of being in her class to figure out who the challenging boys are. And I realized that Emily could easily get "lost" in her class if she is having trouble because she is not one to speak up when she needs help. We'll have parent/teacher conferences soon so I'm anxious to hear what Emily's teacher has to say about her and the class. I really like her teacher. She uses her time wisely, is patient, but firm and in control, and she is nice.

Homework Day

I have designated Friday afternoon as homework time for me. Time to go through all the paperwork the girls bring home on Friday afternoon and fill out whatever needs to go back on Monday. Time to fill out the lunch money form and put money in the envelope. Time to write down events that are coming up on the calendar. Last year I got into the habit of waiting until Monday morning to do all this which created a very busy, stressful morning! I do not want to go through that again this year. Last Friday was my first successful homework day and it felt good to get up Monday morning and not have to do anything except pack the lunch boxes which I do every morning. :-)

Zoe and Emily have been doing a great job of getting their chores done when they get home from school(empty backpacks and lunch boxes and put them away, put away shoes and sweaters, and alternate between putting clean dishes away and washing dishes). Then it is homework time. Zoe has homework Monday-Thursday and Emily has had occasional homework until this week when she brought home work on Wednesday and it is due back to school on Monday. We have a good schedule going and we're off to a good start!

Weigh In

Goal Weight: 121
Weight Last Friday: 130.8
Weight Today: 130.8

Well, at least I didn't gain weight.

Picture day

I wanted to get Emily's hair cut before the first day of school, but the day I took Emily to the walk-in salon I noticed that every other parent had the same idea, so we left without a hair cut. We tried again last night so Emily could have a new look for her school picture today and we succeeded.

Happy smiles, Emily!

Go, go, go

My goal this fall is to keep Eleanor busy. Since we have a car and the weather is gorgeous most days, it's a great opportunity to be out and about...except for Monday which is still laundry day. Today was the first story/craft time at the Bangor library for 4 & 5 year olds. This activity appealed to me because I was able to drop Eleanor off in the children's room while Zach, Kate, and I spent time looking at books and playing with the toys. Eleanor had a great time learning about cats and then making her own paper cat today.




And here is Zach happy at play.


We went to the park and without planning it, ended up at the park across the street from Matt's work, so Matt came to visit us for a few minutes. Eleanor made a friend at the park and they got along great. I'm glad we got to spend some of this beautiful day outside.

So the rest of our schedule will look something like this:
Wednesday: Story time at the Bucksport library and then go to the park if it's nice with "the gang" (which these days consists of Eleanor, Zach, Kate, Harry, Connor, and Lauren)

Thursday: Get together with Courtney or go to the Children's Discovery Museum or go to a local playgroup for babies and toddlers

Friday: Get together with "the gang" plus another Mom we have recently met...she has a 4 year old daughter who Eleanor just loves to play with, plus she has a 2 year old daughter. The Mom's name is Christy and she is going to have another baby in February, and so is Andrea! Andrea is having a girl!!! "The gang" is growing. :-)

Weigh in

Goal weight: 121
Weight last week: 135.2
Weight today: 130.8

Can that be right? I did weigh myself twice and got the same result. I definitely like it, but it seems too good to be true. It IS motivating me to stay on track since this says I have lost 8 pounds in the last month! :-)

Matt and I have gone without TV for about 8 years now...we have a TV to watch DVDs on, but no channels come in. TV shows have come and gone throughout the years and we have been pretty much clueless about them...until Netflix (oh and the 1 or 2 fall seasons we got cable to watch college football, but canceled when the season was over because of our tight budget and I HATE watching commercials). We now cannot go to bed at night without watching "The Office" or "Firefly". We can watch one episode of "Firefly" in an evening, but we can't seem to watch only one episode of "The Office"! We got the last disc of season 3 today and I'm sure we'll be returning the disc tomorrow wondering how we're going to watch season 4 which starts in a couple of weeks. Getting cable is not an option. We're hoping the NBC site will show the episodes after they are shown on TV. What are we going to do without "The Office" to watch???

Here are 13 other TV shows/movies we have enjoyed through Netflix...

1. The Jetsons (the kids are watching it right now and loving it)
2. Little House on the Prairie (kids and I)
3. Dharma and Greg
4. Sniper school
5. High School Musical (kids)
6. MythBusters: Mega Movie Myths
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
9. Fun with Dick and Jane
10. Rumor Has It
11. Catch and Release
12. To Catch a Thief
13. Flyboys

Do you have a favorite TV show or a movie we must see? I love the commercial-free DVDs!

Wordless Wednesday

Fundraiser Time

Yes, the kids are back to school and we get hit with the same fundraiser the first week every year. Okay, so my Mom ends up doing most of the work since she brings the fundraiser book to work and collects orders and money, but still it's on MY mind until it gets turned into the school, and I get it all organized.
I think I almost have Matt convinced to take a fundraiser book into his work, so the burden of collecting orders can be shared, PLUS I signed Zoe and Emily up for on-line orders, so I am contributing to the order work too. Now here is where YOU come in...if you want to of course.

Go to the Meadow Farms site.

Shop (Who doesn't like to shop???)...Browse through wrapping paper, chocolates and other goodies, seasonal items, gift ideas, candles and holders, Sport items, household items, and more!

Found something you can't live without? Now go buy it and enter Zoe's personal credit code when it is asked for. Code: ZE2442. If you don't include her code than she will not get credit for your order.
Emily is doing this fundraiser too, but I sent an e-mail with Emily's code to other friends and family, so hopefully she'll get orders from them.
Emily's personal credit code is EE8811 if you want to order from both girls.

The items you buy will be sent directly to you. :-)

If you have any problems, please let me know.

Happy Shopping!

Continued

So I left off last time with Zoe's soccer practice...mixing basketball moves with soccer ones. She ran down the field to defend the goal and I think she just automatically put her arms up to defend, at least we know her basketball practices are paying off.

I kept the kids on the grass as long as I could, but they eventually ended up in the dirt. Emily made friends with the coach's youngest daughter who is in 2nd grade.

Zoe's first soccer game was yesterday. Zoe played most of the game (all the kids do) and she had a great time. She was nervous at first, but she gained confidence as the game went on. She had some good kicks when she had the ball and she was more aggressive than I expected. Here she is playing defense?...I'm not up on my soccer knowledge yet. Her team won...just for the record.

The kids had fun playing during Zoe's game. Here is Zach climbing up the hill so he can roll back down.

Kate loves to pick the grass, and she found a leaf to play with. She tried to eat her new surroundings, but wasn't too successful.


I have to sum up my Friday for you because it shows how much driving one can do in our area. I drove around 160 miles on Friday to go put gas in the Yukon, go to our church to drop off Eleanor and Zach so they could be babysat there while I volunteered at the food pantry, go to the grocery store to pick up food for the food pantry, go to the food pantry, go back to the church to get Eleanor and Zach, go to the bank, go home, go pick Mom up by her work because she got in a car accident...she is fine, her car is not...

go to Mom's house to drop off Mom, Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, and Zach, go to Bugaboo Creek for dinner with Matt and Kate, go to Goodwill where I bought 2 pairs of jeans for myself :-), go to Mom's house to pick up the kids, go home. I was tired of driving by the time I got home that evening! Matt opened his birthday package from his parents when we got home...and played with the new nerf dart guns he bought. Zach loves playing with the dart gun, which is probably the best birthday gift Matt could get.



And if you noticed that I am posting this at 10:30 on Sunday morning, that is because I am home from church today with the kids because Zoe, Emily, and Zach have colds. The sick season returns!

7 Months Old

Kate fell asleep right after breakfast.

Kate is starting to sit and play by herself for short periods of time...a sign that she won't be attached to me forever. :-)
She has one tooth and is still working on the second one.
She loves to eat rice cereal with bananas, squash, corn, or sweet potatoes.
She scoots herself backwards when she's laying on her tummy, and she can lift her tummy off the floor.
She's getting to be a big girl!
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Here are a few things I enjoyed out my window this morning...


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Kate had her first swinging experience yesterday. Can you tell it was a big hit?

Eleanor and Zach had fun swinging with their friend, Harry.

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Zoe had a great first soccer practice last night...although I think she might be mixing some basketball moves in with the soccer ones.
Sorry blogger is now experiencing technical difficulties...To be continued...

Information overload

Zoe and Emily had a GREAT first day of school! They talked non-stop for a good hour after they got home! It was nice that they wanted to tell me about their day and show me the papers they brought home, but it was a little much to have them both talking at the same time. They both LOVE their teachers, so it looks like their going to have a great year. Zoe had homework, Emily thought she had homework, but then Zoe pointed out to her that the papers she brought home were for me, so Emily didn't have homework, but then Emily remembered she needed to draw a picture about herself, which she was supposed to bring in for the first day of school, but didn't, so she said she would do that. But she never did and I realized this after she went to bed, so I had her do it this morning. I'm afraid Emily is not going to be as self-driven about doing Homework as Zoe. I went through all the papers last night...school insurance, lunch information, contact information, calendar events, soccer information, new procedures...lots of information!

Zoe and I went to her soccer sign-up last night. There is a soccer league for 3rd-6th graders, so this is Zoe's first year. She is on the purple team and her first practice is tonight and her first game is Saturday. She's excited that she's actually going to play games instead of just practicing, which they do in 1st and 2nd grade. I was with the coach Zoe got because I know the coach and she's really nice. Zoe was happy too when I told her who her coach is.

Eleanor and I played, played, played yesterday. She misses Zoe and Emily when they are at school. We're heading to storytime pretty soon and I think we'll stop at the park on our way home. It's another beautiful day! I love this time of year, I think it has become my favorite.

First day of school

Ah yes, I have heard the words this morning I expected to hear from Eleanor..."Mommy, will you play with me?" This is Eleanor's last school year at home with me. I'm hoping to have a year filled with story times, play dates, trips to the children's museum, and at-home preschool...and of course play time with me. I think Eleanor and Zach will play more together this year, too...at least I hope so!

Zoe and Emily were very excited to go to school today. They had smiles on their faces from the time they got up until the time they left. Do you suppose that will happen every morning this year?...me neither. But it was nice to send them on their way knowing they were happy about going.

See you at 3:15 girls...when our normal 5 kid chaos resumes!

Procrastinating has its benefits

My Mom treated Zoe and Emily to a school clothes shopping spree at Goodwill today. It was fun! Each item cost $.99...a great bargain!


And Kate had her first experience in a high chair at a restaurant. She couldn't order anything from the menu, but she had fun trying to eat it!