Computer Time

On Monday I started limiting Zach and Eleanor's computer time and they now have to wait until the afternoon to get on the computer. I don't even turn the computer on until the afternoon so we're not tempted to play on it all day. My turn comes first and then they can each have a turn. Eleanor and Zach have stopped taking naps for some time now, so this is my new way of having some time to myself in the afternoon and it gives me a break to look forward to. On days like today when we are home all day, the morning is filled with different activities like playdoh, painting, and games, which can wear me out bouncing from one thing to another, but it helps to know that my afternoon will be more relaxing.

Getting ready for the countdown

It has become a tradition to wrap up 24 Christmas books and let the children take turns picking one out for their bedtime story each night in December before Christmas. They love unwrapping the book and the surprise of what the book is going to be. We have some Christmas books, but I get most of them from our local library. I am fortunate that our librarian doesn't charge me when our books are overdue, so if I have a few books out for 4 weeks instead of 3 it isn't a big deal. :-) I have asked my Mom to help me wrap books this year, so we will be getting together sometime before Saturday to have our wrapping party.

I like to have more than one countdown activity, so each child can have something to do each day in December. They take turns, so every day they do something different. We have a string of 24 red mini bags that we use each year to keep track of what day it is and how close we are getting to Christmas. We start with day 1 and move a doll closer to the 24th as she sits in each bag along the way.

I found a nativity puzzle that I printed on paper that I'm going to use for another countdown activity. I will cut the paper pieces and then the children will pick a piece each day to place on another paper that will have the outline of the whole puzzle, so they will match their piece to the one on the outline.

I need one more idea, any suggestions?

Thanksgiving Break

Zoe and Emily had a full day of school yesterday and a half day today and now they are home for the rest of the week. It is snowing lightly outside which makes it feel like the holidays are here. We are heading to church tonight for pie night. A night of eating as much pie as we can stuff in and visiting with friends. I love this time of year!

Are you CRAZY?

I'm beginning to think so. I'm sorry I have been neglecting you, but morning sickness leaves me with little energy and I stay sane these days by letting the kids play on the computer all day. By the time the computer is free to use, I'm either asleep or curled up in my chair wishing these blah days would end. I must say that I don't think I am feeling as bad as I did when I was pregnant with Kate or Zach, but I'm still feeling crappy and tired. It is sad that food doesn't sound good during this time of year when there are so many good things around to eat! I do hope that I am able to enjoy our Thanksgiving feast at Dysarts on Thursday. That's right, no cooking or cleaning around here on Thanksgiving, we eat out. :-) I'll be baking pies tomorrow night and then my work is done. So you want pregnancy details do you? or do you just want to say "So I guess it's congratulations, or is it?" (what kind of question is that?...I have heard it a few times now and it makes me wonder if people think this new baby is unwanted. I know we are ahead of schedule here and Kate is still a baby, but yes, this baby is good news, and yes we're hoping for a boy...as Zoe puts it, it would be SO unfair for 5 girls to have to share a room together and for Zach to have his own room!) I am due the end of June, so we could very well have a 4th of July baby...it will be weird to celebrate a birthday in the summer. And yes our timing of having all 6 kids home for the summer is wonderful, isn't it? I refuse to think about it. Oh and as you've probably guessed by now I'm not losing weight anymore, my last weigh in was a few weeks ago where I weighed 124.4. It feels good to start this pregnancy 14.4 pounds lighter. :-) House plans? At first my thought was how in the world can we build a house when we have another person to take care of and we can't keep up with all the expenses now, but in the last few days I have caught house fever and we are looking at the steps we need to take to get a house ready to live in by next winter. It may not be finished, but if we can live in it and watch this trailer burn to the ground then I will be happy (Don't panic, we would have the fire department burn it down. It is a moment we are all looking forward to! ) So all I want for Christmas (besides the new mattress my parents have already bought us for Christmas) is the house plans, which would complete step 1 to building our home. It is time.

Have I rambled on enough? Are you still wondering about my payback plan for the wound up kids at bedtime? Well I didn't manage to wake them up early, but the next night Matt rigged up a gate using a board and buckles so Zach could get out of bed, but he couldn't escape the room. Once Zach realized he couldn't leave the room, his interest in getting out of bed disappeared. We didn't have to put the board up tonight, Zach stayed in bed and went to sleep. :-)

Bedtime Blues

Zach has learned how to get out of his crib and he refuses to stay in bed. Matt is at a meeting and the girls are wound up. I am getting angrier by the minute here and am plotting to pay them back by getting them up at the crack of dawn. We'll see how happy and giggly they are then!

Birthday fun

Playing with dinner

Lobsters awaiting their fate

Dinner time!

We are too full for cake, but the party must go on!


Emily went to a birthday party this afternoon at a local YMCA where she swam for an hour and then played games and ate a cupcake with her friends. The Dad of the birthday girl showed off his artistic talent as he painted whatever the kids requested on them. It was a big hit! Emily wanted a fish to go along with the ocean/fish theme of the party.


I was impressed with Zoe this afternoon when she told me that one of her friends had invited her to go to the Y tomorrow for a birthday/swim party, but knowing it was on the Sabbath day when we go to church and spend the day together as a family, Zoe didn't even ask if she could go. She knew we would say no, but more importantly she knew the right choice was not to go. I'm proud of you Zoe!

Happy Birthday to me!

I am 33 today. Zoe is REALLY happy that it is my birthday today...we get lobster tonight. :-)

9 Months old!

Kate loves to crawl around and find lots of ways to make a mess! She loves to play with anything that isn't a toy and that she shouldn't be playing with. She's taking notice of other people now and is liking her Daddy more and more. I spend my day making sure all the choking hazards are picked up off the floor as Kate crawls from one adventure to another.

Weekend Update

The kids stayed at my parents' house Friday night, which was very nice. Matt and I got caught up on "The Office" and we watched an episode of "Life" which is another show we are hooked on.

We had Stake Conference this weekend. Matt went to his Priesthood meeting from 3-5pm on Saturday. The kids and I went to the Stake center at 4:30pm so I could help prepare for the meal our Branch was in charge of in between Priesthood meetings and the adult meeting. The kids played in the nursery until Matt was done his meeting and then he left with the kids while Kate and I stayed to help with the meal and to listen to the adult meeting. The theme this weekend was unity and the talks Saturday night were very good. We left Saturday night in very cold, windy, rainy weather. We woke up Sunday morning with no power, so Matt got the generator going (after a trip to the store) and we warmed up and got ready for the day. But conference had already started by the time we were ready, so we stayed home. Our power came back on around noon time. We went over to my parents for a late lunch/early dinner and talked about the new changes in the stake. There is a new counselor in the Stake Presidency because President Hatch is now the Patriarch. One of Matt's counselor's was called into the Stake so now Matt is trying to figure out who his new counselor is going to be. There just aren't a lot of Priesthood brothers to choose from in our branch!

Zach likes to wear his church clothes all the time now. He shows me what he wants to wear in the morning. All of my kids decide around the age of 2 that they are going to be in charge of what they wear. I think this is happening because I was pretty picky as a child/teenager about what I would wear for clothes. It's sad when really cute clothes sit in the closet unworn because my kids insist on wearing the same 2 or 3 outfits over and over again. *sigh* At least Zach has good taste and looks really cute in his church clothes.

Halloween fun part 2

Matt returned home last night. :-) He had a fun trip, but claims to be glad to be home. I'm glad he's home!

We had a fun Halloween yesterday. I took Eleanor, Zach, and Kate to storytime in the morning. I dressed Kate up as an Angel, but Eleanor and Zach went as themselves. It didn't take long for Kate to take her halo off and her wings got in the way when she tried to crawl around. But she looked so cute and I'm glad she got to wear the costume once. I have pictures, but I'm still trying to figure out how to get the pictures from my Dad's camera onto my computer. I'm happy that Matt brought my camera home fixed, thanks to his brother, Jon and now I can use my camera again.

I went into Emily's class to help out with their Halloween party for a half hour in the afternoon. I was in charge of the apple bobbing. Yes they used separate water for every child and I got to refill buckets. I had to leave before the food part of the party, which was a bummer because there were a lot of yummy goodies to eat! I actually went to Emily's school without Kate. :-) She was asleep when I left, so my friend was brave and kept her. Kate woke up about 10 minutes before I got home and looked at my friend a little strange, but didn't cry. Kate is doing better with other people, especially if she can't see me. She is learning to like my Mom and leans over for my Mom to take her when Kate sees her now. Big improvement!

The kids and I met my Mom at the mall last night for trick or treating. Eleanor wondered where the party was as we walked around and collected treats. She thought just walking around was pretty boring. Eleanor thought one of the young women passing out candy looked just like a princess and she told the young woman so, which was so cute. Zach tired of just collecting treats after awhile and decided it was time to eat a lollipop. He looked just like Emily at that age in a bear costume, carrying around a bucket, eating a lollipop. Very cute.

I hope everyone had a fun, safe Halloween!