Computer Day

I am having a computer day today. Fun! I cleaned yesterday, so today could be a guilt-free play day. My parents left for North Carolina on Wednesday, so we are taking over their house today. Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor are going to ride the bus here after school, and Matt is coming over after work. The plan is to watch the latest episode of "Wipeout" with the kids and eat chicken fajitas tonight. Our kids are finally at the point where they don't whine and complain every time we eat fajitas. They have just learned to live with it and (gasp) some of them even LIKE cheese fajitas.

So what have we been up to the last week or so? Let's take a look...

Last week's artwork was Eleanor's snowman. "Snowman!", Kate declared when she saw it. Then Kate and Zach spent the day singing "Once there was a snowman". I'm glad we won't be building a snowman for awhile.


Thursday, May 28th: Noah took 2 steps in a row! Emily had her first baseball game, which really is just a scrimmage with her teammates. She is on the green team, which she was happy about because she would rather have a green shirt than a black shirt. She played in the outfield and she actually had several balls hit to her. She struck out the first time she was up to bat (given about 10-12 chances), but the second time up right before striking out again, she hit the ball past 3rd base. Yay, Emily! Noah had a great time playing in the grass. He likes to pick dandelion stems, but after a taste of one, he doesn't put them in his mouth anymore.

Matt made pizza while I was at Emily's game. We came home to yummy pizza...and a big mess. I had put the basket of crayons on the stove earlier and Matt didn't notice them until the pizza was almost done. Crayon wax ended up all over the stove, counter, doors to the cupboards, floor, and a strainer. Big mess. The pizza was yummy, though.


My crayon basket has new character and a story to tell.

Friday, May 29th: Zach and Kate played well together for most of the day. I take special note of this because it is rare. Matt and I came over to my parents' house to watch the last 3 episodes of "The Office" and we watched the first episode of the season of "Wipeout". We also watched Glenn Beck. Noah kept climbing the stairs. I should videotape how happy he gets when he is at the top of the stairs because he gets the biggest smile on his face, he claps proudly, and he squeels with delight. I have a bench in front of the stairs now because he climbed the stairs right when we got here, but he paused halfway up and then tumbled down. He was not proud of that!

Saturday, May 30th: Don turned 50, so the kids made him cards and we brought him some store bought cookies. The original idea was to bake him a cake, but then we decided to make brownies because it would be quicker, but we didn't have all the ingredients for the brownies, so Don ended up with delicious cookies from the store. We went to visit him at his new house which is being built about 3 miles from us. :-) Zoe wasn't with us, she was with my mom getting haircuts. Zoe met us at home and we went to Camp Bravo to cook hotdogs.






Eleanor was humoring us with her presence. She didn't want me taking her picture, so she kept tilting her head back and closing her eyes.









Usually on Saturday, Matt and I are off in different directions, so it was nice to spend time together as a family. We ended the day with a family movie, "Bedtime Stories". I was a bit concerned about an Adam Sandler family movie, but our hairdresser recommended it and Zoe's friend said it was really good, so I got it. We made a bed in the living room for Zach to lay in while watching the movie because after dinner, after Matt telling him not to jump from my chair onto Eleanor's chair, Zach did it anyway and he hurt his back. It hurt more when he was standing and sitting, so after his bath and after deciding to wait to take him to the ER, we got him settled into his bed before the movie. He immediately fell asleep. By the end of the movie, I liked the movie, but it took me awhile to like it.

Sunday, May 31st: Zach ended up being alright and I made it to church with the kids. Matt and my mom traveled to Machias for their conference. I noticed a tick in my leg and got it out. My first tick bite. There was an immediate bullseye rash, a sign of infection. Great.
During Family Council the week before, I recognized Emily's choices to help when she wasn't asked to and I called her the superstar of the week. Zoe's competitive spirit led her to be more helpful with Noah and chores, so she was a superstar at today's Family Council, along with Emily. It's nice having them help when they see a need. Even Zach is noticing their example and he put his flip flops away last week when he saw them in the middle of the floor. :-) Not leaving shoes in front of the door was also addressed at our last council. When we went over our calendar for the week, it was brought up that I am going to the temple tomorrow. Zoe and Emily put up a fuss and I asked them why I was going to the temple. Their answer was to get away from them. Then Matt said he should go to the temple. I brought up how absurd that sounded that I go to the temple to get away from them, so Zoe came up with a better answer..."You need to be rebaptized because of your anger issues?" Ha Ha. The kids thought that was super funny!

Monday, June 1st: Every year Matt tells the girls that they don't have to go to school in June and every year the girls ask me if that is true and I say no. They only have to survive a few more weeks. Eleanor gets out on the 16th and Zoe and Emily get out on the 18th. I am looking forward to summer. I plan on living at the pool. I went to the doctor for my tick bite and I got a prescription for an antibiotic. I couldn't fill it yet though because I didn't have any money. The younger kids and I went for a walk along the waterfront after my appointment. Zach had a great time pushing Noah in the stroller. Zach always insists on pushing Noah. Then we went to the park before going home. We had FHE in the evening. Zoe missed her softball awards banquet because it didn't sound like a fun family activity. Keeping little kids quiet for a long time is not fun! Her coach dropped off her trophy, medal, and certificate at school for her a few days later.

Zoe found a tick stuck on her this evening. Enough with the ticks! She didn't have a bullseye rash, so we have just been keeping an eye on it.

Tuesday, June 2nd: I can't remember specifics about this day, except that Zoe had a rough afternoon when she got home from school. Emily had baseball practice and Matt worked late, so the kids played on the playground at the school where Emily practices. A man was at the playground and after awhile he came over to talk with me while I was on the teeter totter with Zoe. He was looking for an eyeglass lense which belonged to his 7 year old grandson and he said how crazy it was to think he was going to find it. He had been there since after school and he had been arond the playground many times. Well, I looked at the ground and saw something shiny. I walked over, picked up an eyeglass lense, and asked him if that was what he was looking for. Just like that. He was so happy of course and thanked me many times. After the afternoon I had had, it felt good to have something go right. My mom stopped by to say goodbye to us since she was leaving in the morning. We saw Kristen, Kayla, and Alex Speranza at the school, so Zoe was able to play with Kayla for awhile. These evenings are crazy because the kids need baths when we get home and they get to bed around 9pm. Too late!

Wednesday, June 3rd: I was able to pick up my antibiotic, register our Yukon which was supposed to be registered in May, go on a walk along the waterfront, and pick up Zach's pictures at Walmart. I did some shopping at Walmart, the last half with Noah crying. We had NOTHING planned in the evening. It was so nice. We had a leisurely dinner and the kids got to bed at a decent hour.

Thursday, June 4th: Cleaning day! I had 3 major goals to accomplish. Laundry, vacuuming, and cleaning the bathroom. I had laundry to put away this morning, but I accomplished all of my goals. :-) I even had time to push the kids on the swing and I brought the kids to church last night, so Zoe and Emily could attend Activity Days. They had an Asian Day with Sunshine. This was one of her last activities to be in charge of because she is now a counselor in the Young Women's Presidency. The girls and I had our first taste of Sushi. The girls had to eat some and then Sunshine told them what it was made of. Zoe insisted that I eat the Sushi, which I knew what it was, but had never tried it before, so I played along and ate a few bites and then she told me what I was eating. I didn't like it, but I hate wasting food, so I ate all of it. The other kids had fun playing in the gym with Kai and Koa. Zach was in a whiney mood and screeched every time one of the other kids played with "his" ball. Fun times! It WAS fun to see Noah walk. He tentavely put one foot in front of the other and just kept going. He did it twice. We had another late evening with Matt at his High Council meeting in Waterville. I put up a new piece of artwork after the kids went to bed. I stayed with the Asian theme and put up Emily's Chinese lettering.


Zach is now insisting he have a turn on the computer. He is internet deprived as well. A few random notes and then I will hand over the computer.

Here are the flowers that Emily and Eleanor made for me for Mother's Day.



Here is a picture of Eleanor and her doll, both in their pj's.


Noah is finally getting some top teeth. Noah laughs at us when we are funny, which is so cute! Kate says "Of course" when I ask her a question like "Do you want milk in your cereal?" Cute.