60 Years Young

Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor start school on September 2nd, so we are enjoying the remaining days of summer vacation. Here is an update...

Wednesday, August 19th: We went to the Teddy Bear Picnic at the library.

The kids listened to the books, except for Noah who wandered around.


The snack was given out to be brought home this year, instead of eating in the library, so we went down to the waterfront to eat our crackers. Eleanor wanted to walk to the fountain, so she could make a wish, so I grabbed some pennies and we walked to the fountain. It was way too hot for the walk, but there was little complaining, the wishes were made at the fountain, the crackers were eaten, and then we walked back to the car and cranked up the A/C.

Noah wanted to eat his crackers the minute he was given the box, so he was happy when I finally opened the crackers!

We came over to my parents' house, so I could update my blog...which took me about 3 hours with all of the interruptions! I visited with my family for about an hour before heading home. Zoe stayed at my parents' house to watch Harry Potter with Aly and Harleigh. My rule with Harry Potter has been that when the kids are old enough to read the books then they can watch the movies, so Zoe finished the first book and was very excited to see the movie. Emily was happy that Zoe finished the book, so she could start reading it.

I took Eleanor school shopping. Matt surprised the girls with gift cards to Old Navy, so that is where we went to first.

We ate dinner at Burger King and then headed over to GoodWill.

Our awesome GoodWill find was a navy blue fleece UMaine jacket for $1.99!

We picked up Zoe and then went home. I watched an episode of "Dirty Jobs" before going to bed.

Random Notes:
Noah blows bubbles with his spit.

Whenever Noah says Mama and I reply with Noah, he says Mama again and we repeat this over and over again, but when Noah says Mama and I say what, then he tells me something...which is so cute, but I have no clue what he is saying.

Whenever I change a diaper now I say "dirty job"! Kate replied today, "It's not a dirgy jog!" Oh, yes it is!

Thursday, August 20th: Emily, Eleanor, and Zach had swim lessons. Then we went home to clean up and eat lunch. I started to help the kids clean up, but I noticed that they were fooling around and I was doing the cleaning, so I told them that they were on their own and they couldn't leave their room until it was clean. They played, Emily's bathing suit that she was wearing got ripped (I bought the suit 2 years ago for Zoe, so we got our money's worth out of it), and they played some more. Eleanor and Zach finally got motivated to clean their room, but Zoe and Emily were still in play mode, so Eleanor and Zach cleaned up and Zoe and Emily moved on to dishes duty.

Zoe picked our 1st two cherry tomatoes. She ate one and saved the other tomato for Matt.

We picked up Aly and went to the pool. I woke Kate and Noah up when we got to the pool and then I found out the pool was closing because once again someone pooped in the pool. I wished I had found out before I woke the kids up. We went swimming at Craig's pond instead. Kate and I played a game in the water where I would dive into the water and then she would dive into the water. My kids have improved a lot this summer with their swimming. The kids always love looking for and catching frogs at Craig's pond. Kate chased a frog down the beach and loved every minute of it.

We came over to my parents' house for dinner. Mom and I played a game of Phase 10. Matt worked late, so I got the kids in bed when we got home and then I watched a few episodes of "Dirty Jobs".

Friday, August 21st: We went to swim lessons. One of the life guards (Emily) told me that I have very cute kids and she wants to take all of them home with her. Emily is fun and we hear that she'll be back at the pool next summer. :-)

My mom watched the younger kids in the afternoon while I took Zoe and Emily to Activity Days. I was able to work on my Sunday School lesson for a few hours while the girls updated their binders and wrote poems.

I picked up the younger kids and brought all the kids home for Matt to watch. They cleand up, ate dinner, and then watched, "Quest for Camelot". I got ready for a GIRLS' NIGHT OUT! My mom, Donna, Victoria, Harleigh, Barbara (Donna's friend from High School), and I went to Oriental Jade for dinner. When us girls get together, we laugh a lot and we just have so much fun together. Barbara left after dinner and the rest of us went to Walmart to kill time before going to a late movie. We got laughing and talking and found ourselves in the automotive department...which had us laughing even more! Somehow we managed to spend a lot of time in Walmart without spending a lot of money. We went to see "Julie & Julia", which we all liked.

Saturday, August 22nd: I dropped Zoe off at Hailey's house at 8am, so she could keep Hailey company while she got her hair colored. When I got home, Matt and I finished watching the remaining "Dirty Jobs" episodes. Emily, Eleanor, and I came over to my parents' house around 11:30am to decorate for my mom's surprise 60th birthday party. I thought for sure my kids would tell my mom about her party, but they did very well keeping it a secret. The balloons outside gave the party away, but my mom had no clue about the party until she saw them.

It was a small party, but it was perfect. A few of my mom's friends came over...Patti Riggs, Dodie Sullivan, and Mary Moore, and my mom's Uncle Terry and Aunt Gloria came over. We talked, ate munchies with hot dogs and hamburgers, sang Happy Birthday and ate cake, and mom opened her gifts. Look at this beautiful cake we got from Frank's bakery!




Sitting on the kids' table is Noah's new favorite spot. He fell off once, but was back up again awhile later.

The older girls had fun waitressing during the party. They were a huge help getting drinks and food and they had tons of fun doing it.

Everyone had left around 4pm, so we were relaxing and visiting when Tiffany, Ariel, Brittyn, Morgan, and Nathan Dauk stopped by around 4:30pm. Zoe and Eleanor were excited to see Morgan and Nathan! Donna, Doug, Victoria, Phil, Harleigh, and my dad had left to go bowling.

Matt left with the kids around 6pm to get them bathed and ready for bed. I stayed behind to clean up and watch "He's just not that into you" with Donna, my mom, Victoria, and Harleigh. We had to get one more girls only activity in. :-)

We said goodbye after the party. :-(

Sunday, August 23rd: Donna, Doug, Harleigh, Phil, and Aly flew home. Victoria is now living with my parents and starting her Freshman year at UMaine.

Our family went to church in Ellsworth. Kate stayed in the chapel all through Sacrament meeting! JoDee gave a great talk about staying in the present...I'm not so good at that, but I try. Sunday School went well. We went over D&C 136 verse by verse and only got to verse 8, but we had a great discussion on service, which is a great lead in to next week's lesson.

We went home after church to eat lunch and have Family council. Matt left for Priesthood meetings, so the kids and I hung out at home. I overheard Eleanor telling Kate "Pinky promise that you won't play with us" Eleanor wanted to play alone with Zach, but it didn't last long. Kate didn't stay away like she promised, if she ever promised. Zoe and Emily tried to have alone time by shutting their siblings out of the bedroom, but that didn't last long either. They all finally found an activity that they could all do together. They made telephones out of styrofoam cups and yarn.

Matt's parents called to tell us that Janae and Doug are having a boy! We are so excited for you Janae and Doug!

Matt told me about the accident at Thunder Hole. My reply was "been there done that". Donna and I were swept away into the ocean near Thunder hole when we were on a family vacation in Bar Harbor. We have pictures of Donna's scraped up legs, but I was sitting down on a rock when the wave came in and the scratches I had were on my behind, so no pictures of my injuries. I keep meaning to ask my parents for more details of what happened because all I remember is being carried out of the ocean and seeing an ambulance nearby. It happened quick and I believe we had a quick rescue, so we didn't go to the hospital and everything turned out to be fine...minor compared to Sunday's incident. I'm sorry we put my mother through our incident, though. I can imagine what my mother was thinking and feeling at the time, and yes mom, you were right, we WERE too close to the water.

When I told Matt about this experience, he wondered what his life would be like now if I had died that day. Who would he be married to...would he still be single? I joked that he would be married with no children...life is good. Well, he is stuck with me and our 6 kids...just the way I like it. :-)

Random Note: I need to write down the kids' primary teachers so I won't forget. Zoe's teacher is Anne Dalton. Emily and Eleanor are in the same class with Kristen Speranza. Zach's teacher is Liza Butler (Julia and Doug Axtell are teaching this summer when Liza is gone), and Kate's teacher is Martha Talbot. All great teachers!

Monday, August 24th: We went swimming at the pool in the afternoon. Noah tried to drown about 100 times, but he also learned how to blow bubbles in the water.

We went over to the Dauk's home in the evening for FHE/Home Teaching. I gave a lesson on prayer and then we ate dinner. We brought leftovers from my mom's party and Tiffany made blueberry and peach milkshakes. Eleanor and Nathan walked by us at one point holding hands. It was cute, but they separated when President Dauk made a comment to them. We went to the street dance at the Blue Hill park with Flash in the Pans playing (steel drums). Fun, fun, fun! As we were walking to the park after we had parked, Tiffany told us about the video she took in the car of Eleanor and Nathan planning their wedding. They are going to get married in the Boston temple because it is beautiful there and close. Eleanor wanted to have 3 or 4 kids, but Nathan said that would be too many to keep track of, so he suggested having 2. They settled on 3. I have got to see this video. How funny is that?! Eleanor was so much fun to watch as she danced. I held Kate and danced. She wouldn't crack a smile, but she didn't want me to stop dancing, so I knew she enjoyed the music. The whole scene was scary to her, though. Matt kept track of Noah who insisted on wandering and sitting on the wet pavement. We saw the Keatings there, which was fun.

Tuesday, August 25th: My mom's birthday...#60! The kids and I drove to my mom's work at lunch time to have a picnic with her.


I put a candle in a cupcake, but I couldn't get my lighter to work, so we sang Happy Birthday anyway and my mom pretended to blow out her candle. We ate cupcakes and cookies and then we went to see her new office before leaving.

We drove to the Alamoosook lake where we met up with Sunshine and her kids. Noah was unsure about the water at first because the water sounded and acted like the ocean water at Sand beach, but he warmed up to it.

It never takes the older kids long to get into the water.

The kids found a big rock to sit on and play on...a perfect spot for a group photo.


We got home in time to rinse off, get dressed, get something quick to eat, and head next door to meet the Daigle's new neighbors. Mary has 4 kids, so we now have 14 kids between our 3 houses. Crazy! Mary's 2 oldest daughters are the same age as Zoe and Emily, so they got to know each other a bit this evening and they look forward to getting together again soon. Eleanor found a salamander and wanted to keep it, but I told her she could put it in a box for the evening and then we would let it go. The salamader escaped before the evening was over. Mary's cat was around, so the kids had fun finding the cat and petting her. We are blessed to have such great neighbors!

Random Notes: Noah had his first fruit snack this morning. Matt brought in our 1st Zucchini from our garden.

I haven't been good about rotating artwork lately. Here is Emily's boot that she made out of cardboard.

The next one is a piece that Zoe made this summer.

Enjoying family

Wednesday, August 12th cont... I forgot to mention the 2 bald eagles we saw while at the pool. I could sit and watch hummingbirds and eagles for hours!

I read Twilight until 1am.

Random Note: The other day I went to grab the butter out of the fridge to put on Noah's toast, but I couldn't find it. I looked everywhere including the pantry, but I didn't find it. I knew the butter didn't just disappear (it was a big tub of butter and I knew it was only about a quarter gone), but where the heck did it go? Awhile later, Zoe looked in the freezer and there it was. Of course. I hadn't thought to look in the freezer.

Thursday, August 13th: Emily, Eleanor, and Zach had swim lessons. The moms at the pool are not anxious for school to start, but I am counting down. Zoe and Emily have been fighting a lot lately.

I was able to resist my book yesterday, but I read it throughout the day today. The kids watched "Thumbelina", we ate lunch, and then we went swimming at the pool with Aly. Kate fell asleep on her towel toward the end of free swim as she was drying off in the sun.

I have gone from giving out no strikes to skipping the strikes and handing out a chore when the fighting begins...usually between Zoe and Emily. Matt finds it funny that I went from one extreme to the other.

We ate dinner, watched an episode of "Dirty Jobs" with the kids, I worked on my Sunday School lesson, and then I read Twilight until I finished it. I got to bed around midnight...a bit earlier than the previous few nights!

Friday, August 14th: Matt, Zach, and Zoe were up around 3am to go fishing with Don on his boat.

Emily and Eleanor went to their swimming lessons. We saw Mrs. Lalonde (Zoe's 3rd and 4th grade teacher) at the pool, so I got to talk with her for a few minutes. It was a bummer that Zoe wasn't there.

After lessons, we went home to clean up and pack up, we made a quick stop at the grocery store, and then we came over to my parent's house to eat lunch. We went to the pool in the afternoon with Aly and Phil. About 45 minutes before the pool closed, one of the lifeguards noticed something suspicious in the deep end and blew the whistle for everyone to get out. Sure enough, there was poop in the pool, so we left. We came back to my parent's house. I had been reading different parts of Twilight throughout the day, so I was officially done with the book when my dad took it to read it. My mom watched the kids in the evening, so Matt and I could eat dinner at Pizzeria Uno and then we went over to Target. We ate at our favorite table, so that was fun. We picked up Kate and Noah and the older 4 stayed at my parents' for the night. When I went to put Noah in his crib, he caught on to what I was doing and he quickly put his head on my shoulder to cuddle. It was so sweet. We cuddled for awhile and then when he picked his head up, I put him in his crib. He tried to put his head down on my shoulder again when I started to lift him up to put him in the crib, but I laid him down anyway. I did enjoy the cuddles I got since he is usually too busy during the day to stop and cuddle.

Saturday, August 15th: I went to the temple and Matt spent the day with the kids. We had a stake Relief Society temple trip. I rode down with Tiffany and Marilyn. Patti also drove her car with Lucvee, Naomi, and Linda. We met in the cafeteria to listen to Sister Hutchins. She gave a great talk about remembering who we are. She referred to D&C 25, which is a revelation to Emma Smith. Tiffany, Marilyn, Linda, and I then ate lunch and then we went to the 12:00 session. Tiffany and I were able to sit and talk for awhile, which was nice. We left the temple around 3pm. We had fun trying to find a gas station on the way home, but we finally found one before running out of gas. We got back around 7:45pm, which was earlier than expected, so I went to McDonald's for dinner. I didn't want to arrive home as Matt was putting the kids to bed because that just causes chaos. I wanted them to be in bed and asleep, which they were, except for Zoe, when I got home around 8:45pm. Zoe read Harry Potter for awhile and then she went to sleep.

My sister ~ Donna, Donna's husband ~ Doug, Donna's daughter ~ Victoria, and Doug's daughter ~ Harley arrived at my parents' house today!

Sunday, August 16th: We all went to church in Ellsworth. It is so nice when Matt keeps Noah through Priesthood/Relief Society. I found out that Patti's car (the car I was planning on riding in to the temple) didn't get back until midnight because they had to go back to the temple after leaving the temple and driving for an hour to look for a wallet. Yikes! After church, we went home to have yummy Terriyaki chicken and to relax. Zoe and Emily each worked on different Faith in God goals. Emily finished her education jar and Zoe is finishing a craft project that she has had for a few years now.

Monday, August 17th: Emily made up a swim lesson that she missed when she had swimmer's ear. My parents, Donna, Doug, Victoria, Phil, Aly, and Harley met us at the pool to start our adventure to Acadia National Park. Noah warmed up to Doug and Donna very quickly.


We stopped at Thompson's Island first for a picnic. The kids enjoyed feeding the seagulls...even though we repeatedly told them not to. Noah enjoyed chasing the seagulls.


We drove up Cadillac Mountain. Beautiful, beautiful views!


Zach was climbing out of a small hole when he slipped and scraped his cheek. Minor damage, but I put one of the cold water bottles on his cheek until I could give him a piece of ice at the car. The sun was bothering Zach's eyes, so he was pleased when Doug let him wear his sunglasses for a picture.

We went to Sand beach. The water was freezing, but Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor didn't care, they went right in. Kate and Zach were not impressed with the waves, noise, and cold water at first, but they warmed up to it all and enjoyed wading in the water. Noah didn't want anything to do with the water and he was very content playing in the dry sand.








We could have easily stayed at Sand beach all day, but we only stayed for an hour and 15 minutes. It was time for the kids and I to head home for FHE. The rest of my family went on to Thunder Hole. We didn't get home until 6pm and then the kids needed quick baths, then we ate dinner, and started FHE around 7pm...when usually we are getting the kids in bed. So we had a quick FHE and then sent everyone to bed. My new thing is to clean the bathroom when everyone is in bed, so I cleaned the bathroom and did a load of laundry. I need a laundry day soon.

Tuesday, August 18th: Emily and Zach both made up a swim lesson. Zach missed Friday's lesson when he went fishing. We went to Nathan Dauk's birthday party at the Blue Hill park. We went swimming first. It was in the 90's, so the water felt so good! Eleanor got upset when Tiffany told her she would have to ask me if she could jump off the big rock with the bigger kids. Eleanor came around the rock crying and yelling, "I can swim!". I had Zoe keep an eye on Noah and Kate and I went with Eleanor and Zach to check out the spot she wanted to jump from. I got into the water and let her jump into the water beside me and then Zach jumped. I'm glad it worked out that Eleanor could jump because she would have cried about it for a long time. When Eleanor was walking along the rock to the beach, she screamed and was freaked out about a live crab she saw. That prompted a crab search along a different part of the beach. Then we ate lunch and sang Happy Birthday to Nathan and then he opened his presents. Noah loved the chips I let him eat. He is always trying to get his hands on chips, so he was in heaven when I gave him some. Most of the kids went to play on the playground after the party, but I took Noah and Kate down to the water for a dip. Noah was covered in jelly. We left after the kids played on the playground for awhile. We came over to my parents' house to visit with everyone. We sat outside for awhile and Noah and Kate enjoyed playing ball with us. It cracked us up when Doug gently bopped Noah on the head with the ball and then Noah bopped himself on the head with the ball. We also laughed when Noah begged for water by opening his mouth, waiting for a drink. Kate was funny when mom kept asking her questions and Kate kept shaking her head yes. Kate agreed to get Matt's checkbook and car and enjoy a night out on the town...and other things. She was so cute! The only time she shook her head no and said no was when mom asked if she wanted Zach to go to preschool. Eleanor told me yesterday that she wants to go to daycare. If she asks me on a bad day, she just may get her wish! Not really. Zach's new thing is to hit Noah on the back with his fist. Fun! We got home late last night again, so the kids made it to bed around 9pm.

Hooked

Thursday, August 6th: Matt and I watched "Seven Pounds". It took me half the movie to figure out what was going on, but it was good. I want to see the movie again since now I know what is going on.

Friday, August 7th: Eleanor and Zach had swim lessons and then we headed to Blue Hill. Zoe spent the night with Morgan the evening before and then Morgan's Mom dropped them off at Dodie's house for Activity Days this morning. Emily missed most of the activity since she was still feeling pretty miserable from her sore ear. When we got to Dodie's house, they were busy making blueberry muffins and blueberry bread from the blueberries they picked that morning, and they also made fresh squeezed orange juice. Zoe said I better like the juice since she worked hard making it. We both thought it was okay. I enjoyed the fresh blueberries on my plate until I discovered an inch worm on one of them. I was thankful I saw it because how gross would that be to eat it!
We came over to my parents' house after the activity. Zach was drawing pictures when he asked me to draw him a circle. I made the circle, which turned out to be more of an oval and Zach said, "I think you made a mistake." I made another circle, which he approved of. Noah fell down the stairs a couple of times today. He didn't fall though the second time, Kate pushed him. I suspected she did when I saw her at the top of the stairs and Noah was crying at the bottom of the stairs, and I knew she did when later she proudly announced, "I pushed Noah down the stairs!" Noah was unhappy, but fine.
My dad and I made pizza for dinner and then my parents, Phil, Aly, Zoe, Emily, and I played a shortened game of Phase 10. We all advanced to the next phase throughout the game and the winner would be the one with the lowest points. The funny moment of the evening was when Noah came into the kitchen holding his wet diaper in his hand. At first I thought it was Kate's diaper because the tabs keep breaking on her diapers, but her diaper was still on when I checked her, so then I checked Noah and felt his bare bottom under his overalls. It's funny to think that his diaper came off with his overall shorts still on. I bought a package of LUVS diapers and I will never buy that brand again. I don't know if I got a bad batch of diapers or what, but the tabs keep breaking. Not good! The game didn't go as quick as expected. We made it through 7 phases (there are 10 in all) and then it was time to pack up the little ones and head home. Zoe and Emily stayed the night with my parents.
Matt and Don went to the boat show in Rockland and will be back tomorrow night.

Saturday, August 8th: I spent the morning doing laundry and working on my Sunday School lesson. Fort Knox had a pirate day, so my parents, Zoe, Emily, Aly, and Phil went there. A pirate ship was supposed to come in Saturday morning, but when they went to see it come in Saturday morning, it was already here. It mistakenly came in Friday night. The ship was there to see and the pirates were around harrassing the crowd. :-) In the afternoon, I took Zoe and Emily to Brad and Tanja's wedding celebration (they're getting married on the 15th in the Logan temple) while my parents watched the rest of the kids. Eleanor was going to go with me until she realized that she could stay with my parents. I had fun talking with the Boudreaus, Mere Donavan, the Daltons, the Bairds, the Brehms, Julia, and Sunshine. Zoe was expecting Morgan's family to be there, but they didn't make it (while we were there at least), so they were a bit bored.
Matt was home when we all got home around 8pm. :-) He gave the kids their baths and we sent them to bed around 9pm. I finished preparing my lesson.

Sunday, August 9th: Zoe threw up on the bedroom floor around 1am. I'm glad she was sleeping by the door because the thought of her throwing up on one of her siblings is disgusting. I cleaned up her mess and went back to bed. I was wide awake and listened to Matt sleep beside me. I finally fell asleep an hour or so later. In the morning, Matt left for Machias and I started getting ready for church, although I had a feeling we would be staying home. Sure enough, Zoe was still feeling sick when she woke up, so we stayed home. Patti taught my lesson. I am grateful for people who will teach on short notice. My mom was supposed to give a talk during Sacrament meeting, so she sat on the stand, but when the speakers were announced, her name wasn't one of them. What? That would not have sat well with me. When she told me this, I felt bad because she had worked on her talk while watching my kids the day before. I know it was a rough afternoon for her and then to go through the morning thinking she was going to give a talk and then sit on the stand and be totally forgotten and ignored...not good! But being the wonderful, forgiving person that she is, she forgave the mistake and has agreed to talk on the 30th. She is a great example.
We were planning on going over to my parents' house after church for dinner, so my mom brought over one of two pot roasts and some brownies. Yummy! We were grateful for the dinner. She also brought home my diaper bag, which I had left at church the Sunday before. Yay, I have my camera back!
I had the kids act out our scriptures this evening. I have been thinking about doing it for awhile and I finally acted on the thought. The kids are a bit wild during scripture study, so I am trying to make it a bit more interesting. Zach loved being Nephi. Zoe was in a mood, so it was a bit of an ordeal picking her part. They acted out the story of the murder of the chief judge in the Book of Mormon. They were still a bit wild, but at least they were paying attention to the story.

I have house fever. I am determined to get a house frame up in the near future.

Matt came back from his weekend getaway motivated to work and be productive.

Emily is feeling much better. Only a few more days of medicine.

Remember when I was losing weight? Well, I was half a pound away from my goal weight when I started to lose interest in losing weight. I am motivated again, although I am not weighing myself, I am going on how I feel and look, and I am counting points when I am eating alone or just with the kids and eating less when I have meals with the family and others. So far, so good.

Monday, August 10th: The kids and I went to Walmart to pick up Noah's pictures. We did some shopping and headed home. On the way home, I heard Emily say this as the girls were playing Barbies in the car..."I wish the prophet was the President (of the United States)...then he would do good things for everyone...because he would do what the Lord wants him to do." I loved it! She gets it.

We went to Craig Pond for about an hour in the afternoon. We went home for dinner and FHE.

I had 3 goals for the evening. Work on my Sunday School lesson, watch "Grace is gone", and start reading "Twilight". I did all 3. We have Netflix again for the month. Our account has been on hold, but the reactivation date came without realizing it on August 6th and so we have Netflix for the month. Matt brought home "Twilight" last Saturday, but I hadn't started it yet because I was finishing Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" and I am always busy preparing lessons. I read my chapter and knew that I was beginning a great book.

Eleanor finally lost her 1st tooth this evening! She has been waiting so long!


Tuesday, August 12th: I spent the morning doing laundry and puttering around. The kids played and watched a movie. After lunch and more clean up, we headed to the children's museum. We stayed for about an hour and a half. Zoe and Emily made perfume and when Eleanor saw their perfume bottles then she wanted to make one, too, so I had Zoe take Eleanor into the room to make one. Zoe and Emily also made paper while the other kids played with the boats. The museum is always a fun place to be! We left the museum and stopped at my parents' house to see if Aly wanted to go to the park with us. She did, so we went. Terri and Molly were there (Don's wife and daughter), so I got to talk with Terri for awhile. It rained on us a little, but it was still fun. We went back to my parents' house to eat dinner and then I brought Zoe, Aly, Phil, Zach, and Kate to the evening swim, while Emily, Eleanor, and Noah stayed with my mom.

Matt worked late. I read more of "Twilight" after the kids went to bed. I figured I would read until Matt got home. Matt came home around midnight and he read a little, so I kept reading. The book is so good! He was ready for sleep, but I was still wide awake and turning the pages. I finally finished a chapter and made myself put the book down at 1:07am.

Matt got paid today. :-)

Today: I have been resisting the urge to stick my nose in my book and ignore my kids. We went to storytime and I reserved "New Moon", the next book in the Twilight series. I am so happy I am reading this series when all the books are written...they ARE all written, right? We went home to eat lunch, and I went through some clothes with Zoe that we had received awhile ago. We went swimming at the pool...Emily's first day swimming since going to see the doctor. :-) She did try swimming without getting her head wet at the lake on Monday, but I saw her dip her ear in the water, so I made her get out. After swimming, we went home to clean up and we ate dinner when Matt got home. After dinner, Emily and I left for a one on one date, which we are still on. We each got an ice cream at the DairyPort and we walked the entire length of the waterfront. I told Matt that we were going to sit on a bench along the waterfront and read, ha ha, which Emily was fine with, but I was really only kidding...sort of. Here is Emily with her ice cream and Don's boat in the background.

This is the new fountain and waterwheel that are near the walkway.

We saw Marilyn Conary with her 2 granddaughters along our walk. We also saw this beautiful sunset as we were walking back. As Emily said, it looks like the heavens are opening up.

I thought this was a nice spot for a picture. It is so nice to have my camera back!


I debated whether to come blog or not and I decided I better do it since it is on my mind and I haven't written in awhile. Emily is enjoying the tv with Aly. It is way past her bedtime!

Matt paid off the Yukon today!

Matt bought our house plans today!...We have no set date to start building, but it's nice to take a step closer to building. :-)

Matt's parents are coming to visit us in September! We are so excited!

I am off to read.

Just call me crazy

Let me first say that I am writing this post with Zach beside me anxiously waiting for the computer. This is a good reminder of why I come over to my parents' house after the kids are in bed!

Tuesday, August 4th: We went to the pool and enjoyed another hot, summer afternoon. Love it! My dad brought Aly and Phil over to the pool, so that was a fun surprise. Aly stayed over at our house for the night, but before going home, we went to the Dollar Tree. Me and 7 children...and my reply to several curious people was "all but one are mine". Each child (except Noah) was able to pick out one thing to buy. Yes, I am beginning to think I am crazy, too. It takes a long time for 6 children to decide what they want to buy in a big store where they can buy ANYTHING they want...almost anything anyway. They were very good about only picking out one thing, though. They would put what they had found down when they found something better, over and over again. I went through this craziness so we could also pick up a birthday gift for Zoe's friend, Morgan. Matt was having fun fishing with Robert Baird, so I was on my own. We made it home after a quick stop at the grocery store and I fed the kids pancakes for dinner. The kids made their beds in the living room and then they watched "Benji, Off the Leash". I put Noah in his crib, so the kids could eat their treats in peace and I could relax and read in my room. That last part didn't work out so well with Zach and Kate staying awake through the movie and venturing into my room repeatedly, but they did finally fall asleep during the second movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". I went to sleep, too. I was exhausted!

Sidenote: Zach is now on the porch watching a movie. I'm glad he's not whining at me anymore. :-)

Wednesday, August 5th: A day the older kids had been waiting for...we went to the Bangor State Fair! Zoe: "This is the BEST day of the summer!" Well, before we made it to the fair, we took a trip to Castine Community Health Services, so Emily could have her ear looked at. The Bucksport office couldn't see her until Friday, but if I was willing to travel to Castine (about 40 minutes away), which I was if they had a morning appointment, then she could be seen today. Emily had been complaining of an earache on and off for about a week, but she woke up in tears this morning and she could barely open her mouth to eat. She has Swimmer's Ear, so she can't go swimming again until next Wednesday and she gets ear drops once a day until next Wednesday. Bummer! There was no way we were keeping Emily away from the fair, but she looked and I'm sure felt miserable the entire time. Matt stayed home with Kate and Noah, so Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, Zach, Aly, Phil, my parents, and I went to the fair. The older kids spent most of the 7 hours we were there riding rides. The Tilt-a-Whirl, Polar Express, Swings, and Sea Dragon were favorites. Zoe is afraid of heights, but she went on the Gondola Wheel and then she got up the courage to go on Freak Out with me. Aly was for it until we started to move up in the line and then she got out of the line. Zoe had second thoughts, too, but I told her that we would stay at the fair longer if she went on with me. I didn't "freak out" until we were going high on the ride. I had fun, but the thought going through my mind while on the ride was "this would be an awful way to die if the ride breaks!" Zoe did very well considering she was a bit scared to begin with. She wanted to go on the ride again later on, but having the experience once was enough for me.
Eleanor and Zach enjoyed the dragon ride, the fun houses, the bounce house, and the merry-go-round, and Eleanor went on the swings and loved it! We enjoyed the tiger show and the motorcycle show, although the motorcycle show was the same one we saw at the circus.

Zach update...Zach just asked me, "Why are you taking so long?"

Eleanor and Zach had swim lessons this morning. Emily couldn't do her class. :-( Emily is still feeling miserable today. She is drinking liquids because it hurts too much to eat. So sad! We dropped Zoe off at the Blue Hill park for Morgan's birthday party and she is spending the night at Morgan'a house. We are hanging out at my parents' house for a few hours, so Emily can be a bit less miserable in front of the tv...and I can play on the computer...and pick up Noah's messes that he keeps making!

Random Notes: On the ride back from Castine yesterday, I thought of my 2 favorite moral voices...Dr. Laura and Glenn Beck and decided that they can never die...or retire for that matter.

Eleanor had a chance to participate in cheering camp this week, but she doesn't like to camp, so she refused to do it. Telling her it was cheering camp was a mistake. I told her it would be just like her cheering class, but she still refused. Matt told her it would be like a cheering school, but she still refused to go. Okay...saves me time and money.

We have eaten 2 tomatoes from our garden. :-) I tolerated one bite, so I could say that I have eaten from our garden. I don't mind tomatoes on a sandwich or in a salad, but I don't like plain tomatoes.

Noah lets me know when he is done eating now by saying, "All done". He also has a disgusted facial expression. So cute!

I think Summer has finally arrived!

Thursday, July 30th: I finally went to visit teach Tasha. She lives on Deer Isle, which is about 45 minutes away from me and usually I don't have enough gas in my vehicle to go see her or our schedules don't match, but the kids and I met her and her 3 kids at her mom's house (Marilyn Conary) in Brooklin. We had a very nice visit and the kids had a great time playing together. The girls found some Barbies that were tucked away, which they loved playing with and the boys played with a big firetruck and other boy toys. Zoe picked some raspberries and then Tasha picked some more for us to take home. Yummy!
After our visit, we went to Walmart to take advantage of the sale on school supplies, backpacks, and sneakers. Our school shopping has officially begun! I think $9 backpacks are a great deal! Zoe didn't find a backpack or sneakers that she liked. She's holding out for an L.L. Bean backpack...we'll see.
After shopping, we went home and ate lunch. Then we headed to Craig Pond to swim. This was our first beach/swimming adventure for the summer. I'm a pool girl. I'd much rather go to the pool, but I was out voted, so we went to the "lake". The kids had a great time swimming and catching frogs.
I think I crammed too much into one day for myself because by night time, I was yelling at the kids for not cleaning up. After much yelling, I had them sit around the table so we could talk...I talked, they listened. Well, they did get some talking in because I learned that they do what Matt tells them to because he gives them the strikes that we instituted way back. So, I am not slacking anymore and I am giving out the strikes, too. When I told them that I was going to give them strikes, Zoe told me that I could go back to yelling instead, but I'm opting for strikes. I don't feel like crap after giving a strike like I do after I yell.

At some point in this day, we were talking about the age difference between Matt and I, which is 10 years. Emily thought I was older than Matt because it says "Mom-60!" on our calendar. Zoe and I laughed and we explained to her that Grammie is turning 60, not me. I know I have a lot of gray hair, but I don't think I look 60!

Friday, July 31st: The kids were still not in a cleaning mood this morning, but I was determined that things would get picked up and Zoe and Emily would get completely unpacked before we did anything for the day. That happened around noon time. We left the house around 1:00 to stop at the grocery store and then head to my parents' house to eat lunch. By the time we left my parents' house to go to the pool, we had about an hour to swim. Aly came swimming with us and she came home with us after swimming to spend the night. My mom babysat the kids after work, so Matt and I could go out. We killed some time at the dollar tree (I had never been to this all for $1 store and wanted to look around...without any children. This will be our new spot for the kids to pick out their sibling gifts in December, although I'm sure it will take FOREVER for them to make a decision of what to buy.) Matt and I then went to see "The Proposal" which was very good. Go see it if you haven't seen it yet. Even Matt liked it a lot.

Saturday, August 1st: We had a family day at Craig Pond. It was quite delightful.
We went home to eat dinner and then Matt, Zoe, Emily, and I started a fast together. I am not pregnant or nursing any more, so I can fast again! Zoe and Emily had attempted to fast every month when they each turned 8, but they skip breakfast and then eat when we get home from church. I never pushed the fasting because I wasn't fasting myself. It was nice to fast together and support each other. Our dinner Sunday night was super delicious and we were so proud of Zoe and Emily for sticking with the fast with us. :-)

Sunday, August 2nd: We went to church and then went home. My mom came over in the afternoon to watch the kids, so Matt and I could go visit the Johnsons.

Monday, August 3rd: We spent a few hours at the pool this afternoon. The past few weeks have felt like summer with the sun shining and the weather has been in the 80's. :-) We had a nice FHE. It ended with a shortened version of Yahtzee and yummy donuts.