Feeling Alive again!

Wednesday, September 23rd: It was nice to only have 2 days to blog about when I wrote my post today. Zach liked it, too since he got some computer time before we went home.

Zach is never too excited to go to storytime, but he informed me today after storytime that he actually does like going because he likes bringing books home from the library.

I took Zoe and Emily to soccer practice this evening. I didn't see much of the practice since I was busy reading "New Moon". It was so nice to have an hour and a half to read without interruption!

Thursday, September 24th: I had a zucchini baking day. I made bread and a casserole. I also did as much reading as I could. I still felt blah and more sick today. So sick by the evening that I decided to never take another one of the pills that I have been taking again!

Matt and Zach left this afternoon to go camping with Jason, Kai, and Koa. Zach has been so anxious to go camping all week, so he was very excited when it was finally time to leave. I sent them on their way with some zucchini bread.

I pushed Kate and Noah on the swings and read my book. Noah fell asleep, but he wasn't comfortable, so he didn't sleep for long. Kate got irritated with my nose in my book while we were outside and she said to me, "Say The End!" and then she pretended that she was holding a book and closing it. It was so cute! I didn't listen to her, though. She climbed the ladder to the slide for the first time today! She was too scared to go down the slide by herself, though, so I held her hand while she went down the slide.

I didn't enjoy the yummy dinner I made, but Zoe really enjoyed it and loved the casserole I made. Zoe is my one child who appreciates a good, home cooked meal. Noah liked it, too.

The Elders stopped by, so the kids and I talked with them on the porch. I sent them home with leftovers and zucchini bread.

The kids watched the Hannah Montana movie. I sat down and watched most of it and it was actually better than I expected.

My toothbrush is nowhere to be found. I'm sure Noah put it somewhere, but I don't know where!

Friday, September 25th: Bella is feeling alive again and I am, too! Life is good. :-)

I finished reading "New Moon". I read the last few chapters over again because I wasn't ready to part with it yet.

Kate played on the computer for the first time today. We have a toddler game that is easy for her to play and she loved it! It was nice that she had the computer all to herself since Zach was still camping.

Matt and Zach arrived home around 3:30pm. They had a fun time and Matt caught his first trout in Maine!...this was a huge deal since he mentioned it over and over again throughout the evening.


We had a fun activity at church this evening. We had a chilli dinner, then we line danced, which was super fun!, and then we ate dessert. Fun, fun evening!

While driving home from the activity, Matt noticed that the Yukon was very close to not having any breaks, so we had a long ride home taking it slow on back roads to avoid traffic. The dark, non-familiar roads were freaking the kids out, but we assured them that we knew where we were.

Today: Having only one car now put a damper on Matt's plans to go help President Dauk cut wood. Matt stayed home while I brought Eleanor, Zoe, and Emily to soccer. Zoe and Emily's team won today!
Here's Eleanor during her practice...

Here is another shot of Eleanor kicking the ball...

Here is a picture of Zoe during her game. She ALMOST scored 4 times!

I took this picture of Emily, but it's not a good one. She looks like she is chasing the girl on the white team.


We waved goodbye to the Yukon as it was towed away. Matt and I are a bit concerned that the owner of Outback towing knows exactly who we are and where we live and which vehicles we have. It is true that we cannot keep 2 vehicles running at the same time for long!

I found my toothbrush in the kids' room today!

Just as I was getting into a good groove of blogging frequently, I now have no idea when I will blog again. Bummer!

I am off to watch "Twilight" with my parents and then my mom and I will watch the Relief Society Broadcast.

Did I mention that I am feeling great now? Hope you're having a great weekend!

Blah

That's how I feel. Blah. I'm on a new birth control pill that is making my body think it is pregnant, which is making me feel blah. I don't want to feel pregnant when I'm not pregnant. Am I going to feel this way for as long as I take these pills or am I going to feel blah for 3 months or so and then feel good again? That is the question. I don't feel sick to my stomach, but I feel depressed and food doesn't sound good when I'm not eating. I just feel blah.

Now add the fact that I'm reading "New Moon" and it is depressing and you get the picture of the mood I am in!

Monday, September 21st: During our FHE lesson, Kate and Noah decided to decorate Noah with BoxTop tabs that were taped onto a piece of paper. They were being quiet at least.


Matt and I finished the final 2 episodes of "Colonial House". It was fun to watch, but we both agreed that we would have had a hard time getting along with several of the couples that were in the colony.

Zoe and Emily were looking out for each other this afternoon and evening. Zoe had a rough afternoon and she "lost her temper" (this was Emily's compassionate description of Zoe's behavior) and made several messes in the living room and kitchen, so I told Zoe that she would be cleaning up the living room and the kitchen. Emily started to clean up a mess in the kitchen for Zoe and I let her. Soon after, Zoe started to help clean up and her mood changed for the better. Then Zoe and Emily worked on another mess in the living room together. Later on after dinner and after the kids were ready for bed, I told Emily and Eleanor that they each needed to get a wipe to clean the kitchen floor. Zoe was getting ready to wash the dishes, which was a consequence for her earlier behavior and she launched into a defensive response that Emily didn't do anything to earn a chore, which was sweet that she was standing up for Emily. I explained that the chore was not a consequence, but rather just a chore to help get the house cleaned up.

Tuesday, September 22nd: Zach, Kate, Noah, and I went to playgroup. We were there with Andrea and Terri and their kids. Zach loved playing with the Geo-Trak train set that Andrea brought.

Kate was cracking me up this afternoon by crossing her eyes.

There is a boy in Eleanor's class named Carter and Eleanor thinks he is cute. I asked her if Carter has tried to hold her hand since she was talking about sitting by him during library time, but she said no that they only play together. I told Matt about Carter in the evening, so Matt started asking Eleanor questions and then told her that she shouldn't talk to boys to which Eleanor replied, "I can too, I talk to you!"

I started to make pizza for dinner and Zoe wanted to help roll out the dough, but we couldn't find the roller. I then realized that I had left it at my parents' house when I made pizza there awhile ago. So we loaded up in the car and went to get the roller. If you don't have a Pampered Chef Baker's Roller, you need one! Put it on your Christmas list. We ended up having a later dinner, but I couldn't make pizza without my roller!

Have I mentioned the fact that Kate always wants to go pee on her potty when I am eating? She doesn't mention it often, but when she does, it is ALWAYS when I am eating.

Today:

Noah took a piece a paper off from a rock that I used for Sunday school and stuck it on his head. He is advertising IDLENESS.

Zach wanted me to take a picture of him, too, so he is advertising DEBT.

My hope is to blog more often!

I was going to end my last post with the morning we had, but I ran out of time. I rushed home after blogging to be there when the girls got off the bus. As I was driving home, I realized that I left my wipes at my parents' house, but they weren't worth going back for since I have more wipes at our house, but then further down the road I realized that I had left at my parents' house the milk that I had bought before arriving at my parents' house, so after the girls got home, we piled in the car again to come get the milk. Zoe said it would take an hour, she was not looking forward to the ride after getting off the bus. I said it would take 20 minutes. It took 26 minutes. I let Zach throw away the tissue paper after getting a cookie at the grocery store, which made him very happy. I brought home a caterpillar for Eleanor from my parents' house, which made her happy.

Our Thursday, September 17th started earlier than expected. The alarm went off at 5:30am, so I got up and took a shower and Matt got up to exercise. After getting ready for the day, I went into the kitchen to get ready to fix the girls their breakfast. I looked at all 3 clocks that we have in the kitchen and each one said it was only 5:06am. I told Matt it was only 5am and we both started laughing. I went back into our bedroom to check our clock and it had been set an hour later than it really was. I blamed Matt who set the clock the night before, and Matt said that Noah was part to blame because he unplugged the clock the day before. Matt had already woken the girls up to get ready for school, so we all sat around for 50 minutes talking, which was really nice. Matt said we should always get up that early to talk and hang out and the girls actually agreed. Eleanor made a sign and put it on the fridge to remind us to wake them up at 5am. I have no desire to get up at 4:30am everyday.

I did more laundry and organizing of clothes today. I am almost done with the clothes. Yay!

Matt had Stake Leadership Training this evening. During our morning discussion, Matt was telling me that he was going to give out some handouts and brainstorm during his class, but Zoe informed him that that would be too boring and that he should have someone be a missionary and role play. That would be much more exciting!

I watched "Mulan 2" with the kids in the evening. We all enjoyed it. I didn't enjoy Noah and Kate crawling all over me during the movie and whining and crying, but I did get to watch all of the movie.

After the kids were in bed, I read our local paper and enjoyed the peace and quiet. :-)

Friday, September 18th: Matt took the day off from work. He took Zach fishing. Zach got to paddle and he caught a fish all by himself!


I had a productive morning and I finished organizing the clothes...and then I remembered some clothes that are in the car, but I finished putting away the clothes that were in the house! Kate has so many cute clothes to wear, as usual. :-)

After Matt got home, I took Kate and we stopped at the bank and then we went to Walmart, so I could fill a prescription. The lady said it would be 30 minutes, so Kate and I browsed around the store and killed a half hour. We went back to the pharmacy and were told that it would be another 20 minutes. Not what I wanted to hear, but we browsed for 20 more minutes and then we finally left the store. Kate was really good, especially when we went down the toy aisle (which I avoided as long as I could) and kept telling her that we were only looking and I wasn't buying anything.

It was a little after 4pm when I got home, so I went right to work making dinner. The kids watched "Mulan 2" again and Noah fell asleep while Matt was in charge of keeping him out of the kitchen.

We ate a late dinner, got the kids in bed, I did some things to get ready for my temple trip, and then Matt and I watched "Colonial House".

I collected 5 rocks today for my Sunday School lesson, but 2 are now missing.

Saturday, September 19th: Getting up early this past week, made it a bit easier to get up at 5am this morning to get ready to go to the temple. Kate woke up right after I did, so I gave her some chocolate milk and put in a Diego movie for her. Zach woke up a little while later, so I gave him some chocolate milk and he sat down to watch the movie. Before I left at 6:15am, Zach and Kate were fighting, so Matt got up. Kate cried when I left, which made it hard to leave, but I did and Matt said she stopped crying right after I left. Little stinker. I met Patti and Martha at Hannaford and then we headed to the temple. It was a fun and uplifting day. I did some duplicate work, which was a bummer, but it still was a good day at the temple.
Homeschooling was on my mind today.
I enjoyed the brownie sundae I had at Dairy Queen. So yummy!

Eleanor had her first soccer practice today. Matt told me about her meltdown before they left because she didn't have a good soccer outfit to wear to practice. Matt picked out an outfit and told her she had 5 minutes to change or she wasn't going to practice. She changed during the last few remaining seconds left and was happy and said she was going to wear that outfit to every soccer practice. I'm glad she made it to practice.

Zoe and Emily lost their soccer game again, but they played well. Matt will pay $1 for each goal they score, but so far he hasn't had to dish out any money...and it has been that way for the past 2 years.

Sunday, September 20th: Matt, Emily, Eleanor, and Zach went to Waterville with my mom for their unit conference. Emily came home with 5 strikes and Matt looked tired.

I didn't make it through much of Sacrament meeting before going into the foyer with Noah, Kate, and Zoe. The younger ones were a bit wild, but I didn't have much energy to get them to be reverent, so I ignored them.

We talked about debt during part of Sunday School. I was so impressed with Brother Beveridge saying that he and his wife have never used a credit card and have always lived within their means. What great examples! I was telling Zoe about them after church during some one on one time we had before Matt got home and Noah and Kate were asleep and she was just as impressed with them. She pointed to our list of debts on our fridge and said, "You mean they don't have any of that?!" We both agreed that would be very nice and we both want to be like them. Zoe also said though that she would marry a man who used credit cards if she loved him...which was after I explained that she needed to find a husband who didn't want to be in debt as well.

We spent the afternoon and evening at home. We worked on Faith in God, had Family Council, and the kids played in their room.

Noah is trying to say cracker.

It is early to bed, just like last Sunday...8:30pm!

Today This morning, Zach and Kate helped me make chocolate chip cookies for FHE. It has been a long time since we have baked together. We read a story about Cookie Monster after we made the cookies, which was fun to go along with our cookie theme.

I am blogging, the kids are messing up the house!

Friday, September 11th: After my mom and I moved many boxes from the attic to reorganize and go through for Fall clothes, my mom found the shin guards! :-) Zoe also found a Halloween costume to wear this year. Yay!

I had the kids get ready for bed at my parents' house, so then when we got home, they could just get in bed since I knew most of them would fall asleep on the way home. I love it when I'm prepared like that.

I feel like I am being blessed with more patience lately than I normally would have. I am grateful!

Saturday, September 12th: Zoe and Emily had their first soccer game of the season and it was Emily's first game. Their team lost, but the team played a great game and they have improved a lot from last year. Zoe is now one of the older girls and is one of the better players, but Emily played most of the game as well. It's going to be fun watching them play together this season. Eleanor had several friends to play with at the game and the other kids played with soccer balls and had fun running around. My mom and Victoria showed up for the second half of the game.

We came over to my parent's house after the game, so I could go through the clothes that we had brought down from the attic. I've been organizing by seasons, but it never stays organized, so now each child has a box or boxes with clothes that they will grow into or will fit them the next season. Then when I receive clothes that are too big or are out of season for a certain child, I can just put the clothes in that child's box. I have high hopes of it being a success and staying organized. Something is not truly organized until it stays organized over time.

When my kids are at my parents' house, they eat constantly...and it drives me nuts!

Zoe has been practicing making a sound on her flute and she is getting better everyday.

Eleanor brought home a pet caterpillar from my parents' house. It lives in a container on the porch.

Matt is home from his adventure with Don. :-)

Sunday, September 13th: Matt, Zoe, and Emily went to Newport's unit conference today. They left at 7:00am and got home around 2:00pm. My mom was supposed to go with them, but she woke up sick, so she stayed home. Sacrament was an hour and half long and Zoe said it was LONG, but I think they like traveling with Matt and would endure another long Sacrament meeting again. The girls thought it was neat that when the Newport Primary sang the Hello song to them, they sang the word Hello in French. They sing the Hello in different languages, which keeps it interesting and fun for the kids. Neat idea!

We had an interesting Sacrament meeting. It involved a short workshop. I didn't think it was appropriate and I didn't like it. I am a firm believer in the handbook and following the rules. If you have a new calling, read the handbook and follow it. Everything works out when you go by the handbook. When I was in Primary, I would often sit down on Sunday afternoon and review the handbook. It was a good reminder of how things are supposed to be run and what things we needed to improve on.

Noah discovered he can walk backwards during Relief Society. We were sitting in a half circle, so Noah would go in front of me and then walk backwards to me or one of the sisters near me. It was so cute!

I read several conference talks in the afternoon. The kids played in their room. They also taught Noah how to crawl around and bark like a dog.

Monday, September 14th: Zach played with Eleanor's pet caterpillar and then lost the caterpillar.

I watched Lauren for a few hours for Jenn. Kate and Lauren are close in age and they got along for the most part, but they also had a few minor spats. The kids played inside for awhile and then they went outside. I pushed them on the swings, but they had to take turns, so they played as they waited for their turn.

I did some laundry and organized some of Zach's clothes, fitting in the Fall clothes and packing up the Summer clothes.

Eleanor had her first reading homework this evening.

We had FHE. Zach was on the game, so we played a shortened version of Yahtzee. Yahtzee is a great family game because the little ones can get involved as well as the bigger kids. We made Noah watch, though. It's also a great game to practice math while playing.

Matt and I watched 4 hours of "Colonial House" after the kids went to bed. It was taped in Maine, so it was neat to know that while we watched it.

Tuesday, September 15th: Noah is at a super cute age, so Matt and I would like to keep him at this age. Eleanor agrees. Today she told me that Noah should stay the age he is forever and that he can't turn 2 or 3...

Zach, Kate, Noah, and I went to playgroup today at the community center with Andrea, Christy, Jen, Terri, Sarah and their kids. We had a lot of fun and plan on making it a weekly event. Yay!

Zach, Kate, and Noah have been playing outside together a lot lately, which has been nice.

I've been doing at least one load of laundry every day and I'm still organizing clothes.

Matt worked late this evening. I had a good evening with the kids. They were able to watch an episode of "Survivorman" before going to bed. Noah had fun backing up to Zach, who was laying on the floor, and plopping on his head. Poor Zach!

Eleanor has a strong desire to read. She loves her reading homework!

Zoe is all stuffed up this evening. Zach has had a runny nose the past few days. I think the colds all started with Eleanor this past weekend. So far, it hasn't developed into anything serious.

Zach says plause instead of pause.

Wednesday, September 16th: Matt and I have been getting up at 5:30am this week. Matt exercises on the rowing machine and I take a shower. I love being up and showered when the kids wake up! I have more time in the morning to read my scriptures and work on my lesson, which is nice.

I prepared my lesson this morning, which is awesome because I am going to the temple on Saturday.

I took the younger kids to storytime. That went well, but things turned sour when we went to the grocery store. Kate had a tantrum when I put Noah in the seat in the cart because she wanted to sit where Noah was. Then Zach started crying when I threw the tissue paper away after giving the kids a cookie because he wanted to throw it away. I refused to retrieve the tissue paper and I refused to waste another tissue paper, so he cried throughout the store. Fortunately, I only needed one more thing after he started crying. On the way out of the store, one person said that it sounded like Zach needed a nap and another lady said, "Poor mom!" to me. Yes, it was one of those trips to the store that you don't want to repeat!

I put away laundry and organized more clothes this afternoon. I know what my answer is going to be the next time someone asks me what I do all day...I do laundry!

I got out the sleeping bags and put in a movie for the younger kids, hoping that Kate would fall asleep, but she didn't. They had fun laying on the floor and watching a movie, though.

Noah likes to unplug our lamp and clock in the bedroom.

It was a busy evening with soccer practice and a PTO meeting. Matt called me from work at the exact time he was supposed to be home to take the kids to soccer practice, so I could leave by myself to go to the potluck dinner and PTO dinner at the school, but I ended up leaving with all of the kids and dropping Zoe and Emily off at soccer and then taking the rest of the kids with me to the potluck dinner. Matt met us at the school and he left with the kids when they were done eating and I stayed for the PTO meeting. I'm glad I went. I met Eleanor's teacher, Miss Gould and I got to talk with Mrs. LaLonde. I volunteered to help teachers out by doing work at home (like cutting things out) and I volunteered to go to the school library as often as I want in the evenings to help reshelf books. Nothing too major.

I have felt content all day. I love my family and my life!

I started reading "Harris and Me" last night, which is a book included in the 5th grade curriculum. Zoe's teacher gave me the book to look over since she knows that I am concerned about what Zoe watches and reads. I don't know how she knows that, but I'm glad she does. I read 3 chapters of the book and decided that Zoe is not going to read this book. Drunkeness, porn, cigarette smoking, swearing...not the things I want Zoe reading about in 5th grade...or ever! Who approved this book???

You've been on my mind

I'm curious how long this post is going to take me to write. It is now 12:58pm...

Sunday, August 30th: Matt went to church in Machias with Zoe and Zach. Zach's fever didn't turn into anything serious and he is feeling fine today. Mom gave a great talk on prayer today in Sacrament meeting in Ellsworth. I listened in the Relief Society room with a cranky Kate, and Noah.

Sister Jensen (a visitor) talked to me after church to let me know what a great Sunday School class we have and that she loves the class participation we have in our class. I love the class participation, too!

Our family met up at my parents' house for lunch/dinner. Kate fell asleep on the way home from church, so she slept through our meal and most of our time at my parents' home. My mom watched the kids so Matt and I could go visit Rachel and then we all went home to have Family Council. Zoe's favorite part of Family Council is going over our calendar for the week.

9:31pm...Kate is still wide awake. This is why I am not a fan of naps! Zoe, Emily, and Zach were awake, too. Fun!

Something got into our zucchini and ruined most of the plants. :-(

Monday, August 31st: Kate woke up around 4am and got into bed with us. Matt's comment was "No more naps for Kate!" We found out that Emily was already awake, she woke up at 3am and went into the living room to read her Harry Potter book. Zoe got up at 4:30 to read her Harry Potter book. We were all up at 6am, so we are off to a good start getting into our new school routine!

Zach likes to know what time it is, so he often asks, "What time is it?" If I don't know the answer, he tells me to look up into the sky to find out. That's when I make up a time and he is satisfied.

Noah has had a slight fever today. He fell asleep after eating his lunch.


We had our last swimming day of the season today at Craig's Pond. We were the only ones at the lake, which was nice. The kids swam for about a half hour before they were too cold to swim anymore. Fall is in the air. The younger 3 kids fell asleep on the way home, so the older 3 girls watched "Monsters, Inc." in a quiet house. It is rare for our house to be quiet!

Later on, I read Kate some books, which was nice. Having alone time to read doesn't happen as much as I'd like it to either. Noah was content to play in the kids' room. He is great at entertaining himself, but I have to check on him often because he is also great at getting into stuff that he's not supposed to be in to.

The kids went outside to blow bubbles and to play. I tried Noah's fall shoes on and they fit! That is great news since we have lost one of his sandals.

Tuesday, September 1st: Emily finally got her hair cut today! She has the stylin' stacked bob, which looks really good on her.



While Emily was getting her hair cut, the kids and I walked over to the library, so Zoe could get the 3rd Harry Potter book. I picked up "The Lucky One" by Nicholas Sparks.

Eleanor is so excited for school to start tomorrow that she wants today to go by super fast! We came over to my parents' house after Emily's haircut to help the day go by faster. The last lazy afternoon of summer. We didn't stay too long, though because we had made plans to go over to Mary's house for a short while in the evening. Mary lives on the other side of the Daigle's, so we have more kids nearby to play with. :-) The older girls had fun picking sweet potatoes and some other vegetables. Zoe and Emily have hit it off well with Mary's 2 oldest girls who are the same age. Zoe now wants to grow sweet potatoes because they are fun to harvest.

Emily has had a headache all day and Eleanor said she felt like she was going to throw up as we left Mary's. Great. Emily and Eleanor plop down in the living room when we get home and I wonder if either of them are going to make it to their first day of school. Emily perks up a while later, so Zoe and Emily eat dinner and get ready for their first day of school. Eleanor remains asleep on the chair.

Wednesday, September 2nd: First day of school and all 3 girls were well enough to go! Eleanor stayed asleep through the night, but woke up feeling fine. None of the girls ate breakfast, which is typical for the first day of school. Noah cried as I got snacks ready and filled out the lunch envelope. I hope that doesn't become a habit.

The girls are old enough now to wait for the bus by themselves, but they wanted me to wait for them the first day. I took these pictures of them while we waited.





I took Zach, Kate, and Noah to storytime. We left during the 2nd book because Zach and Kate were fighting over my lap. We went for a walk along the waterfront instead. Noah tripped while walking and now has a scrape between his upper lip and his nose.

We ran some errands and then went home for lunch. Zach complained of a headache and laid down in the living room. I gave him some medicine and then fixed myself some lunch. As I was eating, Zach threw up on the living room rug. He threw up again a little while later, but thankfully in the bucket. We had plans to go over to Don and Terri's house in the evening, but I ended up staying home with Zach and Matt took the rest of the kids to Don and Terri's. I cuddled with Zach and read my book until he fell asleep and then I cleaned up the house. When Zach woke up, he was thirsty so he drank some water, but he just threw it back up...on the rug. He whined the rest of the evening for water, but we told him he would have to wait until the morning.

I did my homework this evening. The kids always bring home paperwork for me to fill out on the first day of school.

Zoe expressed interest in doing x-country this fall, so I have been working on getting a copy of her physical that she had during softball. Now she doesn't want to do x-country anymore because none of her friends are doing it. Well, her physical is good for 2 years, so at least I won't have to think about it again for awhile and Zoe is doing soccer, so that will keep her plenty busy.

There has been a lot of whining and crying this evening!

Thursday, September 3rd: It's only the 2nd day of school and we are already getting up late! We rushed around this morning and got the girls out the door on time.

I had a much needed cleaning day. I took apart the kids' chairs and threw away the covers and put the cushions in storage. The covers were falling apart and the chairs don't get used much anymore...except for turning them upside down and bouncing on them. I found Noah's sandal that was missing. :-) When the girls got home from school, Zoe held Noah for me and he fell asleep. Zoe sat in the butterfly chair and watched a movie while Noah slept, which was very helpful!

After cleaning all day, I got all the kids loaded up in the car for soccer sign-up. We drove to the community center, got out of the car, crossed the street, went into the building, and found out that next Tuesday is the night for soccer sign-up. Bummer.

Matt went to his High Council meeting after work. Matt's parents spent the day flying to Maine to visit us. :-) Matt went to meet them at the airport after his meeting.

I was exhausted in the evening! I wondered why our family can't get along better. We need to be more kind and loving toward each other, less hitting, biting, kicking...you name it, it happens. Emily had hair coming out of her head because of a fight and Eleanor had a nose bleed from a different fight. I feel like we lead two different lives...the public life where we LOOK like we all get along and have it together and then our private life where we are quick to anger and lash out at each other. I have made it a goal to be the way I want my children to be. If I want my children to change then I need to change first.

Friday, September 4th: Matt went into work, but he came home in the late morning to spend time with us and his parents. It had been a year since the younger kids had spent time with Grandma and Grandpa. Noah was just a little baby the last time they were here.


Kate warmed up to Grandma pretty quickly, but Grandpa didn't have such luck. Kate did allow Grandpa to draw pictures on her magnadoodle, though.

The older girls were hoping that Grandma and Grandpa would be at the house when they got home from school and their wish came true!

My mom watched the kids in the evening while Janet, Steve, Matt, and I went shopping in Ellsworth and then went to Bangor to eat dinner at Bugaboo Creek. It was a fun evening! Here is a picture of our new futon. We are so excited to have a couch in our living room!
This is the frame that we picked out.

We now have a slipcover just like this one and we now own these pillows. :-)

The futon will be delivered on either Wednesday or Thursday.


Saturday, September 5th: Matt and Zach went to Bangor for haircuts and then we went to the Blue Hill Fair (or known as the Blue Hair Fair at our house).


For the first few hours, I walked around with Zoe, Emily, and Kate. We saw most of the trampoline show, which was very entertaining. I took Kate on the Merry-Go-Round. This was her first ride and she loved it!

Zoe and Emily went on the Thunder Bolt. Kate wanted to go on it, too, and she asked over and over again, but I kept telling her that she was too little.

I bought the girls some lunch and then we wandered around hoping to find Matt who had the water. We didn't find him before our meeting time, so we were all heading for the water when we finally met up. We saw the Daigle's and the Dauk's at the fair. Zoe and Morgan got to hang out for a bit after the pig racing show. I took Emily, Eleanor, and Zach to find some rides to go on. We all went on the Tilt-a-whirl and enjoyed a super long ride. Then Eleanor and Zach went on the dragon ride.


Matt took Zoe and Emily back to the ride area before we left to enjoy one more ride together.
Matt took Zoe and Emily back to the ride area before we left to enjoy one more ride together. Everyone had a great time at the fair! Here are some Grandma and Grandpa moments.




Matt was sweet and agreed to stay home with the kids to give them baths and get them ready for Sunday so I could go birthday shopping for him. My mom came with me. I also bought a few plastic organizers to put in the kids' room. My plan is to have many of these organizers, different shapes and sizes in the kids' room. The organizers I bought were only $3.50 each. Zoe doesn't want organizers all over the bedroom, but I keep telling her that it's going to happen and that eventually the organizers will end up in the playroom. I'm tired of the bedroom looking like a disaster all the time.

I sat down before bedtime to finalize my Sunday School lesson and I was happy that it finally came together because it wasn't coming together during the week.

Sunday, September 6th: It was another Sunday of going to church feeling nervous and leaving church feeling great that I had made it through another lesson. I really appreciate the participation I get in class. I will miss having our summer visitors in class.

We took some pictures as we were leaving church. We can't get a picture of Zoe now without a dramatic pose.





We all gathered at my parents' house for chicken and rice soup. We had a very nice visit and ate lots of yummy food. :-)



We went home to have Family Council and to get settled in for the evening.

Monday, September 7th: Happy 45th birthday, Matt! We had a fun celebration at the Blue Hill park.





These are the frames I bought Saturday night for Matt's office. I need to get on the ball and get updated pictures of Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor!


Here are the kids trying to give daddy his birthday spankings. I think they got more spankings then he did! I love the laughter on Eleanor's face.

Time for a rest.

Zoe and Emily put on a few shows for us.

The younger kids joined them after a few shows.

The kids played on the playground for awhile before we went home to have FHE.

Tuesday, September 8th: Noah is 14 months old! Janet spent time with Noah, Kate, and Zach while Steve and I went grocery shopping. Matt went into work for most of the morning.

When the girls got home from school, we went to visit Janet and Steve in their hotel room. Eleanor wanted to know what their room looked like. We went to the Dairy Port for ice cream.

We walked down by the water and sat on benches and a picnic table to enjoy our treat.

This was the last get together with Janet and Steve for Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor, so it was a sad parting.


My mom watched the kids again, so we could enjoy one more adult dinner with Janet and Steve. We went to Pizzeria Uno, which was delicious as always.

I signed Zoe and Emily up for soccer before we went to dinner.

This was the first night of homework for Zoe and Emily. We are too busy having fun to deal with homework! I guess it's time to get out of vacation/summer mode.

Wednesday, September 9th: The younger kids and I stayed home today. Matt went to Portland for work. Janet and Steve stopped by for one more visit before they headed to the airport.

We are so glad you came to visit us, Janet and Steve! Thanks for EVERYTHING!

While I was puttering around at home, I moved the paper holders we have for school papers and finally went through Emily's papers that were in her holder from 2nd grade.

Our futon came this afternoon! We were getting things done before soccer practice and the guy that we bought the futon from knocked on our door. I thought Matt would have to set the futon up, but the guy did it for us. Yay! We all LOVE having a couch.

I took Zoe and Emily to soccer practice with no shin guards to protect them. I looked in my parents' attic and in our shed for the shin guards, but I haven't found them yet. They will need shin guards before their first game on Saturday.
Zach slept through the practice while Eleanor, Kate, and Noah played on the grass with other kids that were around. A few of Emily's friends are on our team, so there are more moms that I know this year.

Matt got home late, but earlier than I expected. We watched "Survivorman" before going to bed. It was fun to stretch out on the futon!

Thursday, September 10th: Zach wanted to know if Grandma and Grandpa were coming over today. Little did I know that they were still in Atlanta and not at home.

Zach wanted to go to the museum, so we got ready and headed to Bangor. After parking in the garage and walking to the museum entrance, we read the sign saying that the museum was closed for cleaning. We walked back to the Yukon and drove to a park near Matt's work. On the way Zach said, "I hope the park isn't closed for cleaning!" We went in to see Matt before we played at the park. Noah was in his glory at the park. He LOVES to be outside!

When we got home, I put away laundry and made dinner. I made a new chicken casserole with zucchini in it. The recipe said it would take 30 minutes to cook, but it took an hour and 15 minutes, so Matt and I ate when we got home from the middle school open house that we went to with Zoe. Mom once again watched the kids for us. Zoe peeled potatoes while I was making the casserole, so the kids were able to eat potatoes and cranberries while the casserole cooked.

Emily read to me for part of her homework while I made the casserole. I haven't been able to sit down with her yet while she is reading out loud, but I figure having her read while I am busy doing something is better than not reading at all. She read yesterday while the futon was being put together and I was washing the dishes.

Matt brought home a flute for Zoe that Marianne gave to us. Zoe is anxious to learn how to play it. I hope she doesn't take after me because I could never make a sound on the flute. I played the saxaphone.

Matt and I ate together in the evening, which was nice and peaceful and then we watched "Survivorman" again. I have yet to stay awake through all the episodes.

Today: I was up at 4:15 this morning. I had a dream that my mom died. I was sobbing in my dream and tears were running down my face when I woke up. I was wide awake when I woke up, so I decided to get up and read. I read until 5:30 and then I took a shower and got ready for the day. I like getting my shower in before the kids wake up, but it doesn't happen very often.

After Matt and the girls left, I washed the dishes. Usually, we have the dishes done every night before bed, but last night we were too tired to deal with them.

Kate has been peeing on the potty more lately. She came in from outside this morning saying, "I need to go potty!" I took her into the bathroom and sure enough, she went pee. She just may potty train herself since I'm waiting until she's 3.

Jenn watched the kids for me this morning while I got my hair cut. It's still long, but it's all one length now. I've needed a haircut for a long time, so it feels nice to have it cut and it looks better, too.

Matt is off with Don today and he'll be back tomorrow. They are on the boat and having fun, I'm sure. Matt wanted us all to go, but I wasn't willing to take the girls out of school and Zoe and Emily have their soccer game tomorrow.

Kate has been saying "I hate you!" a lot today. I keep telling her that I love her every time she says, "I hate you, mom!"

My mom is home now and we are going to have pizza for dinner and I need to go through boxes in the attic again to see if I can find those shin guards.

I have been on this computer since 12:58pm. The girls rode the bus here to my parents' house and they are now watching "Mulan". I knew I would need many hours to update here. I'm glad I am caught up now. It feels good. I have to add this picture before I end, though.

Here is Zoe posing in front of our futon.


It is now 5:32pm.

P.S. 9/11 has been on my mind all day.

Saying Goodbye to the pool

Wednesday, August 26th: We received the title to our Yukon!
Zoe did her first load of laundry from start to finish.
Eleanor got her haircut. I couldn't get two appointments together for Eleanor and Emily, so since Eleanor won the coin toss, she got her hair cut today. Emily has to wait until next Tuesday. Emily was bummed.



I took Zoe school shopping in the evening. We had a very busy, productive evening, but Zoe still does not have a new backpack. She is planning on using last year's backpack until she can get the backpack she really wants at L.L. Bean. As we shopped, I told her that she could buy a more expensive backpack with the $25 we owe her, but she wants to save her money, so she wasn't willing to spend the $25.
Zoe also needed sneakers, which usually is a big process with her because she'll find a style that she likes and then she'll look for her size to discover there are none in her size. She is now shopping in the women's section for shoes, which is weird. The first pair of sneakers that we came to at Kohl's that were on sale and Zoe liked, they had her size! Buying sneakers for Zoe has NEVER been that easy.

Random Notes: Emily is enjoying her Harry Potter so much that she said, "Harry Potter makes the other books seem boring. I don't want to put it down!"

Monday at the pool, Eleanor and Zach were pretending to baptize each other. An older girl who was playing with them asked them what they were doing and without hesitation they told her they were baptizing each other. Eleanor also explained that she is only 6 and she has to wait until she is 8 to be baptized. The girl wanted to join in and offered to baptize them.

I bought another box of Luvs and they are working much better than the last box I bought.

Thursday, August 27th: I had a doctor's appointment, so Matt took the kids to swim lessons. Patti picked up Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor to go shopping for an outfit for each of them...so sweet of her and the kids had a great time! Matt went back to work when I got home and I went outside with the younger kids to weed the garden. The garden looked like one big weed. I discovered that I don't mind weeding. Noah helped me by picking up dirt and dumping it on the plants. Zach did some weeding, too. I took a break to push Zach and Kate on the swings and then went back to weeding, but I didn't have much energy left by then. The garden has become Noah's sandbox.


Here's a random picture of Noah in his swing.


Patti couldn't buy clothes for the older girls without buying something fun for Zach and Kate, so they got these fun bubbles!


With very little energy, I took Emily school shopping in the evening. Emily had been shopping all afternoon, but she was ready to go for round two. Emily found the best deals at Old Navy. She found yoga pants on sale for $5, which fit her perfectly and they had different colors to choose from in her size, so she bought 4 pairs. She also found 4 shirts, so she left her first store with 4 new outfits. Emily is very easy to get along with when it comes to shopping. If she can't have something, she doesn't put up a fuss and she just moves on to something else.

We found a medieval dress for Emily for Halloween and we also found this costume for Kate at Goodwill.

Is Kate not the cutest Minnie Mouse you have ever seen?!

Friday, August 28th: Today was the last swim lesson for the summer. Emily passed her Sharks class and will be in the Intermediate class next summer. Zach will stay in his Beginner 1 class. Eleanor passed her Beginner 2 class and moves on to Seals next summer! Eleanor was so excited when she learned that she'll have her class in the deep end next summer. I'm a bit surprised that she passed...maybe because she seems too little to be swimming in the deep end already! Her swimming has improved a lot this summer, though. Kate will be in the Pre-beginner class, which I think she'll be ready for.

I stopped at a sale at a daycare and got two great bargains. I left the kids in the car and went to check out the Dora castle that Eleanor wanted. I got the castle, van, and a box full of toys for $1! I also bought a rocking horse for $.50. The kids spent the afternoon playing (and fighting) with the Dora toys.




I did some more weeding in the garden. Zoe helped weed for awhile and Eleanor came out to help, but then she was off playing. I was sore from weeding the day before and I was tired, but I was determined to weed the rest of the side of the garden I had been working on. I finished it with Zoe's help and it looks good.

Zoe, Emily, and Eleanor went through their clothes. They put their school clothes in their closet, and decided which of their old clothes to save and which ones to give away. Zoe brought 3 bags of clothes into the living room to go to Goodwill. I decided not to go through the clothes and to trust that everything in the bags were clothes that the girls didn't want. The closet is still stuffed with clothes!

Matt has been super busy at work, so he worked a bit late this evening. I made pancakes for dinner and told the kids that if they cleaned up and got ready for bed good then we could watch "Finding Nemo". There ended up being too much fighting and fooling around for a movie, which the kids were not happy about, but I wasn't happy either, so I didn't care how they were feeling about it. Matt and I got the kids in bed and then we watched disc 1 of "Frontier House". I am thankful for our modern way of living...I do think our kids could benefit from more work, though.

Saturday, August 29th: It turned out to be a rainy day in the 50' , so the Primary activity at Aimee's camp was cancelled once again. The kids played in the morning and Zoe read her Harry Potter book. She's on book 2. At one point, Eleanor was loudly doing a rain chant and Zoe yelled from our bedroom, "It will probably work better if you whisper!" When the kids fought, they were given a chore to do. Even Kate received a chore. There was less fighting, which was nice. Matt spent most of the morning at work. I cleaned the bathroom...I was trying to get rid of the throw up smell that we couldn't figure out where it was coming from. The kids were told to clean up the living room and their room if they wanted to go over to my parents' house with me. A few of the kids received several more chores while cleaning up, but they were all able to go with me. My mom and I played several games of Phase 10. Zoe started a game with us, but soon lost interest, which happens often. Zach had a slight fever in the afternoon and evening. Matt made corn chowder for dinner. I wasn't feeling great during dinner, but I felt a bit better after I ate. Matt gave the little ones a bath and made sure the kids got ready for bed while I cleaned up the kitchen. The kids were very good this evening and were able to watch "Finding Nemo" with me. Noah was too busy getting into the yogurt containers that hold water from the air conditioner and pulling up the vent cover in the living room to watch the movie. It was more peaceful when Matt put Noah to bed.