My little vacation

My mom thought the "Twilight" movie was great, I thought it was okay. I knew it wouldn't be as good as the book, so I wasn't surprised, but I would have liked the movie better if it followed the book better.

Since this weekend is General Conference, I haven't had a Sunday School lesson to prepare this week, which means it was been a great week to finish the Twilight series. I borrowed the last two books from my friend, Courtney and I have been reading, reading, and reading. I have declared this week a vacation week for myself. It has been fun! I started out the week trying to keep a balance between being productive and reading, but that only lasted a few days. The past few days I have just been reading...and taking care of the kids.

Zach just came into the kitchen and asked me what I am doing, then he interrupted my answer and said, "I know, you're updating your blog." Smart kid.

So, here is a day to day update of the things that have gone on besides having my nose in a book.

Sunday, September 27th: Zoe, Eleanor, and Zach went to Machias with Matt. Machias doesn't have any regular primary children, so Sister Brown is always thrilled when some of our kids show up on a Sunday. Zoe had a great idea to put on a primary program in Machias with our kids and a few of the other children who visit Machias. Sister Brown thought this was a great idea, so they practiced for the program on Sunday. The program will be in a few weeks, so I will get someone to teach my lesson that Sunday, so we can go to Machias as a family and I can watch the program, too.

Monday, September 28th: I wanted to read during the day today, but I was too productive and when the two moments came to sit down with my book, Noah woke up from his nap and the phone rang. I enjoyed reading in the evening. Usually I am torn between reading a good book or working on my lesson, so it was so nice not having to choose.

Another great FHE game is Barrel of Monkeys. Emily won the game tonight. We didn't let Noah have a turn, so he was happy to play with the monkeys while we ate our treat.

Tuesday, September 30th: Zoe has flute lessons on Tuesdays and after she left for school today, I noticed that she forgot her flute. When she got home, I asked her at what point she realized that she had forgotten her flute. She said on the bus, but her friend, Chloe who is in 6th grade had her flute, so Chloe let Zoe use her flute, which I think is so nice! They had lessons at different times, so it all worked out.

Terri picked Noah, Kate, Zach, and me up to go to playgroup this morning. We always have a great time at playgroup!

Noah discovered his belly button at dinner time. He kept lifting up his shirt and poking at it.

I was able to read during the day today. I also watched "Survivorman" with Zoe and Emily.

Wednesday, October 1st: Zach is wondering why I am reading so much.
I met with Zoe's teacher in the evening. Matt was supposed to come with me, but the Saab broke down on his way home. We have the worst luck with cars, don't you think?! Of course the Saab broke down since we got the Yukon back this same day. Don picked Matt up and gave him a ride home. I'm glad we had already made plans with my mom to watch the kids, so I was able to leave even though Matt wasn't home yet. I brought Zoe and Emily with me, so I could take them to soccer practice after my meeting with Mrs. Gormley. Zoe is doing great in school, as usual. She has adjusted well to middle school and she is ahead of where the standard is at this time of year in math, language, and reading, which is also normal for Zoe. Zoe will be placed in a group that will take on more advanced math, which I'm pleased about. Mrs. Gormley doesn't believe in giving out homework, but thanks to the school board rule, she has to give some homework every night. I think a little homework is good. Zoe seems to get the teachers who don't hand out a lot of homework, so Emily has always had more homework than Zoe, and she is 2 grades behind her! Emily doesn't get a lot of homework either, but she usually has 2 things do to like a worksheet and reading where Zoe only has to read or do a worksheet. Anyway, I had a nice talk with Mrs. Gormley and she is not going to use the book, "Harris and Me" with Zoe's class. I was happy to hear that.

Matt is always wishing that we had a video camera to capture the chaos in our home. I wanted to video tape Noah this evening as he was sitting at the table and barking like a dog and then panting like a dog with his tongue sticking out. It was so cute and funny!

Thursday, October 2nd: Matt went duck hunting this morning with Don. He was able to borrow Don and Terri's Saab for the rest of the day, so I had the Yukon. The kids and I went to play at the park, which was fun. Zach was ready to get out of the house and I knew it would be necessary to get out of the house if I was going to tear myself away from my book.

We got the Saab back today. A pulley broke that was connected to the fan belt or part of the fan belt, so the Saab now has a new fan belt. We are back to 2 cars again...for now.

Today: My mom took the day off today and my dad has been on vacation all week, so the younger kids and I are hanging out with them. Actually, my mom is slaving away in their garage and I am updating here and then I am going to make fajitas for lunch. The older girls will come here after school on the bus. Eleanor and Zach are spending the night here tonight. Matt is going duck hunting again with Don this afternoon and coming home tomorrow afternoon, which is okay because my nose will still be stuck in my book this evening and every other possible moment. I won't feel guilty about that if Matt is away doing something fun. :-)