When I started my blog in February of 2006, my Mom started printing out my posts so I could have a printed copy of my blog to put in a binder. She printed out all of 2006 and a few months of 2007. I am just now getting around to going through these papers and getting them ready to put in a binder. This is no easy task for me because my brain wants the posts to appear in chronological order starting from the front of the book, but the way the posts are printed out, my first post will start at the back of the book. At times I will get confused and it will take me a minute to adjust to the fact that March 24th will come before March 23rd. Plus there are duplicate pages so I'm weeding out the papers I don't need. Some of the copies do go in the correct chronological order, so I am adjusting them to the backwards order, which involves cutting and taping.
I am thankful for this printed copy of my blog that I have, thank you Mom! You saved me a lot of paper and ink (I'm still debating about the time :-). I will complete this 2006 binder of my blog and then I will print out my 2007 posts to put in our 2007 family scrapbook. And hopefully I will be able to keep up with the printing of 2008 as the year goes on...I'm only 17 days behind.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Catch up
Let's start with yesterday since I couldn't motivate myself to write last night...and there was also the fact that Matt was glued to the computer getting the Michigan Primary updates hoping Romney would win...and he did. :-)
Zoe stayed home from school yesterday. She went to bed the night before with a sore throat and she woke up with a headache and sore throat. She laid around most of the morning, but was feeling better by the afternoon. I played Battleship and Checkers with her that you hook up to the TV. I have found it relaxing and fun to sit down to play these games when I need a break. Matt came home the evening before and found me playing Battleship by myself and he wondered if he should be concerned. I did play the games on and off yesterday, but I also cleaned the bathroom and cleared off our stove that was piling up with papers and magazines, so at least it looked like I had been productive all day.
Matt being the sweet man he is...or maybe he just wanted me out of his hair so he could keep up with the Michigan Primary, called me yesterday before coming home from work and asked me if I'd like to get out of the house for the evening. Of course that sounded wonderful and I ended up going over to my parents' home for dinner and my Mom and I played Phase 10. It was nice to get out of the house. We are down to one car again, which we have been for several months now, so my trips outside the house are limited.
Matt and I have been watching "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" the last couple of evenings. We got the disc from Netflix. We used to watch the show when we had cable. Mike is very entertaining, but some of the jobs he ventures into are disgusting! I watched a few episodes with Zoe this evening that I knew weren't gross and they were the ones I slept through last night. She didn't comment on whether she liked the show or not, but I know she enjoyed being able to watch it with me.
Eleanor had a rude awakening this morning. Zoe's laptop Barbie computer fell from the top bunk and hit Eleanor in the cheek. That had to have hurt! Matt put ice on her cheek even though Eleanor fought him, so she only has a minor bruise. I'm glad she wasn't hurt more seriously!
Zoe woke up with a minor stomach ache this morning, but since she missed yesterday and Matt and I weren't convinced she was sick enough to stay home, she went to school. I asked her if something was going on at school that was making her want to stay home, but she said no. I wonder if she has a touch of what Emily went through last week because Zoe came home with a headache today and yesterday she woke up with a headache. Emily's headaches have gone away, so maybe it IS part of a cold...like Matt said. One of these days I might learn not to doubt him, but then that would mean I am always wrong and that doesn't seem fair.
I made powdered milk today. Matt thinks macaroni and cheese smells like diarrhea, well I think powdered milk smells like a wet diaper! Eleanor, Zach, and Emily insisted on trying it, but they weren't fond of it either. I think that was the last time I am ever making that stuff. Too funny...Matt just walked through the door and sniffed the air asking, "Is that burnt popcorn or is it macaroni and cheese or something." It's burnt popcorn...I got distracted earlier and forgot it was in the microwave.
Zoe stayed home from school yesterday. She went to bed the night before with a sore throat and she woke up with a headache and sore throat. She laid around most of the morning, but was feeling better by the afternoon. I played Battleship and Checkers with her that you hook up to the TV. I have found it relaxing and fun to sit down to play these games when I need a break. Matt came home the evening before and found me playing Battleship by myself and he wondered if he should be concerned. I did play the games on and off yesterday, but I also cleaned the bathroom and cleared off our stove that was piling up with papers and magazines, so at least it looked like I had been productive all day.
Matt being the sweet man he is...or maybe he just wanted me out of his hair so he could keep up with the Michigan Primary, called me yesterday before coming home from work and asked me if I'd like to get out of the house for the evening. Of course that sounded wonderful and I ended up going over to my parents' home for dinner and my Mom and I played Phase 10. It was nice to get out of the house. We are down to one car again, which we have been for several months now, so my trips outside the house are limited.
Matt and I have been watching "Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe" the last couple of evenings. We got the disc from Netflix. We used to watch the show when we had cable. Mike is very entertaining, but some of the jobs he ventures into are disgusting! I watched a few episodes with Zoe this evening that I knew weren't gross and they were the ones I slept through last night. She didn't comment on whether she liked the show or not, but I know she enjoyed being able to watch it with me.
Eleanor had a rude awakening this morning. Zoe's laptop Barbie computer fell from the top bunk and hit Eleanor in the cheek. That had to have hurt! Matt put ice on her cheek even though Eleanor fought him, so she only has a minor bruise. I'm glad she wasn't hurt more seriously!
Zoe woke up with a minor stomach ache this morning, but since she missed yesterday and Matt and I weren't convinced she was sick enough to stay home, she went to school. I asked her if something was going on at school that was making her want to stay home, but she said no. I wonder if she has a touch of what Emily went through last week because Zoe came home with a headache today and yesterday she woke up with a headache. Emily's headaches have gone away, so maybe it IS part of a cold...like Matt said. One of these days I might learn not to doubt him, but then that would mean I am always wrong and that doesn't seem fair.
I made powdered milk today. Matt thinks macaroni and cheese smells like diarrhea, well I think powdered milk smells like a wet diaper! Eleanor, Zach, and Emily insisted on trying it, but they weren't fond of it either. I think that was the last time I am ever making that stuff. Too funny...Matt just walked through the door and sniffed the air asking, "Is that burnt popcorn or is it macaroni and cheese or something." It's burnt popcorn...I got distracted earlier and forgot it was in the microwave.
Monday, January 14, 2008
A winter of snow
We have survived another snow day. And it did start snowing and it is still snowing. And according to Matt it's supposed to snow into tomorrow, so we'll be checking again in the morning to see if there is school. If we get many more snow storms, I may get my wish of Zoe and Emily still being in school when the baby is born! The kids went outside to play this afternoon, but it was pretty cold out, so they didn't stay out for too long. Plus when Zoe and Emily were playing "bury me in the snow", Eleanor dropped snow on their faces...which I didn't see, but they said she did which is why Emily shoved a bunch of snow in Eleanor's face and made her cry (which I did see). This all happened after an episode inside of Emily pushing Eleanor out of the chair Eleanor was sitting in and then Emily got mad at Eleanor because Eleanor wanted her chair back. Emily called Eleanor a brat and Eleanor came back with, "well...you're not my sister!" Emily was not going to let Eleanor get rid of her so easy and firmly declared that she was too her sister and she would be her sister FOREVER! Emily thinks Eleanor is annoying most of the time, but she was not going to let Eleanor disown her.
Every so often Zach will find a glue stick and use it on his lips like chapstick, which he did today. I wonder how he likes the feel of glue on his lips. I guess it doesn't bother him since he happily announced to me that he had put it on his lips.
Emily picked out a lesson tonight that I had done with the young men and young women several years ago. It's called Sundaes & Sundays. You're supposed to have sundaes first and along with the yummy toppings like chocolate syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles, etc...you also put out things that don't go on a sundae like ketchup, pickles, and cheese. When I did this with the youth, one of the young men actually did put one of the non-sundae items on his sundae not realizing it was whatever it was (I can't remember what he put on it). The youth laughed about that the entire evening, and I think he ate the Sundae with whatever it was that didn't belong on it. Anyway, the point of the lesson is to talk about activities that belong on Sunday and activities that don't and you relate that to the fact that some things are good on sundaes and some things are not. Well, my kids weren't willing to have their sundaes until after the lesson, scripture, and game because they are creatures of habit, so we just used the Sunday activities part of the lesson. Maybe when they're a little older, I will do this lesson with them again and we'll include the sundaes with our lesson.
Every so often Zach will find a glue stick and use it on his lips like chapstick, which he did today. I wonder how he likes the feel of glue on his lips. I guess it doesn't bother him since he happily announced to me that he had put it on his lips.
Emily picked out a lesson tonight that I had done with the young men and young women several years ago. It's called Sundaes & Sundays. You're supposed to have sundaes first and along with the yummy toppings like chocolate syrup, whipped cream, sprinkles, etc...you also put out things that don't go on a sundae like ketchup, pickles, and cheese. When I did this with the youth, one of the young men actually did put one of the non-sundae items on his sundae not realizing it was whatever it was (I can't remember what he put on it). The youth laughed about that the entire evening, and I think he ate the Sundae with whatever it was that didn't belong on it. Anyway, the point of the lesson is to talk about activities that belong on Sunday and activities that don't and you relate that to the fact that some things are good on sundaes and some things are not. Well, my kids weren't willing to have their sundaes until after the lesson, scripture, and game because they are creatures of habit, so we just used the Sunday activities part of the lesson. Maybe when they're a little older, I will do this lesson with them again and we'll include the sundaes with our lesson.
Sometimes I hate thinking of a title
Today was a good day at church. The kids were for the most part reverent during Sacrament meeting, except when Eleanor was whining because we weren't going over to my parents' house after church like I said we were going to, but plans changed (which is why I usually don't inform the kids of plans until it happens), and except when Zach had a short freak out because Eleanor took his book, but she quickly gave it back to him. I was well prepared for my sharing time during Primary and that went well. We talked about our premortal life, earth life, and life after death and I had taped a piece of paper under each chair telling which life each girl would be in during Sharing Time. Zoe and Emily were both in life after death, so I joked with them about how they were dead and now I would have less work to do...although a teacher pointed out that I would actually have more work without my older girls around, which is probably true. I'm glad I could call them back to earth after Sharing Time and they are still with me. :-)
Emily didn't have any headaches today and I think it's because she hasn't done any running around or playing today. I'm glad she felt good all day.
We always joke that Sunday is anything BUT a day of rest around here, but it IS a rest from TV (Dora, Barbie, High School Musical shows) and from the kids playing on the computer and from active play. It's nice that we have trained our kids to know that Sunday is different from every other day and they know not to ask to watch their movies or play on the computer (although either Emily or Eleanor wished this morning that the Webkinz sight had a church so they could play it on Sunday). It is truly a rest from our routine. Some Sundays are longer than others trying to fill up time with quiet activities, but the break from TV and computer noise is nice. It's also a day when I don't think about bills and our phone is not ringing with SallieMae on the other end trying to get a hold of Matt, who won't talk to them and tells me to talk to them, but I'm not on the account so I know that's not going to get very far.
Another thing I have been thinking about this evening, which Matt and I talk about every so often is the fact that I have been pregnant a part of every.single.year since 1998. Isn't that weird? And twice in 2007! That is even crazier! I was also thinking that this could very well be my last pregnancy, so I don't want to take any of this fun part of pregnancy for granted. I want to enjoy it. I am feeling good and the excitement and anticipation of having a baby to cuddle with this summer has hit...although I do realize that I still have many weeks to go and really that's okay because I am liking my sleep and I need Zach and Kate to outgrow their competition for my attention in the next 5 1/2 months.
Emily didn't have any headaches today and I think it's because she hasn't done any running around or playing today. I'm glad she felt good all day.
We always joke that Sunday is anything BUT a day of rest around here, but it IS a rest from TV (Dora, Barbie, High School Musical shows) and from the kids playing on the computer and from active play. It's nice that we have trained our kids to know that Sunday is different from every other day and they know not to ask to watch their movies or play on the computer (although either Emily or Eleanor wished this morning that the Webkinz sight had a church so they could play it on Sunday). It is truly a rest from our routine. Some Sundays are longer than others trying to fill up time with quiet activities, but the break from TV and computer noise is nice. It's also a day when I don't think about bills and our phone is not ringing with SallieMae on the other end trying to get a hold of Matt, who won't talk to them and tells me to talk to them, but I'm not on the account so I know that's not going to get very far.
Another thing I have been thinking about this evening, which Matt and I talk about every so often is the fact that I have been pregnant a part of every.single.year since 1998. Isn't that weird? And twice in 2007! That is even crazier! I was also thinking that this could very well be my last pregnancy, so I don't want to take any of this fun part of pregnancy for granted. I want to enjoy it. I am feeling good and the excitement and anticipation of having a baby to cuddle with this summer has hit...although I do realize that I still have many weeks to go and really that's okay because I am liking my sleep and I need Zach and Kate to outgrow their competition for my attention in the next 5 1/2 months.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Blessings & headaches
I had a good day with the kids today. I have been extremely calm and patient today, which I contribute to being blessed for Matt's church service. On a normal Saturday evening by bedtime after feeding and bathing the kids with Matt here, I am exhausted. But tonight I am still going strong here at 10pm and the fact that our bathroom was nearly flooded with bath water after the last bath, it didn't phase me. And Eleanor playing and talking during scripture reading, after telling her several times to zip her lips and listen, I didn't yell or get mad, although I did threaten to send her to bed before reading scriptures from now on. And after putting the younger kids to bed and Kate was asleep, Zach's screaming to be covered up...again and waking Kate up didn't put me over the edge (although I was getting closer). Yes, it was a good day.
My Dad picked Zoe and Emily up this morning for basketball practice. And when they got home 4 hours later, Emily had a headache. While I was talking with Aimee this evening (our Primary President who is a nurse), I told her about Emily's headaches and asked for her opinion. We talked about Emily's eyesight at first and she suggested Emily have an eye exam done. Zoe told me that the school nurse checked their vision at the beginning of the year, so I think I'll call the school and see if Emily's vision was checked and what the results were. None of Emily's teachers have had a concern about her vision and Emily has never complained about her eyesight, so I doubt there is a concern there, but I'll check. Then Aimee asked me if Emily had gone sledding and bumped her head. This made me think of ice skating last Saturday and a fall that Emily took where she hit her head on the ice. Aimee suggested she might have a slight concussion from the fall. The timing makes sense since it has been about a week since the headaches started. I realized that Emily's headache didn't start today until after basketball practice and wondered if Emily's headache yesterday was triggered from playing during morning recess before school began. Her head doesn't seem to bother her until late morning after she has been up and around for awhile. And after she has taken some Tylenol and has rested for awhile, she feels better and starts playing again, but then her head hurts at bedtime. Matt isn't convinced she has a concussion. His theory is a sinus headache. Both causes require a CT to diagnose. A CTScan we can't afford, but would hopefully get to the bottom of what's causing these headaches.
My Dad picked Zoe and Emily up this morning for basketball practice. And when they got home 4 hours later, Emily had a headache. While I was talking with Aimee this evening (our Primary President who is a nurse), I told her about Emily's headaches and asked for her opinion. We talked about Emily's eyesight at first and she suggested Emily have an eye exam done. Zoe told me that the school nurse checked their vision at the beginning of the year, so I think I'll call the school and see if Emily's vision was checked and what the results were. None of Emily's teachers have had a concern about her vision and Emily has never complained about her eyesight, so I doubt there is a concern there, but I'll check. Then Aimee asked me if Emily had gone sledding and bumped her head. This made me think of ice skating last Saturday and a fall that Emily took where she hit her head on the ice. Aimee suggested she might have a slight concussion from the fall. The timing makes sense since it has been about a week since the headaches started. I realized that Emily's headache didn't start today until after basketball practice and wondered if Emily's headache yesterday was triggered from playing during morning recess before school began. Her head doesn't seem to bother her until late morning after she has been up and around for awhile. And after she has taken some Tylenol and has rested for awhile, she feels better and starts playing again, but then her head hurts at bedtime. Matt isn't convinced she has a concussion. His theory is a sinus headache. Both causes require a CT to diagnose. A CTScan we can't afford, but would hopefully get to the bottom of what's causing these headaches.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Need any books to read?
Eleanor, Zach, Kate, and I were supposed to get together with our playgroup today, but because of freezing rain, we ended up staying home. I used to get so mad as a kid/teenager when my fun plans would get canceled because of snow or bad weather. I still find it annoying, but I get over it quicker. When you make plans around here in the winter, there is a good chance that it will snow that day and you end up staying home. Eleanor did get to go next door to Jenn's house, which I was thankful for because she was so looking forward to playgroup and seeing her friends. It was good for the both of us for her to get out of the house. I had a super productive day going through our books and weeding out the ones we will never read again and novels that we can get at the library. Hopefully Matt will agree to get rid of the novels that are his that I don't believe we need anymore. I hate the rule that you can't declutter other people's things! We would have a lot less clutter if I could decide which of Matt's things we really need. :-) But I am good and I only get rid of his things when he gives the okay.
I went through the books because I wanted to make room on the bookshelves for the scrapbooks that have been lined up along the wall of the hall. I took the hall cleaning a step further and decided we didn't need anything in the hall (my scrapbook box, my scrapbook folder, extra portrait pictures of the kids, Matt's gun case, and an ugly foam mattress that Matt won't get rid of, which was sitting on top of the gun case. I stuck the gun case and mattress under our bed, which I am now realizing is a temporary solution since Matt made our new bed frame higher off the floor so we can store 5 gallon buckets under the bed for food storage...I guess I should stop putting things under the bed! But our hall looks so nice now with nothing in it! It will be much easier to vacuum now and will probably get vacuumed more often.
I got a call from the school today saying Emily was in the office complaining of a headache. I gave them permission to give her some Tylenol and hoped that she would be okay the rest of the day since I didn't have a car to go pick her up. She did make it the rest of the day, but when she got home she said her head still hurt and she sat on the chair and watched a movie. She perked up enough to play on the Webkinz site (Zoe and Emily received Webkinz cats (stuffed animals) for Christmas from their cousins and they LOVE getting on the internet site to play with their on-line pet. I had never heard of this Webkinz world or pets until Christmas. It's really neat. I like how the girls have to earn money to buy things to take care of their cats and they play games to earn that money. I'm thinking of buying Eleanor a Webkinz pet for Valentine's Day because she loves to watch Zoe & Emily play with their on-line cats and she has stated more than once how excited she will be when she gets one of her own. Anyway, I'd like to figure out what is causing Emily's headaches. She used to get them occasionally, but in the last week or two it has been every day or every other day.
Matt has cub scout training for church this weekend in Waterville (about an hour away), so he will be home late tonight and he'll be gone all day tomorrow. My Mom is at the same training. And come to think of it, I'm supposed to be at the training, too, but it was much easier for me to stay home than to find someone to watch the kids this weekend.
I went through the books because I wanted to make room on the bookshelves for the scrapbooks that have been lined up along the wall of the hall. I took the hall cleaning a step further and decided we didn't need anything in the hall (my scrapbook box, my scrapbook folder, extra portrait pictures of the kids, Matt's gun case, and an ugly foam mattress that Matt won't get rid of, which was sitting on top of the gun case. I stuck the gun case and mattress under our bed, which I am now realizing is a temporary solution since Matt made our new bed frame higher off the floor so we can store 5 gallon buckets under the bed for food storage...I guess I should stop putting things under the bed! But our hall looks so nice now with nothing in it! It will be much easier to vacuum now and will probably get vacuumed more often.
I got a call from the school today saying Emily was in the office complaining of a headache. I gave them permission to give her some Tylenol and hoped that she would be okay the rest of the day since I didn't have a car to go pick her up. She did make it the rest of the day, but when she got home she said her head still hurt and she sat on the chair and watched a movie. She perked up enough to play on the Webkinz site (Zoe and Emily received Webkinz cats (stuffed animals) for Christmas from their cousins and they LOVE getting on the internet site to play with their on-line pet. I had never heard of this Webkinz world or pets until Christmas. It's really neat. I like how the girls have to earn money to buy things to take care of their cats and they play games to earn that money. I'm thinking of buying Eleanor a Webkinz pet for Valentine's Day because she loves to watch Zoe & Emily play with their on-line cats and she has stated more than once how excited she will be when she gets one of her own. Anyway, I'd like to figure out what is causing Emily's headaches. She used to get them occasionally, but in the last week or two it has been every day or every other day.
Matt has cub scout training for church this weekend in Waterville (about an hour away), so he will be home late tonight and he'll be gone all day tomorrow. My Mom is at the same training. And come to think of it, I'm supposed to be at the training, too, but it was much easier for me to stay home than to find someone to watch the kids this weekend.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Snowfest
Zoe and Emily had their 1st annual Snowfest at school today. It's a bummer that they didn't do it Tuesday since the snow was great for making snowmen, but today they did get to go snowshoeing, they went for a 2 mile walk, they went sledding, and they played Fox and Geese. After all this fun, they enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies inside the school before heading home. The music teacher used to own a bakery I hear and she made 300 cookies for the students!
Zoe went to bed at 8:00 this evening. She was so excited to stay up!...and Emily was bummed out this afternoon when Zoe found out she could stay up, but Emily was over it by the time she went to bed this evening. Maybe because she had a headache...she gets a lot of headaches, maybe we should have her eyes checked or something?
I have to end by stating that Eleanor is a tireless kid! I had the thought yesterday morning around 6:15 that Eleanor needs to learn how to relax in the morning. She wakes up and she is ready to play! And she was still going strong this evening before bed. It takes everything out of me to keep up with her!
Zoe went to bed at 8:00 this evening. She was so excited to stay up!...and Emily was bummed out this afternoon when Zoe found out she could stay up, but Emily was over it by the time she went to bed this evening. Maybe because she had a headache...she gets a lot of headaches, maybe we should have her eyes checked or something?
I have to end by stating that Eleanor is a tireless kid! I had the thought yesterday morning around 6:15 that Eleanor needs to learn how to relax in the morning. She wakes up and she is ready to play! And she was still going strong this evening before bed. It takes everything out of me to keep up with her!
It's a new day
I didn't have any energy left last night after getting the kids to bed and cleaning up to get on the computer. Matt got home around 9:20 last night while I was sweeping the kitchen floor and stated the truth that it's a sign of a long, hard day when I am still cleaning up that late. The day had its ups and downs, but the decision to invite my Mom over after she got out of work to play cards made it a later night. We ate dinner and then played cards until 7:30. The kids had a great time playing Barbies together. The problem began when Zoe had a hard time settling down and she was not getting ready for bed. I brought up the fact that she would like a later bedtime because all of her friends go to bed at 8:00, but she was giving me the hardest time about getting ready for bed. Well this had her in tears because apparently the kids at school have been making fun of her because she goes to bed at 7:00, which I didn't realize. I knew she had mentioned to my Mom that all of her friends go to bed at 8:00, but I didn't know that she had told them she goes to bed at 7:00 and that didn't go over well with them. I really don't care what her friends think, but I do care that this has become a big issue for Zoe. I told Zoe I would talk to Matt about letting her stay up until 8:00. The deal would be that she gets ready for bed with her siblings and then she'll stay up and read for an hour...which is what she does anyway when she goes into her room at 7:00, but she'll get to read in the living room instead. I was thinking this morning that she should have told her friends that she goes into her room at 7:00 and then she reads and stays up as late as she wants because really that's how it works. But anyway, what is done is done.
Another issue last night was Zach wanting to be held during scriptures while I was holding Kate. He has a habit lately of bugging Kate while she's playing, which results in her crying and then I end up holding her. And then Zach wants me to hold him. I wish he would just come over to me and ask to be held while Kate is happy playing. So while Zoe was reading her verses last night, Zach was hitting me and Kate because I wouldn't pick him up. This made Kate cry and I was getting angry. I kept pushing him away until I made him cry. I shut my scriptures and told Zoe to keep reading. She hesitated because tears were forming in her eyes...probably because her mother was destroying any hope of the Spirit being present. We got through our family prayer with me in tears and then the kids went to bed a little after 8:00. I felt like a horrible mother. But fortunately for me, children are very forgiving and it is a new day.
I went outside again with Eleanor and Zach earlier this morning, but we didn't stay out long because there wasn't much to do and Eleanor needed to go to the bathroom. The snow is icy and slippery. Eleanor and Zach tried going on the sled, but it went way too fast for Zach's liking and they nearly gave me a heart attack as they lost control and started to head toward a bunch of wood and the basketball hoop. They didn't end up crashing, but I made sure Eleanor went down the middle of the hill where she couldn't crash into anything the next few times she went down.
Another issue last night was Zach wanting to be held during scriptures while I was holding Kate. He has a habit lately of bugging Kate while she's playing, which results in her crying and then I end up holding her. And then Zach wants me to hold him. I wish he would just come over to me and ask to be held while Kate is happy playing. So while Zoe was reading her verses last night, Zach was hitting me and Kate because I wouldn't pick him up. This made Kate cry and I was getting angry. I kept pushing him away until I made him cry. I shut my scriptures and told Zoe to keep reading. She hesitated because tears were forming in her eyes...probably because her mother was destroying any hope of the Spirit being present. We got through our family prayer with me in tears and then the kids went to bed a little after 8:00. I felt like a horrible mother. But fortunately for me, children are very forgiving and it is a new day.
I went outside again with Eleanor and Zach earlier this morning, but we didn't stay out long because there wasn't much to do and Eleanor needed to go to the bathroom. The snow is icy and slippery. Eleanor and Zach tried going on the sled, but it went way too fast for Zach's liking and they nearly gave me a heart attack as they lost control and started to head toward a bunch of wood and the basketball hoop. They didn't end up crashing, but I made sure Eleanor went down the middle of the hill where she couldn't crash into anything the next few times she went down.
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Did I say I was going to clean today?
I wanted to get the living room dusted and vacuumed today and I was prepared for many interruptions and figured it would take me all day. I knew my visiting teacher was coming over for a visit and I knew it was going to be warm outside today and it would be a perfect day to play outside with the kids, so I figured in these activities as well to my long day of cleaning the living room. I managed to get a few pictures dusted and the top of the computer armoire dusted and I glued the flute back on to Zoe's angel ornament before the Booths arrived for a visit. They are fun to talk with and I can usually count on Judy bringing over some type of yummy food. She brought us some chicken soup, which is needed and is so good! After they left, Kate went down for a nap and it was lunch time, so I decided to put off my cleaning until Kate woke up because sometimes she'll sleep through the vacuum running, but sometimes she won't. I ate some soup and then decided to take Eleanor and Zach outside while Kate was sleeping. I'm glad we went out because we had a lot of fun!
Here is the start to our snowman.
Zach had fun adding snow to the snowman. Eleanor was content when the snowman had 3 sections and she moved on to make snow angels.
The finished snowman. We have a snowman kit, but it was in the bedroom where Kate was sleeping.
Sledding was the next fun activity!
Back to snow angels.
And here is Zach sitting in his "snow chair".
It was so warm outside today! I can handle being outside in the snow when it feels like Spring.
And I will end this post by saying that what I accomplished before the Booths arrived this morning was the only productive cleaning I did today. There is always tomorrow. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so it's a better day to be inside cleaning anyway.
Here is the start to our snowman.
Zach had fun adding snow to the snowman. Eleanor was content when the snowman had 3 sections and she moved on to make snow angels.
The finished snowman. We have a snowman kit, but it was in the bedroom where Kate was sleeping.
Sledding was the next fun activity!
Back to snow angels.
And here is Zach sitting in his "snow chair".
It was so warm outside today! I can handle being outside in the snow when it feels like Spring.
And I will end this post by saying that what I accomplished before the Booths arrived this morning was the only productive cleaning I did today. There is always tomorrow. It's supposed to rain tomorrow, so it's a better day to be inside cleaning anyway.
Monday, January 07, 2008
Oh where oh where has my...gone?
I couldn't find Zach's milk cup last night when I was doing dishes and I couldn't figure out where it had gone. Matt found it this morning in his boot.
I found Zach's missing shoe today which has been missing for months now. It was in the computer armoire where all the wires are. Now Emily's blanket is missing. If I have learned anything today, I should look first in the last place I would normally look!
Eleanor got herself dressed today. She wore her shirt backwards all day and I noticed about halfway through the day that instead of taking her dirty underwear off and putting clean underwear on, she put the clean underwear over the dirty underwear.
My Mom gave us popsicles awhile ago that were getting freezer burnt, so I decided to melt them and make a juice. I think I should have stopped at the slush stage. The juice is good, but it is strong. It tastes pretty good when you drink it cold, but it doesn't taste so good as it warms up. Eleanor thought it was yummy (she was the only child that had a chance to try it today with me).
Eleanor picked MouseTrap for our game this evening during Family Home Evening. It went well until I broke a piece off the plumbing piece which Matt ended up taping back on, and then the game went on forever and ever. Zoe finally had the chance to trap Emily's mouse, but then the trap didn't work. She tried again on her next turn and it didn't work again, but Matt saw why it wasn't working, fixed it, and told her to try again, which she did and she trapped Emily's mouse...which of course did not make Emily happy. We ended the game there, Zoe declaring herself the winner. Matt (who dislikes playing most games and who is still not feeling well) stated that most people build the trap and then play with the trap to catch the mice instead of playing the game and having it go on and on and on. He has a point since I can't remember actually playing the game as a kid.
I have felt pretty good today except for an itchy nose and sneezing all day. Eleanor has done well avoiding the cold. Today was the first day she has really showed any signs of the cold as she sneezed snot out of her nose throughout the day. Zach still has a runny nose, but he is back to his old self. And Kate still has a runny nose, but she is looking and feeling better too. Now if we could just get Matt feeling better.
I found Zach's missing shoe today which has been missing for months now. It was in the computer armoire where all the wires are. Now Emily's blanket is missing. If I have learned anything today, I should look first in the last place I would normally look!
Eleanor got herself dressed today. She wore her shirt backwards all day and I noticed about halfway through the day that instead of taking her dirty underwear off and putting clean underwear on, she put the clean underwear over the dirty underwear.
My Mom gave us popsicles awhile ago that were getting freezer burnt, so I decided to melt them and make a juice. I think I should have stopped at the slush stage. The juice is good, but it is strong. It tastes pretty good when you drink it cold, but it doesn't taste so good as it warms up. Eleanor thought it was yummy (she was the only child that had a chance to try it today with me).
Eleanor picked MouseTrap for our game this evening during Family Home Evening. It went well until I broke a piece off the plumbing piece which Matt ended up taping back on, and then the game went on forever and ever. Zoe finally had the chance to trap Emily's mouse, but then the trap didn't work. She tried again on her next turn and it didn't work again, but Matt saw why it wasn't working, fixed it, and told her to try again, which she did and she trapped Emily's mouse...which of course did not make Emily happy. We ended the game there, Zoe declaring herself the winner. Matt (who dislikes playing most games and who is still not feeling well) stated that most people build the trap and then play with the trap to catch the mice instead of playing the game and having it go on and on and on. He has a point since I can't remember actually playing the game as a kid.
I have felt pretty good today except for an itchy nose and sneezing all day. Eleanor has done well avoiding the cold. Today was the first day she has really showed any signs of the cold as she sneezed snot out of her nose throughout the day. Zach still has a runny nose, but he is back to his old self. And Kate still has a runny nose, but she is looking and feeling better too. Now if we could just get Matt feeling better.
Sunday, January 06, 2008
11 Months Old
Kate is 11 months old today! This picture was actually taken a few weeks ago when she was healthy. Kate wants to be able to stand up on her own, but she's not quite there yet. She did stand on her own for about 4 seconds this evening. She likes it when we try to get her to take a step, but usually she just leans into the person she is supposed to be walking to.
The kids and I stayed home from church today. Matt should have stayed home too since he is feeling worse than I am, but he was conducting in Sacrament meeting today, so I think he felt obligated to go. When he got home, he could barely talk. The day wasn't as long as I expected. The kids kept themselves busy and Zach and Kate are feeling better so they played and weren't so clingy. Kate woke up cranky from her nap, but I think that's from the top teeth she is getting. I was able to relax quite a bit. We watched some church movies in the morning and then I read from the Ensign (a church magazine) while the kids played. Of course in the middle of movie watching and reading the kids wanted to eat constantly and diapers needed to be changed, but for the most part it was relaxing.
I have been making CDs this afternoon with the 2008 Primary songs on them to give to families with children and our teachers. I found a neat CD label for the front of the CD case at The Idea Door. This has become a favorite site of mine for Primary!
We've decided to give Zoe and Emily two chores to do each day that we will pay them for. One of them will be dishes, but we're not sure on the second chore. Any suggestions? Matt suggested sweeping the kitchen floor, but the girls didn't want to do that...which in the end may not matter and they'll get that chore anyway. Zoe wants the same two chores everyday, but Emily would like a different chore each day besides the dishes. So as of right now, they each have one chore each day that they're going to do and will get paid for until we decide about the second one.
We have a new family goal to read the Book of Mormon together this year from the "real" scriptures. Usually we read from the children's version of the scriptures. Zoe is very excited about this goal and she loved participating in the reading tonight. Zoe and Emily both got new scriptures with a scripture bag and a little Primary songbook for Christmas, so they were excited to get their scriptures out to follow along. Emily couldn't follow along as well and got frustrated, but she sat reverently and listened. One chapter down, many to go!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Basketball, ice skating, & colds
I signed Zoe & Emily up for basketball today. Practices start next Saturday. Emily goes from 8-8:45 and Zoe goes from 10-11. Luckily my Dad enjoys watching the girls practice, so he's willing to help us out. Matt has a meeting all day next Saturday so instead of me taking all 5 kids to the practices, my Dad is willing to take Zoe & Emily. That will help make next Saturday easier for me.
I took Zoe, Emily, & Eleanor ice skating at our town's outdoor rink. The ice wasn't very thick and it was very bumpy, but the girls didn't care. Eleanor walked around on the ice with her boots, which she thought was lots of fun. I walked around in my boots too since I didn't take the time to dig my skates out of the closet. Maybe next time. If there is a next time...we have a habit of going ice skating once a winter, but maybe this winter will be different since it's only January whereas we usually go in February or March. The downside of ice skating is the best ice is during the very cold weather...when I'd rather be in my warm home.
I'm getting the cold and I'm not surprised. The kids are on their way to bed and I think I'm going to bed, too.
I took Zoe, Emily, & Eleanor ice skating at our town's outdoor rink. The ice wasn't very thick and it was very bumpy, but the girls didn't care. Eleanor walked around on the ice with her boots, which she thought was lots of fun. I walked around in my boots too since I didn't take the time to dig my skates out of the closet. Maybe next time. If there is a next time...we have a habit of going ice skating once a winter, but maybe this winter will be different since it's only January whereas we usually go in February or March. The downside of ice skating is the best ice is during the very cold weather...when I'd rather be in my warm home.
I'm getting the cold and I'm not surprised. The kids are on their way to bed and I think I'm going to bed, too.
Friday, January 04, 2008
Being at home CAN be fun
Zach and Kate are feeling better today. Yesterday drained my energy, so I haven't done much today. I did make it to my doctor's appointment this afternoon. Matt came home from work early so I was able to go to my appointment by myself. Everyone at the doctor's office was surprised to see me alone. It was nice. The baby sounds healthy, but my doctor wouldn't confirm that it sounded like a boy. I guess we'll have to wait for the ultrasound which is scheduled for February 6th...Kate's 1st birthday! Does it freak you out a little that Kate is turning 1 and I'll be half way through this pregnancy. Yeah, me too.
Once upon a time Friday night used to mean dinner at Pizzeria Uno for me and Matt and my Mom would watch the kids. Because of a tight budget...or no budget...Friday night has become another night at home doing nothing (in Zoe's eyes) and Emily feels the same way I guess since this morning she mentioned that Fridays used to be fun. I thought she meant being in Kindergarten since Fridays are the fun day with gym, library, art, music, and a special activity, but what she was really talking about was having my Mom come babysit or sleeping over at my parents' home. I decided we needed to do something fun tonight, so with a $2.00 contribution from Zoe and Emily and digging in my coat pocket for change and using some money I had left in my checking account and using a free rental from Movie Gallery (which I get once a month because I only go there when they give me a free rental because they haven't seen me in awhile) I was able to get a movie -"Meet the Robinsons" and I brought home food from McDonald's for dinner. I have learned that the kids eat much better when I order from the $1 menu instead of getting them Happy Meals. So, Zoe and Emily perked up about the evening when they realized they would be doing something fun. I'm glad. I am finding it interesting that Emily and Eleanor find this movie scarier than Peter Pan.
I have left out the scene of me giving the cashier at the grocery store $6.41 in change for milk, bread, and salad dressing (why don't they have thousand island dressing at McDonald's???). I thought these 3 items would come to $6.01 so I was all prepared with my change before I got to the checkout so I wouldn't take so much time counting change while others waited, but it came to $6.41, so the poor guy behind me had to wait while I dug out 40 cents from my coat pocket in pennies and nickels. Then I thought I had given the cashier 40 cents, but I had only given her 37 cents, so I had to dig some more. I only had to use 1 penny from the change container that other people had contributed to (I guess I should contribute to that in the future). I'm sure I looked pretty pathetic paying all in change, but I was pretty relieved that I had enough change to get everything I needed!
Once upon a time Friday night used to mean dinner at Pizzeria Uno for me and Matt and my Mom would watch the kids. Because of a tight budget...or no budget...Friday night has become another night at home doing nothing (in Zoe's eyes) and Emily feels the same way I guess since this morning she mentioned that Fridays used to be fun. I thought she meant being in Kindergarten since Fridays are the fun day with gym, library, art, music, and a special activity, but what she was really talking about was having my Mom come babysit or sleeping over at my parents' home. I decided we needed to do something fun tonight, so with a $2.00 contribution from Zoe and Emily and digging in my coat pocket for change and using some money I had left in my checking account and using a free rental from Movie Gallery (which I get once a month because I only go there when they give me a free rental because they haven't seen me in awhile) I was able to get a movie -"Meet the Robinsons" and I brought home food from McDonald's for dinner. I have learned that the kids eat much better when I order from the $1 menu instead of getting them Happy Meals. So, Zoe and Emily perked up about the evening when they realized they would be doing something fun. I'm glad. I am finding it interesting that Emily and Eleanor find this movie scarier than Peter Pan.
I have left out the scene of me giving the cashier at the grocery store $6.41 in change for milk, bread, and salad dressing (why don't they have thousand island dressing at McDonald's???). I thought these 3 items would come to $6.01 so I was all prepared with my change before I got to the checkout so I wouldn't take so much time counting change while others waited, but it came to $6.41, so the poor guy behind me had to wait while I dug out 40 cents from my coat pocket in pennies and nickels. Then I thought I had given the cashier 40 cents, but I had only given her 37 cents, so I had to dig some more. I only had to use 1 penny from the change container that other people had contributed to (I guess I should contribute to that in the future). I'm sure I looked pretty pathetic paying all in change, but I was pretty relieved that I had enough change to get everything I needed!
Inspiration we could all use
One of my favorite blogs to read is Notes from the Trenches. Here is a homeschooling mom of 7 who seems to have it all together and is hysterically funny. She has created a new site to write about her family's upcoming year of buying only what they NEED. Not because of money, but because of the amount of stuff that one can accumulate from too many shopping trips. If you'd like to cut back on your spending or simplify your life, this new blog could help you. A year off
This blog is still under construction, but she already has some posts up. Enjoy!
This blog is still under construction, but she already has some posts up. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 03, 2008
Another me would have been nice today
Zoe and Emily went to school today. Emily was stuffed up this morning, but she was feeling good, so we decided she should go to school (Emily agreed). But after school she came home with a headache and has been sleeping since. Zoe complained of a headache too, but I'm wondering if she just didn't want to put away the dishes since Emily was excused from washing the dishes.
I have spent the majority of my day holding Zach and Kate who are both miserable. It gets interesting when I am holding both of them and they wake each other up with a movement. It becomes a pattern of both of them crying, fall asleep, one of them moves and wakes the other who starts to cry and they both start to cry, fall asleep,... They didn't sleep well last night and I'm not optimistic that tonight is going to be any better.
Poor Eleanor has been bored with no one to play with today. I asked her this morning if she liked it better when Zoe and Emily were home or at school. She thought about it for a minute and then said she likes it better when they are home so she can watch them play. She said that they often won't let her play with them, but that's okay because she watches them play and it's fun! At one point today she wanted me to hold her when I was holding Zach and Kate. She looked so sad when I told her I couldn't. It has been a tough day.
I have spent the majority of my day holding Zach and Kate who are both miserable. It gets interesting when I am holding both of them and they wake each other up with a movement. It becomes a pattern of both of them crying, fall asleep, one of them moves and wakes the other who starts to cry and they both start to cry, fall asleep,... They didn't sleep well last night and I'm not optimistic that tonight is going to be any better.
Poor Eleanor has been bored with no one to play with today. I asked her this morning if she liked it better when Zoe and Emily were home or at school. She thought about it for a minute and then said she likes it better when they are home so she can watch them play. She said that they often won't let her play with them, but that's okay because she watches them play and it's fun! At one point today she wanted me to hold her when I was holding Zach and Kate. She looked so sad when I told her I couldn't. It has been a tough day.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Another day done
I am exhausted! Today did end up being a snow day and Matt had church meetings this evening and he's not home yet, so it has been a loooong day. I am ready for Zoe and Emily to go back to school tomorrow. Zoe is hoping for another snow day, but since there is no snow in the forecast for tonight/tomorrow, I told her to get in school-mode because she is going tomorrow! It is going to be very cold though, so I bet they'll be inside all day. I hope the teachers are rested up for that. I don't feel bad, it's their turn. Now having said all that, Emily may end up staying home tomorrow because she is getting the cold Zoe had. She has been doing pretty good today, which means tomorrow could be the day she feels the worst, we'll see. Zach is doing better today, but I am still wiping his nose constantly. Kate has the cold now too. She took a half hour nap this morning (she never takes a long nap) and almost fell asleep a couple of times this afternoon, but got woken up both times and refused to fall asleep again. So by 7:00 she was exhausted! Matt didn't feel good when he woke up this morning. It's only a matter of time I'm sure before I am sick and everyone will be taking care of me...HA HA! I just put the board up to the kids' room because they keep coming into the living room for one reason or another. They tend to do that when Matt is not here in the evening.
I am almost done taking our Christmas decorations down. We took the tree down yesterday, which bummed the kids out. I think they would be content to have it up all year long. All of the new toys are now put away and our living room is getting back to its pre-Christmas state.
I had the kids each write a thank-you card to their Grandma & Grandpa this morning for the gifts they received for Christmas. I also got a birthday card out, so I felt super productive by 9:30am. I actually got done the one thing I was determined to do today. :-) I had to do it before any of us got ready for the day, so we wouldn't get distracted with other things. It worked.
I've been thinking about the fun activities that we do together as a family or things that I do with the children at Christmastime and I'd like to make an effort this year to do more activities together during each holiday. I'm toying with the idea of wrapping Valentine books for them to unwrap each night leading up to Valentine's Day, but I'm wondering if that would make it less special at Christmastime with the Christmas books. What do you think? I'd like to come up with an easy Valentine craft and/or card for the kids to make for their classmates and friends. I usually have lots of ideas at this time of year for Valentine's Day, but they don't usually happen. When Zoe was about 4 and Emily 2, I gave them each small gifts each day for about a week leading up to Valentine's Day, which Zoe remembers, but I haven't done anything like that since.
I had the kids watch a few movies on Netflix today because most of us are tired of their new movies they have been watching over and over again. First they watched C.H.O.M.P. which is about a robotic dog. Zoe and Emily got into it, but Eleanor and Zach lost interest pretty quick. I had originally told them they could watch one movie, but since Eleanor didn't watch most of the dog movie and wanted to watch "Peter Pan" I figured I would let her watch it. I didn't pay close attention to what the Peter Pan movie was. Zoe mentioned it was a musical, so there would be a lot of singing. I knew it was under the family section and it was rated NR. They started watching it and I put Christmas decorations away. I paid little attention to the movie until the girls started saying "gross" and they were freaked out a bit. I watched it for awhile with them and wondered if I had misread the rating because this movie was definitely not rated NR and I was skeptical that it was rated G. I still wonder if I should have turned it off, but they had already watched a lot of the movie and even though it had some gross pirate scenes and a lot of action, the movie was pretty clean and they were enjoying it. I guess I wasn't up for the whining and complaining that would happen if I did turn it off. I just kept hoping that I wasn't letting my kids watch a PG-13 movie. When the movie was over, I looked at the movie rating and description again and it was supposed to be a musical with a NR rating and I noticed the reviews for the movie commented on the fact that the movie that played was not the movie they advertised. So anyway, the kids ended up watching the 2003 make of the movie Peter Pan which is rated PG, which made me feel better that during my weak moment I let them watch something that normally I wouldn't let them watch, but it wasn't something that really wasn't appropriate for them. Can you tell I'm feeling guilty about this? I'm very strict about what my kids watch and I have yet to feel comfortable with even Zoe watching PG movies. I don't like showing my kids a movie when I have read that some of the material in the movie may not be appropriate for children. My children will be the only children allowed for the first time to see PG movies at the age of 13 instead of PG-13 movies...because can you really picture yourself watching a PG-13 movie with your 13 year old? I can't.
I am almost done taking our Christmas decorations down. We took the tree down yesterday, which bummed the kids out. I think they would be content to have it up all year long. All of the new toys are now put away and our living room is getting back to its pre-Christmas state.
I had the kids each write a thank-you card to their Grandma & Grandpa this morning for the gifts they received for Christmas. I also got a birthday card out, so I felt super productive by 9:30am. I actually got done the one thing I was determined to do today. :-) I had to do it before any of us got ready for the day, so we wouldn't get distracted with other things. It worked.
I've been thinking about the fun activities that we do together as a family or things that I do with the children at Christmastime and I'd like to make an effort this year to do more activities together during each holiday. I'm toying with the idea of wrapping Valentine books for them to unwrap each night leading up to Valentine's Day, but I'm wondering if that would make it less special at Christmastime with the Christmas books. What do you think? I'd like to come up with an easy Valentine craft and/or card for the kids to make for their classmates and friends. I usually have lots of ideas at this time of year for Valentine's Day, but they don't usually happen. When Zoe was about 4 and Emily 2, I gave them each small gifts each day for about a week leading up to Valentine's Day, which Zoe remembers, but I haven't done anything like that since.
I had the kids watch a few movies on Netflix today because most of us are tired of their new movies they have been watching over and over again. First they watched C.H.O.M.P. which is about a robotic dog. Zoe and Emily got into it, but Eleanor and Zach lost interest pretty quick. I had originally told them they could watch one movie, but since Eleanor didn't watch most of the dog movie and wanted to watch "Peter Pan" I figured I would let her watch it. I didn't pay close attention to what the Peter Pan movie was. Zoe mentioned it was a musical, so there would be a lot of singing. I knew it was under the family section and it was rated NR. They started watching it and I put Christmas decorations away. I paid little attention to the movie until the girls started saying "gross" and they were freaked out a bit. I watched it for awhile with them and wondered if I had misread the rating because this movie was definitely not rated NR and I was skeptical that it was rated G. I still wonder if I should have turned it off, but they had already watched a lot of the movie and even though it had some gross pirate scenes and a lot of action, the movie was pretty clean and they were enjoying it. I guess I wasn't up for the whining and complaining that would happen if I did turn it off. I just kept hoping that I wasn't letting my kids watch a PG-13 movie. When the movie was over, I looked at the movie rating and description again and it was supposed to be a musical with a NR rating and I noticed the reviews for the movie commented on the fact that the movie that played was not the movie they advertised. So anyway, the kids ended up watching the 2003 make of the movie Peter Pan which is rated PG, which made me feel better that during my weak moment I let them watch something that normally I wouldn't let them watch, but it wasn't something that really wasn't appropriate for them. Can you tell I'm feeling guilty about this? I'm very strict about what my kids watch and I have yet to feel comfortable with even Zoe watching PG movies. I don't like showing my kids a movie when I have read that some of the material in the movie may not be appropriate for children. My children will be the only children allowed for the first time to see PG movies at the age of 13 instead of PG-13 movies...because can you really picture yourself watching a PG-13 movie with your 13 year old? I can't.
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Happy New Year!
And we start out 2008 with another snow storm. I like the snow, especially when I am enjoying it from my warm and cozy home. We need a light outside our living room window, so I can watch the snow coming down in the evening. During these evenings, I often think of a lady professor I had in college who talked about watching the snow fall in the evenings out her big picture window in her living room as she had a fire going in her fireplace. That sounds so nice. I can't see the snow falling in the evenings very well and I want to, so that is a request of mine for our new house. :-)
Zoe and Emily are supposed to go back to school tomorrow, but it's looking like they may have a snow day instead. Zoe prayed for one this evening.
Zach's cold is getting worse. I thought he was going to be up all night last night, but after giving him some medicine around 11:30 he slept the rest of the night. He took a nap today, which is unusual for him. If we're home all day my kids, except for Kate stay up all day (which is how I get my kids to sleep at 7pm!), but if we go for a ride in the afternoon then Zach and Eleanor usually fall asleep. So when Zach wanted me to cuddle with him late this morning I knew he wasn't feeling good.
I escaped for about 3 hours this afternoon while Zach and Kate napped and the girls and Matt were outside. I went to play Phase 10 with my Mom. It's nice that we can play cards now and we don't have to take turns holding Kate.
I wasn't lazy this morning and I got Eleanor dressed. I asked her if I could do her hair and Zoe excitedly volunteered to do Eleanor's hair. Eleanor liked that idea and I did too since Zoe is much better at hair styling than I am. It was fun to watch Zoe braid Eleanor's hair and put barrettes in it. Eleanor always looks so cute with her hair up, but she never leaves it up for long, which is why I usually don't do her hair because it is a waste of time.
My kids have watched "The Island Princess" and "High School Musical 2" way too much this past week!
And I forgot to mention this last night, but as I was typing my last post Matt went into the bedroom to see what the commotion in there was about and came out to tell me that Eleanor was laying under her mattress (which is on the floor) and Emily was on top of the mattress surfing. No wonder Eleanor was making noise!
Zoe and Emily are supposed to go back to school tomorrow, but it's looking like they may have a snow day instead. Zoe prayed for one this evening.
Zach's cold is getting worse. I thought he was going to be up all night last night, but after giving him some medicine around 11:30 he slept the rest of the night. He took a nap today, which is unusual for him. If we're home all day my kids, except for Kate stay up all day (which is how I get my kids to sleep at 7pm!), but if we go for a ride in the afternoon then Zach and Eleanor usually fall asleep. So when Zach wanted me to cuddle with him late this morning I knew he wasn't feeling good.
I escaped for about 3 hours this afternoon while Zach and Kate napped and the girls and Matt were outside. I went to play Phase 10 with my Mom. It's nice that we can play cards now and we don't have to take turns holding Kate.
I wasn't lazy this morning and I got Eleanor dressed. I asked her if I could do her hair and Zoe excitedly volunteered to do Eleanor's hair. Eleanor liked that idea and I did too since Zoe is much better at hair styling than I am. It was fun to watch Zoe braid Eleanor's hair and put barrettes in it. Eleanor always looks so cute with her hair up, but she never leaves it up for long, which is why I usually don't do her hair because it is a waste of time.
My kids have watched "The Island Princess" and "High School Musical 2" way too much this past week!
And I forgot to mention this last night, but as I was typing my last post Matt went into the bedroom to see what the commotion in there was about and came out to tell me that Eleanor was laying under her mattress (which is on the floor) and Emily was on top of the mattress surfing. No wonder Eleanor was making noise!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Goodbye 2007
When I started blogging, I didn't expect to "meet" such wonderful fellow bloggers. You are awesome and I appreciate your encouraging comments and I also enjoy reading your blogs. And I also appreciate family members who comment on my blog and tell me personally how much they appreciate being kept up to date. I needed this boost to continue blogging, so THANK YOU!
It is 7:14pm and the kids are in bed. It crossed my mind awhile ago to let the kids stay up tonight to welcome in the new year (those who could stay awake long enough), but I came to my senses today and realized that by 7pm I am more than ready for them to be in bed and to have adult time with Matt. I am so glad I never mentioned my silly idea to the kids! Especially since I have no desire to stay up that late myself. I think I'll be lucky to see 9pm.
Zoe is feeling better today. Emily woke up complaining of a sore throat, but she has been fine the rest of the day. I have been wiping Zach's nose all day.
This evening Zoe realized that it is Family Home Evening night as we were playing a game of Trouble (Matt, me, Zoe, and Emily). We were planning on visiting some friends this afternoon, so we didn't plan on our normal Family Home Evening for tonight. We didn't end up going to our friends' home because it has been snowing all day. So Zoe couldn't understand why it was Monday night and we weren't having our lesson, scripture, game, and treat. It's nice that our kids enjoy Family Home Evening and they look forward to it. We do need to get back into our routine since we didn't have it tonight, last week was Christmas Eve and we were at my parents' home, and the week before that we put up our Christmas tree.
Eleanor spent the day in her pajamas. She tends to get neglected in the morning when all the kids are home because she is busy playing and she hates to stop to get dressed and by the time I get Zach and Kate ready for the day, I don't have the energy to fight with Eleanor. I think she would be content to stay in her pajamas all the time. She was happy this evening when it was time to get pajamas on and she didn't have to change!
Kate had fun with the toilet paper this morning. Every once in a while she will venture into the bathroom and discover the roll of toilet paper on the floor, so she tears what she can into little pieces until someone catches her.
Matt got paid some money today, so we treated ourselves to Chinese food for a late lunch, early dinner. I must be feeling better because Chinese food actually sounded good, it tasted good, and I don't feel sick now. The kids always turn their noses up at Chinese food, so they ate tuna fish sandwiches and chips before Matt got back with the Chinese food. Matt and I were able to sit together and eat peacefully...except for Kate who was more than willing to try Chinese food and loved it of course!
So tomorrow is a new year. I love starting a new year! There are a few things I would like to improve on this year like being more consistent with Thank you cards (I'm good at birthday cards, but thank you cards have never been a strength) and I'd like to be more giving to people around me who are in need or who have special events going on in their lives. We are blessed so much by things our friends and family give to us and I want to help others more and let them know that I care and am thinking of them. Often times I will have a thought to do something, but I don't act on it because of finances or I think what I have to offer isn't good enough, so my goal this year is to make those thoughts happen.
I'm getting the feeling that 2008 is going to be a good year for us. I'd really like to end the child-bearing, trailer-living chapter of our lives and move into the raise the children we have, live in our new home chapter. I joke that my new year's resolution is to stop having babies (of course that would be after July!). I feel like if Matt sticks with his job and we are patient that things are going to start falling into place. I really hope that it works out that way. So here is to a great 2008! Cheers.
It is 7:14pm and the kids are in bed. It crossed my mind awhile ago to let the kids stay up tonight to welcome in the new year (those who could stay awake long enough), but I came to my senses today and realized that by 7pm I am more than ready for them to be in bed and to have adult time with Matt. I am so glad I never mentioned my silly idea to the kids! Especially since I have no desire to stay up that late myself. I think I'll be lucky to see 9pm.
Zoe is feeling better today. Emily woke up complaining of a sore throat, but she has been fine the rest of the day. I have been wiping Zach's nose all day.
This evening Zoe realized that it is Family Home Evening night as we were playing a game of Trouble (Matt, me, Zoe, and Emily). We were planning on visiting some friends this afternoon, so we didn't plan on our normal Family Home Evening for tonight. We didn't end up going to our friends' home because it has been snowing all day. So Zoe couldn't understand why it was Monday night and we weren't having our lesson, scripture, game, and treat. It's nice that our kids enjoy Family Home Evening and they look forward to it. We do need to get back into our routine since we didn't have it tonight, last week was Christmas Eve and we were at my parents' home, and the week before that we put up our Christmas tree.
Eleanor spent the day in her pajamas. She tends to get neglected in the morning when all the kids are home because she is busy playing and she hates to stop to get dressed and by the time I get Zach and Kate ready for the day, I don't have the energy to fight with Eleanor. I think she would be content to stay in her pajamas all the time. She was happy this evening when it was time to get pajamas on and she didn't have to change!
Kate had fun with the toilet paper this morning. Every once in a while she will venture into the bathroom and discover the roll of toilet paper on the floor, so she tears what she can into little pieces until someone catches her.
Matt got paid some money today, so we treated ourselves to Chinese food for a late lunch, early dinner. I must be feeling better because Chinese food actually sounded good, it tasted good, and I don't feel sick now. The kids always turn their noses up at Chinese food, so they ate tuna fish sandwiches and chips before Matt got back with the Chinese food. Matt and I were able to sit together and eat peacefully...except for Kate who was more than willing to try Chinese food and loved it of course!
So tomorrow is a new year. I love starting a new year! There are a few things I would like to improve on this year like being more consistent with Thank you cards (I'm good at birthday cards, but thank you cards have never been a strength) and I'd like to be more giving to people around me who are in need or who have special events going on in their lives. We are blessed so much by things our friends and family give to us and I want to help others more and let them know that I care and am thinking of them. Often times I will have a thought to do something, but I don't act on it because of finances or I think what I have to offer isn't good enough, so my goal this year is to make those thoughts happen.
I'm getting the feeling that 2008 is going to be a good year for us. I'd really like to end the child-bearing, trailer-living chapter of our lives and move into the raise the children we have, live in our new home chapter. I joke that my new year's resolution is to stop having babies (of course that would be after July!). I feel like if Matt sticks with his job and we are patient that things are going to start falling into place. I really hope that it works out that way. So here is to a great 2008! Cheers.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Why I blog
Having a blog appealed to me because it gave me one spot to share what is going on in our family with our other family members, especially Matt's family in Utah. Before my blog, I would sit down at night to write in my journal...and then some of those things I would write about on our MyFamily site and then write the same things to family and friends through e-mail. I started to dread writing about things because it was such a long process. The blog idea would simplify this process and I would use it as my journal. It was a bonus that I could share pictures and movies too. Lately I find myself not wanting to write because things around here are just not that exciting and do people other than our family really want to know every detail that goes on around here? So today I had the thought of digging out my "real" journal and start writing in that again. But then I realized that that wasn't the solution, I just need to stick with my original reason for starting this blog which is to record history and share with family and friends. I have been keeping a journal since before I could read and write. I go through phases in my writing where I'll write every day or once a week or months go by between entries, but I have always kept a journal. This is my strength...and I was quite pleased when I realized this strength of mine because I have always wondered what my passion in life is. It is record-keeping. I love looking back and reading what I was doing a year ago, 5 years ago, and so on. It seems silly at times to write about the everyday things that are going on, but in the future I will appreciate what I have written. It's hard for me to believe at times, but I will not be changing diapers, nursing, feeding children every 5 minutes,...forever, so the record I keep now will be cherished as I sit in an empty house (which really sounds good to me at this point in my life!) and read about my crazy days as a mother of young children. I'm going to do my best to write every night, to recap what went on that day. Details get forgotten so quickly!
So, here is the unfinished igloo that the kids and Matt made yesterday.
Zoe loves to be outside, so she gets excited when Matt has a project outside for the kids to do, like camp Bravo. Emily tolerates being outside. She goes along with the project because Zoe is doing it...and because Matt doesn't give her a choice in the matter. She always has fun and wants to do it again...until the next time comes. Eleanor gets excited about the projects, but then loses interest the quickest. She was the first to come in from building the igloo. Zach wasn't too far behind her as he got tired of standing out in the snow watching his sisters and Dad build an igloo. He lasts much longer outside when it's warmer. Kate gets the privilege of staying inside with me...until she can walk and is woods qualified. And I suspect in the future we will all be outside together, but right now I'm not willing to be outside with a non-walker. Every season has a reason...too cold and snowy, too buggy, too sunny, too chilly. Carrying a child around outside is not fun, especially when you live on a hill! I'm hoping that as our little ones get older, I will like being outside more...it could happen.
Zoe has a bad cold, so she stayed "home" with my Mom while the rest of us went to church. My Mom opted to stay at her house with Zoe because I thought I was going to be in charge of Primary today and staying with Zoe sounded much better to my Mom than taking my place in Primary. But I was pleasantly surprised when the Young Women President and young women showed up the 3rd hour to take over Primary so the Primary leaders and teachers could go to the combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting. So I didn't end up being in charge and I can use what I had planned for this Sunday next Sunday. :-) And going to the combined meeting made me appreciate my calling in Primary. Primary is much more fun! (Sorry Courtney, your lesson was very good, it's just hard to sit and listen when you're used to singing and playing)
Kate was entertaining as she displayed her ballerina moves, which I have never seen before. She would lift a leg up behind her or off to the side, put it down, and then lift up her other leg. It was so cute, she looked just like a little dancer.
Kate wasn't so cute during Sacrament meeting as she was screeching and trying to crawl up to the stand. I ended up going into the Primary room with Zach and Kate to listen to the talks. It wasn't that long ago when Eleanor refused to sit through Sacrament meeting and now she lasts all through the meeting with no problems. This helps me to remember that Zach and Kate will get past this wiggly stage too.
I love, love, love that Kate goes to bed with her siblings now and she sleeps through the night. It is so nice!
So, here is the unfinished igloo that the kids and Matt made yesterday.
Zoe loves to be outside, so she gets excited when Matt has a project outside for the kids to do, like camp Bravo. Emily tolerates being outside. She goes along with the project because Zoe is doing it...and because Matt doesn't give her a choice in the matter. She always has fun and wants to do it again...until the next time comes. Eleanor gets excited about the projects, but then loses interest the quickest. She was the first to come in from building the igloo. Zach wasn't too far behind her as he got tired of standing out in the snow watching his sisters and Dad build an igloo. He lasts much longer outside when it's warmer. Kate gets the privilege of staying inside with me...until she can walk and is woods qualified. And I suspect in the future we will all be outside together, but right now I'm not willing to be outside with a non-walker. Every season has a reason...too cold and snowy, too buggy, too sunny, too chilly. Carrying a child around outside is not fun, especially when you live on a hill! I'm hoping that as our little ones get older, I will like being outside more...it could happen.
Zoe has a bad cold, so she stayed "home" with my Mom while the rest of us went to church. My Mom opted to stay at her house with Zoe because I thought I was going to be in charge of Primary today and staying with Zoe sounded much better to my Mom than taking my place in Primary. But I was pleasantly surprised when the Young Women President and young women showed up the 3rd hour to take over Primary so the Primary leaders and teachers could go to the combined Priesthood/Relief Society meeting. So I didn't end up being in charge and I can use what I had planned for this Sunday next Sunday. :-) And going to the combined meeting made me appreciate my calling in Primary. Primary is much more fun! (Sorry Courtney, your lesson was very good, it's just hard to sit and listen when you're used to singing and playing)
Kate was entertaining as she displayed her ballerina moves, which I have never seen before. She would lift a leg up behind her or off to the side, put it down, and then lift up her other leg. It was so cute, she looked just like a little dancer.
Kate wasn't so cute during Sacrament meeting as she was screeching and trying to crawl up to the stand. I ended up going into the Primary room with Zach and Kate to listen to the talks. It wasn't that long ago when Eleanor refused to sit through Sacrament meeting and now she lasts all through the meeting with no problems. This helps me to remember that Zach and Kate will get past this wiggly stage too.
I love, love, love that Kate goes to bed with her siblings now and she sleeps through the night. It is so nice!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Another tooth!
Matt discovered Kate's new tooth yesterday. She has her 2 front bottom teeth, so I've been checking on top in the front, but haven't seen anything. Somehow Matt saw a tooth coming in next to her front top tooth . Shouldn't the front ones be coming in first? I think she's going to look funny with no front teeth on the top and one in on the side. Hopefully her front teeth will come in soon!
Tuesday, December 25, 2007
Merry Christmas!
I don't like going a week without writing, but we have been busy, busy as I'm sure you have been too! Where did I leave off?...oh yeah, last Wednesday night the kids and I made sugar cookies and Christmas cards for Zoe and Emily to take to school on Thursday. Thursday ended up being a snow day, so they brought the cookies and cards in on Friday. Friday was a half day. Zoe and the other 3rd graders put on a Christmas concert/play that Matt, Eleanor, Zach, Kate, my Mom, my Dad, and I went to that morning. Zoe was a bell (Sol) and she did great remembering her 2 lines and singing the songs. I wish I would have brought my camera!
My Mom watched the kids for me while I went back to the school at 11:00 to help out in Emily's class while they made sundaes. Then I left with Zoe and Emily, which made them very happy because they are always wondering when they can be picked up from school instead of riding the bus. We spent the day with my Mom and I made Matt applesauce cookies that I gave to him today as a gift. He thought this would be his first Christmas without his favorite cookies and he was happy that he was wrong! Christmas surprises are so much fun. :-)
My Dad's birthday was on Friday. My Mom bought him a picture that he really wanted, so that was a fun surprise for her to give to him.
Part of Saturday was spent delivering cookies and Christmas cards to friends (Andrea did you find yours?) and we went to a Christmas party in the evening at Don and Terri's. Matt rents his office from Don and they are fast becoming great friends. Eleanor loved their dogs and Zach loved climbing up their stairs and sliding down on his bum. We ate a lot of delicious seafood and other food and left there very full!
During the 3rd hour of church on Sunday, the primary children put on a Christmas play for everyone. Eleanor was Mary, Zoe was an innkeeper, an angel, and a wise man, Emily was an angel and a wise man. They had a great time performing and it went well...even though I had them sing a song before they were supposed to.
Yesterday was filled with excitement and anticipation for Santa and opening presents today. The kids and I made more sugar cookies in the morning and then I made Kate's ornament. The girls each have a red ball ornament with their name, date of birth, and white dots and Zach has a blue one.
The kids and I spent the afternoon at my parents while Matt wrapped some gifts he had bought and he delivered cookies to some families from church. Matt joined us for dinner and we enjoyed a lasagna dinner with my parents and my grandmother. We watched "How the Grinch stole Christmas" before coming home. We read the last of our Christmas books, including "The night before Christmas" and put sugar cookies out for Santa before the kids went to bed. They were very excited for the morning to come of course! I spent the rest of the evening putting our sausage/egg casserole together and putting the bread ingredients in the bread machine pan to cook in the morning. We put gifts under the tree and I remembered that I hadn't wrapped my parents' gift, so I did that before going to bed. Matt still had more wrapping to do, so he stayed up a little later. I think Christmas Eve is just as much fun, if not more so than Christmas day because of the anticipation for Christmas morning. Plus we are usually together and spending some time with my family. It's always a fun day.
We were up at 5:40 this morning. The kids opened their stocking gifts and waited for 7:00 when my parents would arrive for breakfast. They did really well considering how long they had to wait to open their gifts. We ate our yummy casserole, bread, and cinnamon rolls and then discovered that Zach had unwrapped a few gifts after he was done eating (I guess he had waited long enough!). He opened one of Zoe's gifts, but the gift was still in the box so luckily she couldn't see what it was, and he opened my grandmother's gift. By the time all the presents were unwrapped our house was a complete disaster. But the kids were happy with their gifts and they were anxious to play. Zoe and Emily love their new American girl dolls, Eleanor loves her My Little Pony toys, Barbies, and playdoh, Zach loves his front end loader and race track, and Kate has been checking out all the toys. I have been trying to keep up with the mess, but finally gave up this afternoon! It has been a fun Christmas and I hope your Christmas has been fun, too!
My Mom watched the kids for me while I went back to the school at 11:00 to help out in Emily's class while they made sundaes. Then I left with Zoe and Emily, which made them very happy because they are always wondering when they can be picked up from school instead of riding the bus. We spent the day with my Mom and I made Matt applesauce cookies that I gave to him today as a gift. He thought this would be his first Christmas without his favorite cookies and he was happy that he was wrong! Christmas surprises are so much fun. :-)
My Dad's birthday was on Friday. My Mom bought him a picture that he really wanted, so that was a fun surprise for her to give to him.
Part of Saturday was spent delivering cookies and Christmas cards to friends (Andrea did you find yours?) and we went to a Christmas party in the evening at Don and Terri's. Matt rents his office from Don and they are fast becoming great friends. Eleanor loved their dogs and Zach loved climbing up their stairs and sliding down on his bum. We ate a lot of delicious seafood and other food and left there very full!
During the 3rd hour of church on Sunday, the primary children put on a Christmas play for everyone. Eleanor was Mary, Zoe was an innkeeper, an angel, and a wise man, Emily was an angel and a wise man. They had a great time performing and it went well...even though I had them sing a song before they were supposed to.
Yesterday was filled with excitement and anticipation for Santa and opening presents today. The kids and I made more sugar cookies in the morning and then I made Kate's ornament. The girls each have a red ball ornament with their name, date of birth, and white dots and Zach has a blue one.
The kids and I spent the afternoon at my parents while Matt wrapped some gifts he had bought and he delivered cookies to some families from church. Matt joined us for dinner and we enjoyed a lasagna dinner with my parents and my grandmother. We watched "How the Grinch stole Christmas" before coming home. We read the last of our Christmas books, including "The night before Christmas" and put sugar cookies out for Santa before the kids went to bed. They were very excited for the morning to come of course! I spent the rest of the evening putting our sausage/egg casserole together and putting the bread ingredients in the bread machine pan to cook in the morning. We put gifts under the tree and I remembered that I hadn't wrapped my parents' gift, so I did that before going to bed. Matt still had more wrapping to do, so he stayed up a little later. I think Christmas Eve is just as much fun, if not more so than Christmas day because of the anticipation for Christmas morning. Plus we are usually together and spending some time with my family. It's always a fun day.
We were up at 5:40 this morning. The kids opened their stocking gifts and waited for 7:00 when my parents would arrive for breakfast. They did really well considering how long they had to wait to open their gifts. We ate our yummy casserole, bread, and cinnamon rolls and then discovered that Zach had unwrapped a few gifts after he was done eating (I guess he had waited long enough!). He opened one of Zoe's gifts, but the gift was still in the box so luckily she couldn't see what it was, and he opened my grandmother's gift. By the time all the presents were unwrapped our house was a complete disaster. But the kids were happy with their gifts and they were anxious to play. Zoe and Emily love their new American girl dolls, Eleanor loves her My Little Pony toys, Barbies, and playdoh, Zach loves his front end loader and race track, and Kate has been checking out all the toys. I have been trying to keep up with the mess, but finally gave up this afternoon! It has been a fun Christmas and I hope your Christmas has been fun, too!
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Trying to save some money
In my last post I mentioned using Duncan Hines frosting on my sugar cookies. Well, usually I use Pillsbury frosting and I have discovered that with the Pillsbury frosting my sugar cookies are delicious, but with the Duncan Hines frosting my sugar cookies are okay. I bought Duncan Hines this time because it was cheaper...big mistake! I have learned my lesson.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
"12-Christmas-Things-About-Me-Hoopla"
Before I get to the Christmas hoopla I have to comment on a few things. First, Zoe informed me this morning that the reason she didn't have homework yesterday was because 6 kids in her class were absent. I knew this couldn't be good and asked her if she knew what was wrong with them. She did and it was as bad as I expected...the stomach flu. It was tempting to tell her she would be staying home the rest of the week, but instead instructed her not to touch anyone and Matt added to wash her hands a thousand times during the day, he may have even said a million times, we do not want to be sick!!!!
And secondly, last night was the first time in 10 months that all of our children slept through the night. It was so nice!
Okay, now for the 12 Christmas things about me hoopla that Kristen tagged me to do...
1. The Christmas season starts on December 1st for me. The past few years I have started to listen to Christmas music the week after Thanksgiving, but I just can't truly get into the Christmas spirit until the calendar says December...so you can imagine how annoying it is for me to see Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving!
2. I love having my kids do different activities to countdown to Christmas. My favorite is our numbered bags that my Mom bought for us. She intended for me to put candy treats and little surprises in each bag for each day, but I decided to use a doll instead that we move each day. It's fun to see the doll get closer to Christmas Eve and it helps the kids know how many days are left until Christmas.
The kids love unwrapping a book every night before bed and having it read to them.
3. The Christmas season would not be complete without my sugar cookies. Actually, I should give the credit to Betty Crocker for the sugar cookie mix and Duncan Hines for the vanilla frosting. The most work I do is mix the cookie mix, butter, and egg, bake the cookies, put frosting on them, and then add the sprinkles. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love these sugar cookies. :-)
4. Christmas lights that blink drive me nuts! I think it's because I love looking at the lights and when they are turning on and off all the time it's hard to enjoy them.
5. I love having a real Christmas tree. We always had an artificial tree when I was growing up, but I have insisted on a real tree since Matt and I have been in our home. Matt would gladly switch over to an artificial tree, but he hasn't convinced me yet.
6. For some reason we always end up getting our tree a week before Christmas. I always hope to get it 2 weeks before Christmas, but it never happens. So what did we do for Family Home Evening last night? You got it!
Kate was very happy to have something new to play with.
Our tree is a little on the small side, but it fits perfectly in our little house and it smells so good! We all love it.
7. Our Christmas tree consists of lights, ornaments, pipe cleaner candy canes, and sometimes real candy canes.
8. Christmas is the best when there is snow. It is really annoying when we have a brown/green Christmas and then it snows the day AFTER Christmas. I want snow on the ground and on the trees. I'm hoping for more snow before Christmas...without the rain and ice!
9. Watching the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is a must on Christmas Eve.
10. We always had a big breakfast on Christmas morning before opening presents, which has become a tradition in our family. A few years ago we gave the kids the option of eating first or opening gifts first and they chose to eat first. Matt has yet to adjust to this tradition, but he goes along with it every year. We have simplified how much cooking we do to save on time with a sausage egg casserole that I make. It is so good! If you'd like the recipe just say so and I'll post it.
11. We were able to open our stockings before breakfast when I was growing up and we let our kids do the same. We wrap the presents and candy that are in the stockings.
12. I love all the gifts that my children make for me. I keep a few of them up all year long. I even saved some wrapping paper that Zoe made to wrap one of her gifts with a few years ago and she was surprised to see it hanging up on the wall this year. My children have Matt's artistic abilities and I love to look at their creations.
Now here are a few rules for Cindy, PJ, Gabriela, Courtney, and Janae because I know they want to participate, right?!
1. List 12 random things about yourself that has to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.
5. If you want to -- please give me, Andrea, some link-love as the 'Hoopla-Creator'. I love new blog-traffic.
And secondly, last night was the first time in 10 months that all of our children slept through the night. It was so nice!
Okay, now for the 12 Christmas things about me hoopla that Kristen tagged me to do...
1. The Christmas season starts on December 1st for me. The past few years I have started to listen to Christmas music the week after Thanksgiving, but I just can't truly get into the Christmas spirit until the calendar says December...so you can imagine how annoying it is for me to see Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving!
2. I love having my kids do different activities to countdown to Christmas. My favorite is our numbered bags that my Mom bought for us. She intended for me to put candy treats and little surprises in each bag for each day, but I decided to use a doll instead that we move each day. It's fun to see the doll get closer to Christmas Eve and it helps the kids know how many days are left until Christmas.
The kids love unwrapping a book every night before bed and having it read to them.
3. The Christmas season would not be complete without my sugar cookies. Actually, I should give the credit to Betty Crocker for the sugar cookie mix and Duncan Hines for the vanilla frosting. The most work I do is mix the cookie mix, butter, and egg, bake the cookies, put frosting on them, and then add the sprinkles. I haven't met anyone who doesn't love these sugar cookies. :-)
4. Christmas lights that blink drive me nuts! I think it's because I love looking at the lights and when they are turning on and off all the time it's hard to enjoy them.
5. I love having a real Christmas tree. We always had an artificial tree when I was growing up, but I have insisted on a real tree since Matt and I have been in our home. Matt would gladly switch over to an artificial tree, but he hasn't convinced me yet.
6. For some reason we always end up getting our tree a week before Christmas. I always hope to get it 2 weeks before Christmas, but it never happens. So what did we do for Family Home Evening last night? You got it!
Kate was very happy to have something new to play with.
Our tree is a little on the small side, but it fits perfectly in our little house and it smells so good! We all love it.
7. Our Christmas tree consists of lights, ornaments, pipe cleaner candy canes, and sometimes real candy canes.
8. Christmas is the best when there is snow. It is really annoying when we have a brown/green Christmas and then it snows the day AFTER Christmas. I want snow on the ground and on the trees. I'm hoping for more snow before Christmas...without the rain and ice!
9. Watching the cartoon version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" is a must on Christmas Eve.
10. We always had a big breakfast on Christmas morning before opening presents, which has become a tradition in our family. A few years ago we gave the kids the option of eating first or opening gifts first and they chose to eat first. Matt has yet to adjust to this tradition, but he goes along with it every year. We have simplified how much cooking we do to save on time with a sausage egg casserole that I make. It is so good! If you'd like the recipe just say so and I'll post it.
11. We were able to open our stockings before breakfast when I was growing up and we let our kids do the same. We wrap the presents and candy that are in the stockings.
12. I love all the gifts that my children make for me. I keep a few of them up all year long. I even saved some wrapping paper that Zoe made to wrap one of her gifts with a few years ago and she was surprised to see it hanging up on the wall this year. My children have Matt's artistic abilities and I love to look at their creations.
Now here are a few rules for Cindy, PJ, Gabriela, Courtney, and Janae because I know they want to participate, right?!
1. List 12 random things about yourself that has to do with Christmas
2. Please refer to it as a 'hoopla' and not the dreaded 'm'-word
3. You have to specifically tag people when you're done. None of this "if you're reading this, consider yourself tagged" stuff is allowed...then nobody ends up actually doing it. The number of people who you tag is really up to you -- but the more, the merrier to get this 'hoopla' circulating through the blogosphere.
4. Please try and do it as quickly as possible. The Christmas season will be over before we know it and I'd like to get as many people involved as possible.
5. If you want to -- please give me, Andrea, some link-love as the 'Hoopla-Creator'. I love new blog-traffic.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Since I last checked in...
Matt made a new bed frame to put our new futon bed mattress on. It still needs some finishing touches, but we have been sleeping on our new bed the last few nights. :-)
I went Christmas shopping with Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, Kate, and my Mom for cousin gifts, school gifts, friend gifts, and sibling gifts. It is sweet how anxious Eleanor is for Zach to open the gift she chose for him.
Kate has been sleeping in the crib since Friday night. The kids tend to her when she cries before they fall asleep and then Matt is in charge of tending to her when she cries in the middle of the night. She seems to settle right back to sleep after he checks on her. Zach is taking this change harder than Kate. He slept well Friday night and last night, but Saturday night he was up throughout the night. I think part of the problem was the dark he woke up to since the Christmas lights we have in the kids' room weren't on. Zach is our first child to be afraid of the dark.
He takes advantage of any opportunity to push Kate over and lay on her. When Kate is sitting on my lap, Zach wants to sit on my lap, which also goes the other way. One of them cannot be near me without the other one noticing and making a fuss about it. I really hope they outgrow this phase before the new baby comes!
We only had Sacrament meeting yesterday because of snow. We had our Christmas program, which was very nice as usual. We enjoyed cookies and cider after church before heading home in the snow.
I put 50 Christmas cards in envelopes and got them ready to be mailed out or given to family and friends.
Zoe was very disappointed this morning that she had school. I'm sure she was very happy when she heard that school would be getting out early today because of a broken water main in town. They are now happily watching a new Scooby Doo movie my Mom bought for them. And now I have more laundry to put away, and you are up to date.
I went Christmas shopping with Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, Kate, and my Mom for cousin gifts, school gifts, friend gifts, and sibling gifts. It is sweet how anxious Eleanor is for Zach to open the gift she chose for him.
Kate has been sleeping in the crib since Friday night. The kids tend to her when she cries before they fall asleep and then Matt is in charge of tending to her when she cries in the middle of the night. She seems to settle right back to sleep after he checks on her. Zach is taking this change harder than Kate. He slept well Friday night and last night, but Saturday night he was up throughout the night. I think part of the problem was the dark he woke up to since the Christmas lights we have in the kids' room weren't on. Zach is our first child to be afraid of the dark.
He takes advantage of any opportunity to push Kate over and lay on her. When Kate is sitting on my lap, Zach wants to sit on my lap, which also goes the other way. One of them cannot be near me without the other one noticing and making a fuss about it. I really hope they outgrow this phase before the new baby comes!
We only had Sacrament meeting yesterday because of snow. We had our Christmas program, which was very nice as usual. We enjoyed cookies and cider after church before heading home in the snow.
I put 50 Christmas cards in envelopes and got them ready to be mailed out or given to family and friends.
Zoe was very disappointed this morning that she had school. I'm sure she was very happy when she heard that school would be getting out early today because of a broken water main in town. They are now happily watching a new Scooby Doo movie my Mom bought for them. And now I have more laundry to put away, and you are up to date.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Does this toy belong here?
The good news for my children is that I spent the day cleaning/organizing their room, the bad news for them is that I'll be following them around for awhile like a drill sergeant making sure they put every.single.toy back where it belongs!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
"Steel Appeal"
Our family and my mom went to Zoe & Emily's school last night for a steel drum concert. The band members are mostly teachers from the school. The kids had a great time dancing and singing. During the intermission, the kids were able to test out the drums. Eleanor and Emily had a great time playing them. Zoe tried them out, but she didn't stay at it for long. Eleanor was right at home on the drums when the band came back to play. Zach had the most fun jogging from one end of the gym to the other. Eleanor of course made new friends. She is definitely the social bug in our family. She had a couple of the older girls trying out her dance moves and hanging out with her. The night proved to be a success when we got home and the kids got ready for bed quickly and fell asleep right after their heads hit their pillows. :-)
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Say "Cheese"
The kids occupied some of their time on Sunday afternoon taking pictures of each other and things around the house.
Our wall of birthday pictures starting when Zoe was a newborn in the hospital. The top row is Zoe, 2nd row is Emily, 3rd row is Eleanor, 4th row is Zach, and 5th row is Kate.
I bought cheaper frames for their latest pictures and they keep falling down, so here they are individually.
Here is the Christmas picture we had taken of the kids a few years ago.
It came out so perfect! I know, I need an updated picture, but at this point I guess I should just wait until the summer.
Matt cut off the kids' picture taken when he noticed them taking pictures of pictures. I think they're going to enjoy the digital camera my Mom bought them for Christmas!
Our wall of birthday pictures starting when Zoe was a newborn in the hospital. The top row is Zoe, 2nd row is Emily, 3rd row is Eleanor, 4th row is Zach, and 5th row is Kate.
I bought cheaper frames for their latest pictures and they keep falling down, so here they are individually.
Here is the Christmas picture we had taken of the kids a few years ago.
It came out so perfect! I know, I need an updated picture, but at this point I guess I should just wait until the summer.
Matt cut off the kids' picture taken when he noticed them taking pictures of pictures. I think they're going to enjoy the digital camera my Mom bought them for Christmas!
Monday, December 10, 2007
Baby pictures
Zach is not convinced that there is a baby in these pictures! We are having 1 baby and the baby looks healthy and active. Seeing the first ultrasound pictures always makes the pregnancy more real...feeling sick just doesn't seal the deal for me, but these pictures do.
Matt and I are celebrating our 11 year anniversary today! We actually celebrated Friday night when we had a peaceful and delicious dinner together at Pizzeria Uno and then we went Christmas shopping. We have had 11 great years together and I'm glad we have many more years plus eternity to look forward ! I love you, Matt. :-)
Matt and I are celebrating our 11 year anniversary today! We actually celebrated Friday night when we had a peaceful and delicious dinner together at Pizzeria Uno and then we went Christmas shopping. We have had 11 great years together and I'm glad we have many more years plus eternity to look forward ! I love you, Matt. :-)
Thursday, December 06, 2007
10 months old
With all of the mischief this morning I forgot that Kate is 10 months old today! She has really changed a lot in the last month. She is no longer a clingy, mama's girl, yay! Of course she still has her moments, but I am able to leave her with family and friends now and she loves to crawl, cruise the furniture, and explore. It is amazing that she has changed so much so fast! I must admit that I am liking it. I love being able to go out without a baby, especially since it is cold outside now. I will enjoy my 7 months of freedom! You can win Kate's heart by giving her food. She LOVES to eat. She better be tall and active because the girl can pack in the food. She only has 2 teeth, but she'll eat just about anything. She has mastered the sippy cup. She's getting better at not completely soaking herself when she drinks.
It's fun to watch her play with her siblings and laugh with them. She dances to music and claps when she sees other people clapping. She points when she wants something or she holds her arm out. And of course she is cute, cute, cute! We love you, Kate.
It's fun to watch her play with her siblings and laugh with them. She dances to music and claps when she sees other people clapping. She points when she wants something or she holds her arm out. And of course she is cute, cute, cute! We love you, Kate.
While I was in the shower...
Kate crawled into the bathroom and fell asleep on my towel.
Eleanor got the paints down from the top shelf in her closet, filled 2 cups with water, and painted...herself.
Zach painted himself.
This day is already proving to be interesting!
Eleanor got the paints down from the top shelf in her closet, filled 2 cups with water, and painted...herself.
Zach painted himself.
This day is already proving to be interesting!
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Back to school
It finally quit snowing sometime last night, so Zoe & Emily are back to school. They weren't disappointed at all when I woke them up this morning to get ready. I think they had their fill of snow days...and I did too. I did get a nice break yesterday when Jenn called and invited the girls to go over and play. I made the pie while they were gone, Zach played on the computer, and Kate took a nap. I was even able to rest and read a bit before Kate woke up and the girls came home. But you wouldn't have guessed my pretty easy day by the end of the afternoon when the house was a disaster with toys and Christmas decorations everywhere and everything the kids did annoyed me. And I think trying to figure out where to put our decorations and needing to clean every spot that I wanted to put something was annoying me too. I was one happy Mom when Matt called to tell me that the young men's activity he was going to was canceled, so that meant I was free to go out to dinner and go Christmas shopping with my Mom. The break I was hoping for was going to happen, yay! It was quite delightful and our shopping was very productive.
Today I have been cleaning. I have had no desire to clean and still don't, but it needs to be done.
Today I have been cleaning. I have had no desire to clean and still don't, but it needs to be done.
Tuesday, December 04, 2007
As I suspected
Zoe and Emily have another snow day today. It is still snowing. The kids are already out playing in it this morning. Here is Zach getting ready to go out.
I get him all bundled up and then he goes out for 5 minutes and then comes back in. Then he gets mad when I won't get him dressed to go outside again as he watches the girls play in the snow.
Speaking of bundled up, here's a picture of the girls Saturday night at the parade.
Did I mention how cold it was?
Here are the girls getting ready to slide down our snow covered lawn.
And Eleanor walking through the snow.
Today will be less hectic than our laundry day yesterday. We have plans to make a pumpkin pie (Matt didn't get his fill over Thanksgiving), dig out the Christmas decorations, and decorate. We may even fit in "It's a Wonderful Life". We'll be busy, but it will be a fun busy.
I get him all bundled up and then he goes out for 5 minutes and then comes back in. Then he gets mad when I won't get him dressed to go outside again as he watches the girls play in the snow.
Speaking of bundled up, here's a picture of the girls Saturday night at the parade.
Did I mention how cold it was?Here are the girls getting ready to slide down our snow covered lawn.
And Eleanor walking through the snow.
Today will be less hectic than our laundry day yesterday. We have plans to make a pumpkin pie (Matt didn't get his fill over Thanksgiving), dig out the Christmas decorations, and decorate. We may even fit in "It's a Wonderful Life". We'll be busy, but it will be a fun busy.
Monday, December 03, 2007
Snow and more
We are getting snow today, so the girls don't have school. It is snowing lightly right now, but it's supposed to get nastier as the day goes on. I suspect they won't have school tomorrow either since it is supposed to snow tonight and snow showers are predicted for tomorrow. Looks like I have some laundry helpers today (hahaha).
Matt and I had our first date night alone together in about 10 months on Friday night. It was so nice! My Mom nervously agreed to watch all the kids for us (bless her heart!). Kate was very good and the other kids were on their best behavior too. Matt and I ate dinner at Taco Bell, we got some Christmas shopping done for Zach, and we enjoyed some ice cream before coming home. It felt good to be out as a wife and to have a complete break from the kids. :-)
We went to the Creche exhibit Saturday afternoon. The theme this year is Christmas from around the world. The had the nativities grouped together in the different countries they are from. Everything looked very nice as usual. Zoe and Emily sang in the children's choir. Eleanor practiced for an hour with the choir, but then refused to get up and sing during the performance. Zoe's teacher from school came to hear the girls sing and Jenn & Andrea and their kids came too. That meant a lot to us. The children sounded wonderful!
We watched the live children's nativity before we left. It was fun to see the children in the play since I know a lot of them and I haven't seen them in awhile.
Matt took Kate and Zach home and then my Mom treated Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, and me to lunch/dinner at Governor's. It was so yummy! And it was nice to eat out with just the older girls. Then we watched the parade of lights...in very cold weather! When we left the car to watch the parade it was 19 degrees and when we got back into the car it was 17 degrees! We had layers and layers on. Eleanor wanted to go back to the car before the parade was over because she was so cold, so my Mom happily brought her. In our rush to get out of the house in the morning I had forgotten to pack Eleanor's boots, so I bet her feet were pretty cold. We tried to keep her feet bundled up in a blanket, but she kept taking the blanket off from her. I think the parade was shorter this year, which didn't disappoint any of us! The people driving the Harleys braved the cold and showed off their bikes decorated with Christmas lights. I'm glad they did because they are always fun to see.
Okay between laundry and children it has taken me a few hours to write this!
Matt and I had our first date night alone together in about 10 months on Friday night. It was so nice! My Mom nervously agreed to watch all the kids for us (bless her heart!). Kate was very good and the other kids were on their best behavior too. Matt and I ate dinner at Taco Bell, we got some Christmas shopping done for Zach, and we enjoyed some ice cream before coming home. It felt good to be out as a wife and to have a complete break from the kids. :-)
We went to the Creche exhibit Saturday afternoon. The theme this year is Christmas from around the world. The had the nativities grouped together in the different countries they are from. Everything looked very nice as usual. Zoe and Emily sang in the children's choir. Eleanor practiced for an hour with the choir, but then refused to get up and sing during the performance. Zoe's teacher from school came to hear the girls sing and Jenn & Andrea and their kids came too. That meant a lot to us. The children sounded wonderful!
We watched the live children's nativity before we left. It was fun to see the children in the play since I know a lot of them and I haven't seen them in awhile.
Matt took Kate and Zach home and then my Mom treated Zoe, Emily, Eleanor, and me to lunch/dinner at Governor's. It was so yummy! And it was nice to eat out with just the older girls. Then we watched the parade of lights...in very cold weather! When we left the car to watch the parade it was 19 degrees and when we got back into the car it was 17 degrees! We had layers and layers on. Eleanor wanted to go back to the car before the parade was over because she was so cold, so my Mom happily brought her. In our rush to get out of the house in the morning I had forgotten to pack Eleanor's boots, so I bet her feet were pretty cold. We tried to keep her feet bundled up in a blanket, but she kept taking the blanket off from her. I think the parade was shorter this year, which didn't disappoint any of us! The people driving the Harleys braved the cold and showed off their bikes decorated with Christmas lights. I'm glad they did because they are always fun to see.
Okay between laundry and children it has taken me a few hours to write this!
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