And so it begins again...

20 mins, 90 calories burned.  It's a love-hate relationship with the new exercise bike.  29 days til Disney.  Airplane seats are tiny, & I am terrified to squeeze into one next to a stranger with my side rolls hanging over.  We did one vacation where the seat rides were not big enough to accomodate.  Rather humiliating, as I recall.  I don't think I weighed this much when I was pregnant with #2, knowing there was at least an adorable baby at the end of the weight gain.  Leslie, have you finished your WW leader training?  I need some personal accountability here!

Growing Up

Sent the Big Kid to his first away camp a few days ago.  A few hours before, the Little Kid lost his first tooth.  I'm not ready for them to both be this grown up!

The tooth fairies did not communicate well, so had to sneak money on the table (where good boys leave their teeth in a "tooth fairy" jar) while the Little was deeply engrossed in SpongeBob.  So glad he forgot about the tooth fairy! 

I can not get this kid to keep his eyes open for pics, and the pics without the flash are blurry, shoot!  And I just realized in looking at these, that the Little starts kdg in less than a month, is almost 6 years old, and I still have childproof locks on the bookshelf doors, just hanging there in the background.


The Big made it the first night, but called home about 11 pm on night #2.  I realized when I washed their bedsheets that he did not have the favorite pillow, animal or brother.  I'm not surprised a bit he got upset!  It's 100 + outside, sleeping in a tent, and while he was surrounded by 8 of his best buddies, he has slept with his brother in a comfy bed every night for the last 3 years.  Did not sound like fun to me from the get-go! But he had a great time, and I am so thankful there are adults who really do enjoy the heat and fun of Boy Scout camp.

And I am thankful for my new washer to deal with the 2 loads of lovely smelling laundry he brought home!

Snowmageddon 2011

An inch of ice predicted, 7 inches of snow on top of that for the next 2 days.  This is snow day #6 or 7 this school year.  The must do list included the bank to deposit a little check before I forgot about it (or lost it!), the post office to mail taxes to the cpa, the library to get E a new book, and DG for valentines and candy.  If we are going to be snowed in, let's be productive about it.  Tom teases me about my Protestant Work Ethic.  Man, he's right!  I used to do my taxes, until Tom pointed out one year that I owed $900, and was not getting back the $1100 refund I thought I was.  Hmm, worth the $$ since then.  It's mid afternoon, and I am sure E is on page 100 or so of the new book.  Glad that he loves to read.  C is on cup #57 of chocolate milk.  We only have 3 gallons left, Child, and it's Snowmageddon.  Probably should start to ration that.  C's valentines are done, not much thanks to him.  He wrote his name on about 10 of them, but had 35 or so to do.  I wanted the table back, so I finished them for him.  Not worth the fight! I have a feeling we are in for a challenge when he starts kdg in the fall and has to do homework for real.

On the 2011 NY Resolutions, I am failing Weight Watchers miserably for the ? fifth or so time.  Gastric bypass frequently doesn't sound so bad, but it would do nothing to help the small boys.  Coupons, not so bad.  I could become quite OCD with that habit.  It's kinda fun to score the deals, even if I don't really need the "stuff."  Donated 4 bottles of lotion to the food bank when I cleaned out the bathroom closet after Christmas.  Sometimes, it's just the high of the deal.  So glad T doesn't mind.

Bucket List Review

So how did we do this summer?



Ride a train  To Columbia to spend a long weekend with Grandpa and Annie
Six Flags
Raging Rivers   While we didn't make it there, we did Holiday World.  Close enough!
St. Jacob Park  Colby and I on the way home from speech one day.
Pool
Play with friends
Arch
Science Center     Twice!  Once with G'pa and Annie, once with Austin.
Botanical Gardens
Confluence Point
Tractor-hunting     Don't we always tractor hunt?  We are surrounded by cornfields!
New Salem Log Cabins
Korte Rec Center
Picnic
Camping with G'ma and G'pa B
Dairy Queen   And the new Dairy King 2 blocks away!
PB & Jam
Drive-in movie - ?Shrek?     Shrek and Toy Story 3.  Evan had a great time. Colby was too tired!
Collinsville Water Park
Grant's Farm

And Evan did 2 weeks of classes at SWIC - science experiments and computer game programming.  And Evan and Colby did 2 arts and crafts days at KC.  And they each had 2 days at the zoo, so 4 times there.  And Evan's overnight at Camp Joy, in a tent, in the storm, then in the truck.  And Boy Scout camp at Silver Lake.  And a few days with my mom and sister.  And a half-hearted attempt at swim lessons - Colby had an ear infection by day 3 and Evan missed the 2nd half with a SWIC class.   And we only missed 1 speech morning.  And I still worked 20 hrs/ week except for the vacation week at Holiday World and the week Tom went to DC for Juniper Router school.  And I am so glad school has started, so I can catch up on housework and sleep!

Bucket List Summer 2010

Ride a train
Six Flags
Raging Rivers
St. Jacob Park
Pool
Play with friends
Arch
Science Center
Botanical Gardens
Confluence Point
Tractor-hunting
New Salem Log Cabins
Korte Rec Center
Picnic
Camping with G'ma and G'pa B
Dairy Queen
PB & Jam
Drive-in movie - ?Shrek?
Collinsville Water Park
Grant's Farm

What are your plans for the summer?

The Birthday Party

It's spring break here in the cornfield. We gave Evan a choice for his bday party. We could do the 2 hour, $200, 20 friend party somewhere, or we could do the 2 day, $200 fill the truck & car party. He opted for the latter. Tom took the day off on Monday and we took 6 kids to the zoo. 4.5 miles and 6 hours later, they still had energy. They played in the yard till dark. It was so stinkin' nice, I fed them outside cause they wouldn't come in and fix pizza or eat. I had to drag them in for cake and ice cream so Tom could go to bed. Redbox was kind enough to have "Where The Wild Things Are" in stock. Most of the boys had not seen it. At 1130, the ones still awake finally stumbled to bed. I had to wake up 4/6 at 915 the next morning. All in all, a great day.

Evan and I got a Sony walkman mp3 player to share. I am smarter than it, sometimes. I have figured out how to rip cd's, but our newer ones are "Enhanced" with anti-piracy crap, so I haven't figured out how to get around those to rip them. I bought Taylor Swift once, I am not buying and downloading her a second time!

We shipped Mom to Ft. Worth for a long weekend, and the kids had a good time at the airport picking her up and seeing some of the stuff we have talked about. Evan and Colby flew when they were 5 and 18 months, but neither one remembers. Dang it!
Can we fly somewhere?
Yep, got $1000?
I got $10.
Nope, that won't get any of us a ticket.

Typing of flying, my husband thinks he is going to Hawaii soon for work. I hope he goes and has a great time in amongst those 14 hour work days. Maybe he'll scout stuff for a vacation for us. I am not at a point where I could leave the kids, school, work, speech, baseball, scouts, preschool, and pre-k to my parents or in-laws for a week.

It's an exciting life, my friends!

A Laugh For My Husband

No, it's not a Love Note on Valentine's Day. It's a laugh note. It's just a silly story. We are two different people, who happened to choose to be together. Ya don't just fall into or out of love. It doesn't happen by accident. It is a choice, and a labor, this love thing.

We have First Communion coming up in May. Tom is starting to realize that I have a long list of things to get done before we have a houseful of family over. I want to show off what he has done, the hard work he has put into making our house a home. I am cleaning out closets and going through stuff so our world doesn't seem so cluttered to me. My boys don't see it often, but extra, unused, leftover stuff makes me crazy and claustrophobic. I was working on stuff for the accountant for taxes a few weeks ago (yes, i am OCD, and he had the tax info about Feb. 3). I found pics of donations I had made last year. One of which is navy curtains from the last version of the boys room (after the baby decor, before the large jungle/ volcano wallpaper and mural). I want new stuff for the bathroom and our bedroom. I found a navy quilt that Tom and I can both agree on. I really wish I wasn't such a tosser/ pitcher/ donater. I would really like those navy curtains about now. The ones I gave to goodwill a year ago, that I have bought once in my life, and now will buy twice. Dang it!

And my husband? He would have saved them, because he will use/ need/ want them someday again in his life. Dang it! I love him, even when he's right.