Current Favorites

I thought it would be kind of fun to ask my kids about their current favorites. I generally think I know these things, but they always surprise me. Here's what they said:

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Mazie: a princess

Ethan: an explorer

Dylan: an animal scientist



What is your favorite color?

Mazie: blue and lime green

Ethan: yellow and orange

Dylan: yellow and orange

(We had a little trouble singling out one favorite.)



What is your favorite thing about summer?

Mazie: Swimming!

Ethan: We get to go on trips with our family.

Dylan: Nice weather.



If you had $100, what would you buy?

Mazie: Snow White Barbie

Ethan: A four-wheeler (He's been asking for a four wheeler for almost TWO YEARS!)

Dylan: Legos



If you could go anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you go?
Mazie: Toys R' Us

Ethan: a four-wheeler track

Dylan: Legoland, California



What's your favorite food?

Mazie: Chicken Noodle Soup

Ethan: Tacos or Mashed potatoes

Dylan: Fish sticks or Lasagna

Josie: Fish sticks and tater tots (She devours those, and it's darn cute!)



What kind of car would you buy?

Mazie: a lime green one

Ethan: a Shelby (He actually said "Cobra" but I knew what he meant.)

Dylan: Dodge viper



What's your favorite animal?

Mazie: elephant (Where did that come from?)

Ethan: monkey

Dylan: jaguar (Sorry, Blackie, you've been dropped off the favorite list.)

Getting Going

Today I hired a personal trainer. I've been saying for years that I needed one. However, it had to be someone that knew me, knew my body and my time restrictions. It also needed to be someone who could motivate me and who would know that there are some forms of exercise I simply may refuse to do. Yep, that pretty much narrows the field to one amazing (also stubborn and relentless) person. My husband. I called him and told him his new job description (in addition to full-time bread winner, husband, father, etc.) He sort of laughed and said, "Will you do it?" I answered that yes, I would if he was realistic in what he required of me. I can't very well walk for an hour a day when he's not around. We'll see if he'll actually lay out an excerise plan for me and if I can manage to stick to it.

It might be a big mistake. I may end up in great shape... and a widow. Just kidding. I won't actually kill him.

Swim, swim, swim!

Today the kids finished two weeks of swimming lessons, which they love. On the testing day, it's tradition that I always bring the camera and take pictures. (To be honest, the pictures look the same every year, and I can only tell which year it is by Mazie's changing swimming suit. The boys' swim trunks usually last more than one summer, so even they look exactly the same.) Still, we love lessons and the pool, so here are some fun pictures of our summer.

Up... up...
And away!
It was a difficult choice-- smile at Mom or tuck into a great cannonball. Mom got the vote.

This new camera lets me get much closer shots when they're in the water. Here's Dylan testing on the side stroke.

Mazie testing on her back float.

Mazie is socializing as usual. Because she's only four, they didn't pass her to level three. I told the lifegaurds I didn't really care what level they kept her in, as long as she learns to swim on her own this summer. The girl has no fear at all. She finally looked up so I could get a picture of her face.

Ethan passed level three, so his next session will be in the deep end all lesson long. He's very excited about that.

Cut Off!

Today I discovered two things I absolutely cannot live without-- high speed Internet and long distance telephone service. Our phone company was having trouble, and they provide both of these things for me. I spent an entire day without the Internet and I couldn't call long distance. It affected the entire town and even 911 calls were going to another town 30 miles away. It was so frustrating. At first I thought it was only my computer and router, then I started going a little nuts when I couldn't call tech support, or my mom, or anyone else outside the city limits.

Of course this happens the day after my husband goes searching around the house for his cell phone, and I hear him in the basement about ten minutes later saying, "Oh, NO!" He found it in the bottom of the washing machine. (I didn't do that load of laundry, and he didn't appreciate it when I asked, "Didn't you think those pants seemed a little heavy before you dumped them into the machine?") Interestingly enough, once it dried out, the screen and the memory on the phone still worked, but the key pad was shot, so he had to get a new phone today. I'd die if he didn't have a phone.

So, I read on Yahoo! yesterday that those who kept a food journal lost 50% more weight than those who did not in a recent study. Therefore, today I wrote down everything I ate. I will not list it for you, as you may very well shake a finger at me and say, "See, you deserve not to have lost all that baby weight!" It was depressing to say the least. And, I caught myself not eating things just so I wouldn't have to put them on the list. Maybe there is something to this.

Bookshelf

I finished two books this weekend. I think Harlan Coben is always a good read. I enjoyed this one more than his previous.


This book just disturbed me. The whole thing made me sad and that didn't go away at all when I finished. I was even sadder when I read the interview with the author and read how she thought the book should have ended. She said she felt obligated to give the reader and "uplifting" ending. I wasn't uplifted.

The best news in my world is that Nathan is home!!!! He came home two nights early and surprised me. Okay, scared me is more like it. He burst through our bedroom door at eleven o'clock Saturday night while I was doing Primary stuff on my computer. I screamed, then said, "You're home." To which Nathan simply replied, "Don't wake up the baby."

A Once-Prepared Mommy

At one time I planned to be an excellent mother. I was going to schedule my kids' days-- have regular meals, snacks, arts & crafts time, music time, etc. I even spent a good deal of money stocking a craft box so we'd have projects to do.

That was back when my boys were four and two and Mazie was an infant. The schedule lasted a few months, our lives changed, and I never quite got that organized again. Instead, my life was scheduled for me by school, soccer practice, the baby's naps, etc. However, today I'm grateful for the once-prepared Mommy who stocked that craft box.

Yesterday after swimming lessons and a trip to the library, my kids were still bouncing off the walls, and no amount of coaxing could get them to stay outside very long. In a fit of desperation, I climbed into our storage cubby and pulled out the old craft box. It has been a few years since I've even opened the lid. I had no idea what was in there anymore. But, hooray! It was a jackpot. We found foam hearts onto which the kids glued sequins. There were Oriental Trading craft kits of Joseph and his coat of many colors, which were way too hard. We bagged the many colored pipe-cleaners and decorated his coat with glitter glue. I also found canvas purses that I bought in a dozen and made for my nieces one Christmas. There were still five left and plenty of dangly beads to put on them, so when I get some tacky glue, I can make purses for my girls.

The kids were planning more crafts for today. Dylan wants to make beaded necklaces. (Got that one covered, since beading is one of my many crafting obsessions.) Mazie found farm animal stamps and a stamp pad, which she is planning to use today. Ethan found foam shapes to glue onto his heart instead of sequins.

I remember my husband harassing me when I spent about sixty dollars buying kids craft stuff online. It seemed like such a waste of money, but now I realize that sixty bucks is a small price to pay for a few days of SANITY!

Getting things Done

So often I feel like I don't accomplish anything in a day, so here's a list of the things I've done today.

1. Made breakfast

2. Took a shower

3. Cleaned my bedroom

4. Washed two loads of laundry

5. Folded and put away laundry

6. Washed and vacuumed the car

7. Bussed kids to and from swimming at 9, 10 & 11 o'clock.

8. Mowed the front lawn

9. Wiped down the upstairs bathroom

10. Changed six or seven diapers, one of them poopy

11. Went to the post office and got the mail

12. Baked cookies

13. Gave Dylan a haircut

14. Arranged for a babysitter

15. Loaded the dishwasher

16. Made dinner

17. Cleaned the downstairs bathroom

18. Drank two cans of Pepsi (not an accomplishment, but very likely the highlight of my day)

19. Perused the new JCPenney catalog, but didn't order anything

20. Attended a baby shower

21. Checked my email

22. Updated my blog


Notice the one thing that's missing? Oh, yes. It was supposed to say, "Wrote ten pages of my novel." That's the "find something you enjoy and do it a little everyday" that gets sacrificed when I feel obligated to act like a responsible mom.

*** The day wasn't over when I wrote last, so I have to add to my list. Here's what else I did today.

23. Helped Ethan & Mazie clean their rooms

24. Realized the basement had leaked during a thunderstorm and that there were puddles everywhere

25. Cleaned all the puddles out of the basement ALONE-- okay, Ethan dried #10 cans while I cleaned up the water, so that counts as helping

26. Changed another poopy diaper

27. Held family prayer

28. Sent everyone to bed

29. Checked my email again

30. Updated this blog again