Summer is here

After a weekend of doing nothing, I'm convinced we need to plan some activities weekly for the summer. Weekends are going to be terribly lonely. Same old story. Today is dentist day. We have appointments for the kids at 1. N was offered an early shift and might be home in time to go. The kids are excited to go to the dentist. I am so thankful for Miss Vanessa. She is who they look forward to seeing. Tomorrow I've planned a picnic at the park with their friends. I'm not sure who is coming besides Daisy, but I told people to spread the word. I figure if a variety of their friends come, the kids will be set. Blue Star will probably come too, alone with New Moon and possibly Zinnia. We only have one park in town. This fact disappointed me when we first moved here. Our last location, we could walk to five parks from our house. FIVE! I know the kids will probably get bored with the township park all summer long. There is a park we've never been to in a town near by. I am sure we can check it out this summer. Friday we may try the library. You know how I feel about libraries. It might be different now that I have older kids. The library in Midland is rather nice. Wednesday and Thursday N will be home. Who knows what those days will lead us to do. It will be the weekend again before I know it. Hopefully I can set something up for then as well. I hope to try blueberry picking when the time is right. We missed out last year. I have to get Baby Girl used to the Maya wrap. We'll be good to go then. A mom had hers on in church yesterday. I never thought of wearing it at church. Her baby was probably around 6 months, thus heavier than our peanut. I am sure the wrap helped her back. Well, time is up.

In all fairness...

I locked my kids out of the house. It's not as bad as it seems. I locked the back door. They can come around to the front, it is open. If I leave the back door open, they will be in and out a million times. If they have to go to the front, it takes longer, thus more work and they will have to really need to come inside to put forth that type of effort. They knock on the door and sometimes I do come. Their needs are silly little things I do not care about. "Eight took my flip flops!" etc. Not my concern. They are big kids and should be able to figure out those quarrels on their own. I provide snacks and beverages along with the equipment for entertainment. They enjoy their time outside. I just don't want to listen to any bickering. Seems fair to me. Am I wrong? I found my dream house today. It's on the other side of town, the only down side. It's two doors down from Daisy. It has everything I would want. It does not have a third garage, something N wants. Too bad it's out of our price range. It's just too high. We can't have a payment that high each month. We probably could, but that's all we'd have. Maybe it will be on the market for awhile and the sellers would take less. Anything is possible, but I doubt that is how it will turn out. 4 bedroom houses are all that price range. A house sold on that road in 6 hours within the last year. We don't have all our ducks in a row yet for negotiations and purchase. When we do, we'll see whats on the market and then decide. After getting everyone to church this morning, I am left with a headache. Poor sleep and the stress of getting out the door was too much. Why does church have to be so stressful? I am worried about how Six and Four will behave. Zinnia stated she wasn't going to sit in our usual spot anymore. Too many toddlers around. Today was my proof. Every isle had a toddler but one. It's too distracting to my group who are old enough to pay attention. Alas, change is hard and we will spend the summer trying to find where we like best. Well, time is up. I have a Skype date with Baby Orchid. She's bound to make my head feel better!

The things I am learning

Four kids is great. We're thrilled with Baby Girl in our family. The kids are so smitten with her, even seven weeks later. They don't mind when she cries. They wait and understand when I have to tend to her first. We're great on that front. Scheduling is another issue. I am so thankful soccer is done. Not that I minded running to the fields and going to the games, but I was wrong and lost too many times with the schedule. Today we got Four and Six to the fields on time. In true Six fashion, he played the best at the last game. This is a pattern we've seen before. Four did great as well. There were hot dogs and snacks for the last day. Once we were home, I began trying to get things together. It was hot. The ac wasn't on. When I walked by the calendar, I realized we were 10 minutes late for Eight's game. My allergies were bothering me and the meds weren't working the best. My eyes were puffy from rubbing them. They itched so bad. I think it threw me off. I couldn't believe I almost had him miss his game. I took him to the fields in a hurry. He was in tears. He was upset we were late. I didn't realize. Oh how I hate to fail that boy. He does everything I ask. He does it all so well. How did I miss this? I walked him over and he was better. I apologized to the coach. Eight thought it would take me awhile to come back. We were so fast in our return. The other two ran to the van and I put the baby in the car seat. Away we went. We didn't even say goodbye to N. We made it, Eight played hard and did great. Four decided to throw a fit at the end of the game. Before we knew it, it was time to go home. The house was 86 degrees and my eyes were driving me crazy. I closed up the house and turned on the air. I was rather tired and wound up taking an hour nap. The kids played inside with the promise of outdoor activity after I get Baby Girl to sleep. Later in the day, the sun wasn't as intense and they were able to be in some shade. They had a nice afternoon outside in the pool. Eating outside is the new thing. We will eat all the meals we can outside. I can't believe how much easier it is on me. Eight finished the book he's been reading. I'm so proud of him and his reading interest. We may try the library on a regular basis this summer. I hesitate to commit. Libraries and my group have not had good experiences in the past. New Moon may join us, we'll see. Not sure I'm ready to head that direction solo. There's a reading program that might keep the interest going for the boys. N is out with a friend after work tonight. I am thankful. My friends are important in my life, I wish the same for him. Bedtime was better. I hope we get into a new routine and the summer will be nice. Now I just need to work on a pool pass! Funding is in the works, hopefully.

First day off

I giggle looking at my last blog entry title. We did some summer organization today. The kids came home with all their supplies, posters and papers yesterday. We had to restructure a few things. Of course no one slept in this morning, including Baby Girl. She's on a role getting up before the school bus would come. I've told her school is done for the summer, but she's happy with an early morning. She had a nice bath to start her day right. I can't believe how smiley she can be. She really is a sweet baby. The boys played well with their sister. A friend called needing me to watch her kids for an hour in the morning. We weren't even really up or dressed yet. Turns out neither were they. They came in their jammies. Mine were still in their jammies too. We had a late breakfast, early lunch. The rest of the day consisted with the kids outside on the slipin slide and me trying to organize their chaos. N took them for a bike ride. Last night we celebrated the last day of school with some fire works. They were thrilled with this surprise. The last day of school went very well. At 2pm I went up there and brought the teacher gifts. The teachers were grateful and happy with their scrapbooks. The kids were proud of their work. I couldn't believe the difference between first and second grade. I had kids come in the hallway in pairs. I took their picture and they signed a little card. First graders wrote a sentence, drew a picture or just signed their name. Second graders wrote small paragraphs. The things they wrote were too cute. One said "You're my third favorite teacher." then she added " I meant, I've had a great teacher every year." Another drew a picture of her and the teacher. There were lots of "you're the greatest teacher ever." It was a great day. My time is up.

Summer Organization

I am struggling with how to find structure for Six this summer. The reading program he attended at school last year will not be offered this summer. I know other parents who are also disappointed. With a new baby in the house, we will not be as mobile as we once were. Camping I'm certain is out. It's too unpredictable with weather. No way to regulate the temperature doesn't work, along with a million other things. My thoughts are attending swimming lessons might help. Of course that and all other class options cost money. Lots of money. So, what do we do? What direction do I take them this summer? I wish we had a playground in the back yard. A nice area for the kids to be without me needing to watch them constantly would help. It's times like this when I sure do miss our house in TX. It also disappoints me to realize we won't have a house like that. We've been looking at houses online. Any similar to what we had is just too expensive up here. I really don't want to settle for something small and old, but I am afraid that will be the only option. For some reason, four bedroom houses are priced significantly higher than three bedroom. It's frustrating. Time's up.

Teacher gifts are fun to give

It didn't occur to me until last week at 5AM that I failed to organized the teacher gifts far enough in advance. Last year we collected money towards gift cards for the teachers. I asked parents if they wanted to contribute $5-10. It felt good to be able to give the cards to the teachers that work so hard for our children. Sadly, I did not make that happen this year. I just didn't have enough time to get it organized. Last year I made small scrapbooks for the teachers too. That I have begun and will finish this week for the last day of school. Four and I went to take pictures today of the kids. We took a class picture and then paired the children up for individuals. I will put the picture of the pair on their own page. I had squares of paper cut out and had the kids write a message to the teacher. What a difference between the grades! First graders wrote their names and drew a picture. Some wrote a sentence to the teacher, but most just wrote their names. Second graders wrote little paragraphs to the teacher. They were really sweet too. It shows a lot to see the kids write such thoughtful things about the teacher. I've been really happy with both teachers this year and hope Six will have the same teacher Eight had for second grade. It was sort of a challenge balancing a baby and taking pictures of 23+ kids in each grade. The kids were excited to be a part of making a scrapbook. I plan to bring it to the school on the last day, but in time for the kids to look at what we've created. Last year some parents were able to see the books I made, but they were the ones to help me plan it. This year, it was more kid involvement than anything else. After this morning, I wish I could have gotten the gift cards together. I can only do so much. Four has been a big help lately. We've enjoyed our last few days home alone together with Baby Girl. After this week the boys will be home with us and we'll have to start a routine. Earlier today: Four was holding Baby Girl for me. When Baby Girl started to fuss, I asked "Do you want me to take her?" "No, I'm Okay with a crying baby."

Friday's rain

After still having overwhelming days, I wonder how long this will last. I struggle to get it right day after day. Last night, it was Shutterfly and their ridiculous coupon program. It was my fault for waiting until the last minute. I waited, finally got the order straight with my people, but then misplaced the coupon. Fighting the clock, trying to get it all entered before midnight was even more of a challenge. I get it all together, the coupon code won't work. Live chat with the company, I read the fine print to discover the second coupon I have was supposed to be for a friend, thus my account won't work. My plan, hack into Zinnia's account, load my pictures as fast as I can to beat the midnight dead line. The live chat person tells me I can email customer service for an extension. I get it all straightened out by 12:17am. It goes through with the coupon. They must be on central time. What a night. Thankfully, Baby Girl was asleep for me to get that done. 5am and I am awake thinking over the mornings events. Six had his author share day at school. After a mad dash in the rain to get in the school on time, we found him and his reading supplies. Oh how I loved his author share. He wrote a hard cover book and dedicated it to Baby Girl. I love his writing. His imagination shines through his stories. I hope to post some of them one day. They give me insight as to how he views events in our lives. Some surprised me, all stories I loved. He was so proud. I love the school version of Six. He's happy and content, rarely gets frustrated. Home Six, can get easily frustrated, etc. Mornings have been rough. I'll leave it at that. Bedtime as well. Still trying to get it right. We didn't leave the house for the rest of the day, the rain kept me inside. The boys road the bus home, no sense in taking a baby out in the rain. With make your own sandwich like Subway the theme for our evening meal, people were happy, but slightly silly. It's the silliness that gets to me. Sometimes, at bedtime especially, it can be too much. A surprise visit from Daisy tonight completely kicked my attitude back in place. It's amazing what some time with a friend will do. I managed to make it to Zinnia's last night for the first time since Baby Girl was born. It was great to be there, but baby girl was fussy and cluster feeding the entire time. Basically I sat and watched Zinnia do our project. I know things will get better with time. I have set myself up for another project again. I hope to have help on Monday. I will go to the school, take a class picture for each boys class. Then my plan is to have the kids come out to the hallway in pairs for a picture. I will get their signature and ask them something about their teacher. It won't take too long to get it all in a book, especially since we've done this before. We'll see how it goes. Ivy may be able to assist me with this. We will plot our plan on the soccer fields Sunday. It's amazing how time and conversations with these girls help me to stay positive. NewMoon Flower was at school today. I shared with her how excited Six was to have eaten the exact same meal as her son at school this week. Tomorrow we have one soccer game, the rest of the day is open. We may try church then because mass times have changed and Sunday is a full soccer day. We'll see where the day takes us.