Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Packing = Organizing

The great packing ordeal has begun.  We leave for our trip soon and I get to pack for 3 people.  This is just the beginning.


I know you can't take laundry baskets on the plane.  They are for our "stop-over" at my Dad's house.  I actually despise luggage in general and usually I pack in laundry baskets anyway.  But that is only if I am driving to my destination.  This whole flying thing makes the packing so much more difficult.  Everything has to be so compact.  Much more challenging.


I have a special bin that I'm putting all the stuff that goes in our backpacks for the carry-on.  Can't pack those bags until the last because the kids are using their backpacks for school of course.

I've decided that I'm not stressed.  I just need to be organized.  In a way, I wish I could just do the packing all in one day.  But I'm pretty sure that if I just left it all for the day before we leave, that I would forget a whole bunch of things.  I've already realized about 10 things I need to pack that I hadn't thought of before I started.

Anyway, I know it will all come together.

I'm off to do some more organizing. 

Sunday, February 13, 2011

Sleep-over!


I have recovered... I think.  And for fear of being accused of whining (by my brother) I am not complaining in this post.  I am simply relaying the events as they occurred for Canon’s party.
 
Due to the upcoming Australia trip!  (Woohoo!)  We celebrated Canon’s birthday a little earlier than I would have normally.  I didn’t want to have to figure it all out when we get back.  Canon requested a sleep-over party.  Like the real thing with his friends actually staying ALL night.  Didn’t want to deny him his birthday party wish so we did it!  The party was Friday night (5:30) to Saturday morning (10:00).
 
Here’s the events as they transpired. 
1) boys arrived and ate pizza.  This was good and enjoyed by everyone.
2) bubble gum was chewed – boys tried to blow bubbles (mostly unsuccessfully) and then I had boys take gum out of mouth and stretch it as far as possible and then put it back in mouth and repeat.  yum.
3) boys were given a small container of playdough and asked to make the LONGEST snake they could make.  This was funny because mostly they didn’t get the concept of making the whole snake thinner they just kept pushing in the middle and had a snake with a fat head and fat tail.
4) balloon popping – boys were to grab a balloon and use ONLY their body to pop it.  there were about 70 balloons for this activity.  balloons were popped and then cleaned up!
5) pinata – this was VERY entertaining.  canon broke the level 1 stick in half.  we managed to get to the level 3 stick. (level 5 was a golf club putter)  one cute little boy was whacking the pinata and the stick came back and whacked him in the forehead.  there was a little crying but he recovered!
6) birthday presents were opened!
7) birthday brownie and ice cream was eaten
8) pj’s were put on and sleeping bags put out
9) the first Harry Potter movie was watched (and kettle corn was eaten!)
 
When Harry Potter ended it was about 10:30ish.  The Bread Winner had already left me half-sleeping on the couch and gone to bed.
I put the next video in (Woody Woodpecker).  I was thinking kids would start to “crash” at about this time.  But no.
Kieron had fallen asleep but the other 7 kids were still up.
By midnight the other two smaller kids were asleep.  The 5 “die hards”were still awake!  At about 12:30ish Woody Woodpecker was over and I turned the tv off.  They accused me of “trying to make them go to sleep.”  "Not me” I said!
So as the boys were laying in the “dark” I could hear the bodies moving.  That’s the only way I can describe it.  They wouldn’t stop moving.  Arms were waving in the air.  Bodies were wiggling.  I knew that if they just laid still for a few seconds they would fall asleep.  But they wouldn’t stop moving!  I finally couldn’t take it.  I was SO tired myself that I walked over to Canon and whispered that if he didn’t just lay still and TRY to go to sleep I was NEVER going to let him have another sleep-over EVER.  I left the room to go to the bathroom and feel guilty for threatening my child when he was just trying to have a good time at his first ever sleep-over.
When I returned and laid down on the couch the moving body syndrome had stopped and by 1:45 all 5 boys were FINALLY asleep.  I went to bed at about 2:00.
 
At 6:00 AM I heard the voices.  Not just one.  ALL of them.  SERIOUSLY?!?!?!?  6:00 AM?!?!?!?!!? I smacked The Bread Winner and told him it was HIS job to turn on some cartoons or something.  I was so EXHAUSTED!!!
 
At 6:30 I got up and started organizing breakfast (muffins, grapes, smoothies).  They ate breakfast, cleaned up their sleeping bags, and got dressed.  Then they played foosball and built Legos.  Then we went outside and they played football and soccer.  Thankfully parents arrived and took their children away.  The parents all looked so refreshed.  Like they had a good night’s sleep.  They were all smiling.  They were happy.
 
I went upstairs and tried to have the energy to do something productive.  It was relatively unsuccessful.  I eventually laid down on the couch with Kieron.  I think I slept for 45 minutes.  After the short nap and a shower I felt mostly like a real person again.  But after a full night’s sleep I’m actually feeling MUCH better today – I’m so old.
 
It was a long party, but the birthday boy really enjoyed it and the boys were good.  They all had fun and were so excited about staying up ALL night!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Frazzled

I don't normally feel frazzled.  I normally feel like I have everything under control and on schedule.  But I must admit with a birthday party (sleepover) and an upcoming trip to Australia... I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed!

I'm trying to keep it all in perspective.  I don't have to go to a "real" job on top of all this.  I have this awesome deal where I stay home and take care of my family.  So that is great!

However, I'm still feeling a bit "out of it" with getting ready for everything.  I'm trying to stay focused on the birthday party since that is happening first.  And things are moving along for that.  But then the Australia trip creeps into the back of my mind and I know I have a million things to do for that!

Let me repeat that I am glad to have all these things going on.  Better to have good things frazzling me than bad things.  So I do feel fortunate about that.

Nevertheless, my brain does not seem to get much of a chance to rest.

On a side note, Canon is blowing me away with his insane reading ability these days.  He is on Harry Potter book 4.  He is only in second grade!  He has even taken the Reading Counts quizzes on the first 3 books and passed them!  BLOWS ME AWAY!

He was so cute last night when he finished book 3.  He came out from his bedroom and told me that we were going to have to go buy book 4 the next day.  Little did he know that his mama had it all covered!  I had bought the book 2 days before since I knew he was close to finishing book 3.  Mamas rock!

Then I decided to give him one of his birthday presents early because he passed his quiz at school.  So he got to build the Lego Quidditch set today after school.  He was SO excited!  Maybe a picture of that will get posted tomorrow - if my frazzled brain has time!

Monday, February 7, 2011

Science Fair

 

My baby (not the youngest, but they are both my babies!) did his very first science fair project!  HOLY COW!  It was a very proud moment for me on Sunday afternoon when he glued the last piece of his project to the board.  I just can't believe it!

What is really exciting is that he WANTED to do the project and actually asked several times over the past couple weeks, to work on the project.  We weren't scrambling at the last minute to push and get things finished.  The project isn't even due until tomorrow and it was done yesterday!

I'm also very proud of him because he sorta understands what he did.  I helped, but I didn't DO the project for him.  He really did the work.  Ran the experiment, collected the data, drew the pictures, typed the report, cut and glued stuff to the board.  It was so great to see!

I'm not going to say that his is a 1st place project.  I have no way of knowing yet.  This is the first time I've ever done a science fair project with a 2nd grader.  We will find out tomorrow.  But whether he wins or not, I'm so proud of him for what he accomplished!!



Saturday, February 5, 2011

Carrots vs. Cookies

The never ending battle in my world...
VS

Do I eat the carrots that I know are healthy and good for me?
or
Do I eat the cookies that I really want because they taste SOOOO good?

I don't get how people can "eat in moderation."  It doesn't come naturally for me.  I have to REALLY work at it.  Which I totally hate.  I love to feel healthy and strong, but I HATE having to weigh and measure everything I eat in order to eat in moderation.  It TOTALLY does not come easy to me. 
I want to be the kind of person that eats very healthy all the time, but the cookies taste SOOOOOOOOO good.  And the cake.  And the ice cream.  And the homemade bread.  And the Belgian waffles.  And the bacon (Mmmm... bacon).  And the chocolate.  And pretty much anything with cheese.

I know that eating right is all about being good to myself.  Eating right so I can be healthy for my family and myself.  I know how to eat right - lots of fruits and vegetables and I even like fruits and vegetables.  But I see these yummy looking recipes and I just can't resist.

I actually don't mind the exercise part.  I enjoy working out.  I would love to be a runner but I have a heel spur that makes the running too painful.  But even with the heel spur, I will endure the pain just to feel strong after exercising.

But the battle with food - the never ending... "Do I eat the carrots or the cookies?" that just never goes away for me.  I have times when I can do really well.  I did manage to lose 50 pounds (and yes I have kept it off and yes I'm proud of myself, blah, blah, blah)!  But I eventually fall off the wagon and that makes me angry.  I would love to lose about 15 more pounds.  I would really love to be the kind of person who can stay on the wagon ALL the time.  It is just SOOOOOOOOO hard.  I HATE that.

I did workout today.  But I didn't eat really well (there is homemade bread in my house).

Did I mention that I like sugar?  Did I also mention that I like working out and feeling healthy?  Did I mention that I just don't get these people who are naturally healthy and fit?  Some people just don't seem to have to work at it and that makes me so frustrated!

I do strive to eat the carrots.  I just wish the cookies didn't call to me every second of the day.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

100 Days

Happy 100th Day of School!

First let me say that I can't recall ever having a 100th day of school party when I was in school.  Must be "one of them new-fangled things!"

My little guy was so excited about the 100th day of school.  It was very cute.  He got the cool T-shirt in the picture above.  They did all kinds of fun 100 day activities... 100 stickers on the number 100, 100 cheerios to make a necklace, 100 snacks (10 groups of 10 things), playing games on a 100 chart, a pair of 100 glasses... the list goes on!

So in honor of the 100th day of school... I brought my guy and his two playmates home for the afternoon.  After they ate lunch (no I didn't give them 100 chicken nuggets - that would just be insane!), I had them go outside and make a pile of 100 rocks!  They did a good job and were very cute as they were running around collecting and counting rocks.  I should have taken a picture of the rock pile.  It was very under-whelming.  I really thought it would be bigger, but it wasn't.  I also thought it would take longer to do, but it didn't.

Anyway, they made their rock pile and then proceeded to climb trees and jump on the trampoline and swing on the swings.  It was a wonderful afternoon and I just love that I get to stay home and be a part of it all!  Happy 100th Day of School to me!