Keeping Busy on these Lazy Summer Days

Today is Saturday. During the summer, days of the week don't seem to make much difference to me. With the exception of FLOCKS, David's weekly softball game and church on Sunday it seems like everyday has pretty much the same since the craziness of camping, traveling and VBS are pretty much behind us. I have to say I'm enjoying lazy mornings and no schedule but I don't want to waste the summer so I've been looking for cheap or even FREE activities to do with the kids. Today I went to a FREE "Mommy and Me" Creative Movement Class with Isabella at Absolute Dance Company in Avon Lake. I had to get up at 7:30 a.m. (which is very early for us!) and drag Isabella out of bed at about 8:30 a.m. She was happy enough to take a bath and get dressed but once we got to the dance studio she decided to clam up. She was clingy and insistent on finishing her bottle of milk. She didn't really start to get comfortable until the last 10 minutes and then she was more into checking out the music player than dancing. She did hold my hand and run around a little bit with a gorgeous smile on her face that I could only see because of the walls of mirrors around us. My friend picked us up with her daughter who is only a couple of months older. She was in no way shy or timid when it came to exploring the place and getting her groove on! She and Isabella will be getting into all kinds of mischief in the years to come, I'm sure.

The Early Childhood PTA here in Avon Lake is a great resource for finding things to do in the area. I highly suggest to new parents (and experienced ones) to join their local early childhood PTA. When I first had Brandon I had no idea such an organization exsisted. I thought PTA's were only for "school-age" children. One of my favorite things about the ALECPTA is the beginning of the year social where I get a FREE identification card for each of my munchkins every year. It's nice to have and it's fun to see how they've changed from year to year. Next week we will be going to an activity at the library and a street fair both in neighboring cities that I learned of through this organization. I've met many people since I joined but only one person I would actually call a "friend."

Most of the people I've become good friends with since we've moved into the area have been through our church. My children have made some good friends, too. Our church has been a great resource for activities and events as well. We very much enjoy our small group and look forward to serving in the church. Our church is about ten minutes away from where we live. People come from all around to attend our church so we meet people from all different areas. I've often thought that we are right where God wants us to be. I know that he has a plan for us and I'm excited to see what that plan will bring in the future.

We are also members of our local YMCA which is a great place for me to have some "me" time! I love to take the kids to the Childwatch and know that they are safe and having a good time while I work out. The boys have taken several swimming and sports classes there with mixed results. The older they get, the more they seem to get out of them. They will begin Pike 2 on July 25th and Isabella will be a Shrimp. She's taking her first swim class! I will have to get in the water with her but I'm sure it will be fun. I never did anything like that with the boys but I'm looking forward to having some alone time with Isabella. She doesn't get much of that since she's the third born!

There are many more resources for activities, even here in Northeast Ohio. We are members of the zoo, have a wonderful library, parks and beaches. I'm looking forward to filling up the rest of our summer with lots of trips and taking lots of pictures! These little munchkins are growing up so fast and I know the summer will be a distant memory in no time...

My First Cucumber!

I picked my first cucumber out of my garden yesterday! Looking forward to lots more. I have a ton of stuff growing in my little 8x8 plot. Most of it came up on its own. Over the winter we throw all of our scraps into the garden to make our own compost. This year I tilled up the garden, added humus from the city and then planted my seeds. Later I noticed that there were all kinds of plants growing up that I didn't plant! Many of them were unmistakably recognizable such as tomatoes, peppers and some types of squash which I have not been able to identify yet! My tomato plants have been growing like crazy. I've already gotten plenty of tomatoes, strawberries, radishes and raspberries this year. I was about to get some spinach and romaine lettuce, too, but a groundhog beat me to it! I'm working on putting the fence back up around my garden before I lose anything else. I think that there's enough of the plants left that I should still get a good harvest of lettuce and spinach this year. I very much enjoy gardening. There's nothing like eating something that you've grown yourself!

I try to use only organic products in my garden which can sometimes be difficult to find or expensive. Lately I've been using Whitney Farms Organic plant food, insecticidal soap and outdoor insect killer. I also like their organic lawn weed killer although I did notice some brown spots in my lawn after using it. It did help with the weeds but I pretty much have a weed-lawn so even after using two bottles I still had weeds! Everything seems to be doing well after the rainy start that we had. Lately I've been watering a lot because we haven't been getting much rain at all.

We've been here for four years now June 22nd. Every year I plant a little more and change a little more in the yard. I've been quite pleased with the changes. Every year I learn a little more, too. I always say I'll get everything just right just in time to move! At least I'm learning and getting lots of practice. Someone is going to get a very beautiful and fruitful yard someday. In the meantime, I'll enjoy it :)

Sunscreen. What to use? What to use?!

Feeling very frustrated with all of the information out there about sunscreen. I've studied several lists of the "best sunscreen" and still don't feel too comfortable slathering it all over my munchkins when we go out. I do so only because I'm more afraid of the alternatives. I do my best to find the one's with the least health concerns. Those are usually the natural/mineral suncreens. They are free from Vitamin A/Retinyl Palmitate which may actually increase your chances of getting skin cancer! The EWG (Environmental Working Group) which claims to "work to protect kids from toxic chemicals in our food, water, air and the products we use everyday" has a "best sunscreens" list. Even their list contains sunscreens with "low" and "moderate" health concerns. Unfortunately, the EWG also reports on their website, http://www.ewg.org/, that the FDA failed to finalize their 1978 sunscreen safety standards. As a result, there is a lot of confusion about what is safe to use and what is not. Europe seems to be way ahead of us on this one. Their website has some very interesting articles if you're interested in reading more. I have to say though that even if the FDA did finalize their safety standards I don't know that I would trust them. The FDA has approved many things I wouldn't use on my kids. I've chosen to go with Aveeno's Mineral Block and Abaca Botanicals Mineral Block and hope that I'm not doing damage to my family's skin in the process. What do you use?

Ready for Summer... or at least Spring!

Winter is hanging on this year but there are signs of spring everywhere. Here we are half way through May already! I'm super excited about planting the garden and working on my landscaping. I very much enjoy being outside! This is going to be our fifth summer at this house. Each year gets better and better. The kids purchased a 15' trampoline with their birthday money. They love it! (I love it, too!) It's good for them to get out and be active. Both boys are enjoying their video games these days but we don't want them to spend too much time sitting in front of the tv.

Isabella is getting so big! She was terrified the first time I put her in the grass. She likes to go outside now and for some insane reason she likes to eat rocks and dirt. Yuck! Hopefully she will share my love of gardening :)

We've gotten more rain than sunshine this year so the sunny days have been much appreciated. The forecast is calling for warm sunny weather this Friday and Saturday. Today is Tuesday and it's been raining since Saturday so I'm very much looking forward to the weekend! This picture was taken last Thursday. Even Isabella loves to play on the trampoline.

Four Stores and a Restaurant

David and I went Christmas shopping for the kids tonight. We took Isabella with us because she's been pretty clingy lately due to her teething. Bauby came over to watch the boys. They have gotten much better about having Bauby or anyone babysit them lately. (I'm going to have to find a new babysitter when Bauby moves to Florida!) We went out to dinner first at Chipotle. I was starving so it was even better than usual. I LOVE Chipotle. By far my favorite restaurant and I could eat their everyday. We then went to four stores shopping away. It was fun. Would have been more fun if we had more money but whatever. We don't want to spoil the munchkins too much. The boys will be in heaven on Christmas morning. They are getting "big boy" toys this year. It's going to be a Batman/Transformer Christmas for them. They'll be happy. Isabella doesn't really know much about presents yet, but she likes the stuff we picked out - she was with us remember? :)

I'm making gifts for most of the kids in our family and the boys are going to send out a little package to their long distance cousins. They're excited about doing that and I'm excited about all of the sewing practice that I'm getting! I'm making the crayon/marker roll ups for the kids and new stockings for our family of five. Isabella first just in case I don't get them all - done she's the only one who doesn't have one. I bought a very cute soft pink fabric with brown polka dots. It will be adorable!

Almost through my first week of weight watchers online. I have a habit of weighing myself everyday so I already know that I've lost three pounds so far. I started on Monday so the "official" weigh in will be Monday. Weight Watchers has a new Points Plus system which is great! Fruit is zero points. I eat lots of fruits and vegetables everyday so that is going to help me a lot. I am hoping to lose about 45 pounds and go down at least 3/4 pants sizes.... I've been doing much better on my eating, but I've got to get better about my tracking and get back into the Y. Since we're all been getting sick we haven't been in there much. Monday. We'll start back on Monday!

Sleep is good...

I'm looking forward to a quiet weekend. This week has been kind of crazy for no real reason and I feel like I need some "rest." I get to sleep in again on Saturdays now that Xander is done with his swimming lessons at the YMCA. By sleeping in, I mean that I get to wake up to children instead of an alarm! Works for me. Saturdays are kind of a special day for me and the kids because we get to wake up and go at our own pace. Most Saturdays David has to work so it's just us. We don't have anyone coming over and we don't have to be anywhere. It's amazing how having five kids all week makes having three seem like a breeze! Tomorrow is going to go something like that except Bauby is coming over in the evening to babysit so that David and I can do some Christmas shopping - together without kids - that's rare! David doesn't like shopping but I'll try to make the most of it :)

Isabella is still working on some teeth so she hasn't been a very happy camper; especially at night! I feel so bad for her but I have to help her to get through this without ruining all of her good habits. She's always been able to put herself to sleep in her crib. I find myself rocking her to sleep more and holding her more because she wakes up in pain. I've even brought her in to lay down with me... NO! She's doing such a good job sleeping in her own bed. It's not that I haven't loved co-sleeping with the boys especially when they were much littler, but I've realized mostly since they've gotten older that its been much harder on them to break these kinds of habits. Brandon is almost five and still sleeping in our bed! So is it not better to help them develop their independence from the start?? I have such loving and cuddly boys though... I'm so torn on the subject of co-sleeping that I would never try to give anyone advice in that arena!

Isabella's first teeth!

Isabella cut her first tooth on Saturday, November 27th at Grama and Papa's house. This is her "I'm getting my first tooth" pic taken the night before. She was a little crabby but not too bad! She cut her second tooth today, December 3rd, the lower right central incisor. She's getting to be such a big girl! She was gnawing on my hand today and it actually hurt! She tried mac n' cheese for the first time today at Bob Evans and she was all about it! She actually cried for more in between bites which she never does with her fruits and vegetables. :)

I gave her a sippy cup with cold water in it today also. She gnawed on and played with it for a little while but she didn't get much of the water. Poor baby. She's always been so good at putting herself to sleep. The past couple of weeks with staying at my mom's, her cold and then her teeth, she's gotten too used to having mommy nearby and hasn't been wanting to go to bed by herself. After a clean diaper, nursing and meds I had to let her cry for a few minutes tonight so she'd go to sleep on her own. I hated to do it but I know it was for her own good. She has always been such a good sleeper I don't want to mess it up like we did with the boys from day one. They're still sleeping in our bed! She only cried for about 5 minutes and then she was asleep.

She is such a good girl. I love her so much and so does her daddy and big brothers! The boys are so excited that she is "growing up" and getting her teeth. They love that she "sits on her butt" too! They are so funny. Xander always says that he wants to have too babies. I asked him if he wanted a boy or a girl baby and at first he said a boy but he quickly changed his mind and said he wanted two girls. I don't think that he realizes that by the time we would have another baby Isabella wouldn't be one any more! :)

I'm trying to teach the boys to communicate with each other better and not to come crying to me or David with every argument or "he hit me." They have been very good about listening to what I have to say and communicating to each other how they feel. Maybe some day they'll actually be able to settle their own disputes!