I stay at home - that IS work! The SAHParents Journal!

[TtownAnne]

To keep Bev and Sheila's journals company, to maybe draw some new life into OUAL, and to revive our old thread, I thought I'd open up a new journal for any and all stay-at-home parents hanging out here.

So come and share what you do with your days, what you do with your kids (when you don't want to sell them on Ebay - and don't lie and say you've never wondered about it!), and generally support all comers who need some grown-up friends to chat with when you generally only talk to the kids all day.

[TtownAnne]

I'll even start us off with a Question of the Week. It seems to be the weekend of internet parenting confessions, judging by http://www.katiefleck.com/ and http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/2007/02/09/confessions/ and http://momtothescreamingmasses.typepad.com/mom_to_the_screaming_mass/2007/02/confession_is_g.html
(note: I don't know how to make it a link that just says "here" or whatever - help me!)

So, what are your confessions? They can be about you specifically, or parenting in general, or whatever. C'mon, Ash Wednesday is coming up and confession is good for the soul! :angel:

[Clare]

Hmmm, confessions :scratch: I seriously yelled at Sam last night after he emptied a whole bottle of shampoo into the bath :blush: I felt bad afterwards, but sometimes I just have to yell!

I have a sick boy at home today. We are meant to be at his swimming lesson right now but he's thrown up twice this morning. He seems fine now though, he's eaten 3 pieces of toast and a pb sandwich since his last vomit. He must have been ravenous.

Today is the first day of fulltime school for Harry! He seemed fine with it this morning so I hope he will have a good day!

[Mary DK]

Those are funny... okay, here I go...

Confessions:
~ If I don't feel like getting dressed in the weekend I just tell the boys that it's pajama day, they love it & DH doesn't care
~ If it's late & the dishwasher is full of clean dishes & I REALLY don't feel like emptying it, I will rinse the dirty dishes & leave them in the sink until the next day... hey, at least I rinse them so there is no food on them... oh, and I do wash the handwashing ones (pots & pans)
~ My 6yr old doesn't know how to tie his shoes & I just bought him a pair of velcro tennis shoes so he can put them on by himself in the mornings when getting ready for school :blush:
~ Sometimes lunch consists of turkey hotdogs, cheetos & a fruit... at least they're turkey hot dogs & they're getting a fruit, right?
~ I feed my kids when we're grocery shopping, it keeps them quiet & off each other
~ My laundry sits on the couch unfolded for sometimes days (2-3 days) sometimes until is time to do laundry again :shuffle:

Okay, now it's y'all's turn... maybe that'll make me feel better that I went ahead & wrote these :shuffle:

[Melissa]

:wavey:

We're going though a "I hate daddy" phase whenever I'm around. She only wants me, but when I'm gone, she's fine with DH. :tearhair:

[Kara]

Thanks Anne for reviving the journal!!


I also leave laundry in clothesbaskets and live out of them for a few days....sometimes more LOL.


I pick out both boys clothes every morning LOL. They could care less about what they wear.

I can be a yeller at times too...

And I tend to spoil a tad too often.

[Melissa]

Mary, you mean we should get dressed on weekends? All of us do the PJ thing! :lol:

[stass]

Confession
Too much TV.:shuffle:

[Karri]

~we have TV (movie) marathon days
~my 5 year old doesn't know his address, phone number, and can't tie shoes
~if my husband is gone for the week, i will go the entire time w/o bathing them b/c I HATE BATHTIME
~i don't make my kids brush their teeth before bed. morning is enough of a struggle.
~often, i don't go to the gym for my health or b/c i love it. i go to get a break from my kids (kidcare).
~i will wrestle my kids down to the ground to get a boogie that's in there that they can't blow out :shuffle:

[mrs.knip]

we watch way to much tv at our house
I am another that doesn't brush teeth at night, lucky if we get it done once a day
My 3 1/2 year still cannot say her full name when asked
I am sure there are more :)

[Karly]

Oh wow, confessions?

~I think my kids hate each other for the way they fight and bicker
~I don't make them brush their teeth at night either... it's hard enough in the morning
~sometimes we're all still in our pj's when Josh comes hom
~sometimes I'll let them watch another cartoon just so I can have a moment of peace
~my five year old has just recently learned his ABCs
~they probably eat way too much junk in general, but not only on my watch

[Karly]

I thought of another... :shuffle:

~I really don't look forward to dinner time... my kids fight too much, won't stay in their chairs, bicker with one another, constantly ask for things, tip their chairs, did I say fight? :errr:

[sabrina]

Confession time:

My kids will ask for jammie day and I say, "hmmm, okay" (less laundry for me to do right?)
we have movie marathon days too, but we also hav no tv days as well
I make them put their clean clothes away, I don't do it for them.
My five year old doesn't know her address or how to tie her shoes


I am sure there are more but I can't think of them right now.

[Cami]

I let my kids sleep in the clothes they've worn that day. (I have no idea why they want to do this, but they do and it's easy, so there.)

I have decided that TV didn't damage me or DH and we grew up with all those physically violent cartoons. I can't imagine the kindness of Dora or creativity of Backyardigans is going to kill them.

Disclaimer: Preface all that with "sometimes" and "for each bad thing, I do a equally good thing." :)

[Cami]

And my observation of the day: Today is the first day that all the kids and I (and not DH) have been home on a weekday since school started in Sept. I've had an ongoing issue with the fact that my kids are starting school a year earlier here than they would in the US and I have a ton of built up resentment that I'm losing a year at home with each kid.

So today has been both good and bad. It's only noon but it's been a perfect day so far. I gave the kids a bath after breakfast. So much more relaxed than in the evening when I'm tired. Then I took a nice, long shower without having to rush to get them dressed for school. We made salt dough ornaments for the valentine's day party we're having on Weds. Then we read some books and they are playing a board game now. And B just got up and ran to the potty all on his own, for about the third time this morning.

So freaking perfect! I'm really happy because we're having such a good time and I'm appreciating it so much but I'm sad because we should be this way every day.

Moral of my story: If you're home with your kids, try to enjoy it even when they're making you nuts. It'll go by so fast. :(

And I will look back and read this in a few hours when they are screaming at each other. :)

[EricaW]

~ I put him in his crib when I need a break.
~ Someday's I really look forward to bedtime.

[Brandi Jo]

Wow, these are some good confessions! I could probably echo each of these sentiments...but I don't have time right now....because, as usual, my four year old is fighting putting his shoes on for school, and my one year old is trying to eat the dog food....and I'm not stopping them!!

[Darcy]

~I sometimes lie to my former coworkers and say how much I enjoy being a SAHM.
~I don't interact with Jeremy as much as I did with Riley--and I worked with Riley.
~I oftentimes wonder if it would've been an easier transition if I was a SAHM with Riley, and not just with the two kids.
~Sometimes I ask Riley to keep an eye on Jeremy while I run upstairs or downstairs.
~When Jeremy cries at night, I sometimes pretend not to hear him so Phil will get up with him.
~I get frustrated with Riley and yell at her more than I should.
~Sometimes I don't want to deal with fighting with Riley about dinner, so she eats chicken more than she probably should since that's what she'll eat.
~I find I cannot wait for the kids to grow up and be able to entertain themselves, yet at the same time I want them to stay little. :blue:

[sheila]

~my kids watch too much TV
~my 3 year old didn't know her last name at her well child visit
~when my husband isn't home, we eat dinner in front of the TV about 90% of the time because it means I can read
~it is not uncommon for my kids to go all day without brushing their teeth. It isn't common, either, but it happens.
~my whole family often dresses out of the laundry room because clean clothes don't always make it back to the bedrooms.
~I sleep in a Tshirt so that when I wake up, all I have to do is throw some pants on and it looks like I am dressed (ish). Sometimes that is what I wear all day.

[Mary DK]

Mary, you mean we should get dressed on weekends? All of us do the PJ thing! :lol:
I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only one with a family that will stay on PJs & wear them again that night :phew: :lol:

I have to confess that there are a few more in some of these lists that I kept nodding to when I was reading them :shuffle:

I hope this is not making anybody feel bad. It actually make me feel good reading that I'm a "normal" Mom :giggle:

[mrs.knip]

What have some of you been doing with the kids during the cold snaps when you cannot go outside. We do not leave home a whole lot anyway since living in the boonies but it seems like all we ever do is watch tv, we have an unfinished basement so sometimes we play down there but right now we are lucky if it gets above 40 degrees down there so most times that is out.

[TtownAnne]

I need to add my own confessions -


I often wear the same clothes for a few days in a row. Unless I'm going to do something while Caroline is at school, the only people who see me are for less than 2 minutes (the school dropoff-pickup line) so who's going to notice what I'm wearing? I'm all about cutting down on laundry...
You don't want to know how often I feed Caroline early, and then once she goes to bed I eat a plate of french fries for dinner
Caroline will only drink "plain milk" (i.e., not chocolate-ized) with much whining and complaining
Too much cartoons to allow for Mommy's computer time!
I am waiting with bated breath for full-day kindergarten! A whole day alone to do what *I* need!
And speaking of full-day kindergarten, I went to see a school today for Caroline that I absolutely LOVED. :cheer: It's so exactly what she needs, they are totally able to work with kids who are reading above their grade level or whatever, much more emotionally at her level (I told them about some of the problems we had at Montessori and the teacher was HORRIFIED - she said that would not EVER happen at their school) I'm so excited and happy! Caroline can't wait to pick out her own backpack and lunchbox.

[mrs.knip]

That is great about finding the school Anne! (oh and the only regular milk my kids willing drink is in their cereal :blush: )

[Kara]

Austin doesn't even drink ANY milk...:shhh: And I am looking forward to K too! LOL!


Anne, that is AWESOME news!!! I am so happy for Caroline!!! So she'll start All Day K in the fall??

[TtownAnne]

Yep, Caroline will start kindergarten in the fall, although having heard about their "initial screening", I'm honestly wondering if they will decide she's ready for first grade? I forgot to ask about that, because the screening for kindergarten basically involves knowing their colors, numbers, letters, using scissors appropriately, etc. Caroline can read, knows the continents, does addition, etc. But is there a good way to ask that without sounding like one of those pushy parents that thinks their kid just has to be smarter than everyone else?

Brandi, how are you at dealing with the mess of crafty stuff? Caroline LIVES for that on days we don't go anywhere or don't have something planned. There are tons of recipes to make your own playdough, she loves to cut/paste/glitter, she has an easel where she paints. And honestly if we've run out of all the ideas, Caroline loves playing in the bathtub so there are some weeks in winter when she gets a bath every single day just to give her time to play in the water, "practice swimming", etc.

[Karri]

Anne - they do formal screening? i think there's more to school thank just knowing those things. there's the emotional maturity readiness level, too. i do think they'll learn more than what you listed. aidan covered all that this year in k-4.

Anyway....
Brandi - we venture out in the cold. I've been to the gym and stuck the kids in kid care, went to this local pizza place where they have a climbing area, giant train table, giant water table, building block area, face painting area, and mini play pizza restauraunt. I've also ventured to the children's museum and to Gymboree open gym. Oh - and I took them out to lunch one day b/c I was desperate :lol: ANYTHING to get the hell out of the house :lol:

[Darcy]

I agree with Karri. We HAVE to get out of the house. Most of the time we head to the library where they have a ton of stuff for Riley to play with. And during the day when the older kids are in school she doesn't have to worry about being bullied. I can also easily put Jeremy on the floor and let him roam. There's also a parent/tot center at the local elementary school that's sponsored by the state. They have tons of stuff for kids up to age 4 to play with and they do a weekly craft. We spent about 1.5 hours there this morning.

[mrs.knip]

Karri & Darcy- I am sooo envious of you having so many places to take the kids. Since we live over 35 miles from the nearest town we just don't have that many opportunities around here. I did take them to the library one day last week. And if we go to my parents I will take them to the McD's playland to play but there is just not a whole lot else to do around here. What I would kill for an indoor gym or playground within a 75 mile radious.
Anne- I really do need to do more crafty stuff. Maggie does love it, it is just a matter of trying to do some of that stuff and letting Will participate too. If we don't get too much snow tonight I have to go to a meeting out of town tommorow (about 2 hrs away) but I am making it a girls day out with Maggie. The meeting should only last about 45 min then we will go to the mall that has a playland, out to lunch, and shopping just the two of us, so pray that the snow isn't bad. :)

[Darcy]

Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that! I have a girlfriend who lives about 20 minutes from where the stores are, and she's in the same boat as you with finding stuff to do at home. And I'm horrible at having Riley do crafty stuff. I'm always telling her that she has to wait until Jeremy is sleeping so I can give her my full attention and not worry if she's dropping stuff on the floor that he'll eat! :lol:

[Michele]

I have a lot of the same confessions - I'm glad I'm not the only one who has the TV on too much. This is what I stuggle with the most in the winter, but I've decided that it is hardly on at all in the summer so it all evens out, right?

Brandi - that stinks that there is so little to do near you. We do a lot of the same things as Karri. I've definitely been going to the gym a lot b/c I get 2 hours of alone time when I do! We also have a couple different indoor play areas, and a train museum that Jackson loves. Our Mall has a play area, and both my kids like going to Target, so I do that more than I should.

Today we went to Chuck E Cheese - it was actually fun. I spent $25 though...Jackson had a great time playing skee ball, and some other water gun game. They have a decent salad bar too.

My issue right now is dealing with the age gap between my kids. They are 2 years 8 months apart and right now it is hard. Jackson needs to be out doing stuff otherwise he is bored and when he is bored we are both miserable. Anna is one of those kids that will only nap in her crib, so it is better for her to stay home, so I have been trying to stay home more but I do feel like Anna gets dragged around and her schedule disturbed a lot.

[Karly]

we get a bit stir crazy, too during the winter. I take the kids out to the library oy to the store, and sometimes, if it's a bit warmer, I'll let them play out in the snow.

My kids love the crafty stuff, too. And they love to help me cook or bake! :nod:

[Karri]

I kicked them out in the snow today....and I stayed in the house :hehe:

[TtownAnne]

I'm impressed, Karri - how do you manage to do it without them coming back inside every 4 minutes?

[sheila]

:secret: lock the door. (I'm only kidding)

Mine will play outside for a while by themselves when I let them. :dunno: somedays they come right back in, other days they get pissy if I try to come outside with them.

[MrsPeacefrog]

My boys love playing outside together, they can be out there for hours I have to drag them inside. I guess it's an adventure to play out there together, they run from thing to thing and see who can get there first and complete the task. I love that they do that! :nod:

[Karri]

I dunno, Anne :dunno: They've been playing outside w/ each other for a long time, so I guess they're used to it. I just check on them every 5 mins or so, knock on the window and wave, and that does it for them. Lucky, I guess.

[buzzjen]

I just found this thread - we've been away in NC since Saturday. We were supposed to be headed home today, but there's supposed to be alot of snow/ice/ugly stuff in the DC/MD/PA area, so we're definitely here until tomorrow, maybe later. We're having a good time and it's warmer here, but the limbo is a little weird. I'm trying to get out as much as possible, because I don't think I'll be getting out once we get home.

Going back to the beginning question - confessions....
Definitely too much TV
I don't play with them as much as I should
Sometimes when Katie asks to go potty, especially when we're in the car, I tell her that's why she still wears a diaper.

[TtownAnne]

Yeah Jen, my DH said the roads are getting bad already, so stay where you are!

It's snowing, so in a bit we will go outside to shovel, play and put the trash out. This afternoon we're going to make chocolate-dipped heart shape cookies.

[Kara]

Yep, Caroline will start kindergarten in the fall, although having heard about their "initial screening", I'm honestly wondering if they will decide she's ready for first grade? I forgot to ask about that, because the screening for kindergarten basically involves knowing their colors, numbers, letters, using scissors appropriately, etc. Caroline can read, knows the continents, does addition, etc. But is there a good way to ask that without sounding like one of those pushy parents that thinks their kid just has to be smarter than everyone else?

Brandi, how are you at dealing with the mess of crafty stuff? Caroline LIVES for that on days we don't go anywhere or don't have something planned. There are tons of recipes to make your own playdough, she loves to cut/paste/glitter, she has an easel where she paints. And honestly if we've run out of all the ideas, Caroline loves playing in the bathtub so there are some weeks in winter when she gets a bath every single day just to give her time to play in the water, "practice swimming", etc.

I would call and ask what would happen if a child was bored in their class? I think alot of it is socialization too. We know people whose mom is a teacher and her son was extremely bored in Kindergarten. So after talking with the teacher, she was able to send in things for him to do and the teacher was able to give him different things to challenge him but he still remained in kindergarten with his age group.

[Kara]

Its just Austin and I in the afternoons most days and I watch my friends daughter for a couple more weeks to he has a playmate for now. On the days she is not here we go to the mall or Target or run errands.


if we stay at home, he loves taking baths or me "trying" to play a video game with him LOL.

No School today and I think I will send them out here in a bit!

[Karly]

My kids won't go out side at our house usually, but they will at my IL's. We had a stupid unleashed dog come and freak them out here, and now they are terrified to go out. :furious:

[~Deborah~]

I am going to say ditto to all the confessions...as I just keep nodding :blush:

[Irish Luck]

~ another one whose kids watch way to much TV
~ Neither of my children aged 4 and 5 can tie their shoelaces
~ I get their clothes out for the next day
~ One or other of the boys, often still end up in our bed at night
~ I don't read to my children as much as I should
~ I hate dinner time, the boys don't sit still, take so long to eat, Erin is busy whining etc
~ I haven't been very pro-active in getting Erin to eat lumpy food, she is a year old and still eats 6-7mth old pureed food twice a day.
~ I screech at my kids more than I would like
~ I love dropping them off to school and kindy and having only my girl at home with me
~ We don't get out of the house as much as I would like in the weekends, but it took me along time to get Erin napping well during the day and I don't like to mess with a good thing

[MrsPeacefrog]

Well, now that Aiden has started preschool (it's 9:00am - 11:30am 5 days a week) my life all of a sudden has become so much more difficult. He is absolutely loving it, which I am THRILLED about. He needed the stimulation and as he was on the cut off for going to school, I am glad I was able to get him into preschool to keep him occupied this year. But OY!

I am taking turns with another mum and we are carpooling so we get every 2nd day off, but on my ON days, I have to get all 3 boys ready, then go pick up the other boy, drop them off to school, then I go to the shops or come back home to wrap my items for the postie to come pick up, then I the 2 hours flies by and I have to get back to the school it pick up the boys, drop off the other kid, get home by midday and get the boys lunch, the Jacob goes down for a nap and I put on a DVD for Aiden and Riley in their room so I can have a few minutes alone. I feel like I constantly have to do something or fit in my housework etc.

I am REALLY looking forward to fulltime school!!!

[Mary DK]

Karly, that's terrible about the dog scaring your little ones that now they can't enjoy their own backyard :( I can't stand it when people just let their dogs roam around!! :disbelief:

Deb, yes full time is the only way to go :nod: I was so glad that Eliot's school had full kindergarten :phew: Will he be going to full time next school year?

[Clare]

:nod: Deb, I was so happy when Harry went to fulltime this week! I know I wasn't carpooling so it wasn't so bad, but just having to go back for him at 12pm and then back again for Emily at 3pm - I felt like I spent the whole time watching the clock!

[Kara]

2 snow days, 2 hr delay today but Josh is going to school!

Austin's school cancels when there is a delay. I am on call for a furniture delivery for my friend cause she has to work.

[buzzjen]

We're finally home! The drive wasn't bad yesterday until we got to the PA border. And then DH got stuck coming in the driveway, so we were quickly shoveling a lot of HEAVY ice/snow mix. Our neighbor came over to help us and his wife invited us for dinner. So nice not to have to figure out what to do!

Today, I have to get to the grocery store and take Katie to the doctor. She's had a nasty cough since Sunday and was up for about an hour and a half last night. :yawn: I also have to clean since I'm having a playgroup tomorrow. Ugh - I liked NC better, I just had to take care of the kids!

[Mary DK]

It's very cold outside for us Texans... or at least for my part of the woods. Right now is 25, the dang wind is really blowing so the wind chill is 13. I know other places are so much colder than here but we're just not used to it at all!!!! :cold: I wish we would at least get a little snow, they're calling for chance of flurries but I doubt it will be anything big.

[Mary DK]

Jenn, Ian has that kind of cough too. He coughed pretty much all night, how he stayed asleep I don't really know but it kept waking me up. There is something going around here in the same family than bronchitis, Eliot had it last week, so I'm wondering if Ian has it now. Glad your trip back wasn't bad at all & y'all are home now :aok:

[TtownAnne]

GAAAAAAAAAAAAH! The city plow came down our street yesterday and plowed in my car and the space DH's car had been in. I spent more than two hours yesterday shoveling out a parking spot for him since I knew he would be late, then when he got home he decided that it "wasn't enough room" so parked across the street. The wind turned all the snow and sleet to solid ice, and my car is STUCK IN IT!!!! There's no way I can shovel this completely solidified snow that is nearly halfway up the door, and I am going to LOSE MY MIND being stuck in the house again.

[sheila]

OMG! I am so sorry Anne! :hug99:

[Kara]

Oh my Anne! That stinks!!!


Josh came down last night and said his ear hurt and did he have a scab. No scab, but wax and some blood mixed in. He is going to the dr tomorrow at 9:45. I would think if he had an ear infection, the penicillin for the strep would have taken care of that too....he has said it hurts when he put in his ear things for his ipod.

[buzzjen]

Anne, that totally sucks. We have just enough room cleared in our driveway for two cars - I'm going to try to head out and clear a little more so that the sun can work on it.

We tried to go grocery shopping and when I pulled in, realized that lot had not been plowed. I was still game for trying to get some food until Katie puked on me in the first aisle! :dead: So I had one to clean up and one to calm down, because Ben couldn't understand why we weren't buying any food. Took Katie to the pediatrician and he said her lungs and ears are clear, but 5 days of a cough merits an antibiotic. So, $75 and two tantrums later, we are finally home with medicine and a mom suffering from serious cabin fever. I'm going to take out all of this angst on the snow!

[TtownAnne]

:woo: DH finally got my car out last night! So Caroline and I had to go out driving around this afternoon as an antidote to so many days stuck in the house. :heee:

She had off school yesterday and today for the holiday. Today was supposed to be kindergarten screening at one of the schools we applied to, but it was cancelled for today because apparently that county did as little on their parking lots/sidewalks as I did in my parking space and schools were delayed this morning!

But we got some other errands taken care of, got medicine for my headcold, picked up birthday presents for my mom, ordered flowers for her, got an anniversary card, went out to lunch, and even splurged on some spring clothes at Old Navy!

[Melissa]

Anne, you're free!!!! That's fantastic.

Today was terrific. It almost reached 60, so we were outside playing after-school. Katie drew on the sidewalk with her chalk, we took a bike ride. It was a lot of fun. Nice to be out and not to hear my heat come on every 10 minutes.

[buzzjen]

I'm so glad to hear you're free, Anne! As I was trying to shovel more out of our driveway, I was wondering if you finally got the car out. We're still at two spaces in our driveway, but I got more ground covered - it's getting to be difficult to walk to the end of the driveway with the two kids in tow.

Melissa, I'm totally jealous of 60! Even the 40s felt wonderfully warm today.

We had a crazy busy day and cranky, cranky kids. Ben woke up with a cold and did not want to go to preschool. I later found out that the girl I watched yesterday and whose house we went to on Saturday has strep. So it may not be just a cold. He went though, and had a good day, although for some reason did not give out his Valentine's despite receiving them from everyone :gah: After preschool, it was McDonald's for lunch and his first dentist appointment - which did not go well. He absolutely refused to open his mouth for the dentist after she got the pick out to check his teeth for cavities. My arms actually hurt from holding him on the chair. We'll try again in six months. Little Miss Katie spent most of the day crying, mainly because she was up at 5AM :gah: She laid in our bed until 6, but she was tired and cranky all day. She took some cat naps in the car, so, of course, she didn't take one at home. Needless to say, I had some frustration that I took out on the snow! I'm sore, but feel much better. I leave on Friday for a solo trip to my parents in AZ - it can't come soon enough.

[Karly]

I'm happy to know that you got out of your house finally, Anne! :giggle: But I know what you mean - sometimes it's too cold out, and the house is too small and the kids are climbing up the walls and you need OUT! :lol:

I'm having such struggles with Alexis. She just goes from one disaster to another. Yesterday, she dumped out a bottle of baby powder out onto my chair, and squeezed lotion out onto the floor. Today, she squeezed out the entire bottle of Joy dish detergent onto Tyrus' bed. :gah: She gets in the fridge and tries to pour out juice, etc. And it's not like I leave her alone for long periods of time, either! I have to constantly ask her what she's doing, what she has, where she's at. I'm about to go nutzo.

[Cami]

Karly, that's how Brady is. I wonder how he comes up with some of the disasters that he does. I wish I had some good advice for you.

Jen, sorry about the dentist appointment! It's such a pain that you go to all the trouble to get in there, get no result, and have to do it again. How long are you going away for?

Anne, so glad you're free again! :)

It's a gorgeous day here (except for a bizarre 2 minute rain shower that just blew through) so I attempted to clean out the car this morning. I figured that with my new Dyson, I could have the car looking all brand new again. :giggle: Well, I tried. It looks better but it still needs a professional interior detailing. I just hate spending money on that... I am so not a car person.

[Mary DK]

Anne... freedom is sweet!! :banana: Especially when you get to do some retail therapy :cheer:

Melissa... it was warm over here too, I took the kids to the playground & they had a ball :yippee:

Karly & Jen... I hope y'all have a better day today :hug99:

Cami... I'm like that too! :shuffle: I don't clean out my car unless I have to pick up somebody or we can't see the floor :blush: It's usually papers, yunk mail or empty soda cups though I usually keep one of the cups in the car just in case of a pee emergency with one of the boys.

Eliot went back to school, he's been fever free after his latest ear infection & did good yesterday though he'll probably be exhausted after school. Today is picture day at his school so I'm glad he didn't had to miss it.
Ian & I are going to MOPS here in a little bit, I'm definitely in need of the Mommy time :aok: Oh, and Blair told me this morning that he's taking us out to dinner so no cooking for me tonight :cheer:

[buzzjen]

I'll be gone for 4 days! :woo: However, before I get to go, I get from now until after bedtime tomorrow flying solo. Today was pretty good, but Katie is still terribly cranky. I'm seriously considering giving her pacifiers back - she's still asking for them after 2 months... I think DH is going to resist, though...
Got to go - she's so not napping - I should get my cranky, crying girl!

[Mary DK]

Okay, we had a funny experience today. A little girl from Eliot's school came over to play and being that Eliot has never had a little girl come over to play one on one (he's only had boys) it was funny to watch :lol2:
Off course the little girl wanted to play house and the famous "I'm the Mommy, you & Ian are the kids" to what Eliot quickly replied "you're not a Mommy & I'm not your kid... let's play with the race cars" :lol2:
We ended up going outside and that helped a lot since both boys & girls like to blow bubbles, run, ride bikes & all those outside activities. After we took her home I asked Eliot if he had fun & he said "it was fun, just different"... I guess he better start learning that now, ah? :rotflmao:

[Melissa]

That's too cute Mary!

[Cami]

Mary, that's cute! :lol:

Jen, Aubrey had a binkie until she was 3 1/2. :blush: It's so hard to get rid of them.

[TtownAnne]

:woo: DH took Caroline to school this morning! So I'm lounging in my pajamas with a bagel and some hot chocolate waiting for Rachael Ray to come on. :woot: (yes, she's annoying, but if I have to choose between her and the Today Show for the 19th hour, I'm going with Rachael).

I was sooooooooo sick last night - the salmon we had for dinner just did not lay right with me. Amazingly though, after getting sick I slept like the dead so woke up feeling completely refreshed and energized. Talk about a paradox. :dunno:

[Karri]

Mary - that's funny. :lol: I was thinking how Aidan would react and it wouldn't faze him. I guess that's b/c he has a sister and they play house :lol: You only have testosterone over in your house :lol:

Anne - enjoy your morning. ahhhh.

[Mary DK]

Karri, it would definitely be different if he had a sister :lol: you can definitely feel the testosterone over here from the minute you open the door & have to step over little Nascar cars all over the entry :lol: God help me with 2 teenage boys :errr: :giggle:

Anne, that's good that the sleep helped you feel so much better. Sounds like an enjoyable morning :aok:

We did not have an enjoyable morning :gah: Eliot hasn't had many meltdowns when getting ready for school, he has only had like two other ones besides today's meltdown... boy does that make me feel like the rest of my day is gonna be crummy, maybe it's b/c my nerves had enough for today & after I drop Ian to school I have to go into the office & deal with my boss, I'm still kind of mad at her for something she shouldn't have said & she was totally wrong about :rolleyes:

Gotta think of a good thing to end this post with... I know! Blair is off today & he'll be getting the screen door for the back door!! :yippee:

[Karly]

How awful is it that it's only 9:22 AM and I'm already at my wits end with my oldest two?! :gah:

[AmyP]

Jen, I asked my orthdontist and he said to let her give up the pacifier at her own pace. As long as she's not still using it at age 7, she's fine. He said even if the baby teeth stick out, it's no big deal. It's just a problem when the permanent teeth come in.

Ugh, I have a crapload of laundry to get done today. At least the only stuff we have going on is an OT appointment and she also has a speech evaluation through EI. I hope to heaven they'll agree to give her speech therapy. I'd rather not deal with the hassle and such of taking her to the college. It's not expensive or anything, but it would be a whole lot easier to just have someone come to our house. :dunno:

[sabrina]

How awful is that I just got up? My kids got up, had a poptart, and came to the basement to play quietly so Mommy could sleep. I don't know if I should feel thankful or like a terrible mommy because I let them have a poptart. So, I am sitting here in my jammies and we are going to end up missing a playdate today because of me sleeping too late. OOOOPS!!!!!!

[Brandi Jo]

:wavey: Sabrina, don't beat yourself up over giving your kid a poptart...in the grand scheme of things that's not so bad.

It is so nice here today...a sunny 45 degrees, I'm going to make them go outside and get some fresh air today. Besides that, I will have 8 boys aged 4 and under at my house today...and I don't really want them inside :lol:

[TtownAnne]

Yeah, if you gave them a poptart every day, then you should maybe wonder, but once in a while is no cause for self-abuse. If so I'd be going to hell for giving Caroline chocolate-granola cereal for breakfast! (it's soooo tasty, if incredibly unhealthy....)

Went grocery shopping and spent a ridiculous amount of money, but got lots of good healthy stuff and even managed to do a last-minute meal-planning in the 10 minutes between eating breakfast and leaving for school. :aok:

Now I'm just hoping that DH has something in mind for a "Daddy/Daughter day" tomorrow because I need some alone time!

[Cami]

I ate massive amounts of cherry Poptarts when I was a child.

I had a great morning with Brady while the girls were at school. He was soooo good! We went to the library and then to see the ducks at the pond. After that, we went to the grocery and I actually meandered slowly through the store without him whining (or worse). And best of all.... he told me three times when he had to use the potty ~ all while we were out~ and he did it each time. This is his first accident-free day in almost two weeks of potty training! :woo:

[sabrina]

I have forgiven myself. and hey I did get to sleep until 9:30 which made for a wonderfully non-sleepy day. Although it did make for a not so productive day.

Today is laundry day. I should be ble to get most of it done and put away. I also need to make Emmalee straighten her room at some point. I also plan on cleaning as much as possible so I can spend next week doing lesson plans for the next month.

[Karri]

Good for you :nod:
sometimes, you do what you gotta do to stay sane.

I am trying to get the house super cleaned and am taking a mini-break. I actually did a little decluttering, as well (and I am not even a clutterbug). Go me. So yeah, I am kinda ignorning the kids in the process. They've been playing well, though. A little Hullabaloo, a bit of TV :heee: .... its all good.

[Cami]

Karri, it's not "ignoring the kids," it's "encouraging their independence." :)

[Kara]

LOL Mary! Austin has a regular friend thats a girl that he plays with weekly so he is very in touch with his "girly' side LOL. He will even point to commercial with Barbie and Little Mermaid stuff and ask for it for his birthday! LOL!


WTG BRADY!!!

Austin had school...I went to work for 2 hrs...picked up him and Maddie, got Subway for lunch and then came home and walked!

Our friends are coming over tonight to play cards and hang out!

[Brandi Jo]

8 boys in an incredibly echo'y McDonald's playland definately induces a headache!

Wanna come superclean my house, Karri?

Your night sounds like fun, Kara.

Tonight I am making Will take the boys to Wal Mart to pick up some stuff he wants, plus some things that I need. I, however, am staying at home vegging on the couch. My idea of heaven!

[Melissa]

Today we went to the gym, I took Katie swimming, she still has an insane fear of the pool. Not the water mind you, she LOVES the water, but all the crap in the pool, like the filter, the lane lines, and all the other stuff. :rolleyes: She's getting better, but maintains a steel like grip on me the whole time.

Then we went on our playdate to Burger King, they have a play area there. It was great until this family came in, let their kids go to the play area, did NOT watch them at all and those kids were much bigger than the kids in our group and were rough-housing. The boy was scaring the kids and such a drama queen, if anyone touched him he'd start crying. So, Katie pushed him (I think) and I took her out because I know Katie will push at times. I gave her a time out. Parents are still oblivious of their kids.

Then after a while I let Katie back in, the boy then STOMPS on her hands and shoves her down the stairs! Parents are oblivious until I said to the boy, "That was not nice." I looked him int he eye and said that. The mom comes rushing in saying, "well your daughter was hurting my son" Mind you her son is twice the size of Katie. I looked at the mom and said, "yes she pushed him and I punished her for that." The mom then WALKS OUT and STILL doesn't watch her kids. :rolleyes:

[sheila]

Katie has school this morning, and my list of things to do during that 3 hours is about 17 hours long. How does this happen every single time?

I have Morgan and Kelsey after school, Maggie & Morgan have gymnastics and then I'm going to see Spamalot with a friend tonight. :aok: And, I think I've coordinated my schedule (Plan A and Plan B) so that I can have dinner with my friend, too. :woo:

[TtownAnne]

So Moms, has anyone started thinking about summer vacation yet? Do you have any plans for the kids? (i.e., day camp, swim lessons, etc.) Or do you have them home all summer to chill out before school starts? I am wavering this year - I think Caroline needs the structure of a specific activity, and she enjoys having things to do, but this will be her last summer before full-day school and I don't know if she should have the chance to just hang around and be lazy and play all day!

[Mary DK]

Both boys will be taking swim lessons but that's only a one week thing. We decided to do t-ball in the spring for Eliot b/c there is no way we want to repeat doing it in the summer like a couple of years ago :dead: I do want to check the rec center to see what they have going, oh & another rec center near us it's opening a water park so we'll have to check that out.
Other than that & vacations that's pretty much all I have planned. Thinking about it, I better start buying little arts & crafts stuff for them, that always puts them in a good mood when they're getting sick of being inside b/c is too darn hot outside to play :aok:

[Brandi Jo]

Riley won't be involved in anything this summer. He's still too young for peewee baseball, which is the only thing he wants to do. We have a new playset, a swimming pool and a ton of room for him to run. I think I'm just going to let him be a lazy kid this summer. Besides, that frees us up to take vacations whenever we want....no schedules to adhere to!
I might sign him up for a program called "art attack" at the local youth center...which is basically free use of art supplies(paints, easel, pottery wheel) guided by students from the local community college.

[Karri]

I am not sure what we'll do yet. I was pissed when the Y camp schedule came out. This is the first summer Aidan's eligible for it (age) and it sucks this summer. They're doing decades (20's, 30's, 40's, etc) each week. What 5 YO cares about decades?
I am waiting to see what activities our rec dept comes out with. I can't have parent-involved ones because of my other 2. So that makes it hard.

I do have him enrolled in some classes at the zoo. But those are just one day dealios.

Chris is also urging me to get the twins into something. :gah:

I'd kinda like to have a low-key summer. I'd like to spend a lot of it at a local beach, since they're so easy to handle now, and we can just chill for hours, you know?

[Mary DK]

Oh, I wish we had a beach near by :mope:

[sheila]

I am supposed to have a summer planning meeting with Lisa soon. :lol: Last year, it seemed like we had our kids scheduled for opposing weeks for everything. ugh.

So far, we have swim team in May/June -- that is really only a half hour in the morning and then a meet 1x/week. And a 2 week trip to my parents' in July.

I'll probably try to sign them both up for 2-3 weeks of (half day) camp and then that will be it.

[sabrina]

Nothing planned. Probably a lot of time at the zoo. Maybe some other things as well. I would like to go back to my parents for a couple of weeks but will have to see how that pans out. Maybe just spend the summer playing and going to the zoo to get use out of that membership.

[Mary DK]

You know, I might have to check on a membership to the museum. They have the exhibitions, a hands on science room for kids & an inside play area... I wonder if it includes the planetarium? Must find out :nod:

[Karly]

No major plans here, either. We are signing Ty up for T-Ball, which he's pretty excited about. I'd like to look into other things for the kids also, but I guess we'll see what they're interested in. :nod:

[Cami]

We have a six week school break that passes for "summer vacation." :rolleyes: We'll probably be traveling for most of it.

If this is your last summer before full time school, enjoy the heck out of it. I'd maybe do one fun activity and ad lib the rest.

[gulp!]

Emma refuses to do summer camp of any kind after our debacle last year. But I think she'll go nuts with *nothing* to do all summer, so I'm going to try and find an activity or two that our nanny can take her to.

ETA: :duh: I thought this was the posting party. Sorry, I'm a part timer, so I probably shouldn't be posting in here. :heee:

[TtownAnne]

You're home sometimes, Stef, that's okay with me!

[sheila]

:secret: Anne, we don't want the likes of Stef in here. She's one of those "funny name" people. :giggle:

[TtownAnne]

:lol2:

[gulp!]

:secret: Anne, we don't want the likes of Stef in here. She's one of those "funny name" people. :giggle:

:bringit:

[Karri]

:giggle:

Mary - its just a tiny lake, no boats. Nothing fancy.

[TtownAnne]

We normally do storytime at the library and free movies at the mall (they do a kids' movie one day a week), but I am trying to decide on something that will occupy a larger chunk of time and help us to avoid the cartoon swamp of the afternoon! Caroline has gone to the YMCA day camp for the past two years, but they just changed it so that it's an all day program (used to be 9-12) making it a LOT more expensive.

[Michele]

Jackson is going to YMCA camp. It is *technically* for ages 4 and up, but I talked to the director today, and she said Jackson would be fine. So, he's going to go for 2-3 half days, for 3 or 4 weeks spread through the summer. I'm thinking I'll start with 2 days for the first 2 sessions, then move to 3 days for the last session - he's going to school 3 days a week next year, so this will be practice.

Other than that, I just want to have a fun summer. Last summer wasn't that great b/c I was pregnant and having a newborn, so I want to make up for it. We're going to get a pass to a local park that has a wading pool, as well as a beach pass. I want to spend a lot of time outside playing after being cooped up so much this winter.

[Mary DK]

ETA: :duh: I thought this was the posting party. Sorry, I'm a part timer, so I probably shouldn't be posting in here. :heee:
Stef, I did the same in the Biggest Loser & the dinner thread... got my posts mixed up :shhh: :whistle:

[Mary DK]

Mary - its just a tiny lake, no boats. Nothing fancy.
Hey, that's better than what we have here... which is a big fat NOTHING :sigh:

[sheila]

A big chunk of my summer is spent at the neighborhood pool, which is wonderful. Its like a long playdate for the girls with water and a variety of kids. :aok: Another big chunk is spent at Lisa's pool. Even better-- a playdate for me with drinks and a pool. :aok:

Can you tell my kids are little fish? I'm not sure if I want Katie to shed the floatie this summer or just keep it for a little while longer. I have a feeling that either way, it isn't going to be up to me.

[TtownAnne]

I'm jealous of the idea of a neighborhood pool! We used to have one around here, but it was going downhill because all the teenagers who worked as lifeguards were letting their friends in for free and said friends were bringing in liquor and KNIVES and the like... :errr: So there's another pool about 15 minutes away, but it's expensive to pay per individual visit. Not something we could afford to do every day, although I have halfway been considering a membership so we could just come and go whenever (as well as a discount off swim lessons!)

[Kara]

I watch my neice/nephew every day for the summer. Its not bad now that they are older. We spend most of our days outside riding bikes, playing on the swingset, and we have a pool as well. All of them are fishes now, including the younger two, yet they do get "bored" with it after awhile so they kind of go back and forth LOL.I will probably sign them up for a day camp for a week in July if we are home. Austin's Montessori teacher runs it for all ages and I think they would enjoy it. We are going to FL for a week in July I think and we'll have baseball/tball through June.

[AmyP]

Hi all!

Well, Sarah is only old enough for Mommy and Me swimming lessons, and we did those last September. I'm not going back until she's ready for regular lessons because we'd be paying for more of the same thing. No thanks. We'll probably go to the swim school on Saturday or Sunday night sometimes for family swim nights, but we can do that year round. I also might get off my butt and renew my gym membership. There's a location at the gym where I go that has an outdoor pool. The kids' hours aren't great, but we can manage.

There are also two parks in the area with a beach. I'm not sure which one we'll use more. The one that is significantly closer will charge admission for Sarah this summer, the one that's a bit further away will not. It's only $3 for her, so it's probably the same cost either way. Neither one are usually busy, although we've been to the one further away when an entire camp of children has been there. Not an experience I care to repeat. I can buy season passes to either, but I'd have to go at least once or twice a week to break even.

We're also hoping to start her in a creative movement class this summer as well, basically a really really early dance class (okay, I'm hoping for this, DH isn't as interested). That's going to depend on where she is developmentally. I figure we'll try this summer and if she isn't ready then we'll give it a year or two and try again. There's no point in forcing her because then she'll never go back.

[Karri]

I would love a neighborhood pool. We have 2 neighborhood parks w/ a small zero depth pool that's free, but its not the same.

I just got a thing in the mail from the Milwaukee Wave (is it a semi-pro soccer team? pro? I don't know). They're sponsoring soccer camps this summer and there is one for kids 4-6 that's from 9-12 for a week. I think we're going to send Aidan. He seemed to enjoy the soccer clinic he just did for 6 weeks and we'd like to see if its something he's actually good at.

[TtownAnne]

QOTD: What's tiring you out lately? Yes, we're all tired generally, that's part of being a parent I think. But what is the thing that makes you yawn to even think about?

[Cami]

QOTD: What's tiring you out lately? Yes, we're all tired generally, that's part of being a parent I think. But what is the thing that makes you yawn to even think about?

Having to give the kids a bath. I'm starting to think, "well, they're just going to get dirty again, so why bother?" :crazy:

Trying to think of new healthy meals... we're in a rut.

[Mary DK]

We actually have two neighborhood pools, though we hang out in the one with the kiddie pool (it's big!) & the deep pool most of the time b/c the other one just has a deep pool & that's where the teenagers usually hang out.

Getting ready for bedtime stresses me out, maybe it's b/c by that time we're all tired or something but it gets to be such a struggle sometimes... the good part is that once we get it all done & the kids settle down they usually go to sleep pretty fast :aok:

[mrs.knip]

QOTD: What's tiring you out lately? Yes, we're all tired generally, that's part of being a parent I think. But what is the thing that makes you yawn to even think about?

Thinking of stuff to do to keep the kids busy. We only go into town one or twice a week so during the winter when it is too cold to go outside it is so hard to find things to do to keep them both busy.

[Karri]

QOTD: What's tiring you out lately? Yes, we're all tired generally, that's part of being a parent I think. But what is the thing that makes you yawn to even think about?

Normally we go-go-go. I am all about having activities, playdates, etc. But I've hit a wall and I can't handle winter anymore. And the mere thought of doing the whole freakin' boots-scarf-hat-mittens-coat routine and warming up the car....its just too much. It makes me tired. So we've been homebound and in a bit of a rut lately :heee:

This is the 2nd winter Chris has seen me like this and he doesn't like the person winter makes me. He made me a promise that starting next year, we'll always plan a trip somewhere warm in Jan/Feb, regardless of school.

[buzzjen]

Normally we go-go-go. I am all about having activities, playdates, etc. But I've hit a wall and I can't handle winter anymore. And the mere thought of doing the whole freakin' boots-scarf-hat-mittens-coat routine and warming up the car....its just too much. It makes me tired. So we've been homebound and in a bit of a rut lately :heee:

:nod: I totally agree. We're getting another 4 inches today and I've had it. (And we haven't had nearly as much as you) This is the 3rd day in a row in the house and I'm climbing the walls and the kids are inventing ways to get into trouble - the newest was wood glue on the Cars toys and car table. That's fun.

[TtownAnne]

I'm tired out for the time period from 4pm to dinner; I've already done the school runs back and forth, played, had lunch, more playing, fended off requests for snacks, seen if any friends are outside to play with, and by then even I just want to sit down and watch Ellen and relax. Of course it is not helped out by DH's schedule at this time of year, but I'm trying to plan fun things to help break up the time.

Maybe this is a sign that a summer of "hanging out" wouldn't be a good idea....

[Darcy]

Well this week we're enjoying having Phil home. He starts his new job on Monday, so it's been nice showing him what my days are like. I think Friday we're going to take the clan to a children's museum nearby.

But I'm SO ready for warm weather. I'm right there with you, Karri. I hate the endless piling on of clothes, bundling everyone up, getting in and out of cold weather. :dead: Enough already! I just want to have Riley run off energy outside at the park, take some walks and get some fresh air.

Answering the question, what tires me is when Riley wakes up at 6:15 to start the day. I'm such not a morning person. It takes me a good while to wake up. Maybe I should start drinking coffee! :lol: So it's either that, or the lull between nap and dinnertime. Jeremy usually screams somewhere inbetween that he's hungry and if his plate is empty, he lets the world know it. I oftentimes feel like a short-order cook trying to put stuff on his tray and prepare dinner.

[Karly]

Karri, I feel the same way. Somedays just the thought of getting everyone ready and into the car is enough to make me go over the edge. :errr:

I also am right there with you Cami on the bath thing, and you Brandi on keeping the kids from fighting and occupied! :gah:

To say that I'm anxious for spring is a major understatement!

[Mary DK]

We kind of hit that spot in the summer when it's so hot outside that the only way I would go anywhere outside is if it involves water... pool, lake, sprinkler in back yard, etc. Otherwise I just want to stay home b/c even the ride (somewhere) it's miserable until the car gets cool enough & that's if you're going far enough to let it cool.
I want to move to a place where it doesn't go to any extreme... is there such a place?? :confused:

[Karri]

Mary - yes, there is :nod: Seattle/Portland and those areas. But you have to be ok w/ rain :lol: We have friends (born in WI and lived here till '96) who moved there and have said they'll never move back --that it's perfection. I wouldn't mind it if real estate weren't so expensive.

[Mary DK]

Blair was born in IL but lived most of his life in Seattle & he says the same thing, as long as you don't mind rain & cloudy skies Seattle is a beautiful place to live. Yeah real state there is something else, his Dad moved from Seattle to TX and with what he got from his house there he was able to buy a nice size 3 bedroom house in a nice part of town here, pay it in full, pay for the movers all the way here & have leftover $$... there is no way we could afford it!! :errr:

ETA: I would probably have to be on some kind of happy pills if I didn't see the sun for weeks at a time :crazy:

[Michele]

Getting caught up...

I feel the same way as Karri...I'm over this winter thing! I don't think I've ever spent as much time in the house as I have this winter. Usually I am out as much as possible. I hate getting everyone bundled up, and in and out of the car. We haven't had much snow at all, but we have been getting these cold windy days where it is about 5 degrees out and windy. We have a play group tomorrow at 9am, and I'm already thinking about not going b/c I don't feel like getting everyone packed up, bundled up and out the door. I'll probably go, b/c I know I'll regret not getting out of the house by 11 or so.

Another thing that tired me out is packing bags...sounds lame, but every morning I have to pack my gym bag and the diaper bag, on Tues and Thurs I have to pack Jackson's school bag too. I'm sick of doing it and remembering everything we need. I can't wait until Anna is older and I don't need to bring so much gear for her.

[Karri]

Oh! Oh! I just remembered that the rec dept has some programs for the school aged kids for the summer!!! The catalogue should come out soon, since their site says registration is 4/21. So I will be all over that for Aidan, since they take place at our neighborhood parks and at the school (no driving for me!).

[Karly]

Help! What do I do when all three kids are asleep at the same time?! :scan: :lol:

[Brandi Jo]

oh my gravy! All 3 asleep at once? Sit, read, relax!!! Take full advantage of it....have some Karly time! Quick, before someone stirs!

[TtownAnne]

No kidding. Go eat a snack you can't have in front of the kids (Easter candy?), take time to carefully slather lotion over each cell of your hands, go to the bathroom alone and count to 100, call somebody you haven't talked to all week. My ideas are ENDLESS!

[Mary DK]

You log on to OUAL, now you can surf & post without interruptions :lol:

[Karri]

Get caught up on a show that you really want to watch. Ahhh. (I'm watching Oprah right now and N&E are sleeping and Aidan's at the library. I :heart: Friday afternoons from 1:15-2:15 :lol: )

[TtownAnne]

So Moms, what's happening out there? Has springtime reached your part of the world yet? What are you and the kids doing outside? Any big plans/goals/tasks to accomplish anytime soon?

[Cami]

So Moms, what's happening out there? Has springtime reached your part of the world yet? What are you and the kids doing outside? Any big plans/goals/tasks to accomplish anytime soon?

It's spring here for sure with lots of plants blooming. :nod: I spent one afternoon a few weeks ago, clearing out the front landscaping to make way for all the new plants coming up. I got stuck when I couldn't figure out what was weeds and what wasn't and that's the last I've done with it. I am awful at yard work!! I used to say that I didn't have time for it because the kids were little and I couldn't focus on it. Um, yeah, maybe so, but now I do have some time but zero interest in doing it.

Today was gorgeous and we played wiffle ball outside after dinner. Our grass is high enough that the ball can get lost in it. :blush: We really need to find someone to do the mowing...

[Mary DK]

Spring showers are here :nod: They have taken their good old time to get here too :lol: We've had gloomy days for 3 or so days now so we're glad to finally see the rain :aok:

We just got back from the library, we go to one that is a bit farther away (we used to go to that one before we moved here) because they have a great children's section & they're remodeling it to make it even better :ok:

We got a bunch of books & some videos since the kiddos will not be able to go play outside this week much since it's suppose to rain all week. Eliot had a t-ball game tomorrow but I'm pretty sure it will be canceled & he has another one on friday, we'll see if the weather has improved & the fields have dried up by then.
Other than that just trying to keep the house clean with our busy schedule... and trying to decide what to do for Blair's birthday on thursday :scratch:

[Karri]

So Moms, what's happening out there? Has springtime reached your part of the world yet? What are you and the kids doing outside? Any big plans/goals/tasks to accomplish anytime soon?

Its spring! :ura1:
We've just been enjoying the weather and riding bikes, playing kickball & baseball and blowing bubbles.Today I did a little yardwork while the kids drew with chalk and played in the sandbox. We're about to get rain for days, so now we'll be indoor-bound :(

Task to accomplish: find a small enough wooden playset for the backyard that is big enough that the kids won't get bored on it.

Big plans: we're having our driveway re-done and widened, so I have to move some landscaping ASAP before it gets too warm out.

[Brandi Jo]

So Moms, what's happening out there? Has springtime reached your part of the world yet? What are you and the kids doing outside? Any big plans/goals/tasks to accomplish anytime soon?


I think we bypassed spring and went straight to summer. It was 82 degrees here yesterday and supposed to be higher than that today. We've been outside nearly every day. Riley is learning to ride his bike without training wheels. I think for easter we are going to have the bunny bring him a 16inch bike. More than he should get, but my boys kinda get screwed on the outside stuff since both of their birthdays are in November.

I'm trying to get all of the leaves removed from the flower beds, but that doesn't seem to be going to well. We shall see....

[mrs.knip]

Our big task for this spring is to get the kids' sandbox built. It has been on the to-do list for the past two summers but everything got side tracked last summer so it is going to get done this spring. We are thinking either an 8x8 or 10x10 ft wooden sandbox.
We are also debating on whether or not to get the kids a trampoline. :scratch: I always thought I was against them but now that they have them with the enclosures I am starting to lean towards getting them one. My dream was to have an awesome wooden playset but since that is not going to happen I thought the trampoline might be fun.

[laurie]

We're in Ca. so it's rare even in winter that the kids can't play outside pretty comfortably. Today is in the 80's. :) Beautiful!
It's time around here for some spring cleaning however. We are currently in the middle of putting up a really nice storage shed from Costco and we need to finish getting our flowerbeds in order and I always like to re-arrange and add some things to our huge back covered patio this time of year. Pretty new pots or a new chair or outdoor rug. It makes it feel like a fresh and new space to hang out and read and watch the kids play! :up: We are blessed with an enormous lot and I like to make the most of it! But with the weather being so nice the weeds have begun to take over the flower beds so I need to get out there and get it under control. Cami, I don't love gardening either! :) I just enjoy it looking nice so you can sit and admire how wonderful the end result is! It would be nice to hire it done, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Oh well..

[mrs.knip]

Well we decided to get the trampoline. Tim wasn't to hip on it being something to mow around but since he works 12hr days 6 days a week during the summer and I am home with the kids we are getting a trampoline. I am just nervous all his older neices and nephews are going to be over all the time using it. :(

[Mary DK]

Brandi, I would make sure to give the bigger kids the rule that if the little kids are jumping they are not allowed on the trampoline... I would hate to see your little ones hurt by the big ones acting crazy in there. Besides that I would be scared the big ones get hurt in your property, now days with sue-happy people it's kind of scary :errr:

I CANNOT believe that it's April already!!! How is it possible that 3 months of 2007 have already passed? :faint:
Anyway.... Blair gave me a little brake today by taking Eliot out & about while Ian slept, so I got a bit of work on the websites done & also a little bit done in my office, it needs so much organizing is not even funny.
I have a busy day tomorrow... more websites updating, finish laundry & I have the newsletter & other Easter flyers to do for MOPS :dead:

[Karri]

We got a playset yesterday! :yippee: This is certainly going to make my like a helluva lot easier and the kids are going to love it.

[mrs.knip]

Karri- what's it look like?

[Mary DK]

Karri, which kind did y'all get? Woohoo, tired out kids at bedtime from climbing around all day!!! :banana:

[TtownAnne]

I'm jealous, Karri - we have the big climber set that is from Little Tykes or FP or whatever, but Caroline is so far past that now. DH is giving me arguments about a bigger one though because "we have so many parks around here, why does she need swings in her yard too? It's just one more thing to mow around!" blahblahblah

[Karri]

If you've ever seen our backyard, its the size of a postage stamp (gotta love a city lot). So we were really constricted by that. We looked at a lot of them this week and couldn't get them b/c of the size. Yesterday, my husband was online pricing the lumber for the do-it-yourself kits and he came across one on walmart's website :lol: He didn't tell me about it b/c he knows that I wouldn't let him give them our business. He went there and they had last year's model (discontinued) in a beat up box, so they gave him $100 off. We got this for $200. Shoot - you can't beat that price!!!
So its not fancy, but it'll do!!
http://www.adventureplaysets.com/images/2005_sets/tacoma.jpg

[Karri]

Anne - because sometimes, you just need her to go play in the yard while you get something done, that's why :lol: Even Chris knows that! Plus it makes playdates at your house much more fun.

[Karly]

Ooh, that looks like fun! (I'm anxious for summer.)

[Mary DK]

Hey, whatever works :nod: Good bargain! :aok:
I saw that one yesterday in an email I got from Walmart. Have y'all put it up? Is it pretty sturdy? That was my only concern when I saw it yesterday.

ETA: Anne, Blair says the same thing about the parks but shoot sometimes it would be so easy to just let them play outside in their own playset, like when I'm trying to make dinner & they're driving each other (and myself) nuts! BTW, I can see the backyard from my kitchen.

[Darcy]

That's awesome! Congrats, Karri.

I'm glad spring break is over here. I hate running errands and there are kids EVERYWHERE! Not to mention the library won't be as crowded. I'm sure I'll be much more grateful when I have kids that are actually in school. :lol:

[TtownAnne]

That's my argument too, Karri and Mary. I said we should tell all four grandparents to give us whatever money they were going to spend on Christmas, and we'll also use whatever money we get from selling the Tykes playset, and go from there. She doesn't need something huge and elaborate, but she really wants her own swings.

[Karri]

Mary - he hasn't put it up yet (not till Friday when he has off). I have a friend who has the same model and yes, its sturdy. Its not a Rainbow playset, but its sturdy.

[Karri]

That's exactly what we did, Anne!

[Mary DK]

Thanks, Karri! :)

[AmyP]

I had a swingset when I was a kid, and we loved it! I loved swinging and I remember my middle brother swinging on the swings for hours. We have a park a block away, but it would be nice to have a swingset of our own. But Sarah isn't into playsets yet, other than swinging, so it will be a few years. She is too small for anything bigger than the baby swings and I still have to push her. I definitely want to get her a playset of some sort when she's older, whether or not DH likes it.

[mrs.knip]

Isn't it funny how our DH's wonder about the need for outdoor play stuff for our homes but they are not the ones with them all day all summer long! :lol:

[Cami]

Rudi used to say, "Why do we need a playset when every single one of our neighbors has one?" :lol:

I just spent the equivalent of $40 to take my kids to a "farm/play place" and they spent the majority of the time in the huge sand pit. So basically, $40 for them to play in sand for 3 hours. :rolleyes: They had fun though. :)

Happy birthday Darcy!!

[Mary DK]

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b7da26b3127cce82b72667053000000006108AbNWbFq5cNH
HAPPY EASTER!!!

[pam]

I'm glad spring break is over here. I hate running errands and there are kids EVERYWHERE! Not to mention the library won't be as crowded. I'm sure I'll be much more grateful when I have kids that are actually in school. :lol:

I'm so jealous! Some of the schools around here are year-round & started their 3 1/2 weeks off on the 2nd :rolleyes: Some of the neighbor kids & their friends are off. Overall, they are good kids but... They tend to play outside during Amelia's naps during which time they are constantly laughing & screeching. Numerous times Amelia has come *this* close to waking up, as a result. Woo hoo! :rolleyes:

[AmyP]

There's a bus stop right in front of my house so it's a good thing for us when it's spring break. Our county is off all this week. Unfortunately the flip side of this is that we can't do "kid stuff" as much because they're crowded. Story time at the mall will be a madhouse, so will all play centers. So we won't be going to any of that.

[Darcy]

Alright, I have a question for you: How do you communicate with your spouse? I feel like Phil and I hardly ever have a meaningful conversation. Most of my day is spent talking to a 3 year old, and then when he comes home, we're having dinner and then getting the kids ready for bed. By the time it's just him and I, I feel like I need some time to myself. I know I should probably make more of an effort, but how do you guys make it work?

[Karri]

Its hard, isn't it?
I don't know if it would work for you, but we have a later dinner. So when Chris gets home, he takes over with the kids and then I start dinner. That's my wind down/me time. Then we all eat dinner (sometimes we are able to have snippits of a meaningful conversation :lol: )and he does bath time while I clean up. Granted, clean up isn't fun, but its time to myself, away from the kids.
We get them in bed, and then we chill out together.
Its hard, but we make it a priority. Not every day, but we do. And if I decide then that I want to go read or whatever, then I do that after I've spent some time w/ him.

[Darcy]

Yeah, with Phil taking this new job, it's been a lot harder. He takes the train and doesn't get home until 6:20, so the kids and I are in the middle of eating dinner. I tried pushing the kids' dinner back, but I can usually make it until 6 before the natives get restless. And he takes the kids to get dressed or bath after dinner, and the cleanup is a little "me" time. Maybe I should just use that as my decompression time. :dunno:

Karri, I like your idea of talking in bed. J goes down around 7:15 and Riley's in bed around 8. Unfortunately sometimes Phil's ready for bed by 8:45. :tearhair: I think this is something he and I need to talk about--finding time to talk. :lol: It's just I was commenting to him yesterday that we talked more when both of us worked because at least when we were on the phone, I didn't have 2 kids demanding my attention. I only had meaningless coworkers. :lol:

[Karly]

Darcy, Josh and I talk a lot in bed. We have some of our best converstations in the dark. :lol: But really, the kids are asleep, we're together, and it's just a perfect time. Of course, sometimes one of us (read: me) is falling asleep, but hey, life isn't perfect! :giggle:

[Kara]

Alright, I have a question for you: How do you communicate with your spouse? I feel like Phil and I hardly ever have a meaningful conversation. Most of my day is spent talking to a 3 year old, and then when he comes home, we're having dinner and then getting the kids ready for bed. By the time it's just him and I, I feel like I need some time to myself. I know I should probably make more of an effort, but how do you guys make it work?

Honestly? email! LOL!

I'll email him if I think of something at night, he goes to bed much earlier than I do and leaves before I get up. So we communicate all day through MSN or email. Or its a quick walk to the office in our backyard LOL.

[laurie]

It's hard to get that time together but as the kids get older it gets MUCH easier! :) We, also wait until our little one is in bed and enforce an early bedtime 8-8:15 so that we can then have the rest of the evening to ourselves. It also helps to turn the tv OFF :blush: and sit out on the back porch. It just invites conversation and catching up. Since Cade was about 3 we also have had weekly date nights where it's just us. It works most weeks. Not when something else popped up or when someone is sick but otherwise we take the time to reconnect as a couple and spend that time. It's really nice and I look forward to it every week. It's important to keeping our marriage healthy and very very happy after over 18 yrs. :)

[laurie]

I hadn't read back a bit until now either. CONGRATS Karri on the playset! It looks great :up: and I bet the kids will LOVE it. We are blessed with a big backyard in our city and we have the little tykes swingset that is brown and has a fort on top and a sandbox beneath in addition to the swings. It's great and Cade LOVES using it daily. :) We also have a large putting green in our backyard for my husband and 14yr old son that is a huge hit with ALL the teens that visit both male and female which surprised me, and it's true that having lots of fun outdoor toys makes it a fun playdate on a pretty day! :) I hope your hubby got yours up and going and the kids are enjoying it this weekend! :)

[Kara]

SIL and I went together on our wooden playset and the kids LOVE It..Its definitely worth it in the end!

The boys/Dads are off to a baseball game! The girls are leaving for shopping and lunch then I have to come home to keep cleaning for our get together tomorrow night!

[mrs.knip]

Okay is it sad that I am looking forward to going into town today to donate blood! :blush: My MIL is coming over to watch the kids so I get to drive into town alone and I am planning on going to DQ to get a blizzard afterwards and I am really looking forward to it! :) (Can you tell it has been a long week!)

[Karri]

Not sad. When I used to donate regularily, I would look forward to it. I would pick a saturday morning and afterwards get coffee and chill. It was a nice escape :lol:

Mnn....blizzard :lick:

We've got our playset up, but need to get some "stuff" under it ASAP. Its mud & dirt now and that just won't do (not even grass b/c it took over the former site of our little tikes climber and the grass was dead/non existant there). So I am hesitant to let the kids out there today.

[TtownAnne]

MMMMMmmmmm, Blizzard. We just got one at the mall on Monday - Caroline laughs hysterically when they turn it upside down to show you how thick it is. :giggle:

[mrs.knip]

It was nice! I listened to a book on tape on the way to and from town. Read my book while I was waiting after giving blood and then went and got a kitkat blizzard!!! YUM! I just got home and they are both taking a nap! This may be a good day. :)

[Karri]

THEY MAKE KIT KAT BLIZZARDS?!?! omg. :drool: I did not know this.

[Michele]

Okay is it sad that I am looking forward to going into town today to donate blood! :blush: My MIL is coming over to watch the kids so I get to drive into town alone and I am planning on going to DQ to get a blizzard afterwards and I am really looking forward to it! :) (Can you tell it has been a long week!)

Not sad...I had some dental work done today, and it was acutally nice and relaxing to lay there and not have to worry about the kiddos...a massage would have been better, but you take what you can get, right?

I think a Blizzard is in order for me soon!

[mrs.knip]

Karri- Yep, they are new (and yummy!)

[laurie]

Anything new with you gals? We've been holding down the fort here with just my dd, my 4yr old son, me and the dogs. :) Hubby and 14yr old are on a field trip to Washington DC for a week. Pretty cool for him since we live in CA. ;) I'm excited for all he gets to see. My husband and I have both been and our dd went in 8th grade too. Other than that, we're just coming down off prom night. Brittney had a ball and looked gorgeous. FUN having a daughter to help get all ready for big dances! :up: And we just had preschool open house for Cade. Soooo cute! They had these little journals where they write in it whatever answer your child gave verbatim to the question asked. :lol: It was soooo funny! THe only one that made me cringe was when asked back in Oct. what he wanted to be for halloween, he said, "darth vadar. He chokes bad guys". :lol: :lol: Yeah, he has an older brother and they are star wars freaks together...so sue me! :lol: :lol: It was funny. He is doing really well and I just love his preschool.
What's up with all you other sahmommies? I need to get to this thread more often. It's nice to share about what's going on in our day to day lives. Heaven knows its not boring!! :)

[Kara]

Its summer!! Lets resurrect this thread!!!!


Are your kids done with school?
What are you planning for your summer days?
Will you cook more? less?
Any vacations planned or day trips?

[Kara]

Its summer!! Lets resurrect this thread!!!!


Are your kids done with school?
What are you planning for your summer days?
Will you cook more? less?
Any vacations planned or day trips?

Austin was done mid May, and Josh's last day was May 31st.
They love the summer!!!!!
I will watch neice and nephew every day so they have playmates too. We usually spend our time outside playing or swimming in our pool.
I usually cook more, mainly grilling more, but we do eat things that are lighter. I'm always looking for ideas though!!!
We are going on vacation after baseball is over to inlaws home in FL for about 12 days depending on when we can leave.
I'd like to do a trip to the Zoo as well this year cause they loved the one last year.
The adults are going to a baseball game next Sat and then a concert in July with Kenny Chesney, Sugarland, Sara Evans, etc. can't wait for that!!!!
The girls are doing a weekend trip to Chicago in August as well!

[Kara]

How do you handle bedtime in the summer?


I know as a kid, I loved the staying up late and sleeping in part of vacation so I let mine do that whenever possible.
I will stop probably beginning of August to get them more in a routine for when school starts though.

[TtownAnne]

Are your kids done with school? Yep, Caroline's last day was May 24.
What are you planning for your summer days? Lots of hanging around, going to the pool, strawberry picking, movies, etc.
Will you cook more? less? I actually seem to cook less, because most nights we're outside playing late and so end up eating whatever is available since we come in almost at bedtime (sandwich, bowl of cereal, etc.)
Any vacations planned or day trips? No big plans, other than maybe visiting the ILs in NY. We'll do plenty of daytrips to the aquarium, the zoo, things like that.

As to bedtime Kara, we're having a real issue with that right now. Caroline approached us and asked about staying up slightly later since she didn't have to get up so early in the mornings, etc. We started out by giving her an extra half hour. But it has fallen apart into screaming shrieking flailing FITS when we try to get her inside and to bed, so I think we're going to head towards the regular time again. That extra half hour really seems to undo her!

[Kara]

My two seem to be ok if they can sleep in the next day...but if we have something planned, I get them to bed a bit earlier.


We leave for vacation in 10 days!! I have nothing ready!! We are having a get together on Sat so I have been worrying about that first. Then Sunday it will be go time!!

Austin got invited to 3 birthday parties in the last week!!! After having NONE all school year LOL. 2 we can't go to but he can go to one on Sunday.

[Mary DK]

Are your kids done with school? Yep, they both have been since the end of May.

What are you planning for your summer days? They've been playing in their new swingset a lot, when it's not raining outside, also we have gone to the pool. Eliot just finished a literature camp week at school and next week both of them have swim lessons... I'm hoping Ian does well :crossfing

Will you cook more? less? Just about the same really, only we're grilling more... though Blair is the one that grills I still get everything together.

Any vacations planned or day trips? Second week of July we're doing a car trip to Kansas, Colorado, Arizona & New Mexico (hopefully we'll all survive it :lol: )

It has been raining A LOT lately so we end up having to stay in b/c the yard and playgrounds are too wet and the pool closes when we're having storms, that's when the boys start acting up b/c they can go outside & run down their energy... the constant bickery somedays it's irritating to say the least :dead:

ETA: Sleeping time... we've been staying up a little later than usual but we're also getting up later. I really trying not to let it get out of hand b/c it will be crazy to get back to the regular school schedule so this week we started doing movie at 9pm and in bed by 9:30 which it is only an hour later than usual bedtime... they are enjoying sleeping in a bit and so am I :giggle:

[Karly]

Anyone else feel like all they do every day is clean up after people!? :gah:

[TtownAnne]

Yes, and the worst part is that DH does no cleaning up after himself and then complains we live in a pigsty and what have I done with my day. Uhm, I clean up after her because she's a CHILD, you are quite capable of putting your bottle in the trash yourself!

[Mary DK]

Oh my goodness yes!! And even when I spend hours picking up/cleaning I never seem to get caught up!! :crazy: I have some boxes that I need to go thru but I just don't seem to have the time & my office is just looking worse & worse b/c of them :shuffle:

[Connie1222]

Hi all! Just checking in, I am a SAHM to my 2 boys. It's raining here today, very gloomy & BO-RING! Jack is in summer camp all day and it is a godsend, for him AND me! Patrick had one of his therapists cancel this morning but his OT decided to stay an extra half hour (to make-up a missed session) because Patrick was doing so well! He's been super cranky during sessions lately, so hopefully things are looking up. After catching up on OUAL, I'm going to read & relax (reading Memoirs of a Geisha as I wait for Harry Potter in the mail).


And yes, all I do is clean up & pick up after the men in the house. I told Keith I may as well throw the hamper away since he can't seem to use it. :rolleyes:

[pam]

Hi Connie :wavey:

DH is pretty good about putting things where they are supposed to go. He will sometimes put something away in a place it doesn't go but I guess that would be my only "complaint." If I were to spend as much time actually cleaning the house as I do cleaning up after Amelia, this place would be spotless :lol: One of her favorite hobbies is taking the various pieces of her toys & throwing them to the far corners of the room & then moving on to the next toy & doing the same thing. I've given up on straightening up repeatedly through the day; limiting it to naptime & either bedtime or if we go out to dinner. No complaints from DH since he's spent a day alone with her here & there.

We just came back home this afternoon after a weekend away due to having our townhouse tented for termites. We'd had to bag up most of our food, medicines & whatnot. We even had to remove Amelia's mattress. While I don't usually enjoy organizing, I'm finding that I'm liking figuring out where to put the food in our pantry. It had gotten so messy.