Summer Fun

So we have made it throught the first 2 weeks of summer. I must say that things have gone pretty good so far. I have been much busier trying to provide activities for the kids. We have a semi set schedule in the mornings starting around 8 or so we have breakfast and then "school" I have the kids do a few worksheets and reading. Mostly I need to do this with Bekah to help her reading come along, she is doing better, but still gets very frustrated with reading. It's helping me to learn patience I guess. With Sarah we are working on teaching the ABC's and recognizing the letters... I'm actually surprised she doesn't know them yet, but I've just never taken the time to sit and teach them to her.

After school work it's housework. I believe my house is cleaner now than it has been in a long time. If I have a chore assigned to one of them they are very good about making sure I show them how or help them to do it.

I hope I can keep the routine up all summer.

We bought a membership at the zoo and have been there twice now. The girls love to see all the animals, We went this morning for a bit and rode the new carousel.

In 2 weeks I have the girls enrolled in a summer music camp for a week, they will get a half day of crafts and singing, etc. It should be fun. Then swimming lessons start in July, they can't wait....

Here's a few pics from the Zoo:

Belly Shot 27 week 5 days

Okay, here's another quick belly shot. The Dr. appointment this week went great. I hate seeing the weight on the scales though, I need to stop payig attention to it. The Glucose Tolerance test went fine, at least the doctor hasn't called back yet to tell me I failed it. Now its a just a waiting game until the end of summer. ug! The nesting bug has finally struck a bit, I'm trying to use some of my 2nd trimester energy (I know I'm in my 3rd now) We moved Emma and Bekah to the 2 bedrooms downstairs and they love it down there, their rooms are much larger and there is lots of room to play. Now there is room upstairs for the baby and my craft room. Here's a pic of the baby room at the moment... We have a long ways to go to get it ready. I'm looking at paint ideas this week and hopefully can get some help to paint it in the coming weeks. Note the box of legos on the dresser, one of the ideas for paint is a Lego theme ( in primary colors, lego moulding, etc). The other idea I had involves and browns and reds in stripes and stenciled cars and trucks.

Last Day of school

Well we made it to the end of school. Now the long summer begins, Emma has already tearfully informed me that she wants to go back to school already. I think the structure school offers helps her feel secure in her comfort zone. She gets stressed out with the chaos of summer. My goal is to keep some semblance of structure this summer, have certain things that get done each day, set times for lunch and snacks etc.

Thursday was the long awaited "Little house on the Prairie Day" for Emma's class. She had been looking forward to it all year. I was going to make her a bonnet to wear, but decided just to go ahead and do the whole dress. It was fun and Emma was way excited to have the dress to wear that day.

The kids had a blast playing in the water Friday after school. I had been toying with the idea of taking them somewhere, but I think think they had more fun here in the neighhborhood. There is quite a "gaggle" of kids ages 3-10 on our street, when they are all out playing it becomes quite the place to be.

Here's a couple pictures of Sarah and Leah's music class, they love it and it is coming to end now for summertime as well. Leah just loves her teacher and sits in her lap to sing the song with her.

A lesson in Nature

Last year we discovered in one of our front trees a new little bird's nest. We had fun listening to birds everyday and hearing the baby birds chirping and growing. Though we couldn't ever really get a good look in the nest we knew they were there and it was fun to have them there. As Fall came the nest was abandoned and the girls wondered what would happen to it. I told them to leave it there and we would see if the birds came back to it in the Spring. A bird did come back to the nest and laid its eggs there. Sadly, yesterday's winds and rains proved to be too much for the small birds nest and it came tumbling to the ground while we were gone. We came home to discover that 3 newly hatched birds had been in the nest and didn't survive the fall and exposure to the rains. The girls were sad for the birds and wondered about the birds' mother and how she would feel when she returned to the nest. I told them that this was the the nature of life. Some times bad things happen and the animals can adjust and will continue on. Later, I considered this and thought of my little baby birds in our home, our safe nest. I hope that our home can withstand the torrential winds and rains of life to keep them safe. I marvelled also at the strength of mothers out there that have had to deal with loss... ok I know I'm being sappy now :)

Sarah is 5!

Well we've had a wild week of celebrating Sarah's birthday. I can't believe how much my little girl is growing. She has always been my little "baby doll" with her big bright eyes and long eyelashes. Now she is entering the "Big girl" life. She wanted her own crafts so she wouldn't have to share with her older sisters. She's much more independent at home and play now. In fact she can be a little too sneaky at times, running and hiding stuff that she isn't supposed to have when she hears me coming.

She got to have 2 parties, one on her birthday with family and one on Saturday with her friends. She wanted a Rainbow cake and I think I finally succeeded in getting one frosted (it was a pain though to keep the frosting straight) we painted flower pots at her party and planted flowers in them. I hope she had a good time.

2nd grade program and other stuff

The last few weeks of school seems to be filled with programs and school field trips and so much other stuff. I can't imagine how busy it will get once all of the kids are in school. Last week Emma had her 2nd grade Patriotic Program. It was really cute, you could tell they had practiced hard to know the songs and their parts. Leah was really cute watching it, she had to keep pointing out Emma and was the first to clap after each song.

Also...

Yesterday we got to go the Doctor for Sarah's kindergarten check-up. She didn't really tolerate it very well, but I wonder if there is a kid out there that does. I think they probably thought I was trying to murder Sarah in the bathroom when we were trying to get a urine sample. She was screaming like CRAZY! For her shots she was a mess of tears and crying and "NO MOMMY!" After her shots though she was back to being a happy camper. Leah had her check up while we were at it she had one shot to get and just said "OW!" and whinned a little and then was fine, amazing the difference. We went shopping afterward and bought some cookies for a treat and got all of Sarah's birthday party supplies (she was way excited about that!)

Today Bekah's class is off to the Zoo... Thursday they watch a movie at the school....and they still have all next week to get through... field day... class parties.... I wonder if any learning is happening at all there?

Another Dr. Visit

So here I am, all a bloomin' 23week 2 days pregnant (as of this past Tuesday)

I don't have much to show for this last visit. It was one of those in and out really quick ones. I only gained a couple pounds which surprises me because I feel like my tummy has grown a ton! It's probably because I haven't felt well lately. My appetite is a bit low, unless you put a box of doughnuts in front of me then I can perform magical feats and make them all disappear, Epp!

Next time I get to do the yummy glucose test (blah!) Hopefully I don't fail... sugar has been my biggest vice this pregnancy.