Sunday, January 29, 2006

Zoe's first birthday!

Sorry to have neglected my poor blog for so long. I fell off the wagon and got run over by it. The Zoo Tycoon 2 bug hit me and I've been busy with a new youngin in the house too, teaching Team Kid, etc (see previous blogs). Anyway, for some really good fun, we celebrated Zoe's first birthday on Saturday. As much as I don't want her to grow up, it was great to see her getting into her cake and to have friends and family here to celebrate. I thought I would share some pics.

My amateur cake decorating again. Just a sheet cake this time. I didn't think a one year old would care about a "theme". Used sis's leftover Barbie tablecloth, had Dora party hats. Just a mix-match of stuff, but still a great party.









Zoe so deliberately and meticulously ate all of her cake and ice cream. Stayed fairly clean too. So different from sis's first birthday 3 years ago.











"Finger-lickin good!" She licked off each finger one by one :)












What a happy baby! She thought it was so cool having cake with no spoon and everyone watching her.











One of Zoe's birthday presents--a chair with her name and birthday on it, just like big sis has. She sat in it a long time and rocked herself :) Thanks Papa and Nana!
















This is Zoe with her great-uncle Garlan. She was born on his birthday! We were so glad to have him, his wife Doris, and daughter Joyce join us for our special day.
















Megan got plenty of presents and lots of candy too--thanks to Aunt Cheryl! She's showing off her green tongue from the candy dips. I think I see her tonsils. I can't wait for Cheryl and her hubby to have kids :) "Have some more Pixie sticks, kids! How about some Pepsi?!"

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Team Kid Wednesday

What a long day this is! Very busy. Got Meg to preschool, shopped at Kroger, washed 2 loads of laundry, did my Bowflex upper body workout, cleaned the filthy laundry room, did 50 squats, 8 minute abs, and picked up the kids from preschool. Had to fix lunch, corral the very energetic 3 and 4 year old, put away laundry, clean up dishes and take out the garbage, then put the kids down for a nap. Zoe decided to nap for about 20 minutes....ugggh. Now trying to keep her quiet until the others wake up. She's squealing in her playpen. It's a wonder, though, that I usually get them all to sleep at the same time, so today is an exception.

Tonight, hubby coming home early to welcome the electrical inspector, who's looking at our new wiring job. Gotta freshen up myself and the girls, get the boy ready to go home, and head to church for Wednesday night supper and then, Team Kid.

I signed up last year to teach the 4-5 year old class. It's a missions-based class-time for kids on Wednesday nights. I guess, basically like a Sunday school class to let them do something while their parents are in prayer meeting and other Bible studies. I'm still wondering if I did the right thing. Don't get me wrong, I love the kids. I've helped teach Bible school with them before. But never an ongoing class. I'm hoping I can get in the groove and will have enough patience and authority and energy to handle 8-9 of them. I am supposed to be getting a co-teacher soon, and a good friend is helping out until then. She taught last semester.

"Lord, help me in this new endeavor, and all my new endeavors of this new year. Help me tackle each sticky situation with patience and grace. Help me to show Your love to my kids and the others that I interact with. Guide me in the right direction and help me to put my priorities in place. Thank you, Lord, for the innocence and curiosity of children. Thank you for putting such great kids in my life. Amen."

Monday, January 09, 2006

Meg's party--a bit late



Here are some pics from Meg's 4th birthday party we had last Saturday. I can't believe she's 4 already. Where did the time go? I made the cake, which I thought turned out really cute. My hubby helped me decorate it and he did a great job with the little stars and leaves. Enjoy!





The "spread"--yummm.








Good friends make a party fun! This is the little boy I'm babysitting now. He's also in Meg's preschool and in Sunday school. They just can't get away from each other :)



Hope you enjoyed! My little Zoe will be turning 1 very soon too--doesn't seem possible. Already pulling up, walking while holding on, has 4 teeth and weaning. Where did my little baby go?

First real Monday of the New Year

How's it going for you? Mine started off ok, but still hard to get out of bed when it's dark outside. I really enjoyed my weekend, but Megan had a little tummy bug Sunday, so we missed church. She puked up her Cheerios on the living room carpet and the baby bouncy seat, so I had to spend half an hour shampooing it and doing laundry. It still smells a bit pukey, so I sprayed it with Febreeze. I hate cleaning up puke. *shudder*

At least hubby saved the day by bringing me a double cheeseburger and a Blizzard from DQ for lunch...mmmm....and a little nap afterwards felt so good. I also watched a miniseries on PBS later that night on Masterpiece Theater called "Henry VIII". I'm fascinated with that whole story, especially his daughter Elizabeth I. She seemed like such a strong person--but, whew, what a past she came from. Her father had her mother beheaded when she was two. No wonder she never married.

I did my Bowflex upper body workout, 50 squats, and 8 minute abs this morning. Go me! Going to shoot for 2 days of that, then 2 days of treadmill for now. We'll how it goes...

Friday, January 06, 2006

New job, Day 4

Had to do a time out for both of them today. They were just arguing and being physical too much. I think it helped. They've played better since. It's also my first full day babysitting, so it's been a challenge to keep them occupied constructively. I like to let them play and find things to do on their own, but sometimes have to intervene when they begin to argue. Then I play something with them or get them a snack and let them watch a movie, etc. Distraction works for us all, I guess :)

Thursday, January 05, 2006

New job, Day 3

Well, they're arguing a lot today. A lot of "He hit me!", "She pushed me!" that kind of thing. I think he's getting used to being here :) I'm already pooped. Come on naptime! He'll be here all day tomorrow. Hope we can all get in the swing of things soon. We're getting some routines down now.

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

New job, Day 2

Only a little crying when I picked our new guy up today. He said he wanted to go to his house and "knock on the door". I just had to talk to him and acknowledge his feelings about missing his mom and dad. He played well with Meg , ate lunch, did no. 2 in the potty (TMI, I know), and went right down for his nap. Wow, so far he's an easy kid. Meg will argue the socks off me. I think Zoe is the calm one, so I'm hoping I have had the hard kid first. ;)

I even got to sit down, snooze just a few minutes, drink a cup of coffee, eat some smores and watch Dr. Phil. Mommy time! I'm hanging on to it as long as possible.

I've also picked up my fitness routine again--yet with my new treadmill for the aerobic part. Going to shoot for two days Bowflex/8 min abs, two days treadmill for 20 minutes each week for now. I used the treadmill for a 20 minute workout yesterday and it kicked my behind! Whew--my hips and legs are sore and weak--I'm not used to jogging. I'm going to try to keep it up though. Also, new year's resolutions to stay caught up on laundry, dishes, and clutter that always bog me down if left undone. I have real expectations that messes will occur and they won't always be cleaned up right away. I'll still have a fine layer of dust on many things and my basement will still be messy for a long time. Just resolving to tackle things as I can, always be aware of what can be done reasonably.

Also resolving to re-connect with hubby. It'll be 9 years this year that we've been married--13 years together. Marriage gets stale if you don't work on it. I just have to put more effort into being with my man, physically, spiritually, supportively, and to have more fun together. We played a lot of his new X-box I got him for Christmas over Christmas break and a new movie trivia game. So refreshing just to recreate together like that. I love playing with him. Things like that can really draw a couple closer. If you haven't played with your hubby for a while, break out that old Monopoly game and better yet, go get a new one. I love the "Scene It" movie trivia game.

Hope I can keep up with the resolutions for a while. I know that life happens though, so another resolution is to put Jesus at the wheel more often and let Him steer me around the tough curves.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

New year, new job

A new year brings a new job for me. I'm now a babysitter for a little boy who just started preschool with Megan. His parents are friends and our Sunday school teachers. I'm picking him up with Megan each day and keeping him until about 5 or so. I hope I can handle all the youngins. Today went as smoothly as I could expect. Megan was very bossy with him, but he played very well and they all took a nap at the same time. He cried a little about it, but went to sleep fairly quickly. Hopefully, we can keep that up. Naptime is also my quiet time, and I just need it to stay sane.

I'll tune in again soon with some pics from Meg's fourth birthday.