Sweet

My children have been wearing my nerves rather thin in the way they treat each other.  It seems that someone is usually intentionally doing something to vex someone else.   Thus we have a lot of fighting and bickering going on.

I have been pondering and praying on what to do about this, and have recently been trying to focus on the positive.  This morning I told my kids that tonight I would make something sweet for those who try to be sweet today.  I then defined what I meant by sweet, and that they didn't need to be perfect, but they needed to try.

Cinderella was really positive today.  She tried not to yell or scream at her siblings, she helped me when she saw that I could use the help, and she tried to be kind.  She had a few times that she slipped up, but overall she did really well.

The other kids however didn't seem to care enough.  Maybe they are just too young to remember that long.  I tried to remind them, but they kept nagging and aggravating one another and me.

So tonight after getting the other kids to bed, I made a milkshake for Cinderella.  While we were eating our milkshakes, she told me, "I want to be like today everyday.  Even if I don't get a treat!"  I thought "Yes!" Her day made a positive impression on her.  Enough that at the moment she wants to try to be like this every day.

Senses

I read something probably  about 9 months ago talking about using your different senses to combat stress.  Since that time I have tried to pay more attention on how my body responds to my  different senses.

Lately I have been paying attention to sense of smell.  I have found that when my house smells nice, I am more productive, and want my house to be cleaner.  So if I have a scented candle burning, or the windows open, with a fresh breeze blowing through, some fragrant cut flowers in a vase, or even the smell of some cleaners, I tend to work more and feel more productive.

I have noticed however comparing yesterday with today, that having a candle burning I get a more positive response than just having a scented wax melt on a warmer.  The scented wax melts tend to irritate my nose and sometimes give me a headache, at least the first time I melt a new cube.  After that cube has been on the warmer a while the scent isn't so strong, and doesn't seem to bother me as much.  I don't know if this is true for all scented wax cubes, or just this particular brand.  I will have  to try some other brands, and scents and see what the results are.

Awesome and Amazing

Today my day was awesome and amazing.  Do you know why?  Because I decided to make it that way.  This morning I told the Hubs,  "Today is a new day, I am going to take life by the horns and do something awesome.  I don't know what will be awesome yet, but something will."
I then proceeded to clean the boys room, the living room, the family room, and vacuum the family room.  For me that is awesome and amazing.  I even had down time to play around with kids, and do my own thing some.

Oh and I took some pictures of the work we have done recently on our garden.  Thought I would share them.

This is our latest feature.  

This feature already had the butterfly bush, the snap dragons are transplants from other places in the garden, and we added the geraniums to help fill it all out.

When the hubs was at the nursery he found that they had a lot of annuals on sale because it is kind of late in the season for planting, so he got a couple of varieties of impatiens and we planted those under our peach trees.  We have also put some hostas under the peach and plum trees.

This is the corner of plants that were already established.  I am not sure if we will make some changes there or let it be.

The plum tree

This is pretty much what the rest of the garden looks like.

A view of the whole garden

The poofy grass and lilies are their own little garden.  I am thinking of maybe making the circle around this one a little bit bigger.

The whole front yard.

Waffers, Waughers, and Wafers

Tonight the hubs and I made a dessert that uses vanilla wafers.  Guy came in and read the box, and called them waffers (like waffle but without the l and ers at the end.)  Then he called them waughers (like laugh +ers only with a w), then he called them wafers, but went back to calling them waffers.  So while we were eating our dessert he had to keep talking about what the waffers tasted like.  :)

Playing in the dirt.

Today I did the grocery shopping, chased after kids and planted a bunch of plants in my flower garden.  The hubs found a bunch of annuals on sale at the garden store, due to it being so late in the season.  I would like to eventually fill it out with perennials, but these at least fill out the space for now.

Funeral

Today was my Grandma's funeral.  It was nice to have a chance to remember her, and all the great things she has done in her life.  She is an awesome lady, and I hope to be more like her.  She put her family first in many ways, and tried hard to teach her children about responsibility and work.  Those are areas that I  can try a lot harder to do.

I fought the concrete and the concrete won

This evening I was heading out for a night free of kids to do some school clothes shopping.  I got in the car and started backing out of the drive way.  Then I heard a bump.

The kids have a tendency to leave things behind the car, and even though I hadn't seen anything there I figured I had better go out and  check.  When I checked I didn't see anything, but noticed that the wooden beam that goes in between the cement pads in our drive way was sticking up a little bit, and figured I had bumped it.  Well I got back in the car, and started backing out again.  I went down over the curb, and knew I heard something.  But knowing there hadn't been anything there before, I figured there must be something in the trunk bumping around, and I kept driving.

However when the front wheels hit the same spot, I knew I felt something.  I got out and sure enough, Spike's bike had been run over.  The thing was ruined.  I felt bad, but what can you do at this point?  I went, picked up the bike, and headed to the dumpster to throw it away.  While I was walking my shoe caught the wooden beam that was sticking up, and I went sprawling.

I bruised my jaw, my right arm, elbow, hip, hand, and skinned my knee.  My head was throbbing, and I felt quite beat up.  I didn't move, because I wasn't sure how easily I could get up without falling again.  Then I heard the hubs calling my name in a frantic voice.  I didn't mean to scare him.  I answered calmly that I was alright, and told him what had happened.  He then helped me up, and I assessed the damage.  With my head throbbing the way it was, I didn't feel comfortable with the thought of driving off by myself some where, so the hubs took the kids with him to a neighbors house for a bit, and I got a bath and a little bit of down time.

I wonder how sore I will be in the morning.

Fireworks

Took the kids to watch fireworks in our neighborhood tonight.  Spike was enjoying his glow sticks more than the fireworks.  He was waving it around in the air, saying, "My firework!"

Stress, gardens, and water

Today I told the kids I would take them to the Children's Garden that is near us.  I told them that they needed to do their jobs, and then we would go.  We could go as early as 9:30 if they were done.  Cinderella was very gung ho and hurried through all of her jobs.  The other kids however were more interested in playing than working.  I kept reminding them, I gave them their job charts,  but they just kept playing.  Meanwhile I  feed Baby his cereal, and gave him a bath.  Cinderella came and asked me what we were going to do  if the other kids didn't do their jobs, because it isn't fair if she has to miss out on the activity, because they are playing.  So I go and tell Guy and Aurora that if I end up having to help them do any of their jobs that they can do for themselves, then they don't get to play in the water at the garden.  I then cleaned up breakfast, nursed Baby, got Spike dressed and helped him do is jobs, helped Aurora do her hair, and sorted and started the laundry.  

I think this gave Guy plenty of time to do his jobs.  However when I went and found him he was laying on his unmade bed, half way dressed, and showing no signs at finishing getting dressed.  So I grabbed a shirt, and helped him get it on.  At this point he started throwing a fit, and telling me he wanted to do his jobs himself.  I told him it was too late for that, he had missed his opportunity, and how I was going to help him so we could go.  We finally made it out the door about 10:40ish.

15 minutes later we get to the garden only to find out that Cinderella left her flip flops at home, and is barefoot.  We were supposed to meet the hubs for lunch around 12,  and I knew it would take about 30 min, to get home and back again.  So we had a change of plans.  Part of me wanted to bag the whole thing, however some of the kids had worked really hard this morning and deserved their reward.  So we went home, got the shoes, and then joined the Hubs for lunch.  After lunch I took the kids to the garden.  I told the kids that any fighting, complaining or not following rules and we would go home.

The first activity at the garden is Noah's Ark.  They have a large ark, that sprays water out of it, and is a fun splash pad for kids.  So Guy had to sit this one out.  The other kids had fun though.

As you can maybe imagine, Guy was anxious for us to move on.  However I told him that he needed to wait.  I wasn't going to make them miss out on their fun, because he hadn't done his jobs this morning.  

After the Ark, the kids went through a hedge maze, and then through a couple of caves.  

Then we got to the spider's web.

Baby chilled in the stroller for most of it.

We then wandered around from one area to the next, the kids having a blast.  I however was getting worn out, and Baby was getting tired of the stroller.  Baby decided he wanted to nurse, so I herded the kids to the sandbox, because there was a bench in the shade, where I could sit to feed baby.   

The kids played well there for a while, but finally started bugging one another.  Once baby was done eating, I was tired of hearing them bicker, so I told them it was time to go.  They started whining at me, and insisting they would be good.  I know I should have been firm, but I didn't want to listen to their whining for the rest of the day, so I gave in.  There was only one more exhibit left anyway, and it is one of their favorites.  There is a little stream, with a pond at the end, and little plastic disks in different shapes that you can sail down the stream, and have races and things.    Well Guy really wanted to play, but I had told him he didn't get to do water.  So I bent the rules a little bit.  I told him he could play as long as he didn't get in the water.  Cinderella asked if she could get in the water, and I told her she could only get in the water to get the disks, but I didn't want her playing in the water.  

Well the kids played for a little while, and then I noticed Aurora wading through the stream.  I hadn't told her the rules, and figured I would once she got back down to the pond, where I was.  Then I saw Cinderella wading in the stream as well.  I felt a little put out with myself that I hadn't been the most firm earlier, so I made sure I followed through on what I had told Cinderella, and told her she was done, because she was wading in the stream.  She felt it wasn't fair that Aurora got to keep playing, and kept telling me so, as she had to sit next to me on the bench.  Well I allowed myself to get more and more annoyed as time went on.  Finally I saw Aurora breaking the rules again, and I had told her this time, so I told the kids we were done.  They were quite upset with me and started whining again.  Guy also decided he didn't have anything to lose at this point and started wading in the stream.  I pulled him out and started trying to gather shoes and things.  Then I notice Aurora and Guy fighting over a water bottle.  At this point I lost it.  I grabbed the water bottle from them and dumped most of what was left in it over Guy's head, and a little bit over Aurora's head as well.  I know bad choice.  So then we left the garden, Guy crying, Cinderella complaining, and me wondering why I took them there in the first place.

My Grandma

Today's blog post is in memory of my dear Grandmother.  She passed away last night, and so my thoughts have been filled with her throughout my day today.

  She was my father's mother and one of the sweetest ladies I know.  She was the kind of lady who would give you the shirt off her back if she felt like you could use it more than her.  She loved to serve people.   She loved having her family around her.  While I was growing up I remember going to her house for many a holiday.  Thanksgiving dinners, Halloween Parties, Birthday Parties, Christmas, 4th of July, etc.

She would often make salads, and invite everyone over.   We would play games like "Pretty Bird in My Cup", and "Meow, Kitty Meow."    I think she enjoyed interacting with the children as much as the adults.   When I was young  if my parents ever needed to leave us long enough that they needed someone to watch us, my memories are always of being at Grandma's house.

Grandma was so thoughtful of others.  I remember one point in time one of my older cousins was living at my Grandparents house.  I don't remember if he was going to school in the evenings or working, but I do remember that she felt it so important that he have a good home cooked meal, and because he wouldn't be there at dinner time, she always made a big meal for lunch.  The times that I happened to be there at lunch time during that time period I remember big meals like roast and mashed potatoes, and spaghetti.  Oh and she always served cool aid.

Grandma didn't have a lot of toys at her house.  There were a few from when my dad and his siblings were younger, but not many.  However, I remember always having fun.   When I was probably about 8, my mom enrolled my older sister and me in swimming lessons at the high school near my Grandma's house.  I remember a few times that Mom dropped us off at Grandma's and then she would walk us over to swimming lessons.  One of these times, I was heading into the locker room, right as someone was coming out.  The door swung out so suddenly that it caught me by surprise and whacked me in the head.  It hit so hard that I got a goose egg.   I remember sitting in the hallway with Grandma, and she bought a can of Sprite from the soda pop machine, and put it on my head, while we waited for my sister to finish swimming lessons that day.


My Grandfather passed away just over 11 years ago.  After he died, Grandma just wasn't the same anymore.  She started forgetting a lot of things, and being quite absent minded.   After a while she became unable to take care of herself, and moved in with my parents.  I was married by this point in time, so I wasn't living there.  But I remember when I would go visit my parents, and how my Grandma loved to play with Cinderella, who was a baby at the time.  Grandma always loved my kids.  Even as her memory started to fade even more, she always seemed to remember the kids, and brighten up when they were around.   My aunts would tell me she would point out pictures of my kids from e-mails, and  tell them stories about the kids.    I don't know if she ever really got to know any of them except Cinderella and Guy though.  By the time Aurora was born, Grandma was pretty much gone.  It was hard to see her vibrant personality slip away, and I have to admit, that I am guilty of not going to visit her much in the last few years, especially after she moved out of my parents house into a care center.  It was too hard.  I wanted to remember my Grandma how she was, not just a shell.  I know I will miss her, but I am glad she is now out of that body that wasn't really working any more.  I am glad she can be with my Grandpa again, and I know that if I live righteously I can see her again, and that she is part of my FOREVER family.

I love you Grandma!

This is Grandma holding Aurora when she was born

Embarrassed

Today at church my three older kids were asked to be reverence children.  To do this they stand up front being reverent, while others come into the chapel.  This is supposed to help encourage others to be reverent as well.

Cinderella was having a bad attitude all morning, and then when we got to church, and I guided the kids up onto the stand, she started crying, and trying to hide.   I took her out and talked to her, she told me she got afraid when she was up there, and then she was embarrassed that all those people could see her crying.  Poor kid, it took a lot of coaxing to get her to even come back into the chapel.  I finally got her to come in after the sacrament.

This got me thinking about times that I have been embarrassed, and how we all get embarrassed some times.  But over all I think it is when we swallow our pride, and try not to worry about what others think of us, that we can get over our embarrassment and live our lives the way we want to.

Cinderella is quite shy, in some ways.  She has a hard time reaching out to others, and wants others to reach out to her.  When they don't she feels like they don't like her.  Hmmm, sounds a lot like me.

I think she is nervous for this next school year to start, because she is afraid she won't have any friends.  There is also a girl that she had a hard time with a lot last year, who is in her class this upcoming year, and I think she is really nervous about it.  I wish I could help her not worry about what others think about her, but I haven't mastered that myself yet.


How about you?

Beds

For for a few months Spike and Guy have been without a bed.  They used to have a queen sized futon and frame, but were constantly jumping on it.  I was afraid they would ruin the frame, and so we took the frame away and just left them with a mattress on the floor.  The down side was that with the mattress being a futon mattress, that the boys figured out how to fold into a cave and crawl under and such.  Now this was great fun for them, but also dangerous.  Thus they lost the mattress as well.  So for a few months they have been sleeping on the floor with blankets and pillows.

The girls however had bunk beds, but lately have decided to sleep together in the same bed most nights.  So the hubs had an idea that we could give them the queen sized futon, that they can share and give the bunk beds to the boys.  So today we set about moving beds.  

When I started moving the first mattress from the girls room to the boys room, Spike saw what I was doing and got VERY excited.  He followed me in, and by the time I brought the second mattress in, he had the first one arranged on the floor and was putting pillows and blankets on it.

While putting the beds together, we discovered that one of the nuts had broken, I was concerned about the stability of the bed without the nut, seeing as how it was on the bottom bunk.  The hubs wasn't too concerned, but agreed to humor me, and we set up the beds as twin beds instead of bunks.  Guy was disappointed that the beds weren't bunks, but I told him he he could prove to be responsible with his bed, then maybe sometime later we can make them into bunk beds.

Later in the day, after the boys had had their baths and were in there pj's, Spike was having a melt down.  The hubs decided to just leave both boys in their room, for the time being.  The boys were being quite wild in there, and when the hubs went to check on them found that they had pulled all the bedding of one of the beds, as well as the mattress.  He about carted off the bed there and then, but after we talked about it, we decided to talk about it with the boys and then give them another chance.  We will see how they do.

The girls on the other hand, Cinderella seems to love her new bed, but Aurora isn't too keen on the idea of having to sleep with Cinderella., only time will tell how that one will end up.

Here is a picture of how the girls room looks now.  The hubs took it for me, and we didn't have the idea of taking the pictures until after the boys had destroyed their beds again, so I don't have any pictures of their room.

The hubs also took an updated picture of my garden that we are working on.  He spent the day working on the irrigation for me.  Isn't he great?

And this last picture is of Baby.  He is now 6 months old.  Crazy.

A walk through the past.

This morning I took the kids to the eye doctor to pick up their new glasses.  And then we went to the library.  It was fun, but wearing.  I came home, got them lunch, and then took a nap.

Didn't do much around the house today, but at least the morning was busy.

Went on a date with the hubs tonight.  We went for a long walk and had smoothies.  It was reminiscent of when we met and our first summer together.

Splish Splash

Today I took my kids to a splash pad near where we live.  I joined up with a couple of my sister-in-laws, and the kids had a blast.

I also got a lot done today.  The kids spent a bunch of the afternoon playing quietly, and I was able to get caught up on laundry and bake some bread.  My bread turned out rather flat.  I need to practice more, I haven't made bread for at least a year.  But hey, I got it made.

Oh and here are some pictures from the inflatable park from Tuesday.

weight gain

Baby doesn't seem to be gaining much weight.  He was born weighing just above 7 lbs.  At 4 months he was 12 lbs, and then now at almost 6 months, he  weighs still about 12 lbs.  Now this last measurement is on my home scale, and the others are not, so there is a margin for error, but not by much.

The thing is, he eats all the time.  He still eats about every 2 hours.  Sometimes he is done in 5 min.  but if he is tired he will sleep eat and sometimes go for an hour.  I don't think my milk supply is lacking, because I still get engorged at times, but I am worried about what the pediatrician is going to tell me.  I am afraid he is going to tell me to supplement, which will eventually lead to weaning earlier than I want.  I have small kids, but usually they gain weight faster than this.

Bouncy Bounce

Today I took the kids to an indoor inflatable park.  (A big building with lots of inflatable slides, and bounce houses).
The kids had a ball.  Spike was climbing all over the place, with no fear.  I was amazed to see him head up the ladder for the biggest slide.  They claim this slide is 3 stories tall, and I can believe it.  He got to the top, but then wasn't so sure about coming down.  I couldn't go and get him, because I had Baby strapped on in a baby carrier.  So I send Guy up there after him.  Well when Spike was scared to go down the slide, he decided to slide down where the ladder is.  I found this hilarious, because the ladder is exactly like the slides (slope and length), it just has bumps along the middle to aid in climbing.  He just slid down the side of it, so as to not hit the bumps.  Silly boy.

I took some pictures but I am having trouble getting them onto my computer today, so I will have to add them later.

Being at this park reminded  me of when we lived in Washington.  At that point in time I just had 2 kids, and a bunch of other moms in my neighborhood would get out weekly and do play groups.  Sometimes we would meet at peoples houses, but we would also go to parks, playgrounds, the zoo one time, and other fun locations for kids.  Sometimes it would be places that were free, but other times it would be places that  cost a little bit.  The kids would run around and play, and us mom's would get a chance to talk and visit, while watching our kids.

Man, I miss that.  I have tried a few times here with varying levels of success to get a group like that together, but overall I think the women here are too busy.  This is kind of hard for me because I really miss the interaction with other moms.  I know everyone has different needs, but for me interaction is one of my needs, and it needs to be interaction with someone other than my 5 children.  The hubs often helps with this need, but he has had a bit more stuff on his plate lately, and it is hard to find time to talk.

Sometimes I have mistaken the lack of this need being met as a lack of friends.  But I don't really think that is the case anymore.  I have friends.   Just most of my friends are in a different stage in life than I am .

The friends who have children who are all school age or older don't exactly do the play group kind of thing anymore.  You might get your kids together for a play date, however the mom's don't usually sit around and visit while the kids play.  And my friends who have children who are all preschool and baby age, don't really have much for my older kids to do, if we were to come over.  And the few friends I have who have school age, and preschool age children, just seem to be really busy.  I have tried to put out a general invite to people on Facebook or such but that doesn't get any results.  I probably need to be more specific and contact certain people and say "Hey, lets get together."  But then I feel like I am being really needy and annoying.    That, and it doesn't seem like invitations are ever reversed, it seems like I am the only asking.  This makes me worry that people don't really want to do things with me, they are just to polite to say no.

I know I am a worrier, and probably most people would love it if I called them up, or stopped by.  But what if they don't.  What if while I am sitting there visiting with them they are silently thinking "Will she ever leave?  I've got things I've got to do...  She is so annoying, I wish she wouldn't come over, but I can't be rude and tell her that."


Any advice?  I have probably asked this before, sorry if I tend to drone on in the same topics repeatedly.

Sick

Today I felt sick, and didn't get much done.  Although I did go grocery shopping.  Hope I feel better tomorrow.

Summer Pics

So here are the pictures we took last week.

Baby

Spike

Guy

Aurora

Cinderella

The kids

Now the next two pictures are family pictures and I want opinions.  Which picture do you like more, #1 or #2?  I am trying to decide which one to put on our wall.

#1

 #2

Planting

This morning I spent a few hours planting plants,   It felt quite humid out there today, although I am sure it was nothing compared to places that aren't in the desert.

Garden Update

Today the hubs and I went to the garden store and picked out some of the first plants for our new garden.  We were able to plant a few of them tonight, but I hope to get the rest in the ground tomorrow.  The garden is starting to really take shape.

What do you do about it?

Aurora has been having a hard time lately.  She is acting out (hitting, pulling hair, biting, etc.)  and throwing a major fit when she doesn't get her way.  I think part of it is being 4,  but  I worry that part of it comes from being the middle child and not really knowing where her place is.

Towards the end of the school year when Guy and Cinderella were talking to each other about things that had happened at school Aurora would start making up things that happened at "her" school.  I could tell she was trying to find a way to include her self with the older kids.   However they quite often place her with the babies, and exclude her , telling her she isn't old enough for something.  I am sure this is quite frustrating for her and is at least part of what started her acting out.

Lately she has a hard time leaving my side.  She doesn't like to go to primary and fights me, screaming when I leave her.  She fights going to bed, hurts anyone else when they try to play with Baby.....   She is getting to be down right mean.

Today she was getting into some toys she knew she wasn't supposed to be playing with right then, pointed out she was doing something wrong, and then asked me if she was being a "nasty girl".  I don't  know where she is getting these ideas,  and I am afraid she is starting to get pleasure out of being bad.  And trying to get attention for being bad.  I try not to give her lots of attention for it, but at the same time, I need to enforce consequences.

Any suggestions on what to do with a middle child, or a child going through a rebellious faze, or just wanting to belong and being mean to get what they want?  (Did that even make sense?)

How to be a supermom

Today I discovered the secret to being supermom.  Focus on what go accomplish, not on what you don't.   If you look at what you are able to do you will feel amazed.   If you look at all you fail to do then you feel overwhelmed.
Today I cleaned one room, got laundry caught up, got all of the luggage unpacked from our trip, and picked apricots, made baby food, and apricot nectar.
Not bad eh?

A hot house

The company I call when I have problems with my A/C is open for business at 8 in the morning.   This morning I called at 8:04.  They told me they could send a technician on Friday.   I wanted to cry.  The thought of living in a 90 degree house for 4 days was overwhelming.   My house is in a major state of disarray,  and I had the hardest time being motivated in this oven to do anything.
This evening I received a call that they could send someone this evening,  thankfully he was able to fix the A/C, and now our house is in the process of cooling down.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have more motivation to get my house in order.

Last day of vacation

The day to end our vacation has come.  Both the hubs and I are so ready for this to be at an end, that we decided to drive the whole way in one day.  We didn't get home until midnight,  and our house is still really hot, but at least we are done being in the car and we are home.

Vacation day 7

I love Sunday.  I love having a day of rest.  Even if it means turning on "Prince of Egypt" and letting the kids watch it so that I can get a nap.

Day 6 of vacation

Today we drove back to my father-in-laws house.  The hubs ws feeling drowsy so he asked if I could drive.  We switched spots, but getting back on the freeway, I didn't see the junction I was supposed to take, and not being familiar with the route,  didn't catch it. 

About 1/2 hour later, the hubs looks up and asked if I got the junction.   Me thinking I had followed all the signs so far told him yes,  he then said that it looked like we were still on the freeway.   I told him that's because we were.   He then looked at the map, and told me we are on the wrong road.   Whoops.  Thankfully there was a route we could still take without having to turn around,  it just took longer.

Vacation day 5

I think my children have too many toys.  They get bored way to easy, and they don't seem to know how to enjoy the simple things in life. 

Last night we went to watch fireworks.   They were beautiful,  but my children were bored.   They needed to make a game out of it,  which then led to fighting.   When they weren't playing their game, or fighting,  they were complaining.

There aren't a lot of toys at my fath-in-laws house, but there are some.  However the children are quickly bored and want to watch a movie or play a videogame.

Today we ent to my sister-in-laws house, and admittedly she doesn't have much at her house for kids.  She doesn't have much at her house at all.  She os single, lives by herself and just recently moved back into her house.  The people who had been renting her house trashed it, and it needs a lot of work.  That is part of the reason we are visiting her. 
So the hubs and my father-in-law have been working on the house,  and I have been trying to entertain children.   It is rather stressful,  because it is so hot we have the doors open, and Spike keeps trying to make a break for it , down to the busy road in front of her house.

So I tried to send the kids to the backyard, they didn't know what to do.  The yard is a junglenof plants and things.  I could have had fun put there for hours when I was a kid.

I then took the kids to a park.  They played for about 5 min. then said they were done.  How can I help them develop their imagination?

Vacation day 3

We were so tired today.  My father-in-law wanted to go up into the mountains where it was cooler, nit we were so tired, and didn't want to spend yet another day in the car, so we opted not to go.  Instead we spent the day watching movies and taking naps.  The hubs had another on-line interview this morning,  and spent the day in a daze worrying about how he  did.

Vacation Day 4

Today we took the kids out into my father-in-law's backyard and took some pictures,  we also got a family picture.   When I was packing I forgot that we were going to take pictures and didn't pack my makeup.   I also didn't bring much to style my hair with, so I am not the most excited about how I look.  Oh well, it's all about the memories right.
We had told the kids they could go swimming today.  My brother-in-law found a large plastic stock tank, that he turned into a swimming pool. 

However it has cracked,  and when trying to fill it we discovered it wouldn't hold much water (depth wise).  We suggested to the kids that we could take them to a park with a splash pad instead,  but they didn't want to, they wanted to swim here.  However,  once getting out there, all Cinderella could manage to do was complain.

We finally came in and the kids played on the Wii.   Later we are going to a 4th of July social, and then watch fireworks.

Vacation day 2

Well it was a nicer long day in the car today.  Yesterday at the end of the drive the check engine light came on.  So this morning the hubs did some research and discovered our coolant was almost gone.  So he went to an auto parts store, bought some antifreeze had them reset the light (after checking to make sure that was really the problem.)  We then were able to finish our drive with the car functioning properly,  and the a/c being much more efficient.   We made it to my father-in-laws house in one piece.

Now if I could just figure out how to help Spike to go to bed when we are somewhere other than home.

Day 1 of vacation.

Today I discovered that spending a really hot day in a car makes people feel sick and ornery.  We drove for about 6 hours, and the outside temperature was aroune 100 degrees.   The children were grumpy, and antsy at moments, and there were a few moments when children said they had tummy aches.