Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Separation Anxiety and Camp Registrations

It looks like Levi is starting to have a bout of separation anxiety. I went out shopping tonight, and he was starting to get cranky just as I was leaving. He got over it enough to eat dinner well, but got cranky again just before bed. Chris said all Levi wanted to do was be held and rest his head on Chris' shoulder. I got home with a trunk full of groceries but after just one trip inside, he heard me from his crib and started to cry. I tried to nurse him but as long as he thought I was going to put him back to bed, he wouldn't drink. I had to take him downstairs where it was cooler and walk with him a bit until he calmed down, then sat on the couch and he nursed fine. Troyer and Noah came over to say goodnight and he was happy and playful. I took him back to his room and he layed down and went to sleep. *sigh* I guess that means I will have to take him along on shopping trips for a while until he gets over his distress at my absence.

Once I got him back to sleep, I had to go finish bringing in the groceries and put them away, then gather up the trash and put it out. I'm annoyed that Chris didn't do that for me while I was out. I know if I had been home alone tonight because he had to work late, I would have been expected to get the trash out even though I was watching all the kids. He didn't help carry in groceries or put them away either. Grrrrr.

I registered Troyer and Noah for summer camp today. They will be going back to the same camp they went to last year, but this time they will go two separate weeks. Troyer is 10 this year, which puts him in Junior Camp, while Noah is still in Adventure Camp. He was disappointed until I pointed out that next year he will get to have Samuel with him for his last year of Adventure Camp. That made him happy.

They each had to choose 3 activities to sign up for; Troyer chose Swimming, Horseback Riding, and Crafts, and Noah chose Swimming, Archery, and Aqua Jump which I think is like trick swimming. I know it involves a big inflatable slide, lol. Troyer toyed with the idea of archery, but I talked him out of it. I'm not sure he is coordinated enough for it, LOL. I'm interested to see how well he does with riding.

Samuel and Caleb will be going to day camp at the YMCA. They are also looking forward to that. I am not sure I am looking forward to having to get up everyday, early, to get them ready and drop them off. I remember doing that for Troyer and Noah a few years ago, and bleh, lol. Oh well, they will have a lot of fun.

Tomorrow Troyer and Noah have drs appointments, so the dr can sign release slips for camp. I sure hope the appointment goes better than Caleb's last week. I didn't know it was possible for a 5 yo to actually fail his check up, but Caleb managed to just about do it. The nurse tried to check his vision, but he refused to talk to her, so she couldn't tell what he could see. We have no idea if he was really having trouble or not. I haven't noticed him sitting close to the tv or anything, but maybe he covers well? I think Chris got his glasses at 5 or 6 yo, so it's possible that he is having trouble. The dr said he tested at 20/50. But the nurse said she thinks it was more of a stubborness problem than a vision problem. I was very embarrassed. He also wouldn't talk to the dr (who was a woman) and was uncooperative when she asked him to undress, or bend over to check his back, etc. I tell you, there's nothing like having 6 kids crammed into one of those tiny exam rooms with no toys or books, one of which is an inquisitive crawling baby, and have the patient be obstinant. Ugh. He is in a stage right now where he doesn't want to talk to girls. It was tough to explain that doctors, nurses, and teachers have to be excluded from that rule. He tried the same trick in Sabbath School and his teacher had to come talk to me after the class to tell me how bad he was. More embarrassment *sigh* Growth wise he did ok, though the dr wondered about his being on the short side. It turns out he is my biggest 5 yo so far, LOL. I'm only 5 feet, so I'll just be happy if he can get above 5' 6" LOL.

I am having lots of trouble with my email lately. It turns out my ISP has been transferring to a new email server, and it messed things up. I had to send them an email with my IP addy so they could manually add it to the server to allow connection to download mail. Ugh. Apparently they are still having trouble too, because I can receive mail now, but I still can't send mail out. I have to go online and use the webmail service and that is totally aggravating. I can't send attachments with it. Ugh ugh ugh.

I got birthday pictures loaded onto my computer, but I still need to edit them and upload them before I can post them. I hope to get to it soon!

Tuesday, May 24, 2005

Happy Birthday Caleb!

Today is Caleb's 5th birthday. He is very happy to be 5. He can write his name and count to 10, and is working on writing the numbers up to 5. He is looking forward to getting a bicycle, though I talked him into waiting til later in the week to choose it, since it rained today. I just couldn't see dragging all 6 kids out in the rain, and trying to push the bike to the van, and getting soaked trying to cram it in the back, and then he couldn't even ride it once we got it home. He did see the good sense in waiting, thank goodness, LOL. We had a nice family party, with pizza and a Star Wars cake, and some smaller presents. I'll have pictures to post later.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Argh

My email server has been down for a while now. I have no idea who is trying to get a hold of me, but sorry, I didn't get your message! I hate hate hate having to pay for services that I am not getting! Maybe I'll be trying out a different ISP next year. *sigh*

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

More Pictures

We had a beautiful day here today, warm enough to go dig some shorts out for the boys. They enjoyed the weather out back, and I got some nice pictures.

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Noah was mad at Samuel, so he wouldn't come outside to get in the group shots :-(

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Levi is already starting to pull up on furniture and "cruise"

Here is a picture of the boys downstairs in our family room/computer area. We have a fireplace! We will probably not build fires in it, but at least now the boys have a place to hang stockings at Christmas!
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Noah was very proud of this Lincoln Log cabin he built.

And here are some more pictures of Levi, just because he's cute ;-)
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Tuesday, May 03, 2005

Happy Birthday Micah!

Friday was Micah's birthday. He is 3 years old now. We all came down with the flu last week, so the party I had hoped for didn't happen, but I did run out and get pizza and ice cream and a cake, and he opened a few presents, plus he got a few cards in the mail. Being only 3, he was plenty happy with that!

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Poor Micah is not so happy with being in a new house. Everytime we get ready to go out in the van, or even talk about going out, he says "I want to go home!" I have assumed he wasn't using the right words, since he is still confusing "in" and "out" and "open" and "closed" sometimes, but on Sunday Chris found out that he really does mean "home." He thought we were just here visiting, and now he is ready to go home, back to our old house. We felt sooo bad when we realized that. The other boys aren't all that happy here yet either. They miss their friends, and it's hard for them to be learning the new rules that come from a new house with a different floor plan. It's doubly hard for me, since there are so many things I am disappointed with. I am trying to keep in mind all the things that are better here, and pass that positive outlook on, but it's difficult.

The stress of the move is still evident in all of our moods. I am very short tempered, no matter how hard I try to be patient and forgiving. The boys are all bickering constantly, and no one wants to do school (not even me!). S0 much needs to be unpacked, but I just can't figure out where it should go. Some things I just can't find, like the baby nail clippers. Levi has scratched his face so many times because I can't get his nails short enough. And we are short on pencils, because I can't find the box of extras. Ugh. I need some peace and quiet, but each time I try to sneak away for a few minutes, Chris comes home and finds me hiding, and starts bugging me about how much we have to do, and why don't I have the boys do it for me? Well, of course because that means I have to figure out what there is that they can do, then instruct them on how to do it, and the supervise them to make sure they do it, and then re-do it anyway so it's done right. If I don't have time to do it myself, how can I have 4x as much time for them to do it??? Argh.

Well, anyway. Life could be worse. My sister had her day planner stolen out of her car overnight, right in her driveway. Years of phone numbers and addresses and months of appointments and school schedules, plus she kept lists of her kids' baby milestones in it. All of it is gone. I cry for her, I can't believe anyone would take it. She didn't have anything valuable in it, nor did she have any critical information like credit cards or passwords or bank account numbers. She didn't even have her last name in it anywhere; so no one could use the information in it, unless they could decipher the initials, which I doubt. So someone took it, and then just dumped it somewhere. What a waste. So my life isn't *that* bad, LOL.

I got my hair cut a few weeks ago. Since Levi was about 4 months old, my hair has been getting really thin, thinner than the usual post-partum fall out, and I am really concerned about it. I should go to a doctor and find out if it is thyroid related or something. But of course we have moved, so I don't have a doctor yet, and I just don't have time to find one right now. Meanwhile, I decided it would be good to cut it shorter so I don't have to have it back in a barrette all the time, to get the weight off of it, and see if that helps. Of course the over zealous girl at the salon cut it shorter than I asked, so now it's shorter than I have had it since I was in high school. It is such a change for me, I have always had long hair. The longest it has been is to the backs of my knees when I was pregnant with #1, then for a long time it was to my waist; last year I cut it mid-back; and now it barely brushes the tops of my shoulders. I think it looks pretty good, but it's freaking Chris out; he keeps thinking I look like my sister. She has always had shorter hair than me. The funny part is, she has been growing hers out, so for the first time ever, she has longer hair than me.

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Levi and Mom


I will try to post some pictures eventually, but it is hard to find time right now to take them, edit them, upload them, and then blog them.