A little post hurricane fun. After a rainy day in the house they had some energy to burn. Several neighbors stopped by during this fun and had a good laugh watching the kids. :)
Diorama
Yesterday we were in the mood for an art project, but sadly I am way behind on planning art projects. The kids tend to start pulling things out of the drawer and making their own projects. Usually this is awesome. As they were doing that yesterday I finished off a tea box (a BIG one from BJs, one of three that comes in a pack… I love tea.) I thought quickly and turned around to ask if either of them wanted to make a diorama. I had to explain what that meant, of course, and I gave them a few suggestions (beach, party, construction site). Lex said no thank you, but Eve jumped on the idea so I handed her the box and she went to work scribbling all over it. A few minutes later Lex decided he wanted one too (of course) and I quite conveniently had another full box of tea, so I emptied that into a plastic bag and gave Lex his own diorama box. He went to town! Look at what this boy made, all on his own. (Well, I helped a bit when he said, “I can’t figure out how to make the objects 3D.”)
Hard at work drawing vehicles.
Quick break to look out the window and pose for the camera :)
Making it 3D
Proud boy! (funny face)
I LOVE this thing! Isn't he amazing?! Look closely at all the detail. The wrecking crane knocking down the building, with pieces of building flying down and pile of rubble below (separate piece in front of building). See the dump truck (back view, yellow rectangle) dumping dirt into a pile and the digger (lower right corner) scooping it up and putting it into another dump truck. He's awesome. He explains it so beautifully, but he wouldn't let me make a video of him explaining it.
Here he is showing me how the wrecking ball is hitting the building and knocking it down.
I love this kid and his creativity!
GOAL!!!
I did it, I did it, I did it! :) After three and a half years and about 48lbs, I reached my Weight Watchers goal weight! Yay me! I’ve been so nervous this week and Alan and the kids have been so sweet and supportive. Alan has been giving me tips on how to drop weight fast (which he learned eons ago in wrestling). Some I used (limit fluids for 12hrs) some I did not (put on a garbage bag and sweats and go for a run!). Turns out none of the tiny details I worried about really mattered. I needed to lose one pound and this morning I was down 2.4lbs! Whoohooo!!! The kids were so sweet at the meeting and kept congratulating me. Eve drew me a “special picture” (she colored in a construction vehicle and gave it to me) and Lex took a picture for me :) After the meeting we stopped at Alan’s office to share the good news with him. I was bouncing (ok, I still am!!)
Lex took a picture for me. The receptionist offered to take a "better" picture for me, but this is exactly what I wanted! Lex snapped the picture and said, "There, that looks good." The whole room said "Awww...." The leader in front with me is actually a leader-in-training, not my normal meeting leader, but that was fun because she too struggled with plateaus and it took her a long time to lose her weight. We emailed and discussed and supported each other at times, so it was nice to be able to celebrate a bit with her.
Now on to six weeks of maintenance where I learn how to maintain this weight, then I officially get Weight Watchers Lifetime status. Oh la la!
Also, with Hurricane Irene on it’s way up the east coast (so they say), there’s a chance the CHaD Half Marathon will be reschedule/postponed anyway. Sigh. But at least I got it done and no longer have to worry about it! :)
This made me so happy I’m going to link it to
the blog hop at Rub Some Dirt On It. Happiness Is…
Quick update
I wonder how many of my posts have that title? I should look that up some day. We spent a lovely few days in Franklin visiting the family last week. I have tons of pictures of campfires and birthday cupcake cones and demolition derbies… but my camera card was usurped (I wonder if that means what I think it means?) by my lovely sister and now it’s in the mail, hopefully on it’s way to my house. Pictures will come later this week.
Upon return we unpacked then repacked the car and headed south to celebrate Mandy’s birthday at a cool campsite on a lake. The kids splashed in the water and marveled at the audacity (big word day) of someone daring enough to throw a paper plate into the campfire. They ate ice cream and I ate rice crispy treats (for the first time in eons!) and we all went home wired. Good times.
Monday we crashed. Alan took the Prius (with the car seats) to work so we were housebound, which was my goal for the day. Laundry, dishes, vacuuming (well, thoughts of vacuuming anyway!) and general R&R took place.
Once my mind started to settle it occurred to me that we only have two weeks left until school starts and the kids need backpacks! I also need to book travel plans for DC next month. In other words, once my mind started to settle from the past week, it immediately switched to the upcoming weeks. Better late than never, right? :) So we are online backpack shopping (I’ll probably throw some school clothes in there too) and someday soon I’ll be motivated to book travel arrangements.
Most importantly this week I’m focusing on me. Yep, me! And my godforsaken plan to reach my WW goal weight this week or run the CHaD half marathon on Sunday. Yep, craziness is my motto. I have one pound to go and, with a Thursday morning weigh-in, a day and half to get there. I’ve been staying within points (mostly, despite all the travel and birthday celebrations) and exercising every day. Yesterday and today Alan agreed to put the kids to bed so I could do an AM exercise and then a PM run. Insane! I’m trying to pretend I did not eat rice crispy treats (although I’ve mentioned them twice already so I guess my denial isn’t working) and delicious dark chocolate covered almonds I bought “for the kids” this morning. Sigh. Wish me luck, with losing a pound or running a half marathon! (that’s 13.1 miles for those who don’t know, and there’s no way in hell I can actually run that!)
Now I have to go make a shopping list, take the monkeys shopping this afternoon (Eve decided to take a nap today so she’ll be raring to go!) and hope the cleaning fairy visits my house while I’m away! :)
Happiness is…
Campfires.
Family.
(a few more people in this category would have made the night complete!)
S’mores.
Scrabble.
Glow sticks.
Country living.
A rainy day at the circus
The circus is in town! Well, Circus Smirkus was in a nearby town anyway and we decided to go! Like our last trip to the circus, five years ago, we spent another rainy day under the big top today.
The trip began with my friend and I working our magic (equal parts muscle, finesse, and just plain luck) to squeeze three carseats into the back seat of her car.
Packed in like sardines. They all promised they would be ok with the close proximity.
Forty minutes in the car and only one of them was still growing strong. I was actually a bit worried about Eve falling sleep at 11:30am.
We had a picnic lunch in the ski lodge and watched the rainy goings-on through the window.
Picnic lunch. Eve complained of a stomachache for awhile when we got there, but a little lunch helped and she survived the day.
Inside the big top. There were clear signs saying no photography during the show, but I snapped a few quick pics before the show! Obviously I need to work on my “dark” photography settings.
A one ring show.
Ghostly kids
The big top. A blurry, but pretty picture :)
We had a great time. There was lots of gymnastics, dance, juggling, tight rope walking, and clowning around. The kids ate popcorn and cotton candy and laughed heartily at the clowns. We left just before the grand finale because the kids were getting bouncy and Lex had to use the bathroom. He didn’t like the opening because it was too loud, but otherwise they loved it!
All in all, despite the rain, we had a great day and I’m pleased (or maybe embarrassed) to say that the only one who got grumpy at all was me! Briefly. Trying to organize and coordinate a crowd in cold driving rain just wears on me. I really need to get us some decent rain gear!
Lego madness – the complete story
You all remember our lego pile, right? Fifteen gallons of 30 year old legos, resurrected for another generation of fun. Of course we’ve added our fair share over the years.
They have been part of our toy collection for two years (almost to the day!) and it took Aunt Joyce about one day to decide to organize them. I’ve asked Lex many times if we could sort and organize them and he always says no, but when Joyce asks it’s a different story! :) Not only did she ask, but she did most of the work!
Look at her go! Helpfulness, military precision, or just OCD?
While the rest of us watched TV Joyce kept at it.
The next day (wait, that was just today!) we went out to breakfast with the family then stopped at Big K to find some organizational solution. We joked about just grabbing all four corners of the sheet and plopping it back in the big bucket, but I think Joyce may have kicked our butts! And we all know she could! So we bought some plastic buckets instead and went to work.
Everyone (but me) hard at work!
Making progress...
Where did everyone go? One by one we trickled away...
But not Joyce. She persevered!
Lex is pretty happy about the new solution. The legos stayed packed up for the duration of quiet time...
Then right back out again!
Lego madness
Lex always wants people to “play Legos” with him, and by that he means find pieces for him. I guess Joyce had enough and decided to bring some order to the Lego madness.
A beautiful day for a hike
With family in town we decided to take a hike down Quechee Gorge. It was a beautiful day, not too hot, not too cold. We started with a quick trip to King Arthur Flour so I could shop and the kids could watch the construction. They have some pretty awesome construction going on there.
Watching the construction at KAF
He was a happy boy :)
Then we went to Quechee. Down, up, good times. Then lunch at a sweet little diner and home for a much needed quiet time.
Another pose request.
Eve brought Pink Baby along for the hike.
Grandpa Tom and Lex.
The gorge is so beautiful.
Grandpa Tom and Eve
Lex's pose request turned into a group shot :)
The beautiful bridge
Back to the Ocean
I love the ocean. Have I mentioned that? The waves, the salt water, the excitement and calmness all rolled up together. We went to York Beach again this week with our neighbors. Despite the traffic and construction that delayed our arrival, we persisted and claimed our square on the beach. The three kids were awesome and played so well together. Parrish rocked his boogey board, while Lex practiced body surfing and wild cavorting in the waves. Eve gave it her best then decided she preferred the beach to the water. The air was chilly (low 70’s and cloudy, though much warmer than the first time we went to York Beach), the waves were high, and she was tired. She had the most fun when I put her on my back and brought her out so she could feel the waves crash against her feet but not worry about getting knocked over.
It was tough to find parking, so we found our spot and then stood in an empty spot (avoiding eye contact with cars passing by) while Robina brough her car over. It was lunch time so I doled out sandwiches to the kids while we waited.
Here is one patient little boy.
We spent a lot of time with this spread. Eve on the shore, Lex in the middle, and Parrish hitting the big waves!
Boogey boy!
This guy was pretty ambitious with his beach creation. The kid gave me the evil eye as we approached.
Some beach time for the beach babes.
She's so zen.
Funny thing, they look the same as they did last year.
When we were all tired and cold (well, all except Parrish, I think he would have boogeyed (that can’t be a word!?) all night if we’d let him!) we walked in to the little touristy town of York and went to an awesome candy store. We dragged those poor patient kids through the candy store over and over (bathrooms, buy taffy, restaurant, etc) and they were troopers. We watched the taffy making process from the street. That was cool. Then we went in an bought some saltwater taffy. The kids loved it, of course! :) Then we decided to stick around and have dinner at the little restaurant there. Grilled cheese, mac and cheese, hot tea… yum! Comfort foods all around.
Watching the taffy pulling machine.
Watching the cutter/wrapper machine pop out wrapped taffies by the second.
Then back in the car for the long drive home. The return trip had no construction and traffic so it went much smoother (for us, our poor neighbors had car trouble) and we made it home around 9:00pm. Both kids still awake, which was nice because I really wanted to bathe them before bed. Especially blue-face Eve who decided to EAT a colored pencil. I think she’s cutting teeth or something. I fed them a huge container of carrots (to keep the pencils out of her mouth), but eventually the carrots ran out and it got dark and the sneaky (tired, oblivious girl) went back to her pencils. No more unmonitored coloring for that girl!
Look at that mug!
The poor defenseless pencil.