Library

It used to be I'd go to the library with the kids during the day when they were preschoolers so they could go to storytime and we'd have something to do for the day. We'd get books and play in the children's area. Then, as they got older, we really didn't use the library as much, unless the kids needed information for a school project etc. It sort of became a place we rarely went to except in the summer. Now we've started going again in the evenings, as a family. After dinner we'll pack up all the DVD's and books we took out the week before and head to Clover Hill Library to stock up on new ones. Once we enter the doors, everyone pretty much goes their separate ways for about 15 minutes, then we find each other and go over what everyone's getting and then head back out. Everyone except for Ellie has their own library card.
This past Tuesaday we did that, and then afterwards we needed to go to Felicia's Elementary School because they were having Math night (I forget what the fun name they gave it was). but, basically it was a bunch of different math games set up in all the classrooms and you went from game to game and got a special game card punched when you completed one. After you completed them, you were supposed to keep the game card and turn it in to your teacher to receive a free homework pass and some extra credit in math or something.The next morning, felicia asked where her pants were that she had on that night. I said I washed them. She said "That's where the math night game card was!!!" So, after all that effort, she didn't even get to reap the rewards!!!

Crazy Week

Well, I haven't posted this past week because I haven't been able to get online for the past four days! How amazing that something we never even had growing up becomes such a vital part of our day!!! On Monday evening, my whole neighborhood experienced internet failure through the cable company. By the next morning, everyone was up and runing except for us, of course! It took 2 diffrent technicians sent out a total of 4 hours before we finally had it restored and even then he told me it could happen again!
Add to all of that the fact that my Yukon had to be taken into the shop on Monday morning, "fixed " and paid for, drive it home and it was still doing the same thing I took it i for!!! I had to return the NEXT day and wait for over an hour while they looked at it again and finally solved the problem.
And on top of that, I got a call from the school to pick up Felicia because she was itching her eyes a lot and they thoguth she might have pink eye!! ( she didn't, just allergies). To finish out the week, Ellie had a fever yesterday and it looks like she caught (again) the same cold she had a few weeks ago and passed around the house to her sisters.
Needless to say, I am glad this week is almost behind us!

Quiet Weekend

This weekend we've been very low key, just hanging out at home mostly annd relaxing. we've let the kids watch way more TV than we normally do, but they've also been playing. Felicia went with a friend to get her nails done and sleepover on Saturday, so Sam, Bethany and Ellie played together that day. Bethany has been battling a cold all week and had a fever Friday night and Saturday. She is feeling much better today.
Some of the things we played were Legos and Candyland. Legos are still a huge hit in this house, Sam has been collecting Legos since he was Ellie's age and has an enormous amount which they dumped all out on the floor to play.Ellie decided to build a pool and Bethany built some kind of car.Sam wanted to make a cruise ship, but the girls said no, so I don't know what he ended up building.
Ellie loves to play Candyland and I'll admit it's still one of my favorites as well.
I was only one card away from reaching King Candy's castle when I drew the Plumpy card and got sent all the way back!! Felicia won that round.

Hooray for Bethany!

Tonight we went to Tomahawk Creek Middle School to see Bethany receive an award. She was chosen as a Core Value recipient for the first semester. Faculty team leaders select students who exemplify the Core Values identified by Chesterfield County Public Schools which are Responsibility, Honesty, Respect and Accountability.
There were about 15 students chosen from each grade.
Before the ceremony at the school, we went out for dinner to one of Bethany's favorite places, Sergio's. It is a local pizza/Italian restaurant that we go to often. Bethany loves the garlic rolls there and their caesar salad. We met friends there for dinner, then went to the school. Upon arriving home, Bethany went up to room to discover lots of balloons scattered all over her room.
We're so proud of her and not surprisingly, she also exemplifies these core values at home as well. We love you, Bethany!

Consignment

It's that time of year again! Twice a year, local churches and groups put on consignment sales, where individuals can hang and price their own used kids clothing and toys, baby and sports equipment and bring it to sell during the weekend sale. The space used, a church or rented space, is set up with clothing racks, shelves, tables etc. to hold all the toys and clothing that people bring in and Volunteers run the sale. I have been participating in these since Bethany was a baby because it is a great way to make money selling the stuff my kids outgrow and then having some cash in my pocket to purchase new things for that season. There is one sale in Sept. for fall/winter items and one in March for Spring/summer items. It takes me about a week to get out all the bins of clothing and tous that I've stockpiled in the garage as we've cleaned out or outgrown for the past few months. I have to hang the clothing on hangers and fill out tags to pin to each item with size, price etc. I also enter in a log sheet, which the volunteers will use to calculate how much you've sold so you can get paid.
I am part of the leadership team for the one I've been doing here for years at The Brandermill Church. It just means I'm involved in the planning process and am in charge of a certain volunteer area. My area is Receiving. I am in charge of checking the clothing items when people bring them in to make sure they've followed the guidelines for tagging and hanging and to make sure the clothes are in good condition and the proper season.
We usually set up the room space with the racks and tables on a Wednesday night, receive items on a Thursday afternoon/evening, sell on Friday and Saturday and by Sat. at 5pm, we're cleaned up and done!
Recently, the kids have gotten excited about cleaning out their rooms during this time, pricing what they want to get rid of and sending it along with me so that they can earn cash for their items as well. When i receive my check from the sale a few weeks after the event, I dole out to the kids what each of them earned.
They are always excited to reap the benefit of their work and sometimes I find some cool stuff there to bring home for them.
When it is all said and done, it's a great win-win for everyone involved. Lots of struggling families are helped because they can buy their kids clothes at a reduced cost, we also help needy families by giving them clothes for free. Regular middle class families can come and sell their old stuff and pick up some new wardrobe items at the same time---recycling at it's best! When the sale is over, different charities are contacted and can come and pick up the leftover items. Each consignor makes 80 percent of the selling price, the sale committee earns the other 20, which gives a portion to the church and other to different outreach ministries.
It's a lot of fun to be invloved in this and very rewarding as well.

President's Day

Today the kids had off from school and I was also watching tow of my friend's children. What's a Mom to do with 6 kids in the house all day? Take them out to burn off their energy!!!
First we went out for lunch so Mom had no mess or clean up in the kitchen or a million requests for 10 different things... We ate at Anna's Pizza and they ate every bite of the pizzas, finishing everything. Next we went to Inflation Nation, a playplace for kids of all ages that has giant inflatable slides, mazes etc. They had so much fun chasing each other around and jumping. We stayed all afternoon, returning home to chill out after a fun day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

The kids were excited about getting their Valentines at their school parties. (Well, Felicia and Ellie were--the middle schoolers don't do that anymore, although Bethany did buy Kung Foo Panda Valentines and filled them out for her girlfriends).
they filled them out and attatched the candy. They also all worked on homemade Valentines for Grandparents which we mailed off.
I usually serve them a meal with all red foods, like strawberries, spaghetti with red sauce, etc... but not this year. The kids were too busy playing with friends all day and having sleepovers to notice the holiday. I gave them their little gifts on Friday morning instead of today as well.Ellie got some great sunglasses--she loves to wear sunglasses!

Fridays

Don't you just love Fridays? The start of the weekend, this is my favorite day of the week.
Every Friday for the past two years, my friend Lara has hosted scrapbook day at her house. While the older kids are at school, us Moms and whatever preschoolers we have with us, meet at her house to scrapbook. The kids all play upstairs in her big playroom and usually only come down when they are hungry for lunch. We sit in the dining room and chat and scrapbook and listen to music. We have so much fun on Fridays. Ellie gets so excited to go to Gabi's house because they are really good friends and get along so well.

The kids are always busy planning sleepovers toward the end of the week.Normally the kids ask me if their friend can come and I call their Mom and plan it out, but now that Bethany has is older, she and her friends tend to plan lots of things on their own and the parents just have to confirm everything in the end. Tonight Bethany will be going home with a friend from school to sleepover and go rollerskating.

Usually whoever stays home that evening plans a "sleep down" in the living room and Steve will do this with them. They have a fun snack and watch TV or a movie together and bring their blankets to sleep downstairs.I prefer sleeping in a bed to a floor or sofa (no, I'm not a good camper!), so I don't take part in this activity. That is Steve's special thing to do with the kids. I enjoy my big, comfy bed all to myself for the night!

Things We Love

In honor of Valentine's Day coming up, we read one of Ellie's stories the other night titled "What do you Love?" After we read the story, each of us wrote down 10 things on paper that we love. Here is a sample of some of our things....

Steve loves the smell of Ellie's hair
reading with Felicia
drawing with Bethany
listening to music with Sam

Bethany loves sleepovers
her family
candy
her Hello Kitty blanket

Ellie loves my songs
Raggy and Blankie
Polly Pockets
my family

Felicia loves softball
her Ipod
reading
the mall

Kim loves going out for dinner
talking with friends
organizing things
scrapbooking

Sam loves skateboarding
spaghetti
summer
friends


It was fun to see what everyone had written.

Group Effort

The kids LOVE to go to friends' houses that have trampolines to jump on them. A few weeks ago, we were talking about how it takes them so long to save up money to buy something really good (because they can't SAVE their money, they spend it immediately!). I suggested that they start pooling all their money together to save for one big thing. They all agreed (WOW) that they should save for their own trampoline and for the past month or so, have been adding money to a marked envelope every time they receive an allowance, babysitting money, money from grandparents, etc. So far they have about $110.00 saved. Not bad for only 4 or 5 weeks! To get the one they want with the safety netting around it, they need at least 150.00 more dollars. Hopefully by Spring, they'll have made their goal. How excited they'll be!!

Beautiful Winter Day

Today we had a gorgeous sunny 72 degree day here in VA. We took advantage of the warm weather and especially since it was a weekend!!! We washed the cars, I went out for a walk in the neighborhood with my friends and after lunch, we took the kids to the local Sports complex, which also has a lot of woods to explore. We spent two hours out in the sunshine riding scooters, playing ball and hiking through the woods. The kids were excited to find a creek with 4 inch thick ice on top of the water. They thought that was really cool. Even after we returned home, we all stayed outdoors until it was dark out, enjoying the rare spring-like day.

Superbowl Sunday

Sunday was a beautiful day here. We had sunny skies and warm weather!! The kids played outside all afternoon. I made a big midday Sunday dinner of roast beef, mashed potatoes, corn, gravy, roast carrots,, and biscuits. MMmmmm....

Now while we are not regular football fans watching the games on Sundays, the kids enjoy and look forward to watching the Superbowl every year. I make fun snacks and let them eat in the living room and we cheer on our favorite team. some years we are divided on who we want to win, but this year, we were all rooting for The Steelers.
What a great 4th quarter exciting win, although the kids were already in bed and didn't get to see that.