Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Double birthday


Happy birthday to Dad and little brother Tom Monday and today! :) We had a combo birthday party for them on Monday for family night. We tried to eat early so we had time to hang out and get home before 8:30. It didn't happen that way but we had a good time. Dan and Tom were tearing the roof off the back of the house when we got there. They are moving right along on the house remodel that's been 8 years in the planning stage.

Coop was sleeping on the couch (that whole daylight savings screwed up the routine thing) and Toby and Jess had a blast playing outside in the dirt/rocks/construction mess. Jessie built a teeter-totter sort of toy with rope and wood lying around. They turned it into a swing thanks to a little Grandpa and Uncle Tom muscle which had the kids occupied for as long as said muscles could stand it. We ate brisket, garlic mashed potatoes and broccoli salad for dinner followed by ice cream cake and German chocolate cake for the birthday boys. It's nice to have family close. We really miss Ken and Cassie and their family!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Daylight savings=crazy behaving

Spring is on the horizon and with it comes 2-3 frustrating weeks that begin the eve of daylight savings. Every year when we turn the clocks ahead an hour it throws off our entire home. The kids sleep schedule goes whack-a-do and everyone is just a little off.

Case in point:This was at 4:45 in the afternoon today. Jessie was grumpy since she walked in the door from school. Notice the newspapers surrounding her? This week our local paper has activities in the paper every day that the kids can exchange for "book bucks" to buy things at local stores. J was frustrated at the one tiny article I picked for her to read so she layed her head ON the paper and fell asleep. Instead of reading the story she drooled all over it. I was going through pictures on the computer while feeding Syd at this same time. Toby came into the room and said, "Mom, we're the only ones awake!"I swear you could sedate that kid and he still wouldn't fall asleep. Sure enough, Logan was the last one unaccounted for and he fell asleep in front of the mirror on Dad's side of the bed. Sydney fell asleep nursing and that sealed it. It figures one of the few days I have dinner ready before 5 PM and it doesn't matter because everyone (almost) is asleep! Needles to say, Toby and I had a quiet dinner until I woke Logan and Jess up an hour later. We played and I helped/motivated Jess to do some homework before showers and bed. Daddy was at soccer late and got home just before the kids fell asleep to smooch them goodnight.Toby and I fiddled around with the camera while we ate our dinner (homemade vegetarian chili and flax chips, YUM!) He's looks as if he's channeling a department store model here. I let him use my camera to take some pics of his robots. This is his thing lately- he sets up these scenes all over the house with the robots, superheroes, Ninja Turtles, or Gargoyles and wants to take pictures of them to show Daddy.

So, when we have church on the Sunday of daylight savings time it's always fun to see who comes late to church because they forgot to set the clocks forward. Last week someone I know, who shall remain nameless for fear of losing free babysitting, came to church almost an hour late for just that reason. It also happened that this person was on the program to speak to the congregation and wouldn't have made it if Dave hadn't run outside to call him/her. Why can't we just fall back and forget the spring forward part?!