We were going to go out to Orem to check out a viola. Then we were going out to Provo canyon for a picnic lunch. We had packed up the car when I realized I didn't have the van key. I called Aaron and he had both, so there is no moving the van today. I rescheduled the viola visit for tomorrow, but we might go in the afternoon before heading up to the bell choir get together. Then we won't get in our picnic. Since we had to walk anywhere we went today, we headed off to the park. Eric fell down on some cracked pavement which made me notice that is back bike wheel is flat. I had him go home for a scooter. He couldn't use his scooter- only Emily's which has a messed up clamp so that it can't adjust for him. He whined and cried about that, so we all went home. I think we'll watch a movie after lunch, go swimming in our backyard pools, and then go to the park after dinner. (It is already too hot for the park now.)
Our weather forecast is dreary, Sunny, hazy, and hot. I want thunderstorms at least! It is so horribly dry and icky out here.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Playing with car seats again
I thought I had gotten the perfect setup of car seats in the van. The one hitch was that I couldn't get Eric's seat in tight enough. I ended up with his seat in a center position because the middle belt works with his seat. I also got it tethered under Ben's seat, so it won't get in anyone's way.
I hope to keep it all that way for a while. But then tonight I thought I should switch Karen's and Caitlyn's seats so that Emily could sit on the other side and I don't know.... The problem is that Karen's seat sticks out over the bench and a booster seat can't sit there. Previously I had the rear-facing seats lined up in the middle. I liked that, but Eric's seat is finicky.
Tomorrow we are going to Provo area to check out a viola and violin. Caitlyn has set her heart on playing viola and Emily on violin. I was just going to get one for Caitlyn and the violin is cheaper, but she won't go for the violin. I am not exactly sure about getting an instrument for Emily too. She doesn't like to practice and tends to throw things in frustration. I'm thinking. I've been trying to research violins and violas to figure out what to look for and whether I'm getting a good deal or not. I've got some music store addresses and we may go try out fine instruments prior to checking out the used ones. I don't want to invest money in a poor instrument. This is so stressful!
We had an orchestra concert tonight. It was dumb. We had 2 practices a week set up for 2 1/2 weeks. The first week it was cold, then only 4 showed up, so no practice. The second week there were 5 and 6 of us and the director made us play. The last rehearsal we had a decent sized small orchestra. We played Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" among other music. Fortunately only a few family members came, so we weren't embarrassed too much. While I like orchestra, I may boycott next summer.
I just realized this evening that I can't stand the terrible threes or whatever you want to call three year olds. I am sick and tired of messes all over everywhere. I don't mind only having one more kid. Then once I'm through- that is it. Will Karen ever be potty trained? She's back to wearing diapers since she is out of panties. She's using them too.
I hope to keep it all that way for a while. But then tonight I thought I should switch Karen's and Caitlyn's seats so that Emily could sit on the other side and I don't know.... The problem is that Karen's seat sticks out over the bench and a booster seat can't sit there. Previously I had the rear-facing seats lined up in the middle. I liked that, but Eric's seat is finicky.
Tomorrow we are going to Provo area to check out a viola and violin. Caitlyn has set her heart on playing viola and Emily on violin. I was just going to get one for Caitlyn and the violin is cheaper, but she won't go for the violin. I am not exactly sure about getting an instrument for Emily too. She doesn't like to practice and tends to throw things in frustration. I'm thinking. I've been trying to research violins and violas to figure out what to look for and whether I'm getting a good deal or not. I've got some music store addresses and we may go try out fine instruments prior to checking out the used ones. I don't want to invest money in a poor instrument. This is so stressful!
We had an orchestra concert tonight. It was dumb. We had 2 practices a week set up for 2 1/2 weeks. The first week it was cold, then only 4 showed up, so no practice. The second week there were 5 and 6 of us and the director made us play. The last rehearsal we had a decent sized small orchestra. We played Mussorgsky's "Night on Bald Mountain" among other music. Fortunately only a few family members came, so we weren't embarrassed too much. While I like orchestra, I may boycott next summer.
I just realized this evening that I can't stand the terrible threes or whatever you want to call three year olds. I am sick and tired of messes all over everywhere. I don't mind only having one more kid. Then once I'm through- that is it. Will Karen ever be potty trained? She's back to wearing diapers since she is out of panties. She's using them too.
Monday, June 16, 2008
3 across in the tempo
I wanted to also shout the news of my latest car seat triumph. In the tempo I fit the graco turbobooster, rear-facing tribute, and graco cargo. The cargo has been sitting in my front room for months. I was tired of looking at it. I hoped there was some way to get all the car seats in the vehicles. Now they are all in. I'm going to let Karen forward face in the tempo when Benjamin is also in the car. If he's not, the she can ride in the tribute. Karen is maybe half and inch taller than Ben in the torso area. (That includes Ben's fluffy butt.) It is so cool that they can trade seats. They have been in the van. Now I put Karen's pink seat in the back where Ben's tribute was. I don't think they'll be trading seats in there any more. I put the titan on the middle, door side, so I have no reason to go to the back and put Ben into the pink seat.
cups and camp
We've had a problem with lack of cups lately. We have tons of those restaurant cups. I actually divided the stack in two and put half in storage. A while ago I was going many days between washing dishes, so I slowly got the spare stack out. Recently we have had few cups. One day I gathered up 8 cups from the bathroom and had the kids pick them up around the house (they aren't supposed to leave the kitchen), and around the yard. They picked up 8 cups outside and there are still a couple more. We then got a huge stack of restaurant cups, plus the pictures ones, 3 large colored, and 3 small colored. Now we are back to few. One of these days I'm going to assign cups and if they are gone the child is out of luck.
Benjamin prefers to shower himself with the sippy cup. It takes twenty minutes for him to sprinkle every last drop. I finally had enough. He is banned from sippy cups. I prefer him to dump it in one, half second dump. He's actually getting pretty good with a regular cup. The first two kids went to regular cups around the same age for a similar reason. Eric held on to his till 18 months and I think Karen was over two. Some days I wish she still used a sippy cup. That girl is miss accident.
Caitlyn went to Girl Scout camp last week. It was Wednesday to Friday. Each girl had to choose a job. Caitlyn chose "Trail Boss". Later she was awarded for keeping the counselors in line and knowing all the rules. She was acting herself! She left her camera, hat, and coat at camp. Hopefully they'll turn up in the lost and found. She had a great time. Yesterday she showed me how her loose tooth was sideways. I was very mean and pulled it out. She was hoping to keep it till her birthday. It has been very loose for months. Finally, Caitlyn has lost her first tooth. She'll be 7 in two months.
I love shopping for my new to me vehicle. I'm down to two options: Honda Pilot and Toyota Sienna. I'm not even pregnant. I just hate my van. I looked up safety ratings. If I get into a frontal offset collision in the aerostar the steering wheel is likely to pop off rendering the air bag useless. At least the dummy lived. I need them to test with a short dummy that doesn't fit the seat belt.
Benjamin prefers to shower himself with the sippy cup. It takes twenty minutes for him to sprinkle every last drop. I finally had enough. He is banned from sippy cups. I prefer him to dump it in one, half second dump. He's actually getting pretty good with a regular cup. The first two kids went to regular cups around the same age for a similar reason. Eric held on to his till 18 months and I think Karen was over two. Some days I wish she still used a sippy cup. That girl is miss accident.
Caitlyn went to Girl Scout camp last week. It was Wednesday to Friday. Each girl had to choose a job. Caitlyn chose "Trail Boss". Later she was awarded for keeping the counselors in line and knowing all the rules. She was acting herself! She left her camera, hat, and coat at camp. Hopefully they'll turn up in the lost and found. She had a great time. Yesterday she showed me how her loose tooth was sideways. I was very mean and pulled it out. She was hoping to keep it till her birthday. It has been very loose for months. Finally, Caitlyn has lost her first tooth. She'll be 7 in two months.
I love shopping for my new to me vehicle. I'm down to two options: Honda Pilot and Toyota Sienna. I'm not even pregnant. I just hate my van. I looked up safety ratings. If I get into a frontal offset collision in the aerostar the steering wheel is likely to pop off rendering the air bag useless. At least the dummy lived. I need them to test with a short dummy that doesn't fit the seat belt.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Getting caught up
Two weekends ago we went up to Logan to visit the in laws. They had Aaron buy them new computer stuff and he assembled the computers. This is the way to get a fancy computer for less money. He spent the weekend doing that. I took the kids out to a little zoo, the playground, and shopping. I got to see the Graco Nautilus car seat in person. I don't like it. I love the radian even more now. The Nautilus has massive armrests. That is fine for people who don't have full vehicles. We went to Big 5 where sil works and gets an extended family discount. I bought Caitlyn some $40 hiking boots for $13.50. Grandma helped buy Eric a Cars tent set. He sleeps in the tent in his bedroom now.
Wednesday was Emily's first dance class. She loved it. I think she'll do dance this fall. I've got a new piano student to pay for dance. She starts Thursday. Saturday was a busy day. We went to the Pioneer Celebration and did a bunch of crafts. I made the kids do the DUP scavenger hunt to get free tickets to the rodeo. Next we went to the train museum. They went on the motorized train three times and played on the big engine while waiting. Why do parks need playgrounds? Just park and old train engine. In the evening I took the kids who desired to the rodeo. That was Karen and Caitlyn. Karen was very wiggly and it is hard to tell whether she really enjoyed it or not, but Caitlyn certainly did despite freezing. She is planning to participate in "Muttin Bustin'" next rodeo. (She wants to ride a sheep.) Eric wants to go to the next rodeo. Today a homeschooler started summer science classes. I dropped the big girls off even though they complained and said they didn't like science. Later their story changed. They love science. Caitlyn goes to girl scout camp tomorrow. I hope my trip out and back is a safe one. I hate driving to unfamiliar places, especially when they ar far away. It should take me and hour and a half to get to the camp. Ben's staph infection is back. I feel like a bad housekeeper and mom. I'll take him back to the doctor tomorrow morning if possible. Orchestra rehearsal started tonight. Or at least it was supposed to. It was freezing and windy, so music was passed out and we went home.
Oh, the car seat news is that the scenera car seat has these pokey things on the bottom where the harness can catch. I checked Karen's seat and found a snag. That compromises the integrity of the harness, so I called Dorel. They are sending me a new harness. In the meantime I am thankful we have a spare carseat and that Karen is under 30 pounds.
Wednesday was Emily's first dance class. She loved it. I think she'll do dance this fall. I've got a new piano student to pay for dance. She starts Thursday. Saturday was a busy day. We went to the Pioneer Celebration and did a bunch of crafts. I made the kids do the DUP scavenger hunt to get free tickets to the rodeo. Next we went to the train museum. They went on the motorized train three times and played on the big engine while waiting. Why do parks need playgrounds? Just park and old train engine. In the evening I took the kids who desired to the rodeo. That was Karen and Caitlyn. Karen was very wiggly and it is hard to tell whether she really enjoyed it or not, but Caitlyn certainly did despite freezing. She is planning to participate in "Muttin Bustin'" next rodeo. (She wants to ride a sheep.) Eric wants to go to the next rodeo. Today a homeschooler started summer science classes. I dropped the big girls off even though they complained and said they didn't like science. Later their story changed. They love science. Caitlyn goes to girl scout camp tomorrow. I hope my trip out and back is a safe one. I hate driving to unfamiliar places, especially when they ar far away. It should take me and hour and a half to get to the camp. Ben's staph infection is back. I feel like a bad housekeeper and mom. I'll take him back to the doctor tomorrow morning if possible. Orchestra rehearsal started tonight. Or at least it was supposed to. It was freezing and windy, so music was passed out and we went home.
Oh, the car seat news is that the scenera car seat has these pokey things on the bottom where the harness can catch. I checked Karen's seat and found a snag. That compromises the integrity of the harness, so I called Dorel. They are sending me a new harness. In the meantime I am thankful we have a spare carseat and that Karen is under 30 pounds.
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