Working Vacation

Tomorrow the children and I will be heading to Vermont. I'll be returning Sunday -- BY MYSELF! My mother, The Saint, offered to host all four of the kidlets for a couple of weeks this summer. I think her idea was that Gordon and I could take a child-free vacation ourselves. We readily agreed to take Mom up on her offer. We're not going on vacation though. We'll be tackling some more projects on the house.

Nothing says love like spending a couple of weeks childfree and working on home improvements, right? ;)

I'll stay for a short visit from tomorrow evening through Sunday morning. I will return to Vermont the next weekend. Mom had a commitment that Saturday so I have to go 'babysit' my own kids! I will then head north once again the following Thursday night. The children will come home with me on Friday the 15th.

While Mom is wrangling the hooligans, Gordon and I plan on working on a special surprise. We're going to split the master bedroom in half. After everyone comes home, Grace will find that she has her very own room!!! Dianna and Nora will move into the other new room. Gordon and I will claim the girls' former room as the new master bedroom.

I already know which colors the girls would pick for their new rooms, so I can have the walls all painted before the girls see the rooms. My plan is to set the girls' rooms up with their beds, dressers, etc, that they already have. Since Grace's birthday is coming up (on the 23rd of July), I plan on taking her shopping with me for accessories for her new room. That'll be her birthday present. I really hope she enjoys getting to add some of her own personality.

Fostering Healthy Relationships

As the big girls get older, I feel more and more guilt towards my mom. I can now see just how difficult it must have been for her to raise five girls. Mom -- I take back anything and everything I may have ever done!

Lately, my biggest worry and concern has been with Grace. I want very badly for her to have healthy, honest friendships. She has at least one that is not so. I worry about how this relationship will affect her. I worry that it will change her.

How can I help her remain true to herself? How can I encourage her to pursue better friendships without pushing her in the completely opposite direction? Where is the line in the sand that tells me that I need to stand back and watch my little fledgling take her first solo flights?

Weekend in PA

Here are a few pictures from our weekend in PA. I believe it is safe to say that we all had a great time visiting with some of our far away relatives. Even if it was such a short weekend getaway!

Grandma and Dianna

Will, Grace, and Callista playing Just Dance on the Wii

Eleanor insisted that she had to sing along to the dancing music for the Just Dance game. It was too stinkin' cute to see her lip syncing to the music!

Stevie and Dianna playing chess at the Father's Day picnic.

Will, Gordon, Nora, and Grace going to the playground across from the pavilion where we were having the Father's Day picnic.

Will, Gordon, and Grandpa -- good looks run in the family!

Project 3--

Saturday, May 14

Sunday, May 15 -- William added a little something extra to the page of one of his books....

Monday, May 16

Thursday, May 19 -- Dianna's 9th Birthday!

Friday, May 20 -- Dianna's sleepover birthday party with friends

Saturday, May 21 -- Dianna's piano recital

Sunday, May 22 -- cutting down the arborvitae that lined the driveway

Saturday, May 28 -- the town's Memorial Day Parade....that's Grace in the green vest, second from the right....

Sunday, May 29 -- I created a new garden in the front yard

Tuesday, May 31 -- Nora's hair 'pretties'

Wednesday, June 1

Thursday, June 2

Friday, June 3 -- Nora tells us Spooooooooky Stories at the bonfire

Saturday, June 4 -- playing at the neighbor's

Monday, June 6

Tuesday, June 7 -- Field Day at the elementary school

Thursday, June 9 -- check out that storm front!

Friday, June 10

Saturday, June 11 -- Open House at the preschool Nora will attend in the fall

Sunday, June 12 -- baking with the Easy Bake oven

Monday, June 13 -- party at the elementary school for Di's class

Tuesday, June 14 -- the Last Day of School Ice Cream Party!!!!

Wednesday, June 15

Thursday, June 16 -- I wanted to take a portrait of all four of the kids....Will didn't want to be near his sisters....

Day Three of Summer Vacation -- all's still well!

Today is the kids' third day of Summer Break. Everything is going pretty well still. The kids have taken rather well to the newly imposed rules for screen time. They're playing well together, for the most part, and are tapping into their crafty side(s).

It's pouring right now, but I don't expect that to be too much of a problem. We have a lot to get done today, in preparation for our trip to Pennsylvania this weekend. I am finishing up the household laundry so that everyone can pack clothes for the weekend. Once we're all packed, we'll be cleaning out the car to get the luggage and other necessities packed just right. After all of that is done, I'll be asking the kids to help me tidy the house up. We don't want to leave it a complete mess for the housesitters!

Initially we had asked a friend of the family to stay at the house for the weekend, to care for the animals and watch the house. Unfortunately, our friend had to make an unexpected trip to VA to stay with and care for sick family members for a few weeks. Lucky us, Laurie P and her boys, and Laurie S, were more than willing to help us out.

So Lexi won't be lonely, the chickens and rabbits will be cared for, and the house won't be left unattended. We can head out for our long weekend without any worries.

Day One -- so far, so good!

Today is the first day of summer vacation for the kidlets. At 1:05pm in the afternoon, I'm pleased to announce that things are going rather well still! Granted, Grace has been playing up the street since about 10am, but the younger three kids have been pretty good. Especially considering I announced last night that I will be enforcing STRICT rules on screen time. During the summer months, the kids were advised, there will be NO tv, computer, or video games for most of the day. For anyone. Even me. There are specific times when 'screen time' is allowed -- AFTER chores have been accomplished.

So far today, the kids have played with play doh, practiced the piano, and played a couple of games. They also had quite a bit of imaginary play just before it was lunchtime. We'll be heading to the library, bank, and transfer station in just a bit. Before I know it, Gordon will be returning home from work and it'll be time to get dinner on the table. Keep your fingers crossed that everyone continues to behave!

No fretting!!

I know, I know. It's been a while since I updated again. I'm sure y'all can guess my excuse -- we've been busy!

Today is the last day of school!

The kids are thrilled. I'm happy. For the moment. I figure it won't take but a week before I'm ready to throttle a child or two. Hopefully we'll be busy enough through the next 11 weeks to keep them from driving me insane.

I'm hosting our annual Last Day of School Ice Cream Party today. Unfortunately the weather doesn't seem to want to cooperate. We'll have to move the party inside.

Hopefully the kids will understand. There will be a lot of them. There will be my four, six from the neighborhood, and eight other friends. A total 18 kids ranging in age from babyhood to 12years old. Plus the moms.

Yep. It'll be a houseful for sure.

Maybe the weather will take a turn for the bright and sunny sometime between now and the bus returning at 1:30 this afternoon............?

No Sweat

I wish I could say that. I'd love to be saying that right now. But Mother Nature has other ideas.

Like most of the rest of the United States, Connecticut is experiencing some blisteringly hot temps this week. Schools are closing early because of it. I actually ASKED Gordon to install the a/c units in the bedroom windows.

I know, I couldn't believe I said it either!

We're trying to stay as cool as possible. The air conditioned bedrooms last night really helped. The pool is getting plenty of use. I've been drawing the curtains and shutting the windows before the heat ramps up in the early mornings.

I'm trying my best not to complain about the heat. I know it was just five or six months ago that we were more than inundated with obscene amounts of snow. I'll take this heatwave over worries of the roof collapsing any day!

No sleep for you!

It's midnight.

I'm still awake.

I cannot sleep.

Nora and I took a snooze together this afternoon. Though it took loner than normal, at least she's asleep in her bed.

I'm just now starting to feel like I could go to bed and not toss and turn nonstop. Hopefully tomorrow won't be too difficult for me. Too much to allow sleepiness to get in the way.

Good thing my body no longer craves caffeine!!

Countdown

I know I'm in the minority amongst mothers. I am counting down until school gets out. I'm ready for summer break.

As in years past, I plan to stick to a loosely scheduled routine for our day to day activities. I know that the kids do far better when they have an idea what to expect from moment to moment. More importantly, I can be a better, more consistent mother if there is a plan for the day.

Like I said in yesterday's post, the pool is bound to get lots of use this summer. Trips to the library are also on tap. I also hope to take the kids on hikes along the airline trail. Perhaps we can do some letterboxing while we're at it. Trips to the beach would be fun. I've always wanted to take the kids to Gillette's Castle; maybe this summer will be the summer for that. While we're talking about trips to historic sites, I'd also like to plan day trips to a few sites near Mom's house in Vermont. There's Fort Ticonderoga, Ben & Jerry's, the Vermont Teddy Bear Factory, and a few others.

All in all, there are so many things that I'd like to do. I'm sure we'll probably only accomplish a small fraction of them. I'd like to encourage the kids (especially the big girls) to help plan day trips. I want to make sure we do things they want to do, things they'll enjoy.

We're still good!

I know, I know. It's been over a week and a half since my last post. Here's a quick recap:

Dianna quit karate. Gordon and I were both a bit surprised when she announced she didn't want to do it anymore. We shouldn't have been -- she's been complaining that she didn't really want to go for at least a few weeks now. I just chalked the attitude up to her not wanting to stop whatever activity it was that she was doing at the time. Though I'm partly sad that Dianna is no longer interested in karate, I'm also partly relieved -- it's one less activity for me to be driving to and fro!

Grace is officially done with spring soccer. Just in time for registration for the fall season. No rest for the wicked, I tell ya!

Gordon and I have finally pinned down the major points of summer vacation.

We're all heading to PA in just a couple of weeks. The four kids will spend a couple of weeks with Nana in Vermont early July. Grace will be attending horseback riding camp the last week of July, right after she turns 11 years old. We'll all go camping at the beach in the middle of August.

In between all of that stuff, I'm planning on hanging out here at home a lot. I'm sure the kids will want to spend a lot of time in the pool, which I'm good with. I'd also like to make regular trips to the town library. All four kids love to wander through the shelves, looking for books to borrow. Maybe we'll get to have friends over to visit throughout the summer too!