catch up

How is it that another two weeks have gone by with nary a post from me!? I think I'm feeling like there isn't much to write about but I'm going to try and dig deep...

I have been:
--getting ready for the baby
I purchased a baby album kit and got it all put together which makes me feel one step ahead.

After recognizing the fact that I had not a stitch of baby girl clothes, I asked me sister to take pity on me. She sent clothes to CO with another sister which will then come out with my mom. Isn't family great! I still had to have something for the first week so I went to Kid to Kid and got a few sleepers and then some more essentials from Target.

I had grand plans to make some freezer meals but that never happened. Instead I put together some pancake and muffin mixes so Emma can get breakfast ready easily. I froze about 8 dozen balls of cookie dough. We also made Snickerdoodles but none of those made it to the freezer!

I'm in cleaning and organizing mode (when I have enough energy). Each night I make sure the house is picked up in case I have to call my neighbor to come over in the middle of the night. There are plenty of things I haven't gotten to but the house is generally good to go.

--playing outside
The weather has been lovely lately and the kids have enjoyed being outside again. The tramp is getting lots of use. The bikes and scooters have come out again. Emma has enjoyed a few games of football and basketball with the neighbors. The snow from our yard is almost completely melted too. Can't wait for spring!


--editing pictures
I have been working really hard to getting our family snapshots edited and printed. I finally finished 2007 and am working on 2008. The kids have been pulling out the albums and scrapbooks a lot lately. I am feeling a strong desire to focus on getting our family stories scrapbooked this year. I am retaking the Library of Memories class at Big Picture Scrapbooking. I think that Stacy Julian is a genius and absolutely love her philosophy and system. This is my third time through the class because alumni take it for free. Each time, I get a few steps closer to really getting a good system in place that will get me back to scrapbooking. I have lots of stories to tell. Watching the kids look through the pictures and the few scrapbook pages I have done makes me even more motivated.


--definitely watching too much TV
Currently, one of my favorite nights of the week is Tuesday. American Idol, Biggest Loser and NCIS are all on that night. And Fridays are for CSI:Miami.

I won't even begin to talk about how much my kids are watching. Afternoons are the worst. It is just so much easier to let them entertain themselves so I can nap/clean/work on the computer. With the weather warming up it has been easier to turn it off. I need to be better about this. Play games. Read out loud. Something! However, I'm thinking that a new baby in the house is not going to help things.

--going, going, going
Besides all the usual places we go, I took the kids to Frog and Toad at the SCERA on Monday. It was great. Even Sawyer did well since each child had a treat box and the show was only an hour. We'll have to go back. Dave and I went to see Keri perform in The Phantom at the Hale Center Theater. The performers were great. The writing...not so much. Dave took Emma and Slade to the police station for a tour on Thursday. Finally, we all went as a family to Chuck E. Cheese's on Friday for a last family-of-six fun outing.

I am scheduled to be induced this Friday (eek!). Hopefully I'll manage to get a few more things accomplished, spend some more quality time with my kids, get more pictures printed, and get off the TV and computer. We shall see....