Discouraged

My usual dinner philosophy is the kids eat (or don't) what I offer. I don't make them their own special meal. They have what's on the table and that's it. I do try to make sure there is at least one thing they like. For example, if I make Cornbread Casserole, I would offer corn and mandarin oranges as sides, because I know they'll eat those. I try to have a veggie and fruit at dinner and I let the kids pick those out, so I know they will like at least one thing. Its still a little discouraging to make food and have them reject it. Especially if its something I know they like or would have sworn they would eat.

Dan left yesterday for his travels and I won't see him again till next Thursday. I thought it would be nice to have an easy dinner tonight that the kids would like. So we had breakfast for dinner- eggs, bacon and biscuits (the good biscuits!). Suddenly none of them like bacon. None of them except Delaney wanted eggs, and even Joshua only ate half a biscuit. Okay, Marian ate 2 biscuits, but that was all she had. So frustrating! Whenever I make bacon for carbonara, I have to hold them off with a spatula so they don't steal my bacon. If I make myself eggs they beg for bites. When we have biscuits and gravy they snub the gravy and just want biscuits. So I KNOW they like everything. I think they do it on purpose, but darned if I know why!

It makes me wonder why I bother. Why not just serve them cereal for dinner? I know other moms do that, I just can't make myself fall that far. Sigh. I'm just really frustrated and discouraged and feeling unloved and unappreciated. At least when Dan is home I know one person will eat and enjoy and thank me. I'm going to go feel grumpy and take some satisfaction in the fact that I will have dessert after they are all in bed and they will all get nothing!

Picnics & Birthdays

Marian's class was going to have a Field Day and Luau Picnic this week.  Unfortunately, Mother Nature refused to cooperate and it poured rain the day before and the day of the event.  The Field Day got cancelled, but the Luau Picnic was still on.... it was just held in the classroom.  

My silly Marian, enjoying her lunch.  I was excited to meet her friend who she talks a lot about.  She doesn't talk about anyone else, and does not like anyone else or consider them her friends.  Except for this one boy.  So it was nice to see who she chatters about.  He was a cute kid and I can see why she'd be friends with him.

Making a face for me.  She was pleased to have us all there to show off for.  It was a little crazy in the room, with so many parents and kids and excitement.  But it was a good time.

Callie and Delaney had a blast checking out the different centers in the room.  I do not remember this much cool stuff when I was in kindergarten!!

Delaney loved this baby.  She was so cute, rocking it and feeding it and holding it.

And here is Marian getting her certificate.   Let me mention that I love her teacher.  She has had a wonderful teacher and aid this year.  I have been really impressed with them.

And now today Callie and I celebrated our birthdays.  Dan leaves tomorrow, so we figured we better get in the cake and ice cream before he left.  So we did.  Callie decided we needed to open presents first though!

Callie said everyone could help her open her gifts, and her brother and sisters were happy to help out.  (Callie is happy to have a new blanket that's big enough to cover her now!)

They were all enthralled by Callie's gifts, and for the last hour they have alternated between playing very nicely with them and fighting over them.   I think the cutest thing was watching Joshua comb the Dora the Explorer doll's hair!

And gasp!  Dan actually took pictures, so here I am!  He did not get a shot of my new serving platter, but I can tell you I was beyond happy with it!   I must have company soon so I can use it and show it off!  (Thanks Terry!)

A name, what's in a name?

Well, I  had been hearing a lot of different things from the kids, in terms of what we could name the baby.  This was all encouraged by Dan who loves to ask their opinion on it. I think that's a bad idea.  They think that if they offer an opinion, then it should be taken, and I don't want them to be disappointed.  Still, he keeps asking and they keep coming up with stuff.  So, I finally had them sit down for FHE this week and I wrote down all their names.  

The problem we have is that Dan and I only felt really strongly about one name.  Only one were we willing to fight the other on, despite the lack of enthusiasm from them.  Marian was mine, and Callie was Dan's.  Delaney was the last girl name we both kind of liked.  Pretty much all of Dan's names I do not like, and vice versa.  And the only names left seem to be ones we kind of like, but are not strongly attached to.  Well, that or they are already taken.  Emily is already on both sides of the family, and Catherine and Ashley are taken as well.  Dan hates double names (things like Anna-Kate or Mary-Alice), which I kind of like.  He also is against androgynous names, which I like.  Not so much for boys; tough being a boy with a name that a girl could also have.  But for girls, I think its okay.  Dan does not.  Plus, some of my favorite names were names of girls Dan or his brother dated, and that puts them out of the running.  Thus you may begin to see our situation.  So, here are the names that Dan and the kids came up with:

Alice

Isabella (We have an Isabelle already in the family)

Madison  (already Delaney's middle name- no comments Megan!)

Lauren

Elizabeth

Anna

Alexis (this came off my list when Joshua chanted "Sexy-Lexi" after Dan put this down.)

Camryn

China

Samantha

Sally

Sparkelot (Callie's choice)

Lucy  (Dan's dog's name)

So few are actually in the running, but we were getting all the names out and starting our list.  I'm sure more names will be added and crossed off.  Dan and I both LIKE more traditional names, but feel like we need something less popular, since we have such a common last name. Neither of us like weird spellings or things a kid will have to explain every year on the first day of school, so there actually is some common ground! 

Cherry Point Triathlon!

We drove to Cherry Point, arriving Friday night.  We were up and at the pool by 8am to see Dan start.

Here we are, waiting.  The children wanted so badly to play in the pool, but I would not let them.  Well, its not like the lifeguard was going to let them either!

I realized that this is why I have so few pictures of Joshua- they look like this, or he's making awful faces.  So, I take fewer pictures of him! (This is actually out of order.  Here we are waiting for Dan to finish the 10 mile bike portion.)

Here is Delaney, waiting for the fun to begin.  She actually did not want to it in the stroller until someone else looked like they might sit in it.  Then she screamed like a banshee and shoved them out so she could climb in.

Callie took this picture!  Since I'm in it, I thought I'd share!  We're watching the swimmers and waiting for Dan.  He was in the 3rd wave, but he was a much better swimmer than a LOT of the people in front of him!

Joshua took this  rather blurry shot of Dan, waiting his turn to hop in the pool.  They started the swimmers off at 15 second intervals and had a 1 minute break between each wave  (That helped clear the clogs caused by the really bad swimmers who didn't write down an accurate swim time.)

After the 400 yd swim, was the 10 mile bike.  Here is Dan, finishing that p.  He did pretty good on it.  
While we waited during his biking, and the during the 5K run, the kids entertained themselves.  This ditch was an endless source of fun.  They had a great time leaping over it.  I was surprised none of them got really muddy or hurt!

We moseyed down for a better look and they took up a spot here.  So cute!  Joshua had to take his shoes off because he had red ants on him.  I was not surprised by that, since I had told him 10 times not to poke the red-ant mound, and he obviously did not listen.  Fortunately he (and the girls!) escaped with no bites.

Here is Dan, on his triumphal finish, just starting his sprint to the end.  Joshua went out a quarter mile to run in with Dan, but Dan sprinted the end and left Joshua in the dust, so that's why Joshua is not in the shot.

In the afternoon, Dan and Delaney took naps, while I took the older 3 to the pool.  They had a Fabulous time! Check out Callie!  She's so pleased with herself that she can put her face in.

Marian is a hoot.  She had a grand time swimming.  The kids were in the water nearly 2 hours.  

And here is Joshua!  

This was my girls this morning before church.  Aren't they cute?!   We went to our old ward and had a marvelous time and I realized how much I love and miss my friends there.  They fed us a tasty lunch (LOVE that 5th Sunday Spread Lunch!!) and we got back home before 7:30 this evening.  And I want to mention how much I love our new van.  350 miles on the tank and I've still got 1/4 tank left!  We didn't have to stop for gas at all on the way home.  We actually only took a 10 minute potty break.  And the kids were very good in the car- especially since we didn't stop to feed them either and they had to make do with the crackers and apples we brought with us.

Callie's Party

I use the phrase "Callie's Party" quite loosely here.  She has a birthday coming up in a week, but with all our friends moving and other things happening, I didn't know when I was going to get a party done for her.  She had a list of specifics that she wanted: a ballerina cake and a unicorn pinata were definite must-haves.  

So, as I was pondering how to make this all happen, Raina mentioned that the Joy School end-of-year party was happening and so we combined it with a party for Callie.  I was able to kind-of make a ballerina cake for her and Raina managed to find a unicorn pinata.  And thus, Callie had a party.

Here she is with her cake.  I made the mistake of asking her to help choose what she wanted.  We looked at tons of pix online and she wanted a 4 layer cake.  Silly me, I've never made more than 2 layers and I made a few tactical errors... such as I just made 2 cakes into 4 layers.  Waaay too tall, and listing.  Plus, the sides didn't go straight up, giving it a zig-zag look.  And did I mention it was listing.  I used a ton of frosting to cover the issues, but the trip in the car to Raina's house caused a structural integrity breach, and it started to separate. Callie did not care.  She declared it beautiful, and I will say that it was mighty tasty!

This is how thrilled Delaney was with the pinata part.  She sat here, just like this until the pinata broke and then she understood the purpose.  Well, she would grab a candy and eat it before moving on to the next.  Filling the bag did not occur to her.  Fortunately the other kids were very sweet and they put candy in her bag for her!

Callie was thrilled to whack the pinata.   All the kids got about 3 turns at it- the darn thing would not break!  Finally Raina took charge and after she whacked it a few times the legs finally fell off and the candy flew!

Callie had a good time with the bubble blower.  That was a big hit.  She had a good party and I had fun with my grown up friends too!