The $6 Band

I discovered this morning that we were out of eggs. I borrowed one from our kind neighbors to make pancakes and then later we journeyed to Fred Meyer. Hannah and Ivan willingly went into Playland and Clayton, Mod and I started our adventure shopping. We hit the produce area first and then made a pit stop at Starbucks for a "London Fog Latte", which is basically earl grey tea made with steamed milk and some type of sweetener. I have a hard time paying the same price for tea that I do a latte but as I haven't been able to re-create this wonderful drink at home I fork over the money on occasion (like the occasion of grocery shopping). Clayton was a happy camper in the cart and Mod was fabulously distracted sucking on her fist while riding in the front pack facing out and smiling at every stranger, or should I say "new friend". We finished our necessity shopping and then I headed to the toy section. I am in the habit of bypassing the toy section but today I was interested in wasting more of my hour time limit. So I stopped and I looked and I ended up spending $6. It was money well spent though. I got Hannah a Kazoo, Ivan received a wooden train whistle, Clayton is now the proud owner of a green harmonica and I was entertained all the way home by the songs of Hannah and Ivan on their respective instruments with an occasional spattering of harmonica by Clayton. I would have to say this tops the list of the best things to buy for $6...the London Fog Latte goes in the best things you can buy for under $4 list.

Boy Hats

Here are a few of the hats I've made recently. Erik had to catch Ivan and hold him up against the tree so I could take a picture and I had to chase Clayton down to get a picture of his.

Mommy Break Weekend

Every once in awhile it's nice to get a break. This weekend was one of those nice times. Erik took the older three kiddos with him to his parent's house and Mod and I got the weekend to ourselves. I wouldn't exactly say that my weekend was relaxing as I cleaned a lot and worked on some sewing and knitting/crocheting projects and watched a girl movie or two but it was nice to be able to do what I wanted when I wanted.
Saturday morning Mod and I went out for coffee and then walked down to the beach. It was nice to stroll down the sidewalk with only one child strapped to the front of me without dragging, coaxing, pushing, pulling and bribing 3 others to keep up or slow down. I also took the recycling to Cart'm and did some browsing and shopping there. Ahh, my love for Cart'm. This time I found 2 windows for 5 dollars each that will be perfect for the playhouse I will eventually build for the kiddos. Couldn't pass those up. Erik swears he will never let me go to Cart'm again especially now that they've expanded their re-sale area...I don't think he'll actually ever ban me completely, he just mostly rolls his eyes.
I got the living room clean and swept, the kitchen floor scrubbed (yes, on my hands and knees) and the high-chair scraped of gross-ness. I hate to admit to my cleaning shortcomings but there were layers upon layers of dried on food on the high-chair, it was really yucky.
Once my cleaning projects were out of the way I pretended that I was able to draw; that didn't go so well so I sewed. I plan on posting pictures of some of my latest projects, once I can get someone to help me with a little photo shoot. I don't seem to be talented at holding the camera out and taking a picture of myself. I've even tried the whole take the picture in the mirror and I think I must be too picky. So my friends you will just have to wait.
Erik and the kiddos got home yesterday afternoon and it is oh so good to see them.

Today

I find it amusing that when we were at the park today all the swings were taken. We were the only ones there.
The kiddos are now all playing nicely in their room and I fell asleep nursing Mod.
I still don't know what to make for dinner but that's nothing new.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. Looks like a nice long mommy-break. Well almost.
That is all.

Routines

Erik sometimes wishes I was more organized. Not with things but with routines. This is a point of contention. I hate to nickel and dime things, with budgets and with time. At least that's what I've argued. I'm liking though the morning routine that we've started.
When I started jogging and doing pilates in the morning I made myself get up and do it. I had arguments with myself in the morning: "Do this." "I don't want to." "If you make it a habit it will get easier." "I don't care if it gets easier, I don't want to get up." "You're tired already of post baby belly jiggle, do something about it." "Okay, fine. You win. I'm getting up."
It's been about 4 or 5 weeks and I still argue with myself but now it goes like this: "Are you going to run this morning before pilates?" "No." "You'll miss it if you don't, you always feel better after you do." "True. Okay, fine. You win."
It's become routine. Get up at between 5:45 and 6:15am. Feed Mod. Get dressed. Read my Bible. Jog around the block. Stop at Rolana's for pilates. Jog home. Eat breakfast. Enjoy a cup of coffee and usually a quick check on Facebook (yes I'm addicted) while kiddos are finishing their breakfast. Put Clayton down for a nap at 8 or 8:30am.
I find it makes the morning go relatively smoothly. Erik really likes it because I'm usually in a good mood by the time I get home, even if I wasn't when I left; though waking up in a bad mood isn't as frequent either.
We also have a routine for the evening when we put the kids to bed. Now if we can slowly work up to having more of a routine during the day I think it will help when we come to home schooling Hannah.
I'm slowly coming around to a scheduled way of living and I think it helps that I know (and repeat often to myself) "I am the mother and I can, if I so choose, throw the entire schedule out the window for a day". I like that flexability.

Tea Parties and Stomach Aches

On Saturday Hannah and I went to La Tea Da's for a belated birthday present/celebration. I've been wanting to take her for awhile so I decided her birthday would be a good time. The day before her birthday was the Dairy parade in Tillamook and I did not want to wade through that for a tea party. The next weekend was the 4th of July so we ended up going the 11th. I didn't tell her about it until Sat. morning. It was just Hannah and I and we dressed up and she wore a princess crown. She had peppermint tea and I had creamy earl grey and we ordered a "High Tea" . It was very good and I was so proud of Hannah for trying everything we were served. She even ate the lettuce leaf garnish! (She said she liked that the best, go figure!). But she ate too much and complained of a stomach ache all the way home so she's not sure if she had fun or not.
We layed around the rest of the day, Hannah wasn't feeling well and Erik was exhausted from getting up early and going fishing (and getting seasick). Sunday was a really long day. It was strange, it wasn't a bad day it just seemed to drag. Hannah then woke up a few times last night saying she didn't feel well. Then this morning Erik got home from the gym and said he didn't feel well. He tried to go to work but came right back home. He's now laying in bed. I really hope that we aren't in for a round of sickness! I think we might have a resting day today and up our intake of echineaca and vitmain c. I hope all you and yours are well.

Mod's Hat

I really like making hats. I might have to someday start giving them away or selling them because you can only wear so many hats. But for now I'm working on making hats for my kiddos. I've made Hannah's and Ivan's and now Mod's. I don't have pictures of Ivan's yet, the camera died this morning and I need to charge the batteries. I got a few of Mod in her hat before it died though. This hat is crocheted instead of knitted. I discovered that I like crocheting just as much as knitting.

Little House on the Prairie Dress

Here is Hannah's Birthday present. I mentioned it a week ago or so but didn't want to post pictures until I got one of her in it. She actually likes it and says it's "really comfortable and I like it cause it goes almost over my feet."