Ok, so its obviously been a LONG time since I've posted to my blog. But I have some new motivation to start again!

We are officially starting on the Feingold Diet!!

What is this crazy thing, you say? No, its not related to WI past senator, Russ.

It's a diet where we try to remove all artificial colors and flavorings from our food.

We've noticed the kids are acting very hyper lately. Ray's been getting bad reports home from school :( He's too fidgety, chewing on pencils, not listening, and doing other 'non-typical' things (that was said by his teacher as his last conference).

So we ordered online materials to help us understand what foods are good and what are bad. The first phase also eliminates natural salicylates (go look it up as I still don't know what it means!).

Anyway, we did a meal plan starting on Sunday. Are packing the kids lunches daily and are sticking to the 'allowed' foods list.

Today (Thursday), I get an email from Ray's teacher that she could see a big difference in his behavior today. He listened and sat nicely all day! What!?! Really?!? Already!?!

Could it be working.. or am I too hopeful too early.

We'll keep you posted..

We had a busy Easter this year. Maria had full days of school both Friday and Monday, so we were unable to stay longer than a normal weekend, which is nice to do over Easter so we don't have to leave early from the festivities, but oh well..
We made it home Friday and went out to Fish Fry with Mom. Then down to Dave's folks for a short visit (since they left the next day for a trip).
Saturday was beautiful weather! We were outside almost all day. We played in the backyard, helped with yardwork and went for a walk.
On Sunday, the Easter Bunny found us at Grandma's and the kids found their baskets and presents. Maria was up early and had looked thru the house twice without finding either of her things.. but with the help of Ray later, they were successfully found :) Greta found her basket right away as it was under the phone table. She saw it and started laughing.
Next was church.
Then off to Mary's for lunch. It was great to see everyone again. Missed Molly, but will have to catch up with her some other time :(
Then back to Mom's to pack and visit with her side of the family. Great to see the babies.. they grow so much in just a few weeks. How I remember when mine would just lay on their blankets and weren't mobile yet.. but it comes quickly.
Then back home.. long day, but fun!

Busy week

We have a really busy week this week... There is something going on every night. Most nights we have multiple things and are trying to juggle.. still not sure how we are getting Ray to his pictures and Dave to his meeting while still fitting in dinner tonight.

Thankful nothing is planned for Saturday and we can hopefully veg out!

Raymond is 5

I can't believe he's already 5!!

I remember my surprise to learn I'd had a boy. I said "I can't believe it. I have a son!".

We love you so much Ray!!!
Happy Birthday!

Fun Weekend

We had a really fun family-oriented weekend!
On Saturday we went to the YMCA and went swimming. We were there for a while and then the Hull's joined us. The kids had fun. Greta loves the water. There is a little duck slide for the toddlers and she kept going on it, again and again. She even puts her face in the water in an attempt to blow bubbles.
On Sunday, we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum in St. Paul. It was a free Target Sponsered Day. Greta could actually get down and walk around and explore this time. She was so cute. Maria and Ray loved the part with water tubes and pretending to be ants in the ant maze.

It was a great weekend with my family!!

Jury Duty

I was summoned for Jury Duty.

I'm on the list for this week and next week. I have to call each night to see if I need to report the next morning. On Tuesday, they said I need to report on Wednesday in the afternoon. So I completely rearranged my Wednesday work schedule to be able to get some work done in the morning before going in (which meant that I had to cancel helping at Maria's school - my normal Wed. morning thing).
I called the number again around 11:30 to confirm before driving downtown and found out that it was canceled for the day. So all that rearranging for nothing.
Now I'm back in the waiting game to see if I need to report another day.. please no.. especially please not Friday because I'm planning on helping with Maria's Valentine party (to make up for Wed).

Virtual Friday

I'm so glad to not be working on Friday's. I was so burned out by the end of the day today. Probably didn't help that I had 2 presentations that I was up until midnight preparing for last night.

Midweek

Wednesday, oh Wednesday..

Get Maria up in time to eat breakfast and to catch her bus (which has been a challenge this week - breakfast has been eaten on the bus because we are running late).. Get Ray ready and fed breakfast.. Take Ray to preschool.. volunteer at Maria's school.. pick Ray up from preschool and take to Amy's (sneak in without Greta seeing me so she doesn't have a fit - which is hard on me to not be able to kiss and hug her quick).. Grab lunch and get into work

After work.. pick Maria up from Y-space after school program.. grab dinner.. get to religion class by 6:00.. work in the nursery during religion so other moms can teach.. go home.

Wait.. what about Maria's homework?? ugg

Back at IBM

Well, last week was my first week back.. not very eventful. I was completely unproductive as I didn't have my id's until today. Now I can at least start looking into what I'm supposed to be doing. It's great though to see my friends again and take water breaks with them. The kids were all troopers and got into the new routine without any major glitches.

Happy to be using my mind again.. it missed me!

Yeah for Katie!

Katie (my sister), her boyfriend, Mom and Dad are visiting for a few days. I'm so glad they are here and I get to see Katie while she's back in the midwest.

But, I'm feeling yucky (sore throat).. this is how my flu started last year.. hope its not that again.. especially since I start work on Monday.. not good to call in sick on your first day :(

Greta at school

Greta and I have been volunteering at Maria's school this year on Wednesday mornings while Ray's been in preschool. Today was Greta's last day and I'm glad. She usually sleeps for some of the time, but then she has to sit on my lap while I help students with various tasks and testing. She is becoming a squirmy girl and no longer likes to sit :)

I'm still hoping to help out on Wednesday's but starting next week Greta will be at daycare and I can go by myself, so there will be much less distraction for the students.

Nice Weekend

We came back to town on Friday. And are so glad we did! It's been nice to have a regular weekend at home before getting back into our routine on Monday. It's so hard when we get home on a Sunday night. We are feeling good since we are getting a chance to unpack, get through our mail, and do a few other errands first.
And since we had almost 2 weeks at our parents, we aren't feeling any guilt about not having enough time with everyone.

Happy 1st Birthday Greta!

I can't believe it's been a year already. She is getting so big and independent! Here are a few pictures of her 1st birthday party :)

Facebook

I joined Facebook!

Here is my profile. Add me to your friends list if you are on.

Maria's Friends Birthday Party

Maria had her birthday party with her friends today. We invited 6 friends (classmates and neighbors) to her birth'tea' party. We did crafts (made bookmarks, lace fans, tea party favor bags, name bracelets and sachets), had tea (only Maria liked it, all the others said 'yuck') with cookies and sandwiches, ate cupcakes, sang Happy Birthday and opened presents. The girls each got to take home their crafts, a handkerchief, and pencils and lollipops that were made into flower centerpieces. Needless to say, the 2 hours flew by!
We are now (finally) finished celebrating her 7th birthday. My aunts were right, it really is a 'birthday month' not just one day :)

Thanksgiving and Tea Party

We went back 'home' for Thanksgiving. It was nice to see everyone. We rented a school gym and cafeteria this year which worked out good as the adults played some volleyball and the kids had lots of room to run around and play.
On Friday, we had a tea party to celebrate Maria's birthday. Fun was had by all. Now Logan wants one for his birthday too :) Thanks again Oma for all your effort and great tea supplies.

Maria's birthday

Maria turned 7 on Monday (I can't believe she's 7 already - where did all that time go?).
She had a wonderful birthday. In school, instead of journaling, all her classmates made her birthday cards. She even got a new book and pencil from her teacher (they are so nice!) She brought cookies for snack time and was able to pass them out to all her friends. Since there were extra's so got to pass them out to other teachers around the school. During lunchtime, everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' to her (and 3 other birthday celebrators).
That evening, we had the Hull's over for pizza, cake and ice cream.
We got her tickets to the Nutcracker ballet that is performing in a few weeks along with tickets to the Land of Sweets Tea Party with the characters. She loved it and is really excited to get dressed up and go!!
Happy Birthday sweetheart. We love you more than we can ever express! (Afterall, you are the reason Mom and Dad are a mom and dad.)

P.S. Happy 7th anniversary of parenting Dave. You are an awesome dad. There's no one else I'd rather share this experience with!

The Polar Express

We went to the Children's Dance Theatre's production of The Polar Express tonight. The kids loved it! Maria really wants to be a dancer now. She loved the ballet parts when the dancers were up on their toes. Raymond stood the entire show and watched it quietly. His favorite part was the hot chocolate song. And we didn't hear a peep out of Greta :)

I'm really glad we went (thanks Amy for suggesting it and organizing tickets). It was nice to get everyone dressed up for a show.

Houseguests

Two of my aunts and their families are visiting for the evening. We had a great night of chatting and playing cards (the women won!). We love having you visit. Already looking forward to the game in two years. Love you!

Pipsqueaks

We went to Pipsqueaks (an indoor play gym) for the first time today. It's been open ever since Maria was a baby, but for some reason we've never made it over. Today's playdate with Ed and Riley was here. I'm glad we finally got to check it out. It's a gymnasium that has a bunch of kid toys (riding cars, jungle gym, train table, etc..) and some tables for eating lunch. We had a picnic lunch and played for several hours. We realized that it is better to go over and after lunch as the place really cleared out. I had forgotten that some people have to go home for naptime :)