Random Life Events

Last days of summer

2006-09-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? Enjoying the last days of summer! Thats me, floating around Lake Havasu in Arizona. The weather was, well, 113 on cool days. But the water was perfect. It was a great family week.

School starts soon...

My favorite part of the fair

2006-08-14T19:10:00.000-07:00

Elyse is an active child, very active. She wants to see and do all there is to see and do and she wants to do it quickly. I spend a lot of time chasing her and I can't take my eyes off of her for 1 second.

I had to strap her into the stroller because she kept taking off down the through way while we were trying to eat dinner. It had been a long, hot and tiring day on my part and I just wanted her to sit still so I could eat for 5 minutes.

This is Elyse strapped into her stroller eating a fig nuton. She was strangely quiet and content to be sitting there.

A minute later I looked down and this is what I saw. No wonder she was content, she was tired, who would have thought that after only 8 hours of being on the go would tire her out?

Oh yippee! She was asleep. That meant I could go look at the photography exhibit, my favorite exhibit in peace.

I switched her over to the stroller that reclined. We take 2 strollers because Christophers short legs get tired and the double stroller just annoys me. She slept for 2 hours and I was able to relax. I really enjoyed watching her have so much fun at the fair, but her nap was a well deserved break and rare gift for me.

Rear of the fair fun

2006-08-07T12:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the fair a few weeks ago, all 7 of us and we took our 2 nephews with us too. It was a lot of fun and I have a lot to share. I thought I would share these pics, they are some of my favorites.

Rear ends. "Whose is bigger mom?"

Kids looking at the baby pigs, I love the rear views.

Not sure what they were looking at here, but they found it interesting.

Washing their hands after petting all the animals. My favorite part.

Scott, Elyse's biggest brother helping her row their boat through the ocean. I love seeing them play together. He is so good with her, he always takes time to listen to her and play with her and he is so patient with her. I hope their relationship is always a close one, even though he is 11 years older than she is.

Coolness

2006-08-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I got up at 6:00 a.m. to use the bathroom and through the open window I could feel a COOL breeze. Not the sticky hotness of the humidity or the feeling of a blowtorch breeze, it was a cool ocean breeze.

For the last 3 to 4 weeks I look out my window before I go to bed and I wish on the brightest star, okay I beg the brightest star to send an Artic blast down our way. For the last 3 to 4 weeks that star has let me down.

I woke up Dave to tell him that my star finally came through for me. He doubted the star. The heat wave has moved on. I opened all the windows and doors and there was a breeze coming through the house. The air conditioner is NOT running 24/7 like it has been for the last 4 weeks. People, I have coolness in my life again, and once again, I love Southern California.

Today is another day at the beach for us, a cool 77 degree day at the beach.

Fun at the lake!

2006-07-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

It's been HOT here, unusually hot for Southern California. Hot and miserable. Hot and humid. I am not one for heat, I like mild temperatures. So we decided to escape some of the heat and head to the lake. Of course it was 113 at the lake but close to the water, and having the water to dive into if the heat becomes too much to bear made it feel more like 102.

What a great day! Everything went perfect. We got there at 10:00 a.m. and were sad to have to pack up and leave at dusk. We didn't drive out of the parking lot until 10:00 p.m.

Since water skiing was almost impossible due to the choppy waters caused by the billion Sea Do's Scott decided to try the knee board. Not as easy as you would think since you have to velcro yourself in while on the move. He got a little help from his uncle close to shore.

He's up and he LOVES it! He can't wait to get out there and do it again.

Yes, he is proud of himself, he is hooked for sure!

Every knee boarder needs a brave flag man to hold up the red flag when the knee boarder goes down in the water or those nasty Sea Do's will run you down everytime. Christopher was pretty proud of the fact that he was picked to be the flagman for his brave big brother.

He held that flag high in anticipation of an ugly Sea Do trying to run down his brother. He did a great job!
Whew, that was actually a little tougher than he anticipated.

Tayler enjoyed just hanging out near shore playing on the Boogie Boards and collecting sea weed of all things.

That dang game boy stuff wins out every time with Jeff, my couch potato.

Elyse is hooked on the whole boat thing. She loved it and is still talking about it. She didn't even fight me on the life vest this time around. A true water rat like the rest of them.

Small steps

2006-07-21T15:00:00.000-07:00

Is it the indecisiveness, the delay, the weather, the hurt feelings, the over thinking or just plain life that is making me feel so down. Could it be the knife sticking out of my back put there by those that I held close that is making me hurt so much.

I often wonder if I was meant to be a solitary person. To live alone and be a hermit. I am withdrawing more and more lately. I have to make deliberate efforts to leave the house daily. Once out I am in a better mood and life seems simple again.

Then again, If I didn't have Dave and my kids to draw me out I don't know where I would be. I picture myself wallowing in self pity curled up in a ball in the corner of a darkened room. That image scares me.

I am continuing to work through these feelings without the help of food to numb myself, that is one thing I feel good about these days. As my physical health continues to improve my mental health diminishes. Or does it. I am working through my *problems* constructively, no one ever said it would be easy or painless. I am finally helping myself through the pain and allowing myself to feel it, I almost embrace it before deciding I don't need it and dispose of it. It is a process, small steps.

It's getting better

2006-07-12T09:46:00.000-07:00

I am recovering nicely. I still have a nasty cough but my energy is coming back. I didn't realize how bad I felt until I started to feel better. The awful rattling in my chest, that even bothered Dave at night has subsided and I am able to sleep again. I actually slept from 11:00 until 5:00 this morning without waking up once. I slept for 6 hours straight, that never happens to me. And that was a medication free sleep.

Elyse is doing wonderful. Fever free today and as active as ever. We are even going to venture to the pool today and I am planning on going to the beach tomorrow, just the little beach but it will be nice to be out and about again.

I wanted to share another good thing too. I have posted in the past about being miserable with the state of my body. I was heavier than I have ever been and just felt fat and ugly. In the beginning of May I decided sitting around and griping about it wasn't going to help so I started to do something about it. I threw out the junk and we have all been eating healthier. I have also been fitting in exercise a few times a week. That in itself is quite a feat. I decided the only way I could do that, with some privacy was to get up early. Yes, early. I am not an early riser but I managed and it actually feels good to get the exercise over with for the day. I also ride bikes with the kids and instead of watching them play I get out and play with them. We play football, baseball, basketball and kickball. I was thinking the other day that we need another kid to play outfield. Nah!

So, as of yesterday I have lost 20 pounds! I still have a ways to go but I have made huge positive changes in our lifestyle and I know it will happen. I have even received a compliment or two lately. Dave, who notices nothing told me I looked *skinnier* the other day. Notice he used the word skinnier and not the term less fat. Yes, that got him some.

I truly believe that if I had remained on my diet of junk I would have been much sicker than I was. I continued to eat healthy throughout my illness instead of comforting myself with gallons of ice cream like I would have done 3 months ago.

I feel better about myself and I have a more positive outlook on life in general. Life is good.

Calling in sick

2006-07-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

I tried to post about our fun trip to the fair a couple of days ago but blogger wouldn't let me post pictures, so that will be for another day.

I have been sick the last few days, I guess it has been more like two weeks. I dragged my sick sorry ass to the doctor today and I have bronchitis. I am on an antibiotic, inhaler and I got me some prescription cough syrup. Too bad I can't take it while Dave is out of town, someone has to be alert enough to hear the kids if they need me, or in case there is a fire or something catastrophic like a kid needing a glass of water.

Elyse has also been fighting a cough. She started running a fever Saturday that was topping off at 104+. So I took her to the doctor early this morning and she has pneumonia. Yes, I feel like a stellar mom right about now. The ped said *we* caught it early and she is on a strong antibiotic that should knock it out quickly. I hope!

Summer should be filled with swimming, the beach and having fun. Not doctors visits and so much coughing that it brings on a migrain and breaks a rib. Tomorrow is a new day, a healthy day...

July 4th

2006-07-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July! We pulled out our red, white and blue to celebrate our country's 230th birthday.

We celebrated my moms birthday yesterday as well. She is not quite 230, but she loves the fact that the whole country takes a break to celebrate her birthday as well. At least that is what she likes to think.

Our city is one of the very last city's in our county and surrounding counties to allow fireworks. I have heard rumbling that our city's *firework legal* status is coming to an end. This could be the last year. We chose to celebrate the legal way, with fireworks purchased at the local stand that supports the local high school.

Others did not. People on both sides of us were shooting off fireworks that are brought into our country illegally from the country South of our border. Our street sounded like a war zone. In the end it looked like a war zone too. Trash and debree scattered along the street, some of it swept into the gutters, front lawns looking like the local land fill. This saddens me. Yes, it was beautiful to look at and yes we enjoyed the show, and what a show it was, but this kind of display and behavior has ruined it for all.

On with the fun. Go Angles, we are big fans.

Hmm, wonder why he had an asthma attack last night. Anyone, anyone?

Sparkler fight! See Elyse in the background safely seated on grandmas lap? That was her safe zone.
At least we got him out of the car this year to enjoy the festivities. He told me last night as I was putting him to bed that it was the best night of his life.

The night ended early for Elyse, she just couldn't take the thrill of it all.

Bonus picture, I just liked it.

Awkward question

2006-06-29T17:10:00.000-07:00

The kids have been out of school for a week and summer is in full swing around here. The weather has been warmer than usual for this time of year and humid so we have been in the water a lot. In the last week we have taken 2 trips to the beach and I bought a family pass to the local pool. The kids have also spent a lot of time just playing in the yards with the slip & slide, water spouts and our little blow up pool.

Today we were at the public pool. I was on the steps playing with Elyse and Christopher. Another mom asked me how old Elyse is, I told her that she is 2. She also had a 2 year old daughter so we were talking a bit. The older kids would come over and talk to me occasionally too. Since we have been spending a lot of time in the sun the kids are quite tan. I use sunblock #50 on them but it doesn't matter, they are about 152 shades darker than I am.

Then the other mom asked me if my kids were mixed. Mixed. It took about 4 seconds for the question to process through my head. "Yes, I guess they are" I answered. She then told me her kids are mixed too, they are half Chinese she said. Like we were supposed to bond over that fact that we both had kids that are mixed or something.

I then moved away from her a little bit. I had to think about her question. I don't really think of my kids as mixed. The word mixed made me uncomfortable. They are half Caucasian and half Peruvian, so I suppose mixed is a word that can be used to describe them. But it is not a word that I am comfortable using to describe my children. I would never tell them they are mixed, it sounds second rate to me. My kids are not second rate, they are wonderful people.

Now, I know this other mom did not mean to make me feel uncomfortable or to offend me in any way. The more I thought about it the more I realized I have been asked that question before, but in a better way. Occasionally I will be asked about the heritage of my kids father. They will ask if he is Hispanic or Latin. I am always more than happy to share that my kids are in fact half Latin, and no they do not speak Spanish, and yes their dad does speak spanish etc. But the word mixed just took me aback.

Don't even get me started on the forms that I fill out for the kids that inquire about race. I never know how to answer that question.

Frustration in the form of a cube

2006-06-16T07:49:00.000-07:00

Some people knit, some people needle point, I do this.

And I suck at it!

I have been working on this since New Years.

I have been known to fling it across the room or open the back door and throw it out in the yard for the night.

I have also thrown it in the garbage only to dig it out the next morning, then I apologize to it and beg for forgiveness.

I won't give up! I made a bet that it would be completed in one year. I may lose.

An Important Birthday and show and tell: Hat

2006-06-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

Today's show and tell for Blackbird had great timing for me. I found this hat at the Dollar Tree yesterday while shopping for birthday supplies. It fit so I bought it. You see, I have a rather big head, I guess, because regular girl hats don't fit me. If I want to buy this style of hat I have to buy men's hats and then they are too big.

I thought this hat would be perfect for the beach and pool. I have to keep my head covered when I am in the summer sun for long periods of time or I tend to get heat/sun stroke. I think it is the red hair and fair skin that cause that, hee hee. This hat is light weight and I like the flowers, they seem very summer-ey to me.

My favorite hat is still this hat, one I showed for show and tell a while ago. You may notice that I have cut my hair since the last hat show and tell. I have my hair cut to my shoulders every spring. My only requirement is that there is enough hair left to pull into a pony tail. It looks and feels so much better now. I really should make more of an effort to get my hair cut more often.

We also have a birthday boy in our house today! Christopher is 5 years old!!! I can hardly believe that 5 years have passed since he made his quick entry into the world. Three easy hours of labor and half a push and there he was weighing in at 9-7. Of course his older brother made the journey easy on him, Jeff weighed 11 pounds at birth so anything smaller than that was a piece of birthday cake. More pics of his big day tomorrow.

Lazy.

2006-06-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

I am now washing the same load of laundry for the third time in two days. It isn't that hard to transfer them from the washer to the dryer so why don't I? Could it be the constant child care, cooking of the meals, vacuuming, organizing, errand running or maybe it is because I am hot and tired from being up with a 2 year old 2 nights in a row. Or could it just be sheer laziness.

And when Dave sees this picture on the camera, he is going to wonder what the heck I am doing now. Yes, I will probably be too lazy to just delete it.

Sanity

2006-06-12T17:52:00.000-07:00

We were on the road a lot this past weekend. The kids were plenty happy watching their DVD's during the hours of driving we did. So why do I feel like such a cop out for having a DVD player in the car?

When we bought this car we weren't looking for a DVD player, the car we were interested in just happened to have a DVD player in it, much to the kids delight. We hardly ever use it, my rule is that we have to be on the road for at least the length of a movie to use it.

I will admit, it does make long car trips more manageable for me. DVD's mean I don't have to pack so many books, toys or snacks for the car. Since it is pretty close quarters, it also cuts down on arguing. The car becomes silent once a movie starts and that means I can relax. Dave and I can also listen to our own CD's and talk to each other without constant interuptions. And I will confess, that on more than one occasion, I have crawled into the back seat with the kids to watch the Incredibles to curb my own boredom on those long rides.

Hosed

2006-06-09T19:40:00.000-07:00

That's how I have been feeling lately. I am overwhelmed, overworked, unappreciated and invisible. But when I see the faces of my kids it all melts away. It is worth it!

The pool is open!

2006-06-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

So it's not much of a pool, but it keeps the kids busy for HOURS and they have FUN!

The Jacuzzi, every pool has to have one.

Unwanted adventures at the dentist

2006-06-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

So, I went to the dentist last week. I hadn't been in a long, long time. I am embarrassed to even admit how long it has been. It has been at least five years, there I said it. Not sure why I haven't gone, we have dental insurance. Just chicken I guess. Actually I am scared to death of the dentist and that drill of his.

So, I went to the dentist last week. How did it go you may be wondering? It went as bad as I thought it would, worse really. You see, I have this tooth on the bottom that the filling fell out of years ago and food gets caught in it constantly. I thought for sure it would need a crown, my worst case scenario. Sure enough, it needs a crown AND root canal. And I need four other crowns on various teeth and several teeth need to have filling replaced. With insurance, my out of pocket cost will be a little over $3,000.00.

So here I am kicking myself for not getting myself to the dentist 4 years and six months ago when my teeth were still in decent shape.

I had the root canal done yesterday. It really wasn't too bad, it just took over an hour. The left side of my face was numb for over six hours. The whole left side was numb, the novicane even worked itself up to my eye which turned blood red and was half way shut most of the day. If I were an optimist I would say it was half open, I suppose.

The truly humiliating part came when I had to walk down the long hall with a square green mouth tarp hanging out of my mouth about two inches for x-rays. Three times.

The first of many appointments to come...

New sandals

2006-05-15T11:25:00.000-07:00

The temperature is heating up here in Sunny Southern California. It was a beautiful weekend, the temp getting into the 80's. So, I got me some new sandals yesterday. I don't know why, but every time I look down and see them sparkling back up at me I smile.

Maybe it is because I know that summer is almost here. Summer, when we throw out all schedules, kick back, sleep late, eat lunch at 4:00, lay by the pool and enjoy the lazy days ahead of us. Ahhh, can't wait!

Just one picture, PLEASE!

2006-05-11T13:38:00.000-07:00

I went Mothers Day shopping yesterday for my mom. Of course I couldn't find just the right gift and I wandered around the mall for what seemed like and eternity. Then I saw a frame (the one in the pic to the left). It is actually six frames in one. I thought it would be cute to put a picture of Dave and I in the top slot and then a pic of each one of the kids in the bottom five slots.

So I have been snapping pictures of the kids for the last couple of days trying to get just the right one. I took Elyse out to the front yard to get just one decent picture of her. She hates to have her picture taken and she never smiles. She either scowls or turns her head. She refuses to just look at the camera and just smile.

She is two now, she comprehends every word I say so I had a talk with her. I asked her to please sit and be still and to smile at the camera. I told her it was a special picture for grandma. She was very agreeable until I got the camera out. Below is what I got. Sigh. The last picture might work, but I really wanted one of her looking at the camera. Two year olds can be so frustrating at times.

Post number 100 and a slow down

2006-05-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, here I sit with my party hat on and balloons tied to my computer. Okay, maybe not. This is my 100th post, a milestone of sorts in blogdom.

I have decided to slow down. I honestly don't know how some bloggers do it. They post long drawn out interesting, witty and funny blogs full of links and pictures. I just can't find the time.

I have two kids home with me all day who do not nap and who need my attention, a LOT of my attention. By afternoon I have five kids home that need my attention. I found myself putting the kids off and turning the TV on so I can blog or read other blogs. I started to feel guilty, my family is the most important thing in the world to me, next to God of course.

If all my kids were in school I would have more time in the mornings. Or even if they would take a nap I would have some time, but they don't. These are precious years, they will be in school soon enough and I want to enjoy them as much as I can during these young years.

I am going to have to limit my blogging time for after bedtime. I will miss it, I will miss reading other blogs daily, but this is the right choice for me.

RIP Pinky Tuscadero

2006-05-02T08:15:00.000-07:00

Pinky Tuscadero, The Lonely Hermit Crab, died recently. I say recently because we are not exactly sure when she passed. She was trying to molt, a very vulnerable time for hermit crabs. When molting a hermit crab needs to be left completely alone. They leave their shell and dig down deep to shed their skin. After what seemed like too long, I gently dug down where I knew she was to check on her. She had died.

She will be missed.

Nothing blog worthy and some potty humor

2006-04-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say, but I feel I should blog something. I did notice that this is blog number 98 fo me, I am almost to 100 blogs. I am wondering if there will be some sort of party, maybe a card.

So, Dave took the older kids camping this weekend with a youth group from our church. I stayed home with the younger three kids. I am not sure if I got the good end of the deal or not. On one hand he has the older kids who don't need to be watched 97.5% of the time. Yes, I know I should watch the little ones 100% of the time, but come on, who watches their kids 100% of the time except Britney (I couldn't even type that with a straight face). All his meals are being prepared for him and he doesn't have to do any clean up. He can just kick back and relax, of course that is the picture in my head. I am sure he is working hard.

I, on the other hand get to sleep in a bed, all by myself. Without the sound of snoring in my ear. I had the best night of sleep last night, better than I have had in a long long time. I put fresh sheets on the bed and slept smack dab in the middle of it. I also took a nice warm shower this morning and I don't have to hover over the toilet to pee or use an out house. I also don't have to deal with dirt, I do not like dirt.

I took the kids to church this morning and then home for lunch. After naps we wandered down to the park for two hours. The park was packed and the kids played the whole time we were there. Unfortunately Jeff also learned the F word while we were there, from a three year old, ugh. I am hoping that all that activity will make three very tired kids later. I need to get off my tushie and make them some dinner then baths and a DVD then bed.

Speaking of tushies, Christopher called me into the bathroom to clean his after he pooped this morning. I made a comment that he had pooped a lot and asked him where he had been keeping it. He replied - in my tushie, I have been saving it up. That made me laugh. Kids, they are funny.

Pictures from the Mission field trip

2006-04-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

I am crazy busy these days so I don't have much time to post. I thought I would share some pictures from the field trip that I took a couple of weeks ago with Tayler and her fourth grade class. I just love the architecture and history of these old buildings and ruins. I found it amazing, and I was fascinated by what they could accomplish in the 1700 and 1800's.
The picture on the top left is my favorite. I took these pictures about 30 seconds apart. I didn't use the flash for either picture but I zoomed out a bit for the one on the lower right. I was surprised at how much the lighting and contrast changed. For some reason I just like the darker one better, it looks more mysterious to me. I just love photography, it is very rare for me to get a decent picture though.

This is the Golden Tabernacle in the oldest Catholic church that still holds services in California.

This is a picture of the ruins of a new church that was built in the 1800's. It stood for 6 years before an earthquake brought it down. Several people were killed. Very sad. I love old ruins and it was so neat to find some in my own *backyard*.

Another view of the ruins. Look at those columns and dome, just beautiful. I wish I could have spent all day there.

These are the original bells that hung in the ruined church before the earthquake. They are just gorgeous! I can just imagine the local Indians and priests crafting them. Our tour guide told us that they make a horrible sound when rung so they never ring them.

I am not Catholic, nor do I know much about the catholic church, but I thought this was pretty. From what I understand, a candle is lit in honor of someone and a prayer is said for them. A very nice idea.

Pet peeve rant and an update on no TV week

2006-04-25T07:51:00.000-07:00

I must have 100 pet peeves, maybe 200. But one that is right up at the top is that the school insists on rewarding the kids with candy or ice cream.

I keep hearing on the news about how many kid are obese in the USA. How we, as parents, as a nation need to do better with keeping our kids healthy, how we need to encourage exercise and good nutrition. How we need to get our kids up off the couch and away from the TV and video games. Then the school, public school which is run by the government, the people who keep coming out with these studies insists on rewarding the kids with candy, ugh.

Tayler comes out of school most days with a sucker or lollipop stuck in her mouth. I ask her where she got it and she said the teacher gave it to her for getting a good grade on her test, or for helping to clean up, or for getting the most table points or... Jeff comes out occasionally with candy too. Apparently he doesn't try as hard as Tayler, which isn't such a bad thing. There is also ice cream sold after school and candy.

Yesterday the kids came home from school with a flyer. The flyer says that if they don't watch any TV for five days they will get an ice cream party. Jeff was phsyced! An ice cream party mom, he told me, I love ice cream. He would even go as far as to cover his eyes if he even got close to the TV which was turned off, he didn't want to do anything to spoil his chance at ice cream.

Now, I don't deprive my children. They do get ice cream. We still have some in the house from Jeffs birthday party, but it doesn't have the same appeal as school ice cream. They get treats and sweets too, just not everyday. I am of the belief that if kids are deprived of these things they will become obsessed with it and that would just be setting them up for an eating disorder. I am trying to instill good habit in them while I can.

So, why does the school, that is really pushing the no TV for a week campaign so the kids can be more active and physically fit reward with ice cream. It just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.
Okay, rant over :::shudder:::

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No TV for a week update time. Yesterday went very well. I let the little kids watch TV for an hour yesterday while I ate lunch and started my dinner prep work. I usually get my dinner stuff ready in the afternoon because after school time is crazy. They only asked one other time before that to turn the TV on. We went to get the big kids from school and came home and had a snack. Then it was homework time. That's when I realized how much I use the TV for the little kids for homework time. It keeps them distracted so I can help the big kids get their homework done. Instead I pulled out some coloring books and they sat and colored and did *homework* with us. It really worked out nicely and got their creative juices flowing. A little more work for me, helping with colors and encouraging them but well worth the time and effort.

After homework the kids went out to play. Confession time for me. I turned on Dharma and Greg and watched it while I folded laundry. I am weak.

After dinner we did our usual routines. We threw in a game of twister. We had a great time playing, we laughed until our sides hurt. After the game I asked the kids if they missed their afternoon TV time. They all said no, that they didn't even notice since they usually go out to play anyway.

By then it was almost 8:00pm. I asked Jeff if he would read me his new book that he got for his birthday. We have our regular reading time and they have reading books to read so this was a special treat for us both. He was very excited to read it to me and we read it twice. All the kids gathered around to hear him read it. It made him feel very grown up and boosted his confidence through the roof. When he was done reading it was 8:15. I told them they could watch Deal or No Deal for a few minutes before bed. So we did. I don't feel too bad about that, it is a *game*, and yes I realize I am pushing the context of games, but it is something we watch as a family and enjoy.

So I am going to call day one with no TV a success.

The television is off

2006-04-24T08:48:00.000-07:00

Bean Bag Potato

Today marks the start of Turn Off Your TV Week. I thought we would try it out this year, at least a modified version.

We really don't watch a lot of TV, but I know we watch too much. Lets face it, it is just easier to turn the electronic babysitter on while I do the housework, pay the bills, do the laundry and prepare the meals. It keep the kids entertained and I get my work done a lot faster. But the truth is it is good life lessons for the kids to watch me do those things and participate. Except with the bill paying maybe, that always puts me in a crabby mood.

I usually turn the TV on for the little kids around 10:00. They watch an hour or so then it goes off. By then it is lunch time, game time and story time. Then the TV goes back on so I can eat my lunch and clean up. It stays on until it is time to get the big kids from school. After homework and snack the kids can turn the TV back on and watch *educational* shows until dinner time, or go out and play. Most days they will go out to play with thier friends. But usually the TV is on as background noise. Why I need background noise is beyond me. At dinner time the TV goes off. After dinner is bath/shower and reading time. At 8:00 the TV can go back on for the *cleaner* shows. We watch TV then as a family. Game shows or Survivor usually. After the kids go to bed is when I really watch TV, the shows I want to watch.

Lately, I have had a lot to do so the TV has been going on earlier and earlier in the morning and staying on later than it should. I have noticed the kids have become couch pototoes (or bean bag potatoes like the pic above implies) and I don't like it. I hate it.

This week I have decided to really limit TV and computer time. I can't eliminate it completely, I could, but I just can't. The little kids can watch TV after lunch. I really need that time for down time to eat alone and think. Usually it is about an hour. It will go off when we go get the big kids and stay off until 8:00 when we watch Deal or No Deal tonight. We do watch it as a family, something we do together and get active with. We have to watch Survivor too, it is something the kids and I really enjoy doing together.

It will be interesting to see how much I don't get done with my hinderences. Or, how much more I do get done without the TV. Of course, it will cut way down on my computer time too. I am going to limit my computer time to a few minutes in the morning and after the kids go to bed.

I really am not sure how I will get through the afternoon with Dharma and Greg.