Blog, Interrupted

I keep blogging in my head, but I rarely get the chance to sit and write! I know, I am on facebook all the time, so why can't I blog? It's simple - with facebook, I pop on and check something, update my status and move on. With blogging, I have to be able to focus for more than five minutes to at least attempt a connected thought (and that doesn't happen often with my busy herd calling "Mama!" every few seconds!!)
So what did I want to say? More rambling thoughts, I guess...
- last week, there was sickness in the house, but this week, the herd is healthy and full of energy, enjoying the amazing weather!
- yesterday, I had a friend over that I haven't seen in ages...it was great to catch up, and NJH now refers to two of her children as "the cute girls" - too funny!
- last night, we fired up the grill for the first time this season...a thinly sliced sirloin, with broccoli, red potatoes and mushrooms (mushroom sauteed in a little butter with sherry, salt, pepper and thyme - YUM!)
- CAH read "Hop on Pop" at bedtime last night, the entire book, with just a few helps...her skills are growing leaps and bounds!


And I'm back (6 hours later!)...I was mid-blog when I heard shrieking from not one, not two, but three kiddos all at once! Wasn't I just saying something about not being able to complete a thought?!
Anyway, other thoughts jumping around in my head:
- the kids finished their month with the "bad word bowl" - they ended up with many more than the 20 marbles required to earn a make-your-own sundae night! KBH thinks we should do it again, and she LOVES to tattle on the others when words like "stupid" and "dumb-dumb head" are used!
- NJH has been enjoying a book about wild animals. He will now tell you that a baby kangaroo is called a joey, pandas eat bamboo, tigers eat meat, elephants use their trunks to drink water, and giraffes eat candy...yes, candy! (I guess the giraffe's tongue in the book looks like a candy cane.)
- NCH's musical is coming up in just over a week. He has really enjoyed the experience so far, and I hope he does ok when performance nights arrive!
- CAH, who is usually the peace-making lovey-dovey helper, has been a bit of a rascal lately...sneaking food, including gum, which got stuck in her hair, which she cut out, which I discovered when I went to use the scissors and found her hair! *sigh* My consequence for her is no gum until she turns 6!
- KBH continues to do well with gymnastics. She has done a self-drill and practice, doing 15-20 cartwheels in a row, trying to perfect her form! Her bridge is fantastic, and she is trying to will herself into a "real" split. She is one determined girl!
- the kids have been FILTHY the past few days, playing outside and enjoying the sunshine, but getting so dirty...I am trying to be patient, but when they take their shoes off (in March), I get frustrated. I need to find a new system for cleaning them off at the door as they come inside.
- NCH tried to teach CAH to ride her bike without training wheels the other day; hilarious sight! I just wish I had grabbed the video camera: wiry NCH, struggling with all his might to hold his low-toned sister up, calling out, "Pedal! You have to actually pedal the bike! And STOP LEANING, you have to BALANCE yourself!" I literally doubled over laughing!!!!
- today was fun, I took NJH and KBH on a few errands, library, UPS Store and our first successful trip to Aldi's! The kids did great, and we found some terrific buys. I will admit, I have always been creeped out by that store...clothes next to bananas seems all wrong...but the bananas were 39 cents a pound! I remembered to bring a quarter for the cart, and my re-usable bags are always in the van now. Of course, NJH was obsessed with trying to get the key off and asked no less than fifty times, "What's that?" while pointing to the quarter slot!!! On the way home, we stopped at Stewart's for fifty-cent ice cream cones and the kids were thrilled!




- I actually passed on the ice cream, as I am on day 3 of ANOTHER round of South Beach. Yup, it was time. Sadly, during my run today, Kristina's Running Body was hating Kristina's South Beach Day 3 Body!! My legs felt like lead, but I stuck with it for the 2.5 miles and I was glad I got out and ran. The scale is going in the proper direction now, and with bathing suit season around the corner, I am motivated to stick with it.
- speaking of bathing suit season, last night, hubby helped me pick out a bathing suit from the Chadwick's catalog...he was too cute giving advice! I kept reminding him, "I won't look like that though!" Hahaha!
- I made hubby a list of "several items that need to be completed before we start anything new" and he's already working on one of the items - re-tiling the downstairs bathroom floor. I feel bad for him, as he just did the floor in August 2007, but the grout never looked quite right, and some of the grout dried on the tile itself and always looked dirty. The old tile is up and I think he's planning to lay the new tile tomorrow already!
- speaking of hubby, we're continuing on a great path...another date night last Friday, just dinner out at TGIFridays and a little Lowe's browsing...we need time like that! Things are going well - I think we're communicating better, and everything else feels right when we're on the same page.