Daily happenings

Komodo dragon exhibit at the Zoo

Austin has been going to VBS this week at a nearby church. Since he will be starting kindergarten in August (and since I've never left him anywhere besides with family or friends), I thought it would be a good idea to give him some practice at being in a new place without his parents. He's on his third night at VBS and seems to be enjoying it. It's been kind of nice for me, too, to have a few hours in the evenings to unwind, do the dishes and get David put to bed before picking Austin up.

I've been trying to work with Austin on his fine motor skills lately. We've been working on cutting and pasting, coloring in the lines (or at least attempting to color specific things with specific colors.... aka- not scribbling), connect the dot pictures, etc. We are still reading; I just need to make a summer reading wrap-up blog post to list the rest of our 100 books. Sometimes, during David's naptime, I will let Austin choose an activity from the closet. Yesterday, we played a few memory matching games. Joseph even joined in.

Chocolate? Nope- It's black beans. This kid loves beans!

I can't begin to describe how active our youngest son is. He is 17 months old, but he seems so much older to me, I think because Austin was still catching up developmentally at that age. David can climb on just about anything- the couch, chairs, the kitchen table, bookshelves (yikes, I know!). He can reach his foot up over the ledge of his playpen, so I know it is only a matter of time before he climbs out. I tried laying him in the toddler bed to sleep last week, but I realized very quickly that he wasn't ready for that. We'll just keep using the playpen for a bit longer.

David is pretty athletic. He's got a football player's build even though he is only 23 pounds. It's funny how chubby his little tummy is. He loves his big brother. They have a constant conversation going throughout the day. Sometimes I hear David squawking at Austin because he wants a toy. Other times I hear Austin telling David no about something. A lot of the time, they are just laughing and playing together and having a big 'ol time. David loves to play chase. He makes the cutest faces and expressions. He has a conscience and will listen to reprimands (sometimes :). One of the things that makes me the happiest is that David will hold my hand and walk with me when we are outside. He doesn't try to pull his hand free and run off. I love it! This is great because he is starting to get heavy, and now I can put him down and let him walk part of the way.

Austin has less than two months until kindergarten. After leaving him at VBS this week, I can tell that I am going to be a nervous wreck those first few weeks of school. I've always been in charge of my own kid and have been right there to correct his misbehavior or to address any needs he may have. It is a strange and sickening feeling to leave your child with strangers and have to trust someone else to discipline and care for him. Every night this week, I've had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I pick him up worrying that his teacher will give a negative report or that Austin will have been sad or had some sort of issue. He's been fine, of course, but it will definitely take some getting used to on my part.

We've been trying E-Mealz for the past few weeks. Have you heard of it? Dave Ramsey talks about it on his radio show. I've got a link on the side of my blog if you are interesting in it. Basically, they give a mealplan with recipes and a shopping list for each week based upon a certain store. We are doing the Low-Carb Walmart Family Plan. Some of the recipes are weird since it is a low-carb plan, but several have been keepers. I'm so proud of Joseph- He's lost 35 pounds in the past few months by eating low-carb and switching from regular cokes to "zero" products- mostly Cherry Coke Zero and Mello Yello Zero. I figure it is a good idea for me to learn how to cook more low-carb foods because of my various health issues anyway. Since I've been a grown-up, I've mostly cooked pasta, soup, and casseroles. Since it isn't exactly soup weather, my recipe repertoire is a bit limited if I'm wanting to cook low-carb (casseroles and pasta dishes aren't exactly figure friendly, you know :) That's where E-Mealz has been helpful. I've cooked with new ingredients the past few weeks that I've never used before- red onion, curry powder, feta cheese (love it!). Basically, the mealplans revolve around fresh meats and vegetables/ fruit. I pretty much have shopped around the outer rim of the store these past two weeks and have spent very limited time in the convenience food aisles. We may switch to a different meal plan in a few weeks, but for now I'm learning some new recipes and styles of cooking.

Well, I'm off to pick Austin up from Bible School.