Happy Birthday, Christopher!

Happy 4th birthday to my sweet little boy!

You are such a joy and we love you so much.

Don't ever change.

(one of) John's (relatively) recent adventures

I finally confiscated my camera from John and downloaded some pictures to my computer of his more recent trips.

Okay, so it was a week or two ago, but whenever I think about it, he is out of town and I don't know what I am looking at.

I was going to include England and Germany in this post, but I think I've got enough material for more than one blog post. (don't you feel lucky?)

Also, as much as it kills me, I am doing my best to refrain from commenting on many of the pictures. I find many aspects of the pictures pretty humorous or weird, but in print I just come off sounding rude, obnoxious, and ignorant. (obnoxious I am used to, but I try not to sound rude and ignorant- yes, I realize I must fail miserably at times in my efforts)

So, here are a bunch from Tokyo, Japan-

A pretty park-

The famous Tokyo tower-

Not to be confused with that other tower-

The shopping center at the bottom of the Tokyo Tower.

View from the top of the Tokyo tower. John said the city "goes on, and on, and on.."

A Buddhist temple-

Another Buddhist temple-

Not a Buddhist temple-

Speaking of Buddha, apparently the image of his footprint can be found in this rock.

Tiny corner of the Imperial Palace. John said it is a huge complex and is only accessible twice a year. John had to be content catching glimpes of it from the outside.

Guard house (?) at the Imperial Palace-

Art in a museum.

A cemetery. John had no idea what the chopstick-like things were behind the headstones are.

"Cool Trees"

I could post more, but Zach is whining at me because he wants needs to watch some video he got from school for the four bazillionth time and for whatever reason, it only works on my computer.

Emergency Preparedness

At least one of us is prepared at a moment's notice.

Christopher keeps his lunchbox packed and ready to go at all times.

Sometimes he even insists on taking it with him when we leave the house.

I peek inside every once in awhile to see what he's toting around.

Today I found-

A diaper, wipies, a can of soup, bottle of water, granola bar, and a caramel.

Other items I have found are a fruit snack, bottle of root beer, cup of apple sauce, graham crackers, and sometimes 2 cans of soup. (He won't even eat soup at home, but I'm kinda impressed he always packs non-perishable food items)

Also the other day when I made him a sandwich for lunch, he insisted that I serve it in a baggie.

Just in case, I guess.

School's out!!! (sorta)

I won't leave you in suspense.

Nick did indeed fail math.

The story that I have been able to piece together was that he probably would have passed but he didn't put his name on this huge project that was worth a ton. So the next day he went back to school, saw his project taped to the board (where the no-name assignments end up) pulled it off, told the teacher it was his, and turned it back in. WITHOUT PUTTING HIS NAME ON IT. AGAIN.

A month later, after all the grades have been put in the computer, we get it all cleared up. (that is of course, not to mention the past few months of under performing before that. He had a very rough start to the semester before the project was ever an issue)

On the plus side, if you don't count the big, fat, ugly F next to Math, it is one of Nick's best report cards in years.

YEARS.

All B's and one A.

The A is in PE. He's proud of that A, because athletics has not been his strong suit, but he's worked really hard, and improved in nearly every area.

And the B's. Once we got his medication under control, he stopped getting 9th hours, and the grades started climbing. A month ago C's were the dominant letter on his progress reports.

So, technically speaking, school is over for the year, but we have another solid month of math ahead of us. Were just crossing our fingers that he can do it online.

~~~~~~~

Madison told me today that the last day of school is the saddest day of the year. She loved her teacher Miss Rogers.

I overheard her telling somebody that "Miss Rogers is one of only two teachers in the whole school who can play the guitar. Isn't that awesome? I'm going to really miss that."

At the end of the year, they had a little program for the parents and sang a bunch of songs they learned throughout the year, States and Capitols, sign language, math songs, the counties in Arizona, just to name a few. It was too cute.

I feel her pain. My favorite teachers in elementary were musical. I still remember singing "On top of Spaghetti" in first grade while my teacher, Mrs. Rustad played her guitar. And thanks to Mrs. Coleman in the 5th grade, I can still sing the song naming all the States. Believe it or not, that little song has come in handy from time to time.

~~~~~~~

Zach's year can best be summed up with the thank you note he gave his teacher today-

Dear Mrs. Wood

Thank you for being my teacher.

I learned a lot of good stuff.

Your student,

Zach B.

We love Mrs Wood. She was Madison's teacher in 2nd grade, our neighbor, and my friend. But more than that, I think Zach really blossomed this year. He's gotten into more trouble, mostly for talking, something I never would have believed possible only 3 or 4 years ago, but I've loved watching him mature in other ways under her guidance.

I don't think it's my imagination, but I think Zach got a little teary-eyed this morning at the thought that this would be his last day in Mrs. Wood's class. He denies it, but I know my sensitive little boy.

Good news and bad news

The good news is my 4+ year old maternity swim suit is too big for me.

The bad news- only the top half. (It's a two piece- don't worry mom, I'm not showing off anything nobody wants to see, except perhaps my thighs- a modest two piece where the bottom half comes up to my rib cage, and the top half is more like a dress that pretty much covers the bottom half and then some.)

So the top half is way too big, but the bottom half fits perfectly. Apparently my butt and stomach are still the size of an XL pregnant woman, but my boobs have gotten smaller.

TMI?

Which of course means more bad news- I have to break down and go shopping for a new swimsuit. (I think I've only owned like 4 my entire adult life- I hate it that much)

It's still a good idea...

...In theory.

But I'm gonna work on it anyway.

I'm talking about writing something every day.

I just realized it's been like 4 days.

I'll try to make up for it by posting a few different things today.

But no promises.

I guess I've been too busy baking and/or feeding my face to stop and blog.

Chocolate, bread, Coke, steak, Cornish pasties, cookies, ice-cream, chocolate, English "chips" (fries), crepes, shoestring potatoes (my favorite way to eat potatoes), and chocolate.

Just in case anyone was wondering, the second batch of lemony blueberry bars turned out perfect.

I'm pretty sure they did anyway, I didn't get a chance to actually taste the finished product, but I heard they were good, and they disappeared pretty quickly. And I thought they looked pretty.

Tomorrow is the last day of school.

I'm not sure how I feel about it.

According to snap grades, (an on-line program where you can check up on your kids) All three of my school age children have all A's and B's. Except for Nick- he has one F. (so far- we are praying for a D)

My plans for the day include making a bunch of caramels (the kids like to give them to their teachers) and catching up on silly things like dishes and vacuuming. (blogging wasn't the only thing I was neglecting while in my chocolate-induced coma this weekend)

And probably buying some fruit and vegetables. All that sugar seems to be catching up with me. I forgot how crappy a good binge can make you feel.

Catz week 8- final weigh in

So I showed up at Catz today with a bit of apprehension. The scale at home was not looking so good. I dressed in my thinnest, lightest clothes, shorts that I would have been embarrassed to be seen in anywhere but on a scale, and hoped for the best.

BClark was busy talking to someone else, so I stepped on the scale "just to see".

Aaaack! I was .2 pounds over my goal!!!! I'd gained 2 pounds in the last week! Luckily I was down so far last week, but still... and no, they won't round down. Point two pounds over is still over. I ran to the bathroom and let's just say I did my best to bring that weight down. Luckily I had Chelsa there- it was her idea to take off my glasses.

Thanks to her quick thinking, I was able to just barely squeak by and make my goal. The best news of all- I made my fat percentage goal as well, which means I made EVERY SINGLE GOAL!!!.

I am back to only a 38 pound loss, after telling the world I just lost 40 pounds. I wish I had the will power to stay on the diet and push for that 40 pound number again, but sadly I don't. There is a lot of chocolate calling my name. And a Tupperware full of lemony blueberry bars that I can't give away because I ruined them, despite the fact that they are still delish.