Pixiemom

Two long days.

Yesterday, I took the kids to St. Louis for a field trip to the zoo. We were up at 6 am and left the house by 7 am. After a stop for gas and drinks, we were on our way. We parked at 9:30, got out and walked to the zoo and to the children’s zoo which was still free until around 10. We got there about 10 minutes before. It took us so long because of no stroller. My sister met us at the children’s zoo with her daughters, Tabitha and Naomi, and I put Noelle in the umbrella stroller she brought. A few other schools (and homeschools) were there as well and it was so crowded in the building where the kids could pet bunnies and guinea pigs, so we didn’t go in there. We went and brushed the goats, then headed out to the regular zoo. After a quick snack and a bathroom break, we headed down to the penguin house that Tabitha wanted to see. We wanted to go see the elephants after that, but as we were walking, we were also talking, so we missed a turn and headed off the wrong way. We went through Big Cat Country and found out that they no longer have lions, which disappointed me, but the siberian tiger was pacing and having small roars here and there. We ended up down near the sea lions just before their feeding, so we stopped to wait for that and made our lunch as well. Then we headed through the bird cage which was mostly ducks at this time of year, but Naomi liked that because it is one of the words she can say. We went past some gazelles and zebras and finally made it to the section where the elephants are. I was happy to see both of the cheetahs out sunning themselves, but the kids were slightly upset to find out that the baby elephant wasn’t out that day. By the time we made it through there, the kids were getting a bit tired, so we decided to go to Jill’s house. The little ones all slept on the way there and were all recharged by the time we arrived, so Jill and I didn’t get any real rest. After dinner and cupcakes and some talking with my brother-in-law and his mother, we headed home.

Today, I had some trouble getting up and when I did, I found the unopened box of frosty flakes had been opened and almost used up. Much of it was scattered upon the floor of my dining room. I made the three older kids do a lot of cleaning up in there and threatened to call James’s drama teacher to tell her that he’d be late if the dining room wasn’t clean in time. He made sure they all got it done fairly quickly. The girls asked if they could run up with him to drama and I said it was okay, thinking they would be back soon. They weren’t, so I went up there. They had stayed and were participating in class. I brought them back home and then took Amie out by herself. We met my co-leader at Fazoli’s which is one of Amie’s favorite places to eat. Amie loves S a lot and so this was a treat in itself. After eating lunch, we headed over to Walmart and Amie got her ears pierced with the pink October birthstone. This was her main birthday present this year. After that, I had to do grocery shopping or we would have had nothing to eat tonight. Once we got back home, we and the rest of the family cleaned up the rest of the house in preparation for our friends coming over.

They are here now, so I’m going to go.  BYE!

Before I got out of bed this morning, Noelle came in and climbed up beside me.  She grabbed one of the books off of my bedside table (only 2 on there right now.)  She started to “read” it.  I don’t remember most of what she was saying, but this made me giggle quietly…

“On the second day, there were four days.”

I’m not happy. She’s fallen on curbs or stairs at least 5 times since her appointment two weeks ago and that’s not counting any other falling she’s done. I tried to get glasses for her, but he said that he’s not going to do that. He thinks she will outgrow it. Also, her left eye has an overactive muscle which pulls it too far right or left, depending on which way she is looking, and maybe part of the reason. He didn’t tell me anything to do to help her with it, just that she should outgrow it and if she doesn’t, she’ll need surgery later. This dr is the closest one we could find for our insurance and it is an hour away. I can’t afford gas to go to one even further away.

I’m a little stressed right now.

I want to take a trip up to Chicago sometime.  It’s as far away as St. Louis and we’ve taken day trips there.  Amie’s newest penpal is Crystal’s daughter and they live in a suburb of Chicago.  She also has a son that is about a year older than James and a little two year old daughter.  She homeschools her children too.  I know my children would have fun with them.  At the moment, we don’t really have the money to go up there because we are making a day trip to St. Louis on Friday, but maybe sometime not too long from now.

I decided to give James a haircut yesterday and trim AnnaBeth’s bangs.  James was busy with something else, so I did AnnaBeth first.  As I was doing it, Christine asked me to give her a haircut.  I asked the reason why and she said it was because she didn’t like having so many tangles all the time.  Her hair is the type that is a bit frizzy and seems to tangle within about 5 minutes of a good brushing.  She looks cute with short hair, so I didn’t mind cutting it.  James didn’t want the traditional layered cut this time.  He first asked for his summer buzz, but when I asked him if he really wanted it that short, he kind of hesitated.  I got out the 1 inch attachment for our clippers and did his hair with that, so it isn’t too short.  He looks good and he is happy with it, so I’m good for another few months with the kids.  Jeremy will need a cut in a few weeks, I’m sure.