I love my kids!!

My kids are great. They drive me to distraction most of the time, but my life just would not be the same without them. Okay, maybe it would be a little tidier and quieter...But much, much more boring!!

Carmi and I were greeted by Dahlia and Noah this morning with breakfast in bed. The two little darlings brought us each a plate of strawberries. They were so cute and giggly.

Dahlia cleaned up the powder room and then wanted to know when she was going to get her allowance. But the bathroom never looked better and it was done without even being asked. I don't know why she would want to clean the bathroom, but I'm not complaining.

Zach our resident couch potato did not want to go for a bike ride...Created quite a fuss, but after arguing with 2 parents and not getting the response he wanted finally got on the bike. 30 minutes later , cheeks rosy from the excursion, fresh air, happiness, wanted to know if we could go again tomorrow. Absolutely!

It feels like summer has arrived and I hope whatever you do this weekend, it be happy and you're surrounded by those you love!

On another note, we're are so happy to report that Daddy is home!! The kids were so excited to pick him up at the airport. It was really nice to see the joy on their faces as Carmi came through the doors.

Big Guy is Away Again...

The big guy of the house is away again. He's off to Seattle until Thursday night. I truly hate when he flies and I don't think I really breathe until I know he has landed.

I used flight tracker to watch his plane and know that it has landed in Seattle. Isn't technology an amazing thing? It's 12:48 am our time and 9:48 Seattle time. I'm really sleepy, but I am waiting up for the Carmster to call us. It's really good practice as I will be staying up till 1 am for the rest of the week so I can call him at 10 pm his time. He's usually back in the hotel by then.

He's been doing a lot of these trips over the last few months and I should be used to it by now, but I really miss him when he's away. The house makes lots of scary and creepy noises and I usually leave the TV on until the wee hours of the morning.

I took the boys and a friend to the movies and Dahlia went to a friends house. Whenever Carmi goes out of town I try to do something special with the kids to sort of take their minds off his leaving. I was a little insulted that Dahlia would rather go to a friend's rather than come with us. ( I guess I should get used to it!) The boys and I saw "Over the Hedge" it was fabulous. I was laughing harder than the kids. It is absolutely worth seeing.

I've posted a picture from Carmi's birthday. The kids picked out the party hats. I don't know who had more fun...The kids or Carmi.

What do you do to make it easier when your significant other is away?

For those of you living in Canada, happy Victoria Day and have a nice day off!!

He's worried he needs to go on a diet.

Noah is so cute, it's amazing I don't just squish him all the time (Okay, I do do it a lot of time...But he is so delicious!!) Since he's in Kindergarten we decided once a month on a afternoon that I am not working, he would spend the afternoon with me.

Today was the day for May. On my way home from school I stopped off for my weigh-in. Noah loves to come there with me. I really don't know why, but he does. After my weigh-in (down another 1.4 lbs. For a total of 17 pounds) Sarah my counselor asked Noah if he wanted to be weighed. With his shoes on he weighs 41.4 pounds. After my session, he wanted to weigh himself one more time to see if it was the same. It was. Sarah said she was going to write it down and we'll see if it changes next time. So I figure let's milk this...You need to eat really good food, fruit, veggies, etc. And the next time your weight will go up and mine will go down.

Noah's all excited...He comes home and tells Daddy about getting weighed and then says he has to go on a diet. We both tell him he doesn't..."But they wrote it in the book," he says. Oh, Noah you are so cute. He figured if they wrote down than he has to lose weight as well. I finally convinced him it was my job to make mine go down and his job to make his weight go up. We pinky swore on it and he happily went off to play.

We spent the rest of the afternoon watching Nanny McPhee! A great movie and a great date.

I hope you had a happy Monday, as well.

The Best Mother's Day

I have to say that this was the best mother's day ever.

The kids and Carmi let me sleep in. Well, Noah was so excited that he kept coming in kissing me, giggling and leaving. I could hear him and Carm making breakfast.

I came downstairs to a plethora of cards, gifts (mostly handmade) and 4 smiling faces. Noah made a mug that says Mommy which he decorated by himself. Okay, I did see it before (after all he made it in my class) but it was beautiful non the less. He was only concerned that I wouldn't share the teabags with daddy. "You really like coffee Mommy and Daddy really likes tea, so could you share it with him?" Dahlia made a beautiful beaded necklace and a card in English, French and Hebrew. Zach made a wooden letter holder and a coupon booklet of things he'll do for me. Carmi bought me roses and 3 new charms for my bracelet. They were so sweet.

Next came..Since it's mother's day we think we should go to the movies. Off to the movies we went. Noah, Zach and I saw The Wild. Dahlia already saw it so she saw Hoot with Carmi. After, they felt that I needed a new DVD. So of we went to get Nanny McPhee. It's actually a very good movie.

Then the kids decided that we should go out for dinner, so I wouldn't have to cook or clean up. Carmi managed to convince them that Mommy really didn't want to go to McDonald's...Thank god! We went to a real grown up restaurant and they behaved so well.

When life gets me down and my kids are driving me crazy...I'm going to open that memory vault and think about this day. I felt so happy and loved. They are really a great bunch and I feel blessed.

I hope you all had a wonderful mother's day!

A Saturday Morning

The weather is bringing me down. It's cold and rainy and the wind is blowing. Makes me want to go back to bed and snuggle under the covers.

Carmi is still sick, so I quietly tip-toed out of the room at 8 and gently closed the door. The house is a little more quiet today. Zach is sleeping at a friends house and Dahlia and Noah are playing quietly in the livingroom. When the noise level begins to rise I quietly sshh them. "Daddy's sleeping!"

I have to go for a weigh-in today and I really don't want to go. This has been a terrible week for me both in what I ate and how much I exercised (2 times as opposed to at least 6) . I really feel like I am struggling right now. It's usually at this time in (8 or 9 weeks) that I sabotage myself. I will work through this. I am determined to it this time.

I'm feeling blah, so I am going to go read some of my favourite blogs and hug my kids. Not in that order!

Have a good Saturday!

I think I have a chocolate hangover!

No, you did not read it wrong! I think I have a chocolate hangover. As many of you know it was my sweetypie's birthday on Monday. The kids picked out a chocolate fudge cake and I decided to have a piece. It was soo, sooo delicious!! It was the first time in almost 9 weeks that I indulged in sweets. I didn't feel the least bit guilty.

I'm not going to do this again, for a very, very long time. I think I have a chocolate/sugar hangover. I woke up with a dull headache that increased until I had a full blown migraine with nausea. I still feel a residue today.

When I went for my weigh-in today and told my couselour, she laughed till she was crying. She told me not to feel guilty because I am allowed cake every once in a while but she had never heard about the chocolate hangover. I swear my body was in shock after not have sweets like that for so long.

Well I am not in a big rush to have anything like that again, for a while.

I lost another 6 oz, in spite of the cake!

I'm glad Carmi enjoyed his cake, even though he wasn't feeling well!

Have a happy Wednesday!

We needed a new family picture for a birthday present for my mother-in-law. At a recent birthday party for my nephew Ben, we were able to get all the children and grandchildren together for a picture. That is a total of 14! Yes we managed to get 8 kids still enough to snap the picture.

This gave me a great idea for my mother-in-law's birthday. I bought a frame that had spaces for five pictures. The middle one slightly larger was for the the photo of the 14 of us. Then in the 4 smaller ones I placed a picture of my in-laws, Carmi's sister and family, Carmi's brother and family and finally us.

I really loved the results and I think she did too. Here's a picture of my new favourite picture of us and the one of all of us.

Have a happy Sunday!

I'm Hiding Out at the Computer

Noah-man is with Daddy at a birthday party. He planned it while Carmi was away. Daddy was going to take him so they could have a date together. Noah is such a lovebug! The 2 older ones have a brother and sister over . I never know what to do with myself when the kids have friends over. We don't have a very big house and there is really no place to go. I was working in the kitchen, but they wanted a snack. Then they were using my computer (Aww come on Ma! You're computer is much better than ours!!" begs Zach) and watching TV. Now they're playing in their respective rooms. So I figured I could hide out here.

I love listening to conversations going on. The boys are speaking so loud I can hear them perfectly from Zach's room in the basement. They are totally in their own "star wars lego world" The girls are whispering (loudly) so I can make out a bit of what they're saying. During snack the conversation was reduced to saying and giggling over the word diarrhea. Lord, I'm too old for this!!

They never seem to stay in one place very long. It also seems like the room I am in is the one they want to be in next. Do I stay or do I go? I don't want to one of those mothers who have to be right next to them while they are playing and at the same time I don't want to play musical rooms without the music!!

The girls are restless. They want to go out and play. I guess my time is up.

Now it's your turn - What do you do when your kids have a playdate at your house?

Please don't faint...

Please don't faint at the sight of this post. Yes, I know I haven't written anything in a very, very long time. I felt I needed a bit of a break. I was worrying and feeling guilty about keeping up (or not keeping up) with my blog posts. It has been a crazy few months here and I am finally getting back to doing some things for me. I've missed you guys.

As many of you know, my special someone, my hubby is Carmi from written Inc. If you are a frequent reader from his site, you know he has been away a lot the last few months. It's amazing how easy the kids adapt to his trips. MorahMommy doesn't adapt very well. But, we are getting a geography lesson, almost every week and we are learning all about the different cities in the United States.

I have taken control of another area of my life. Almost 8 weeks ago I joined LA Weightloss. I am happy to report that I have lost a little over 15 pounds and I am down one size, already. Actually I am thrilled. I'm making time for me. I do the treadmill at least 6 times a week and I am really following the diet program. It certainly is not easy, in fact I get down right grumpy some of the time, but I am determined to get healthy. I don't want to be an embarrassment to my kids or hubby. I want my kids to learn how to be healthy, not just tell them they have to be active, but see that both Mommy and Daddy are active.

Well, I can't promise that I am going to write every day...I will try for a little more frequent than before.

Hope you all have a great day tomorrow...Only 2 more sleeps till Daddy comes home!!