It must have been love, but it's over now....

Picture it....1990. A roller skating rink with colorful lights flashing on the floor. Unskinny bop is playing in the background as red-faced teenagers whiz around the rink. Fake strawberry smoke fills the air as the rink is packed wall to wall with teenagers. Yes. The good old days. 

Kids don't skate for fun now do they?

Yes they do. 

And apparently we do too. 

I thought it would be great fun to take all 3 kids to Friday night meltdown while Erik played poker this past weekend. This was a heinous lapse in judgement by me. As I walked into the rink every molecule in me told me to turn and walk away. It was packed with teenagers. 

However the girls were so excited to go ice skating. There was only one other family there and they didn't have a 3 year old. Imagine an ice rink packed with teenagers and me with my 3 kids. It was a Friday night meltdown (different meaning when you have a 3 year old). Matthew did not like skating and screamed when he got on the ice. So I took off his skates and he ran up and down the bleachers in a craze. The girls had fun, but it took Sarah awhile to feel comfortable on the ice. Jenna took off and had a great time. The Chiller was great and refunded mine and Matthew's tickets. 

While I was chasing 3 kids around an ice skating rink, my mother-in-law had her knee replaced. She is doing really well and is now at a rehab clinic for a week. Then she will be able to go home. She was in a lot of pain but is doing much better now. The doctor said it could take 3 months before she is back to normal. I hope not since her bedroom is on the 2nd floor. I assume she will be doing jumping jacks and running marathons in a few days. 

Walking with a walker

 The kids loved her walker and the bed that could be moved up and down. It was a fun ride for them!

The kids loved the hospital bed

Going to Paris has greatly expanded my waistline. When I go running in the winter I have to bring kleenex with me since my nose runs. This is undesirable. I wanted to find a shorter workout (25 minutes) that would still be tough like P90X. I like P90X but who wants to work out for an hour? We bought Focus T25 which is a shorter version of the Insanity workout by Shaun T. We are currently on day 3 and I like it better than any of the other shorter workouts we have (Jillian, Jackie, Advocare, etc). So we will see if I have washboard abs in 5 weeks.

Maybe then I'll go back to the skating rink and relive my teenage years.

A family of 7

We have a new family member. For the past several months we have been feeding Twinkles and she has lived on our front porch. Erik even made her a little house and we put a blanket in it. Well she came inside a few days ago and the kids are ecstatic! Twinkles is not a huge fan of Panda and hisses at him. So the girls always want them to be friends and lock them in rooms together so they will like each other. Even so, Twinkles seems to be happy here.

Twinkles and Sarah

 Sarah had her first daisy troop meeting last night. I have signed up to be a leader and am overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork and bureaucracy that exists within the Girl Scouts. They have taken the fun out of girl scouts and replaced it with TPS reports. And for every $4 box of cookies the girls sell they only get 60cents for the troop. Yikes.

Sarah's Daisy troop

Tomorrow my mother-in-law is getting her knee replaced. This is a major procedure and we are praying for a quick recovery. She has been so helpful with the kids as I've been really busy this semester. Soon one of my course redevelopments will be complete so I'll just have the courses I'm teaching and one redevelopment. I've also been selected to be on the editorial board for a scholarly journal we are starting. I feel very editor-like. I'm excited that some of the people from our church are bringing her meals. It will be hard for her to go up and down the stairs for a few months.

In other news:

1. I bought a Raspberry Pi and the book Raspberry Pi for dummies. This is something I've wanted for a long time so instead of waiting until Christmas I bought one. Now I can't wait to play with my new toy!
2. Our Coo* book club is reading The Once and Future King by T.H. White. It is a whimsical book (that's my best word to describe it) about King Arthur. I like it but it is not gripping.
3. I'm reading the Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. This is a well written story but like the Once and Future King, it is not gripping.
4. I'm also reading The Gripping Hand by Niven and Pournelle. Again, even though the title might promise otherwise, it is not gripping. 
5. So I like the books I'm reading and want to see what happens but I'm okay putting the books down. The next book I read had better be so exciting I can't put it down.  
6. Erik and I went running last weekend while the in-laws took the kids to chick-fil-a for lunch. Erik noticed that I clomp my feet when I run. I've known this for awhile and have wondered if my bad form will actually hurt me in the future.
7. I scored an abysmal 49 points in Quiddler today

A rainy Halloween

The weather on Oct. 31st was pretty bad. It was rainy and chilly, and I didn't think we would have many trick or treaters. I was wrong. Nothing stops kids from candy. Erik took 5 kids out Trick or Treating while I sat in my toasty house eating Take 5 candy bars. Seemed like a good arrangement.

Sarah's Kindergarten Class

Jenna's Third Grade Class

 The kids had parties in their classes. You will notice the kindergartners sitting so nicely and calmly while the third graders are acting crazy. Not a surprise.  I am the room Mom for Jenna's class and am just a Mom for Sarah's class. For a treat I brought peeled clementine oranges with a tiny cucumber slice in the center to look like pumpkins. They were a big hit!

They are so cute when they sleep

 Last week I went to wake up Matthew from his nap and saw him sleeping so soundly in his big boy bed. He has been talking so much lately and has peed in the potty twice. What a big boy!

Jenna (poodle skirt girl), Grace (evil scientist), Sarah (princess), and Matthew (train)

Grace, Jenna and Abigail's candy loot

 After all 5 kids came back from Trick or Treating the older girls dumped their candy on the dining room table and sorted it all. Then they took what they want and left the rest in a pile. We ended up with a LOT of candy. I'm not sure what we are going to do with all this candy. Right now I'm dipping reeses cups in extra peanut butter but that's just me.

Matthew's preschool class + another class

Brownies

 Today we went to Olentangy caverns with Jenna's friend Paige. The caverns were fun and it wasn't very crowded. The kids had a good time even though Sarah screamed a few times (ie slippery steps, seeing the Indian burial grounds, and various other non-important times). Then they did gem mining which is one of Jenna's favorite activities. Paige came back to sleepover at our house so Jenna declared today to be the best day!

Olentangy caverns 

Gem Mining

78 points on Quiddler today