being busy, keeping happy, kids in israel....

My kids who are in Israel (8 of them!), have trained with the Israeli Army in counter-terror and security practice. They shot guns, played paintball, did work outs, and had a blast. BTW, that's my daughter Suzanne, the blonde girl with the glasses, in that picture.

I miss them, but they are having such a nice trip there in Israel.

And watching these little children is keeping me on my toes! The twins are so well-adjusted, they go to bed nicely...Char and Cam think it's fun to tuck them in, and the twins are fine with it. They sleep well, they are happy...and they're clever. There are two of them, and they like to compete for the blue booster seat, or for a certain cup. They like to run and scream and make messes. They like to cuddle and hug me and sit in my chair and rock when they first wake up. They have tender little hearts. I also have Davian here during the day, so there are three of them. Today Jonathan made a fort in his room for them, so they are busy packing up and bringing things in there...it's their "camp site". They are playing it's Davian's birthday now. The three of them can tend to fight about little things, so I have to keep an eye on them, but they are doing much much better. I try to intervene immediately and take the perpetrator out of the group for a minute, diffuse the situation before they hit, slap, or pinch. ha.

Well, as I speak! A little fight just broke out over a small princess figurine, but when I called their names to stop, they listened, and stopped, and we straightened it out before they hurt each other. I hugged them all and told them how good they are. They are really cute.

Paul is away, out of town, so it's just me and lots of little ones these days. Sonja (she's at school), Jonathan, Char, Camille, and these guys.

I haven't been out and about much these days. The twins take a nice little nap every day, and I try to keep a consistent schedule for them. They eat their lunch, take a nap...I always have thought that kids need some snuggling when they wake up...then playing outside or running around the house a little...then we color or paint or make messes at the table with glue and markers. Sebastian is the coloring king, he has so many masterpieces that I had to give him a folder to keep them in, as he wants to bring them all home.

We are buying a "new" van. It's the same year as our current minivan, with half the miles. As much as we would love a brand new one, it's not worth all the money. This one is very nice...it's so clean and new looking....but don't worry, we'll mess it up quickly enough...although we vow not to. ha. We know the people who are selling it, and trust them, and they have take really good care of it.

Anyhoo...oh, remember how I thought I gained like ten pounds on my Seattle vacation? I didn't! I lost weight! I am now down 17 pounds total from starting on keto on May 1st. So five months, 17 pounds. That is NOT great, but it could be worse, and hey, I'll take it. I feel good when I eat this way, and my sugar cravings are mostly gone although I will never ever not think a donut is a work of art, and the attraction to well frosted cakes and just the yumminess of cookies...those things are part of me, and I just have to learn to navigate around them instead of being led by them. I had some yummy things in Seattle, but I didn't totally abandon my good habits. I didn't eat a whole cookie, just some tastes. I had sweet potato fries, and when we went to a restaurant that featured homemade rolls served with fresh honey butter...yeah, I had one. But I ordered plank steak on a salad, so...it could have been worse.

We did tons of walking on the trip though, and I miss that. I can't really leave here and go walking, and if I take the kids it will be like a turtle expedition...we might go on a little hike around the yard today though...and we are going to make ghosts to hang in the trees, out of plastic grocery bags....