How 'bout now?

What about the text color now? Easier to read, same, or worse?

Bittersweet

My belly is getting in the way of my favorite way to sit in my computer chair while playing on the computer.

Hmmm....

I'm toying with my blog design....obviously. I'm not sure what I think about this look and there's more I want to do with my header, but I can't figure out what or how. I think I'll live with this a while and see how I feel about it. What do you think? Too much? What about the colors? Any suggestions?

Sugar and spice

Everyone knows our news now. And I'm so glad. It wasn't that I was bursting to tell people, I just wanted to be able to talk about ideas and plans we had been thinking about. Like the bedding I like. Or the swing that is so frivilous but just.so.cute. Or the fact that I might like to try a co-sleeper this time around. It's just good to be able discuss things normally. After we finally spilled the beans, I kept feeling like I was saying too much.

So. We're having a girl! Her name will be Genevieve, and we will call her Evie (I'd tell you her middle name, but it's a family name with a unique spelling and I don't feel good about announcing it on the blog...if you know me well enough to know my first name, it's also going to be her middle name). We're all over the moon about it. Sweet Hubby is elated. He keeps talking about "our little girl" and about how we're going to have a daughter. He even bought her her first dress and shoes. She'll be wearing them home from the hospital. A couple times a day, Stephen will stop what he's doing to come over and tell me, "I just can't wait to have a baby sister." I can't keep myself away from the dresses and bows and tights and Mary Janes whenever we go to the store.

It's a whole new adventure for us. I just can't wait to meet our little girl.

The new ornament on our tree

Soooo...? How's it going??

Merry Christmas everyone! I know that these days life can be very busy, but I've noticed that many of my favorite bloggers aren't around much. I'm really interested in how the holiday plans are going and what your plans are for the next two days (or a week if you're the New Year's kinda partier). I'm used to getting little glimpses into your daily lives and not knowing how things are going during the holidays is making me miss you.

So. Leave a comment on my blog to let me know how your holidays are shaping up or you know, BLOG about it and leave your link in the comment section. ;)

Love all around.

The gift that starts giving before you even open it

I feel safe in posting this here right now because Sweet Hubby never reads my blog. Ever. And I'm not bitter. *ahem*

Anyway, last night as I was finally dozing off wayyyy past my bedtime, I woke up to Stephen calling to me from across the hall. "Mom. Mom!"

"What is it, Stephen?" I respond, slightly annoyed.

"THAT!"

I then realize "THAT" is some sort of noise coming from somewhere in the house. And in my fog of sleep I can't figure what the heck it is. So I lay there for a second hoping it will stop on its own trying to figure out what it is. When I figure that it's some sort of alarm and probably a watch alarm, I haul myself out of bed to investigate. This is when I remember that I've bought Sweet Hubby a watch for Christmas. Standing at the watches in the Walmart, I vacillated between an analog and a digital and finally decided on a digital. A decision I was cursing at about 11:52pm last night. And oh yeah, I've already wrapped all the presents, so the thing is under the tree WRAPPED. Among about 30 other presents. In the dark. So I crawl under the tree, dig for the tiny box in which the watch is wrapped and finally lay my hands on it. Thank goodness I didn't wrap the watch in another box, or else I wouldn't have been able to desperately start pushing the buttons THROUGH the wrapping paper to get the darn thing to stop. Something I did worked and it shut off. I crawl back to bed and try to go back to sleep.

Except about 3.5 minutes later, it starts going off again. I go through the same process, and the third time it goes off, I was actually asleep again. This is when I decide to bring the thing to bed with me in case it does it again. Which it does. At which point I tear the wrapping paper off and inspect the darn thing by its own little light which stays on for about 2 and one quarter seconds. Just long enough for me to accomplish nothing. So I flip open my cell phone for some light and begin trying to methodically push buttons to figure out how to turn the alarm (which seems to be set for every 3.5 minutes, a function of which I don't understand the usefullness) off. When it starts beeping in my hands, I realize that I'm going to have to actually OPEN one of Sweet Hubby's Christmas present, which makes me very sad. I finally got the instructions out and figured out how to turn the alarm off.

It was then that I realized what a sorry little watch this is. And I feel bad for that. I guess it's not too late to take it back. At least that would ensure that we don't go through a night like that again.

Anybody watch Friends? I felt like Phoebe.

Squirt Baby

I ran across this while looking at baby stuff online and thought it was so funny! What will they come up with (for lazy parents) next?

Elfed

My parents "Elfed" the kids. Here's the result. The kids were laughing so loud and hard that I couldn't even hear the music.

Have you heard this?

I heard this the first time yesterday on the radio and was cracking up....but listen to the end! It's GREAT! Be sure to gather the kids.

Christmas Food

I'm really excited about our Christmas menu. It doesn't seem to be too much work, but we're also going to be eating very well Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. My plan is that we'll have our nice big meal on Christmas Eve and then take it easy Christmas Day. So here are the menus:

Christmas Eve Dinner
Herb Roasted Pork Roast
Sweet Potato Souffle (from Honey Baked Ham Co)
Lemon Pepper Green Beans
Some kind of white potatoes (MIL is bringing those, I'm not quite sure yet what she's planning)
Cornbread dressing
Cranberry sauce

Dessert:
Cobbler and ice cream
Pumpkin Pie
Spiced Cider
Hot Chocolate


Christmas Day Menu
Breakfast:
Tater tot casserole (tater tots, bacon, green onions, eggs and cheese--layered in that order)
fruit medley (berries and peaches)
sausage and gravy
biscuits
muffins ("cupcakes" for kids to decorate)

Lunch:
Leftover Christmas Eve dinner
Leftover Spaghetti from Tuesday night (the night before Christmas Eve


Snacks (for snacking on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day)
Chocolate chip cookies
Peanut butter fudge
Rice crispie treats
Chex peanut buddies
sausage balls (mmmmm....)
fiesta crescents (some more mmmmmm...)
chips and dips


I'm so hungry.

So what do you think? Am I missing anything? Got any more ideas for me?

Perfection

Well, we had our ultrasound yesterday afternoon. The tech lady told me to drink lots of water and I did (over 30 oz!) and then she was 30 minutes late for my appointment. I felt like going postal on the waiting room full people just so I could get the ultrasound and go to the bathroom already! Just as I was threatening whining to the receptionist, the tech came out to take me back. She told me she just needed to get a few good pictures and then I could go empty my bladder. But a few minutes in to the ultrasound, she announced that I was too small to be able to get good pictures, so I needed to keep the full bladder. Another 30 minutes later (let's count this...pregnant lady needing to use the bathroom for over an HOUR now), she was finally done and and I waddled and danced to the bathroom, afraid to run. It made it really hard to enjoy all the awesome looks we were getting at the baby when I all I could think about was that I might wet myself if she pressed just a little harder with that wand thingy.

But all in all, it was great. It was such a relief to see this little child and he or she is absolutely perfect. All the little parts are there and Baby looks just like the older brothers did at this point. I forgot to scan the pictures while I was at my parents' house yesterday evening, so I don't have any to share here. But take my word for it, Baby is precious and I can't wait to meet this little person.

And no, I'm not telling pink or blue yet. We're waiting to be able to tell our parents and kids at the same time at Christmas. I'm really looking forward to that. It'll be great to have everyone together to find out at the same time.

Comedic relief

Earlier this evening, Sweet Hubby had to run into the Wal*mart for a few things while the kids and I stayed in the car (brrrr...baby, it's cold outside). Stephen started to tell me something, then asked me to turn the radio down so he could concentrate. I did and he said, "Toads have dry, rough skin and frogs have smooth, wet skin." I told him he was exactly right.

He immediately followed up with, "And did Jesus have teeth?"

I would rather throw a tantrum, but instead I'll write this short post

Just a quick note to say that in case you were wondering, I do not and will not have any good news to report at this time like I had hoped I would in yesterday's post. Things didn't exactly come through.

But the ultrasound is tomorrow. I'm thinking of scanning the ultrasound pic at my parents tomorrow so I can post it here. So you can ooh and ahh over the black and white 2-D picture of my baby who looks like every other baby in those kinds of pictures.

Whatever.

Oops.

Last night, the entire family was in here in the bedroom with me while I was doing some e-mails on the computer. I glanced over and realized that Zachary had our closet door open and was peeking into the mirror that's on the inside of the closet door. I suddenly remembered that we still had a few Christmas gifts left in there that we don't plan on wrapping and immediately and loudly told him to shut the door. I startled him, which was my intention, and he quickly shut it. He then walked up to me all grins and informed that earlier in the day while Stephen had been playing on the computer, he spied a batman scooter and he said he walked up to look and saw it WAS a batman scooter. There's a batman scooter in there mama! Sweet Hubby starts telling Z to be quiet and quit talking about it like he was afraid that Z was going to let the secret go. But the secret was already gone. So I said, "Well, it's for HIM!" Zachary's eyes lit up, "The batman scooter's for ME?!"

We had a good laugh and Z didn't stop grinning and talking about it all night long. I told him that he should try to forget so that he would be surprised on Christmas morning and he said, "I AM surprised, mama!"

I'm glad he's so happy about it. I'm also glad that we weren't trying to reserve this for a Santa gift because we would be so screwed right now.

Sweet Hubby remembers when he found out about Santa--after he spied his wrestling ring playset in his parent's closet and then got it from Santa for Christmas.

Twiddling my thumbs

I'm feeling a bit anxious today. We have two big things coming up over the next two days and the pressure of waiting on them is starting to wear on me a bit. One should happen today, but I'm not quite ready to go public with that yet. If things go well, hopefully I'll be able to share some great news later this afternoon. But that's all I'll say about that.

The other thing is my should-be-20-week-but-getting-it-at-18.5 weeks ultrasound. We'll get to see the baby on Wednesday. I'm so excited. We've only had one ultrasound so far and that was 2 months ago when Baby still looked like a bean. Now it looks like a little miniature person. By this time in my previous pregnancies, I had had several ultrasounds because of some other health issues. But I've only had one so far and I'm absolutely DYING to get a glimpse at this precious little child. We'll get a glimpse of it's gender, too, but probably won't actually find out until Christmas morning with the whole family. Right now, I just want to see the baby. I'm not even really concerned with finding out boy or girl. I just want to look at it's face.

Oh and also, if you care to share some ideas for boys' names that you wouldn't mind if I ended up using, we could use some suggestions. We keep coming up with names and then deciding against them. We're clear out of good boy names. Our latest one is Grant, but I'm just not sure. It doesn't feel right. We're good on the girl name. That one's been decided for a while, and I think we'll actually stick with it.

*watching the minutes tick by*

I wonder...

...Am I the only one that gets excited when the word verification thingys that you have to do on blogger (and other places, but for me it's mainly blogger) are actual words, or could be actual words? It's fun, but when they are words or common letter combinations, I can also type them out faster. Because those .05 seconds are really important to me. *rolling eyes at self*

Mission: Christmas Food

I finally got my computer hooked back up after our illnesses (mine and the computer's). I didn't start feeling better yesterday until just a little bit before the concert, but I DID start to feel better, so we all made it. It was a great concert and we had an awesome time...if you're even a slight fan of TobyMac, I suggest seeing him if he comes to a town near you. It was a fantastic show. Even though he didn't get on stage until 9:30. And we didn't know the three acts that came before him. And the second act made me think that their music would be good punishment for someone like me. Other than that, we really did have a lot of fun. :)

So now that we've got one more holiday festivity under our belt, I've got my eyes squarely focused on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. The gears in my brain have been squeaking running all afternoon trying to sort out my food plans. I think I might be getting a little overly ambitious with it, but I'm really excited. This year, for the first time, we'll be staying home for Christmas and having my parents and my ILs over. So I'm hosting. Never thought I'd do that. But I can't wait and I want to make it really special and fun as well as relaxing and semi-stress free. One of the things I'm looking forward to most is staying in our jammies for as long as we want on Christmas day.

However. To be able to be relaxed on a day when one is usually frenzied about food and guests and such, it takes some serious planning. Which is why I'm starting to really get things planned 12 days out.

So, after I hit publish here, I'm off to find the recipes I want to use for our special Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas Day breakfast and all the little treats and snacks I hope to have. Once I get everything figured out, I'll post it here for those of you nosy enough to care. ;)

Have a great rest of the weekend, everyone!

Ick.

Well, I've finally been able to crawl off the couch long enough to come update you (I'm pretending you care). Things were NOT pretty for a while here (at one point, Marc-Adam, who also started throwing up, was laying up against me while I was laying up against the toilet....we were a sad sight). It must be something we ate. Zachary dodged this altogether, thank goodness. The rest of us were not so lucky. The last time someone threw up was about noon (it was me....I wasn't able to even keep water down) and we all had some peanut butter toast for dinner. So far, so good.

So, if we can keep getting better, it looks like we're go for our concert tomorrow night. Can't wait!

No, no, no!!!

Great news: Dad located the problem with our computer (it was exactly what I suspected), got the part ordered, and now the ol' 'puter and I are on speaking terms again.

Not so great news: Stephen woke up throwing up last night and I've felt queasy (and not in a normal pregnancy way) for several hours now. I threw up once, but I can't tell if it was illness related or not. Apparently there's a nasty tummy bug that's been going around the area, and until now, I thought we dodged it. I called Sweet Hubby at work and he's not feeling so hot either. So now I'm panicked about tomorrow night. We HAVE to go to that concert. And we have to be the ones to use the tickets. They have our names on them and the tickets say that they may ask for ID at the door to make sure the names match, so if we don't go, my mother-in-law's sweet Christmas present will be a waste.

*thinking healthy thoughts*thinking healthy thoughts*thinking healthy thoughts*

The Last Christmas

I heard this song for the first time the other day and was a puddle of tears by the end of it. I'm sure it's largely due to my current state of affairs, but seriously, this has got to be the sweetest song I've heard in forever.

Cousin Kelli helped me (thanks!), so here goes this try to make it easier.



And don't tell me about it if you were steel enough to not at least get a little moisture in your eye.

Just so you know

We're having issues with our computer and tomorrow I'm taking it to the repair shop, also known as Dad's. Hopefully he can get it back in working condition. Until then, I'll be out of touch on my computer, so if you know me in real life and need to get in touch, you'll have to actually pick up the phone! :) Otherwise, I'll be back ASAP! Have a great weekend!

Proof there's fun and excitement at our house

Marc-Adam's got a new word: WOO-HOO!

Done!

As of this past Sunday, we are done with our Christmas shopping for the boys. From what I hear, Sweet Hubby is done for me, and as soon as he gets paid again, I'll be done with him. And then, we'll be done!

We failed miserably this year in our attempt to only get 3 gifts per child. But the good news is that I still stayed within our budget. I got some really good deals and they each got a couple of books and workbooks and such. They won't be excited about those come Christmas morning, but they're something the kids will enjoy later on. We got the "biggies" that we intended for the kids....Zachary got the Batman Imaginext Batcave, Marc-Adam got the little grocery cart (although, that really can't count as a biggie, but I think it was the most expensive thing we got him) and Stephen got some new wheels. I had intended to get him a Razor scooter, but he told me that he wanted a new bike instead (the $29 blitz ad bike at Wal*mart!). The bike I got him looks huge, and I'm really dreading Christmas morning when he gets on it and I realize that it's just the right size for him.

Everything else they got were little things...a magic kit, play-doh, clearance action figures, fancy-schmancy coloring books. I think Christmas morning is going to be a lot of fun.

Free chocolate? I'm there.

Jana's giving away chocolate, y'all. Free chocolate. Free homemade chocolate. Need I say more? Go put your name in the hat!!

I wonder...

...are we the only family that doesn't decorate the back of the Christmas tree that's backed to the wall or in the corner? The part that no one ever sees?

I went, I shopped, I conquered

Yes, I did it. Not only did Mom and I shop on Black Friday, but we shopped at 4:45am. The hordes of people were astounding. It was more crowded than I imagined it would be. People who found out what I was planning (shopping at 5am) thought I was crazy and said they would never do that....I told them that as long as I don't have to do it with my 3 kids in tow, nothin' scares me.

But my mom and I walked away victorious. We got every "blitz" item we went after and I've just about finished my shopping except for a few things for each of the kids and Sweet Hubby. We had a great time...even though we waited in the check out line for an hour at the Wal*mart.

Oh, and I also have to admit, we went to Wal*mart not once, not twice but three times today. Two stores, three trips. Add a few more drops to my bucket-full of crazy.

And I also have to state that it was wild crazy chaos, but aside from the one lady who (unsuccessfully) attempted to snatch my blitz ad from my basket, all the other bleary-eyed people were very nice, patient and helpful. There were no fights, or disagreements or grown adults wrestling each other to the ground for a $25 talking toy.

And now, excuse me while I collapse in to bed.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I asked this kids this morning what they were each thankful for. Their answers show that either I'm not doing as badly as I thought with them, or that they've been brainwashed well enough to give the "right" answers.

Stephen-my family, that I get to see my family today, my home, that we have food to eat, that God is here.....that's it!

Zachary-you, that's it. (I tried to pry more out of him, but I think there was a glass of milk, a vitamin and a TV show calling his name. I asked him if he was thankful for anything else and he said, "Nope. I just like you." And then he ran into the other room.)

Marc-Adam-here's our conversation:
Me: what are you thankful for, Marc-Adam?
M-A: Dahbee.
Me: What are you thankful for?
M-A: huh?
Me: What are you thankful for?
M-A: uhhhhhh....baby?
Me: Baby?
M-A: uh-huh.
(Stephen, from the other room: it's a racing car!)
M-A (bolting from my lap and running to where Stephen is): Truck!

And I have to add one more thing that I'm thankful for: I'm thankful for the first sweet little nudges and flutters that our newest little turkey is giving me. It's like Baby is making sure that I remember that I have one more blessing to be thankful for.

Thankful

We all have so much to be thankful for.

This morning I spent a little time with each child telling him that tomorrow was Thanksgiving and that I was thankful for him and I told each one what I loved about him. And it's more than just being thankful for my husband and kids. I'm thankful for what I have because of them. This love, this life is all because of what I have with them. God has been more than generous to me.

I look around and regardless of the crappy or scary things that are going on in my world and the larger world outside, I know that life is good. Life is good.

And I can't give enough thanks.

I wonder....

...If I'm the only female in the western hemisphere that hasn't jumped aboard the Twilight train? And has no interest in jumping aboard.

Something's not right about this

Their playroom looks like this:


And they spent part of their morning fighting over this:


Something just doesn't add up....

Not enough bleach in the world

So the kids have been sick for several days. Sweet Hubby and I think we're coming down with it, too, and while we tried our "old wives' tale" prevention method on Hubby in hopes that he wouldn't actually come down with it(this is the worst week of all weeks for him to get sick), I didn't have the heart to do it because the kids have really suffered with this and I'll feel badly if I'm able to dodge it by preventing it. (Somehow I don't feel like that sentence makes sense at all....then again, I'm pretty sure the logic doesn't make sense.) I kept the kids home from church yesterday (which I'm glad I did because I found out there's also a tummy bug going around and I'd much rather deal with the snotty noses and hacking coughs than tummy issues). I'm not sure if they're still contagious. No one's really running a fever, but the noses and coughs are terrible. We've been through almost an entire bottle of Children'sMucinex this week and I'm pretty sure there's been enough coughing and germ spreading going on around here to infect a small country. If I had nickel for every time I've said, "Cover your mouth!!" Of course, I also feel kinda bad when I'm telling them to cover their mouth while they sound like they're coughing up a lung.

Over the next few days, I'm going to try to work on disinfecting the house with hopes that they don't reinfect it. And above all, I'm praying that they start to get better and that I don't get it, too, because I'd really really hate to spend Thanksgiving alone. Sweet Hubby has to work the night before Thanksgiving and the night of Thanksgiving, so he'll be sleeping all Thanksgiving day, and the idea of spending all day alone at home with the kids is just really very sad. But there's no way I can feel good about spending the day with Sweet Hubby's family while we are carrying the Plague.

Just in case, I think I'm going to thaw a chicken and have Sweet Hubby pick up our favorite rolls. I've got a can of green beans and a can of sweet potatoes in the pantry. That'll make for a faux Thanksgiving meal, I guess.

I wonder....

I've been thinking about doing this for a while--posting about the funny/strange/random/interesting things that I wonder about. Mainly because I want to share with you a little bit about who I am and I think the things I think about will help to show you. Also, when I wonder something that you might actually know the answer to, you can fill me in. And when I wonder something weird, you can let me know if you wonder that, too, or if I've totally lost it and I need to get out more. So this will be a recurring thing here at Imperfection. Feel free to chime in with your own wonderings, or make a post all your own on your blog (but be sure to let me know, so I can check it out).

So here's what's been on my brain the last week or so:

You know how last summer, gas prices sky-rocketed? And because of that, the price of EVERYTHING else went up, too, especially food prices and all the Big Fat Companies said it was because of rising fuel costs? So I wonder....why am I still paying $4 for a gallon of milk, or $5 dollars for a 1/2 pound of cheese or almost $3.00 for a loaf of bread when gas prices are the lowest they've been for almost 4 years?

And consequently, I also wonder what kind of Christmas bonuses the Big Fat Company CEOs are getting.

Silly and sweet

The kids have been funny and sweet lately. A couple days ago, Marc-Adam was asking for me to pick him up. He just kept saying "UP! Up!". When I asked him what to say, Stephen jumped in trying to be silly and said, "Up, please!" in a baby voice. Marc-Adam pushed him out of the way and yelled "My up please!"

Zachary's got a nasty little bug. Snotty, coughing, irritable...the works. He's slept most of the day today and after playing by himself in the playroom for about 10 minutes, Stephen plopped down next to me on the couch and sighed real big. I said, "What's up, Bud?" He said, in a pouty little tone, "I wish Zachary would get better." I asked him if he missed him and he said yes. He was actually sad for Zachary and himself at the same time. And then when I made Zachary lunch in bed, Stephen was so excited for Zachary. He couldn't quit smiling about it. It was so cute and sweet.

Zachary's convinced that the new baby is going to be a sister for him. When I ask him what her name is, he says, "Gene-VEEEEVE!" Which is right, I just love the way he says it....all the emphasis on "VEEEVE".

Buggy Update

After my post yesterday, the boys, who were still talking about putting the bug in the trash and trying to get rid of it, starting discussing between themselves what the natural predators would be for that kind of roach. When they decided a bird would eat a bug, they started to make bird calls, hoping to scare the bug out of the house. The fact that there was no open door or window didn't seem to bother them.

Before Sweet Hubby got home, my mother-in-law came by to pick us up so we could go run some errands. Zachary immediately reported the situation to her and she disposed of the bug for us.

All is right with the world.

Crazy bug-hater

I walked in to the living room last night after putting the kids to bed, and saw a large semi-dead tree roach in the middle of the floor. Like the completely mature adult that I am, I left it there, hoping it would be more dead in the morning...and also hoping that Sweet Hubby would be home before the kids freaked out too much about it.

When we got up this morning, it was still there. I assumed (wrongly) that it was 100% dead, seeing as how it was still in the same place and position in the living room. (I should probably state here my disgust for just about everything with six legs...add wings to those six legs, and I'm done, acting like a complete fool if it comes anywhere within 20 feet of me--or looks like it might think about coming anywhere within 20 feet of me....and this is a trait I've passed on to my children). After the kids and I stared at it for a while (still assuming it's deadness), Stephen bravely volunteered to pick it up. There was no argument from me as I threw the paper towel at him. He wadded the paper towel, picked it up and headed for the kitchen trash.

And then. It moved.

At which point Stephen threw the paper towel and the roach 5 feet in the air, Zachary and I squealed, leaped out of our skins and landed on the couch. The kids were pretty freaked out, I however, was laughing hysterically. Stephen, in desperate attempts to convince me that I should be the one to pick it up, started telling me that I was the grown-up and all I had to do was pick it up and run to the trash and why don't we get a shoe to kill it first and we could make Zachary do it or maybe Marc-Adam would do it and we had to eat breakfast soon and he wasn't going to eat breakfast with that thing sitting next to the table...and on and on and on. In a completely shameful moment of desperation, I asked Marc-Adam if he wanted to smack the bug with a shoe, to which he replied, "Ew."

The poor bug was actually still moving, twitching it's legs *shudder* and spinning in buggy circles on it's back. I decided it was time to take some action, because seriously, I was hungry and no way was I eating breakfast with the bug looking at me. So, again like the completely mature adult that I am, I retrieved the paper towel, threw it over the bug and pushed the bug and paper towel over to the trash can with a broom. I added in a smack for good measure and that's when the bug came out from underneath paper towel (consequently, it was also when I needed a change of clothes). It wriggled and squirmed in it's feeble attempts to rescue itself from the crazy lady, but eventually flipped back to it's back and spun in a few more buggy circles.

And ladies and gentleman, that's where it still sits as I type this. Sweet Hubby won't be home for another hour or so, but I'm content with the bug's location at this time. I don't have to look at it or think about it (despite the children telling me repeatedly that all I have to do is pick it up and put it the trash).

I'm gonna buy me a lottery ticket!

OK, so not really, since we don't play the lottery, but seriously, I've won two bloggy giveaways in two days!! I won a Yoplait Kids giveaway from Nicole @ As Many as We're Given and a preschool Spanish DVD from Mommy Daisy. I'm so excited! I never win anything. Actually, I won something once....when Sweet Hubby and I were engaged, we won a 4day/3 night stay at a hotel in Hawaii from a bridal show. But we couldn't afford the plane tickets.

I'm going to go see what other giveaways are going on now!! :)

Freak. Out.

That's pretty much what I did in church this morning (literally in front of God and everybody) when Sweet Hubby pointed something out to me. Apparently, this conflicts with the big deal music ministry Christmas program that I'm a part of at our church. I do this kind of thing all the time, where I plan two things to happen at the same time and it never clicks to me that they happen AT THE SAME TIME. I talked briefly to the music director and he told me he would tear me to shreds if I didn't come to the program. Nice. He wasn't mean about it and he was smiling. He wouldn't actually be ugly about it, I'm sure, but I know he really wants every voice there and every single person is important to him. So we're trying to figure out how to make both things work. The kids really really want to go the concert AND the tickets were a gift. The tickets also have our names on them and state that they may ask for ID at the door to make sure that the tickets actually belong to the people presenting them.

I think we're going to try to do both, but it's going to make for a hectic night and we'd miss a large chunk of the concert.

I'm so sad.

Off the market

So. We took the house off the market. Our contract was up next month anyway, and I was just so tired of thinking about it. I didn't figure anyone would be coming to look at it over the holidays and if we keep it on the market till after the first of the year, then it's getting too close to when the baby's coming and I'm just not comfortable with that. I don't want things to be up in the air during that time. I don't want to have to deal with packing and moving all while getting things prepared for a new little person. Besides, I've gotten settled back in to the idea of living here a little bit longer. And the truth is, as much as I don't like the little town we live in, I love our little house. It's just...us. It's home. Even though we do plan on moving within the next few years, I'll be sad to leave it behind.

So we're staying put for a bit longer. Just so you know.

Thankful Thursday

I think the Thankful Thursday thing is nothing new, but Jana has decided to devote the next couple Thursdays to things she's thankful for being that it's November and all. I started to list out the a few of the little, fun things I'm thankful for in the comment section on her blog, but decided to my own post. She asked what non-serious things are you thankful for (other than the serious things like family, home, health, etc.). Here are some of mine:

• A family that lets me nibble food off of their plates--especially since I rarely share food off of mine.
• DVR (Jana said this, too), so I can keep up with my favorite shows...there are a few that come on before the boys are in bed and I otherwise would miss them (the VCR is dead to me).
• Stretchy pants. 'Nuff said.
• Cinammon Cinnammon Cinnamon. I love the smell. I boil cinnamon sticks on the stove and it's the one smell that I can stand anytime and it also eats up the yucky smells I can't stand. It also doesn't stink up the house when I forget that I'm boiling it and it burns.
  
• A hubby that will run out and buy me snacks when I ask.
  
• Phineas and Ferb. Seriously one of the funniest shows I've seen in a while. And it's safe for the boys to watch. Bonus.
• Fox News. I've made my love for Fox News no secret. I realized I might have a problem when I was surfing the Fox News website while having it on the TV.

What are you thankful for? Feel free to leave your list in the comments or make your own post.

Little by little

Besides what I posted a few weeks ago about feeling crabby, I haven't been posting how I've really been feeling. The truth is, for a little while there, things weren't good at all. Not only was I exhausted and nauseous all the time (which in and of itself makes life hard), I think I was also dealing with with some mild, short-term depression. If the fatigue and nausea wasn't enough to lay me out, the depression was. I had hard time doing any of my normal activities and I felt like the kids were really the ones paying the price, so most of the time, I drug myself along to keep things normal for them, even when I would have have rathered just stay in bed, never stepping foot outside my door. Looking back, I'm glad I did, because I think just laying on the couch or in bed all the time would have made me feel worse for longer.

But now, the clouds are starting break a little bit and I'm starting to feel like my normal self. I'm still nauseous most of the time and dealing with all-day sickness. But the fatigue and "blues" have started to fade, so I'm able to actually function, even between dates with my toilet. Normally, this level of nausea would be enough to keep me whining, but now I have a little perspective.

It feels fantastic to feel half-way normal again.

Four

Really? You're four? Zachary, slow down buddy boy. You're getting too big too fast! You are officially a big boy in my mind now.



It's been a great year. You're really growing into your own person, your own personality and you are such joy to be around. I love how you are still a snuggler. Every time I sit down, you immediately fold yourself in to the curve of my side. And today when you did that, you had a bowl of goldfish snacks, so you sat there and fed me goldfish as we snuggled and a watched a little TV. You do that quite a bit. You're very generous with most things when given the chance. However, you do NOT like to have things taken away from you, so it's always better for us to ask first.

This year, you've learned lots of new things. When we started school, I geared most of our activities toward Stephen, but you are keeping up wonderfully and you insist on having your turn at the school table. You know all your letters and numbers now and are beginning to sound out words.

You still talk with a precious little lisp, and when you talk there is such excitement in your voice. You are still a lot like your mama because I've noticed quite a bit lately that when you feel a certain way about something, you feel it intensely. You are either very excited, very happy, very mad or very sad. You are never "just a little" anything.

Yesterday, we started an experiment. You see, you carry your lovey around with you everywhere. Not only does the lovey get filthy, but you constantly have your fingers in your mouth because of it. So starting yesterday, I told you that lovey could not come out of your bed. You could have it at naps and nighttime, but for the rest of the day, you would be lovey-free. You whined quite a bit about it, and at one point, I couldn't find you anywhere in the house. I went in to your room (that was almost completely dark), flipped on the light and found you cuddled in your bed with your lovey. You spent quite a bit of time in your room by yourself yesterday. Today was much better, and you missed lovey a lot less, although, I did notice that lovey somehow snuck out of your room a couple of times.

You are still apprehensive about trying new things in general, but I noticed this year, that you are getting better about it and you are more easily convinced than you used to be. You've also shown that you can be quite the chatty child. Especially when you are by yourself without your brothers around, you are just full of thought and question and conversation. Never a dull a moment. :)

Zachary, you are still my sweet little boy. So laid back and easy-going (most of the time). You march to the beat of your own drum, but once in a while, it seems like it sounds a lot like mine. I'm relieved for you that we have a new baby coming, because you'll no longer be the middle child. I'm not sure what that means for you down the road, but I hope it's a good thing.

I'm so glad God gave us you. And I can't wait to see what we can do together in your 5th year!

Love,
Mama

YAY YAY YAY!!!

On Dec. 12, me and 3 (out of the 4) of my favorite guys are gonna be here.



Did I mention YAY!?

I knew it was coming

I was pretty sure this would be the next thing we would be hearing about.

A lot less talk, and a little more action

Well, it's over now. Thank goodness. I've made it no secret here in my little corner of the bloggy world who we were supporting in the election last night. So obviously, we're not exactly stoked in the Sweet house this morning. I was wrong on how quickly the election would be decided, and I was really surprised at how large the margin was between the two candidates. I thought for sure it would be much much closer, regardless of who won. But I still stick to my thought that about half of the country shares in my disappointment this morning. I also find it--what? strange, funny, ironic?--that our Democrat-run congress has a 9% approval rating, and yet, we've elected more democrats to office. I'm not sure what that says. However, most all the county and state elections went the way that I voted, so I'm feeling pretty good about that.

Saying that I'm skeptical of a President Obama is an understatement. I don't think that he can accomplish everything that he's promised, and honestly, I don't want him to since I don't agree with any of his policies or plans. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and I'm accepting that this has been the decision of our country. It takes every shred of will and maturity that I have within me to do that, though. I'm interested to see what direction the country will take and to see if Americans are happy with the change they've voted for. Honestly, I'm a little nervous. But I'm holding tight to my belief that God is in control of this. So I remain optimistic and hopeful.

I hope that in the next 4 years I'm pleasantly surprised by how this all plays out. But I'm also prepared to quit just talking about politics and half-whining about what I don't want to happen. I decided a couple days ago (before we knew who would be elected) that for the 2012 election, I'm going to do more. I'm still going to talk about it, I'm still going to be listening to everything that's going on, but I'm going to find my politicial cause and the candidates that I back, and I'm going to get involved. I'm not sure why I didn't make that decision 6 months ago. I know it wouldn't have made a difference in this election, but I think I would have felt better about the outcome.

So I'm curious...what are your thoughts today? What do you think the next 4 years has in store for us?

Our civic duty is done for the day

We voted! The kids were excited, even though I don't think they fully comprehended the whole process. But each of the older two boys got to help press our "Cast Ballot" buttons and Stephen helped me spin my little dial to make our selections. I was hoping we'd get some stickers like we have in the past, but we didn't. Darn. I was really in it for the sticker. :)

We had a little scare in our voting process. The place that we normally go to to vote told us that our name wasn't on the list and told us to try another precinct's polling place. I was worried that something had happened to our registration. But we headed over to the other precinct and sure enough, we were on that list. I think the change in polling places has something to do with where we vote in the primaries vs. the general election.

I'm excited and nervous to find out the results, but like I stated a few days ago, I'm relieved that this campaign season is over. I'm not naive enough to believe that this election is over yet, though. I have a feeling this thing might drag for a few days at least. And it is a little disheartening that no matter who wins this election, at least 50% of the country won't be happy. People just feel so strongly about it.

So I hope you've voted. An opportunity to help make such a huge decision doesn't come along every day.

I should have thought this through a little better

The downside to not celebrating Halloween and not taking the kids out to trick-or-treat or, at the very least, taking them to the "Fall Festival"?

There is NO CANDY in the house when I start rummaging at 10:30pm to find something sweet.

I keep thinking of all the booty I could have confiscated for myself for their own good.

Progress Report

Just a small update about how school has been going around here. Today, we finally finished what I had planned to get done in the first week. Four weeks later. But it's okay. I had planned to take it slow, and there were several days that I just had to focus on surviving so school didn't happen. And there were several days that we just didn't get everything done. But the kids have been doing really well, and we're all still really enjoying this.

Both of the older boys now have the planets memorized and usually can get them in order. We talked about the difference between comets and asteroids as well as the difference between meteors, meteoroids and meteorites. They know all about orbits, and how the planets rotate and revolve. We've also studied the months of the year, and the last few weeks we've studied the winter months and the kinds of the things we eat, do and wear during the winter. We did some experiments to show the power of gravity and centrifugal force and made up a little song about how Isaac Newton discovered gravity.

Math has sort of fallen by the wayside because that's something that I have scheduled to do one on one with Stephen during the other boys' nap time, and most of the time, I have to get a nap, too. But I'm not too concerned about that yet. He understands as much or more about math in practice as most kindergartners, I think. His reading is getting better as well, and he's able to read more without sounding choppy. The sentences flow better and he's also getting better with comprehension. And when he gets to a word he doesn't know (which is rare), he figures it out on his own using context. We've been studying some poetry as well, and both boys have blown me away with their understanding and interpretation of poetry. Zachary listens so well and can answer any question about what we just read and Stephen is able to not take the poem literally and is able to interpret what the poet is actually trying to say. He was able to explain to me what a Robert Frost poem was actually saying. And then I prayed that I would be able to keep up with him past first grade.

Handwriting is just okay, but I've backed off of trying too hard. The last two days, Stephen has done great and there has been no tears about practicing the letters H, K, L and U. Which is nice since the program is called Handwriting Without Tears. Zachary is tearing through his Explode the Code book as well, but we're skipping a lot (but not all) of the handwriting exercises because I think he's just too young for all that writing.

Now that I've shamelessly bragged on the intelligence of my kids, I have to share a funny with you, lest you think that I'm snotty about thinking my kids are actually geniuses or that I think that I'm the best teacher ever (I so don't). This morning, we were studying and talking about February and so we were discussing President's Day. I read them a poem about George Washington and asked some questions afterward. The poem talked about George Washington "hearing the bugle's call" and going off to fight for the country. I started a "leading" sentence that I intended for Stephen to finish. So I said, "He heard the bugle's call and went to join...." And Stephen finished the sentence "....joined the.....Midianites?"

Wha....?

I almost couldn't finish the lesson because I couldn't quit giggling.

Is it over yet?

November 4 is fast approaching, and while that day holds significance for me every year, this year on our anniversary, Sweet Hubby and I will be casting what I think is the most important vote we have ever cast. Actually, this is only my second time to vote in a presidential election (the first time I was eligible, there was a registration error that kept me from being able to vote in 2000). But this year, it feels more urgent.

I know a lot of people would call this election done, based on the poll numbers. But it's not yet. I don't trust the polls at all. And I read that at this point in the 2004 race, Kerry was up by 6 points according to the polls. However, despite not believing the polls and not being convinced that this whole thing is wrapped up for one particular candidate, I'm not exactly hopeful. Mainly because I think that whatever happens, this process leading up to November 4 has left a bad taste in my mouth. There's been lies, fraud, hateful words and actions, and all around awfulness from the supporters of each campaign that keeps normal people from being able to completely trust any candidate, if that were even possible. No matter who gets elected, I think we the people have been jipped. We've not been given a fair opportunity to have all the information we need to make an intelligent decision. There are many, many people who are fired up for who they are voting for. But there are still many that aren't. And it's a sad day for our country when so many Americans have to go to the polls feeling defeated before they even cast their ballot.

Honestly, I don't think that either candidate can make good on the promises they've made. No one person can, even if they are the POTUS.

I normally love this process....I enjoy a good debate, and I'm okay with the fact that at least half of the people that call this country home disagree with me on many issues, but I'll be glad when this is all over. I'll be glad when we get to see the candidate who wins for what kind of president he'll really be. I'll be glad when people finally quiet down about it all. I'll be glad when we can leave all the yelling to the folks in Washington and us normal folks can finally be normal again.

There's a chill in the air...

...which means we all start thinking about Christmas. My cousin Kelli was talking about her plans for Christmas on her blog and in the comments I started talking about my plans. But then I remembered I was planning on doing a post similar to hers and my comment was getting too long anyway. So, even though we haven't even said good-bye to Halloween yet (and thank goodness that's over this weekend!), I thought I'd lay out what we're planning on doing this year for Christmas.

For years, I've been trying to stick to "Jesus got three presents for Christmas, that's good enough for you, too", but it never works. I usually end up getting 3 "real" things, and then a bunch of little filler stuff. I think this year will be the same, too. AND I've budgeted well enough this year, that I'll be able to have most of my Christmas money the day after Thanksgiving, when we might be able to get some good deals. We tend not to go overboard anyway, so I don't think money will be an issue. Here's what we're thinking for the kids (and this is subject to change based on any new ideas they might have):

Stephen will be getting a Razor Scooter (and forgive all my Wal*mart links...that's where we'll doing most if not all of our shopping for the kids). He's been asking for a "cool" scooter for a while, and he's well out grown his other scooter and bike. So he needs a new set of wheels. He'll also be getting an Elmer's Science Kit, although, not necessarily that one in the link. I think he'll be really excited about that. And we're also looking at one of these Star Wars games, although I might get him the new Guess Who game instead. And we might fill in with some books from Half Price Books.

Zachary's hard to buy for. He's not really "in" to much. And most of the stuff we get for Stephen would be a gift to Zachary, too. But we're definitely getting this Batman set for him. It's really cute and I can just see the look on his face when he sees it. I was also thinking about a work bench and tool set, but I don't know. I don't think he would be really excited for it. But it might being one of those toys that don't garner a whole lot of excitement when it gets opened, but ends up being one of the most played with. It would definitely help on fine motor skills, which he could always use help on. He might get a game instead, I don't know yet. And because we're lousy, cheap parents, I was thinking that we would take the bike that Stephen got for Christmas last year that he was probably too big for back then, and paint it to look different (it still looks new because Stephen wasn't able to do much damage to it since he could barely ride it). I was thinking maybe painting it green and calling it a Hulk bike. I don't know. I'm afraid he'd be on to me. He wants his own bike, and I want to surprise him with one, but there's no sense in getting a brand new one when we have a perfectly good one in the garage. And of course some books and coloring books/workbooks.

And Marc-Adam. He's hard to buy for, too, because there's not much out there for his age that doesn't take batteries and that we don't already have or had at some point and then sold or given away. I've been wanting to get one of the kids a set of these blocks for a long time. I think I just might do it for him. I was also thinking about the classic bubble mower or maybe the grocery cart. I thought this was cute, but I read a review that it was smaller in real life than it looks in the picture, so I might go have a look at the store before making a decision. He'll probably be getting some coloring books and maybe a couple new Matchbox cars.

After adding all that up, we still have quite a bit of the money left from what we budgeted for them, so we thought we might get something big that would be a gift to all of them. I was thinking the Smart Cycle, but it's just so large and it hasn't gotten totally great reviews (too many people complained it quit working after a few uses and lots of people said it was a battery sucker). Plus, it might be a little too close to a video game for my taste. So, I'll have to think on that. We might just end up saving the leftover money or maybe get them something else they can all enjoy.

As for me, I've been hoping for a while that this would make it on to Sweet Hubby's idea list for our anniversary or Christmas. And since there's no money for our anniversary next week, I think I might have dropped enough hints for him to get it for Christmas. I seriously watch the infomercial everytime I see that it's on. I read some reviews and most were great but some weren't so good, but I'm still excited to see what I can do with it. Other than that, there's nothing else I really want, so that should be easy for him.

And I have no idea what Sweet Hubby'll be getting for Christmas this year. He'll probably do what he always does and just buy himself some stuff off of eBay or Amazon and then I'll wrap it and he'll act surprised. That's the only that he gets stuff that he's excited about. If left up to me, he would get jammie pants, a cap or a watch. All of which he likes, but all year long he looks at and watches stuff that he really wants...and none of those things are things that he can wear.

We have stockings, but they're not really a big deal to us. We rarely spend more than $10 on them. We'll probably just fill them with fruit and nuts and maybe a small thing of candy (when the kids get older, we'll do Lifesaver books since that's a tradition in our family....they're just entirely too young now for hard candy).

So there you go. That's a lot of links (and I haven't gone back to double check all the links...if you find one that's weird or wrong, let me know so I can fix it). I'll be posting more of our plans (food, decorations, etc) later, since we're doing something new this year and just staying at home both Christmas Eve and Christmas day instead of visiting family. That's totally new for us, and will take a bit more planning on my part.

Two

Holy moly. My little firecracker turned two today. He enjoyed a day of church, Wal*mart with his Gram and Papa and a nice dinner with all the people who love him most.

Marc-Adam,

You're two!! And you love telling people so. You're a big boy now. I catch myself everytime I start to call you "the baby".

You've changed so much and so little in the last year. I looked back at the letter I wrote you one year ago, on your first birthday. Your personality is still much the same, but now you've grown so much that you are able to express it a lot more. Your persistence: One of your favorite phrases is "I deed it!!" which is our cue to back off and let you figure things out for yourself. You are still so affectionate. You don't give the sweet little slobbery kisses anymore, but full on smooches with sound effects and all. One of my favorite things in life is a hug from you. You're pretty chincy with the good hugs, but once in a while, you throw your arms around my neck and squeeeeeze. You're affectionate with your brothers, too. No one goes anywhere or does anything without you getting some hugs and kisses first. We've had to work in a few extra minutes into our nap and bedtime routines to make sure you have time to make your rounds of hugs and kisses and that you get sufficient love before you head to sleep.

You also started talking so well in the last year and in the last few days, I've noticed you trying to put 3 words together. You love asking questions....your favorites are asking where everyone that you love is. We'll be in the car, in the middle of the day, and all of the sudden you start asking, "Where's Daddy? Where's Nonny? Where's Grammy? Where's Poppy? Where's Papa?" It goes on and on. That's cute. But the frustrating part is how you keep saying, "Huh?" every time we answer you. We haven't figured out whether or not you actually can't hear or understand, or if you're just bored and messing with us. Besides just talking, you can clearly understand SO MUCH. I talk to you just like I do your brothers, and the majority of the time, I can tell that you get it. You are a smart cookie!

You still love colors. But now you're a big fan of color books. I was surprised our first day of school a few weeks ago when I was actually able to keep you occuppied with some color books for a while. And I'm really impressed with how well you hold the crayons. It gives me hope that maybe I won't have such a hard time with writing with you.

Lots of firsts this year: You started walking, started talking, had your first time out. Thankfully, so far time-outs seem to be effective in disciplining you, which is a good thing since for a long time I was so slow to discipline you. I think it had to with the fact that you are the third child and you've always been so darned cute while misbehaving. It's hard for me to discipline while I'm laughing at you. But things were clearly getting out of hand when you would blatantly disobey. So I tightened up on you, and it seems to be working. You're a lot more fun to be around when you follow the rules.

You've finally started getting interested in books lately. We don't ever actually finish one before you lose interest, but the fact that you'll go get one, bring it to me and ask to be read to is a big deal. You don't really have any favorites except for a couple touch and feel books. You really like just about anything. You're also the most helpful boy in our house. No one can do anything without you helping. And you don't just offer help, you insist--and sabotage any efforts we might make in doing it by ourselves. You love to help take out the trash, sweep, unload the dishwasher, and cook (but when you help cook, you mostly just empty the contents of the pantry while I cook).

You're still quite the character and love having all the attention on you. You are great in keeping all the grown-ups around you laughing. You are just such a joy to be around!

We love you sweet boy. I can't believe you're not a baby anymore and in a few short months you won't even be "the baby". But you still hold a sweet special place in my heart. And you always will.

Love,
Your mama

From crabby to crazy in only one post

Ok. So maybe I might be feeling a little better. I'm afraid to say for sure that I am because I've been feeling slightly better for such a short time. But yesterday afternoon was actually really good and there was nothing really to make it better than any other day. And this morning when I woke up, my first thought wasn't, "Ah, crap." Which is an improvement. Seriously. I really didn't mind getting out of bed, and everyone else was still asleep when I got up which is always the best way to start the day, in my opinion.

Sweet Hubby and his dad are off doing some side jobs for some extra money (helping family clean up after Hurricane Ike) and they didn't come home last night. So I called my mother-in-law over for dinner, and that really was the best part of my day. We had a great visit and dinner actually turned out good and she brought vanilla cool whip. She brought some other stuff, too, to go under the cool whip, but really, with french vanilla cool whip do you need anything else?

Oh and proof that I'm pregnant....I've been thinking a lot lately about chocolate covered Pringles. To my knowledge, they don't even make chocolate covered Pringles. And really, can a food get any worse than covering a potato chip with chocolate? But I've been thinking about getting the ingredients I might need to make my own. Who knows...maybe I could market something like that. At fairs and festivals and such. People eat fried Snickers. Why not a chocolate potato chip?

A meme.

Because I still can't think of anything else to blog about other than my sour mood. I'm sorry. I know "listening" to me whine about nothing is not why you come to read. So I figured I'd do something a little fun. A while back, there was a little "meme" going around where you were supposed to post the 6th picture in the 6th folder of pictures from your computer. It looked like fun, but I didn't do it for a while because I was never home when I thought about it. But I sat here for a while looking at the little blinking cursor wanting to blog something, and that came to me. So here goes. The 6th picture in the 6th folder. My folders are by date, so this one's from the summer of 2006.


It's Stephen. Eating something. It looks like it might be a small can of fruit, I guess. Although, I can't remember ever buying little cans of fruit like that. It's certainly not something I would buy today. And I'll also point out (since someone is going to notice it, for sure, and I'd rather point it out first) that the wall behind him looks kinda gross. Not sure how something would have gotten thrown or splashed back there. BUT, Stephen looks so young and pudgy there. So cute. Looking at pictures of my kids always reminds me of how stinkin' cute they are. I guess it's harder for me to see that in real life because pictures don't talk back, whine, or smell.

Need more synonyms for "crabby"

I don't know how many more different ways I can say it, but I'm still cranky.

In fact, I'm so cranky that I don't want to go anywhere or do anything. I want to sit at home not being responsible for anything or anybody for at least a couple days. Things that we usually do and enjoy are now a chore for which I drag myself out of bed to throw on a baseball cap and stretchy pants to accomplish. Alas, life must go on in spite of my mood. Especially for the kids. It's not their fault their mama feels like hiding most of the day.

So here's my dream day, I've decided: I want to stay at home all day, with the thermostat set at 68 (it'd be nice if it were cold enough to turn off the A/C altogether, but it's still pushing 90 here in Boiler Room, Texas). I want to sit on the couch all day long watching episodes of Fringe and House and Army Wives. With a big plate of hot cheese sticks and really good marinara sauce. Maybe Sweet Hubby can come too.

As long as he doesn't try to eat my cheese sticks.

Crabby

I'm sorry I haven't been around this last week. I'm not sure why I haven't been blogging. I don't really have anything to say and I've been kinda cranky, so anything I blog about will be through the crabby glasses, so it's probably safest that I don't blog.

Everything is fine here. We're behind in school, though. But I sorta planned for that, so it's no biggie. I'm not stressing about it....yet.

And on the YAY! front, someone came to look at the house yesterday and was very interested. Our agent said that the Guy said a couple of times that he would like to buy it. But (and there always seems to be a butt but) our agent said that the Guy doesn't really sound like he's got his finances together and may not know what he's talking about. And Guy talked about wanting us to pay his closing costs, and I don't think we can make that happen. So, this is still a very iffy situation, but it's still hope!

The jury's in

And it was more optimism than stupidity that led me to go ahead and start school today. Although, there were several points in the day that it could have gone either way.

We started our school day at about 9:15am with some Bible study. We read Genesis 1 about what God created when and discussed that. I was impressed with some of the questions both Stephen and Zachary had. Then we did some reading together, me reading to the kids and Stephen reading to us. During most of the reading we did (bible and regular books) Marc-Adam fussed, cried and bullied his way into my lap. It got a little hairy during that time. Zachary wanted to read one of the BOB books, so I pulled out the very first one, and he read it! He's read it before, but not as well as he did today. He needed help with one word, but other than that, he didn't have a problem. He might have just been looking at the pictures and guessing, but still. That's the beginning. I told him that when he could read the whole first box of BOB books that he could get his own library card. His very own library card has been sort of a holy grail for Zachary, so now he's very motivated to read. I'm actually really surprised...I thought for sure he would be a late reader, but it looks like I might have another early reader on my hands.

Okay. Brag over. Sorry.

After we read, we took a break to get some wiggles out and I taught the kids how to crab walk. If you've never seen a young child do that, you need to. It was a good laugh for everyone...even the kids.

Next was handwriting. Each kid got their own book (Marc-Adam a coloring book, Zachary had a Kumon tracing book and Stephen's working out of Handwriting Without Tears) and pencil. I was actually pleasantly surprised at how happy everyone was working out of their own books. Marc-Adam tried to mark in Stephen's a couple of times, but once I handed him the whole box of colors, he was fine playing by himself (mainly throwing crayons at Zachary and tasting the color pencils). I'm still feeling a little discouraged about Stephen's handwriting, but I'm going to try to make sure we do at least a couple pages every day, even if we do no other school, just to make sure he's getting practice.

We made lunch and had our quiet/nap time. While the two younger kids slept, Stephen and I did a review of some of the Math-U-See book we didn't finish last year. It won't take us long to catch up to where we left off, I don't think.

The most fun part of school was the afternoon. After naps and a snack, we did our KONOS work. We talked about the days of the week, sang a song about the months of the year and studied a calendar, pointing out special days and holidays. Then we started learning about the planets and even made up a little song about them. We talked about the difference between rotate and revolve and acted each out and then acted out doing both at the same time. Stephen and Zachary both got to take turns being the sun and the earth. They thought that was the best fun ever. We did some more "work" about how the earth orbits the sun and finished up by reading some poetry about the universe and the earth.

When I announced, "That's it! We're done for the day!" I was met with groans and "Oh man!" So I guess the day should be counted as a success even though we had to deal with several melt-down and discipline issues with Marc-Adam.

It was really a totally fun day. We're all looking forward to more tomorrow. Let's hope we can keep this momentum and enthusiasm!

Quick update

We saw the baby for the first time yesterday afternoon. Baby's strong and measuring exactly where he/she should be. Heart beat is great, too. I have another cyst, which I've always had at the beginning of each pregnancy and they always go away on their own. I'm praying this one does, too.

Today is officially our first day of school. So far, it's started out great. We're ahead of my tentative schedule and the kids are really excited about starting. Today, we'll just be easing in to all of our curriculum and our new schedule. I'm excited to see how it works for us. Zachary's got this nasty cough and is feeling pretty puny because of it and Marc-Adam woke up testy (and that's putting it nicely), so I'm hoping our day doesn't fall apart before we really even get started. Optimistic or stupid? I'll let you know at the end of the day.

Imaginary Jones

Yesterday morning, Stephen introduced me to his new friend. "He's just in my imagination, Mom," he whispered while pointing at his head. "His name's Joshua." How old is he, I asked. "Almost six."

And so the day went on with Joshua included in the activities.

This morning, Zachary informs me that he's got an invisible friend. I asked the same questions of name and age. "His name's Joshua, and he's almost 4, just like me." Stephen was in the same room with us, and I smiled and said, "So you both have new friends named Joshua who happen to be the same ages as the both of you?"

Zachary said, "Yep."

And Stephen replied, "Yep, 'cept mine's got a bullwhip."



*Edited to add: I've never once heard Stephen ever mention anything about a bullwhip. I have no idea how he knows of such a thing. Which is why that comment was completely out of the blue and so funny to me.

Pink or blue

Before we announced our newest pregnancy (and we still haven't told everyone), people would see us with all the kids and ask a very specific question: "Are you done, or are you going to try for that girl?"

Um. Are those my only options?

I really always wanted to actually say that, but I never had the guts, so I just said, "Neither. We're not necessarily done and we're not going to be trying for a girl." Like the gender of our children has anything to do with how many children we have.

They'd always say, "Oh. That's nice."

I've tried to imagine what it would've been like to have a girl thrown in earlier, like as a first or second child and the honest truth is, even with "mixed" kids, I still think we'd want a large family ("large" being a relative term).

People say now, "You hoping for that girl?" Right in front of my boys. I answer, "Nope! I love my boys!"

Again, the honest truth is I want both. I would love to have a daughter. I would love to have that relationship. I would love to have the pinks and purples and hairbows and baby dolls. But on the other hand, I've got a great thing going with my all-boy household and heart. The thought of holding another son close to me nearly brings me to tears (and the good kind of tears, not the "oh crap another boy" kind). I feel so honored to be the mother of my sons.

So, I think when we find out if our newest little addition has indoor or outdoor plumbing, I'll be excited (the phrase "over the moon" comes to mind). But I'm also going to grieve for what we didn't get.

SO glad to have that off my chest!

The news is out now! We're expecting baby #4 sometime in mid-May. My official due date is the 18th, I think, but I know I'll be scheduled for a c-section earlier than that, but who knows when the baby will actually come. Marc-Adam taught me to never be so sure of the plans that I've made. :)

I've known for almost 3 weeks now. The first few days it was terrible not to be able to tell anybody. I really wanted to wait to announce it until after our trip because we were planning on telling my parents and the kids while in Disney World. So we told my in-laws just before we left, and then broke the news to the kids and my folks the first night we were there. I actually got it all on video. The younger two kids didn't really care obviously (Zachary has yet to say anything about it), my parents got excited, but Stephen, who had been up since 3am that morning and had only an hours nap jumped up and yelled, "WHAT?! I already have to listen to him cry *pointing at Marc-Adam*! Now we're having another one?!"

Dork.

Not the reaction I was expecting. Especially since he's been saying for months that he wanted another baby. He's since apologized for acting like that and is acting more excited, but it would've been nice to have him really excited on the video. I feel bad for his future sibling to have to watch that.

But who knows....it might win us $10,000.

I'm baaaack!

Howdy! We're back from our fabulous vacation. Actually we were back on Friday, but I didn't feel like getting to all the e-mail and blogs again, so I had to convince myself to do it today. I have a bill that needs to be paid online anyway. So, I'm spending some time catching up with what's been going on with all of you while I was playing myself silly in Disney.

We had a seriously fantastic time. We came back exhausted and overstimulated. Friday night, we were all in bed asleep by 9pm. ALL of us! The kids loved it (even though the lack of normal sleep made Stephen terribly irritable) and we did everything we wanted to do. There were far more people than we had expected, but we still didn't wait more than 20 or 30 minutes for rides or shows. The weather was fabulous, except for one whole afternoon on Monday and for about 15 minutes on Tuesday. I did discover that my hair revolts against Florida weather and water. It looked terrible all week and there was nothing I could do about it. I did have a hat that I wore until the showers on Monday afternoon. At some point during that rain, my hat got wet and shoved into a bag, so that when I took it out, it looked like a hat that should be worn by one of the bears in Country Bear Jamboree. I left that hat in the trash in Florida. It made me sad.

I'll post pictures soon, but we got pictures with so many characters (no autographs though, because I didn't think about that). Just off the top of my head, we met Tigger, Pooh, Darby, Eeyore, Rafiki (the kids didn't even know who that was), Spiderman (at our trip to Islands of Adventure), the Cat in the Hat, Thing 1 and thing 2, The Grinch, Curious George and the Man in the Yellow Hat, Buzz Lightyear (twice), and Woody. There's more I'm sure, but that's all I can think of. If you aren't already thinking about or planning a trip to Disney, you should start NOW. Seriously. It's a lot of work, especially with really young kids, but it's so worth it. We're already planning another trip for 2010. Except then, we'll have 3 more people...my mother and father-in-law are joining us....and the new baby.

Due May '09.

:)

Unintended bloggy break

Tuesday afternoon I sat down at my computer to write some e-mails and to blog only to find that I had no internet connection. I quickly fired up the troubleshooting software to find out what the heck was wrong only to find that I also had no phone lines. I called our company to report the problem only to be told that they were experiencing an extremely high call voulume due to damage done by Hurricane Ike (also known as the hurricane that just keeps on giving). Yesterday afternoon, I saw that a large telephone pole had fallen (a few days AFTER Ike passed through) and there were all kinds of phone trucks and phone guys working on it. So I'm guessing that was my problem. My original plan of action was to just ignore the problem. At least until after we got back from Disney. I figured if it were a system wide problem, it would be fixed by then, and if not, well, then maybe the call volume wouldn't be so high and I would be able to get through. But it looks like it's going to get fixed. I may call my house soon to see if my machine picks up meaning that the line went through.

So that's why I wasn't around this week. TOMORROW, I'm getting on a plane headed to the place where dreams come true. I'm so excited. Really, I just want the Cap'n Crunch Chicken Fingers at Planet Hollywood. I've been craving those for a few weeks. Anyway, I don't know if I'll find a place to get to the internet during that time, so I probably won't be blogging this coming week, either. But I'll be back at the beginnning of NEXT week with all the pictures and details of our excitement. Oh, and please pray for safe travels and good weather. It's supposed to be thunderstorming every single day we're there. Boo.

Oh, and speaking of excitement...someone came to look at our house yesterday (only the SECOND person ever) and liked it so much they wanted to come look at it again today. YAY! Maybe maybe maybe we'll get an offer while we're on vacation!

Have a great week, y'all! Stay out of trouble! Love all around.

Random ramblings

The next few days should be hectic. I've got to get the house spotless, in case someone wants to come look at the house while we're gone, and get all of us packed and ready for the big trip. I actually have to get all that done by Wednesday evening, because Thursday we have stuff going on and we've decided to stay with my parents Thursday night (in addition to Friday night that we had planned on so we could get up early to get to the airport). Today, I had some dental work and I've been so tired this week (I think all the hurricane stress sapped me more than I realized). So instead of working on getting things done during nap time, I passed out on the couch for an hour and a half. Thank goodness for DVR because Stephen was able to watch whatever he wanted so I could get that rest. But now I have 2 days to get it all done...and I don't know where to start. So all day today, I kept finding myself just wandering through house trying to find something to do that would make me feel productive and that I thought I wouldn't have to do again before we leave.

I'm so happy to finally be able to put my focus on the trip now, but I'm also thinking about what comes after that. I'm anxious to get started with school, and I'm toying with the idea of starting to potty train Marc-Adam. I know. He's not even 2. Starting our homeschool year and potty-training at the same time. Bucket full of crazy. But he just seems so ready. He tells me when he's 'gone' and when he needs to be changed. He goes and gets all the stuff I need for each diaper change. When the kids holler for help in the bathroom, he runs in ahead of me saying, "Wipe! Wipe!" He flushes the toilet and tells the contents "bye-bye". He's so interested in the boys' undies and he's always trying to take his diaper off so he can sit on the potty, but I won't let him, because he wants to sit there all.day.long. My heart's just not in it yet, and I certainly didn't want to be hauling a potty training child on a plane and then to Disney World. That would just suck all the fun and relaxation out of the whole week.

As I'm typing this, I'm half watching an episode of John and Kate Plus 8. They're on a plane with the 8 and things are quickly falling apart. Kate's crying, as are what sounds like at least half of the children. I'm glad we're not taking 8 kids to Disney World.

Getting back to normal...well, maybe not

Ahhh....things should be getting back to normal very very soon. I'll unpack everything that got packed up in case we had to make a quick getaway. Food will go back into the pantry where it belongs and the weather will clear up soon. I'm so glad this thing has finally passed and hopefully it'll be another 25 years before we take another direct hit.

And now that that excitement is over, I can let you in on a little secret that's got me REALLY exicted. 6 days from now, my family (including my parents) will be sitting on a plane heading for Disney World! The kids know we're going, but they think it's 16 days and that next weekend we're going to Dallas. That was my cover for the packing and planning that they're going to be seeing over the next few days. Then, next Saturday morning, we'll wake them up at 4am and tell them, "We're going to Disney World TODAY!" I bought them Leapsters that they have no idea about to help them stay busy and calm at the airport and on the plane. I think they'll all just be beside themselves. Stephen's been asking for some kind of video game player for a while and I'm pretty adamantly opposed to owning video games of any sort. But I caved for the Leapsters just so they can have something new and fun for the plane ride. And then in the future, we'll use them for situations where they might need to be entertained for a few minutes while I take care of business.

There are lots of surprises in store for the kiddos on this trip. Our days are pretty jam-packed but it'll still be relaxing and fun and leisurely.

We're praying off any more bad weather...for here AND Orlando. It looks like things are clearing up and the Atlantic is almost empty of anything that might cause us problems.

All is well

It's 1:42pm. The worst is over. The weather is still really nasty and it's almost creepy outside. But we're safe. The house has no damage. Let me repeat--we are safe, and the house has no damage. I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed right now at how blessed we are. We're still out of power, but my in-law's have it, so that's where we are right now. We just had a nice, hot meal that my mother-in-law cooked instead of the spaghettios and boiled eggs we had planned. We drove around for a little bit before we came out here just to see how the town looked. There are downed limbs, trees, power lines and rooves all over the place. The tin roof of one business in town is literally wrapped around the power pole in front of the building. Another business lost it's roof completely. It's laying in the parking lot. One light pole was literally twisted and broken in half.

At one point in the night, about 4am, I was surprised to hear what I thought were cars going by in front of our house. I realized that that must be a lot of cars and therefor it couldn't be cars. It turned out to be the wind. I got up to go look outside and it was bad. Our large live oak in the backyard was twisting and turning. It was scary. Just by listening to the storm inside the house, we had no idea how bad it was outside. I was expecting creaking and moaning and bumps and thumps. I never heard any of that and so we all actually slept pretty well, even though we were up early because it was so hot. The lights went out about 4am. I realized last night how well our house is built. It's a sturdy little house.

Sweet Hubby just texted me to tell me we have power now (he went back to get some stuff out of our fridge).

We didn't even lose a single limb. There's lots of little leaves and branches along with a couple unfortunate animals (ew), but other than that, we're no worse for wear.

I can't even describe the relief.

What's the right way to pray during a time like this?

So it looks like the storm has indeed moved to the east a little and last I heard about our area, we may only be getting 60-75 mph winds. In which case, it still might be a little scary, but we might not even lose power. That's better than the eye passing right through us. I heard that some transformers are built to go out in 75 mph winds because those winds are strong enough to down power lines so if the lines do go down, there won't be live wires all over the place. That's smart. I wondered about that.

During all this I've been praying, but it feels a little sticky . Obviously, stranger things have happened, but let's face it, this storm isn't just going to go away. It's not going to just disappear from the gulf. So when I pray for us to not get a hit, I feel like I'm basically praying for it to be sent upon someone else. That just feels wrong. I don't want a direct hit or danger in my household, but I certainly don't want to wish it on someone else. So I've just started praying that no matter what happens, that my family is safe and that there is minimal damage to my home. Really, I just want this to pass fast enough that we can go on our big trip next week without having to think about whatever we're still dealing with after this storm. That's the goal.

Batten the hatches

We're home. And I couldn't help but get my ol' 'puter hooked back up.

We're staying put during Ike. That's all we can do. We filled up our gas tanks this morning and I went to Wal-Mart (I was there before 8am and it was already a madhouse). I tried to get as many supplies as I could within our budget, but I'm a little worried about our food supply if we're out of electricity for more than a couple of days.

We actually got plywood for the windows since they were talking about 80-110+ mph winds here where we live (and we live pretty far inland). That was several hours ago...I'm hoping things have changed a little bit. Before they were talking about the eye (where the strongest winds are) would be coming straight up through our little town. But last I looked, they said it had moved east and the eye would be passing about 30ish miles east of us. Whatever happens, we'll be boarding up and all camping out in Marc-Adam's room tomorrow night. My in-laws are coming to hunker down with us, too. It should be an interesting night with 3 small kids, 4 adults and 2 dogs in a 10x11 room. But I guess people all over the world live like that every day. We can do it. I told my father-in-law that it might not be pleasant, but safe trumps pleasant.

I might check in once or twice tomorrow morning, but otherwise I'll get back on to let you all know what's going on as soon as we have electricity.

If you are in the path of this sucker, stay safe and take care.

Edited to add: This is the song that I've been singing in my head all day. It's been my prayer today.

Just so you know

I'm at my parents right now. I'm going home today, but it looks like Ike is headed straight for us. Our little town so far from the coast could be getting hurricane force winds. We're in the process of deciding now what we're going to do--stay or leave. Whatever we do, we've already unhooked our CPU at home, so I won't be around for a few days, so I'm posting now to let you know what's going on so you don't worry or wonder where I am while this thing is hitting. I'll get back to the blog as soon as I can.

Love all around.

Allrightythen

So do you all remember several months back when I was posting almost every day about our woes with Stephen? He suddenly went a little crazy and was having tantrums at all hours of the night and having awful behavior during the day. I was sleeping in his room for weeks and I finally gave up and told him that if he needed to be in the same room as me, then he would have to be the one sleeping in my room on the floor. Since then, he's been coming in in the middle of the night to sleep the rest of the night on a palette on our bedroom floor. I wasn't happy about it, but as long as I got to sleep all night in my own bed, I was willing to go along with it. I eventually got him a clock for his room and told him he couldn't come in until 1am. It worked great and that's been our arrangement for several months.

One night last week, though, he went to bed really late after a long and hard day. He ended up staying in his own bed until about 6:30am. When he got up to come into our room, I was awake enough to tell him that if he stayed in bed 1 more hour he would have stayed in bed all night long (6:30am is still middle of the night to us). He said, "Okay!" and happily went back to his room and slept for another hour and a half. He was so proud when he woke up and called everyone. He told me that afternoon that he was going to stay in his room all night that night, too, and I was all "Yeah, sure." But he did, and he has every night since. He even invited his brothers to go into my room and tear up his palette with him (he was very particular about his palette being right and straight).

So that problem worked out all on its own without any coaxing or worrying on my part. And I think his mood's better during the day, too. Which makes life easier on EVERYONE, because if Stephen ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.

And on a sidenote, I went back through my archives to find the link for the post I linked above and it's really interesting because I don't remember most of the huge issues that I posted about. I remember that we had a hard time overall, but not specific situations. Things were so bad back then that I would pray every day for God to help us all forget some of the really awful situations (mostly because of how I hated how I handled some of them). And I have forgotten. I don't think Stephen remembers either. He's got an amazing memory and brings up good and bad memories from long ago and he's never mentioned anything from that time. God is good.

Oh y'all....

This is scaring me.

Normally, I would be slightly worried about this. And no time is good. But now is just so not a good time to be dealing with a major hurricane. Not now. Just.not.now.

Right on!

More political stuff. I'm just really hyped up with the RNC being this week....feel free to skip this if you're tired of me posting it. At least I'm not blathering on about my own opinions...I'm just posting other people's that I happen to agree. :)

This is just fun to watch. Be sure to watch the last minute of the video.

I want to be best friends with her

I'm going to try not to get all political on you, but you'll have to bear with me over the next couple of months as the election draws near. I probably will be posting more and more about it because it's important to me and I hope it's important to you, too. And I hope that maybe even a respectful, civilized discussion and/or debate can come out of it.

So anyway, I didn't get to watch Sarah Palin's speech last night. But I got to read about it. I heart Sarah Palin. I was underwhelmed by John McCain's pick for VP at first, but the more I read about her and the more I hear what she has to say, I'm getting really excited about the prospect of having her as our Vice President.

And what Obama's been saying about her makes me like her even more. He keeps on talking out of both sides of his mouth. Blech.