SCHOOL!

We finally started school this week. Wednesday was our first day, and so far things are going well. It's still a lot to juggle...the care and feeding of Evie, keeping Marc-Adam entertained, and squeezing in everything we want to get done. But we still get everything (or at least the important things) accomplished.

As much as I enjoyed the curriculum we used at the end of last year, I knew we'd have to do something different this year to better fit our needs. I just don't have the time to plan and go into lengthy projects right now. So we're sticking with the basics and hoping that next year we can dive in to curriculum that's a little more in depth (and fun!).

So, this year, we are sticking with Math-U-See for math. We're doing the Alpha book and plan to take it a lot more slowly than we did the Primer. Math-U-See teaches concepts to mastery, not the spiral approach like other curricula and public schools use. So, this year, we have to make sure that Stephen masters each concept before we move on. That wasn't so important last year. The Alpha level teaches single-digit addition and subtraction, skip counting by 2, 5, and 10 (which he's already pretty familiar with) and even has a lesson for "solving for the unknown". There's also some appendices for telling time, which I've been lazy about teaching. Stephen's concept of time is fantastic. He can tell time from a digital clock and gets that when it says 12:30 that it will be 1:00 in 30 minutes and he knows what time something will happen if I tell him "10 more minutes". There's really nothing else I need to teach him about time other than how to read an analog clock (with the arms and all that). He's actually been asking me to teach him that. I might take a few days to skip ahead to the appendices so that he can learn how to read a clock.

We're also sticking with Handwriting Without Tears for handwriting. This year, Igot Zachary the preschool book, which he's excited about. We didn't work much on handwriting over the summer, but I can already tell that Stephen is picking it up much better than he did last year. I think he just needed a little more time. I've read that some kids just can't write well until they are closer to 7 or 8 and I think that's the case with Stephen. It's too early to tell with Zachary.

For reading, I've worked in more independent reading time for Stephen while I'm working with one of the other boys. Then I ask him questions about the book or ask him to tell it back to me so that I can assure that a) he actually read it and b) he comprehends what he read. I personally have issues with comprehension sometimes, so I want to make sure that's not a problem with him. I'm also starting Scaredy Cat (our version is different than the one in the link) with Zachary. Actually we touched on it last year, but I intend to actually finish it with him. He's doing really well with it so far, and is reading many many "consonant-vowel-consonant" words and is fantastic at sounding words out. He's very excited because he gets to get a library card this year (our rule is that you have to be able to read before you get your own library card, before that you have to use Mom's). We also a couple of Explode the Code books, too, that they enjoy doing. We use those to take a break from our normal books and to enforce what they've already learned. In addition, I'm also using First Language Lessons to start learning grammar and parts of speech and such. Those are easy 5-15 minute lessons that we do a couple times a week.

This year, we're using a separate science curriculum. I found out about Apologia Science several weeks ago....I looked into it and thought that it might be good for us, since I didn't want to take the unit study approach this year. I gave the kids their choice of the different science subjects (they could have chosen from botany, zoology, astronomy....and something else I can't remember) and (of course) they chose Astronomy. We did a little bit of astronomy last year, and they loved it, so we're doing it again. For the whole. year. But this curriculum also has short lessons that we do a couple times a week, so it's just small bites of info. I was thinking about getting Stephen a telescope for Christmas (he's been asking for one), but a friend from church offered to let us borrow theirs. I think I'll take them up on it.

I e-mailed our Children's Director at our church and got a list of the bible verses the kids' are covering in Sunday School each week, and it's my intention to go along with those for our bible time each day. And I got Stephen an awesome devotional bible a couple weeks ago, so we've been reading out of that, too, the last couple of days.

As for Marc-Adam, well, he's welcome to sit in quietly on any of the lessons we're doing, but since nothing is quiet about Marc-Adam, he's usually playing, coloring or playing on the computer while I'm doing the other kids' lessons. He also insists on having a workbook of his own. Last year, I just sat down with him with a coloring book and a fat pencil and he was happy with that. But this year, I got him his own workbook about shapes and colors. I also intend on making sure we cover letters and letter sounds with him this year. But really, I think 3 is much too young for a formal curriculum and that kids that age should just be allowed to learn through daily play and interaction, so I don't want to do too much formal work with him yet. I just give him 5 minutes of "workbook" time, so he doesn't feel left out when the boys are working on their handwriting or math.

So. I guess that's it. Even with all that, we still have lots of time for free play and to play outside. I worked out a schedule for us that I wrote up and hung on a wall, and we have yet to stick to it, so I may have to re-work it. And Stephen (being the classic first child he is) is obsessed with it and gets a little upset if we aren't following it. I just did it so we would have an idea of what we should when and to make sure that we fit everything in. But it might be more trouble than it's worth.

I can't believe that we're starting our second year of homeschooling. I don't feel like such a newbie anymore. I think we're really finding our groove, and again, I'm so thankful that we live in a state that allows us to homeschool in the way we feel best and that Sweet Hubby and I can afford being able to to live on one income so that I can stay home and teach our kids. We are so blessed to live this lifestyle. And I can't imagine doing anything differently.

For real!

*When I came back to read this post to Hubby this evening, I realized that the text was broken. It must've been because I just copied and pasted straight out of the e-mail. I think I've fixed it now. Sorry about that.*

My dad forwarded this to me in an e-mail this morning. I was laughing so hard, I had tears and had to quit reading at one point. I e-mailed him back and told him it was like someone followed me around yesterday and wrote down everything I thought about. Ok, so some of it's not stuff I actually think about, but a lot of it is, and it's still hilarious! I did delete a few because they weren't entirely appropriate for what I've got going on the blog here. And just FYI, there are still some words or phrases that aren't appropriate for little eyes that can read.

Random Thoughts of the Day:

* I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Ghetto" routing option.


* More often than not, when someone is telling me a story all I can think
about is that I can’t wait for them to finish so that I can tell my own
story that’s not only better, but also more directly involves me.


* Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize
you're wrong.


* Have you ever been walking down the street and realized that you're
going in the complete opposite direction of where you are supposed to be
going? But instead of just turning a 180 and walking back in the direction
from which you came, you have to first do something like check your watch
or phone or make a grand arm gesture and mutter to yourself to ensure that
no one in the surrounding area thinks you're crazy by randomly switching
directions on the sidewalk.


* I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was
younger.


* The letters T and G are very close to each other on a keyboard. This
recently became all too apparent to me and consequently I will never be
ending a work email with the phrase "Regards" again.


* Do you remember when you were a kid, playing Nintendo and it wouldn't
work? You take the cartridge out, blow in it and that would magically fix
the problem. Every kid in America did that, but how did we all know how to
fix the problem? There was no internet or message boards or FAQ's. We just
figured it out. Today's kids are soft.


* There is a great need for sarcasm font.


* Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and
suddenly realize I had no idea what the hell was going on when I first saw
it.


* I think everyone has a movie that they love so much; it actually becomes
stressful to watch it with other people. I'll end up wasting 90 minutes
shiftily glancing around to confirm that everyone's laughing at the right
parts, then making sure I laugh just a little bit harder (and a
millisecond earlier) to prove that I'm still the only one who really,
really gets it.


* How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?


* I would rather try to carry 10 plastic grocery bags in each hand than
take 2 trips to bring my groceries in.


* I think part of a best friend's job should be to immediately clear your
computer history if you die.


* The only time I look forward to a red light is when I’m trying to finish
a text.


* Was learning cursive really necessary?


* Lol has gone from meaning, "laugh out loud" to "I have nothing else to
say".


* I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.


* Answering the same letter three times or more in a row on a Scantron
test is absolutely petrifying.


* My brother's Municipal League baseball team is named the Stepdads.
Seeing as none of the guys on the team are actual stepdads, I inquired
about the name. He explained, "Cuz we beat you, and you hate us." Classy,
bro.


* Whenever someone says "I'm not book smart, but I'm street smart", all I
hear is "I'm not real smart, but I'm imaginary smart".


* How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and
smile because you still didn't hear what they said?


* I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars teams up to
prevent a **** from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers!


* While driving yesterday I saw a banana peel in the road and
instinctively swerved to avoid it...thanks Mario Kart.


* MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I
know how to get out of my neighborhood.


* Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the
person died.


* I find it hard to believe there are actually people who get in the
shower first and THEN turn on the water.


* Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty,
and you can wear them forever.


* I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.


* Bad decisions make good stories.


* Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile
is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red
Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!


* Is it just me or do high school girls get sluttier & sluttier every
year?


* If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would
probably just be completely invisible.


* Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go
around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly
nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from; this shouldn't be a
problem....


* You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren’t doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.


* Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want
to have to restart my collection.


* There's no worse feeling than that millisecond you're sure you are going
to die after leaning your chair back a little too far.


* I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if
I want to save any changes to my ten page research paper that I swear I
did not make any changes to.


* "Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.


* I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching
TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if
I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren’t watching this. It's
only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room. Will we
still be friends after this?'


* While watching the Olympics, I find myself cheering equally for China
and USA. No, I am not of Chinese descent, but I am fairly certain that
when Chinese athletes don’t win, they are executed.


* I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Darnit!),
but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to
voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run
away?


* I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing
anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.


* When I meet a new girl, I'm terrified of mentioning something she hasn't
already told me but that I have learned from some light internet stalking.


* I like all of the music in my iTunes, except when it's on shuffle, then
I like about one in every fifteen songs in my iTunes.


* As a driver I hate pedestrians, and as a pedestrian I hate drivers, but
no matter what the mode of transportation, I always hate cyclists.


* Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not
know what time it is.


* I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to
answer when they call.


* Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to
with it.


* Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys
in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the
Donkey - but I’d bet my a$$ everyone can find and push the Snooze button
from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every
time...


* My 4-year old son asked me in the car the other day "Dad what would
happen if you ran over a ninja?" How the hell do I respond to that?


* It really pisses me off when I want to read a story on CNN.com and the
link takes me to a video instead of text.


* I wonder if cops ever get pissed off at the fact that everyone they
drive behind obeys the speed limit.


* I think the freezer deserves a light as well.


* I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or
Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.


* The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw
they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone
at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and
then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require
such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There’s
nothing like being made to feel like a fat b@st@rd before dinner.

Little boy

I feel like I've neglected my poor Marc-Adam on my blog lately. It's not because he's not giving me blog-worthy material...he is a constant source of amusement. It's just that most of the time, so many of the wonderful or cute or smart things he says or does can't properly be expressed on the blog. Truth is, he is such an amazing kid. He's smart and funny and hard-headed and sometimes, I just want to squeeze him, he's so sweet.

Today, as Sweet Hubby was putting on his shoes, Marc-Adam asked him where he was going. Hubby told him he had to go to work. Marc-Adam was not happy with this and told Hubby that he was coming too. We tried to explain that he couldn't go, but he asked Hubby, "You going to Mal-Mart?" Hubby said, "Yes, I'm going to work at Wal-Mart." Marc-Adam replied, "You going shopping. I coming with you." :)

When he's lost something and I ask him where he last had it he sadly says, "I tan't mememba." I love how he says that.

He often gets the other boys attention by yelling, "BOY-EEEEEZ!"

Everytime we pray, after we say amen, he yells "For Evie!" while pumping his hand in the air. No idea where he got that from. Our little Braveheart.

The kids were watching some Zula Patrol the other day and someone mentioned Neptune. Marc-Adam hopped up from what he was doing, said, "I know Neptune" and went to the playroom and pointed to the Solar System poster we have hanging up in there. He couldn't point out the exact right planet, but he knew it was a planet.

We were discussing letters and letter sounds one morning, and when I pointed out the B and asked him what sound B made, he replied, "Bzzzzzz!" I wondered what in the world he was saying, and then I realized what he meant (or what he thought I meant).

He goes nowhere without either his goggles, sunglasses or cap, or some combination of the three. One day last week, he went to his Nonny's wearing his sunglasses, bike helmet and his Bob the Builder tool belt. A sight to be seen.

He loves playing Thumb War and Rock Paper Scissors...but I think it's because he always thinks he wins. He yells, "ROCK PAPER SCISSORS SHOOT! I WIN!!!

He came to me the other day and said, "I love Mama and Daddy and Stephen and Zachary." I tried to remind him about Evie and said, "And....?" "And Jesus," he replied.

My sweet baby boy. He's getting so big so fast!

My new reads

I've updated my "blogroll" as I like to do from time to time, and as I also like to do, here's a post highlighting some of my new additions.

I'm sure I'm the last in the bloggy world to be reading Kelly's Korner, but in my defense, I've been reading her since she had Baby Harper back in January. It's a fun blog and she seems to be a sweet Southern girl. She also has a "bow head" baby, which I enjoy. I secretly study Harper's bows and outfits when she posts new pictures. Kelly also has an amazing heart for God and for women who are struggling with infertility, have a sick child or are wanting to be married but haven't found the right guy. She also keeps a prayer blog for those that send her prayer requests.

I ran across The Chronicles of Wendy several weeks ago while looking up some stuff about the Miracle Blanket. She was one of 30 moms participating in a contest for MB, and I found her blog then. Coincedentally, she's got a little boy born the day after Evie, so I love reading about what's going on with them. She's also very real about life and she's hilarious. I don't know how many people read her blog regularly, but it should be many many more.

Finally, my dearest and oldest friend has started a blog, Memories and Meanderings. If I were 15, I'd say she's my BFF, but I'm not, so I'll just say she's pretty awesome (although, in a few more years, I'm not sure I'll be able to handle the word "awesome" either). She's got 2 precious little girls very close in age to Marc-Adam and Evie that she blogs about. I love being able to keep up with their goings-on this way since I can't be part of their daily life due to our geographical distance. My friend's also in her last year of seminary and shares a bit of her wisdom in that area....which is good, because I'm sure she's tired of me e-mailing her or calling her and saying, "What do you think about this???" I'm glad we have the opportunity to keep up with each other's blogs, because the e-mails and phone calls never seem like enough. Anyway, she's new to the whole blogging thing, so go on over and show her some love.

Do you have any blogs that I should be reading, but don't have listed in my sidebar?

The fight is over for the sweet baby I had asked you to pray for. He's no longer in pain or struggling. His mama and daddy got 2 precious days they didn't think they'd get with him. And now they begin healing--only with God's help, I can imagine. Thank you for praying for him, and please continue to pray for his mama and daddy and brothers, as well as our church as we begin to mourn the loss of this precious child.

Amazed

The baby I told you about in my last post? Well, he's still fighting. After a few unsuccessful trials at taking him off the machines keeping him alive, they decided to take him off the machines permanently yesterday. They said their goodbyes and no one expected him to live for very long afterward. More than 24 hours later, he's fighting and making improvements the doctors have never seen and can't explain. But we can explain. We have an awesome God.

Keep praying for this sweet baby boy and his family.

Heavy heart

I am burdened tonight with thoughts of a family at our church. I've never really even met them, but my heart is heavy with what they are having to face.

Their third son was born a few weeks ago, and he is very sick. Tomorrow they are having to make some terribly difficult decisions.

We are praying for a miracle.

Please pray with me. I don't feel comfortable sharing too many details since I don't know them personally, but God knows.

And I know God is big enough to change this situation.

Wait and See

I love this song...it's become one of my favorites. It gives me so much hope to know that I'm still a work in progress. :)

It's funny 'cause it's true

Sweet Hubby and I caught this guy on TV tonight, and when he started talking about IKEA, I told Hubby, "That's so true, remember the bunk beds?" Our boys have IKEA bunk beds that we've had to put together a couple of different times. And then the guy started talking about bunk beds.



We laughed ourselves silly.

At last

We are home!! Just wanted to give a quick update. Evie's here and perfect and we're so overjoyed with her and all of our children.

More details and pictures to follow, but I'm tired and hurting a little now, so I'll just leave you with a picture of her. Jury's still out about who she looks like.

Love all around!

Alleluia!

I wanted to impart deep thought and insight into my feelings about Easter on my blog today. But I can't really express to you how I feel about it and what it means to me. All I can say is:

He is risen!

And I'm so glad.

Now available at your local convenience store!

Stephen ran some errands with my dad the other day while we were visiting my folks. After they came home, my mom and I were chatting with him about what they did and where they went. He told us they went to the mega-convenience store near their house and my mom asked him what they needed there. He tried several times to get the words out, but his little tangue got all tungled tongue got all tangled and this was all he could manage:

"Gice and @ss."

He knew as soon as he said it that it wasn't right.

It sounded like he said, "Guys and @ss."

Ahem.

"Ice and gas?" we asked.

"YES! Yes. ICE and GAS!"

Check out the google symbol today...

...if you have kids or enjoy a good Eric Carle book.

You're welcome.

Entry 4,137 of Things I Never Thought I'd Say

There was a particular incident this week in which one of my children provoked me to say:

"How do you get your tongue stuck to the toilet paper?"

Somebody stop me!!

I've picked up a new hobby.

Bows.

I decided the other day that I would try to make most of Evie's bows (and believe me, I plan on putting a bow on her every chance I get). Some of the bows that I looked at to buy were $5 or $6 each, and I just have a hard time spending that much on a baby/toddler accessory. So I searched the internet for how to make them (you'd be surprised at how little instruction there is on the internet...these bow-making ladies keep their secrets close) and dug out some ribbon. I made the first one and was hooked. Hobby Lobby had their ribbon by the spool on sale, so I went and bought some cute ribbon yesterday. And I haven't quit making bows since. Well, except to eat and help the kids with their handwriting.

So. Here's what I've done so far (I apologize for the quality of the pictures...they aren't good which is sad because I think it takes away from how cute the bows are):



This one was the hardest, but turned out the best and one of my favorites:



This is definitely my favorite...must find an outfit to match it for Evie:



This one is cute...picture doesn't do it justice (it looks lopsided or uneven, I think it's just the angle of the bow and my awful picture taking skills):



A fun one, really cute ribbon:



This is the very first one I did, it matches one of my favorite outfits of Evie's perfectly:



Just another cute one with cute ribbon:



The first one I did in this particular bow-style...I don't like it, probably won't ever use it:


Surprisingly, I really enjoy doing this and it doesn't take me long to crank them out. I can't wait to go get my hands on more ribbon! However, starting out this new hobby makes me wonder if all the bow-making mommies and professional bow-makers have any fingerprints left. I've burned and poked myself so much that I'm surprised I'm still able to type!

I also bought a bunch of little tiny "no hair needed" bows for Evie's first few weeks. And I got an awesome deal on headbands that you can use with interchangeable bows. I think I might be a little out of control....

So in love, I almost can't stand it

Obviously, I love all my children dearly and for different reasons. They all have qualities that make me thank the Lord every day that I get to be their mom. Lately, though, Marc-Adam has just been so amazing and so cute, that this morning at church, I told Sweet Hubby that if M-A weren't already ours, I think I would have to take him so that he could be ours. He walked the halls at church smiling at and saying hello to everyone and was yelling about what a fun time he had at church.

Yesterday morning, he completely took apart a flashlight--screw-on top, batteries and springy thing and all. And then, within just a few minutes, he had put it all back together again--correctly--and was walking down the hall shining it in to all the small rooms. I thought for sure that Sweet Hubby had put it back together, but Marc-Adam assured me that he did it himself.

Lately, as we have our last snuggle of the evening, when I ask him what song he wants to sing (as in which lullaby), he asks for Jingle Bells. Every.Single.Time. Then halfway before I'm done, he insists on switching to You Are My Sunshine. Every.Single.Time.

He's very excited about Evie, and he's especially excited about one particular pair of shoes that she'll get to wear when she's born. Everytime we go to her room, he picks them up and asks if they are Evie's and tells me she'll wear them when she comes out.

He sings and talks and carries on for what seems like for.ev.er after we put them to bed at night. The other two boys don't seem to mind and they pass out long before he does. He'll talk to his lovey and sing to Dadoo (a little stuffed dog) and then when he's all done, he'll call me in to cover him back up and then he goes to sleep. It cracks me up.

He is my most high-maintenance child. But he steals my heart every day.

Five and a half hours and $175 later....

This morning, about an hour after Sweet Hubby went to sleep (he works overnights, not sure if I've mentioned that on my blog before), his doctor called and said that the neurologist they normally refer people to can't get us in for 2-3 weeks, but they have another neurologist that could get us in today if went right then. So I woke SH up, and we all ran around trying to get dressed and out of the house. My MIL came and picked up the kids and we left. The office is about 45 minutes away, and we got there at about 11:30am.

At a little before 2pm, we finally saw the doctor. He was, um, curt to put it lightly. He told SH that he wanted to get an EEG right then, so they ushered us into another room where they start hooking him up. At that point we hadn't eaten lunch and SH had had one hour of sleep since 8:30pm last night. And the nurse informs him that he must lay perfectly still with his eyes closed for AN HOUR WITHOUT falling asleep. Okay. This is a man who will fall asleep if he sits still for 5 minutes an hour after waking up. He was able to pull it off, I think, but only because he was starving.

The test was over at 3pm and a little after 4 we finally saw the doctor again. We had written all of the symptoms and such down when we got there, plus we had given them copies of the results of the tests SH has had so far, but the doctor acted like he hadn't even looked at any of it. He asked us several times when SH was having an MRI, like he couldn't remember it from one sentence to the next. He then tells us he doesn't know what's wrong, but then writes out a list of 3 prescriptions he wants SH to take. (As a side note, we are very skeptical of prescription drugs to begin with.) He doesn't explain what any of them are for and I'm just curious what exactly it is that he's treating since he told us he doesn't know what's wrong (he never mentioned the possibility of neuritis). He also told SH to start wearing wrist splints to help with numbness in his hands because he's probably got pinched nerves in his wrists. Which doesn't at all explain what's going on with the numbness in his feet. The doctor also had SH write out "a story" of how all this has happened and when. When SH gave it to him, the doctor started scratching stuff out. That was frustrating...I want a doctor who will take in to account EVERYTHING we say. Oh, and he never did mention anything about the EEG results.

When we finally were done with him, we went to check out where the nurse gives us the prescriptions for the drugs, the wrist splints, and a cervical collar. Um, isn't that one of those neck brace thingies?? The doctor NEVER mentioned anything about that, let alone the fact that he never discussed any of the prescription drugs with us. We have no idea what the purpose of the neck collar was.

So, after five and a half hours and $175, all we got was frustrated and a big fat headache. I hated that doctor. He was very hard to understand, which I can deal with as long as I feel like the doctor is doing his job and is actually listening. This guy was worse than another doctor that I hated...he was the one that we saw when Zachary was baby. He asked if Zachary had a list of issues and when I answered no to all of them, he said, "So. That's just how he looks?" Grrrr.

We probably should have spoken up more. But neither one of us liked him, and he never really gave us chance. I think we were both waiting for him to actually start listening and asking real questions.

Thanks for the vent. We're calling Sweet Hubby's doctor as soon as they are open to tell them and to hopefully get another neurologist. We have no intention of going back to that guy. And we didn't any of the meds he described OR the neck collar or wrist splints. I didn't trust a word out of his mouth.

The Question I wasn't prepared for (and some fun updates)

So this evening, Stephen came to me and asked, "Mom, how did you first know there was a baby in your belly?"

Uhhhh.....

I've been prepared for the "How did the baby get in your belly" question....not quite ready for this one.

So I stalled.

"Well...what do you think?"

"God told you and you heard him?" he asks.

"Ummm...no....not quite..."

"You felt the baby move?"

"Well, I can feel her move now, but not early on."

"Well, then how?"

"Ummm....(freaking out in my head..."COME UP WITH SOMETHING SIMPLE BUT LOGICAL!!")"

So this is what I came up with: "Honey, we'll discuss this more when you are bit older, but there are certain things that happens to ladies. And when those things stop happening, the lady might think..."Hmmm...I wonder if I'm pregnant?" So she takes a little test and the test tells her whether or not she's pregnant."

And to my relief, he said, "Oh! Okay!" and ran back to what he was doing.

Whew. Didn't see that coming. I had no idea what would be appropriate to tell my 6 year old boy. So. What would you have said? I'm sure if I hadn't been blindsided while chopping potatoes, I could have been much quicker on my feet and thought of something wiser, like I usually do.

Annnyway...moving right along. We started potty training Marc-Adam last week. The first two days were okay. He had as many successes as he had accidents. Sunday, he spent all day back in his diapers because of the other stuff we had going on, and yesterday, he spent a good portion of the day in diapers, but still had a few successes. Today is only the third full day and he's done fantastic. He even pooped on the potty all on his own with no coaxing from me. He had one small accident where he started to tee on the couch, stopped himself, ran to the potty and finished. All on his own. He had another, bigger accident, but I'm not sure I'm going to count that one because he was in time-out and I think it was an intentional ploy to get out. He just let loose, never told me he was going, and didn't even stop himself like he usually does. After he was done, he told me he had gone. So, I think he's doing really well. I didn't think it would take him long. If he still progresses this week, I think I'll put him in underwear this weekend.

On the Zachary front, he's really been surprising me with his eating. Zachary's always been a terribly picky eater due to some issues he had when he was about a year old. But the last couple of weeks, he's been eating new foods (even eggs which has always been off-limits for him). He's eating greater amounts of food and actually enjoying it. I'm so proud of him. And I'm a little relieved. His diet has always been a source of concern for me. Today, he ate a whole handful of spinach with only a little bit of encouragement and yesterday, he ate a chicken-pasta dish that a month ago he would have never even looked at it. I'm so glad to finally be making progress in that area with him. His brothers eat circles around him.

Happy Birthday My Dear

Tomorrow, my Sweet Hubby has a birthday. I keep teasing him that he's "30 minus 1". It's much more fun to say than '29'. I also tease him about how much older he is than me but I also poke fun at him by asking him at what point he plans on actually growing up. He's a good sport about it all.

My hubby, he's a good one. There are many many things that make him great, and most of them are little things that I might take for granted too often. Here are a few.

~I never ever have to ask him to take the trash out. It's always done before it gets too full or starts to smell. And if I've thrown something away that I know will start to smell soon, all I have to say is "I put something smelly in the trash earlier" and before I know it, there's a new fresh bag in the can.

~He's often cleaner than I am. He always hangs up his towel and rarely leaves dirty clothes on the floor. He also picks up his dishes. I'm not always good about any of those things.

~He works hard. He works 13-14 hour days and when he's home, he's always busy doing something...whether it be playing with/tending to the boys, helping with the dishes in the kitchen, mowing the lawn or crawling in the attic to find the source of the noises that have been keeping me up at night. Even when he's "relaxing", he's still doing something with his hobbies. He is the opposite of lazy.

~He worries about me. It's not that I want him to worry or feel uneasy about me, but I like that he worries. If I've been sick or not feeling well, he calls me often to check on me, and he immediately starts telling his bosses/colleagues that if I need him, he'll have to leave and he starts planning for that situation.

~He's just nice. He's a nice guy and anyone that spends any time with him knows that and sees it right away. He's got great manners and is always polite. He's always respectful toward anyone he meets. It's one of the things that I noticed about him right away and I knew then that he was a great guy. And it has not changed one bit.

~We have great conversation. I'm rarely bored with him. Even if it's been weeks since we've been able to really talk or have some alone time, we just pick right up where we left off and never feel like we have nothing to talk about.

~He makes me laugh--that's not always been the case. He didn't have that great of a sense of humor when we first met, but he's really loosened up over the last few years, and now he constantly catches me off guard with one-liners or witty responses. I still don't expect that from him. Which makes it even funnier.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my Sweet Hubby! Before we got married, I'd always heard people talk about how they were more in love after 10 or 20 or 30 years of marriage than they were when they first got married. I never really understood how that could happen, but I see it now.



Hubby, I love you for who you are and a little more every day. I hope you have a fantastic birthday and that you accomplish everything you've set out to do this year. You are one in a million and I'm blessed that we get to go through this life together.

*On a side note: I realized yesterday that I've already spent a third of my life loving my Sweet Hubby. So cool.

I think "love of food" is genetic

A few days ago while we were eating lunch, Stephen was explaining a new food he had tried at his Nonny's house.

"Mama, it was so good, I had to close my eyes while I ate it."

That's my boy.