38 Weeks Looming

I go to the OB tomorrow. Mom left for a couple of engagements in St. Augustine. Now I'm huffing and puffing around the house without her encouragement. It's harder that way. The stairs look like a mountain. I am getting to the stage where all the signs are pointing to "The End" and this makes me happy. I think I will put my money on the 11th of January. That would put me in at two days early and exactly two weeks out. I was 3 days early with Rachel and 2 days early with Lily. Ella doesn't count because she was my first (4 days late) and Sarah doesn't count because she came emergency C/S three weeks early. I says she's 7 pounds 4 ounces. There's no way she's any smaller than that because my belly is about to burst. Ella was 6,12; Sarah was 5,14 (three weeks early, keep in mind), Rachel was our biggest at 7,9 and Lily was 7,2. What do y'all think?

We got all the bookshelves up for school. I can't wait until we're done unpacking ALL OF MOM'S THOUSAND BOXES of school stuff (ex-teachers, sheesh) so I can post a picture of the finished product. We'll have resources galore at our fingertips. It's interesting to see the things she keeps. I'm not a keeper; I toss stuff out because I hate clutter, even though it's still everywhere. Mom's a keeper; she has gobs of stuff from the 80's. I find people fascinating that way. We all have things that are important to us and the perusal of one's personal property is an interesting story to read.

I took three naps today and still feel totally exhausted. Maybe there was too much napping. I wasn't motivated to do very much.

Granny put up this interesting article. I ignored it for a few days because I don't want to think that hard but I sure was glad when I finally took the time to read it. Very interesting stuff.

I know I never posted the pictures of the house I said I would. That is because I'm tired and feeling very apathetic about almost everything. I'll try harder to put up pictures in the near future.

Excuses,

Boy, am I ever tired.

Mom moved in. What a blessing that has been.

Since she moved in we've had the house painted and I just can't tell you what a difference that has made in making this house feel like ours and feel clean. Mom and I had a blast picking out the colors and Del really likes everything we picked out. Except for maybe the sewing room which is "sunbeam" yellow but since he doesn't have to sew in there and Mom and I really like it I guess that doesn't matter that much. The girls got their pink room. I was really hesitant to give them one because we saw so many horribly pink room while looking for houses that I almost didn't let them do it. But we picked out the palest shade of "fresh pink lemonade" and it actually is not overwhelming. I'll post some pictures when the job is finished. Our painters worked three days and then had to stop because one of them had some sort of medical procedure to endure so they're coming back on Tuesday to finish.

Mom and Dad's stuff got moved in. It's a little...no a lot chaotic but we've got the kitchen almost done and that goes a long way to making things seem rational around here. It's nice to have something other than the floor or steps to sit on. We didn't have much furniture. We're going to Ikea today, like right now, to finish buying the stuff for our school library. Mom, being a teacher, has about a billion books that we have to unpack and organize and toss and stuff before we can get going with school again and this is important to us.

I had an appointment at 36 weeks 2 days and was a mere 1/2 centimeter dialated. It's better than nothing I guess.

I will post some pictures when we get back tonight or tomorrow. We've got some good ones. Sorry for being so silent. I'm tired and a wee bit busy.

Fitness Friday - Easy Edition

This week, Brenda is going easy on us and giving us a fill in the blank for our Fitness Friday Post. Since this is only my second week, I guess that is good, because I don't have that much progress to report. I am making much better choices, and I have to say that knowing I had this post to put up today is part of the reason for that. One thing that dawned on me this week is that I was indulging in sweets all throughout the day, but I tell my children that they have to wait for something sweet until after dinner when they have already had all their good food for the day. Why don't I follow my own advice??? Today is the fourth day that I won't eat anything I wouldn't let my kids eat. That has actually cut out a lot of excess!

1.This Christmas I am going to indulge in (meaning enjoy, without guilt, a reasonable amount of) anything. I am not really restricting anything as of now. I had already decided to not try to actively lose weight until January while I am still getting my milk supply established. That has usually evened out for me when my babies are around 8 weeks old. Andrew is 5 1/2 weeks, so when he is 8 weeks, I'll start being a bit more restrictive with my calories.

2. It is my goal to stay away from compulsive eating/overeating.

3. Over the holiday, I am changing my exercise goals to just try to move more. I'm not exercising at all right now, so anything is better than nothing. I will be with family for a week in CO, so I want to try to take some walks when other people can be with my kids!

4. The way I will remind myself to make good choices over the holiday is keep my scripture index cards that I have written out visible.

5. My favorite ornament on my tree is a wooden one in the shape of Texas that says, "Happy Yule Y'all. (Hey, they can't all be about fitness!)

6. Of the progress I have made so far, my favorite thing is that I have actually started making changes. I haven't really made any measurable progress yet, but getting started on something concrete is a huge step in the right direction!

Lesson Learned

Unless you are ready to devote hours on end to discovering all the friends you haven't thought of in years and years, don't create a facebook page! Man, is it addictive....

Homeschool Christmas - Snow Day

Today we started making a Christmas lapbook for school. We are technically still on our "summer break" until mid-January, but Aaron has been asking for school. I figured that would happen so I bought the supplies to make a Christmas lapbook before Andrew was born and figured if he didn't ask and we wouldn't use it this year, we would use it next year instead! My kids love doing lapbooks because they are full of crafts. I am not an arts and crafts kind of gal, so I like when I order a pre-done instruction booklet like this so that I don't have to think about it. I mean, I like watching the kids enjoyment of crafts and I see the educational value to cutting, gluing, coloring and such - not to mention being able to teach about something through the craft. But I hate gathering the supplies, doing all the prep work, and then cleaning up the whole mess. Plus, what do you do with the 8,325 art projects that your child insists are all "special" a year after they are finished? But alas, I do them because my kids love them.


Anyway, today we made snowmen finger puppets and made special "snow paint." I had envisioned the kids decorating the snowmen finger puppets, but once they were cut out, in two seconds flat they were playing snowman puppet football with them. In fact, one is lost in some secret football location yet to be rediscovered! Oh, well. They are really having fun with them, which is the whole point of them anyway.



The coolest part of our craft time today, though, is the snow paint. I thought I'd share it with you because it is super simple and really neat!

First you need to assemble 1/2 cup epsom salts, 1/2 cup water, and paint brushes (Hey, look! Mine are in Christmas colors! I mean, I totally did that on purpose...). A screaming baby in the background is optional. Then have your kids draw snow pictures. Mix the epsom salt and water to make a super saturated salt solution and paint the solution over the entire picture.


When the "paint" dries, it leaves a shimmery snow crystal glaze over the top of the picture! The kids were thrilled with the results, and I loved that for paint, this isn't messy at all! Aren't their finished snow pictures lovely?

Did He Hear Me Right???

You know you've done something right as a parent when you open the door to the room where your children are happily playing and say, "Okay, it's time to clean up!" and their response is, "Yeah!!" And they get busy cleaning up.* Hmmm...did they hear me right?

*Although my kids are good about cleaning up when I tell them, this cheering has only happened once. I felt I needed to disclose this tiny bit of information before anyone began to think that I have perfect children!

Goings On

Life is settling into a routine around here. I have resumed reading to my children and thinking about what we should eat for dinner each night. Of course, that is where having my entire 18 cu. ft. freezer crammed full of prepared meals comes in handy!! People scoffed when they heard just how much food I was making and putting in the freezer, but I knew just how handy it would be. I don't think I'll have to cook until close to February if I don't want to!

It is hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. As usual, I over shopped. I may have to return some of the things I bought for the boys! It helps that my grandmother sent a check and asked me to put something under the tree for them from her, and my mother needed some additional things and I told her that rather than give her ideas, I would just give her presents that I already bought! I just so enjoy buying things to put under the tree!

My present won't be under the tree this year, though. I will be using it before Christmas if my husband will have the time to get it all configured for me - I got a new laptop!! I really wanted a 12" one, but they are just so expensive. So I thought I'd probably just get a 14" until I found a refurbished 12" at Costco.com for almost the exact same price!! Woo-Hoo! Now I will have a nifty new toy, since it is touch screen and a tablet PC as well, not to mention the fact that I will again have a CD/DVD drive (mine broke a year ago), a screen that stays where you put it (mine falls back and forth at will), and keys that work when you push them (mine arbitrarily decide not to work, and my keyboard goes into all caps at will, too.). All these things will be nice, and the tiny size will just be the icing on the cake!! I'll have to post a picture when I get it.

I also broke down and bought myself a new cast iron skillet. Mine had rusted beyond repair due to some improper storing before I knew how to properly care for a cast iron skillet (that, and the fact that I had just bought the cheapest one I could find at Wal-Mart before...). Check out this beauty:

That there is a 12" (I seem to be stuck on 12" things these days) whopper of a skillet! Now I can make tortillas again. Because after you have a homemade tortilla, the ones from Kroger just won't do any longer. Yeah, it's a little gross to actually watch the animal lard go into the bowl, but the flavor...it just cannot be beat!

Andrew is a month old now! That is also hard to believe. He is doing really well. He has found his voice and is starting to coo a bit. He also has smiled at me several times now. Real smiles - not the gassy-tummy kind! One was even accompanied by a little giggle. Too cute. Of course, today he has either been screaming or nursing and nothing else...but I am just going to choose to not think about that just now.


He's awfully cute when he's content, isn't he?

I've also gotten back to crafting. I posted about it on our other blog, Mothers of Invention. Check out what I've made! I've also been knitting these super cute Christmas ornaments, and have fabric to make some other things...but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who will be receiving these things...if I get them done, that is!

I am starting to think about homeschool again, too. We schooled right through the summer since I knew I would need a break when Andrew came more than I'd need one in the summer. So we finished the first semester of school in October and will be starting our second semester along with everyone else in mid-January. I am going to order curriculum this weekend, which is always really exciting for me! I am focusing on ordering supplemental stuff for Aaron, that will also work for Ethan because I already have most of what I need for Aaron to finish kindergarten. We are keeping it simple - no need to go overboard for kindergarten! I am moving him on in Language Arts. He finished the K program from Sonlight. I am ordering First Language Lessons from Peace Hill Press for him. He is doing so well with the reading program from them, so I am excited to start FLL, too!