We took the kids to the pumpkin patch last weekend. They had: pony rides, a "train" ride (cars pulled by a tractor), a hay ride, candy apples, cotton candy, live music, face painting, a petting zoo, huge inflated slides and a bouncy castle and lots of photo opportunities.
We really enjoyed the day very much. The highlight was letting the kids pick pumpkins out of the field. It was highly entertaining to watch them trying to pick up pumpkins that outweighed themselves. Faith discovered that rolling them enabled her to go larger. James discovered that little pumpkins are really better after all - lol. I picked out a gnarly, bumpy one and Dearest had me hide it behind my seriously expanding belly so that he could laugh - and take pictures. ;)
We have been blessed with such wonderful family weekends lately. In continuance of that happiness: this upcoming 4 day weekend, my parents are renting a cabin in the N. GA mountains and have invited us. There will be plenty of bedrooms, a play room and a private "hot pool", as the kids call them. We anticipate gorgeous views, pleasant hikes, lazy days and hopefully some local color.
Ugh, I'm so frustrated that I'm not gold anymore. I need to get around to renewing. I miss sending messages! I would prefer the unstained one because I resell on DS if things don't work or whenever babies grow out of diapers.
It took a year of wanting it, making feable attempts, dropping hint that I wished that existed. Finaaly I took matters into my own hands and sent out an email to all moms with kids preschool and under. Tried to focus on the ones I knew were at home. Even if they have kids enrolled in preschool. Most don't go every day (also included an older lady who provides child care for a few moms at church). People were happy to participate if someone else (me) would keep it organized. We take turns having a mom "host" they day. Mostly that means. Mom gets to pick where we go (their home or a park), and what we do (free play inside, pretend play, crafts, out door play, water play). Each mom brings a snack for their own kids. It is nice. Not every one comes every week. Some mom's work a rotating schedule. I had to determine I wanted bad enough to keep it up an d going. It is worth it!
I had similar thoughts as I typed that out... That whole magazine is full of men trying to be God and God's wisdom confounding them over and over again. It is sad and awe-inspiring at the same time!
Some of you know, already, how early he rises for work and how exhausted he is at the end of a day of teaching Lt.s. You may also know that in addition to his regular duties, he is training to run in the air force marathon - next weekend! This makes for a truly tired Daddy/husband.
Yet...
-every day, he plays with his children when he gets home and/or helps me make supper. After we eat, HE cleans up the food & dishes while I sit somewhere with my feet up (rediscovering my ankles).
-from the time he gets home, he makes it his personal duty to see to it that I constantly have water on hand and have any medications/vitamins on time.
-every night, he overseas toilet routines, reads to the children and sometimes rocks them, before tucking them into bed.
-frequently, last night being no exception, he does a load of his work related laundry and throws in anything of ours that we a)need done and b)are willing to have washed with his work out gear ;).
Last night, despite his exhaustion, he additionally helped me to catalog several boxes and bags of stuff that needed to go into the attic. Then, he dragged the ladder into the house and placed said items into the attic. He also put the ladder away so we wouldn't be tripping over it today.
The poor man fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow - after midnight. He was facing 5 hours of sleep before another active day of teaching which will include several hours out in the sun.
For the next hour and a half, his pregnant wife, who is finding her bulk quite cumbersome at this point, shuffled restlessly in the bed. I turned several times (a major ordeal, involving quite a bit of movement and the replacement of several pillows) and suffered indigestion including bouncy, not quiet, hiccups (I thought it was hiccoughs, but the spelling corrector claims I am in error.)
When my movements woke him, he walked around to my side of the bed, rubbed my back, sang to me and in general spent quite a few minutes solely in lulling me into relaxation.
Very awesome. Steve's such a wonderful guy in so many ways and I'm lucky to know him... and you too! The only issue I have with him is that he lives too far away. ;-)
What a grat guy!!! You make me laugh when you talk about rolling over in bed! I remember it being a production to roll over too! Or getting out of bed to go potty! Frederic and I had it down pretty good. The other one was getting chalie horses in bed!
It is a blessing to have a husband that goes and goes and goes. Glad God gave you a great man!
Thank you Faithlyn for giving me that picture! I LOVE you so much! I hope you can come to my house if you can with your baby brother. I hope your mommy has a good time while she's pregnant. I love your mommy and you and your baby brother so much!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you and your whole family. I love being your pen pal so much!!!!!!
This is exactly what Noelani said. Apparently she doesn't love Steve though!!!!!! Sorry Steve!
If you're not doing dates before 1900, I'd just use Excel. Type in the 2 dates in 2 cells, then subtract them in a 3rd cell. You'll probably have to reformat that cell as a number because I'm guessing it will default to a date format. There's also a lot websites you could use, like this one.
You'd probably like what she did last March if you don't mind scrolling back through her blog that far.
I didn't even realize today's date until this afternoon.
Truthfully, I'm mostly ok with that.
It was a truly horrible day, as I'm sure you all remember. Any time I think of it in any detail, my eyes fill with tears. I think that signifies a pretty profound emotional impact.
The events of that day changed my life quite a bit, largely due to my husband's job in the service. I don't really worry so much about remembering the anniversary, because I am far from forgetting the event, or the resulting war.
Still, it's sad that as the raw sorrow has eased into a memory of sorrow, the flare of patriotism has largely gone with it. I admit that I miss seeing our nation's flag proudly displayed - EVERYWHERE. That was a beautiful thing. There was a feeling of kinship with other Americans. Patriotic music was heard often. I miss all of that.
My kids asked why th eflags were so low today. Then the rest of the day Andrew was talking about the 'bad guys' who crashed the planes. They are also very excited that the new house has a real flag pole (second only to the tree house in importance!)
I tried to explain 9-11 to Noelani but she really didn't get it at all. I'm glad she can't understand it all but at the same time I wanted her to. It was hard to try to tell her about it and have her understand. I tried!
A couple of you have inquired concerning the pregnancy specifically, so...
We are due sometime around the end of December, give or take 2 weeks. ;)
I am hoping for earlier rather than later because it gives my mom more time to be with me after the birth -she has to return to teaching school right after the new year begins. (She's only 2 years from retirement though - yipee!) Dearest is hoping for sooner rather than later because he wants the wee one to count for this year's taxes :P. Given the stubborn nature of the mommy and the propensity for borderline tardiness that comes with the daddy's family name, I'm trying not to get my hopes too high! Due to complications that I developed at the end of the last pregnancy, my son was delivered 3 weeks early. So, I still don't know if I tend to gestate long or short.
So far, everything seems to be going well. Medications seem to be controlling the larger issues adequately (blood pressure, etc.) We are praying for (& would certainly appreciate additional prayers for) a 100% natural, smooth, complication free labor and delivery of a healthy baby that involves no necessity for further medical interference at any point.
Dearest is able to feel the baby move now. It will be so exciting when the kids are also able to see/feel the movements!
My little one woke me with his coughing fit and after administering lots of TLC, some fluids and some cough remedy, I'm awake. Fortunately, he dropped right back into sleep - poor lamb.
Isn't it neat that activity here actually seems to slow during weekends? There are only a few new posts on Saturday - most are busy with their families. There are even fewer on Sunday. I find that comforting.
It's really nice to think of the other families out there spending their Saturday together: baking together, taking the little ones to the park, working together to get the yard caught up or to accomplish some home repair, etc. It's also fun to picture others on Sunday: rushing around madly to get everyone fed, find MIA pieces of Sunday ensembles, gathering Bibles and shoving shiny faced children with tamed, damp hair into their car seats while singing the "Bible class songs". (Or is everyone else more calm & organized on Sundays?)
My Sunday mornings aren't calm, but they're mine and I've grown to love them. We start out by waking the children with the Sunday morning song, does anyone else know it?
Wake up sleepy head,
open your eyes.
Birds are soaring
through sunny skies.
It's Sunday morning,
Let's not delay!
We're going to God's house today!
I love the way it starts our day. Even the youngest knows what we're doing today because we start the day with the song. Today is Bible class!
Well, I've rambled enough for now. I'm going to see if I can get some more sleep. I hope everyone has a pleasant week.
Update: I think the cough is with us for a while, but the good news is that I did manage to get back to sleep and then the children slept in. So, despite my little wakeful period, I think I got a decent night's worth of sleep! God took good care of me. :)
I have thought the same thing about the activity level on pleo Saturdays and Sundays! My husband started playing hymns every Sunday morning as we go about getting ready. It really seems to help get us all in the right frame of mind--little ones too!
I haven't heard that song. What's the tune? Our Sunday mornings are just as crazy as yours. We're almost always running out the door at the last minute. I have also noticed how quiet it is on Pleo during the weekends. It's almost not worth it to log in. But I love reading everyone's blogs on Monday to see what they did all weekend.
Hope your little one is feeling better and that you were able to get some sleep.
