Whew!  What a year it has been!!!  I haven't had a chance to stop and sit down to update you guys.  Things have been speeding along nicely.  Toots is now one year old.  We had a wonderful birthday party in February befitting a Princess.  Bubba is 8 years old.  We had a fabulous Star Wars party complete with costumes for him and a couple of his closest friends. 

We have added swimming lessons to our weekly to-do list now.  We have found a fabulous instructor.  I think Bubba has learned more in two lessons than he has in two summers of lessons at the local pool. 

I have finished up my term as Governor of District 19 of Quota International.  For those of you who don't know, Quota is a service organization assisting the needs of the hearing impaired and disadvantaged women and children.  If you would like to hear more or would like help finding a club in your area, let me know.

I'll try to keep up with my blogging duties a little better in the coming months!  Stop by and let me know how you are doing!  I've missed you guys!!!

Hugs!
Kristi

This week we are to write about what we do to help us keep "going" with our housekeeping.  Do I use bouncy music?  No.  Do I use a nicely organized binder?  No.  Do I even use that cool Fly Lady for inspiration?  No.  I've tried all of these and found the bouncy music keeps my little guy from his schoolwork because he starts bouncing around the house.  The organized binder gets lost under a pile of clutter.  And Fly Lady, well, she sends me so many emails that I tend to disregard and delete.  So, what do I do?  I struggle to keep my head above water, quite honestly.  I live with two guys who are content to live in a pile of clutter.  My DH has clutter from paper and work-related *stuff*.  Bubba has toy clutter.  I have truly struggled this year to get it all contained.  I have gotten a new bookcase which is only for school things.  That has helped quite a bit.  I have gone through some of Bubba's things and convinced him to get rid of some of them (trucks with no wheels really aren't trucks anymore are they?).  I have all kinds of plans for the remaining clutter.  However, it is so difficult to get started!!  Does anybody else have that problem? 

I'll write the plans here and maybe that will make everything get started.  The toy box/bookcase in Toot's room is going to be moved behind the couch.  Then all of the boxes of Legos and trucks can be neatly stacked on the bookcase.  The baker's rack in Bubba's room is being moved to Toot's room.  All she needs is a place for her books and for a couple of baskets (that I have already gotten!) that hold things like her towels and her hats.  Bubba's handmade toy box is going back to his room.  I'm also going to purchase a bookcase for beside his bed.  Right now he has a stack of crates with a top on them.  That doesn't help too much with his book stash, not to mention the Star Wars stash.  When all that is accomplished I think the clutter will be better contained and that makes it easier to clean.  We also have lost all of our cats now, so the cat hair will be non-existent. 

Now, if anybody has any ideas for organizing a very disorganized husband, I'll gladly take suggestions!!  The kids are trainable, but I think my DH is beyond training.  Thanks for listening!!

Hugs!
Kristi

Our assignment this week is to do something for someone else.  This is one thing that I wanted to incorporate into our school this year.  It is something that I want to instill in my son:  the desire to do something for others that need it but may not ask for it.  Our handwriting curriculum is Ready for Writing.  It asks that the child write parts of a Bible verse each day of the week.  At the end of the week, he is to write the complete Bible verse on a decorated page.  The plan is that we will decide on Monday who we are going to bless that week.  Throughout the week, we will keep that person in our prayers.  We ask that the Lord will keep them in His care and will bless their lives.  On Thursday or Friday we do our final project and send it to the person.  I will include a letter to the person explaining what we did and letting them know how special they are to us. 

All that said, I wasn't supposed to tell you about our project - just how it made me feel.  I sent off our package with a smile and a kiss.  It was such a neat feeling to know that the love I feel for this person was being sent on to them.  I truly felt like an instrument of the Lord - like I was the piano and He had struck the chords.  Together we were making the music.  On rare occasions in my life, I have felt like I was truly walking in the way that the Lord wanted me to go.  This was one of those times.  Our "person" thanked both of us on Sunday, but that was just the icing on the cake.  I already had the cake!!  Bubba and I talked on Monday and chose our next person.  He asked if I had heard of anybody at church who could use a boost.  Wow!!  He is listening!!  It is the MOST important thing I think I have ever taught my children:  to listen to the calling of the Lord and move in the way that He leads them.  I'll let you know how it keeps going!! 

I'll close with the words of my favorite chorus which is taken from Isaiah 40:31:


Hugs!
Kristi

We are back at school, but having issues!  Apparently my little Bubba doesn't appreciate being able to sleep in, do school at his pace and get done much earlier than his ps buddies.  Soooooo...

...on Monday we are having a "Real School Day".  He will rise and shine at those hours that he doesn't know exist like 6:00.  He will eat breakfast, dress to the shoes (thanks FlyLady!) and pack his school bag.  He will stand in the living room and wait for the bus to come by.  He will then "ride" the bus by sitting in an uncomfortable chair (the bus seats were never comfy) where he can see out a window, but he won't be able to talk, watch TV, or do anything that he didn't bring with him in his bookbag.  Once at school, he won't be able to talk (even to his little sister Bubbles) or speak without raising his hand.  He will sit at his desk (not on the couch) and do ALL of his work.  Lest you think that I am going overboard, he will get a 20 minute recess where he can run around outside like a crazy fool and in the afternoon we will have PE class where he will run sprints in the backyard.  Of course we will have a 30 minute lunch time but without the TV that we normally allow. 

The problem that I am having is that I don't know how to make our day stretch into a 6 1/2 hour day like their day would.  If we really push and include everything I can throw into a day, we might have a 4 hour day.  Any suggestions that you have on how to make our day longer or more "public school-like" would be most appreciated!!

The other bummer is that our curriculum has scheduled the coolest stuff for Monday.  But they are not things that a teacher would do with 20 kids.  We are studying dirt, so we are supposed to look at dirt under a magnifying glass and discuss the layers of the earth using real dirt.  Any ideas on how to make that a little less fun without losing the whole idea?? 

Thanks for the input!  I'll let you how this goes and whether or not it works on the attitude!!  I don't know what we will do if this doesn't work, maybe hibernate for the winter!!!

Hugs!
Kristi

P.S. Our Little Bubbles (Toots) is doing great!  She is 6 months old and weighs 16 pounds.  She is 26 3/4 inches tall.  She is setting up and trying really hard to walk.  She is such a happy soul!!  She rarely cries (unless she is hungry or needs a diaper change) and she always has a ready smile to share with anyone!  I want to be like her when I grow up!!!!!

WOW!  What all has been going on???  Things have been fun around here...we now have Toots, except that we call her Bubbles.  It fits her better.  She is almost 3 1/2 months old already.  I'll fill you in on her exciting arrival another time.  It's too long a story for one day!

Bubba has been toiling on with school.  It has been going remarkably well considering that his sister inevitably wants attention at the same time that he has a question.  We had our year-end testing this past week and he scored high.  The only thing that threw him was a timed drill.  We don't do timed things around here or at least we didn't.  I guess we will start so that he doesn't get so worked up about them.  Testing itself was a stressful time for both of us.  For him, it was a whole new experience.  We don't test in our school.  I figure with one student I can tell (for the most part) if he has mastered a concept or not.  So a half-day test for him was scary!  For me, I felt like I was going for the biggest job review of my life.  A lifetime ago, when I was still in the working world, I hated job review day.  I got myself so stressed out that I would almost be sick.  His testing was like that for me.  I worried about HIS stress level.  I didn't know how he would test.  Some people don't test well, maybe he would be like that.  I worried about the results.  I knew I shouldn't and I knew that I didn't have to because he is a bright kid, but I worried all the same.  Wouldn't it have been much easier to give it over to the Lord and let Him do the worrying??  Yes, but I felt that I had to do it all.  Guess I passed the teacher review, but flunked the faith review!!  There is something for me to work on in the coming year!!!

Take care everybody!!  I'll try to be around a little more now!!

Hugs!
Kristi

Well, it's been so long since I have blogged.  I know you think I've fallen off the face of the Earth.  No everything is just fine here, but I really need to update you...

A little background...after 3 years of fertility testing and treatments, the Lord gave us a miracle with our little Bubba.  We determined then and there that if the Lord wanted us to have more children, He would do it because we weren't helping it along again.  Last April I was diagnosed with PCOS and told that more children were probably not in my future.  We were fine with that.  If we wanted more children, we would adopt.  That was an idea that we had entertained several times in our marriage. 

Then in July, I started having those symptoms again.  I finally went for a pregnancy test.  It was negative.  But I was strangely not upset.  I remembered all those pregnancy tests from the past and this one didn't both me.  On the way home, I heard the song by Casting Crowns (my favorite) called The Voice of Truth.  It talks about having faith in the face of trials.  All the while the Devil is telling you that you are never going to win.  But the Lord calls out with the Voice of Truth and tells a different story.  It says not to be afraid or worry!  All the trials are all for His Glory!  All those negative pregnancy tests and even my PCOS diagnosis, all were a part of His plan!!  I was certain now that the Lord had a plan.  I just had to wait and see what it was.  All the trash-talking the Devil was doing would not amount to a hill of beans because the Lord had a plan!  So I thought maybe the Lord was saying to start looking at adoption.  And we did.  But the symptoms kept coming and stronger.  Finally a week later, Adam insisted that I go for a blood pregnancy test.  We don't have a lot of faith in those pee-on-a-stick tests. 

So I went in to my regular doctor to have blood drawn.  Jen said that she would have the results in about 10 minutes.  I told her that Bubba and I were going to lunch so she could call my cell phone.  After all I already knew what the results were going to be.  Right?





Wrong!!!  Jen called and calmly said, "Congratulations!"  I almost wrecked the car!  So that was the Lord's plan!!  I spent the afternoon laughing and crying.  It was an amazing feeling to be hit with a miracle.  And still is!  We told Bubba later that night and he decided he wasn't ever having blood drawn.  If you have blood drawn, POOF!  you are pregnant.  Watch out for that blood drawing thing!!


So I spent the next 2 months with a very pessimistic OB/GYN who was certain that this pregnancy wasn't going full term.  My levels didn't go up like they should, but I wasn't worried.  I knew that the Lord had a plan.  I just happened to be along for the ride.  Once I made it through the first trimester, the doctor was worried about down's syndrome or spina bifida.  We did more blood tests.  Of course, everything was fine.  I wasn't worried.  The Lord has a plan.  Nothing I do is going to change that.  If the Lord's plan is that I am to be a Mom to a special needs child, then he must think I'm more capable than I do, but we'll make it.  The tests all came back fine. They were afraid of preterm labor like with Bubba, so we are taking weekly progesterone shots.  Ouch!  Now the baby is on the high side of normal in size and I have a lot of fluid.  Something else for them to worry about, but not me.  I'm just sitting back and basking in the miracle. 

Right before Thanksgiving we went for THE ultrasound.  The one that tells us if we are having a boy bundle of joy or a girl bundle of joy.  I knew that He was going to give us what we needed.  If He thought a boy would fill our family, well, I can cuddle with 2 boys.  After all, he gave me this left arm for something didn't he?  It certainly isn't to write!!  If it is a girl bundle, well, I can play dolls and Barbies and think pink!!  I just waited to see His Plan work out.  Low and behold, it's a...












GIRL!!!


Can you believe it?  After 7 years of monster trucks and cars and boy stuff, I get to think about dolls and Princesses.  Do I know how to think girl?  I'm not sure, but we'll figure it out!

My doctor seems to think that Toots (like Tootsie Roll) will make her grand arrival on April 8.  I personally think she will have her hair and nails done long before that.  I'm betting on my grandmother's birthday which was March 3.  I guess we'll see who is right. 

Take care!  I'll check in again when Life with Bubba and Toots gives me time to get to the computer again. 

Hugs!

My Dear Secret Sister,

I must apologize.  I received the most beautiful card from you as well as the gorgeous angel pin.  I have had some trying doctor's appointments lately and have worn this pin to remind me that you are praying for me.   It has helped me through some potentially dark times and they have all come out wonderfully!!  Everything is great!!  Thank you so much for being my Prayer Warrior.  I think you have a direct line to the Lord!!!  Things are going phenomenally well.  I'm not able to tell even you the details yet, but all is well!!  Thanks again!!!

Hugs!!
Kristi