My dd and I went for a nice walk today. I wanted to get some pics of the snow as we've gotten more since that last time it snowed! Ugh! Here is 1dd10:
This is the front of our house as seen from the road:
This is across the parking lot at the dining center. The playground has a treehouse - the snow reaches its deck! The baby swing is completely buried. You almost can't see out the windows anymore.
You can see that the snow bank is almost as tall as she is here.
This is the roof of the dining center. Crazy deep isn't it?
This is the path to the root cellar.
The front of the root cellar:
Around the corner is the "school room" that used to be used by a homeschooling family. Now it is for storage. The second picture is from the inside of the deck trying to look out.
Across from there was a big, pretty tree that dd stood under.
Then we walked over to the lecture hall. This is catecornered from our house. The sides of snow are so high now!
I think this is one of the deepest places. It is the bottom of the trail to the Martin's house.
This is the front of the Martin's house.
And finally a view from beside their house.
Would you like to hear the bad news now? They are predicting 2-3 more feet by Tuesday night! AAAAHHHH!
This week has been the snowiest that I can remember since moving here over 2 years ago. We already had about 4 feet on the ground, then it snowed and blew on Monday. Today it did it again.
Baby J has been sick since Saturday. Monday I considered taking him in to the doctor's but the weather was too bad. Yesterday he continued to run a fever off and on for the fourth day. I decided that if he was still sick today I would bring him in. Unfortunately he woke up a royal crab-baby, and I knew that I had to take him in - he just wasn't getting better. As soon as school was over with the girls, my dh and I loaded the van with the baby and we headed to town. The road had been plowed in the morning, so we thought it couldn't be too bad. Famous last thoughts.
The wind was blowing and the snow was falling and the visibility was horrible! We decided to go to urgent care instead of risking the usual 2 hour wait at his regular doctor's office. I'm glad we did. Once we got to the office, J was breaking out in a rash on his face and arms and back. Hmm. Probably roseola. I got a urine on him anyway, since he had a UTI last year. It had a bunch of blood in it. My nurse practitioner colleague called him in an antibiotic and we decided to forego shopping before the roads got any worse. By now it was snowing in town too. On the trip home the snow was so blinding and deep, I prayed all the way! We didn't get stuck, but many times I thought we could easily. God really helped us!
Thanks to those of you who have been praying for J. I hope that he will start recovering soon.
Here are some pics from the last snow that I took in the last week. The playground pics are from yesterday, and the others from about 10 days ago when we had friends over to sled.
HSB is sponsoring a great contest - don't go do it, cause if you do, it lessens my chances to win! (Just kidding!). The contest is for these books - they sound really great!
To enter you just need to copy the below paragraph and post it on your blog. Then leave a comment here with the blog or website URL where you posted it.
Enter to win the complete set of
Terrestria Chronicles
on the HSB Company Porch!
That's short and sweet don't you think? Better hurry. You only have until Sept. 26.
Yesterday was a big change for me. DH took the older two girls to their dentist appointments in the morning so that I didn't have to go into town twice in one day. He had to go do the base shopping anyway. I took advantage of the morning by cleaning house (vacuuming all the floors, doing the dishes, cleaning the girls' rooms, washing and folding laundry...etc). 3dd2 watched Dora while I cleaned. Then I made some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies - mmm!
Right after lunch (30 minutes after the girls got back), we loaded the van to go to town. We had to pick up checks from WIC, 3dd2 had a well-baby visit with the doctor, 2dd7 had an ear check (she was complaining of one being "clugged"). We went to Denny's for supper, but had to end up taking our food with us because we didn't have enough time to eat it. Finally we went to the girls' choir practice.
Needless to say, we didn't get much schoolwork done. I just have to breathe and tell myself that it is okay. My girls won't be academically stunted when days like this happen!
It started raining when we got to town, and continued to rain the whole time we were there. On our way home, halfway up the mountain, the rain turned to snow and started to accumulate a bit. It was getting dark, but we could still see it to enjoy the "first snow" of the year.
It is snowing again now. The girls love it. They've been hoping for snow ever since we got back from Guatemala! Now I've got to find some good used snowsuits since they both wore theirs out last year!
Went to see my midwife today. For those of you who don't know, we are going to have a hospital birth with a midwife. I've never done the homebirth thing, and I'm not really one for trying those things. Remember I am a medical professional myself, so I know intimately all the things that could go wrong...
Anyway, I had a great check-up. God is good and has heard my prayer. Although little boy was measuring 4 cm big a month ago, now he is only measuring 1 cm over dates! (What that means is that I am 33 weeks, and he is measuring 34 cm). After having a 12 lb, 3 oz baby, I was very concerned that this little guy might be big too. Hallelujah, I think he is going to be more toward the normal end of size! I only gained one pound this time around too. So far, I have gained 35 lbs or so, which is really good for me (I usually gain 60 lbs with each pregnancy!).
I am a bit on the anemic side. Time to start taking my prenatal vitamins again and eating foods high in iron. I will have to pick up some raisins next time I'm in town. Those and dried prunes were my favorite source of iron after 3dd2's birth. I do eat a fair amount of red meat and green leafy veggies (salads, etc). Those finger-stick hemoglobins aren't the most accurate anyway. I have been a bit short of breath now and then, and living at an altitude of 8600 feet, my hemoglobin should be a little on the high side.
P.S. They started working on our new living room addition. I will try to update with pictures now and then. We're very excited about this.
It is Sunday and I have a few thoughts I want to jot down.
First of all, we, as I type, are having a terrific hail storm again. I think these hail stones are bigger than the last ones. It is really noisy too.
Anyway, today was the first day of Sunday School for the new year. 1dd8 is starting in Beginner's Bible Bowl. She is very excited about being able to take trips with the group in a bus for the competitions and staying in peoples' homes. They are studying First and Second Samuel. Since we are homeschooling, it will be easy for us to review the work. She will go on 4 trips over the school year, have a barbecue/pot luck to kick things off, and a big bash at the end including swimming at a hotel. I think she will do great learning the stuff, but I'm not so sure if she will be able to get the guts to compete. She isn't a very competitive person.
2dd7 is in a Bible Study class for first and second graders, and she has already made some new friends. I'm pleased about that, since she is also a shy one.
3dd2 is in her toddler class that she has been in since last December. She loves church and can't go wait to go each week. I noticed that this week they had a bunch of little babies and many of them were crying. It doesn't phase our dd, but I could see the teachers were a bit frazzled by the time we picked her up.
Today is the first day of our fall Discipleship Training School. It is a very small class, but we've heard very clearly to go on with the school, and I think the Lord hand-picked the class for His reasons.
Well, I've got some schedule prep to do, and 1dd8 is begging me to make her a daily chore chart , so I had better not disappoint her! (I think she is a lot like her mother, and likes her days to be scheduled and orderly and expected).
I'm still trying to catch my breath! Monday was a holiday so we had no "official" schoolwork. Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday we had staff meetings every morning. I really don't like my mornings to be waylaid by staff meetings when I could be doing school, because then the rest of the day I'm trying to play catch-up with school time. Tuesday's regular staff-meeting was pre-empted by a speaker here who worked on staff development. It was interesting. However, at the same time, I don't have child-care, so I'm trying to keep my three children otherwise occupied, and that is wearing. On Wednesday morning we had the same thing. On Thursday morning our usual prayer meeting was labled "staff meeting" on the schedule and so I went thinking it was the manditory meeting, and again I had to occupy my children and it can be a real hayday. Believe it or not, we got the mandatory 4 hours a day of school work in that is required of homeschoolers in Colorado in spite of the interruptions. I was pretty crabby Wednesday though.
On Wednesday we went early to the children's choir so that 1dd8 could have an eye check-up. Her glasses that she formally needed "for reading only" need to be a little stronger, and she needs to wear them full-time now. I sure am glad that Wal-Mart Vision Center has children's glasses on sale until October 31! I get to take 2dd7 into the eye doctor next Wednesday. Every Wednesday for the rest of the month I have one or two appointments a day for dental check-ups, a neurology appt for 2dd7, and a well-child-check for 3dd2! The problem is that two of the days have appointments also in the mornings. Ugh. Living 1 hour from town makes it difficult to do both because then I have to drive so much. I'm not sure what to do yet. Maybe I can just take the child who has the appointment in the morning, so everyone isn't worn out by afternoon from all the driving.
Last night our good friend on base here did a very sweet thing and watched our kids so that I could have so alone time and dh could go to a missions board meeting at our church, then we could go out for desert. MMM! We went to Applebees. Their brownie with hot fudge and ice cream is delicious!
Well, 3dd2 is waking up from a long nap and doesn't sound too happy. I'd better post this and go see how I can help her wake up. Have a good weekend.
I really liked June's post about this topic. I am adopting it for my own also.
Moms for Modesty Let Your Voice Be Heard
Moms for Modesty Mission Statement
As a Mom for Modesty I believe in common-sense modesty for girls and young women.
I believe in refraining from sexualizing our girls and young women.
I believe that it is unwise and unfair to taunt boys and young men by permitting my daughter(s) to dress in an immodest manner.
I believe that true beauty comes from within and I strive to teach my daughter(s) this truth.
I will loyally shop at retailers that provide girls' and young womens clothing that is modest, affordable and stylish.
You can read more about it by clicking on the picture or on the one on my sidebar. I care deeply about this topic, and seeing the 215+ positive responses, I know June and I aren't the only ones!
I've had a great weekend. I hope all of you have too!
Friday was a normal day. We had a great day with schooling, except that 3dd2 kept inserting herself into everything we do. I really need to take some more time today to pray about her and plan for her into our school day more. What do you do with your toddlers during schooltime?
Friday night I checked in on the girls after they went to bed. They voiced concerns to me about not going to school, and that they wondered if it would be better if they went to school. We talked about how long they would be away from home if they went to school - at least 3 hours a day on the bus plus seven hours in school, that would be 10 hours a day away from home (in good weather!). I didn't even go into all the other reasons that I homeschool, that alone should be reason enough! How do you explain to your children why they don't go to school?
Saturday morning I finished cleaning the house (I had done all the floors on Friday after lunch). Then we hung out and waited for dh's brother and SIL and family to arrive from Fort Collins. They arrived around 3 or so. We had a grand time all weekend. Saturday night my SIL held a baby shower for me and my friends here. I received many nice gifts - my first boy stuff! Here's a picture from the shower:
Before the shower dh made a delicious meal of homemade veggie patties, a bean on rice dish, and other yummy salad stuff. One of my dear nieces is allergic to eggs, milk and nuts! With my gluten intolerance, and my SIL's vegetarianness, we had a fun time feeding everyone. I didn't worry too much about my gluten-free diet in the face of all that - and I could tell by Saturday night (I was really gassy and my tummy was upset in the middle of the night). It's time for me to get serious about it again!
Sunday morning we all went hiking with the whole crew (9 of us in all) and had a great time. We then roasted hotdogs (veggy-dogs for those who wanted them). I forgot about my desire to go gluten-free again and ate a bun. Again I regretted it! I also got stung by a bee on the underside of my arm. Ouch! Here are some pics from that time:
Sunday afternoon we decorated visors as a fun craft. Here is some pics of that fun time. The girls loved doing it. I made Eliana's since she was napping.
Sunday evening my 7 yo dear niece had a birthday party on our deck.
This morning our guests enjoyed some time on the 4 wheeler after breakfast. Then they left.
This week seemed more challenging than the last couple. I think it is because we have so much going on outside the home.
Every other Monday I have midwife appts. This week I wasn't as big as previously (only 3 cm over my expected rather than 4cm). We usually do some grocery shopping and stop by the library when we are in town.
Every Tuesday morning we have staff meeting for all of the staff. I try to bring a DVD to keep the kids entertained as there is no child care during those times. The bigger girls seem to do alright, but 3dd2 keeps coming in and out of the meetings if I don't have a DVD for them to see. We are usually done by 10:30 or 11:00am, but that has thrown our whole morning off, and so we end up doing the bulk of our school in the afternoon when they are more tired.
Every Wednesday afternoon we go into town to take the girls to Children's Choir at church. They love this, and their teacher is very good with them. I like that they are learning to sing in a group and lots of other good music stuff. We usually don't make it home by suppertime, so we either bring our lunch with us or get something in town.
On Thursdays I either go to prayer and intercession for an hour or dh does. This week was his turn. Although I was home with the girls, we just couldn't get in a groove with our learning. I think it had a lot to do with being tired (including me), and a 2 yo who doesn't want to be quiet while Mommy reads. I need to find some things to entertain her with for the read-aloud times. She used to be content to color or draw like the girls were doing, but now she jabbers so much the girls can't hear. This morning she decided she wanted to work on using scissors. I didn't mind as long as she stayed where we could monitor what she was doing. However, this morning she was so pleased with every cut she made that she hyped, "I cut, Mom! Look!" Finally, when she tired of this and we were trying to get through with our science (birds), I had to send her to her room to play and threaten her with spanks if she came out. I had to physically take her there under much protest too. Sigh. I was totally exhausted by lunchtime yesterday!
Today things went better. We got most of our work done before lunch. This afternoon I cleaned all of the floors, dusted, and wiped some cabinets and windows.
I sure love having time to blog today too!
3dd2 has been doing great this week with her potty training. The last two nights have even been dry. Can it be that we are finally making some headway?! Yea!
Tomorrow Tim's brother, his wife and two daughters are coming for a visit. I don't know how much blogging I will get in before the weekend. If not, I will see you all on Monday! Have a great holiday!
Do your kids write? Are they bloggers or gifted in some area besides blogging (like art or photography)? If so, they can have their best works posted on a one-of-a-kind carnival of kids' works that is posted every two weeks!
KidCarnival is the site. Go on over there and check out what my dds Mountain Princess and Snow Crystal and two other brave young souls under the age of 18 submitted. Then submit some stuff, or have your kids submit some of their own favorite blogs or stories. Here's your chance to shamelessly show them off! My girls loved it. They don't even have to have a blog to show their stuff. I'd love to see more entries at the next carnival in 2 weeks! Go check it out!
Dh and I decided that we had to get out of our house and take advantage of the beautiful surroundings before the snow comes in again and closes the roads up a little to the south of us. We also like to have a "family fun night" every weekend, so we combined the two and headed up the road a couple of miles to some nice picnic and hiking areas.
We arrived around 11:30, so we started off with a little campfire, hotdogs and s'mores. It was so nice outside, and the food was delicious!
This was a nearby view!
Then we drove on up the road to the trail-head, where we took the above and following pictures. It started to rain so we didn't get to hike, but we drove around some more, then came home for Elly's nap.
I wrote a big post a couple of nights ago and when I went to post it, it got lost in cyberspace. I didn't have the energy to start again! We are really enjoying our new house. I got all of the pics hung, so as soon as I straighten it up again, I can take pics to post. Dh helped me clean the deck too.
The girls are enjoying school much more this year, but we're usually ready for the weekend when it comes. That is probably a sign that I'm doing too much! I'm reading Charlotte Mason's book on Home Education, and hopefully that will help me focus on what is really important. So far it has been mainly about making sure the kids get enough fresh air and good food! I can't wait to get into the other stuff. Unfortunately I'm usually wiped out by bedtime so I fall asleep trying to read!
We have hummingbirds around these days so much that they clean out two feeders everyday! I am having trouble keeping the feeders full enough, but they are fun to have around. Last year we didn't have very many winter birds - maybe we're too high in the mountains, so I like to enjoy all the birds while I can.
Well, I want to read some other folks' blogs, so I will post this one now.
One thing have I desired of the Lord that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. To behold the beauty, the beauty of the Lord. To inquire in His temple, the temple of the Lord.
This is my everyday thoughts about being a mother to three little ladies (10, 8 and 3) and a toddler son. We serve God full-time, and I am a physician assistant. I have the most awesome husband in the world. I am trying to seek God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength.
, so I had better not disappoint her! (I think she is a lot like her mother, and likes her days to be scheduled and orderly and expected).
! My girls loved it. They don't even have to have a blog to show their stuff. I'd love to see more entries at the next carnival in 2 weeks! Go check it out!
