Shurleen wrote this for someone who has been struggling getting into God's word.  I know it encouraged me.  I hope it urges you on to get into God's Word!


I've been thinking about this since you posted the other day. Today I decided to just go ahead and post what I wanted to say, and hope that it would do you some good.

I've been where you are...reading the Word from time to time but not seeing it really make a difference in my life or heart, not really feeling a hunger for the Word. So I wanted to give you an idea that might help you...like it helped me.

First...this is the part I hesitated to post, because I really don't want you to take it for more than what it is...when you come to the Word, erase all the teachings of man in your past. Often, the teachings of man is so superficially tasty that we reject the Word. Not that all teachings of man are wrong. But by approaching the Word after setting aside all teachings of man, you are coming to the Word as tho it is brand new, as opposed to something you've heard over and over to the point that your eyes glaze over when someone starts quoting scripture.

The teachings of man should give us a hunger for the flavor of God. Very often, instead of driving us to the Word, we listen to the talk or read the words of man, and skim the scripture (or scripture references) because we've developed a hunger for the words of man.

So set those aside. As you read, you are going to find scripture that will support some teachings. And don't be surprised when you find that you have swallowed whole some teachings that are taken from a tiny portion of scripture and blown up to be something it is not...or something that was taught as scripture and isn't. It happens. No man is God. That's why we need to always be checking the teaching against the scripture. The WHOLE scripture.

Enter every time your time in the Word with a prayer that the Holy Spirit will be with you.

Determine that if you have any questions, that you bring them first to your husband, secondly to either an older woman or an older man your husband says you can approach. The latter is a very narrow choice. My husband allows my brothers or my pastor and a couple elderly men in the church to answer questions. But that's *only* if Tim is not available and *only* assuming I will bring the answer to Tim later when he is available and check it out with him. Stay safe in this area. It's better not to ask at all than to ask the wrong person.

OK...Try this.

1. Get a pen and a highlighter.

2. Choose a set of books to read thru. Some suggestions: The epistles minus Romans, the Gospels, the major prophets, the minor prophets. For just one book choices, choose either Romans or Job.  Don't choose the Psalms or any of the poetry books just yet.  Those are "heart" books. Until you desire the heart of the Father, you will miss so much that is lovely in there. Save them till later.

3. Start at the beginning of your set of books and read them thru in order. Keep a Strong's Concordance or e-Sword nearby in case you need them.

4. Read one verse at a time, being sure you understand the verse before going on to the next one.

5. Use your highlighter to highlight any verse that you don't understand, doesn't make sense to you, doesn't fit.  Your Bible will be filled with highlighted verses.   But that's ok. You have lots of years to understand those. Once they are highlighted, you've admitted you don't understand them and can come back some other time and look at them, and for now, just move on. Maybe on Sunday, the pastor will teach on one of those highlighted verses or something will happen or you will read elsewhere in the Word, and all of a sudden you will understand that verse. When that happens...

6. Underline every verse with the pen that you come across that you have memorized, that has been a comfort, encouragement, strength, whatever in the past, or that means something special to you right now as you read it. Later, when you come to understanding of a previously highlighted verse, underline it! It is now YOURS!

7. When you finish your set of books, come back and talk to me! I want to hear! And then maybe you and I can do your next set of books together.

Two more things:

a. When you are ready for it...maybe even do it while reading thru one of the above set of books, get the "So That's Why Bible" (on sale at CBD right now for $5), and read the Old Testament in chronological order. You are going to be surprised at all the things about God that you never knew. Very surprised!

b. What was b? Don't you hate it when your brain does that?! Oh yes! Maybe not right now, but you might want to look online for wide margin Bibles with thicker pages. Don't wait to start this till you find one you like. Use your Bible right now. You need to have as many Bibles as you have children marked up with your notes and highlighter and pen before you die. So there is plenty of time to start on your next Bible in a year or two.

Even if you don't have much room, squeeze in notes, songs that come to mind when you read a verse, dates when a verse stood you in great strength or comfort, names of someone you are or want to pray a verse for or a verse that you want to think on regarding someone. Write in your Bible. It's a way of interacting with God's Word...and that means a way of interacting with God.

I hope this is not too assuming of me to write this out.  I love being in God's Word. Sometimes I'm frustrated that there are other things I have to do that keep me from being in His Word for hours. Other days, I just carry the memory of what I read in His Word or ponder questions because I just don't have the time I want to read. But I still feel like I'm in His Word...because His Word is in me.

But it wasn't always this way. It's been up and down, trying to find a place that is actually desire instead of "have to" or "should do".

Reading the WHOLE Word instead of a piece here and there has been the thing that has developed my hunger. That and setting aside the teachings of man, comparing them to the Word instead of using the Word to bolster the teachings.

Well when you do... read this:

(On September 17, 1994, Alabama's Heather Whitestone was selected as Miss America 1995.)
Question: If you could live forever, would you and why?
Answer: "I would not live forever, because we should not live forever, because if we were supposed to live forever, then we would live forever, but we cannot live forever, which is why I would not live forever," --Miss Alabama in the 1994 Miss USA contest.

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"Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that, but not with all those flies and death and stuff."
--Mariah Carey
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"Smoking kills. If you're killed, you've lost a very important part of your life," --Brooke Shields, during an interview to become spokesperson for federal anti-smoking campaign.

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"I've never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body," --Winston Bennett, University of Kentucky basketball forward.

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"Outside of the killings, Washington has one of the lowest crime rates in the country," -Mayor Marion Barry, Washington, DC.

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"That lowdown scoundrel deserves to be kicked to death by a jack***, and I'm just the one to do it," --A congressional candidate in Texas.

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"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
--Philadelphia Phillies manager, Danny Ozark

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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it." --Al Gore, Vice President

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"I love California . I practically grew up in Phoenix." --Dan Quayle

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"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?" --Lee Iacocca

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"The word "genius" isn't applicable in football. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." --Joe Theisman, NFL football quarterback & sports analyst.

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"We don't necessarily discriminate. We simply exclude certain types of people."
--Colonel Gerald Wellman, ROTC Instrutor.

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"Traditionally, most of Australia 's imports come from overseas." --Keppel Enderbery

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"Your food stamps will be stopped effective
March 1992 because we received notice that you passed away. May God bless you. You may reapply if there is a change in your circumstances." --Department of Social Services, Greenville, South Carolina

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"If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night. And the next morning, when
they wake up dead, there'll be a record"
--Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman
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Yes, I'm crazy.  LOL

I decided on My Father's World Exploring Countries and Cultures.  I can keep everyone on the same topic, but at their own level.  That will cover geography, some science, art, music, and read alouds.  I bought lots of Sonlight Core 5 books to go with it, since they cover non-Western cultures.

BJU math and English for the 2 older boys

Sequential Spelling for my oldest, not sure about spelling for son #2

First grader will be working on BJU math, Explode the Code phonics, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, and A Reason for Handwriting.

I want us to start Spanish too, but I haven't decided on curriculum or materials yet.

I'm also considering getting Sonlight Science 4, since my oldest could really use more science, but I haven't made a final decision on that yet.

... of things.  That's where I want to be!  We're getting there... slowly.

Our new baby is very mellow and sweet, as long as someone is holding him!    I can do lots of things holding a baby... however, taking a shower has been a challenge.  At least homeschooling is pretty easy with a baby that wants to be held.  He sat in my lap or nursed today while I read outloud, did a reading lesson, checked math, etc.

I figured out what I want to use next year, school-wise.  Sonlight is not going to work well for us after this year since my two oldest are so far apart in current abilities.  9yos is a voracious reader who recently tackled the first two books in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, while 7yos is still learning to read.  Anyway, I won't bore you with all the details.... here's what we are going to use next year:  My Father's World, Exploring Countries and Cultures

Basically, it's a unit study based on studying the various continents and cultures around the world.  It includes reading about missionaries from each of the major continents.  I'm looking forward to it. 

Someone on a board I'm a part of posted asking if we had a lifesong.  I don't know if I have one of those, but I kinda have a life verse.... Prov. 3:5-6

Pro 3:5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Pro 3:6  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.


I have clung to this verse many times though the years.  Then at our wedding, our pastor used this verse as he talked to me about things I needed to focus on in our marriage.  He did NOT know this verse was important to me!  I about burst out crying in the middle of the wedding when he read that verse!  Wow... what a moment.

I've just had a lot of things happen to me that have made no sense, but have needed to trust God in spite of them.  And over time, those happenings have made more and more sense.  And though it all, my goal is to give him the glory always.

Anyone else have a life verse or scripture that is particularly important to you?

I finally got logged back in after HSB's upgrade!  Yay!

Tuesday-Thursday, November 21th - 23rd

I had an appointment with one of my midwives and my blood pressure was pretty high... around 155/90-something.  I had had a couple of other times in the week or two before where my blood pressure had been high, but we had thought it was a fluke because I had also had a “normal for me” reading in the midst of the high ones.

My midwife strongly suggested we go to the hospital and get checked out.  I was quickly admitted to the family birth center.  They took blood, hooked me up to the monitor, kept checking my blood pressure (bp), etc.  We found that the bp stayed in a safe range as long as I was laying down most of the time.  We discussed inducing labor, but I was 37 weeks, 2 days and the doctors weren't comfortable inducing that early.  The hospital has no nursery or NICU, so if the baby had had breathing problems he would have had to be air-lifted to Seattle.

So I had a little protein in my urine, but not a lot.  My swelling wasn't bad as long as I laid down a lot.  But the bp just didn't want to be close enough to normal.

Somewhere in there, they did an ultrasound and the placenta did look a little old but not enough to worry about yet.  Otherwise, baby looked very good!

I stayed there until the middle of Thanksgiving Day.  They sent me home, told me to stay horizontal as much as possible, and to come back on Friday to be checked over again.

For ease of telling the story, I will just say “doctor” when there's a doctor involved, but we actually had 3 doctors that we dealt with over the course of the week.  They were all great doctors and were very low-intervention in style.

Friday, November 24th

I went in, had bp checked, labs, baby all checked, and was sent home.  They told me to come in on Sunday morning so we could redo labs again and decide whether to induce labor or wait longer.

Sunday, November 26th

I woke up around 3:30am to go to the bathroom, and couldn't get back to sleep again.  I laid in bed and started having lots of Braxton Hicks.  I finally got up around 5:30am and took a shower.  We had tons of snow!  And that's a big deal around here, since it hardly ever snows.  Michael got up and got ready to go... we were due at the hospital at 8:30am.  My contractions continued and I started to think I might be in labor.

We drove though snow!  It had started snowing in the middle of the night and several inches had accumulated.  We saw more than one truck out scraping the roads on our trip.  The weather was a big factor in the story because Michael was driving back and forth, 35 min. one way in good weather, to help with the boys and stay with me.

They hooked me up to the monitors and redid my blood work/labs.  Baby sounded great, and the lab numbers were looking better!  But my bp just wouldn't behave at all.  If I was flat, it wasn't bad but as soon as I sat up, it would raise immediately.  So the doctor felt strongly that we should work on inducing labor.  My own “labor” had faded away as soon as we got to the hospital and talked with the nurse and doctor.  That became a theme of my long labor, as will become more clear as you read...

Since I wasn't “ripe” and ready for labor, the doctor suggested we use Cervadil first, which is a 12 hour time-release version of protaglandin gel.  They started that at about 1pm and I labored lightly all day until 1am when it was removed.  I tried to get some sleep, but that wasn't easy between being in the hospital, and having to wake up for my bp to be checked in the middle of the night.

Monday, November 27th

I continued having contractions during parts of the night, and got into the labor tub for a while in the early AM.  I had called Michael and one of my midwives, thinking something might actually happen labor-wise.  Michael fell asleep in the recliner, my midwife slept on top of my bed, and I dozed in the tub.  After awhile the contractions faded and I got up and took a nap.

Parts of this are becoming a blur, but I'm pretty sure I woke up, ate breakfast, and pow-wowed with the doctor.  I was checked and was 3cm dialated and not quite 50% effaced, or thinned.  I had the option of another day of Cervadil or moving on to pitocin.  I decided we should go ahead with pitocin and that was started in the morning.  They started with a tiny dose and increased it very slowly all day.  Sometime around 3-4pm, I started to need to focus more on relaxing through them but they were still tolerable.

The doctor checked me again around 6pm and I was still at 3 cm dilated and 50% dilated.  I hadn't been upright hardly at all all day and baby was pretty high.... at -2 station, for those that know what that means.

I started cheating and being more upright.  I raised the head of the bed and leaned forward over pillows, swaying back and forth, trying to get baby to drop lower.  The contractions got to be strong enough I really wanted back in the tub.  So I got in and labored for another hour or two.

Around 10pm the doctor came back and checked me again... still 3cm dilated and 50% effaced.  Sigh.  I had the option of continuing the pitocin overnight or having them shut it off so I could sleep.  I voted for sleep.

Tuesday, November 28th

I woke up feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.  I talked to a couple of the nurses about having an epidural, and they agreed that was a decent option but said I would have to be making progress before they could start one.  I was weepy, and I'm almost never weepy.  But after breakfast, a shower, and a nap, I was ready for the pitocin again.

They started the pit drip around 10:30am and I braced myself for another long day.  The contractions didn't bother me until around 3-4pm, and became more intense around 5-6pm.  Every time someone would come in the room to talk to me or just hang out, the contractions would get farther apart and less intense.  So I pretty much labored by myself.

The doctor came in at around 6pm to talk again.  I asked her to check me again and I was 3-4 cm and 80-90% effaced!  Major change!  She decided to stay in the hospital (remember, the roads were nasty) and said she thought we'd have a baby that night.

At about 7pm, dh needed to head home to help my mom get the boys into bed.  There are diapers and modest boys involved, so he really needed to go... but I warned him if he did go, he was taking the chance that he would miss the birth.  He decided to chance it.

Things continued to intensify.  Around 8-8:30pm I decided I wanted in the tub.  I leaned over the side and tried to relax.  At about 9pm the nurse called the doctor from down the hall to come to my room and get prepped.  At 9:10pm my water broke... I could feel the pop down low, but still inside.  I told the nurse.  Within a minute a long contraction started, and I pushed one time.... he flew out!  He was born at 9:13pm into the water, with the nurse and doctor across the room!  I was still leaning over the side of the tub so he floated to the bottom and I flipped around and pulled him up on my chest.  He cried right away and was covered with vernix.  He was 6lbs 9oz and 19 ¾ inches long, and adorable!

The doctor was in a hurry to get us out of the tub and almost cut the cord while it was still pulsing, but the nurse and I asked if it was still pulsing and the doctor slowed down a bit.  After the cord was cut, they got us both out of the tub and we dealt with the placenta.  The doctor checked me over, and I just had a skid mark (tiny tear, no stitches).

The doctor joked with me about water birth not being part of hospital policy, so she'd have to say it was an accident.    Which is was, but she doesn't know that if she had tried to get me out of the tub I would have refused to move.

At 9:50pm, the nurse said she saw dh coming down the hall, but she didn't say a thing to him.  It was fun to see him walk in the room, look from the tub to the bed, tub to the bed again, with big eyes... then we told him!  LOL  So he missed the birth.  But we're fine with that.  He didn't dawdle at home, and with the roads so bad a 35 min. trip was taking him at least an hour.  And since even the doctor missed the birth... it all was kinda funny.

We stayed in the hospital for almost 2 days waiting for my blood pressure to come down.  They finally decided I could go home if I was monitored at home, meaning I needed to get my blood pressure checked regularly.

The whole family breathed a sigh of relief when I walked in the door.  I've never been away from home that much in a week's time... it was hard on everybody.

(imagine baby ticker showing baby at 34 weeks gestation here)

Wow!  Do you know what that means?!?  It means I'm getting close to being almost done!  My little boy is almost done "cooking" and I'll be a mom of a newborn all over again!  I love newborns! 

I have the clothes and blankets ready.... the food is in the freezer... the carseat is purchased and ready to be installed in about 3 weeks.  I have the birth kit ordered.  So now I need to go through my midwife's list and get those things gathered and done.  There are certain things.... towels and receiving blankets to gather, gatorade to have on hand, emergency numbers next to the phone, etc.... that need to be prepared.  Then we'll be ready for the home birth.

I thought I was done with Christmas shopping, then my 7yr old reminded me that he hasn't gotten anything for anyone yet... bother!  I might have the boys exchange names this year... then each would need a gift for only one brother.  Then maybe they could all go in for one gift for MIL and FIL... and one gift for hubby and myself.  That would simplify things a bit.

So much to do!  All my other babies were born in the late spring or summer, so this Christmas baby thing is new to me.  It sure gives you more things to need to get ready ahead of time!  LOL

 

Misty left these questions for me, and I thought I would answer them as best I could with a new entry.  :)

Misty:  So I guess the 1st thing is to figure out when I could do this.
It is so simple yet seems so overwhelming, as soon as I started I would realize I had forgotten to by something.

It does help to have a plan and a list.  It would be very hard to be cooking and find that you are short a major ingredient.  Honestly, I would not start out trying to spend a whole day cooking... that would probably overwhelm you!  It might be better to try doubling some of your favorite meals.  If you have a casserole you like, next time you make it make two.... one in a pan to bake, and put the other half in a gallon-sized freezer bag and freezer flat.  If you like chili, make a double batch and freeze half of it.  See what I mean?  A book I have calls this "incidental preparedness".  If you are cooking anyway, it isn't that hard to double the recipe.  But cooking all day.... well, I would make that a "might do" goal for later.

Misty:  Do you just by what's on sale or do you purchase organic natural meets, I am concerned about that but it is to expensive and you really don't know what they mean by organic I mean I don't want to feed my kids something that has been given a shot to make it grow (unaturally) to fast.

It depends.... I've done it several ways:  cooking because meat was on sale, cooking because baby was coming soon, or cooking just because my freezer was getting empty.  In general, I try to only buy meat that's on sale.  This time I bought meat at Costco that was just what I needed... I don't have the luxury of time since baby WILL be coming soon, so I didn't worry too much about sales. 

But meat sales are a great time to fill up your freezer.  If ground meat goes on a great sale, then I would buy a bunch and spend a couple of days working on meatloaves, meatballs, and meat patties for quick hamburgers.  Chicken on sale works the same way, but with chicken-friendly meals. 

I try to buy local, organic beef.  We've done that a couple of times and were very happy with it.  But we're putting a roof on the house and we just don't have enough cash around to do it this year.  Lord willing, we can do it again next year.  In general, I can't afford organic meats at the grocery store.  I don't like the idea of the hormones they put in meat, but if I don't have the money to buy organic.... well, I don't really have a choice.  Buying local can be a lot cheaper, if you can find a farmer nearby that raises cattle.

Misty:  What do you freeze all those meals in and how long do they keep
My dh and I don't like to eat out of the freezer my grandmother use to keep stuff in there for 2 and 3 yrs and then give it to us, we are coming around though.

Mostly I use freezer ziploc bags.  There are also containers made to be used in the freezer.  We use the meals usually within 6 months, and I don't like to keep anything past about a year.  No way would I eat stuff after 2-3 years!  LOL  If that's the freezer food you've experienced, no wonder you don't like it!  The biggest trick to keeping the food of good quality over time is to use a very cold freezer (0F if possible), get all the air out of the containers that you can, use freezer-quality bags and containers, and eat it within reasonable time limits.  My family can never tell when something's come out of the freezer.  As long as you follow the basic list I made, the food should taste just fine.  :)

And I don't mind answering questions!  I remember getting started with freezer cooking and I had SO many questions.  And I'm still learning!  I don't have the art mastered yet.  ;)

One of my favorite books is the 30 Day Gourmet.  Here's their website:  30 Day Gourmet

They sell a couple of inexpensive books that are great!  Good recipes, easy food to make, and lots of good info and advice about freezer cooking in general.

A friend and her daughter, plus another young woman who was with them, came over today and helped me cook!  That was fun.  I've never cooked with a group before.

We put 7 chicken meals in the freezer, plus 16 pie crusts.  My friend felt like they didn't do much.  She used to pair up with a friend and they would make upwards of 60 meals in a day!  Wow!  That's way beyond anything I could do in one day.  But the women really did help me, even if they didn't feel like they did much.  What the 4 of us did in about 2.5 hours would have taken me all day, and then all the clean up!  So it was great having them here.

I'm going to try to sneak in a few more meals here and there by doubling some recipes and freezing half.  But the bulk of it is done for now. 

I actually slept well last night!  Woo hoo!  But I'm still behind, so very sleepy... but sleep felt SO very good. :)

I'm spending the week cooking!  I put 6 meals in the freezer yesterday and 2 more today.  And I'm also cooking and chopping chicken.  A friend who has older daughters is coming over tomorrow to help with some of my cooking!  There really isn't that much more to do, but I'm happy for the help.  Tomorrow should yield another 7 meals and a bunch of pie crusts.  I might add chicken nuggets to that list.  I ended up buying lots more chicken than I needed.... so I haven't decided whether to use it up, or just use it as I need it. 

I have chili going in the crockpot, and that will end up being 3-4 quart bags for loaded baked potatoes. 

I also filled out a freezer inventory.  I didn't list every item, mostly just meals.  It helps to know what's in there.  ;)

I've been asked why I do this, so I'll try to quickly answer...

Convenience is the main reason.  If I'm already making a kitchen mess, I figure I might as well end up with extra food out of the deal.  So if I'm making a lasagne, it doesn't take much longer to make two... then I can freeze one for a busy night.

It's also cheaper, if you can find meat on a great sale.  You can buy a bunch and process it into meals, freeze them, and use them over time. 

I'm having a baby in December and will not want to be cooking much, so I'm doing enough meals ahead that I will have about a month's worth of dinners to grab.  Some days I'll be able to throw something in the crockpot, but other days I'll depend on something from the freezer.

There are other things I like to have in the freezer besides whole meals.... cooked beans, browned hamburger, quick breads, etc.  Then if we want spaghetti or tacos, all I have to do is throw some cooked meat into sauce... or saute some meat quickly with seasonings.... and we can eat in a flash.  I don't like the mess that browning hamburger makes, so I do a bunch at once... then I don't have to clean up the mess everytime I want a lb of cooked hamburger.  ;)

And some meals are so much easier if some of the components are fixed ahead.  One meal my family loves is loaded baked potatoes.  I like to serve chili with it.  But I make chili from dry beans... cook the beans all night in the crockpot... then cook the chili all day in the crockpot... it would be a pain to do that every time I want to serve loaded baked potatoes!  LOL  So I make a bunch of chili, freeze portions in quart sized freezer bags, then all I have to do is bake potatoes, gather cheese and other toppings, and heat the chili and serve.

Anyway.... I love freezer cooking. :)

I'm exhausted.  As in, I'd like to curl up and cry somewhere.  Well, maybe curl up and sleep would be better but since my body doesn't want to do that, I'll just write about it instead.

Friday we went to our homeschool co-op in the AM, ate our sack lunch I'd packed, and headed off to our great shopping metropolis.  We spent an hour in Target, then 2 hours in Costco.  The Costco trip included filling 2 carts, training 2 boys to push a cart (they took turns... almost fighting over when they could have the next turn), getting run over a couple of times, and spending a frightening amount of money.  The only times I've spent close to that at Costco was when a major appliance was involved.  Wow.  Well, I'm glad we have the money to do that right now.

Anyway, that filled up the basics since I hadn't shopped in about a month.  It also bought groceries for the next couple of weeks and enough food to do some freezer cooking.

I don't remember how much sleep I got Friday night, but it wasn't enough.  I've been having trouble sleeping.

Saturday turned out to be great weather-wise, so hubby and a friend spent the day working on putting the new metal roof on our house.  Said friend also brought his 2 grandsons... that was fine... until their mother was supposed to pick them up around 2pm.  Well, she didn't show up until 6pm, took only one of the boys, and didn't say as much as, "Thank you for caring for my kids for 7 hours straight with no notice or permission."  Humph.  An hour later, friend and the 2nd grandson went home. 

I managed to talk to said friend about communicating better about when I might have grandson duty.  I'm happy to help however I can, if it means the roof goes on faster... but 8 hours of babysitting with no notice or gratitude was a bit too much to take.

I then managed to get about 4 hours of sleep Saturday night.

Which brings us to today.  The weather was nice and dry again, so the men spent the day on the roof.  I spent the day cooking for them.  I baked a double batch of cookies at hubby's request, fixed breakfast and lunch, did dishes and laundry, and browned about 10lbs of hamburger.  Oh, and filled the crockpot with soup for tonight.

I tried to take a nap, but busy boys thwarted that.  I did manage a shower at around 5pm.  Sigh.

My only prayer at this point is that I could have a night of sleep that doesn't include waking up wide-awake at 3am and not being able to get back to sleep.  Is that so much to ask???

...I could so easily identify with a cat.

Some of you might remember our cat escapades from this last summer.  We brought in our outside mama cat for her to have her kittens.  It turned out to be pretty stressful and messy, but I remember one interesting thing...

Our mama, Abby, is not a big cat.  And she had four kittens, so you can imagine how huge her tummy was.  Towards the end, she became crabby... even biting us when she got the chance.  She had never done that before.  I was concerned it was a bad habit starting, but she stopped doing it as soon as she had her kittens.

Then I understood.  She was huge, uncomfortable, and wanted her condition to change NOW.  And she was kinda hoping we could fix it for her.

Well... now here I am, almost 33 weeks pregnant, and I'm having trouble not "biting" at some of the people that I love, namely my hubby.  I have to admit that I've been difficult to live with lately.

I guess this is part of what prepares us for labor... we pregnant ladies will get to where we'll do almost anything to not be pregnant anymore.

This is definitely bird weather, as my mom always calls it.  They get a bath, a drink, and more worms.  Meanwhile, we humans just get wet!  LOL  Oh, well... it's part of living someplace green, I guess.

I'm currently trying to hold my 2 yr old on my lap while I type, but that's getting harder these days.  He's running out of usable lap space! 

Life is different around here today.  My 7 yr old was at my inlaw's house for 4 days, and we got him back yesterday.  He's my firecracker... the family's catalyst... Mr. Intensity, Noise, and Action.  He also doesn't do change really well, so he's adjusting to being back home.  We'll be fine in a day or two, but sometimes this momma wonders if visits to grandma and grandpa's house are worth it.  I know they are, but....

I need to get bread made today.  Which means, I should also get soup in the crockpot.  I guess I better get to that before it's too late.

I have list of meals and things I want to get into the freezer before Thanksgiving.  I'm hoping that on Friday, when we go to our homeschool co-op, I can do all of the necessary shopping I need to do for my plans.


Meals:

3 meatloafs
2 lazy day lasagna
2 cheeseburger quiche
2 chicken pot pies (2 recipes, 4 pies worth)
2 chicken divan
2 chicken tetrazzini
2 quiche in a bag
chili... package for loaded baked potatoes
2 baked ziti

Other Stuff:

muffins... did lots yesterday and froze them
quick breads.... have 3 loaves of banana bread, and 3 more to make today
browned hamburger
pie crusts
cooked beans... black, red, pinto
breakfast mcbiscuits
granola bars
extra baked bread

Yes, I'm still around.  Just haven't had much to say lately.  :)

I'm 32 weeks pregnant now and my belly just keeps getting huger and huger!  I'm probably no bigger than I've been with other pregnancies, but I'm definitely getting to the "feeling like a beached whale" stage.

We still haven't decided on a name... my favorite is still Asher Brendan.  Michael has no good alternatives. :)


So today, I:

...loaded and ran the dishwasher twice

...did a load of towels... but they are still in the dryer

...made a double batch of banana muffins, part were for breakfast and I froze the rest

...made a quadruple batch of granola muffins... they somehow turned into 5 dozen after being scooped into muffin tins.... they are all in the freezer

...mixed up a double batch of biscuit mix

...mixed up some 6 week bran muffin batter that's in the fridge

...cleaned out some things from the freezer we aren't eating and are taking up too much space

...cleaned up the kitchen several times

...commented several times to boys about how great their Lego creations were

...directed my oldest in doing his school work... 2nd oldest is at the ILs until Tuesday

...changed diapers several times... but is that news worthy?  probably not...

...sat at the computer and rested now and then

...started a freezer inventory, but haven't gotten very far with it


I think that's about it.  I'm tired.  :)

I'm almost 25 weeks along, so quite a ways to go yet.  But the nesting bug has hit!  My oldest was at his grandparents house for most of the last week so school was put on hold.  And I worked on projects instead.

I caught up on the sewing fixit stuff I needed to do.  That included repairing several items and adding ribbing to the bottom of 3 baby outfits.  Way back when, I cut cut off the feet... I've never liked footed clothes for babies.  So now they have ribbing instead.

I decluttered a paper sack of books from our shelves.... mostly twaddly kids books.  Yes, those sneak in there somehow.... while we sleep, I think.  ;)

I cleaned out my baby clothes and sent some to a friend having twin boys.  :)

I've done other random decluttering..... including our worn out exersaucer.  I plan to buy another used one when I need it. 

I received our new infant carseat and played around with it... then put it in a big bag and found a home for it until December.

I moved my 2 yr old's clothes out of my dresser and to his new one in the boy's bunk room.

And for today's project, I'm washing all the newborn clothes and baby blankets.  Wow!  Add all that to my regular laundry, and I'll be doing laundry most of the day!  LOL  At least those little clothes are fun to look at and fold.  Then I'll put away the baby's things in my dresser, where 2 yr old's clothes used to be.  I will also get the newborn diapers washed and put away... probably in a plastic bag so they'll stay clean.

So if can just agree on a name, we'll soon be set for this baby.  ;)  LOL

The cats are OUT OF MY HOUSE!  PERMANENTLY!


There... now I can talk quieter.  ;)


They've been in our extra room for 3 months so the mama could have her babies and we could make sure they wouldn't be wild. 

We've cleaned up after them repeatedly.

They've been altered... it-ified.... spayed/neutered.  I refuse to call them "fixed"... they weren't broken.

And now they are out for good.

This looks to be a good day!  I feel free!  Woo hoo!

I've been finally doing better!  I noticed a week or two ago that my hips don't hurt they were... and my sciatic nerve is calm.... so life is good.

It's been so long since the boys were sick that I don't remember when it was.  It's an eery feeling... like I'm waiting for a bomb to drop!  LOL  But I'm enjoying it to it's fullest.

We're working on getting the 2yr old sleeping with the 7yr old.  The 2yr old is NOT impressed or happy about it... too bad.  I need to make room for the next little boy.

I think we are finally back into a schooling rhythm!  And 7yr old is sounding out words!  Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons is going very well.  :)

Tomorrow we're taking the boys to the mud drags at the fair.  I must truly be a mom of boys, because I'm looking forward to it!  I think it sounds like fun.  Really. 

At the moment, life is very good.