You Don't See That Every Day

I had another doctor's appointment today. We are at 36 weeks, 4 more to go. Yay! The doctor says, basically, nothing's happening. All those dreams I've been having of going into labor, are just that, dreams. Which is good. This baby needs to 'cook' until she's ready. And I suppose it will be better to be tired and pregnant for a few more weeks instead of tired with a newborn! Here's the line-up for the past few months: 6 months 7 months 8 months

The joke going around our house this week, compliments of my sister: "Why does a chicken coop have only 2 doors?" "Because if it had 4 doors, it would be a sedan!"

Happy Birthday Mom! When I think of my mom, the one image that always comes to mind is her kneeling in prayer. When I would pass by my parents' bedroom at night, I would see my mom on her knees, in that blue quilted bathrobe, sometimes with those yellow slippers on, head bowed, eyes closed, saying her evening prayers. Looking back on my life, those mistakes I made in college, those stupid, stupid decisions I made, I can see her prayers at work. I'm surmising she prayed for us, since I could have gotten into a lot of trouble, or a lot more trouble, with some of my dumb decisions. And now my mom is known to my kids as a cookie-grandma. No matter what time of day we go over to their house, one of the kids will say, "I'm hungry," knowing full well that Grandma will most likely hand out a cookie. Unless it is in the evening. And then they know it is ice cream time! I find myself doing a lot of things my mom did; some of the things I say have come directly from her mout...

My older two children did a wonderful thing this afternoon. They worked. Hard. For 2 hours without complaint or dissent in the ranks. Without supervision! I was so impressed with them, I promised them ice cream for dessert - I know, I know, what a great mom. They unloaded compost/dirt from the back of the pickup and wheeled it to the backyard, spread it around, and repeated the process. And repeated it. Yesterday I was blessed by some friends with a shared-baby shower. Two other moms are pregnant and due in April also (well, actually there are about 8 other friends I know due in April, but in this case, just the 3 of us are involved here.) We played one game - involving M-n-M's - where we had to answer a question depending on the color of the candy we had in our hand. And we had yummy food. And awesome gifts. I didn't take pictures of all of them, just a few to share. Getting some cute baby girl clothes made it seem even more real. But, we still have a problem. No name. This c...

My sister and I took the kids out to the farm today. We spent most of the day there since it was so beautiful and sunny -- I knew we needed to be outside. Plus we had plenty of remodeled projects that needed to go out to the burn pile. It was so clear today we were able to see Mt. Hood, Rainier, St. Helens and Jefferson - you rarely see all of these at once. It was beautiful! After the traditional lunchtime with Grandpa and Grandma (out to Burger King!) the kids helped out on the farm, picking up sticks from the fence row my dad is cleaning up. Not that you can see it in these photos - but they really did earn their lunch. And my cannonball and I waddled around taking pictures. A wonderful way to spend the day.

Back in January when people all around me were making up resolutions I came across a blogger who went a different route and did a What If list instead. And it inspired me to do the same. So I wrote down, in actual pen on paper, my What If list for 2010: What if... I made G's lunch every day ? ... I stopped using a credit card ? ... went to bed by 10 pm ? ... read my Bible every morning ? ... made sure I walked 3 times a week ? ... spoke gently to my girls ? Now two months later, how am I doing? Well, I make G's lunch when he isn't traveling, when he doesn't leave the house before 7:30 am, and when I have had enough sleep so I can roll out of bed and find the lunch meat. I have mostly stopped using the credit card. Ugh, it is such an ugly bill to get, that I don't want to use it! I don't always get to bed by 10, but I'm trying. I have been pretty good at the Bible reading. Having "My Daily Bread" booklet to guide me has sure helped. Rain in Oregon ...

The house is up for sale now. Even though we are still in the midst of remodeling some of the areas, we went ahead and put up the sign and listed it with a realtor. Keeping the house inside clean and clutter-free has been a little bit of a challenge, but the kids have been so great about helping out each morning. And I have found out how much I really like living in a clean house!

There's a family wedding coming up this summer. And little Miss M gets to be the flower girl. She was SO excited when the dress arrived in the mail. She had to try it on right away of course, and she danced around the house in her finery. Her older sister showed her how to sit and 'poof' out the dress like a princess. I am sure she will be feeling every bit the princess at the wedding as the bride does!

**Warning - graphic images of a wounded hand following this content. Not for the squeamish to view** Here is our son's reaction to the Claw: Did you ever play cops and robbers, using your hand as a gun? Well that's the position G's fingers have been in the for the past 5 days. Yesterday we went in and saw the sutures for the first time. I was able to look at it this time, unlike on Saturday when I knew I would pass out with a glance at his bleeding hand. So the Claw is not quite the Claw anymore. Not so many bandages wrapped around it; but still a little splint holding it in a near-claw-like position. We had to take pictures of it, of course, when we went to change the bandages this morning:

Months ago, back in October, we promised our oldest daughter a horseback ride for her birthday. The girl is horse-crazy, like many girls at the age of 9; having been that way myself, I fully understand her need/desire to ride horses. So thanks to my kind older brother and his wife, we were able to make her dream come true. I headed out last Thursday morning with the 4 kids packed in the pickup, up the freeway to Seattle area. As we approached a different big city, my kids oohed and aahed over "all the BIG buildings!" and "Look at all those bridges! There must be a gazillion bridges here!" They were quite impressed with the city sights. We don't get out much I guess. I did good just to make sure I stayed in the correct lane to get where I needed to go. We got to ride the horses that evening after supper. Not only ride them, but the kids learned all about brushing and preparing the horse, and then afterward, brushing it down, and cleaning the hooves. Big smiles th...

Just a little update on the patient - as I write this G is "honk-shooing" on the couch; it's been a pretty long day for us. He last took some pain meds last night, so that seems to be going well. He used his hand a bit more than I think he should have today - we put together bunk beds for the girls today with help from my in-laws. Work calls have been pouring in, and his assistant is ill, so there is some added stress there. But all in all, we are still counting our blessings. And now for the "more" part. G turns 40 in just over a month. Yikes! What do I do here? I am due to deliver this baby in 8 weeks. Plus we just put a For Sale sign up on our house. Plus we have boxes to pack and house-fixing to ... fix. Plus we have a right handed handy man out of commission. So do you see the dilemma? ANY ideas on how to celebrate my best buddy's 40th birthday?? I would sure like to help him feel special on 'his' birthday. I know he has been feeling like he is ...

The kids and I went to the Seattle area at the end of last week (more on that at a different post) and we made it home Saturday afternoon, just in time for some more excitement. The bags were unpacked, the chili was in the crockpot for supper, the cookies were nearly done being baked. G was working on 4 different areas in the house - kitchen countertops, bathroom walls, bedroom wall, and playroom trim. Things were moving along just swell. Then I heard a yell, and a crash, and some other words from the garage, and I went running. Blood spurting from his hand, G is howling in pain, so I holler at the kids to get in the car, NOW, and we turned off all the lights, etc. and rushed to the ER. The nurses and doctors there were so great. They got him in right away and stemmed the flow of the gusher; but it wasn't for another 5 hours until they got him into surgery. I am also so thankful that we have relatives and friends nearby that I can call on. The kids were whisked off to my sister in ...