You Don't See That Every Day

I'm not normally up at this hour in the morning. But normal is about to change. Contractions are coming quickly now and we will be heading to the hospital as soon as my sister arrives to watch the other kids. I am so excited to meet this new one!

This morning was a baking morning. In the course of 2 hours or so I stirred up: English Muffin bread ; Chocolate walnut brownies; Loaded Cookies ; and graham crackers ; I plan on freezing some of these to pull out after baby arrives. I'm thinking I won't be up to baking in the next week or two. (Quick baby-update> 2 days until the due date; Not much seems to be happening though.) This afternoon after a library trip, the Chef and I will tackle Snickerdoodle cookies. My mother in-law makes the best ones, so I will try her recipe first. We'll also try pico de gallo with guacamole and homemade chips to go with our BBQ tonight. I hope. If the rain holds off. Actually even if the rain does come, I think I will still cook up some burgers and dogs on the grill. Just sounds good!

This week's reading selection, well one of them, was by a new-to-me author, Lynette Eason . She writes mystery/thrillers with a hint of faith in them, not serious preaching though. I just read "Too Close to Home" and it was a good thing my husband was home! (Or maybe I should just learn to not read those at night.) This book was set in present day, about young girls going missing. After reading it I had to peek in at our sleeping kids and then I have determined my kids won't be having text messaging available if they ever get a cell phone!! If you read the book you might understand that a bit more. I think I have stumbled upon a new author to check out some more, besides my other favorite, Dee Henderson !

One memory I have of childhood was my dad's Polish jokes. (My mom is Polish, my dad is German.) The tradition has somehow continued in my own family, go figure. So here is the latest, (which makes me laugh). A Polish man moved to the US and married an American girl. Although his English was far from perfect, they got along very well. But one day he rushed into a lawyer's office and asked him if he could arrange a divorce for him. The lawyer said that getting a divorce would depend on the circumstances and asked him the following questions: Have you any grounds? Yes, and acre and a half and a nice little home. No, I mean what is the foundation of this case? It made of concrete. I don't think you understand. Does either of you have a real grudge? No, we have a carport and not need one. I mean, What are your relations like? All my relations still in Poland. Is there any infidelity in your marriage? We have hi-fidelity stereo and good DVD player. Does your wife beat you up? No,...

This past weekend was so busy I tired myself out so much, I didn't even want to write about it. But I have mustered my strength and have pictures to show - especially since I cannot get these photos to upload on my Facebook page, and my frustration with it is ... too much. The older kids had their homeschool testing on Saturday, which meant driving back and forth and back and forth for them. Immediately afterward there was their choir practice, and a baby shower; thankfully held at the same location at the same time. I guess our being home most of the week makes up for being gone most of the weekend. Some very sweet friends of ours gave a shower for our baby 5 and for our friend and her baby 5. Here are those stinkin' non-uploading photos (these are for you C.H.): Look - a Peeps cake! It was delicious, since I didn't eat those sticky little birds. I am not a fan of them. One of the many cute, cute clothing items I received: And no, this little guy isn't mine; he's t...

April is THE month of birthdays in our family. I can count 8 family members born in April, and about a dozen friends born in April. And then there are all these babies being born this month, ours being one of the expected ones this month. But today belongs to our Little Chef, Miss M. She turns 7 today. Wow! How is it possible?! We just brought the little-tongue-sticking out stinker home from the hospital didn't we? How did we get from this : -- to this: This girl was actually the largest of our babies, a 9 pounder, born a week later than expected. She came into the world like a wise little woman. She has always seemed older than her age, I can't quite put my finger on why, but she does. Of course, she acts her age quite often too! Happy Birthday little Chef! (I'm just hoping her dreams of a restaurant come true one day, and her promise to feed us for free actually happens.)

Yes, we are still here. No news to relate concerning baby. But all is well, pain is gone. Today we are starting the celebrations for Miss M's (the ltitle chef) 7th birthday coming up on Sunday! Wow how time has flown!

I didn't want to take the chance that the Hair post would be up for days and days to come. Tonight I have a pain in my side, and in my back. I'm not sure if it is a contraction or not. This makes me laugh! I've had 4 kids already ... and I have forgotten what contractions feel like or start off like! So tomorrow I might be in the hospital, or I might be back here, updating this with "No News".

This might be a strange post today. It's about hair. Hair has been a trial for me since I was about ... oh 5 years old. I have vivid memories of my older sister brushing my hair and ripping it out of my head. Of course she would deny the ripping part. But now I have to brush my oldest daughter's hair to make sure she gets all the tangles out - and there is sometimes a ripping process to it. Not intentionally! but we have to get those tangles out! She has hair just like mine. The poor girl. As I got older, the curls were a pain to me. I never liked them. Until I was older. Just recently, well in the past few years, I have come upon products that make my hair a bit more manageable. I once lived on the coast for 3 summers, and the humidity made me look like a frizzy q-tip. Or something frizzy. All I remember is the frizz. My cousin would have a lovely comment any time I saw him, about my hair. My husband used to tease me about my bangs (I no longer have them, I kept him.) Anyway, ...

Today is my husband's birthday! This cute little cherub in the picture -- is now 40!! And thankfully I have gotten to spend 18 of those years knowing him ... and I am looking forward to 40+ more years together too! This man makes me laugh at least once a day. He knows when to hold me, when to fold, when to walk away, when to run ... oh wait, that's something else. Well, he knows most of the time what I need and when I need it. But then sometimes he has no clue and pretty much wings it. Which often works, but like all husbands, sometimes doesn't. This husband of mine, my best friend, has a strange sense of humor that I have clicked with from the start. ((Although I must say watching my husband watch Chris Farley is much more amusing than actually watching Chris Farley.)) But he has a serious side too. He wears his emotions on his sleeve, so pretty much what you see is what you get. He likes to hike and climb mountains; he likes football, especially of our Alma mater! He lik...

So I just finished up a third book by author Nancy Moser . I am waiting for the library to get in the 4th one, and then once that is done, augh where will I be?! The one I am waiting for, about Elizabeth Barrett Browning ( How Do I Love Thee ) promises to be just as interesting as the others. I have enjoyed biographies in the past, and these books wonderfully blend my love of fiction and biography. The books are historical fiction about these ladies: Jane Austen ( Just Jane ), Nannerl Mozart ( Mozart's Sister ) and Martha Washington ( Washington's Lady ). Of course, they are fiction, but Moser has done plenty of research and puts the story together so well that I think it is all real! Plus they made me think about how good I have it today as a woman in this culture - a lot more freedom, and probably, a lot less responsibility!

I know, a few days past Easter, but here we are. And no the 4 kids are not the same height; Dad put them on a step so they were even. So that morning, we hid a special (plastic) egg for each child that held a clue inside of it. They then had to figure out from the clue where their special basket was hidden. This took a little time, but we finished and made it to church before the service started! I wasn't so sure we would since I could not find a thing to wear. Why is it that we women, in our family at least, feel like we should have a new pretty dress on Easter? I'm guessing it starts in childhood - because I made sure the girls had a pretty dress, new-to-them, to wear. (We're all about hand-me-downs in this family!) Church was wonderful, what I heard in between taking small children of mine to the bathroom. We spent the afternoon with my parents and family, finally getting to meet my first great-nephew. He is now 6 months old and as cute as ever. It's just one more th...

I don't usually take the kids to Easter egg hunts in the community. We have enough candy and plastic eggs in our own personal egg hunts! Not like they need more candy! But today I relented and took the two younger ones to a nearby school for an egg hunt, while the older two were elsewhere. We met up with a friend there. It was a strange hunt - held inside an elementary school, throughout the hallways. Unfortunately the almost-7 year old only found one egg, and the 4 yr old found none. But those who hosted the event were so kind and gave the girls eggs for their baskets. After the hunt we gathered in a large room for popcorn and door prizes and a movie. And, surprise, our youngest won one of the kids' door prizes! Wow! It was a good way to end the outing. Hope you all have a blessed Easter!

A great day for mail today! Not only did my Runner's World magazine arrive today, but my Netflix movie was "The Spirit of the Marathon" which I watched while eating my ice cream. Haha! It was wonderful to immerse myself in running lore and lingo. And yet, it was almost bittersweet since I can't run right now and am thinking of the months left to go before I can get back out there. With spring there seems to be an abundance of runners out now. As I drive down the main highway near our home I usually see 2 or more runners out - mostly when it isn't raining. And a number of friends and acquaintances have begun running, or at least made their running known to the Facebook world. And this all fuels my desire to run again. Even my husband knows. We passed a runner last weekend, while driving home from somewhere, and without even looking at me G said, "Only a little bit longer," knowing that was probably what I was thinking. But for now I can read about it and ...