Belly VS Butt

We all know who will win this contest eventually but the butt puts up a very good fight when all is said and done. A woman once asks me at around 40 weeks where I was hiding Isabelle, I said " right here" and you can guess where I pointed.

It Hurts

I know I just posted but I need to whine.
Tuesday morning at 5 am I woke with my entire left aching. This is not new since being pregnant, and pre preg I would get a pinched nerve my left scapula region which was just a pinched feeling that was easily remedied with yoga. The stupid arm hurt till late into the afternoon, and took tylenol and ended up calling the dr to see if I could take anything else. No go. So I pretty much cried as Christian was being extra annoying to me for some reason and called my mom for sympathy. I kept up on the tylenol and soaked in a hot bath it seemed to help and I was mended JUST in time for our girl's night which was WONDERFUL!! And my friend Sarah was so sweet to carry around my liter of conditioner for me all evening while shopping.
My next whine is my sciatic issues, I always have a balled up muscle that is super sore on my lower right side of my back and since having too babies I have had a glimmer of the pain but this time around, the pain is sharp and makes me limp, I think getting groceries and things like using my entire body to get sluggish van doors open does not help. So my whole right leg has been aching today along with the sharp pains while walking. Been stretching, heatpacking, torturing myself my pressing on said balled up muscle knot, the pain is sharp but it alleviates the leg ache. So there I blogged an entire entry about nerve pinching and whining.
It's better than stomach aches, it's better than stomach aches....

Baby

I really need to post a belly pic so I will try to remember to take a picture tomorrow when I am not in sweats in a too small tank top, hair not done or make-up. My usual look. Last week I saw the baby kick my belly and last night the baby was kicking away, it was the first time this pregnancy I felt the repeated movements and kicks and could feel them on the outside too, they were an inch or so below my belly button. Very fun.

Kid Sherlock

2 random things. First a random quote from the boy one morning this week as he walked by me out of the kitchen. " We're kids, we play with stuff." That's all the end he left.
Next, last night before bed Isabelle was trying to track down her water bottle. She was also supposed to be getting ready for bed, cleaning up etc; I called her upstairs to scold her for not doing what I asked, she had something behind her back, I asked her of course, what's behind your back? She pulls out a kid's magnifying glass. I had to smirk at that one. :)

ps I continue to feel better and better and remember when I said I would jinx myself for saying I had freakish pregnancy immunities, well I got a cold from Isabelle this week, she had also just gotten a prior cold two weeks before, good GRIEF!! Though I will say while we all have said cold, it's hitting me the least hardest.

What are the odds...

A couple of really great if it can go wrong it will stories. First one, last week, putting up the tree. I test all the lights, two strands a go, one strand, a few out. So I get out my spares and get my food scraper to loosen the lights and since of none of the replacement bulbs match I have to do the whole remove the light from the holder to put it in the corresponding strands base. I end up with more lights out than replacements. No prob, I'll just put all the burnouts at the end of the string. I then begin the fun job of stringing the lights that I checked... because nothing's worse than stringing them and having them not work, I get a little dizzy going around and around the tree. Lights strung, moment of truth. half of one strand is out. Curses. Unstring two outside strands and settle for one inside strand one outside strand. Ok still pretty. A couple days later, another goes almost ALL out. I took really annoying long winded measures to prevent this and it happened twice anyway!!! I'm just too tired to buy more lights and redo the entire dad gum tree.

Another much more humiliating story. This too has happened to me twice. We seem to have some problem in the sewer line, it clogs 30-40 feet out and this happened last year and again today. I rarely "use" the downstairs bathroom. But I was down here putting in a load of towels because we had water in the basement last night from what we thought was a frozen hose from the sump. Christian does his numero dos. Flush no problem. I'm down there, I too have to go "use" this bathroom. As I'm sitting there, I hear blub blub. ( this is the sound the toilet makes when water is about to come up our shower downstairs and the drain.) The washer is draining and the water is backing up. Literally oh crap. No flushie for Audrey. I get to have Roto Rooter out. This is the second time this has happened to me. I have no dignity left. Especially now after blogging this.

14 weeks

Random pregnancy update ahead. I'm starting to feel better and better. Not normal but more moments of normal than not. I'm still pretty tired at the end of the day but i don't feel as sick. Got to hear the baby's heartbeat again, it was 151 bpm. She said since my pregnancy seems to be so healthy we could go 6 weeks till the next apt and that way I'll get my ultrasound sooner (as in 6 weeks). I can't wait to find out what gender the baby is!! Then we can get to work on figuring out a name. I was great with that so no apt in Dec, only getting labs done on my thyroid. My thyroid has been checked every 4 weeks by my endocrinologist and it's remaining within normal range since our initial slight increase at 4 weeks pregnant. I am thankful I have had no thyroid symptoms at all. I also seem to have a weird freakish pregnancy immunity. I've not caught a virus this whole time... watch me now, I jinxed myself. Maybe my 2 flu shots helped a little too but I've managed to dodge the kids various viruses and they did a lot of breathing on me. I've gained 4.5 lbs so far. I'm pretty hungry but it's not as bad as it was with trying to calm the acid and I haven't had a chocolate donut in quite some time. ;) My sciatic nerve can really kill after a day of cleaning. I need to take another belly pic, hard to believe I've gone 5 weeks and not done another one. Probably because my belly hasn't grown as much I don't know. :) My bloat is now just being filled with actually uterus and baby... ok that's all for now.

Funny, at least to his mother

Well my first Christian quote is more sweet than funny, we were eating lunch today and the dd and I had gotten ice cream after our meal and Mitch took Christian to get his, he LOVES everything sugary, it's ridiculous, while walking from our table he turned around and said " Enjoy your ice cream!!!"

The funny quote: Took Chrstian to the bathroom at church, he went first then I said "wait for mommy I have to go too and don't open that door until I'm done." He agreed, " We don't want people to see you, that would be gross, they would throw up." Gee, thanks.

One from Isabelle last night but I can't remember what we were talking about getting ready for bed but for some reason it ended with " people will think I'm an idiot" I wish I could remember the context, I blame pregnancy fog brain.

12 weeks and other things

So I'm 12 weeks today. I think I am feeling baby taps, I'm well acquainted with gas and I think these little things are different. I still feel not so great in the evening, and my GERDy issues are still there. I get so sick of having to eat all the time to push the pressure back down my throat... eye on the prize, eye on the prize.... I am functioning so I'm thankful for that. I have not been able to exercise my goal of 3 times a week but I can manage to do 2 and it ends up being more like 45 minutes than half an hour. I was hoping to have more energy and less grossness at this point but I'll take what I can get. The past couple nights I've been a whiny baby and asked Mitch to come to bed and ( it's a big joke now ;)) " look at me lovingly until I go to sleep" he just laughs and says " ok" he's so nice to me. :) I'm pretty sure it's dark that the looking doesn't last long and he is probably asleep before me but it's still sweet. :)
Kiddie updates. Isabelle is so lovey lately, she is always showering us with ' I love you's" and she hugs and kisses my belly.. bloat and all. ;) She has started to bring little reading books home everynight that she has to read to me and it's fun to see her reading. Last night was so cute, (she has to read the book 3 times or more) Christian heard it enough that he was opening it and "reading" it almost word for word, it was so cute. We also got her first report card, everything's at standard which is what I hoped for keeping her home with me till kindergarten. My favorite comment from the teacher was this she " works hard to complet her work and is very helpful to me. She is kind to her peers..." We were so pleased!! She said "I don't want to have to make Mrs.(teacher) make me put my head down" :)
Other random kid things. Christian sometimes does yoga poses with me and it's the cutest funniest thing. Also at the beginning of the video they have this water running sound and he asks me " are their belly's watering???" Aw the relaxing water dripping sound of pregnant bellys.

Prenatal Yoga

I spent a lot of time pre-pregnancy looking up prenatal yoga videos, watching clips, reading reviews etc; I wanted something halfway challenging, relaxing, stretching, etc; while the Denise Austin power yoga is effective, I wanted more of the slower paced relaxed yoga setting, suited for the needs of a pregnant woman and her baby. I'm hoping this video will also prevent my sciatic nerve from bothering me too much. With my 2 prior pregnancies I had the habit of laying on the floor and watching tv and then beaching myself there because I couldn't hardly get up without Mitch helping me because of that nerve getting pinched. I also wanted to keep my flexibility and strength but to do things safely with my pregnant bod.

A director of planned parenthood quits after seeing ultrasound of abortion

Like I have posted in past posts, the people that think it's a woman's choice should know exactly what choice they think is ok for her and all that is in involved. Embrace wholeheartedly what you believe is right. I think a lot of people don't want to rock the boat with stepping on a woman's "choice" to end her child's life but to see it for what it is in it's true horror is what they don't want to face.

The Whole Shabang

*groan* I should know by now that blogger reverses your picture uploads. stupid fake posed picture for the only reason of showing those of you that care, my hair today gone tomorrow pic.

Our first time carving pumpkins! The kids were pretty excited and Daddy had to go about 4 places to find one on halloween.

A repeat of the costumes 2 years ago and I do it shamelessly. They still fit, they cost me nothing for this year and the kids were excited, I don't even think Christian remembers being a pumpkin the first time. They loved trick or treating and we actually had them in bed by 8:30. Awesomeness.

This the Halloween, haircut, ob apt update post. Today I went in and actually saw my ob. Did the whole exam pap, got an H1N1 shot and... got to hear the baby's heartbeat!!! 179 bpm. Everything looked great she said and my uterus seemed to be the size it should be for almost 10 weeks so doesn't look like twins...Mitch can breathe a sigh of relief. So my gut's just fat so oh well. The June 1st due date was confirmed by the dr. Also went I came out in my flowery smock thing and blue sheet Christian said, " Mommy, you look pretty" I also had the big "where do babies come from" chat with Isabelle on the way home from school. From the Mommy's belly no longer suffices and she seems to be like her mother and her inquiring mind wants to know the who what where when why and how. Anyone that knows me well knows I was made for this and it doesn't embarass me in my too open openness. Isabelle finds all this pregnancy stuff "interesting" her exact word, she loves looking at the in the womb pictures and having me read her facts about the baby and watching pregnancy videos online. She even requested to be there when the baby was born. She told her grandma that she was going to watch them while Mommy pushes her baby out. But now she is thinking she might like to be there. She said she knows juuces will squirt out. lol see I'm way too open. I need to go check supper. Oh grossness update, still slowly improving, still taking my unisom to sleep and my heartburn meds and I still feel wiped out and grody in the evening so that's the update.

9 week Belly

This is blurry but you get the idea, bigness. I am going to have to find a picture of me at 20 weeks with Isabelle because I think I was close to this. I took this today, this afternoon, I could've done evening when it's at it's BIGGEST but I didn't. I am neither sucking in or pushing out. Because I could've stunned you all with a shot at about 7pm pushing out.
All I know is, I weigh 11.8 lbs more right now than I did with my 1st pregnancy at 18 weeks. But then again, I haven't weighed that little for a couple years now.... :)

Update

9 weeks pregnant today, I'm improving, my stomach doesn't hurt AS bad. I have slept two nights without my a.n.b. :) I was able to function almost normally yesterday... almost.. I get pretty beat come late afternoon and feel gross but improvements....I've been able to exercise once a week and am hoping to get up to 3 times this week, I really don't want to lose my muscle strength, what little I've worked so hard to have. My belly is pooching, not just oh looks like you're bloated, but looks like I'm pregnant, I need the dr to tell me I'm not having twins so I'll believe it. I will have to take a picture soon. I want to chop my hair off I keep going back and forth, chopped to me will be no shorter than shoulders but if anyone has opinions let me know... maybe this is better fit for a facebook status update. :)
Oh yeah my thyroid tests came back in normal range so that's great, I haven't heard from endo yet on it though, so I'm guessing that's good. Next dr visit is in about a week, hopefully I'll get to hear the baby's heartbeat!!
I feel like the kids have said funny things lately but I can't seem to remember them....

Biggin

I can't stop eating those mini chocolate donuts... I can't, I even ate them in bed one night, they go down so easy and I'm so hungry and my stomach just hurts so much if I don't eat, I'm tired of eating but those donuts make it less of a drudgery.
I can't sleep good without my anti nausea "bullet". :) I have tried 3 random nights and it takes me a while to get to sleep even though I'm exhausted and I feel my stomach hurting more without it. The nurse wanted me to try taking unisom with b6 3 times a day and see if it helps which I think it might help me feel better during the day but I need my a.n.b. at night for good sleeping. I did however feel crappy today because of my not good sleep and my sinus headache I can't seem to shake. I took a 2 hr nap on the couch while Christian played mario kart and I could've slept more but he needed lunch. My belly is pooching a lot for 8 weeks if you ask me but I guess it happens with 3rd pregnancies... and chocolate donuts. Still waiting to see what my thyroid levels are. Here are some fall pictures.

8 weeks tomorrow

Tomorrow I'm 8 weeks pregnant and I go see the nurse for my medical history appointment, I also get my thyroid checked since changing my dose to 75 mcgs a day. I feel weak at times, morning is my best time and afternoons and evening leave me gross feeling. I keep getting these spells where I feel out of breath, and my heartrate is 100 bpm and today it was really racing at 120. So I'm interested to see what my thyroid is doing. When things simmer down my heartrate is closer to 80 bpm. Also Mitch, Dad and I have noticed while taking my pulse that it is irregular, it will beat beat beat, wait, beat again and or wait beat slower then speed up or skip a beat or what not. This has been going on for longer than I've been pregnant (the irregular part) and I plan on talking to the nurse about it and I don't know if it's anything to be concerned about or not. I just feel tired and weak and my stomach hurts a lot but I'm thankful I don't feel pukey. The 1st trimester would go a LOT faster if I felt good....

GRRR ARRGH

"does anyone understand, RAGING hunger, like, my stomach hurts so bad the hunger is literally about the crawl up and out of my throat and start punching people if it doesn't get fed, then it makes you nauseated. hmm just me?" -me
it's bad, last week I ate a whole totino's pizza, with my " morning sickness" and yes I felt kinda (REALLY) disgusting afterwards. pregnancy is a funny thing, about to puke one minute and frantically stuffing your face the next. I told Mitch I needed the pizza for my triplet boys lol. joke.

Yep

October 10th. Pretty amazing.

In other amazing news, I was able to almost be a normal person and make supper last night!!! Thank you Lord. Laundry like usual, eased back into my fav Namaste Yoga yesterday too. Could it be.. pulling out of this, this soon. Again, thank you Lord, so Gracious.

Tell Me about your day

When Mom and Dad were here, and I was feeling worthless, I would lay on the couch while Mom cooked supper and Isabelle would come and snuggle and tell me about her day. She tells me how she helps tie her classmates shoes. And how the once " mean girl" that hit her is now her friend and they play at recess together sometimes, how the " mean older boys who throw rocks at recess" are now nice, and hold the door and help her open her cookies at lunch. She also told me while out sick with the flu last week she missed her teacher. She also told me how some boys in her class were finding and the teacher was going to have to call their moms. She also has many questions about the baby, like, " are you going to be sick forever?" I tell the bigger the baby gets the better I'll feel. She thinks the baby is a girl since she wants a girl. I hope we can always be close because I love the mother/daughter relationship. I know there will be lots of issues as she becomes her own woman but I'm hoping I'll be her go to girl when she grows up and realizes what's really up. :) Right now I'm enjoying the snuggles and sharing.

My Burning Update

Ugh, the burning stomach, chest , upper back, lump in my throat. While my nausea is slowly subsiding... ( I do often get a nauseous wave before forcing myself to eat, and at other random moments, I also have a general queasy gross feeling, but I'll take small steps) the acid heartburn issues are just plain ugly, I had them with all kids, and they went away when the morning sickness with Isabelle and the acid was the best with her, nausea the WORST, Christian was acid lumpy throat bad the till the day I birthed and I just accepted it cause I had thyroid issues taking precendence. And this time it's both like I said and it's not fun. The dr's office said to call if I'm not doing better by monday. So some improvements, I'm functioning at a low capacity, I can accomplish a little, but I feel groudy pretty much. I just look at my sweet kids and know this is all worth it for another. And to all you Mom's who just don't get sick when you're pregnant, consider yourself freaking lucky. :)

The word " Rest" is full of Heaven

Our hope in Christ for the future is the mainspring and the mainstay of our joy here. It will animate our hearts to think often of heaven, for all that we can desire is promised there. Here we are weary and toilworn, but yonder is the land of rest where the sweat of labour shall no more bedew the worker’s brow, and fatigue shall be forever banished. To those who are weary and spent, the word “rest” is full of heaven. We are always in the field of battle; we are so tempted within, and so molested by foes without, that we have little or no peace; but in heaven we shall enjoy the victory, when the banner shall be waved aloft in triumph, and the sword shall be sheathed, and we shall hear our Captain say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” We have suffered bereavement after bereavement, but we are going to the land of the immortal where graves are unknown things. Here sin is a constant grief to us, but there we shall be perfectly holy, for there shall by no means enter into that kingdom anything which defileth. Hemlock springs not up in the furrows of celestial fields. Oh! is it not joy, that you are not to be in banishment forever, that you are not to dwell eternally in this wilderness, but shall soon inherit Canaan? Nevertheless let it never be said of us, that we are dreaming about the future and forgetting the present, let the future sanctify the present to highest uses. Through the Spirit of God the hope of heaven is the most potent force for the product of virtue; it is a fountain of joyous effort, it is the corner stone of cheerful holiness. The man who has this hope in him goes about his work with vigour, for the joy of the Lord is his strength. He fights against temptation with ardour, for the hope of the next world repels the fiery darts of the adversary. He can labour without present reward, for he looks for a reward in the world to come.

Facebook | Audrey

"the dr update is this, perscribed pepsid for the acid issues, anti nausea suppositories :) for the real bad moments, unisom to sleep at night and b 6 3 times a day. and I had a great night's sleep from 8:8:30 this morning and the pepsid really seems to help the acid!! I did lose 2 lbs from my nasty 4 days. for those of you that cared, thank you"

If you want to pray....

I've been feeling like crap the past few days. Morning sickness has set it, along with sour stomach and heartburn. I have also had an unprecedented 3 nights in a row of really horrible anxiety attacks. LAst night was a better night no attacks but I woke about every hr or more with my stomach just hurting. I am to the point where I can't hardly eat and my bowels are quite frankly pooped out. I called the ob nurse today and she has taken pity on me and I'm being seen today. I told her about when I was pregnant the first time and although I did not puke once I did lose 9 lbs in a month because I could barely eat. And I tend to be a diarrhea person vs puking. TMI yes yes I know. Also I don't want to get to the point of puking because my baby needs my thyroid meds. I told her I was doing everything I knew to do and yada yada.
So if you want to pray for me, I would greatly appreciate it. With the way I feel I'm guessing I'm housing a girl... I could be wrong but that's been my guess even before I felt this ill. I was SO hoping that this would be my best pregnancy it being my third. The Lord has other better plans I guess. :)

Video

" That is the confidence that I have in the sovereignty of God, that tomorrow, what is absolutely best for my soul is exactly what the Lord's going to do for me"

So Awesome

Been meaning to blog this for a while. It is SO good, it's worth a read, the whole thing, if you're a believer. I think it's easy to be caught up in Christianiness ( I made it up) and forget that the whole point of our lives as the redeemed of God it loyalty to Christ the Savior, the person. To be willing to follow Him wherever he takes us, willing to give Him all things. No matter how big or small. To deny ourselves, and our " I wants" or our loved ones and be true to the Truth, because truth is only found in God as he is truth and how we can know what truth is if we don't read his word? He is the only sure thing.
I have a tendency to fight for things, I want things the way I want them, efficient, working in what I think is harmonious, and I have to tell myself, if my SAVIOR is asking me to give him this, should I not readily open my hands? And be at peace? That's the struggle for me, being at peace, finding the balance between letting God work yet doing what he would have me to do. We have responsibility to loyalty to the truth but not to outcomes. A difficult concept to balance.

Wonderful and comforting...

“And they follow me.”

John 10:27
We should follow our Lord as unhesitatingly as sheep follow their shepherd, for he has a right to lead us wherever he pleases. We are not our own, we are bought with a price—let us recognize the rights of the redeeming blood. The soldier follows his captain, the servant obeys his master, much more must we follow our Redeemer, to whom we are a purchased possession. We are not true to our profession of being Christians, if we question the bidding of our Leader and Commander. Submission is our duty, cavilling is our folly. Often might our Lord say to us as to Peter, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” Wherever Jesus may lead us, he goes before us. If we know not where we go, we know with whom we go. With such a companion, who will dread the perils of the road? The journey may be long, but his everlasting arms will carry us to the end. The presence of Jesus is the assurance of eternal salvation, because he lives, we shall live also. We should follow Christ in simplicity and faith, because the paths in which he leads us all end in glory and immortality. It is true they may not be smooth paths—they may be covered with sharp flinty trials, but they lead to the “city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” “All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant.” Let us put full trust in our Leader, since we know that, come prosperity or adversity, sickness or health, popularity or contempt, his purpose shall be worked out, and that purpose shall be pure, unmingled good to every heir of mercy. We shall find it sweet to go up the bleak side of the hill with Christ; and when rain and snow blow into our faces, his dear love will make us far more blest than those who sit at home and warm their hands at the world’s fire. To the top of Amana, to the dens of lions, or to the hills of leopards, we will follow our Beloved. Precious Jesus, draw us, and we will run after thee.

Let's Go Racin Boys

We're officially rednecks now I guess :) Saturday we got to go the racetrack and experienced a race for the first time. The boys were in love. The girls were sufficiently entertained as long as we had ample overpriced junk food to munch on. I had visions of this day not going so well but I was wrong. Christian LOVED it. The day couldn't have gone any better. Go here for more pics if you feel the need.

Random kid thoughts on the pregnancy. Christian said he would share his cars with the baby. Isabelle is excited to help feed, play, and take care of the baby after he or she " hatches". That kinda makes me feel like an alien.

The Latest

(don't forget to go down the bottom of the blog and pause the music)

The details...

Due Date: around June 1st

Found out Friday, blood test came back positive this afternoon.

Seeing the Endocrinologist Friday. My levels are going to have to be monitored closely and I will increase dosages throughout the pregnancy as a healthy person would make more thyroid for the baby but I only have what my meds give me so.. you get it.

Excited?!! YEAH!!

Kid's reactions: Christian doesn't seem to get it... what? tiny baby? not till after I turn 4? what's the point of even talking about this now?? Isabelle is excited!!! Lots of questions, she is hoping for girl... but then said she is hoping for both a girl and boy, don't think THAT's going to happen.

I am 4 weeks pregnant and feeling good... ha ha so far... we'll see what 6 weeks brings. I pondered just not telling anyone till around 8 weeks or so but the worst case senario would be having prayers and sympathy if something was to go wrong. Also prayers now for the baby and my thyroid issues!!

And thanks to those of you who regularly check in on us!

Little Buddies

So I've been sort of a lazy poster lately but where my posting as waned I've been getting a lot done around the house. Nothing spectacular, just productive days. Laundry, housecleaning weekly, groceries, meal planning- which is big because if I slack here, we waste money eating out. And how I DO love to eat out. So much.

Isabelle has told me she doesn't like school. Although I haven't heard it the past few days so that's good. She doesn't like mean kids she says. She doesn't like getting rocks thrown at her, hit, pushed down, pigtails pulled, backpack pulled on. Thankfully she's seen these kids reap the consequences. I have to ask her if there was anything good about her day, yesterday she said lunch. She does have a couple little girlfriends she talks about and says there is a nice boy in her class...:) so that's good. She says she'll miss me and Christian told her again today he'll miss her, but she said she always comes back. She's always holding the doors that she can barely open for people, I almost wanted tell her don't do that it's hard enough for you to get in the building but I don't want to discourage kindness or courtesy THAT is for sure.

The pictures above are of the kids entertaining themselves yesterday making a leaf pile by hand. Isabelle used to come home and zone, but lately she seems to have adapted and she goes outside and plays with Christian.

This week she asked me while waiting for a train to pass on the way home from school if I could just jump the car over the train. Crazy kid.

And before I forget for myself, Christian loves to "mow" with Daddy, he will follow him the entire time with his mower. He has also said this summer while lanscaping with Mitch, " are you sure about these rocks Dad?"

Happy Monday

There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To abide in him only, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient solace in our carnal comforts, to prefer even the society of our fellow Christians to secret intercourse with him, this is grievous to our jealous Lord. He would fain have us abide in him, and enjoy constant fellowship with himself; and many of the trials which he sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from the creature, and fixing them more closely upon himself.

Faith sees that in her worst sorrow there is nothing penal; there is not a drop of God’s wrath in it; it is all sent in love. Faith discerns love gleaming like a jewel on the breast of an angry God. Faith says of her grief, “This is a badge of honour, for the child must feel the rod;” and then she sings of the sweet result of her sorrows, because they work her spiritual good. Nay, more, says Faith, “These light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” -Spurgeon

100% Natural Vitamins

I've been on the lookout for all natural vitamins since my mom got me all preservative conscious and was appauled that she had them in her vitamins. Obviously I could not remain content after that and I came across this brand Rainbow Light. You can also get them at Amazon as well as Iherb.com and probably many other places but I like the detailed info that iherb gives. Now I need to see if I can find them for children.

The Obama School Speech Controversy -- What to Think?

The Obama School Speech Controversy -- What to Think?

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A Steady Stream

Of what you ask?? Since Sept 26th we have a steady stream of snot at our house. Back to back colds, Isabelle, Christian, me. That was the order of infection. But I'd take it any day over stomach viruses, strep, ear infections, migraines, influenza, and childbirth/labor.

And for fun, a few weeks ago we ate Long John's for lunch and the kids got tatoos. Isabelle puts them on herself and she put some on for Christian, I hadn't even seen the tatoos until they were on and I thought this was pretty cute.

A Little Copy and Paste

Got this from our pastors blog.

"We must reject a view of the Christian life that
emphasizes what we should do more than what God is doing in us by his Spirit.

"We should reject any view of the Christian life that
says the change God calls us to is impossible, or only takes place in eternity.

"We should reject any perspective on the Christian life that
minimizes the war that rages in our hearts every day--
or ignores the fact that God is fighting it for us and with us!

"The biblical picture is that God meets us in the trials of life,
and he doesn't just give us rules--he gives us his Son!

"Because of him, what we are called to do is not unrealistic."

~ Timothy S. Lane & Paul David Tripp in How People Change

Because you're dying to know

My tooth is fine. They made me a mouthpiece thingy to wear at night and see if that helps with my jaw pain and we'll go from there. I really don't want to have to go to a physical therapist for my jaw issues so hopefully this will help!! I was very thankful I didn't have to get anything pulled or filled.
ps I still miss Isabelle when she disappears into the school doors everyday. *sigh*

Whining

I could've said another random update but this will consist of me whining a bit or a bunch, we'll see.
I hate soccer, ugh, not so much the soccer itself but having to be there for 6:00 games and now there is practice this thursday, and pictures, and quite frankly I don't want pictures I can take a fine one or probably better on my own. The whole point of soccer was some fun team playing for Isabelle and getting to know some classmates, but,there are none on her team, there might be one kid from her particular school, but not actually in her class. I think she has a good enough time but she just doesn't want to get in the fray and fight for the ball. She doesn't want other kids to get knocked down because she really hates it when she does. She loves doing soccer and baseball at home, she seems halfway coordinated, she's hit the ball across the yard and over the fence many times. But maybe she does take more after me than I realize and may enjoy gymnastics or dance more. She is really funny and cute to watch doing yoga with me. She enjoys doing things alongside someone, not against I guess.
Another thing to whine about is my tooth, my wisdom tooth's filling came out and my jaw aches, I thought it was just my normal jaw aching since I seem to have TMJ and my dentist is going to refer to a physcial therapist for, anyway, I have a deep groove that's missing a filling. So, WAAA another thing to do, more money to spend that we really don't have, and I ever since Grave's and all the random dr appointments with that, I hate having one more reason to go see some sort of medical dr or what not.
So there it is, all in life is good if this is my beef.... right?
Wait one more whine... Christian, Isabelle and I all have colds. That didn't take long huh??
God is good all the time. (remember my spurgeon quote about sickness, time to apply it, in my flesh, I don't wanna:) but it does bring back your focus and make you peaceful)
The End.

Random Updates

Let's talk about laundry, ok I'll just get to the point, the best things for stains EVER is shout ULTRA gel for colors and clorox bleach pen for whites. Enough said. Until I couldn't find them at our walmart almost all freaking summer. I tried shout ADVANCED gel, crap, zout-crap, this new Tide stain lifter-crap, oxyclean powder in the wash-crap. After taking Isabelle to school I went to kmart and target, kmart has bleach pens and target had both, my beloved shout ultra gel.... how I DID miss you. I'm not big on perfumey crud, and I dont' like harsh detergent because it seems to wear clothes out faster. I use All free and clear. Anyway so in my analness, I am now at laundry peace with my trusty stainlifters back in my life.

Can I just say that yesterday was just as sad taking Isabelle to school?? Today was better. She remembered her room number and I told her I would go in with her and follow to make sure she really knew where she was going. She heads all the way down the long hall, ahead of us, she walks much faster than Christian and I see her, open up her locker, put her backpack in and head for the gym to find her teacher like she's on a mission, I say have a good day!! as she heads up the hall too fast for Christian's legs shes says ok!! and she goes in the gym and finds her teacher. She's been learning a little spanish, each day she tells me something new she know. Yesterday I guess 3 kids called a girl in class fat and the little girl cried. So we've gotten to have some good discussions about how words can really hurt people. I've always hoped my kids could somehow be confident enough in whoe they are in the Lord that they would stand up for weaker picked on kids... but that's a hard thing to teach a kid in school, they are just trying to make it through themselves most of the time. She said some older boy pushed her at recess. So we had to talk about that. But hey it was someone's birthday and they all drew her a picture and had cupcakes so all in all a good day!!

First soccer game last night, and oh my, the confusion, the crying. ( one poor little girl just cried while out there and didn't want to play) Kindergarteners are entertaining. At halftime I asked Isabelle if she even knew which goal she was supposed to be trying for. She said " uh, no". I had to explain, this goal GOOD, the other goal BAD, you don't want the team to score!! That seemed to make her much more involved since she knew there was an actual game plan and not just a blob of kids fighting for the ball which she wasn't too in to getting in the mess of at first as she didn't know what to do with the ball if she even got a chance. So lots of room for improvement and I'm guessing even though there was no score keeping that it was probably 15-2. our loss. :)

Intro To What Grave's Was Like For Me

This is really out of order obviously, but I read this in Spurgeon's Morning and Evening, the link is at the top of the blog if you're interested. I came across this and thought it was perfect. I also am going to have to refer to this when sickness time comes this winter... because I start to DREAD, I mean DREAD sickness. I have nightmares about vomit, so it's a problem for me and another little area of my life I'm working on relinquishing, we will still sanitize, wash hands and avoid sick people but I will TRY not to fret.

I tend to me a person of " if only". I haven't gotten to extent of my would be if only's in my grave's story, but I suppose it could start with " if only the nurse would've realized I was listing off grave's symptoms at 16 weeks pregnant" It can drive me crazy, like other things in my life, unanswered questions that I probably won't know the answer to on this earth. The Lord has been teaching me things even within this past year of looking back on all the hurtful things throughout my life (as all lives have), as things God perfectly planned for my santicfication, while I want to look at things with regret of oh man if ONLY, I'm coming to realize, this was preordained, perfect and GOOD for me. Grave's was good for me. People issues that happen and hurt are good. That is freeing, freeing ,freeing. This was always supposed to happen and therefore well with my soul. I can forget those things which are behind and take with me to the future the things the Lord has taught me about himself. My dad has always loved the verse in proverbs. " The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." That pretty much sums up life. How can we know him if we don't read his word, pray, and go through trials with him, no matter the size?

And so the intended quote and intro:

The God of providence has limited the time, manner, intensity, repetition, and effects of all our sicknesses; each throb is decreed, each sleepless hour predestinated, each relapse ordained, each depression of spirit foreknown, and each sanctifying result eternally purposed. Nothing great or small escapes the ordaining hand of him who numbers the hairs of our head.
- Spurgeon

Isabelle's First Day of School

By her locker.

Isabelle had a great day yesterday. Favorite part: monkey bars. Least fav: nothing. She said she can't wait to go back. She was so sweet yesterday morning telling Christian and me she would miss us. The Lord was gracious and the morning couldn't have gone better, and yes I had many moments where I almost cried but I kept it together. One was when Daddy called her and heard her talking and saying I love you too... Christian was concerened when we dropped her off and she wasn't in the van with us. " where's Isabelle?" I told him at school we'll pick her up in the afternoon. He repsonse " can I have some gum?" We enojyed groceries together and he was quite chatty. Isabelle had told him later in the week when he said he would miss her " but then I won't be here to boss you" Like hey, look on the bright side. He asked me again where she was when we got done with errands with a sad face. He said he missed her. Last night he was whining at supper trying to get me pay attention and I say " WHAT??" " I like my sister". I will say there was a lot less fighting in our house yesterday. :)

One last thing to report. I asked the teacher how it went and she is the sweetest lady and says " she did fine, she likes to talk, we're working on it" Groan. I had actually told Isabelle earlier this week when she thought I was the perfect obedient child that I got in trouble for talking in school and once had detention for it as a 1st grader. So as you can see, when I told Mitch and my family this, the responses were much like my brother Tom's, " She's her mother's daughter".

( so all in all a great day, I miss not having her with me, it hurts a little but the new stage is exciting and she is loving it and that helps!)

One More Day

Before heading to the Open House.
First soccer practice.

So last night she says to me as I tuck her in, with tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry I have to go to school Mommy" I ask her why. " Because you'll miss me."
And today Isabelle and Christian are talking about how much he's going to miss her and he's all pouty about it. Big Fat Sigh.......

Waller in the Nostalgia

This is what I spent my afternoon doing, sniffle. Go to the bottom and turn off the music on the blog.

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

And So It Begins

I have totally and uttered enjoyed 99% of my 5 years as an at home mom and keeping the kids home with me. No sports, no preschools or set schedule's. Except for what children entail, but no outside intrusion. But that all changes tomorrow. Isabelle has her first soccer practice Monday and school starts Thursday. I'm not dreading it like I thought I would. I tend to like my bubble and stretching myself in this way is not a strong point. So it's exciting, and a little sad. I almost starting crying in church (which isn't abnormal as I do this about every Sunday due to the doctrinally rich songs we sing) but at this moment Isabelle was asking me about the violins and being sweet and I'm just looking at her thinking I'm not going to see her for about 35 hrs a week now. And it's a little heartbreaking. But stages change in life I know... but it's still a little sad. I suppose I should stop before I start crying.

I've been putting our tapes onto DVD's this week and it's amazing how fast children grow.

I also forgot to mention that even thought Isabelle didn't preschool, I worked with her at home and she's starting to read. More than we ever had to know back in half day kindergarten...

Don't They Look THRILLED?

Ok maybe not so bad right kids? Last weekend we went down to see Mitch's folks and go their little town pool. Less rules, no annoying wading pool, sprinklers, and you can wear your floaties. Ok so it was basically a free for all in the deep end but it was fun. It was a good hot day for swimming. Isabelle with floaties and an inner tube jumped off the board twice, we were surprised! I would've taken pictures if I thought she was going to follow through both times. My sister in law Alexa met us there too and it's always great to see her. Once a lot of people cleared towards 5 pm we both went off the board a few times, it was fun!! I felt like a kid again, except with much less lung capacity.

Since not having any traveling to do this summer (unlike last summer/fall, need we review, chicago, ks, tx, ks, tx, 3 weddings, 1 funeral and a flood. All our brothers got married and my grandma finally entered into the Lord's rest) Anyway so my point being, this summer on the weekends with this awesome weather we've been able to a lot of little fun things on the weekends with the kids. This weekend?? Dentist and Sweet Corn Festival.

Attempts At Creativity

Super Good

My Mom's Peanut Butter Cookies.
Super Easy. Super soft, super good. And I added my own little spin on it instad of squishing them down a little with a sugared fork,I used 3 Ghirardelli ( yes I did have to copy and paste that) chocolate chips. I believe the 60% cocoa version.
357 Degrees. 7 minutes. Overbaking-no.
1/2 c. butter softened
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/2 c. br. sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 and 1/4 c. flour
Beat butterS for 30 seconds. Add sugars, soda, powder. beat( I like it to get a bit fluffy) Add egg and vanilla. Beat that in. Then add flour and beat that. I just do that till it's all blended good, I read online on some recipe for peanutbutter cookies to not overwork the dough... don't know if there's anything to that but I was mindful of that info. Roll into on inch balls. If you use the chips put 3 on top and squish it just half way down. Refer to the uncooked cookie pic. Or you can just dip a fork in some sugar and make a criss cross, squishing only halfway. So there you have it, they are so yummy and easy. (and yes I realize it's time for a new cookie sheet)

Farmer's Market Fun

Free balloons=free advertising.

The downtown Farmer's Market. We really went there for cucumbers but there was a lot to see.
Isabelle took this.
Got to see a train go through, very exciting for the kids, I got him to blow the whistle for me doing that arm pull thing my mom always used to do, and I used to think..." gee Mom.. so embarassing." I'm sure Mitch loved it. ;)

I couldn't get enough of these lightpoles.

Note to self: a little spray tan never hurt anyone.


"Take a picture of me with the tree" This is what I call being man-pretty.
Sand sculpture, it's been there since June I guess...

Stress

Just when I think my body has found all sorts of way to manifest physcial symptoms in response to anything remotely stressful here are some new ones.
I've had butterflies as a child nothing new.
Over acid production as a teen while trying to finish my senior year in a half a year and working part time. I carried mylanta in my purse for a while there.
I've even had a random mysterious pain located- well that's all I can say about THAT one.
My jaw will chatter if I'm suped up on adrenaline.
Pit sweat. :)
The past few months. JAW Clmaping... I don't do it so much in the day but at night I don't know... it was giving me tooth, jaw, and headaches but that is better. I have even bit my tongue a couple times in the night and my jaw is always cracking/popping when I open it after not having it opened in a while... I hope the dentist can help me in Aug.
My latest, my LATEST effect, it's so stupid and I did it to myself. I read a few weeks ago on one of my facebook friends status that her eyelid kept twitching-stupid stress. Now what happens to me when even thinking about something barely stressful. LEFT EYE-LID TWITCHING. yeah for real FOR REAL. I am a tightly wond how do I even spell wound, like wind up only wownd... geesh. I will say amazingly even with my gimpy lid twitch from time to time, I really feel zen about life right now... I DO. Overall, I'm calm so anyway, real random, more than you wanted to know, info about more of my inadequacies.

As I approach 30 I find myself being more confident in the things I have been given, vs being self-conscious about the things I have not.

Life will be whatever the Lord purposes for me that day and I can fight it or roll with it. The day will happen regardless and I can enjoy it or freak out.

So my break, my therapy, is over for today... supper time...oh what to make.

Moving Update

Or in this case, not moving update. I figured I'd update since people have asked any news on moving and I'm oh, oh yeah... moving.... well things so far as have just not panned out on either the selling or buying side. Our house hasn't been on craigslist for a long time. As July approached and it just didn't seem like there were any houses that made sense to buy that wouldn't need a lot of work and we would end up spending the same amount of money we are here, only with the headache of moving... and fixing up a house. Plus with the school year approaching and I'm ready to just settle in for the year because moving mid school year just doesn't seem worth it. And we are at peace about it all,that this is where we should be for now.
I'm really excited for school and soccer to start for Isabelle, who would've thought I would ever say that? I'm not keen on change but I feel at peace and ready for it all. I'm trying also to trust God when it comes to her getting illnesses from school. I HATE sickness...I'll probably end up sending her to school with a Wet One before she eats her lunch everyday. :)

A Little Family Fun

Wipe Out

75 degrees, perfect day Also windy... I highlighted my own hair btw.

Little Miss Monkey Long Legs

Mr. Crazy Wipe Out
Today we took the kids to an equestrian show at the nearby college. It was free and we thought the kids would enjoy the horses. We also walked by their stalls and Isabelle and I found a horse nice enough to let us pet his soft nose. My mom grew up riding horses since she was about 5 and I always depended on her to find me the nice horses at the fair to pet. So I try to remember to avoid the ones with the whites of their eyes showing and with their ears back, but I'm still leary of them. :) I was so much less fearful when I was younger...
Then we went to the many nearby playgrounds on Isabelle's school campus. They have all the schools clumped together kinda out in the country. The kids played and played, it's pretty entertaining watching them run run run climb etc with no end in sight.
Christian also tripped while walking across the parking lot and blamed Mitch " that's all YOUR fault" we've been having to work on his attitude lately and on respect issues. He thinks a lot of the time he's Mr Funny Pants. I will ask him to do something and he will say " ok Bobblehead"

Getting Organized

In lieu of the upcoming school year and soccer, I thought I'd better get a nice functioning calendar/bulletinboard situation going. I was pretty excited when I found almost exactly what I was going for, a board that didn't have the traditional light coloring cork and frame. I found this really cute dark brown one at Target for 6$. I then had to go to walmart to find a calendar I could pin to it, it started in july and goes till december of 2010. And.. AND it I found really cute matching tacks/pins to go with it. They were 3$ the calendar was 4$. Not too shabby in my opinion. I'm thinking of putting on the board something like " strength for today" or " new mercies every morning" Since I tend to get overwhelmed with the big picture as a whole sometimes. :)

A Definite Rant

It is SELFISH to expect people to live in the mess you made or to expect them to clean it up. There, aw I feel better having said that. You make a mess, you clean it up, plain and simple, why is it I have to say this 300 million times... eventually I will get through, I WILL. My children will learn that love is considerate. play play PLAY all you want, just clean it up when you're done.
I have been going through basement crap after cleaning house today, I despise clutter and storing things that are of no use to us. Or storing them in trash bags. I had 5 big tubbies that I got on sale at walmart for 3.50 a piece, sale's still on if you want in on that. and I filled them all today, along with two bags for goodwill, and one for the consignment shop. All kid clothes...I could open up a store for real. And I still need about 3 more tubbies...

What Gave Me A Panic Attack

It had been SUCH a long time since I had an anxiety attack!! I had one while Mom was still here and we had been sleep deprived for a week and I was hormonal... so I kinda asked for that one, plus we were staying up playing stimulating games of Settlers.. stimulating, late nights, hormones... the perfect storm. Well yesterday, I decided to, cut Isabelle's bangs...I was about to committ my own form of heresy. Bangs we'd been growing out since she was 3, long beautiful 8 inch or so, bangs... *sigh* but for a couple of months I had been toying with the idea but chickened out. I had a picture of a little girl with bangs from Parents magazine and I thought they were adorable, I showed Isabelle and she was all for it. It took me a long time to section it out, combing, deciding.. wondering if I should just let my hairdresser do this.. but I cut my own bangs all the time... so I cut a line across, it was not straight, and I felt a heatwave go over my body, thinking oh CRAP WHAT have I DONE?!!! So as I shaped and trimmed my edginess rose and began sweating, to the point I had to towel off my face, I looked like a sweaty faced Whitney Houston back when she actually was a singer and not a crack addict. I made an apt today with my hair girl, she really didn't have to do much and told me I actually didn't do a bad job and she's seen WAY worse....It IS nice that the poor thing no longer has hair dangling in her face, her hair wants to grow forward and all day I was always redoing the clip or what not, so that she wouldn't go around like Violet off of the Incredibles. I could send her to school, to recess, or soccer,without having one encumbered hand, holding her hair out of her face. It was nice to see her playing at the play area, no hair in her face. I talked to my brother on Skype last night and showed him before the salon fix and he said it looked adorable, that helped. In a month the bangs will be more what they were intended to be in the first place... thank goodness hair grows. So I ended up feeling wiped out over my change in brain chemistry that I inflicted upon myself and had a another attack in the night after a dream of me trying to escape these weird people's house. Heart pounding away. I am thankful that at least now they don't last nearly as long, maybe 1/8 what they were, but I am feeling the tired queasy today...the only upside to this is calorie reduction and a flatter stomach.

Post Happy Kid Quotes

Things Christian has said lately.

While playing with an asian strawberry shortcake doll. " Mi Hao" ( this is funny because we don't have cable oh and I realize it's Ni but he said Mi)

While building a fort with Isabelle. " This is difficult"

While playing with my dad " Isabelle stop hogging all the grandpa"

While jumping on the trampoline " I miss my dad, he's working really hard"

While not eating his ravioli, " I'm not gonna eat it, never ever"

And for Isabelle we have many funny discussions together and while my parents were here she was learning from them about worms and centipedes. She was calling them "recipedes"

Pie, I say.

So here is my wonderful pie. Ha :) Mitch's mom has been toiling away in the evenings picking raspberries and brought us some on the 4th, I threw in a few blueberries I got from the produce area of our grocery store so here is the pie I made today so the berries would not go to waste!! This may not the be the most beautiful pie, it is by my low standards and I even took the time to put foil on the edges.. what IS my problem? :) Also the crust has no crisco a.k.a hydrogneated veg oil. So that's it, my pie, I should get a life, but I make, oh, one pie a year, so this is a big deal.

Trusting God and ...

I have slowly ever so slowly started the book Trusting God. I'm still at work to finish Holiness By Grace but I wanted to share this quote from Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.

These Two objectives are never antithetical; they are always in harmony with each other. God never pursues His glory at the expense of the good of His people, nor does He ever seek our good at the expense of His glory. He has designed His eternal purpose so that His glory and our good are inextricably bound together. What comfort and encouragement this should be to us. If we are going to learn to trust God in adversity, we must believe that just as certainly as God will allow nothing to subvert His glory, so He will allow nothing to spoil the good He is working out in us and for us.

Holiness by Grace from the chapter Repentance that Sings

Our obedience is not the foundation or condition of God's receiving our repentance; it is the natural outflow of a heart that has experienced grace. Our new willingness to foloow Christ helps reassure us that we have experienced the transforming power of grace.....though there may be many stumbles and setbacks along the path, true repentance leads naturally to new obedience.

(the Bible) cautions against thinking that God will forgive wehre there is no real change of heart. God is not waiting for us to fix our lives before he forgives us, for then none would be forgiven; but he does not promise forgiveness where repentance is not sincere...we also should not think that God will accept repentance from a heart still in rebellion against him.

In light of God's holiness, we will perceive how awful i sthe disease of our sin and how helpless we are against it. Then we will cry out to God for the help that he alone can give. And when his mercy has made us whole , recognizing how great is our rescue we will experience overwhelming joy.

The chapter Escape from Temptation was also excellent and all encompassing. Thoroughly expands on 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Unless we ackowledge how susceptible our humanity makes us, we are far more vulnerable to wrong that we think.

Paul puts the horror of temptation beofre us so that we will not use its commonness as a rationalization for allowing it into our lives.

Temptation has terrible power. Even those with great spiritual privilege are not immune to its influence.

The images ( of the Lord's supper/crusifiction) remind us that God allowed his own Son to experience the consequences of OUR sin.... we are all participants in the wrong that required his life.

There is so SO much more in this chapter, I'm barely scratching the surface but I'll end with this John Owen quote.

Let us consider what regard we ought to have to our own duty and to the grace of God. some would separate these things as inconsistent. If holiness be our duty, they would say, there is no room for grace; and if it be the result of grace there is no place for duty. But our duty and God's grace are nowhere opposed in the matter of sanctification; for one absolutely supposes the other. We cannot perform our duty without the grace of God; nor does God give his grace for any other purpose than that we may perform our duty.

Spurgeon Quote/Mark of True Believer

THE distinguishing mark of a Christian is his confidence in the love of Christ, and the yielding of his affections to Christ in return. First, faith sets her seal upon the man by enabling the soul to say with the apostle, “Christ loved me and gave Himself for me.” Then love gives the countersign, and stamps upon the heart gratitude and love to Jesus in return. “We love Him because He first loved us.” In those grand old ages, which are the heroic period of the Christian religion, this double mark was clearly to be seen in all believers in Jesus; they were men who knew the love of Christ, and rested upon it as a man leaneth upon a staff whose trustiness he has tried. The love which they felt towards the Lord was not a quiet emotion which they hid within themselves in the secret chamber of their souls, and which they only spake of in their private assemblies when they met on the first day of the week, and sang hymns in honor of Christ Jesus the crucified, but it was a passion with them of such a vehement and all-consuming energy, that it was visible in all their actions, spoke in their common talk, and looked out of their eyes even in their commonest glances. Love to Jesus was a flame which fed upon the core and heart of their being; and, therefore, from its own force burned its way into the outer man, and shone there. Zeal for the glory of King Jesus was the seal and mark of all genuine Christians. Because of their dependence upon Christ’s love they dared much, and because of their love to Christ they did much, and it is the same now. The children of God are ruled in their inmost powers by love—the love of Christ constraineth them; they rejoice that divine love is set upon them, they feel it shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto them, and then by force of gratitude they love the Saviour with a pure heart, fervently. My reader, do you love Him? Ere you sleep give an honest answer to a weighty question.

I would have condensed this more but I couldn't cut anything out. Too good.

Girl's Nights and The 4th

Our 4th consisted of a cookout at our house with Mitch's folks and sister. Then later the fireworks. The kids loved them of course and Isabelle told " It's ok Mommy, don't be scared" and patted me as I jumped at the loud ones. I can't help it! What took us 10 minutes to get there, took us almost an hour to get home. The traffic was AWFUL. The things you do for fond family memories, I tell you what... Did I mention I had to tinkle quite BAD even before getting into the van to go home???

In other news, I have gotten to have lots of fun girl outings lately. With my two sis in laws on my side when they were here and this last weekend with my other two wonderful sis in laws on Mitch's side! Soon I will get to have another night out with friends. So unlike my normal schedule, everything at once but I'll take it!! Structured schedules will take shape soon enough.