My two boys at home, etc.

David is still more of a mama's boy than the others were at this age, so I worry about how he will transition to having a younger sibling in less than two weeks! He still takes naps on days when he can, which none of my others were doing at this age, he loves to be held and cuddled, and he seems younger than his typical peers. But he is growing up.

He started attending preschool at a nearby school recently, and has been loving it. Every day he asks, "P-school?" and sometimes, "Can I?" He attends on three days in a row, with a weird alternating schedule which means he attends in the afternoon on one of the days. He always looks so exhausted as he comes running to me on those days, but his teachers say he's still very happy and sweet, just a bit tired. I haven't seen much evidence of speech therapy, but his socialization skills aren't being hindered. He is perfectly happy walking up to total strangers anywhere, and saying, "Hand me" and reaching for their arm to examine whether they have a watch. He also will say hi to anyone, and ask random people "What's that?" pointing at random objects. He is the reason that I bought a monkey leash off of craigslist last year before we went on a trip. I struggle to keep up with his quick little legs right now when he dashes, while I lumber along, calling him to stop!


My time is running out before Andrew will be in Kindergarten; kids just grow up so fast! He loves being at home reading books to David and I, playing outside, building lego creations, playing piano and singing, and showing David how to quickly trash a room.

He is also my helper making food, doing jobs, quickly fulfilling tasks that aren't as quick for me (that boy can run!), and sharing his excitement about new discoveries each day. Today he discovered several families of ladybugs living on some of our weeds, and just had to show me how many there were.

He can be insanely energetic sometimes, and I dread taking him to new places when I have all the kids because he bounces up and down, shouts, runs around, and causes us all to be a spectacle.

He goes to preschool for a few hours a few days each week, and comes home so exhuberant about what they did, but I am really going to miss him when he's gone each day when the next school year starts. I hope he has a teacher who enjoys his volume and energy or school may not be as fun!

I am now in the any-day-now phase of pregnancy where I can count the number of days left using my fingers and one toe! :) While I am thinning and effacing, there is no dilation, and my doctor said yesterday that he doubts I'll go into labor before my scheduled date at 39 1/2 weeks. I'm mostly happy to hear that because there is still so much to do, and the kids all have their May events that I would like them to be able to do with me available. My mom will not arrive until after baby's birth, and Darren does not have paid paternity leave, so we need every day we can to hold out.

I am not really looking forward to the actual delivery either (sorry for the brutal honesty). I asked my dr. yesterday why I never get to hold my babies right after they're born even though they're perfectly healthy, and he took me through the process (though I've been through this three times before). He had me imagine myself getting all stitched up, and laying flat, trying to carefully hold onto a newborn without bumping the intricate sewing going on nearby (and they have many scars to work around this time). He said it's just too risky for everybody. It's all about protecting themselves and me (the same reason why a VBAC wasn't even an option to them--too many factors make uterine rupture possibility too high).

I have been doing a few things this time around that make me wonder if I will look back and ask what was I thinking? I entered a contest to try to win a baby carrier, and I did a terrible one minute attempt because I knew I wouldn't have time to do it later and I was in the middle of a different project outside. My face doesn't even show all the way, and the lighting is awful, but then again, I'm not really excited to be on youtube looking as I do anyway, so I just left it all as is. I just know that I need to have some sort of way to be able to hang onto this baby, and still volunteer at the school, cook and clean, without the carpal tunnel pains I get so quickly in my wrists and the sore muscles I get in my back.

I also bought some clearance (actually fuzzibunz seconds) cloth diapers that I am going to try. I doubt that I'll be as gung ho about always putting her in cloth as some seem to be (I already bought a package or two of disposable diapers in little sizes). From my calculations, they will pay for themselves within a few months (financially, at least), and after Natalie's group research project that calculated the number of diapers that sit forever in landfills, the twins were on board before I even brought it up. I also hope to have less diaper rashes since my kids seem pretty prone when they're tiny, and I've read that it has to do with many of the chemicals used to manufacture the dipes. I know it will add to my laundry loads, and I may go through boxes of baking soda trying to deodorize a hamper constantly, but I am going to give it a go and see how we do. Darren was much more supportive than I had imagined he would be, and when I told him he could use whatever he wanted, he said he thought cloth would have benefits I hadn't mentioned. He did wonder if when the diapers start to be disgusting, I'll just want to throw them all away....I guess we'll cross that bridge later. :) (It's really okay if you think I'm crazy; everyone has different ways to be weird).

Maybe the next post on here will have this little gal we're all anxiously awaiting...

This Too Shall Pass Away

We've been fasting recently for a few friends and family who are ill or unemployed and have been pondering the meaning of trials in life. I found some solace in a poem my grandma Olive wrote in 1950 and thought it would be appropriate to share it.

This Too Shall Pass Away
Written by Olive Elvia White Gibby in 1950

When sorrows come into your life
And threaten to destroy
The very things you treasure most
Your happiness and joy;
And when that crushing power
Threatens everything worthwhile
And clouds of darkness gather
And you find it hard to smile,
Then life your head and let the world
Hear every word you say,
With faith undaunted say to them;
This too shall pass away.

When you are overburdened
With life’s woes and earthly care;
When life becomes so dreary
It seems more than you can bear,
When weariness o’ercomes you
And you yearn for peace and rest,
And trials of the day leave you
Discouraged and depressed,
There is no song within your heart
You feel you cannot pray,
Then turn your thoughts to gladness
For –This too shall pass away.

When fortunes smile upon you,
And your cup of joy is full;
When everything you want is yours,
And life seems wonderful
When days and weeks go flitting by
And you have happiness replete
And you desire nothing more,
To make your life complete,
Beware lest all these truthful words;
Beware lest all these treasures
Of this earth lead you astray
And hear again these truthful words
This too shall pass away!

And so remember well these words,
What e’er your lot may be,
For life is ever changing
With such rapidity
And sorrows change to happiness;
When God has calmed your fears,
Compared with all eternity
And yet we know—
This too shall pass away.

But when we reach that distant shore
Where God and Christ abide,
When we have rid our souls of
Greed and avarice and pride,
We’ll understand the meaning
Of the trials of all the earth;
We’ll know that clouds hid the sun
To test and prove our worth,
If we are found deserving,
When we face the Judgement Day,
We’ll hear a new and glorious song;
This shall not pass away.

School projects

Clara BartonPaul Revere

We're getting closer to the end of the school year, and with it comes final projects to show how much learning has been occurring. The two oldest kids in our family put together famous Americans projects where they chose someone, researched this person, wrote a biography, timeline, story and poem, made a display item (Natalie chose to make a scrapbook, and Christopher created a board game) and then dressed up and presented a 30 second piece for the class "wax museum." From the pictures above you can see who they chose to be and the makeshift costumes they dreamed up. I was so impressed with the culmination of it all. Much of the research, writing and creating was done while in class, so it was a surprise to see the quantity of work when it all came together. I read their poems and stories during their museum, and could tell that much thought and talent had gone into them--I wish they would bring it all home so I could see it again. :)

Since they finished the famous Americans work, they've been working in groups on "Project Based Learning" exhibits that I finally got to see yesterday. Natalie's group had information about recycling complete with each of them writing about the subject. One girl explained what recycling is, one showed a pie graph of the percentage of different materials that get thrown away, one boy shared his idea for a way to clean diapers so they could be reused, and Natalie discussed how recycling various items instead of putting them in the trash makes a difference. They also came up with their own recycling symbol by laying three of them in a triangle shape for a photo.

Christopher chose to be in a group that analyzed pollution and they discussed ways to reduce pollution and some of the problems it causes. He wrote about pollution in water and how it affects wildlife and humans. They had been brainstorming a way to make a vehicle engine that could run creating less pollution, but they couldn't agree on tangible results. One boy took a picture of his solar toy car that he had and they displayed that. Their teacher explained that she let them brainstorm possible problems, choose groups and do all of the research on their own. She seemed very happy with the outcomes, and I was impressed with the thought and teamwork that went into each display. I have a couple of pictures but cannot get them to download off the camera (I lost my USB cord and the pics weren't on the memory card).

This picture is for my dad who asked if our grass is green.

These are peach blossoms that have now begun to turn into fruit. We chose a dwarf peach tree so it may be very short lived, but we thought it would be fun to try.