36 1/2 Weeks

I had an OB appointment yesterday, and everything looks fine. The head is down, and I am 1 and 1/2 cm dilated and 50% effaced. Of course, I have probably been that dilated and effaced for weeks now, LOL.

You may remember that with Anna, the OB I had then was totally obsessed with how big she might be. This doctor has said nary a word about size--her big obsession is my "risk of maternal hemorrhage". She even mentioned it at my second appointment! Now I know a lot of women who have had many more children than me, so I am really not that concerned. Also, I did some web research, and it seems like a bigger risk factor is the speed of your labors, and I have never had lightening-fast 4-10-cm-in-45-minutes type labors. Mine usually are a respectable few hours. Another big risk is a long, drawn-out pitocin-induced labor but, you guessed it, she really wants to induce. Now at this point, to be perfectly honest, I am big and uncomfortable. I doubt that even with pitocin I would have a long-drawn out labor. But still--she just wants to induce because . . . well, she hasn't dealt with many mothers of big families. That is what it boils down to! She even said that both doctors wanted to be there for the birth, and that they want to induce so that anyone else who is needed would for sure be there, since it would be during the day! Am I a circus side-show, LOL? Maybe the whole hospital would like to watch!

The first date she threw out was April 26, which would be a week and a half early. I was not at all comfortable with that and suggested May 4, which is 2 days before my due date. She kept saying that she just didn't think I would go that long, and apparently she really just doesn't want me to go into labor on my own! I told her that I might be concerned about that (well, probably not, LOL) except that I haven't gone into labor on my own with my last 2, and with Anna, I was 5 cm dilated and was not in labor yet when the pitocin was started. So, I really am not confidant that I will go into labor on my own before my due date. She went out and had a conference with the other doctor in the practice, and she came back suggesting May 1. That is somewhat better, so I agreed to that, but of course I am hoping and praying to go into labor myself. I hate getting to the hospital at 6:00 in the morning and waiting around for everything to get started. Bleh. Too early. Too much waiting around. What a hassle. On the plus side, this should be my last baby while on Tricare, so hopefully if we have any more, I'll be able to find a good midwife that more shares my views on pregnancy and birth, i.e. one who does not LOOK for things that might potentially be wrong.

Now I did ask the wise ladies on the Well-Trained Mind board about maternal hemorrhage, and several of them suggested drinking alfalfa tea, which is supposed to help cut down on bleeding. So I have been drinking that, as well as my raspberry leaf tea, which helps tone the uterus, so I think I'm doing all I can do. I am really not a fan of hot beverages at all, so this is a real sacrifice for me to be drinking all this tea!

Happy Easter!

I hope you all had a wonderful day celebrating the resurrection of Christ! We did, although the weather sure was cold! Our church did not have a sunrise service, so we just went at the regular time (like we could have made a sunrise service even if they did have one, LOL). It was a wonderful service--we are so enjoying this new church and the pastor. He didn't do a specific "Easter" sermon, but he is preaching through Ephesians, and this week he covered Eph. 1: 15-23, which talks about the mighty power of God, which was used when raising Christ from the dead, so it fit the Easter theme.

I am glad that clothes are not the focus of my Easter, as I had all sorts of troubles yesterday! Even though it was cold, I wore a short-sleeved dress, since, well, I am always hot, LOL. This dress is one I have had since I was pregnant with Luke and had to pin "major' on Bob, but it's a really pretty maroon one. As is typical, I got dressed right before we walked out the door (lessens the chance that any food particles will make their way onto my clothes, you know), and as I walked downstairs, I realized that possibly the pregnancy with Luke was when I bought the pair of maternity hose I was wearing as well. No time to change, but I shortly realized that . . . the hose were too small, to put it frankly, for my burgeoning belly. I could not keep them from rolling down under my belly, and I was afraid to see just how far down they would roll! When we got to church, I told Bob I needed to use the restroom, where I just took the darn things off. Then the problem became my shoes. They fit alright with hose on, but once I took the hose off, it became obvious that, well, they were a little too small too for my evidently swollen feet. (I'm going with "swollen" because my feet got a size bigger when I was pregnant with Nathan, but never grew anymore, so SURELY they aren't going to start growing again in pregnancy #6, right?!) So I hobbled back into the service and took my shoes off for the remainder. As we stood for the last song, I struggled with getting them back on. Finally I succeeded, but at a great cost! I could hardly walk! As soon as I got into the car, I took them off and didn't even wear them into the house! Grr! I greatly dislike these last few weeks, where nothing feels comfortable!

As soon as I got changed and got some things together, we headed over to the L's house for Easter dinner. The other 3 families in our Bible study were there too, as well as 2 other families with whom we have been stationed before, and the parents of one of them. There were 34 of us, and we had a delicious potluck feast. I love, absolutely LOVE, being able to enjoy lots of delicious food while only making a few things! I brought a fruit salad, a spinach salad, a potato dish, and ginger snaps. We also had a ham, pork roast, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, jello salad, spinach bread, green bean casserole, corn pudding, french toast casserole, and plenty of other desserts. I was so stuffed I could hardly move! Anna was very cooperative--I fed her as soon as we got there, and she went down for a nap not long after we started eating. She slept until close to 5:00, even going back to sleep after being rudely awakened by little boys light-saber-fighting and running into her door! So I had a whole afternoon of visiting with grownups. Ahhh. It was so very, very nice.

I think it was the perfect celebration of Easter. Because of Christ triumphing over sin and the grave, we will be spending eternity together, since we are all believers. What better way to celebrate that than starting the party down here on Earth?! We were celebrating with family! Praise the Lord--He is risen!

Remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ . . . Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens wih God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are becoming built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. Ephesians 2: 12-13, 19-22

Custom Crest For Claire

Sometimes Caleb goes through a spell of liking to design crests for shields--a throwback to our medieval year in history. He's going through one now, and he decided to design a crest for me. After asking me what colors I liked, he went off to do his thing. When he was done, he proudly showed it to me. The main heraldic elements were: a stick figure washing dishes at a sink and . . . a double decker ice cream cone. Kids and their imaginations! Where do they come up with these things?! LOL!! There was actually more room on the shield, so I guess I should be thankful he didn't include the "doing laundry/ Oreos" theme, or the "wiping bottoms/Ghirardelli dark chocolate squares" one. Also, the stick figure was not noticeably pregnant, so I am really counting my blessings!

Homeschool Ambassador

A German family has rented the house at the end of our cul-de-sac, three houses away from us. She is a civilian, working for the German government here, and he is former German military but a stay-at-home dad here. They have two children, Julia who is 13, and Timon, who is 9. Timon has been having a great time playing with my boys, and Julia loves playing with Anna.

You may not be aware of this, but homeschooling is absolutely outlawed in Germany. There are several active cases right now where German authorities have removed children from their homes simply because the parents were educating them at home. The Supreme Court of Europe ruled that the right of the parents to raise their children as they pleased was triumphed by the right of the state to control what the child is learning. Children can't be "indoctrinated" by only what their parents believe. This actually is a law that Hitler put into practice, since he wanted all children to go to state schools and learn the party line. Here is a link from HSLDA about Germany that has links to several articles on the court cases.

So this afternoon Julia was playing with Anna outside, and it was time for her nap. I walked down to her house, because I thought that's where they were (they were actually in our backyard), and I ended up having a very long coversation with her dad, Oliver. We started out talking about everyday things, like how their second shipment, which includes their second car, is not going to be here for 6-8 more weeks. Then he asked if I stayed at home all day, saying that he knew that would be busier than a full-time job! I said that I did indeed stay home and (dropping the bomb into the conversation) that our children were homeschooled, so my other job was teaching them all. He was flabbergasted! "This is legal in America?!" he exclaimed! We talked for about 35 minutes on how homeschooling worked, what the requirements were (no, our government does not tell us what we have to cover and how), and how I thought it was a benefit to our family. He was very interested and had quite a few questions! He was curious about how our kids don't have another big authority figure in their lives, like a teacher. I told him that really wasn't true, since they were involved in sports, co-op, etc., with many other authority figures, but that we were the ones who set the boundaries for how they acted and what was the right thing to do, and we could be very consistent, since they were mainly with me. I also said that the Bible was our standard for those behavoral guidelines, so it wasn't like we were just making things up on the fly. We talked about how having all the kids at home all the time helped them be a real team, with everyone serving each other, and how you couldn't just sweep sibling problems under the rug, since they were right there together all the time.

I hope this will be an opportunity for us to be a good homeschool witness to this family! Maybe more conversations will come from this one. He was definitely chewing on what I said when I left! We can work to change attitudes about homeschooling in Germany one family at a time!

Treading Water

So you have probably been wondering, in the midst of kleenex, pregnancy, and sickness, if we have been getting any schooling done. The answer is yes, but I will say that this year has not quite measured up to my expectations of all we would accomplish. I thought we were taking it easy LAST year, while I was pregnant, never ever dreaming that, well, this year I would not only have an infant but be pregnant AGAIN. I think I've mentioned in other posts how little we have gotten done in the afternoons because I have just been too tired! So I have felt like this year was another year of just treading water--nothing extra getting done.

And yet, things have been accomplished. We finished Latina Christiana 1. We even went through Minimus a second time. We have only one chapter left in Story of the World 3 (of course, I haven't even ordered SOTW 4 yet, so that will give me a convenient excuse to drop history while we settle in with the new baby, LOL). Luke has about 10 more lessons in Saxon 3, and Nathan is over halfway done with Saxon 6/5. We're halfway done with Easy Grammar 4/5. We're halfway done with Classical Writing Aesop. We have focused more strongly on memory work this year, so we've memorized things like 1 Corinthians 13, Revelation 5:6-14, the Preamble to the Constitution, the Presidents, etc.--AND we review them all regularly, so I know they are really in there!

BUT--we should be more than halfway done with those things like grammar and writing! And we never did get to any formal science! Spelling is still Nathan's big bugaboo! (Next year I am definitely using different spelling programs for Nathan and Luke--probably Spelling Power for Luke, and I'm still not sure for Nathan.) I want to teach them how to play the recorder! Caleb is still not reading fluently, mainly because some days his lessons get skipped! Ah well. Next year I WON'T be pregnant, right Lord? LOL.

A few weeks ago, Christa wrote a list on her blog called "When it comes to school, there's no place like home" with some reasons such as these:

. . . Where helping one's little brother get a glass of milk teaches service.

. . . Where children learn to look out for each other, helping toddlers. Reading to little sister or brother hones skills, grows a caring heart, and brings special joy all around.

I think I can summarize these past 2 years as "learning to serve" for the boys. There have been lots of good lessons in that crucial subject! I guess there will be time for science later on. In the meantime, we'll keep plugging away with math, grammar, etc. We'll start Latina Christiana 2 next week. We'll keep on going through the Spectrum test practice books to prepare for the Stanford Achievement tests the boys will be taking the first week of May. And we'll have another baby, which will yield even more opportunities to serve!

How a One-Year-Old Amuses Herself

First, she ensures that Mommy is sufficiently distracted. Then she climbs onto the coffee table by way of a conveniently placed chair. Next she proceeds to empty an almost new box of Kleenex--one of the big boxes is ideal. After all the kleenex are out of the box, she goes ahead and shreds several for good measure, eating whatever pieces strike her little fancy. Then she tosses several largish shreds around and on the floor to complete the effect--hey, it's like snow! Voila! Fun in a box! See how proud and happy she is! What a stinker!

Anna is One!

It's hard to believe, but Anna turned 1 today! Wow, a year goes by so fast! Here is what I posted last year about her birth, in case you feel the urge to reminisce. We just had a small party here at home for her, with our neighbors down the street joining us for cake and ice cream. I was thrilled to make a PINK butterfly cake--no weapons at all, LOL! Anna was not a big fan of the cake at first, but after I sort of smooshed up her piece for her, she did eat it all, along with some strawberry sorbet. She is definitely feeling better today, thank the Lord!

Reading Aloud

I am a huge proponent of reading aloud to your children. I've read all the books about why it's such a great idea. I was faithfully read to as a child. In fact, my dad went TDY quite a bit, and often he would read aloud a (long) book onto a tape for my brother and I to listen to each night before we went to bed. So obviously reading aloud was an important part of my childhood, and it's been an important part of childhood for my kids too . . . until this past year.

The honest truth is that after we finished Farmer Boy, I had the best of intentions of starting another book. I even picked out Swiss Family Robinson. And then we just never started. Usually we would read over lunch, but with Anna needing more lunchtime attention, that was hard. And after lunch, well, reading aloud made me verrrrrryyyyy ssslllleeeeeeppppyyyy (yawn). It just wasn't happening.

Then there were a few threads on reading aloud on the Well-Trained Mind board. Several ladies suggested books on tape. Well! I had never even considered using them for anything other than car trips! But I could see that this might be a good temporary solution to my troubles! I immediately went to the library and got out Alice In Wonderland, and we've been listening to a lady with a delightful British accent read as we eat lunch. This means that I can eat my lunch while feeding Anna and still have the benefit of hearing a good story. It's been working out great. I really do enjoy reading aloud, so this isn't going to be the permanent way we do read-alouds, but it is getting us through this physically tiring time for me. And this way I can feel good about reading little books to Caleb and Jonathan in the evening, which has been all the reading aloud I've been getting around to!

" . . .the cute one"

Nathan had his last Upward basketball game today. His team remained undefeated, and I must say that Nathan's ball handling skills dramatically improved over the course of the season. I was sitting next to another team mom this morning, and she asked which one was my son. I pointed out "the short blonde one", and she said, "Oh! The cute one! My daughter--she's 9--she always says to me, 'Mom, he's sooo cute!' " LOL! And so it starts already. Where's my big stick?! : )

Bob stayed home with Anna this morning. Her fever is not coming up as often, and she is eating a little more, but she is still pretty sick. She also is having diarrhea, so that doesn't help anything. She is still up for an hour, then napping for 2 or 3. It's like having a newborn! I guess it will just be a slow road to get over this thing.

A Sick Baby

We spent the day at the doctor today, literally. We left the house at 9:15 and got back home at 2:45. What a day. Anna is really sick. She started coughing a bit and being somewhat snuffly on Tuesday, and then she started running a fever yesterday. She didn't eat much yesterday, but she did drink bottles last night and this morning. Her fever was up pretty high when she woke up at 3:15 AM, so I went ahead and made an appointment this morning. Her ears were fine, but her chest is congested and she is wheezy. They did a chest x-ray, which was fine, and a complete blood count, which was elevated but not extremely so. Getting the blood was not easy, especially since she really isn't THAT well-hydrated right now, but due to my fervent prayers I am sure, they finally were able to strike a vein. Anna did not really appreciate the intrusion and the poking around, but really she did pretty well and didn't protest too terribly much--a sign of how sick she is, unfortunately. Right now the doctor thinks it is respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and so we really have to watch her over the next few days to see if her cough and congestion get worse, and of course, that she doesn't get dehyrated. She's just not herself , and she definitely looks sick--very pale. Not her usual happy, perky self!

I would just like to say that the boys did really well, even though we had to wait around so very long, and we didn't have lunch until 3:00. Nathan and Luke read books to the little boys so I could focus on Anna, and there was hardly an complaining--at least until about 2:00, LOL, and by then I was beginning to think we were never going to be able to leave, so I was right there with them. Bob even had to make a special guest appearance at the clinic because I wasn't allowed to go back with Anna for her x-ray, due to the pregnancy, and she obviously couldn't go back by herself, LOL. So it was a real day of family bonding.

Now we're back home, we've eaten lunch, the boys are playing outside, and Anna is napping. Whew. Please be praying for her to get over this quickly!

Nesting in a Black Hole

I'm starting to feel the nesting thing kick in--I want to be organized. Saturday Bob took the boys to Nathan's basketball game, Anna napped, and I cleaned all the detritus from the play room. I also worked on the paper morass in the kitchen, making some headway there too. It was a good feeling. That good feeling was all but overwhelmed by the realization that things keep going . . . missing. Little things. Not terribly important things. But things that niggle at the edge of my brain all the time, taking an inordinate amount of brainpower as I try to imagine where they could be. Things like . . . the atlas that used to live on the bookshelves in the study. This was one of your standard huge road atlases that you might keep in your car. In fact this one used to live in our car until we got a newer one, and this one moved inside. I use it actually quite a lot when on the phone or looking stuff up. I love maps. And it has disappeared! Where could a huge book like that disappear to? Makes you wonder, doesn't it.

Another missing item is a ring and nipple for Anna's bottle. I have exactly 9 rings and 10 nipples, and now I have 8 rings and 9 nipples. Again, this might not seem like a crisis, but . . . where in the world could it have gone to?! It's driving me nuts! It's a red ring, by the way, in case it shows up at your house, LOL.

Another inconsequential thing is a folder Nathan made during the Greek unit at our co-op. This is really unimportant, except to an irrational pregnant woman who was filing papers away in notebooks and realized Nathan didn't have anything representing all the great Greek stuff I taught him during that unit. I won't tell you how much time I spent looking for that Saturday night. It wasn't pretty.

So you can clearly see from these examples that there is some sort of plot going on here, something subtle enough as to not raise a big alarm, but just annoying enough to make me really go crazy. It's just hard to nest when you can't find all the little twigs you need. Sigh.

So here I sit, eating ice cream and blogging. Christine called a few hours ago to see if I could teach tomorrow at co-op for her. She's teaching the character part to the K-4 and K-5, and I am supposed to teach that next week, so we just switched. That all sounds fine except that I am having a very difficult time coming up with anything to do on the spur of the moment. The unit is on architecture, and so I thought something about how our words can build up or tear down would be appropriate. And maybe if I had a little more notice, I would be able to come up with something great! As it is, I hunted around for one of my character story books so I could find a good story on kindness or something and . . . you guessed it . . I can't find the book. Now I'm at a standstill. Maybe more ice cream will help.

*Update* Now I am NOT teaching tomorrow--whew! Christine called back to say that Joel really isn't sick--he is having an allergic reaction. While that's not a good thing per se, it does mean that he can go in the nursery tomorrow, and she can teach. So I dodged that bullet. Of course, by this time I did find an appropriate Maxi and Mini Muffin story, and even a coloring page, so I am set for next week. Unless, of course, I lose my folder . . .

Pregnancy Hormones Run Amok

I had a doctor's appointment today, which went fine. The kids all went over to the McC's house, which made them very happy, so on the way to pick them up, I stopped by the healthfood store to pick up more of my toothpaste. I have to use toothpaste without sodium laurel sufate (the foaming agent) in it, because otherwise I get terrible cankersores. I love Dr. Burt's lavender mint toothpaste--no SLS, and it tastes good. There are no major brands without this substance in them. Anyhow, there was none on the shelf, so I asked when they would be getting more in. The lady said Burt's Bees has discontinued it. Discontinued it?!! Oh No!!!!!!! What am I going to do? I was so upset; my stomach dropped, and I got a little teary-eyed there in the store. I did start crying when I called Bob to tell him the bad news. Maybe I'll have to buy the recipe from Burt himself and start making my own, LOL. That sounds like something I have time for. Sigh. The third trimester is not a good time for unexpected changes. Now, after a tragedy like this, I am supposed to cook dinner?! LOL

Anna's New Skill

Anna has mastered climbing the stools in the kitchen, so now she can be at counter level. Obviously she is pretty proud of this feat! A whole new world of things to get into has opened up for her! So now I have to make sure no cups with water are near the edge of the counter. Or knives . . . or glass bowls . . . Yes, I really could have waited for this particular milestone! Anna is such a nosy Nellie who always wants to see what is going on, however, so I'm not surprised that mastering the stool was a bigger priority than walking. She can tell that a lot goes on up there on that counter, and she has very vocally wanted to be in on it! Now she can. It would be helpful if she would also master getting OFF the stool, but that has not happened yet either. Ah well.

I am seriously worried that she will not be walking by the time the new baby is born, a mere 7 weeks away. She has really shown absolutely no interest in walking, or even really in standing alone. She can stand alone, but she doesn't stay there long before she's down on her knees, crawling away. I think she feels she's quite a good crawler, and she can keep up with the boys that way, so why learn a new skill that will slow her down for awhile until it is mastered?! At least she's not my first baby, with a second coming so close. I do have plenty of helpers to hold her if need be while I deal with the new baby. But it would be so much nicer if she was walking, or at least standing confidently . . .

Praying for your husband

Several posts ago, Bob commented on how incredibly busy he is right now. Here's a refresher: he's taking 2 master's courses (with all the inherent projects, tests, and assignments), he needs to replace the garage doors (whenever we get approval from our HOA, grr), taxes need to be filed, he just finished his 2 year relicensing process for real estate, he just got a listing and so needs to do all that paperwork, we'll be having another baby in less than 8 weeks or so . . . it just goes on and on. As a praise, he did pass his physical today (yay!), and he has also decided to stop doing Bible Study Fellowship and instead be a part of a new men's group at our church. This only meets every 3rd Saturday, and frankly I think anything our pastor leads is going to be a very good thing. They're going through a systematic theology book.

All that to say, I've been really trying to pray consistently for Bob. We also have a lot of big decisions regarding retirement and our options there, and so far God has not emblazoned any answers on the lawn or anything, so that is another area for prayer. Two years ago at the Ladies' Retreat for our old church, we got a list if things to pray for our husbands each day of the week. This is what I've been doing for Bob, so I thought I would share them again, in case you might not have been reading my blog way back in February 05 (gosh, that seems like such a long time ago!).


Sunday: That he might become a holy man, a man of prayer, mature in the Lord, growing in his knowledge of the God. (1 Thes. 5:23, Col. 4:12, Eph. 1:18-19, 3:16-19, 6:18) That he might daily seek God with all his heart, walking in the Spirit moment by moment, growing in his dependence on Him. (Ps. 119:1-2, 27:4. Prov. 3:5-6, John 15:5)

Monday: That he would learn to take every thought captive, to not be confused into the world's thinking, but to think spiritually. (2 Cor. 10:5) That he would learn not to depend on his circumstances for happiness, but on God alone. (Hab. 3:17-19)

Tuesday: That he might have new strength in the midst of his busy schedule, and that the Lord might infuse him with His strength. (Eph. 3:14-19) That his self-image might be a reflection of the Lord's thoughts toward him. (Eph. 1:17-19, Rom. 12:3, Ps. 139)

Wednesday: That he might become a called man, not driven, with well-thought-through and prayed-through goals in life. (1Cor. 9:24-27) That the Lord might give him wisdom to lead his family physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. (Eph. 1:17-19, James 1:5-7)

Thursday: That he might stand firm against the schemes of the devil, and resist Satan in all circumstances. (Eph. 6:10-18, James 4:7) That he might not be deceived into unbelief and sin. (Gal. 6:7)

Friday: that the fruit of the Spirit might be exhibited more and more in his life. (Gal. 5:22-23) That he might learn to love as God commanded. (1 Cor. 13:4, Rom. 12:8-10)

Saturday: That the Lord might protect him, guarding his course. (Prov. 2:8) That he might learn to manage his time well. (Eph. 5:15)

The A-Wing Fighter Cake

Well, here it is, although you can't really see much detail in the picture! I chose this picture so you could see the Lego model and its box, in case you (like me) have no idea what an "A-Wing Fighter" is supposed to look like in the first place. The gray things on the sides are actually prezel rods frosted gray, and they are the "laser cannons". I used Oreos on the back as the engines. While the boys were quite pleased with the darker red color, since I used "burgundy" gel instead of just plain red, what we did not count on was the fact that it was not "no-taste red", which is what we usually use for red. And let me tell you, it tasted! Blech! Good thing there wasn't really much of it, LOL. Luke was quite happy with my efforts, and now, after Bible study, there remains only the part around the cockpit, so everyone else liked it too!

Month of Luke

We've been celebrating Luke's 8th birthday for a few weeks now. His actual birthday is Feb. 27, which was the day we drove back from Ohio. Unless you count listening to Henry Huggins and snacking all day to be a celebration, that particular day wasn't filled with birthday cheer. But a few days before, we all went to Young's where we had ice cream, and Luke received some great presents, like a kit on making balloon animals (we've tried a few, and believe me, this is not as easy as those clowns make it look, LOL) and a gift card for Barnes and Noble. He also got a set of Star Wars figures, which made the ride home go a lot faster for him and Nathan! We went to Barnes and Noble the next day so he could pick out his books. The gift card was for $25, and he and Nathan had a great time selecting which books, including tax, would maximize the value of the card. Finally they picked 4 books (Star Wars of course, since I would never buy those for them, LOL), and the total price came to $24.45, due to their careful calculations. Hey, there are adults who can't figure out things like that! Luke was especially thrilled because he got the remaining $.55 in change.

Last night we finally had his special birthday dinner, since we made a huge commissary trip on Wednesday. This is the first time since the beginning of December that we have gone, and let me tell you, the ol' pantry was getting pretty bare! He requested Aunt Amy's lasagna, which we all enjoyed, except for the fact that I forgot to get tomato paste at the commissary and had to make a special trip to the little store down the road. Grrr. We spent over 2 hours and $800 on groceries (I told you it was a huge trip), and I forgot something for a meal the NEXT day! But I digress . . .

Due to my glucose test preparations last week, I didn't feel like making a cake, so we're bringing his cake to Bible study tonight. Luke wanted a Star Wars ship, so we decided on the A-Wing fighter because it looked to be the easiest. We still have the box from the Lego model they got for a present one year, so that is what I will go by. We'll see how that turns out. And I think that tonight will be the final celebration of this 8th birthday!

* Big Sigh of Relief *

The doctor's office called this afternoon to tell me the results of the glucose test. When I realized it was the receptionist, and not the doctor herself, I was pretty hopeful, and she said that my results were normal! Yay! I will certainly keep exercising like a madwoman, however, and keep late night ice cream parties to a bare minimum, LOL. But I don't have to take a nutrition class and learn how to prick my finger and test my blood several times a day. Wahoo!

I'm Alive!

Well, I'm sure all of you loyal readers will be relieved to know that I did indeed make it through the glucose test with no problems, and in fact it was not tramatic at all, proving once again that your mind can really psyche you out by only concentrating on the worst case scenario. There were a man and a woman working at the lab today. The woman was quite skillful; the man not so much. Of course it would happen that he drew my blood 3 out of the 4 times, but while he inflicted more pain, he still got the samples with no problems. They both were able to even got a sample out of my bad right arm, so it turns out that even scarred veins heal themselves! Who knew?! I guess it has been over 5 years since that disasterous time while pregnant with Caleb when the techs could not get any blood out of that arm, and I have not let anyone try since then, so I haven't had any new data to go by. What a relief to have that over and done with! I felt fine throughout the test. Now we just wait for the results.

Worries . . .

Tomorrow is my 3 hour test (have I mentioned that lately? LOL!). I'm dreading it, quite frankly. When I was pregnant with Caleb (#3), I passed my 1 hour test just fine, but then several weeks later I spilled some sugar into my urine at a routine appointment. Since this was at Wright-Pat, big teaching hospital that it is, their immediate response was to send me in for a 3 hour one. (In a historical footnote, I was scheduled for it right after 9/11, but the base was closed so I had to come in a few days later. The base was still on super-tight security, and it took almost 3 hours to get to the lab--I left the house at 6:00 and started the test at 9:00. Nightmare right there.)

Anyhow, back to my current fears . . . you may know that I had some blood clots in my right arm right after we got married, and because of the catheters, etc. to deal with them, I have substantial scarring in the veins of my right arm, and so it is practically impossible to draw blood from there. When I had the last 3 hour test (where they draw your blood once before you start, then 3 more times after you drink the stuff), the techs had a progressively harder time finding a place to draw blood on my left arm. By the time they were trying to draw the last vial, 3 hours later, they could not get anything. Believe me, there is nothing so aggravating as having people poke around your veins when you have had NOTHING TO EAT for 12 hours except a huge load of nasty glucose drink! I was very jitterly and nauseaus, which I never am during blood draws. Finally they had to resort to calling an "expert" from the big inpatient lab upstairs, and he got the sample with no problems, probably due only to my fervent prayers. My poor arm was bruised for weeks.

Tomorrow however, there will be no expert on hand to be called if there are problems! So I am praying that the person will be able to get the blood samples needed with a minimum of poking and fussing. I'll let you know how it goes!

Big Day for Nathan!

Nathan is playing Upwards basketball for the first time this season, and today he scored 2 baskets! He was so very excited--they are his first baskets! His team has one really tall guy, and a few boys who have obviously played several seasons and are pretty good, so I don't think the team has lost yet (unlike his soccer team, which lost every game, LOL). By the time Nathan scored his first basket, the score was 14-4, and so his teammates kept passing Nathan the ball until he finally scored. It was very sweet, and a reminder of why I like Upwards--they really do emphasize everyone participating, as opposed to winning. The tall guy kept rebounding all through the game and passing the ball to whatever other shorter, less basketball-favored kid was around him so he could take a shot. I think the end score was 30-12 or something like that. But Nathan felt like he contributed!

In other news, we now have one working garage door again! A few days after we left for Ohio, Bob called to say that the door where I usually park the van was not going up--the motor was spinning, but nothing was moving. He looked inside the opener, and some white pastic gear thing was broken, so he ordered the new part. The directions were pretty complicated, but then he ran into someone at work who happened to have changed out that exact same part on his opener earlier, so he talked Bob through it all! Bob started on it last night and pretty much finished it, but then as we were admiring the door going up and down again, we noticed that something wasn't right with one of the pulleys--it kept going off track. So Bob realized we needed new pulleys as well, and he went off early this morning to Home Depot to get those as well as 2 new doors. He got the doors, and the pulleys, and he replaced the pulleys, so our one garage door now goes up and down smooth like butter! We are waiting to put the doors themselves up because we aren't sure about them--they have little windows along the top, and we realized that no one else in our whole neighborhood has windows on their garage doors. So we called the HOA people, and they said they needed to approve the doors, since they are different. We should hear back in a few days. If they deny it, no big deal--we'll just get the doors without windows. Neither Bob nor I have my heart set on these, but Bob got them for the same price as the door without windows, and you know we can't pass up a bargain! In the meantime, we have one garage door working!

My morning was spent at a big consignment sale for children's stuff. We don't have any good consignment stores around here, but twice a year there are several huge consignment sales at local churches that I like to go to. Last Fall I even consigned some stuff myself, and almost everything sold! I was looking for a new infant carseat, which I did find. Ours is 8 years old and showing its age, so we thought it was time to upgrade. I bought a Graco that is not quite 3 years old and in great shape. I'm looking for a Graco double stroller too, which I think this car seat would fit into. I have to really find a bargain though, because we actually have a double stroller--the problem is that it is also 8 years old, no infant carseat fits in it, and the back seat is not higher than the front, so no one wants to ride back there because you can't see. Plus, it is incredibly heavy. They have made big strides in stroller development in 8 years! I didn't find a double stroller at this sale, but there is another one at the end of March, plus I'm keeping my eyes on craigs list. I have also realized that we need more crib bedding, since we got rid of Nathan's old set several years ago, after Caleb didn't need it anymore. It was also showing its age! I didn't find any today though. I did buy a few maternity shirts and a few things for Anna.

The ice storm that keeps on giving . . .

So we had a big snow/ice storm right before the kids and I left for Ohio. Our driveway and front walk simply do not get ANY sun at all during the winter, so the ice just hangs on, melting when warm and then refreezing. This has caused some major problems this time around. For one, we now need a new garage door because the Pathfinder slid on the ice in the driveway and ran into the door, breaking it. And then today we got a registered letter from the Post Office saying that our mail man slipped on the ice by our front door while delivering a package on Feb. 16 and will probably be suing us. How lovely! This is really stressing me out, with the glucose test on Monday and now this lawsuit threat. The mail man "sustained bruised ribs and was also given prescriptions", and any claim will include "special damages (medical bills, etc.) and general damages (pain and suffering, inconvenience)". Sigh.

This answers all my questions . . .

Here is part of an interesting article in today's Washington Times called Ice Cream Induces the Arrival of Stork.

Want a bun in the oven? Then go have a big bowl of ice cream. Add a little whipped cream, too. Harvard University announced yesterday that drinking whole milk and eating high-fat ice cream appears to benefit women who want to get pregnant. Skim milk may not be baby-friendly: The study found that women who dutifully ate two or more daily servings of low-fat dairy products each day increased their risk of ovulation-related infertility by a whopping 85 percent. An extra serving per day increased their risk by another 11 percent. Women who scarfed down a single serving of high-fat dairy food every day actually reduced their risk of infertility by 27 percent. The study lauded ice cream in particular: Women who ate the genuine creamy variety two or three times a week reduced their risk of infertility by 38 percent.

So I think we can all draw some conclusions about this unexpected pregnancy, LOL. I am sure I was faithfully eating ice cream last August--I had to keep up my milk supply, you know. Here is the shocker at the end of the article, however:

Dairy products may play another role in pregnancy. According to research published in the Journal of Reproductive Medicine in May by Dr. Gary Steinman, an attending physician at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, women who consume animal products -- specifically dairy -- are five times more likely to have twins.

Whew--I guess I've been lucky these past 6 times!

Home Again

We're back! Here's what we were up to the last few days of our time in Ohio. Saturday we packed up everything and took it all over to Amy's house, where we stayed for the rest of our time. Jason was out of town at a big trade show, so it was just us mommies and 6 little boys and 1 little girl! We had such a fun time over there. The boys really got to be comfortable playing with each other, since we spent 3 days there, and Amy had fun dressing Anna and playing with her. Anna was very unsure of Amy's fat orange cat, Pumpkin, who has to be the most unthreatening cat on the planet. At first she was terrified, but she eventually settled down into alert watchfulness, as she kept her eye on him, never turning her back to him while he snoozed ferociously on the back of the couch. Each night after the kids went down, Amy and I stayed up late talking and eating ice cream.

We had been planning on heading back home Monday, but it looked like the weather between Ohio and D.C. might be not so good, so we held off until Tuesday. It was nice to have the extra day! Bob was busy at work on his take-home exam for one of his classes, so even he agreed that an extra day would be a good thing for him!

We left yesterday at 9:30, and we got back here at 6:15, after an uneventful day of driving. The weather was nice, which makes it easier to get kids in and out of the van, so I was glad we waited. We started out listening to Peter and the Starcatchers, by Dave Barry (yeah, the funny one) and Ridley Pearson, because it got rave reviews both on Amazon and on the Well-Trained Mind board. I think it is a good book, but after finishing to the first CD (out of 7!), the boys just weren't that into it, mainly because well, nothing really good happens to Peter and his fellow orphans in the beginning, but lots of sort of bad stuff does, and it was a bit depressing for their tastes. I figured I will get the book out of the library, and Nathan and I can finish it on our own, and we moved on to Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary, an altogether different sort of book--very "safe", LOL. It was a good choice though, because Caleb and Jonathan really got into it.

Books on tape really make the miles fly, and they are always my top recommendation for keeping kids entertained on long trips! My other tip is "snack bags", where I put little individual servings of various snacks in a quart Ziploc bag for each boy. Then when I announce they can have a snack, they can all pick what they want out of their own bag--no handing tons of stuff back and forth, which is hard when you are the only adult! Usually I include stuff like a fruit roll-up, little snack-size baggies of pretzels, teddy grahams, and M&Ms (the M&Ms usually get eaten first, LOL), raisins, a dum-dum pop--some special things that they don't get very often. Then they also amuse themselves by deciding what things they will eat in what order. Each boy gets a water bottle too, but they know that we don't stop very often, so they have to not drink it all really quickly!

So it was a great trip, but it's nice to be home. I did bring schoolwork for the boys, which they did (Nathan: "The only thing I don't like about Grandma's house is that we still have to do school here."), but now it is time to buckle back down into our regular routine--for a few more weeks, anyways, until the new baby comes. Yep, I'll be in single digits come this weekend--9 weeks left! Wow. I have another doctor's appointment on Friday, and I'm planning on taking my 3-hour glucose test on Monday. We'll see how that goes. Did I mention that I ate tons of ice cream on this trip?! Oh well--it was worth it!

Happy Feet

Yesterday I had a new experience--a pedicure! One of the couples in Mom and Dad's OCF Bible study is PCSing next week, and as a going-away party for Christa, some of the ladies got together and had pedicures. Mom and I were invited, but I really dithered around about going. I've never had one before, and it just seemed like such an extravagent waste of money, especially in the winter when no one even sees my toes! Finally I decided to go figuring that as a pregnant woman, my feet deserve a wee bit of pampering.

Wow! I was so glad I went! I had so much fun. Four of us sat in puffy massage chairs--that made it worth it right there for me! A 45 minute back massage, and not just the cheapo "vibrating" massage! The chairs had basins of hot water at the base that we soaked out feet in, with little foot stools to put our feet while they were worked on. To be honest, I didn't even really pay much attention to what was actually done to my feet, since I was busy visiting with the other women. But I will say that the whole experience was incredibly relaxing, and my feet were incredibly happy when I got finished. Then we all walked next door to Starbucks, where a few other ladies were waiting who had not chosen to have pedicures, and we visited for awhile longer over coffee (well, I had hot chocolate, LOL). It was such a nice afternoon.

I don't think this will ever by any means become a regular part of my routine--I just could not justify the time and the money! But I do recommend it is as a very fun way to spend an afternoon with good friends!

You may be wondering where the kids were during this afternoon of pampering. Grandpa stepped up and watched everyone. Isn't that great?! They played Risk and Chutes and Ladders, as well as watched a video. One thing Grandpa has introduced them to this visit is John Wayne and his classic cowboy movies. You can imagine how great especially Jonathan and Caleb think this is. John Wayne is definitely Jonathan's new hero, LOL. He's galloping around the house again. Never a dull moment . . .

Here in Ohio

Obviously we have been having too much fun to blog! It was quite an adventure making it here, although more for my parents than us. They did get stuck in the Charlotte airport over night on Tuesday, Feb. 13, reliving all the times we spent the night at military terminals such as the one at Clark AB, the Philipines, when we were bumped off of Space A flights. Ahh, the memories. Some I am sure are better off not relived! So they flew into Dayton Wednesday morning, my dad dug out their car from long-term parking, my mom drove home, and my dad got on a plane to fly to VA via Atlanta. He got to Atlanta just fine, but his flight to Dulles was first delayed, then canceled. He was put on another flight, which was delayed . . . and delayed . . . and delayed. We were very seriously worried aobut him having to spend a second night at an airport in a row! but after heavy-duty praying, he left Atlanta about 8:10 and got in to Dulles at 10:00. After some more excitement, where he couldn't find his suitcase (it turned out that the equipment wasn't working right because of the cold) he was able to have a solid night's sleep at our house in an actual bed.

We left at 9:15 the next morning, and really the drive out was anti-climactic. The roads were fine, the kids were good. We listened to Ben and Me as our book on tape. We made it in time for dinner. Whew! Finally!

Friday Amy picked me up and we went on the Faircreek women's retreat. Her mom was the speaker, and she spoke on "Transformation--Becoming like Christ through worship, humility, and suffering". It was an encouraging time of renewal as well as catching up with old friends. One thing we all did was bring something which signified transformation in our lives. I brought a little scrapbook that Amy made for me detailing our friendship over the years. It starts with the awkward junior high and high school years, goes through college and our both getting married, and ends with us as mothers. If that isn't a transformation, I don't know what is, especially when I think about how having a big family and especially homeschooling were not even remotely on my radar screen as life possibilities for me back in junior high and high school! What is so neat is how Amy has been there through it all with me--everyone should have a friend like that!

While I was at the retreat, Grandma and Grandpa did the babysitting duties. Even though it was freezing cold and even snowed 4 more inches on Saturday, the boys all went outside and played for over an hour both days! Grandpa unearthed an old sled of Grandma's from the basement, which was a huge hit. They built snow forts too--I'm so glad I brought all the snow gear!

We've been busy the other days too--we went to the base chapel on Sunday to show Anna off to all Grandma and Grandpa's friends. We spent Monday at Amy's house, since Zachary and Jaconb had a holiday from school. They played in the snow there too, as well as with Zachary';s impressive Playmobil collection (TWO castles as well as a pirate ship!) and Jacob's Thomas the Train table. Fun was definitely had by all, LOL. Tuesday was Ladies' Bible study at Faircreek. They are going through Beth Moore's Daniel study, and the video we watched on Tuesday was so excellent. It makes me want to do the whole study!

So there is a long update for all of you who are dying to know what we are filling our time with here in Ohio! I know, fascinating stuff! It's been such a nice vacation for me so far, not having to do any cooking! The only fly in the ointment is that Jonathan has mysteriously started waking up at least once, if not 2 or 3 times a night. He just starts crying loudly all of a sudden, waking me out of a deep sleep. I have to scramble to put on my sweats and run down to the basement so he doesn't wake up the other boys, and then take him potty or deal with whatever his issue is (sometimes he can't tell me anything that is wrong). In the morning, he doesn't remember waking up at all. Let me tell you, I've had enough of that! Very frustrating, and hopefully a short phase. I need more sleep, not less, especially on vacation!

The best-laid plans . . .

Today has been a frightful day, weather-wise. Lots of snow and freezing rain. Originally I was going to drive to Ohio tomorrow with the kids, but yesterday my dad called and offered to fly here on Wednesday so he could drive with us if we waited until Thursday to go. That sounded like a good plan, but the only sticking point is that Mom and Dad aren't actually home in Ohio yet--they left Utah today to fly home, but well, the weather is crappy in Dayton too, as well as in Denver, which is one of their connections. So it is looking right now as if they will be stuck in Charlotte, NC, for the night. Then they will try to get to Dayton tomorrow morning, Dad will attempt to dig out the car and get it started so Mom can drive home, and he will turn around and get on another airplane to fly here. That is the NEW plan anyways, and we'll see how that one pans out. At least Thursday appears to be a better day for driving as far as weather goes.

As if the weather wasn't enough to deal with today, my doctor called with the unwelcome news that I failed my 1 hour glucose tolerance test. Grrr. I have never failed one before, and I feel like such a loser! I guess that harkens back to my school-day sensitivities. Although I took the test almost as soon as we got back from Colorado (where we ate like we were on a cruise), and right after my birthday (which was filled with cake and brownies, LOL), I really wasn't that concerned. I thought my faithful exercising would keep that beast at bay. Obviously that did not work. Sigh. The only problem is now that I will have to take the 3 hour test right after we get back from this trip to Ohio! Nothing like having that hanging over your head every time you think about Young's chocolate-peanut butter ice cream!

So all in all, it was a rather discouraging day. We shall see what tomorrow brings . . .

Connections to the Famous

Hey, I share a birthday with a famous writer! There I was, reading the "Family" section of the Washington Times this afternoon, when I started reading this article about Jay Bakker, the son of Jim and Tammy Fay. When I finished, I glanced at the byline on the bottom, and it was by Brian Orme, who is the husband of Jenna! We all went to high school together at good old Dayton Christian, and then on to Cedarville for college. He's a pastor now, as well as a writer of newspaper columns. I wasn't expecting to see a familiar name in the paper today! Too cool!

28 Weeks

So I'm at 28 weeks now. I had an appointment on Wednesday, and my glucose tolerance test on Friday. Everything seems to be just fine, but it's really hard to actually think about having another baby. I think that's because, well, I already HAVE a baby, LOL. Anyhow, I'm starting to feel tired and blah, and I feel big and awkward--you know how it is. On the Well Trained Mind general board a lady posted yesterday about how she also was at 28 weeks and pretty much feeling the same as I just described. Another woman responded with her story, which gave me quite a different perspective on the last trimester of pregnancy and was a real inspiration. Here is what she wrote:

Almost 4 years ago, when I was pregnant with #3, I had a 19 mo old and a 35 month old. My pregnancy wasn't going well, and I was tired, on yucky meds, stuck in bed, my house was dirty, my kids wanted more of mommy. I felt rotten, and in moments of weakness wished it "could all be over" and I could "fast forward".

My baby was born at 28 weeks and 3 days gestation, after my water broke. When I saw him in the NICU with a vent down his throat breathing for him, all sorts of wires and IVs on his tiny 2 lb body... I would have done *anything* to get my old tired, pregnant body back. At that moment, I recognized the miracle in each and every day of pregnancy. Each day matters. I'll never get to finish that pregnancy, to feel a third trimester enormous belly, or have an excuse to finish off 1/2 a pizza. To nurse him. But you will.

Exhausted means you're using calories to grow a baby. And each day that you provide for him/her in utero is a *gift*. Nesting means you have hormones pumping wildly through your veins allowing you to make a home for baby, by instinct alone. Commitments mean you are healthy and able to carry out all sort of tasks, and grow a human at the same time. Like a superhero. Don't wish it away. Love this time and your ability to create life. Craddle your belly and sing him or her a lullaby. 28 weekers can hear you, I promise. They can open their eyes, and "cry". They can grasp objects in their hands, and hear music. They are soothed by mom's voice. You may not see your baby's personality as much I saw my son's at 28 weeks... but if you could you would be *amazed* by what a baby at that gestation can do. And by how much more they need.

I pray for many of us that will never get that third trimester, that you see through my story how beautiful, special and *important* those last weeks are. Hang in there. I wish you a big, beautiful, healthy screaming 7 pounder. :)

ps - My miracle baby will turn 4 on May 8th. He's perfect.

Airborne?

Well, I thought that today we would be right back into our routine, but alas, we are all suffering the effects of a trip, specifically, some head cold/virus thing. I told you that Caleb started being sick while we were still in Colorado, and he was still running a fever and being really snuffly even this morning. He and Luke both woke up around 7:00 crying and fussing, so I gave both of them Motrin and told them to go back to sleep. Luke slept until 9:30 and seemed to feel better, although his fever came back up in the afternoon and he still is coughing. Caleb slept until we woke him up at 12:30 (gasp!), and he seems to have turned a corner! Jonathan started running a fever and coughing this evening, though, so it looks like it's one of those things everyone is going to get. Bob and I just have colds, so Bob stayed home from work today, which allowed me to run to Walmart to get Sudafed. While at Walmart, I noticed the big display of "Airborne" medicine and wondered if it really works. I mean, it seems like such a crock, but there is something about being on airplanes that makes everyone sick, and maybe just the psychosomatic effects of the medicine could be helpful in warding off viruses! Who knows. In the meantime, not much is getting done around here. Tomorrow HAS to be laundry day though, no matter how everyone, including me, feels!

We're Back!

We flew out last Thursday, landing in a big snowstorm in Denver. The kids were great on the airplanes, but it ended up taking us 2 hours just to drive out of Denver, not to mention all the way down to Colorado Springs, and that car ride was long! The saving thing was that our rental van had a DVD player, but it was a sign of how tired we were that we could not figure out how to make the sound come through the speakers. So Thursday night was "silent movie night". Of course the next day, after a good night's sleep, Bob pressed a button, and voila. Sound!

Friday we went to the mall and got pictures taken at Kiddie Kandids. This may seem like an odd way to spend a day, but I have always been so happy with Kiddie Kandids, and believe me, it is no small feat to get a good picture of all the kids at one time. So whenever we are in Colorado, I try to get pictures taken there. It took awhile, but we did get some good pictures, including some of just Anna. Now I can wait another year and a half before worrying aobut more pictures!

Saturday was the funeral, and it was a beautiful service. The funeral home did such a good job with Nana's body, and she literally looked 20 years younger--like I remember her when I was in high school or so. In fact, I later heard Caleb say to one of the boys, "Didn't Nana's shell look pretty?" We had been talking about how we would just see her "shell" because what really made Nana "Nana" was already in heaven with Jesus. Anna was wriggly, but the other boys were pretty good during the service. Afterwards we went out to eat at Nana and Papa's favorite German restaurant, Eidelwiess.

Saturday night we met Anthony L. at USAFA and watched an Air Force hockey game. That was a lot of fun, even though Air Force ended up losing in overtime. I miss being able to see good college games so cheaply! We enjoyed catching up with Anthony, but it seemed so funny to see him there as a cadet! He fit right in though.

Sunday we did not even attempt church. Instead we had a leisurely morning of exercising and then the boys swimming. We met back up with everyone to eat at another favorite of Nana's, Souper Salad. And then we had a great Super Bowl party back at the hotel! Another benefit of living in Colorado--the game started at 4:00 and ended at a quite reasonable hour!

Monday we did some shopping, and I started the laborious process of trying to stuff everything back into our suitcases. Unfortunately our hang-up bag broke earlier in the trip, so we had to buy a new one of those at the USAFA BX.

Tuesday we finished stuffing the suitcases and drove back up to Denver on a beautiful day, quite unlike the day we landed! The weather really was gorgeous the rest of the time we were in Colorado. Boy, I never get tired of looking at those mountains and that incredibly blue sky. Ahhh. But that's why Amy gives me a Colorado mountain calendar every year for Christmas!

Anyhow, we dropped off the rental car, and the boys said a sad farewell to the DVD player (I think that if you asked them, that would be the highlight of the trip for them, LOL). We used a skycap to check our luggage, a first for us. It's so hard to spend the extra money, but wow! What convenience! We ended up having 9 things to check, and it really was a hassle trying to move that pile of luggage around, so I think it was money well-spent! Our plane took off at 2:30, and the flight went just fine, but when we landed in Cincinnati for our layover, it was in the middle of a big snowstorm. Hmmm. Praise the Lord, our connecting flight was NOT cancelled, as many were, but it was delayed quite a awhile. We were supposed to take off at 8:00, but it was around 10:00 before we left, after sitting on the runway waiting to be de-iced for a LONG time. Anna was wiggly (understatement), although thankfully not loud, and once we did take off she fell fast asleep. Caleb had started some cold thing 2 days earlier and was running a fever, so he was bit fragile too. Fortunately he also fell asleep. At least he wasn't the ring bearer for a wedding, right Dan and Melinda? LOL. Must be something about air travel for him . . .

So we landed here at Dulles at 11:00 in the midst of more snow, and Elizabeth came to pick us up in our van. I can't tell you how nice to was to see her and not have to dig out our car in long term parking! She told us that our friend Christine had left us a meal in the fridge, and Bob exclaimed, "Oh no! She saw our messy house!" I said something about how I needed the hotel maid service at home because it doesn't take long to get used to that. Imagine our surprise when we walked into a totally clean house! Elizabeth and Lisa and their girls had cleaned up our house for us! What a great birthday present! And Christine's meal included a cake, so my birthday (which is today) was well-celebrated! That was just such a blessing for me. It was so nice to be able to fall asleep last night and know that there was nothing pressing to do upon waking. All the kids slept really late this morning, which was good since it was 12:30 before they were in bed! Tonight is still going to be an early night, however.

I am so glad we were all able to go. It was really wonderful to spend the time with my parents, and my aunt, uncle and cousin. Bob joked that it was like a cruise, since we had a big breakfast every morning at the hotel, and then we would go out to favorite restaurants for lunch and dinner! I so enjoyed the break from cooking and cleaning, and it was just a relaxing time. We all have good memories of Nana in Colorado Springs, so it was very fitting that we could all meet there and have such a good time together. And I am SO glad we didn't try to drive all that way in this crazy winter weather! Flying was well worth it!

Now we can relax for a week . . . and then the kids and I drive out to Ohio for 2 weeks (Lord willing and weather permitting, LOL!)!

A Whirlwind

These past few days have been a whirlwind of activity, as I frantically try to pack for an airplane trip with 7 people, including a baby. Whew! Let's just say we are not traveling lightly, LOL. You remember the old Archie comic books, and how Veronica, whenever they all went on a trip, would always have this huge mountain of luggage? Yeah, that's us. Three suitcases, a hang-up bag, a pack-n-play, and 3 car seats. Traveling in winter stinks.

Of course, there is never a situation that can't be made more stressful by some unexpected crisis, and that is just what happened last night. For background, about a week ago, we loaned out our third car, an old Pathfinder, to a missionary couple who are visiting here from Kosovo. Now we are the new family in church, so of course we are hoping this makes a nice impression. But instead we got a call at 9:00 last night from the man saying that the Pathfinder broke down in Williamsburg, which is 3 hours away. Ack! We felt so embarrassed! So Bob, who had already started his leave, drove down there this morning in the Odyssey so they could use that while we are gone. He got the Pathfinder to a mechanic, and praise the Lord, he was an honest one. We were afraid of a price gouger in the tourist trap! Anyhow, the even better news was that this man could fix the Pathfinder today, so Bob was able to drive back home this evening. We really expected that the kids and I would have to go down and bring him back, and then we would have to go pick up the Pathfinder when we got back. So that saved us 6 hours of driving! I was anticipating a very late evening of packing, but since I was home all afternoon, I'm pretty much done. I jsut have to pack some snacks for the trip, and then I'll make lunches in the morning.

I also went to my doctor this morning and got a letter stating that I was safe to fly. I didn't want to take a chance that some perky flight attendant who has never had a baby in her life would take a look at my tummy and decide I must be ready to deliver and refuse to let me on the plane! THAT would be stressful! Situation avoided, however.

So please pray for us tomorrow as we fly, and especially for Anna. She can be a bit squawky, and I don't want her to bother the other passengers. I'll check back in once we're home again!

Nana is Home!

My Grandma passed away Monday afternoon at 3:45 MST. My aunt and my mom were both with her. She was 90 years old, and she had really struggled, healthwise, since falling in August on her 90th birthday. Now we are so happy that she is in the presence of the Lord in her new, imperishable body!

This picture is from the trip that Anna and I took to see her back in June, and this is how I will remember her--tiny and sprightly, like an alert little bird! I am so glad that we were able to make that trip. The pictures are priceless.

We are all going to fly to Colorado for the funeral. My parents and aunt and uncle are also going to fly there, as will my cousin. We're all going to stay in the same hotel, so it will be like a family reunion! This is what we did back in April 2001 when my Grandpa passed away, and that was a very special time. Knowing that Grandma is in heaven allows us to be free to celebrate her life, since we know that we will see her again for eternity!

I'm In!

Just an update on the driver's license fiasco--I now have a Virginia driver's license, so I can rest assured that I do exist and I am married. I went to the Leesburg DMV, which on the whole was a better experience than the Fairfax one, although it still had it's touchy moments. I brought my raft of documents (PA license, ID card, passport, marriage certificate, and mortgage statement) up to the first window, and the man looked everything over. "Where is your social security card?" he asked suspiciously. "Umm, my SSN is right there on my military ID card, "I said, thankful that I had indeed stuck the whole stupid folder of papers in the car and I could jsut run out and get the card if need be. After scrutinizing that, he agreed it was okay. Wow, what grace! When I got to the second window, the one where they actually take your application and give you the vision test, the lady was quite suspicious of my Ohio marriage certificate. She wanted me to have a "license", while all I have is this "certificate", which is signed in blue pen so you can tell it's not a copy. And it says on the DMV form that a "certificate' is okay, but the lady wasn't liking it. Hey, it's all I've got! Take it up with Ohio. Eventually she did decide it would pass her inspection. Good grief. As Christa so accurately described them, they are Nazis here in VA!

As it turns out, Laura was absolutely right in her comments--this is all part of the Patriot Act, and eventually all states are supposed to have these draconian standards (funny aside--on Wednesday, at the first DMV, when I told the lady that I had NEVER had such a hassle getting a license in other states, etc. and asked why it was so difficult, she said that it was just to hassle people--really, that's what she said-- and then she said that eventually all states would have this--"even Wisconsin". What? Who brought up Wisconsin? Are they known as the backwoods DMV state, where they give out licenses to any and everyone? I just thought that was funny, that she pulled that state out of the clear blue sky.) Today there was an article in the Washington Times about how Maine lawmakers have rejected these standards and are calling on Congress to repeal the Real ID Act, which is where they came from.

"Opponents have said that requirements for license holders to prove their identity using a short list of acceptable documents will be burdensome on the elderly and economically marginal, and that depriving illegal aliens of the right to hold a license might be a disaster for road safety."

Well, I don't agree with the illegal aliens part, but these rules certainly are burdensome on the law-abiding citizens among us! It's like gun control--criminals still get guns (illegally, of course), but the law-abiding citizens are inconvenienced and have to jump through a bunch of hoops. Don't I feel safe.

The article says that Maine is basically playing a big game of chicken with the government because "driver's licenses issued by states that do not meet Real ID requirements in 2008 will no longer be valid for "federal purposes"--such as boarding planes or entering federal buildings." It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, but I'm sure there will never be less requirements, even if the law is repealed. Lawmakers seem to think that inconvenience is what makes America safe, so they will just come up with something even more ludicrous.

Who am I? And how can I prove it?

Today was an exercise in frustration. I have a Pennsylvania driver's license, since I am a resident there while Bob is active duty, and it expires on Feb. 8. It is a hassle to get a renewal without actually living in PA, so I decided now would be a good time to get a Virginia license, especially since Bob will most likely retire here in the next year or so, and then I would have to get a VA one anyways.

There is a DMV really close to Bob's office, so we all trooped down there this morning. The plan was Bob would meet us there and take the kidss out for pizza while I waited. Now I have gotten driver's licenses in 3 other states, and I have always only needed the license from the previous state, as well as my military ID card. Not so here. In fact, Virginia requires a bizarre raft of documents. I had to have 2 proofs of identity (my PA license and my military ID), a "proof of legal presence" (birth certificate or passport), and proof of residency which was not just any old piece of mail with your name on it. No, it was a pay stub, W-2 form, tax return, mortgage statement, utility bill, or receipt for property tax paid (but NOT the actual bill for property tax, which was all I could find, LOL). Well, I simply don't happen to carry all my legal documents around with me, as well as old tax returns, so Bob took the kids to CiCi's, and I drove all the way back home to search for documents.

I searched our "important papers" folder and managed to find a "certificate of live birth" (which was NOT acceptable as per the DMV form), but not my actual birth certificate. I did manage to find my old passport, which I got in may 1993, right before we got married in July so I could use it to go to Europe on our honeymoon. After much fruitless searching for last year's tax return (which we did right after having Anna so who knows what we did with it), I finally rounded up a mortgage statement. It's amazing how much stuff only has Bob's name on it. Do I really exist?

I drove back down to the DMV, waited in line again, and this time was told that because my passport was issued in my maiden name, I needed my marriage license as well. "But, " I said, "my PA driver's license clearly has my name as 'Claire (maiden name) (last name)', and my military ID and and mortgage documents have my maiden name initial on them. Why doesn't that prove that I am married, and that the passport was issued to me?!" No dice. Absolutely not valid. Doesn't prove anything. Must have the marriage license. Oh, I was so frustrated. I was literally in tears with frustration, prompting a funny conversation between Jonathan and Caleb about whether or not mommies actually cry--Jonathan firmly denied that they do. (Do I really never cry in front of them? I must be some kind of stoic, LOL.)

The thing that really got me was that the active duty person ONLY has to show their active duty ID card. That proves everything. Evidently the VA DMV thinks that the military does scrupulous checks on the identities of their members, but that they issue dependent ID cards to anyone off the street. Good grief. Also, a few weeks ago there was an article in the Times (sorry, I'm lazy and am not going to bother searching for it) that talked about some DMV employee who was finally arrested for running a driver's license ring. She made something like several thousand licenses for illegal aliens over several years before finally being caught. So I'm sure we can all rest more safely knowing that illegal aliens can still find ways to get licenses, while law-abiding natural born citizens who happen to be military spouses, dragged to these beauracratic morasses, get hassled and have to jump through an inordinate amount of ridiculous hoops.

Tomorrow, clutching my entire folder of important papers (because they may decide they need to see proof of my college GPA and childhood vaccinations), I will attempt once again to get a VA driver's license. I am going to a different office this time. Maybe the third time in line will be a charm.

Snow!

It snowed last night! This might not seem like such a big deal, since some of you all have been up to your eyeballs in snow this winter! But here in Northern Virginia, we have had a very warm winter with not so much as a flake of snow. And if you are a boy under 10, this is very disappointing (not so much if you are a mom to all those boys, and you are glad you haven't had to deal with heavy coats and gloves, LOL). Anyhow, Jonathan has been asking since, oh, I'd say November when it was going to snow. And yesterday afternoon it FINALLY snowed. It even stuck!

I didn't think it would still be there this morning, but it was, miracles of miracles, so the boys rushed through their independent work so they could play outside. I didn't think we could risk waiting until after lunch since the high was supposed to be around 40!

Wet, slushy snow packs really well, so a snow fort was started, and many snowballs were made and thrown. The little boys came in after an hour, but Nathan and Luke stayed out there for several hours.

After a late lunch we did the rest of school, and then they went back out again. Hopefully this will fulfill all their snow expectations for the year, since who knows how much more we'll get?! Now I have to find a place to hang 4 sopping wet snowsuits and 8 dripping gloves, as well as a place to put 8 messy boots. (Note to self: dream house must include bigger mud room.) But hey, the mess is all worth it--they had a great time and ran themselves ragged. I predict an early bedtime. Yay!

School Update For Caleb

One thing I really wanted to make a priority this new year was doing school with Caleb, who turned 5 in November. My previous routine was to do school with the big boys in the morning, and then give Caleb the time after lunch. This sounds fine, except that I was pregnant, and so after lunch each day I really wanted to take a nap, not do more school. He wasn't terribly motivated, so . . . learning to read could always be pushed back one more day!

But this new year I switched things up a bit, and now Caleb and Jonathan get their time first thing in the morning, right after breakfast. While Nathan and Luke finish the independent work that I have set out for them the night before, as well as their vacuuming and picking up chores, I do school with the little guys. It's working so much better! They have done school every day for the past 2 weeks! After they are done, then we all are there for our Bible reading and character time. Then the little boys are done, and they can go play or whatever.

Tonight at Bible study we were studying Mark 10:13-16, where Jesus tells the little children to come to him and rebukes the disciples for trying to send them away. Christine told about how last year she really wanted to put Joel, her youngest, in preschool because he was a real handful, and she didn't feel like they would get any school done with him there. Craig told her that Joel was a part of their family, and he didn't want the other boys to get the impression that what they were doing was so important that it justified sending away another member of their family so they could do it. Christine then read these verses and was convicted that Jesus was saying to her that she was a mother first, and a teacher of academic things second. Her calling was to mother her little children, leading them to Christ, not sending them away so she could focus on other "more important" things. The children WERE the more important things, and especially their spiritual upbringing. So she started teaching her little ones first thing in the morning last year, and them having their special time with mom first really helped them settle down for the rest of the day. I thought it was interesting that we both hit upon the same solution!

Caleb is slowly coming along with his reading. He is so much like Nathan that it isn't funny. He reads the first 2 letters of a word, for example, and then he just guesses at the last letter. So for the word "Map", he'll read "mm-aaa . . . . mat!" I'll say to look at the last letter. Then he'll look at it and realize it's a "p". But he really doesn't notice it at first--he just makes a random guess! Nathan was just like this. I think I'm more patient this time around, and to be honest, I think starting him a little later has been fine. With Nathan I really felt like I was beating my head against a wall for a long time while he struggled with issues like that one, and then finally it just clicked. I'm hoping it will just click at about the same age with Caleb, but with less time and frustration on my part!

Jonathan wants to do school too, so I've been giving him preschool worksheets--letters, numbers, tracing, etc. All the fun stuff, LOL. It's so fun teaching a fellow lefty! No more struggling with how to show a right-hander how to hold the pencil! Now we'll just have to see how Anna turns out . . .

Left-Hander of the Day . . .

James Garfield.

Here is what Yo, Millard Fillmore has to say about him:

Garfield was the third president in a row to have been a general during the Civil War. Part of a President's job in those days was to personally appoint people to government positions. Garfield was assasinated in Washington's Union Station by a man he'd refused to hire. Andrew Jackson was the first President to have been born in a log cabin. Garfield was the last. He was also the first sitting member of the House of Representatives to be elected President. Our first left-handed Chief Executive, Garfield could write simultaneously in Latin in one hand and Greek in the other.

Wow. Just wow. Jonathan is my only left-hander so far, so I guess he's the only one with a chance at accomplishing this feat. LOL!!! Just kidding. I don't think we'll be spending too much time on "simultaneous writing".

We are coming right along in memorizing the Presidents. We are going through the Millard Fillmore book, but more just for fun. I memorized the Presidents in 4th grade, and my teacher just broke them down into groups of 3 (Washington, Adams, Jefferson . . . Madison, Monroe, Adams . . .). We added a new group every few days, and it worked great. So that's what we're doing here. Today was "Hayes, Garfield, Arthur", hence the fascinating trivia about a little-known President. You're all very welcome.

Our big accomplishment yesterday . . .

. . . getting both vans in the garage! This may not seem like a big deal to all of you who live in the midwest, land of the spacious garage. But we live in the land of really big houses but minimalist garages, so for us, it is quite a big deal. In fact, I never thought we would be able to do it. It required a lot of cleaning and the shifting around of boxes and other garage junk.

Our house in Ohio had a huge 3 car garage. Seriously, this thing had at least 800 square feet. People live in much smaller spaces than this was. Then we moved here, into a house that was several times larger, and we got a garage that barely fit our freezer, fridge, bikes, and one van. The fridge and freezer are still in there, but the bikes didn't make the cut. They had to move to the shed.

Another tricky thing about our garage is that we have a big metal pole in the middle of it supporting a bedroom above. This isn't a huge deal for the Toyota, which is on the left side of the pole--the passenger just has to wait a minute while the driver backs up a bit so the door can open fully to let the person in (this is the drill especially when the said passenger is pregnant, LOL). But now the Odyssey is on the right side of the pole--right by the driver's side. So Bob has taken to opening the sliding door, and has put the center-console-tray down so he can walk through to the front. He says he feels like a pilot going into the cabin! Bring on the snow!

Well, what do you know?!

You may or may not have noticed, but I would like to announce that I have FINALLY updated my side bar with some more blogs I read. This is not an exhaustive list, and it is in no particular order, but hey--more blogs are listed.

Wow! I finally got around to doing something I've been putting off for quite awhile for no real good reason! I'm on a roll--what else can I accomplish tonight?!

Trash Cans

We're in the market for a new trash can. We currently have a green plastic one that I believe we bought when we moved to Colorado, so it has served faithfully for around 12 years. There's nothing actually wrong with it, but it does have two drawbacks. First, the lid is not actually attached to it, so it always falls off (I think it is supposed to swing freely, but our trash is always too high, LOL). Second, Anna likes to pull up on it, and it is just not that heavy, so she will pull it over on herself, spilling trash everywhere.

Looking around, I can see that all the cool, fashion-minded folks around us have nice, shiny, sturdy aluminum trash cans with pedals to step on that open the lid, or some other gadget. "Great!" I think. "I'll buy one!" So a few weeks ago, I popped into Bed, Bath and Beyond, where I discovered that those nice, shiny, and sturdy trash cans ranged from $70-$200. Yikes! Okay. So I also looked at Target, where they were $70. That's still a lot of money for a trash can, in my book. I mean, it's for "storing my trash". I think we paid a couple of dollars at Walmart for our green plastic one!

Speaking of Walmart, we were there last Tuesday, so I thought I would check out their selection. I seriously do not know why I ever go shopping with everyone, because I never make good decisions. I can't concentrate or something. Anyhow, they have a nice, shiny, sturdy trash can for only $36. I'm sold! I buy it, along with a bunch of other stuff, and go home. (But not before getting out to the car, buckling everyone, and then realizing that I didn't pay for the $5 plastic dish drainer that was under the cart. So we all went back in and tried to explain that to the nice greeter, who of course was not a native English speaker and couldn't figure out what I was doing--"Something wrong? You return?" "No, I just forgot to pay!" "What? You exchange?" I finally did go back through the line to pay. After hearing a series of sermons on the Ten Commandments, I knew I could not walk off with it!)

We got home and put the box in the garage, where we left it for several days. Finally we brought it in, and I realized immediately that the words on the box said "oval" instead of round. I never even noticed that! When we took it out and realized how small it was, I also noted that the box clearly said "30 liters", which is something like 7 gallons. Yeah, that's not going to cut it for a family of soon-to-be 8, LOL. But I never even noticed all of this in the store! It was shiny! It looked sturdy! The lid appeared to be attached! So we bundled it all up again, and now I have to make a return trip to Walmart. Grrr. And we are still looking for a new trash can (one closer to 60 liters, however, LOL). And one cheaper than $70! I am a hard woman to please.

A Family Picture at the WW II memorial

While we were at the World War II Memorial, we saw 2 guys who, we brilliantly deduced based on their haircuts, were military. One was an Army ROTC cadet, and the other had just finished Marine OTS. They were from the South, and were on a big cheap road trip. Fun! Anyhow, one of them consented to take our picture so that we would have one of those rare pictures with all of us in it. He almost cut Jonathan's head off, but hey--we're all there.

I loved the quote running around the back of the thing we are all sitting on: "Americans came to liberate, not to conquer, to promote freedom, and put an end to tyranny."

A Sunny Saturday in D.C.

Well, I'm catching up a bit here . . . Saturday was a beautiful day with a high of around 70 degrees. We didn't have any big plans for the day (well, other than me taking Nathan and Luke to the library, LOL), and we were just lazing around in the morning when Elizabeth called. They were at the Washington Monument and wanted to know if we wanted them to get tickets for us. For those of you who haven't visited D.C. for awhile, you have to have a free ticket to go up to the top of the Monument. You have to get there early in the day, and then you get tickets for a certain half hour block of time, which is when you can show up. We, being the "lazy and basically not motivated to go anywhere but especially not downtown early" type of people that we are had never even considered going up in the Monument.

But here was our golden opportunity, and on a beautiful day to boot! So we told Elizabeth yes, and she got us tickets for 1:00. The big boys and I rushed off to the library, we all grabbed a quick bite to eat, and we drove downtown. By this time it was pretty crowded with walkers, joggers, people with strollers, people with dogs--tons of people! But we found a parking place and got to the Monument at about 1:15. The ranger asked who was pregnant, so another woman and I got special treatment, LOL. We got to go in the side door and not go through the security screening. Ahh, the perks and privileges of pregnancy. Then we zoomed up to the top in the elevator. No more climbing of all those stairs! They closed those awhile back.

It was really neat to look out all the windows and see the birds-eye view of the city. The boys all really enjoyed it. Anna was riding in her backpack, and she enjoyed it as long as Bob was moving, LOL.

When we were done and back on the ground, it was too nice of a day just to walk straight back to the car, so we meandered over to the World War II Memorial. We hadn't been to see it yet either, and I really liked it. I know there was criticism when it opened, but I liked all the wreaths and the quotes. Very moving. It was a good trip downtown, and it reminded me that I really want us to go to the National gallery of Art sometime before the baby is born! Maybe one day when Bob takes leave . . .

Welcome, Emily!!!!

My brother's wife Melinda delivered their first baby last night. Way to go, Melinda! You are awesome!! Emily Claire was born at 9:52 PM CST, and she was 8 pounds, 4 1/2 ounces, and 20 3/4 inches long. Dan says she has "long fingers and toes, and long, narrow feet". We all know where she gets those genes--Papa M! Luke has them too. Dan sent a few cute pictures. She likes to have her hand up by her face.

Melinda's water broke at 9:25 yesterday morning, and they started pitocin around that time. We kept getting updates throughout the day--she was 3 cm at 1:00, she was 5 cm by 5:00, and at 7:15 she was 9 cm. She started pushing at 7:45, took a half hour break at one point, and then Emily was born at 9:52, after 1 1/2 hours total of pushing. That's pretty good for a first baby!

It was hard being this far away! I wanted to know what was happening at all times, and I sort of puttered around nervously all day. We did school, but I spent half the time on the computer checking for updates, LOL. I've had some experience with the whole birthing proces, as you may know, LOL, and I feel that giving birth to your first child is about the most physically demanding thing a woman can do. Once you do that, you can do anything! So I am so proud of Melinda--great job!!! And know that it will never be that hard again, although I am sure you are thinking right now that you will NEVER do that again, not even that which got you in this predicament in the first place! : )

So we're all pretty excited here about another little girl in the family. You know, at the start of last year, my parents had 4 male grandchildren. By the middle of this year, they will have those same 4 male grandchildren AND 3 female grandchildren! We're catching up!

Off to a sputtering start . . .

Today we were supposed to start school back up again, but then former President Ford had to die, and it turned out that Bob got an extra day off to remember him. So, we put school off for another day while Bob played hours of football out in the front yard with the boys (and you know, Pres. Ford was a big football player back in his youth, so I feel that was a very appropriate way to honor him, LOL). I took down all the Christmas decorations except the actual tree, because I didn't feel like hauling in the ladder. The boys turned the lights on, though, so it is twinkling merrily, if a bit nakedly.

Tomorrow we are heading over the Christine's house at 10:00, so not much will get done before that. The McC's got a new microscope, but they can't see anything through it, so they are hoping my years-old microscope expertise will save the day. We'll see. Anyhow, that will count as science, right? And the ever-important "socialization", of course.

Thursday should be our first normal day of the year, but then Friday I have an OB appointment at 10:45, smack-dab in the middle of the morning, guaranteeing that we won't get all that much done then either. So NEXT week will be our big official start. Now we're just "warming up".

I'm sure you have all been dying to know what I have decided to do about Latin this year. We finished up Latina Christiana 1 right after Thanksgiving, and we just reviewed vocab until Christmas. I have decided that we will go back through Minimus again really quickly as another kind of fun review before starting Latina Christiana 2. Frankly, LC2 is a little intimidating, even for me, and I don't want to scare Luke, especially! This will give him that many more weeks of Easy Grammar under his belt before we tackle some of the concepts in LC2.

For history, we only have 8 more chapters in Story of the World 3, so we'll try to finish those fairly quickly. Then I think we will go a little deeper into early American history. I really want to go to Philadelphia before the new baby is born, so hopefully this will inspire me to plan the trip! My parents gave us what looks like a neat little book for Christmas called The Wonder of America : Remarkable Stories Celebrating the Spirit of Our Nation. It's a book of 100 short stories about Americans, some famous and some not, and it looks so interesting. I'm planning on reading one or two a day, maybe over lunch, as just some extra fun history-type reading.

In everything else, we'll just keep plugging away. I really do want to focus a lot on Caleb and his reading before this baby comes. Jonathan has ben showing a lot of interest in reading as well--maybe even more than Caleb, LOL.