Bye-Bye Olympics

The Olympics are over, and we're all sad here. We had to have ice cream after dinner last night because we couldn't think of anything else to do. Well, that's not totally accurate--we actually did take a walk and THEN have ice cream, but everyone went to bed at a reasonable hour. What's up with that?!

I love watching the Olympics. We didn't have a TV at all while I was growing up, but we would rent one during special times, like when the Olympics were on. And then my brother Dan and I would glue ourselves to the TV and watch all the obscure sports you never see any other time with total and complete absorption. I am proud to say that I am passing down that tradition to Nathan and Luke, who are following the path I forged in Olympics watching. Nathan's favorite sport was basketball, while Luke's was swimming. Both of them liked beach volleyball second, although Luke did specify men's. Whew! But they watched pretty much all day, so they also become experts on sports like rowing, team handball, water polo, and synchronized diving. They also are much more familiar with the flags of the world, which all started with the flag game at our Olympic party. Anna's quite up on the American flag at least, so she's got a good start, LOL.

Nathan was pretty faithful at daily filling in the medal bar graph I had made to hand out at the party as well. It was interesting to track which countries were in the top 5 at different parts of the competion. I had picked the U.S., China, Russia, U.K., and Germany to track, but at the end of the first week, the U.K. and Germany were not in the top 5 at all, and everyone was wondering why I hadn't included Australia, South Korea, and France. I probably should have put Australia instead of Germany (who did indeed finish in 6th place), but we have that German family on our cul-de-sac, so I definitely wanted to include them no matter what. What I should have done differently was make the graph go up past 50! I never dreamed China would get over 50 gold medals, so I only had the parameter be 40 for each kind of medal! Even though I don't think they deserved some of their gymnastics golds, the ones for their prepubescent "women", it still is an amazing accomplishment.

I definitely enjoyed the swimming the most. All those exciting races! Track just isn't as exciting to watch. I will say that the new suits pretty much make men look like women, and vice versa. I'm not a fan of them, although I don't really want them to bring back the tiny Speedos either, LOL. Seeing them in diving was more than enough, thank you very much.

I think female swimmers must have a lot of self-confidence in their looks. I mean, to get in front of a big audience, including TV watchers around the world, with your hair smooshed into a lumpy plastic cap, goggles, raccoon marks above your eyes where you had your goggles before the race, and an androgynous suit that emphazies your muscular neck--they all look like frog creatures from another planet. Then I would see them on the medal stand and think, "Hey, she's actually pretty attractive! I never would have guessed!" I just don't have that self-confidence, and that is clearly the only reason why I never became an Olympic caliber swimmer. That, and I'm not really a water person. I'm more of a water-WATCHING person. It's just a small difference.

So now the Olympics are over, and we are getting back to our regular routines. This means me actually exercising, as opposed to just watching other superbly conditioned athletes do their thing, while envisioning myself in that kind of shape (but realizing that none of them have had 6 babies, so of course I'll never look like them. And that's the only reason why.) Actually, when I was doing my workout this morning, Nathan helpfully pointed out that even if I wasn't pregnant, I would always have a bunch of extra skin on my tummy, so it would never REALLY be flat. Hey, thanks! I was wondering about that! I'm going to start putting all my spare change in the "tummy tuck bucket", I guess. LOL!

Facebook Etiquette

So I went ahead and joined Facebook. There are plenty more cheerleading pictures where that one came from, LOL. Fun memories.

Now I'm looking at people to be "friends" with, such as old classmates, and that raises all sorts of questions. Like, it just seems sort of rude and presumptive to ask to be friends with someone I haven't really even thought about, much less kept in contact with, for say 17 years. Do most people say yes if they just remember you? (And again, it seems a little presumptive to assume people will remember me after 17 years, but we did have a small class, LOL.) Is the goal to have as many friends as possible, even if the connections are tenuous? How about if really you are just nosy and want to see what people are up to? Also, when asking someone to confirm you as a friend, should you always put a personal note in there? So far I always have, but I'm running out of things to say. But maybe people don't respond if there's not anything personal? I just don't know. If you have any Facebook insights, feel free to share them! In the meantime, if you're on there, look me up--I'll be your friend! LOL--sounds so junior-high-ish.

Cheerleading Past

My brother found this photo on facebook. It shows my varsity cheerleading squad from my sophmore year. Note that we all had the classic and perky "side ponytail" hairstyle. This was actually a big deal for me, as before that year, I did not have enough hair to actually have any sort of a ponytail, side or otherwise. From the picture, it appears I barely had enough hair that year, but I was determined. I was maimed from a disasterous too-short haircut my 7th grade year, and I spent my entire high school career trying to grow it out. My hair is not what you might call fast-growing, and obviously Anna suffers from this gene as well, LOL. She is dying to have enough hair for a ponytail, but I am vowing to never let her cut her hair into many short layers, thereby making it impossible for her to have a ponytail for many years.

I guess I should mention, for the benefit of those who did not know me in high school, that I am the one in the back row on the far right. But you could guess that from the hair, right?! A blast from my past--I guess I'll be thinking about old cheers all day long now, LOL.

Back Down to 4

My parents left Wednesday morning, taking with them Caleb and Jonathan. We will meet up again next Friday, spending Labor Day all together at White Sulphur Springs for the Wright-Pat OCF retreat. To say Caleb and Jonathan were excited about going would be an understatement! They had been looking forward to this for a very long time! They were especially excited about riding in Grandma and Grandpa's car--you know, one of them where everyone has their own door and window! The ride was made even better when Grandpa bought them both a candy bar (well, a roll of Starburst for Caleb) at a gas station. How thrilling! That had never happened before! Now they have a busy schedule of fun in Ohio for the next week.

When they drove off, we launched into "dairy week" here at our house. There are several recipes I used to make but can't anymore because they can't be modified for Caleb's allergies. We are enjoying them all now! We eat healthier when Caleb is around though, LOL.

Nathan and Luke are managing without their younger brothers. I have not noticed any dramtic decline in bickering; however, that is a direct result of them staying up too late to watch the Olympics. I foresee smoother sailing next week when the Olympics are over. They went to a neighbor's birthday party all afternoon Wednesday, and they spent yesterday at a little waterpark not too far from here. Our homeschool support group was going, and so was the high school part of our homeschool co-op, so I knew there would be people they knew. The McCs were so very kind and picked them up and dropped them off, which was wonderful for me. They got there at 11:00 and got back here a little before 6:00. They were so tired! I was glad they had the chance to do this, especially after all Luke's mouth traumas lately. I thought he needed something special! Once again, it was really quiet with only the 2 girls and me, and I napped the whole afternoon along with them.

Last night I went to a crop at the house of a local Creative Memories consultant. I finally decided I really needed one again, and I especially needed to dedicate some time to scrapbooking, since I wasn't doing it consistently at home. I really liked her, I had a great time, and I finished 6 pages. I finally am past Anna's birth! Now if I can just discipline myself to work on my albums regularly . . .

I think that's all that's happening around here. Looking back, I should have had plenty of time for blogging, LOL. I guess I've just been goofing around, watching the Olympics. Next week--back to the routine!

Toothy Update

We've been in a "gain some, lose some" tooth mode lately. Here's what's happening.

Luke: He is down 2 as of today. He got his lower 2 incisors pulled to help make some room in his bottom jaw. The lady asked me if I wanted the laughing gas for him when she called him back, but I said no. I knew it was extra ($50), and I had already told him to expect to be numbed in the mouth. Plus, I had a zillion baby teeth pulled as a kid, with no laughing gas in sight, and I did fine (plus I walked home 8 miles in the snow uphill . . .). He was a little nervous, but he did just fine. Whew! Now he is dealing with the 2 big holes in his mouth. In a related note, he has adjusted to his expander just fine, although it is a constant battle to get the food out of the top of it. The feeling of having food stuck up there drives him crazy.

Grace: She is up an amazing 5! When we were in Ohio, she was drooling like a faucet, her nose was runny, and she was pooping all the time and had a terrible diaper rash. This is how my kids teeth, so I was expecting a tooth. Specifically, I was expecting the fourth bottom tooth in the front, since she had all 4 up top, and a lop-sided 3 on the bottom. But it never came in and never even looked like it was going to come in. Eventually she stopped being drooly, snotty, and poopy, her rash went away, and I stopped looking for that tooth. Two Fridays ago I was playing around with her on her back. I stuck my finger in her mouth and ran my fingers all around her gums. To my surprise, I found 2 top molars fully in! Obviously this was what she was working so hard on in Ohio! Her bottom molars were about to come through, and have since done so, and today I noticed that--hey!--that one bottom front tooth is through too. So Grace has been a busy girl lately. No wonder she had gone back to taking both a morning and an afternoon nap!

No one else has had any tooth issues, although Anna did have some mysterious virus Sunday. She woke up at 3:00 A.M. running a fever. I gave her some motrin, and she went back to sleep, but when she woke up at 8:30, she was just as hot as ever. I gave her some more motrin, and Bob stayed home from church with her. She was still running a little fever when we got home from church at 1:00, so I gave her some tylenol, and then some more motrin at 3:00. This seemed to do the trick, finally getting the fever down. She took a good afternoon nap and perked up in the evening. She slept fine last night, and she seems fine today, so it was just a 24 hour thing I guess. Hopefully no one else will get it. My parents are here to take Caleb and Jonathan back to Ohio for 10 days on Wednesday, and we don't want any of them to be sick for that!

Fencing

Saturday afternoon we managed to rouse ourselves off our Olympic viewing couch in the basement. We headed over to our local rec center, which was having an open house. What we wanted to see was a fencing demonstration. The rec center is starting some fencing classes this fall, including a homeschooling one, and we had already decided to sign Nathan and Luke up for them (the ages were 7-12). I've always thought fencing was a neat sport, and Anthony is fencing for the Academy. Plus, we watched the women's team sabre bronze medal match on TV, and it was so interesting! We all wished we knew more about how points were scored, so we were hoping to have some of our questions answered.

The McC boys showed up with their dad for the same demo--they also are planning to take the homeschool class. There was only one man there, who kept saying he was waiting for more people, but no one else ever showed up to help him. That didn't really matter. He was a big talker, so he explained all about the 3 different blades and let everyone touch them. He showed all the padding and mask you wear, and he talked about the differences in rules for foil, epee, and sabre. Very interesting. Really I need to go back and watch the team final with him right there to explain the action though, LOL. It all moves so fast.

Then he got all 8 of our boys dressed up, and he gave them each a foil. He explained some basic moves and practiced with them for quite a while. The boys were so excited! It would have been great to see people demonstrate fencing, but actually doing it was even better, especially when they never dreamed they would be able to! At the end he even hooked up Isaac, Caleb, and Daniel McC in the electronic vests and stuff that they wear for an actual match and showed how to get points in each event. (My boys are very slow volunteers, espeically when they are not sure what they are volunteering for, so they did not raise their hands, unlike the McC boys, who shot their hands up as soon as he asked for volunteers!) We were there about 2 hours. We were the only people there for a while, so our boys were the only ones dressed up. More people did trickle in, but they just had to watch! The man did say that when he was done, he would give everyone else a chance to suit up and try on the equipment, but it was nice because we got so much individual attention.

So now I need to remember to sign up online on Aug. 21 for the class. I think it will be a lot of fun for the boys!

A Timely Devotional

This is from my daily Elizabeth Elliot devotional email:

Wastelands

There are dry, fruitless, lonely places in each of our lives, where we seem to travel alone, sometimes feeling as though we must surely have lost the way. What am I doing here? How did this happen? Lord, get me out of this!

He does not get us out. Not when we ask for it, at any rate, because it was He all along who brought us to this place. He has been here before--it is no wilderness to Him, and He walks with us. There are things to be seen and learned in these apparent wastelands which cannot be seen and learned in the "city"--in places of comfort, convenience, and company.

God does not intend to make it no wasteland. He intends rather to keep us--to hold us with his strength, to sustain us with his sure words--in a place where there is nothing else we can count on.

"God did not guide them by the road towards the Philistines, although that was the shortest...God made them go round by way of the wilderness towards the Red Sea" (Ex 13:17,18 NEB).

Imagine what Israel and all of us who worship Israel's God would have missed if they had gone by the short route--the thrilling story of the deliverance from Egypt's chariots when the sea was rolled back. Let's not ask for shortcuts. Let's keep alert for the wonders our Guide will show us in the wilderness.

Luke's new torture device

Here it is: "the expander". Luke got it installed this morning, and I practiced turning it 2 times. I have to put this metal "key", which is on a long stick, into this little hole in the middle of the device. Then I turn it all the way to the back. That's least favorite part, and I can see why, as the stick goes way back in his mouth. SO we get to do that once a day for 25-30 days or so. Then we can stop with the turning, but the device stays on for several more months, until his top jaw has separated enough.

Luke had a hard time eating lunch today. He had chicken noodle soup (they recommended soft foods for the first day), but it really bugged him that food kept getting stuck up there. We have all sorts of little brushes and tools to help keep it clean, but I guess it was just an annoying feeling, so he hardly ate anything at all. Of course, he is one of my skinniest kids, so this is not a good thing! Maybe I need one of those things after the baby comes, LOL.

Poor Luke will also have a rough time next Monday. He is scheduled to have 2 of his bottom baby teeth pulled. That, combined with the expander, should really make his mouth feel pleasant. Lots of ice cream next Monday night! Good thing the Olympics are on to distract him.

Speaking of the Olympics, we've really been enjoying watching them. Of course, the boys miss watching the marquee events in the evening, but frankly, when you're an 11 year old or younger boy, a swimming pre-lim or semi-final is just as exciting as the final! Plus, some of the fun, different sports are shown in the morning, like rowing and water polo. They really got into U.S.'s water polo win this morning! School was done in record time. I'm foreseeing a lot of that these next 2 weeks, LOL. And of course I found a video of the mens 4x100 relay from last night for them to watch. That was just TOO exciting to miss! Go U.S.A.!!

And then there were 2

Today is the company picnic for Bob's dad's company (well, the one he used to work for, LOL) at the local amusement park. It's a big family tradition that everyone goes to this, but I was fortunate enough to be pregnant again so that I didn't have to go with the girls. Whew! Heat and crowds . . . sooooo not my thing. Add in the swimming, and it's pretty much my least favorite thing.

Caleb and Jonathan were excited; Luke and Nathan were not at all thrilled about going. They both just wanted to stay home. (Awwwww) Nevertheless, Bob left with all 4 boys about 8:30 this morning to drive to PA. They did take a suitcase, and they do have hotel reservations, so they could potentially stay the night, but Nathan and Luke were adamently opposed to that. I have the feeling they'll be back here, although it will be late. Both boys just want to sleep in their own beds!

So it's just me and the girls today. Actually, going down to 2, and having those 2 be the youngest 2, means a lot MORE work for me, LOL. No one to help entertain or fetch things or check on little people who might be just a tad TOOO quiet!

We went on a walk this morning and ended up at the neighborhood playground for a little while. Now it's after lunch, and I'm in the thick of doing laundry. Dirty, dampish boy laundry that has been moldering in duffel bags for a week. I'll leave the smell to your imagination, but let's just call it "skanky". Next, I'm hoping to take a nap when the girls do. Yep, it's a pretty exciting girls' day here!

Camp Caleb De-Brief . . . Fairly Brief

Nathan and Luke made it home yesterday afternoon about 4:30. They were dirty and smelly, but we were all so happy to see them! They both agreed Camp Caleb was "really awesome". So there you have it; hopefully you weren't expecting many more details. Just kidding (a little bit)! I found that when Nathan went up there all alone, we got an exhaustive, setailed description of all that went on. With both of them up there, we got snippets and fragments, all of which were filled with inside jokes and bits and pieces of songs. So I still don't have a very clear idea of exactly what they did, but they both had a really great time.

A few things I know:

--Luke was the hero of the "Cature the Flag" game, where he led a daring raid to free everyone in jail. Apparently, "no one believed he could run that fast and get everyone out."

--Luke's favorite thing was the pudding fight they had after "no hands dinner", which was basically, sloppy joes and pudding, and you couldn't use your hands to eat anything. (But evidently you could use them to throw pudding?) Nathan's group also had a pudding fight.

--Luke's group only had 3 boys (including him), and 13 girls. I personally think this helped him feel confident, as he wasn't going head-to-head with too many boys. He did say the other 2 boys were really into movies, which of course he is not, but it sounded like they all got along just fine.

--Nathan knew 3 people from last year, and another one from the year before. He had a wild camper in his little group of boys who "swung naked from the rafters" in their cabin. This made a big (negative) impression on Nathan.

--Both Nathan and Luke did really well at archery, and had tons of fun shooting the gun. Nathan showed me his target from that, and he didn't do too badly! I think that's his favorite.

--On the last night, Nathan's age group hiked somewhere and had an overnight campout. As they prayed before dinner, they prayed that it would not rain. And then it started hailing. They thought that was funny and hunkered down under their tarps to wait it out. It did eventually.

So that's about all I know, folks. I'll have to get more details later.

The Perfect Summertime Snack

The perfect summertime snack is . . . frozen blueberries. Ed's parents came to our Olympic party, and his mom Lucille brought us 2 big gallon ziploc bags full of frozen blueberries. Elizabeth mentioned that they had jsut been snacking on theirs, right out of the bag, and I thought to myself, "Well, I won't like that!" because I'm not a big fan of frozen grapes. But on Monday, Grace was fussy at the end of lunchtime, and I grabbed some frozen blueberries to toss on her tray while I finished up eating. Of course, everyone else immediately wanted some to, and I tried one myself. YUM!! They are the perfect size to be frozen! I loved them, and we've been snacking on them quite a bit lately! I am making a blueberry snack cake to take to Bible study tonight with some of htem, but we've mainly been snacking on them, frozen. Who knew?! So I just thought I'd share that tidbit, in case someone else had contemplated trying them but was afraid they would taste like frozen grapes, LOL.

Speaking of Elizabeth, she got up early to drive to White Sulphur Springs to pick up Luke, Nathan, and Zachary, even though Zachary was done at the gentlemanly hour of 1:00ish, while Luke was finished at the ungodly early hour of 10:15. So she could have left several hours later, but I am so thankful she was willing to do this for me! Caleb had an accident last night (after many nights without, grrrr), and of course, he and Jonathan were both sleeping on the double bed which is their bottom bunk. So I had to move them into Nathan and Luke's room, but I had washed their sheets yesterday and hadn't yet put them on . . . so needless to say, it was a disturbing night, LOL, and Jonathan ended up sleeping until 9:30 this morning. And I was glad I could just wait until this morning to wash Caleb and Jonathan's sheets instead of worrying about it in the middle of the night before leaving early in the morning to drive. We are all so eager to see Nathan and Luke again and hear all their stories! I'll let you know what they said!

A Quiet House

As opposed to the rush and activity of last week, this week has been very quiet. We've gotten a (very) few errands run, and I've checked off a (very) few things from my mental to-do list, but mainly I can say that I've been exercising in the mornings and napping in the afternoons. I'd been thinking that it was easier to keep the house clean with just 4 kids, but then I realized that actually it's just easier because we're not doing school. Hmmm. Oh well, I guess I'm jsut not cut out to be some kind of unschooler, just to keep the house cleaner!

The kid dynamics have been different with having Nathan and Luke gone. There's hardly been any bickering whatsoever between Caleb and Jonathan, and Caleb has loved being the biggest boy. He really wants to be thought of as a "big" boy, right there with Nathan and Luke, so over the past few months, he's been doing things to try to get them to notice him. And, I'll admit, he can be annoying. He has a louder personality. Luke, in particular, has resented all this, and in his particular critical way, has gone out of his way to make sure Caleb does NOT feel like a big boy. It's been a big source of tension, and one which I've discussed many times with Luke, because it's really not a good, honoring attitude at all.

I think the break from each other will be good for everyone. The first few days, Caleb and Jonathan didn't even seem to miss the older boys, but yesterday and today, they've said how they wish they could do _____ with them. They'll all have a week back together again, and then my parents are coming out and picking up Caleb and Jonathan to take back to Ohio with them for "Grandma and Grandpa Camp", for those too young for Camp Caleb, LOL. Caleb and Jonathan are very, very excited about this, and they have been ready to pack their clothes for it since the day we got back here from Ohio. They'll be out there about 10 days, and then we will meet up at White Sulphur Springs for the Wright-Patterson OCF retreat there Labor Day weekend. So I guess we'll test the old adage of "absence makes the heart grow fonder". If not, more character development is in order for September. But it's been nice to have a quiet house for a week!

Cake Wrecks

Here's a fun link for you all today: cakewrecks.blogspot.com . If you've ever made a cake, or even of you haven't, you'll find some pretty vivid examples here of "cakes gone bad". The first page of cakes actually isn't the funniest, but if you keep clicking "older posts" at the bottom of the page, you'll go back to earlier cakes, and some of them are so hilarious. The mis-spellings especially. And some of the baby shower cakes! Oh my goodness! Definitely something to check out when you are bored and want a laugh.

And remind me to never accept pay for any of my cakes, in the event that I really screw up and someone would forward a picture on to this lady!

They're off!

We dropped Nathan and Luke off to Camp Caleb in PA yesterday. It was touch and go, timing-wise, as it always is with us. There is a half-an-hour drop-off window, between 3:30 and 4:00, so I knew we needed to leave about 1:00. No problem!

Well, we had the absolute longest church service ever. It was communion, Mike had a really long sermon, and the guy leading the singing felt the need to introduce every song with some long intro. Ack. To really set me off, Bob had been pressed into service at the last minute (8:30 in the morning) to do children's church, so even if we had wanted to slip out before communion or something, we couldn't. Church usually gets out about 12:15, and yesterday it went until 12:45. We didn't even get home until 1:00!!

The boys changed, loaded their stuff in the van, and we all inhaled sandwiches. I think we left about 2o after, which is an absolutely amazing turn-around for us. But . . . there was construction on I-70, and so we were still cutting it verrrrrry close. We made it there at 3:55. Whew!

Luke was concerned about our potential lateness, but he was still very excited about going. I had wondered if he would get more and more nervous as the time approached, but he didn't. He and Nathan were so cute, packing their bags Saturday morning (yet another stressor for me before the party, as I tried to get socks folded, and so on for them, LOL). He was nervous when we actually dropped him off, and the counselor came to the car to help him carry stuff though. I am really praying that he felt comfortable right away. I was never nervous for Nathan--he's such a happy, go-lucky guy! Nothing really fazes him, not even being laughed at or anything. Luke is not like that, LOL. I just want him to have a really good time. I know this will be a stretching time for him. He and Nathan are in different age groups, so he won't really see Nathan at all. He is very used to having Nathan around, and making friends with Nathan there too. This will be different, as it will just be him. I'm praying he finds a "kindred spirit". We'll see how it goes. We won't know until Friday, when he comes home! Either the other kids and I will go up, or maybe Elizabeth. Zachary is done with support staff at WSS that same day, so whoever goes will also pick him up too. I'm sure the van will be chattery on the way home that day!

A few more pictures . . .

At the teacher supply store in Dayton I found some great Olympic-themed stuff for bulletin boards. The pictographs were a nice touch, as well as the flag border. Caleb is holding the torch I made.
I spent a good deal of time coloring these rings Thursday night with Sharpies. I thought I was going to expire from the fumes. Caleb told me I was such an artist, LOL. He was very impressed by my careful coloring. Yes, I always did get good marks in school for coloring. It's a gift.

We had the table out at its full 10 feet length. It's so nice to have such a huge table. And it's even nicer without the half wall behind it--you can actually move around it so easily!
So here is finally a picture of the "new kitchen", with the hardwood floors and with no little wall. Isn't it nice?!
Of course, this is what the family room looked like while the men were working. They finally finished the trim on the wall this morning around 11:30, and so this afternoon we had to put all the books back in the bookshelf. It looked like a library exploded in the family room. I was about to cry at 2:30, when I was frantically trying to get all the books back in ("How did I have this so they all fit?!"), and I still hadn't taken my shower or finished cutting up veggies, washing fruit, etc. Just a little panic attack, LOL. But everything did get done, and I did get out of the shower before anyone came.

"Let the Games Begin!"

We had our grand yearly party this afternoon, and it was great! This year's theme was the Olympics, which was a timely one. We wanted to kick off and get everyone ready to watch the Olympics when they start next Friday, on 8/8/08, at 8:00 PM local, as we learned in our Olympic trivia part, LOL.

When people arrived, we gave them nametages and a flag, which we put around their neck backwards, so they couldn't see it. Then they had to ask other people "yes or no" questions to try to identify their country, like, "Is it from a country in Asia?" or "Does it have red in it?". The kids did really well at that, and after everyone had figured out their flag, we formed up on the side of the house. Sarah B., as the oldest "competitor", had the honor of carrying the tissue paper torch that I made. They marched around to the front of the house to the "Olympic Fanfare by John Williams, which played from a CD of Olympic music I bought. As they came in front of the adults, they said the country name for the flag they were wearing. Then we began the games.
First we had a "land swimming relay". I divided everyone up into teams of 4, which was a challenge, and the kids picked which stroke they wanted to run across the yard doing. Here you see Caleb McC doing the backstroke.
Next we had a "relay pentathalon", consisting of a running part, then walking on the balance beam curb, then long-jumping across our driveway, throwing a frisbee in a kids' swimming pool ("discus"), and finishing up with shooting a basketball into our little hoop.

Originally, I had thought we would also have a plain running relay, but it was just. too. hot. So we commenced our medal ceremony.

We handed out gold medals to everyone (I had a challenging time finding these, but I finally was successful at Target in Ohio, in their party section. Yay!!). Then I played the national anthem, and everyone sang along with the words, which I had written on the back of the poster of Olympic rings, that you can see David holding up there in the picture. Bob waved the flag around behind David, so it was really nice! I love hearing people sing the Star-Spangled Banner.

Then we rushed inside to cool off in the air conditioning with lemonade and gatorade, while we got the final food touches ready. We had an Olympic-themed meal--pizza bagel bites, spiral deli roll slices, carrots, celery, and red pepper strips with ranch dip, pineapple rings, grapes and blueberries, chips and pretzel rods, and for dessert, 3 kids of cookies, all of which Nathan made, and some cute little cupcakes with sprinkles that our neighbor Theresa brought and were a huge hit with the kids. So did you catch the themes? Circles (bagel bites, tortilla slices, pineapple rings, and cookies), "batons" (all the vegetable sticks and the pretzel rods), and balls (blueberries and grapes. Well anyways, I thought about it, LOL. I had thought maybe no one would be too hungry because of the heat, but the food was wolfed down, and we basically had no left-overs. We ate 180 bagel bites! There were 41 people here! Of that, 26 were kids. Whew! While everyone was eating, I asked them a bunch of Olympic-related trivia questions I had dug up. I learned a lot from that!

We sent everyone home with a photo-copies schedule of events and when medals would be awarded each event, as well as with a "medal bar graph", where they can fill in how many gold, islver, and bronze the U.S gets, and compare that with 4 other countries--China, Russia, Germany, and U.K. So my hope is that everyone went home excited to watch the Olympics, and knowing a little bit more about them.

So that was our day. It was tons of fun, but now I am so tired. At least I am done for the year with big parties!! I am going to post some more pictures of our decorations, but after that, it's bedtime! Tomorrow is another big day, as we leave to take Nathan and Luke up to Camp Caleb right after church.

We're Home!

We made it back safely to VA last night. The best part was that Monday night, Bob was able to catch a hop out of Andrews AFB to Wright-Pat, so he was there to help me drive back. I can certainly do the drive by myself, but it's so nice when I don't have to! I even took a nap in the car in the morning.

We listened to King Solomon's Mines by H.R. Haggard on the trip. Wow, was it ever exciting! We have the book, although I had never read it, and Nathan started it once. He said it started too slowly, and he got bored and never finished it. It did start a bit slowly, but once it picked up, it was not at all boring! It's an adventure story set in Africa in the late 1800's. Haggard wrote it in 1884, I think. There were certainly some prejudicial colonial attitudes expressed in the book, which were interesting. I doubt the boys really picked up on them, but they were sure there. Also, in the first part of the book, the 3 adventurers are heading towards this mountain shaped like "Sheba's breasts", and they were supposed to climb toward the top of one of them, towards the "nipple". This is mentioned time and time again, which surprised me because I thought "breast" and "nipple" were words that still wouldn't be mentioned a whole lot in the 1800's. LOL. I'm pretty open about nursing, but I still don't really discuss the parts by name a lot, and it was weird to keep hearing the words.

There were some parts that were a bit gruesome, although not in a descriptive way, and it was a bit tense in parts. I don't think Caleb and Jonathan paid all that much attention to it, and in those instances, I was glad! The vocabulary was so rich, though. Lots of Latin roots! Definitely a boys' book.

When we got home, I was finally able to see my new kitchen floor. We have linoleum that is 15 years old, and a really out-dated pattern. The family we bought from had 5 children of their own, so this linoleum was worn out. While we were gone, Bob had some workers put in a hardwood floor. It looks so nice! I'll post pictures, but it's still not totally finished. The workers also knocked down a half wall that divided our eating area from the family room. We have such a big table that the wall made it hard for us to get around it, especially with a high chair there. It is so nice and spacious without the wall there! I love it! The dry wall is not finished on the wall, however, and neither is the trim on what is left of the wall, or under the cabinets. We're not sure when the men are coming back to finish. We have this Olympic party here on Saturday, and right now our family room is a disaster area. They had to move our big bookcase away from the wall so they could take off the trim, so all the book are in piles on the floor. It's a bit intimidating. Who wants to move them all back in before the wall in finished, but it's such a mess, and we're haivng a party on Saturday . . . Ok, deep breath . . . no panicking. Anyway, that's why I'm here on the computer and not doing anything useful, LOL. I'm overwhelmed. That's also why there are no pictures. Maybe next week, after the party.

Hello . . . Hello . . . Anyone there?

Hey, it's me again! We haven't perished in the wilds of Ohio! We've been having a great time, and I have just not been on the computer at all. We had 480 emails when I finally checked this afternoon!

Bob got a Priceline deal and flew out here last weekend, which was a nice treat. He got to go with us to the birthday party of Amy's younger son Jacob on Saturday. It was at a place called "Pump It Up", which had a lot of those big, inflatable bouncy things and slides. Needless to say, the boys had a wonderful time and bounced out a lot of their energy. Anna was in a grumpy, "nothing will please me" mood, so she didn't has as much fun, LOL. Ah well, you can't please everyone.

Sunday we went to church with Mom and Dad at the base chapel. It was nice to see old familiar faces, and we got to enjoy their monthly fellowship meal after the service. The only sticky part was during the special number. The chapel doesn't have a nursery, so Anna and Grace were both sitting on my lap, sort of playing with each other, and very nicely I might add. Until Grace stuck her fingers into Anna mouth, and Anna chomped down. Grace let out a very loud and indignant cry, so we had to make a hasty retreat to the cry room.

We've had a bunch of playdates too. Monday afternoon a Turkish woman and her one year old girl came over, along with a Korean woman and her one year old boy. Then on Tuesdya morning, the German wife of an American officer came with her one year old girl. Anna and Grace have never had so many little playmates! All the adult conversation has been nice for me, too.

Amy and I met at her mom's house Tuesday night to scrapbook. when we lived here, we would do this about once a month. No wonder I was so caught up back then! It's just so much harder to be motivated when you're doing it all by yourself. We had a great time, and I was able to make Anna's little album--the one where I have a birth page, a family page, and then either a 2 page or a 4 page spread for each year. I have one for all the boys, and I was really getting worried since I didn't have anything for either girl!

We all went back to Amy's house yesterday to play. The weather was so much cooler and more pleasant. The boys played outside the whole afternoon, and they didn't look like they were going to keep over from heatstroke either. Amy and I did some more scrapbooking, and I finished Jonathan's book for this past year. I still have Nathan's to do for this past year, but now I'm going to do some in my regular family album. The one where I'm stuck back in November, 2005. Sigh.

Tomorrow we're going to move over to Amy's house for the weekend. That will be fun! Then we'll come back here Monday so I can do laundry and regroup, and we'll leave Tuesday to drive back. So only a few more days of this wonderful vacation!

You know, the nicest part is that I didn't even bring any schoolwork, which I usually do. I'm sure it will be hard to get back into the swing of things, but actually I have 2 more weeks before I need to think about that. When we get back home, we have an orthodontist appointment, my first OB appointment, and we have to put the final details together for our big annual party, which we're having on Aug. 2. It's going to be an Olympic party. We don't have individual birthday parties during the year--I just make their special cake, which we bring to Bible study, where we celebrate. But we try to have one big party in the summer. This year, I have been very unorganized about it, and I haven't even sent out invitations. We're going by word-of-mouth, LOL. So needless to say, I have quite a few more details to take care of.

Then Nathan and Luke will leave for Camp Caleb Aug. 3 and be gone until Aug. 8. (Is that the week you mean, Joelyn? Is so, that would be great!!). I guess we'll be back to our normal routine that next week, at least school-wise. It's been a nice break, though, and then I'll be through the first trimester. Yay!

P.S. Please excuse any typing mistakes on this post and the last. I am a bad typist on a good day, and for some reason, I can NOT type on my parents' keyboard. We have a nice, ergometric one at home, which has the keys separated a bit more or something, but here I am always bumping other keys and not noticing. And I'm in too much of a hurry for spell checking, LOL.

In Ohio Again!

well, to start off, we had a busy weekend, hence non blogging. Saturday I shopped at the local homeschooling convention. I've gone the last several years and gotten a good deal of things at the used book sale, especially. This year was such a disappointment! There weren't very many sellers there, and there were tons of shoppers. Even though I didn't see any curriculum I was looking for (Rod and Staff English in particular), I hoped to at least get some books for the boys to read on the drive. The books were very overpriced I thought, and most of them we already had anyways. Sigh. A big disappointment, as I said. Also, there weren't even venders I was hoping to see, like Memoria Press. I had really wanted to look at their Henle Latin guides, since I think we'll be moving into year 1 this year. Oh well.



Sunday afternoon our church had a big picnic over at a local park. It was very, very humid, especially for the 12 pregnant ladies in the church, but we survived, and it was a lot of fun. The boys played volleyball and a ton of other games. The girls played on the playground. I sat in the shade of the pavilion and sweated while watching them, LOL.



Monday morning the kids and I got up and out the door by 9:40 to start the drive to Ohio. We're visiting my family and best friend Amy and her family for 2 weeks! This is a REAL vacation for me! I was a little nervous about the drive, since I'm just 10 weeks along and still get tired in the afternoon. But God is faithful, and it was no problem. We listened to The Great Cheese Conspiracy and A Year Down Yonder on CD, which really helped keep me awake. That, and the box of Junior mints I ate.



I really enjoyed A Year Down Yonder. It was the sequel to A Long Way From Chicago, by Richard Peck, that we listened to on the way out to Utah. Both books involve 2 kids (just one in the second book) who have to visit their grandma down in some hicktown in the 1920's and '30's. The grandma is a real character--definitely not the cuddly, grandmotherly stereotype, but it makes for funny stories.

So far today I've been relaxing. I did a new Pilates For Pregnancy DVD that I bought off of Amazon, and I was very pleased with it. Exaclty what I was looking for!

The boys, especially Nathan and Luke, have been earning their keep here by helping Gradpa outside. He is pulling up sections of sod so Mom will have flower beds, and the boys have been helping truck the sod around the yard and lay it out on other places. They've also been helping to move the 10 tons of dirt that Grandpa had delivered a little while ago! They will be sleeping well while they're here, LOL! It's good for growing boys to be kept busy!

I need to go change a poopy diaper . . . it's not all relaxing around here.

New Bibles

A few days ago, I bought new Bibles for Nathan and Luke. Nathan had come to me a few days before that and mentioned that he didn't want to take his Bible to Camp Caleb next month. Nathan got his Bible when he was 4, and it is a Psalty Bible! Yes, one can understand why an 11 year old boy would feel the need to move on up, LOL. It's in a nice red Bible cover, however, so I never thought of it as a Psalty Bible--just as Nathan's Bible.

Luke's Bible is just as bad. It's a kid's devotional Bible, in the "NrIV", which is the NIV for new readers. He was also ready to move up!

We bought 2 new Bibles at the Christian bookstore, using a coupon, so now they are all set for Camp Caleb. The only thing is that these are just pretty generic gift Bibles, although they do have nice covers. But they don't really have a concordance, maps, or any helpful study notes or anything. I really loved my student Bible that I had back in high school and college, but I didn't see anything like that in the bookstore. I might look at CBD sometime to see what they have, and maybe we'll get them another Bible sometime, like at Christmas. It's always nice to have more Bibles around the house.

It's a Baby!

Today was fun--I had an ultrasound!! A few days ago, I got an email from the local homeschool loop. Someone was forwarding a message from the local crisis pregnancy center, saying they were training some new nurses to give ultrasounds, and they were looking for 23 pregnant ladies to practice on, ones between 8 and 20 weeks. Well, I thought I was 9 weeks along, and I knew my first actual appointment at Bethesda wasn't until Aug. 1, so I thought this would be fun. I called the next day (Wednesday) and set up the ultrasound for this morning.

I brought all the kids, but it turned out that Bob was able to break away from work and meet us there, so that was really nice. Not only did he get to see the baby too, but he was a huge help with the kids, especially Anna and Grace.

It was so great to see the little jelly bean in there, with the heart beating away! Until you feel the baby move, it's always hard to really know you're pregnant, so it was nice to just get that visual confirmation. I don't think I've ever had an ultrasound this early! There were 3 nurses in training, plus the teacher, so the room was a bit crowded! Everyone got a chance to move the transducer around on my belly, and then they all also did a transvaginal ultrasound too. Based on the crown-rump measurements and fetal development, they gave me a due date of Feb. 12. Since I had come up with Feb. 11 on my own, I felt pretty good about that! The little guy wiggled around in there, and even waved his little paddle hands and feet at us. (I'm assuming a boy until I know otherwise, LOL.) The nurse said they call babies at this stage "teddy grahams", and that was indeed what he looked like! So cute!

Enjoying Life With Air Conditioning

Ahhhh . . . our house is so comfortable now. The guys came back Monday and worked all day, making all sorts of racket down in the basement. They finished up around 5:00, and it was so great to feel the humidity slowly start to leave the house. I think we are going to replace the outside part of the upstairs unit this summer too, as opposed to waiting until it totally gives out. We tried that and didn't like it, LOL.

I still haven't really made anything in the oven the last few nights, even though it would not make the house unbearably warm. After more than a week of skillet/stir-fry/crockpot meals, it just seems weird to even contemplate something in the oven.

Dinnertime has become somewhat of a challenge, even without the a/c woes. During this pregnancy so far, I have predictably been nauseous starting at around 2:00 in the afternoon, and it lasts until dinner. Once I've eaten dinner, I'm fine. Usually I take a nap around 2:00, but when I wake up, I am in no mood to even think about food, much less prepare something. Even the crockpot is not an ideal solution, because waking up smelling food really turns my stomach. So I have exhausted my repetoire of quick skillet meals that don't require me to do very much to prepare them, LOL.

This whole afternoon nausea this is definitely unique for me, as far as my pregnancies go. It will be interesting to see if this is a boy or a girl. I have really only been nauseous with the 2 girls, so maybe it will be another girl, although to be perfectly honest, I will admit I'm hoping a little bit for another boy! But of course I will be thrilled with whichever. Not so thrilled with the nauseousness, however.

All right, I'm late for my nap because I decided to be proactive and start the beef barley soup before laying down. And then someone called, so I needed to write a quick email, and what do you know, I find myself here. But now I'm off to the couch!

Graduation Party

Sunday we completed our big "up and back" trip to PA for Bob's niece's graduation party. Although it was a long and tiring day, I really do think it was for the best. I was so tired Saturday after the fireworks. The thought of having to pack and drive was too much for me, and it was so nice just to relax and lay around. I guess the Lord knew and prevented us from making those reservations!

We left around 9:00, got there about 1:45, stayed until 5:15, and got back home at 10:45. Of course, Sunday was the worst travel day we could have picked, being right after 4th of July, and traffic on I-70 was hardly moving as we got somewhat close to D.C. We ended up getting off and taking a bunch of back roads home. Although we wandered around Winchester for a good 20 extra minutes, trying to find Rt. 7, at least we were moving, and I'm sure the whole thing didn't take any longer than 70 would have.

The party was really nice. Bob's sister-in-law Sherry throws such good parties. There was a ton of food, including the cake that Grace raptly enjoyed with her Aunt Jane. The boys enjoyed playing volleyball, as well as this beanbag toss game, where you try to toss the beanbags into a hole, or at least get them onto the box. Surprisingly, even I was not a total loser at this game myself. Jane brought a bat, ball, and some bases, and she organized the kids into a baseball game.

Some of you know that I made a brief attempt to pottytrain Anna a few weeks ago. It really was not successful at all, and she was having a lot of attitude issues, so we just left it until a more propitious time (August maybe?). Well, this park had the nastiest, stinkiest pit toilets, and I was so eternally grateful that Anna was not wearing big girl panties and having to use "the facilities". I could hardly go myself without making myself sick to my stomach, and I can't imagine having to hold her over the hole, while waiting for her quirky toddler bladder to kick in. That probably would have set her back for a year! Again, the Lord knew what was happening, and I for one am priasing His perfect timing!

Bob's oldest sister Ann is really the only sibling that pushes for family pictures to be taken. At this party, all 6 of the siblings, plus all the grandchildren except 3, were there, and she worked hard to get everyone together for a family picture. It was a bit like herding cats, in that one brother had gone off fishing, and one sister had taken several of the kids off to a big slide in a whole different part of the park. But finally everyone made it back together, and a picture was taken for posterity. You know, Bob's parents are in their 80s, so opportunities such as this are not going to happen for too much longer. I'm glad we took advantage of it on Sunday.

Happy Fourth of July!!

Yesterday we headed downtown again to watch the national fireworks. We caravanned out with 3 other families from our Friday night OCF Bible study, and we went to our usual watching point of the Carillion, next to the Iwo Jima Memorial. My friend Johanna and her family were there when we got there, and my boys had a great time playing football and frisbees with hers. Later on, Bob's sister Ann and her family came as well, including Christi and her new husband Andres.

When we first got there, the weather was nice, but a little overcast. It started getting gloomier, and soon Red Cross people started coming around and telling us that big storms were on the way, and we were advised to seek cover. It wasn't even really raining at that point, so we all sat tight. Eventually it did start raining, and we hunkered down under a huge plastic sheet that Ed and Elizabeth had thoughtfully brought. Then the loud speaker came to life and said that severe weather was coming, with thunder, lightening, and high winds. Hmmm. So we packed up and made our way back to the hotel parking garage . . . except we never made it there. As we were walking back, the rain stopped, the skies got lighter and lighter, and we realized all we were doing was giving up our good space! So we turned around and went back. We had eaten our dinner (tuna sandwiches) before it started raining the first time, so this time we broke out the cookies and grapes. This was also when Ann and Wally showed up. When we were coming back, police officers had told us that another storm was expected around 7:00, and sure enough, it started raining again. I felt very wet, and I really wished I had brought our bag of light jackets that was in the back of the van. If we had gone back to the garage, I planned on getting them then! Christi was very nice and volunteered to go back with me (in the downpour) to get the jackets. Sure enough, as we got neared the garage, the rain let up and stopped! But we got the jackets, and I for one was glad to have them as it started raining one more time right before the fireworks started.

The first fireworks were lovely, but then the bad weather came back to bite us. The smoke just sort of lingered and never cleared, so we watched the rest of the fireworks through a malevolent dark cloud, as you can see by the picture below.

I'm sure you all have read A Wrinkle in Time, right? I thought we were seeing the "Dark Thing" that had so many planets under its evil grip, LOL. By the end of the display, you couldn't even really see the top of the Washington Monument anymore. But it was still a fun-filled evening, and I'm glad we went. Maybe the weather will be better next year!

Some good, some bad

Well, the air conditioner guys started getting stuff in today. Actually, it's all in, but it needs to get put together and hooked up. That, of course, will not happen until Monday, but at least it's a start. I'm sure you're all dying to know what we decided. We are getting a new furnace and a/c for the downstairs, and we're not doing anything to the upstairs yet. I had forgotten that a few years ago, we actually replaced the inside part of the upstairs one, so all we need is a new outside tower part. Bob looked online, and you can buy them pretty inexpensively. Ed knew a guy who would install what you buy, so we'll probably do that sometime later on. I am really looking forward to having a comfortable main level again. Bob grilled some delicious steaks tonight, and we've been eating our dinners outside for the past several days. It's been very comfortable, temperature-wise, the last few evenings, and it's been nice to just sit outside and see the neighbors who walk by (probably thinking what white trash we are, LOL).

We were supposed to be gone this weekend, which would have helped with the whole hot, humid main floor thing. Bob's niece graduated from high school this year, and she's having a graduation party in PA Sunday afternoon. We were going to go up Saturday and come back Sunday, but when we called the hotel to confirm what day our reservation started, it turned out we never actually made the reservation. Whoops! There is literally one room in one hotel in this town that we fit in (actually it's a few towns away, but it's the closest we can get), so there are no other options. We will have to drive up Sunday morning and back Sunday night. It's about a 4 1/2 hour drive one way, so that's not impossible of course--we've done it before--but it does mean another afternoon in the heat. Sigh. We both really thought we'd called. I guess, with all the reservations for the big trip, this one just fell through the cracks.

OB Orientation

This morning I had my OB orientation. It started about a half an hour late, at 9:30, because there was an accident on the Beltway and tons of people were late. Fortunately the accident didn't affect my travel time, and I had a book, so I just enjoyed the air conditioning, LOL.

I actually enjoyed the orientation more than I thought I would. It turns out that people from Annapolis, Ft. Meade, and Ft. Detrick all have to come to Bethesda to deliver, and so although they can have their routine appointments at satellite clinics at their bases, they were also at this thing. The nice OB nurse realized they weren't coming back for any more "classes", so she laid out how everything is done, even in labor and delivery, so that was very useful and practical. I know I'm not coming back for an all-day childbirth class, jsut so I can get a tour and figure out l&d procedures!

What did I learn? Hmmm . . . Bethesda has a level 3 NICU (hope we don't need that); they have 23 beds in their ward (usually only half are used as labor/recovery rooms, and then they move people to another room on the other side of the ward for the rest of the time); midwives deliver only Tuesday afternoons and Thursday mornings (otherwise it's residents--this is a teaching hospital, like Wright-Pat), and children are welcome at all OB appointments, and even at the delivery itself, should I so choose (no, LOL). It's good to have all the phone numbers I should need, and to know what to do if I should get something like strep (call the OB acute care number), or go into labor in the middle of a snowstorm (call L&D, who will refer you to the nearest hospital and fax your records there).

We made up our OB records too--we all filled out all the info for ourselves. After this baby, if we have anymore, Nathan will get knocked off the history part, because they only want info on your previous 6 births! LOL! They did not disappoint--we did have to fill out the crazy mental health survey. You have to read the statements very carefully. The answer choices are "strongly disagree, disagree, nuetral, agree, and strongly agree". One statement will be something like, "I feel very supported in this pregnancy by my partner" ["strongly agree"], and then the next statement will be "I have often considered leaving this relationship" [ack!! "strongly DISagree"!]. The whole thing is pretty funny. Here are some more sample statements: "I feel like a total failure" followed by "someone in my life makes me feel good about myself" (awwww)/ Or how about "my parents frequently shouted at each other and threw things" or "I can think of several situations where it would be okay for a wife to slap her husband's face". LOL!! Pretty funny!

Anyhow, I got blood work done, scheduled my first appointment for Aug. 1, and picked up a prescription for prenatal vitamins. Bob held down the fort with the kids and the A/C guys. We're still talking about our options with that. Let's just say that whatever we choose will be pricey, LOL. Today was a much cooler, less humid day, however, so that was a real blessing.

I'm melting . . . .

Okay, it's not all that bad. It's like 84 degrees in here. But I have found over the course of the past 2 days that heat makes me feel much queasier. Also, the kitchen, since it has no fan, is a particularly warm, still room. Let's just say there's not been much cooking or cleaning up being done of the kitchen. Sitting on the couch in the family room, under the ceiling fan, and also under the catwalk where the slightly cooler air from upstairs comes down, is comfortable. If I can just sit there and do nothing, all is well.

We have 2 different companies coming over Monday morning to give us estimates. Then we'll hopefully make some decisions, like which unit to replace, if not both, and whether or not we should also replace the furnace while we're at it. The good thing is that Monday morning I have my "OB orientation" (just in case I've forgotten what it's like to be pregnant, LOL) at Bethesda from 9:00 to 12:00, so Bob was already planning to be home with the kids, and he can deal with the A/C guys. Yay! Meanwhile, I'll be enjoying 3 hours of air conditioned comfort at Bethesda, plus the car trip, LOL. I guess it's worth it to hear about what I should be eating and make sure I'm not in an abusive relationship, and all those other nosy questions military installations can ask.

A Sad Farewell

It appears that our main floor air conditioner has bitten the dust. We knew its demise was imminent, as it had already stopped cooling earlier in the season. We had it recharged with freon May 6, and we hoped it would limp out the rest of this summer. It was not to be, unfortunately, and today it started blowing out tepid air again. Sigh. I guess we know what we will be spending our stimulus check on! Our upstairs one is actually not doing so well either, so the debate is which one we should replace now. The theory is that if we replace the upstairs one, it will be more comfortable for sleeping, and the cool air would fall down to the main floor.

I am thankful I am in my first trimester, and not my third! And at least we have a nice, cool basement. But I still think this is going to have to be something we move on sooner rather than later. Right now, we're all heading to the library.

A brave new world . . .

We entered a new world yesterday . . . the world of orthodontia. We had a consult with the only orthodontist who accepts the Tricare dental plan anywhere near us, and fortunately he and his whole office were very nice. The problem is that Luke has (forgive me if I get too technical) a "very narrow mouth". I guess this goes along with his narrow feet? On the x-ray we could see that his teeth are stacked up 3 deep in places, with the permanent ones struggling to find places to come up. One of his top teeth has erupted WAY up high in his gum, so you can't even see it unless he smiles really big.

So the first order of business is an expander on the top of his mouth. After some preliminary appointments, he'll have the device put in Aug. 11. Then I'll have a key, and I'll twist it every night to expand the thing for several months. That should open up some room up top, and hopefully things will start to right themselves. He'll have to have braces then to bring the high tooth down, and the front 2 teeth up a bit.

On the bottom, he'll need to have a few baby teeth pulled. We'll probably do that in the next few weeks. He will need braces down there as well. All this stuff involving his mouth before all his permanent teeth come in is "phase 1", which does not inspire confidence that our foray into orthodontia will be brief, LOL. Hopefully all this work will allow the rest of his permanent teeth to come in not too crookedly. "Phase 1" will cost us about $1300, which could be worse, that's for sure. Of course, there are probably at least 2 other kids who share Luke's narrow mouth, and I'm not sure that Nathan and the other 2 like him won't need some kind of braces when they get a little older. At least he doesn't need anything right now!

Happy Birthday, Nathan!!!

Nathan is 11 years old today! He picked chicken salad on croissants for lunch, and kielbasa/potato soup for dinner, with ice cream for dessert. He's really growing up, too. He'll choose to read instead of play in the basement sometimes, much to Luke's chagrin. He pitches in when he can see I need help, especially if it involves cooking. He helps out tremendously with the girls. The reason I'm not intimidated by having more babies is that I know I have Nathan (and Luke . . . and Caleb . . .) to help with them! It makes such a huge difference.

I see so much of his dad in Nathan. He is a "think outside the box" problem solver, and he loves to play games. In fact, he is working on his own game right now, some complicated blend of Monopoly and Risk. He has a mechanical mind like Bob too, and he loves to help his dad in his projects around the house.

Speaking of projects, you may have wondered what Nathan was sitting in (or not--just humor me). It was one of Bob's projects last week, although he put it together after the kids went to bed one night, so they didn't help. It's a shaded swing for our front yard! We LOVE it. It doesn't have cushions that we would need to worry about if it got windy or rainy (because we are not the kind of people who can deal with those sorts of cushions, LOL). It is so wonderful to have a place to relax and swing in the shade as we watch the kids play out front.

Bob's second project is still on-going, and that is pressure-washing the deck. He bought a pressure-washer at Sam's, and he got quite a bit of the deck done last Saturday. Wow--what a difference that makes! The contrast between washed and unwashed is amazing! After he finishes washing it, he'll go ahead and stain it. We'll practically have a new deck!

Celebrating Nathan and Jonathan

Tonight we took a cake to Bible study to celebrate Jonathan's birthday (June 2), and Nathan's birthday (June 24). They picked "Lego Anakin" from Star Wars Episode 2. Actually, Nathan wanted a brooding Anakin straight from his Complete Star Wars book, but I told him I absolutely did not do (real) people, so this Anakin was a compromise. I had to use the case of a Lego Star Wars computer game that Dan and Melinda got them for their birthdays as a model! If you look closely, you can notice the little braid thing denoting his "Padawan" status there to the left of his head. Attention to detail--I'm all about that. I guess I should have gotten a side shot. I was proud of that braid. We took home from Bible study the top part of his head--his eyes and hair. That's it. All that work and then *poof* the cake is inhaled in about 5 minutes total!

Here is a picture of the 2 happy birthday buddies. Nathan blew out 11 candles on Anakin's body, and Jonathan blew out 5 candles on his lightsaber. Worked out great! I loved that I could just make one cake for the 2 boys. Maybe this baby will be a boy, and be a February birthday buddy with Luke . . . that would be nice! Now I'm all done with cakes until Caleb's birthday in November. Yay!

Fun For the Week

The week was more than just the day at Bethesda! On Monday afternoon, our neighbors had a little shower for Elli, the German lady down the street. She is expecting their third child in 2 weeks. The other 2 kids are older--14 and 10--and the 14 year old, Julia, is so excited about the coming baby. A few months ago Julia (she's the one on the left in the picture) decided she really wanted to have an American baby shower for her mom, and she wanted to make a cake for it with me. She picked out a pacifier shape. I wasn't sure if any of this would come to fruition, but when we got back from the trip, Julia said she and her dad wanted to have the shower Monday afternoon. I baked the cakes Sunday afternoon, and then Julia and 2 of her friends came over Monday afternoon to help decorate them. We had such a great time! I put the cakes together in the pacifier shape, and then I started putting the frosting on. The girls wanted to help do that, so I let them. They quickly discovered it's not quite as easy as it looks! I put the frosting on the part that would go in a baby's mouth (a giant baby, LOL), and then we made green frosting, and they started putting the finishing touches on. At this point, they had been politely enthusiastic about the cake--"It looks pretty, like a flower. It tastes delicious." (I had been letting them eat the parts I cut off when shaping it.) But as they decorated it themselves, they became much more enthusiastic! "This is the most beautiful cake ever! I wish we never had to cut it! This is my favorite cake ever! I love it!" They also wanted to put as much frills on as possible. Julia said that at first she didn't think it would look that good with the border and the dots they put on, but then she realized it would look great with as much stuff as they could put on! LOL! I told them they reminded me of the boys when they decorate Christmas cookies, and how they think as many sprinkles as possible made the best cookie!

Anyhow, the cake was a huge hit. The neighbors liked it too! Then we played some games--the one where everyone cuts off a length of string that they think will fit around the mom's belly, and the same mad-libs game that we played at the shower on Saturday. The games were fun too. Let me tell you, Elli is nothing but belly! The smallest string believable was closest for her! I think she's as big now as I am! It helps that she is really tall and long-legged, but still . . . sigh.

We're slowly getting back into the school groove, but yesterday we started something else fun--the recorder! I really want the boys to learn to read music, and piano just isn't going to happen (unless one child really expresses an interest, but that hasn't happened so far). The recorder is cheap and is also something that with my clarinet skills I can certainly teach! I have recorders for everyone, but Nathan, Luke, and Caleb are the ones that are really learning. Jonathan and Anna are mainly tooting their own horns, LOL. Everyone is having a good time, although Luke is predictably frustrated that he is not immediately an expert. I did have to banish all recorders to the basement yesterday afternoon, though. We're working on part of "Ode to Joy" right now--a part that only uses 5 notes, LOL. The book said that groups of 4 to 9 recorders are called "consorts". Hey, we've got our own made-to-order consort!

Bethesda

I'm tired! Today we went to Bethesda. By that I do not mean "this morning, we went to Bethesda" or anything like that. We got to Bethesda at 9:15, and we left Bethesda at 3:30, so we definitely made a day of it! We started off with 4 well-child appointments (Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace), plus a follow-up on Jonathan's arm at ortho. That took the whole morning. Then we went up to the ID card office so I could get my ID card renwered. We had to wait awhile, but at least we got it. We could have waited longer, that's for sure, so it wasn't too bad.

Then Bob took the kids down to the food court for lunch, and I tried to get a pregnancy test at the lab. At all the other bases we've been too, you just walk into the lab and request a pregnancy test--no appointment needed. Here, you need an appointment, though. I could hardly stand the thought of coming back with everyone just so someone could tell me to take a pregnancy test, so I went over to OB to see if they could order the test for me. They could, but they said that I would then have to talk to Family Practice to get the referral to be seen by OB once the test was positive. So I trooped back over to the lab, took the test, then went and ate lunch myself.

I met Bob and the kids at Immunizations, where we had to wait quite a while. All 4 kids needed shots, so we all went back to the room. It was a big room, with several tables for giving shots. Within minutes, the room was filled with the outraged crying of several parties. Caleb and Jonathan both cried so loudly, I could hardly believe it! When Anna and Grace joined in, it was quite a choir. When we all departed, I'm sure the techs all appreciated their nice quiet room a bit more. Anna is still grimaced and grabbing at her leg. What a drama queen! She only got one shot!

After the immunization drama, we tried to find my family practice clinic. You might think this would be easy, but we actually wandered all over the hospital, going to 3 different places to find the right place! Apparently they have started a new system, so not everyone is clear on who goes where. At the right place, though, the receptionist lady was so nice. She loved our big family--"All Bible names! That's wonderful! Everyone can tell right away where you stand!"--and she was so excited that we were having another. What an encouragement! She told me the result was indeed positive, and they are getting the referral into the system. Yay!

Then we had to head back to the pharmacy to pick up Caleb's Zyrtec and Singulair. The lady told us that DOD pharmacies are no longer stocking Zyrtec, since you can buy it over the counter now, so we either had to buy it at a civilian place or go back to the doctor and get the prescription changed. Argh! But we trooped back over to pediatrics to try to get the new prescription. After waiting a little while, that was done, so we had to go back up to the pharmacy. There we had to wait another hour to get the Claritin. I was so glad when they finally called our number to pick it up. The girls were getting very cranky, and of course they were only expressing what we were all feeling! Poor Nathan and Luke, being dragged around the hospital all day long, when they didn't even have any appointments! I was thankful Bob was with us. Aside from getting the new ID card, we wouldn't have been able to do everything else either. I would have collapsed into a frustrated, hormonal pile of tears at all the running around!

The people that we dealt with at Bethesda were all so nice, however, and it really was a nice experience. The pediatrics doctors especially were just wonderful. They were great with the kids, they seemed like they really enjoyed kids, and--get this--they all spoke easy-to-understand-English! It was so nice to know that I was understanding everything. I wish we had been able to change over a long time ago!

Baby Shower

This morning I hosted a baby shower at our house for a lady at church, Margaret. I am in charge of helping plan baby showers for our church, and I agreed to this date before we left for the trip, but as we drove back home, I was getting a little intimidated about hosting something so soon as we got back.

I shouldn't have worried! It went great, and everyone had a fun time, myself included. It was also a good excuse to get things cleaned up and put away after the trip!

I made a breakfast casserole that we had in Utah. The day after my cousin's wedding, Sarah's parents hosted a brunch for family so we could see my cousin and Sarah once more before they drove off to their new home. Sarah's mom made this delicious egg casserole, and she had said how easy it was to make. I remembered this and asked her for the recipe Thursday. It was a big hit, and several people asked me for the recipe too! I'm not a real big fan of breakfast casseroles with bread in them--too soggy--so whenever I find a new one that doesn't have that, I'm so excited!

I also made chocolate-covered strawberries, which were also a big hit. Other people brought muffins, quick bread, cheesecake, fruit, cheese and crackers, and a few other dishes to fill in. Yummy!

Again, games were a challenge. I didn't want to repeat the games I did at the last shower , so I had to be creative. I did a matching game first--match the quotes from 10 classics childrens books, like Go, Dog, Go, The Little Engine That Could, Goodnight, Moon and others. Then we did a mad-libs style game to write the "birth story" for Margaret. That was hilarious! I love mad-libs. When we were at the party store on Thursday picking up plates and napkins, I perused a book of baby games, and that was one of the suggestions. I figured I could write my own, rather than spend money to buy the book, and it turned out great!

While I was having fun with adult conversation and good food, Bob took all the kids to Target to buy a new bike for Luke, and then on to Ci-Ci's for all-you-can-eat pizza and dessert. So they had a good day too.

Well, a thunderstorm is kicking up, so I must go. Hopefully a good storm will lessen the oppressive humidity. Ah, to be back in the west . . .

Some Final Thoughts on The Big Drive

1. Driving through South Dakota in June is the perfect place and time to listen to The Long Winter (of the Little House on the Prairie Series). In fact, I wished we had another day so we could take a little side trip up to De Smet, where it all happened. The interstate is about 50 miles south. Sigh. Of course, once we got home, and I had to throw away the last odds and ends that didn't get pitched before we left, I felt terribly guilty because I knew those leftovers would have fed the Ingalls family for 2 weeks, LOL.

2. We became efficient car travelers, bettering our previous stopping records. We generally stopped once every 4 hours or so. We quit stopping for lunch when we got to Yellowstone because the weather was too cold. I would just make sandwiches in the van, pass around chips, and cut up apples with a plastic knife (not recommended. Next trip I will bring a regular knife, LOL). Then we decided that saved so much time, we started eating sandwiches in the car the whole rest of the trip. That way we could just make a quicker potty/gas stop. Of course, now Anna expects lunch in the car, so when we ran errands today, she kept fussing around "Lunch! Lunch!"

3. We had no cell phone coverage at all through the entire state of South Dakota.

4. The north-west corner of Illinois is practically deserted, and there are hardly any gas stations or places to eat there. Who knew? I guess we did have cell phone coverage, but I still much preferred South Dakota, as far as isolated places go.

5. This is not technically about driving, but it turns out that Anna, for all her fears, loves to go swimming. I was sure she'd be terrified of pools, but she was not at all. She keeps us on our toes. Grace, on the other hand, was not a fan of the pool. She didn't like the echoing noise and the getting splashed, so she pretty much cried whenever we even had to just walk through the pool area.

6. We did indeed pick up the PSP that Caleb won on our way back through Davenport, Iowa. Now we are wondering what in the world we will do with this thing, since we're not big into watching movies at all, much less individually, we would never let any of the kids use it to access the internet, and the games seem to be very expensive for it. Hmmm.

7. It's a good thing we're having another baby, and so we will eventually be forced to buy a 12 passenger van. I think this was the last long trip we could make, all crammed together in the Sienna! Nathan and Luke's legs are getting too long to be smooshed into the back seat, and when you add in a backpack for every child (except Grace, whose toys and books just floated randomly around the car--wait, everyone else's stuff did too, since people were not so faithful about returning things to their backpack . . . but I digress), and a cooler, plus a grocery sack of bread, chips, paper towels, etc . . . it was pretty crowded in there. I won't even TALK about the back part of the van, where the suitcases, pack-n-plays, swimming stuff, etc., had to placed with surgical precision in a complicated design to all fit. Whew! I sure was glad to get all that stuff out of the van!

8. There is no better way to truly appreciate our beautiful country than a long car trip across it. The small towns have a lot of character, and I love seeing all the different types of houses and farms. We took a spontaneous side trip to drive through Badlands National Park, which was really amazing to look at. On our way back up to the highway, we saw a sod dugout house, just like the Ingalls family lived in in On the Banks of Plum Creek! Whenever I hear liberals blathering on about how we're running out of room, I always think that they haven't driven much through the middle of our country. It's so beautiful . . . and empty. I recommend long car trips!

We're back!!!!!

After 5600 miles in the car, we have finally returned to D.C. I'll be honest--it was hard to come back east! The temperatures and humidity rose, the speed limit decreased, the horizon shrank, and everything got more crowded and squished together. But we're looking forward to seeing friends at Bible study on Friday and at church on Sunday, and it was wonderful to sleep in our own beds again. We're all pretty fried! Now to start the laborious unpacking process, my least favorite part of traveling . . .

Yesterday we left Amy's house in Ohio, but before we left, we found out we are going to have a more permanent momento from this trip! Probably around the beginning of February . . . How exciting!!

"Oh, give me a home . . . "

We had a wonderful time at Yellowstone, even though the weather wasn't totally cooperative. We saw TONS of wildlife--bison with their babies, elk, deer, foxes, bald eagles, and big horn sheep. We watched Old Faithful erupt, which was neater than I expected. It kept gushing out these little amounts, and I was getting pretty tired of waiting around. But we were all very glad we waited for the big eruption--wow!

We drove today through a lot of rain, but the Lord was faithful to protect us. The Wyoming scenery was beautiful, even with the clouds. I guess I'm just a western girl at heart. I really like the big, open spaces.

Tonight and tomorrow night we're at a Comfort Inn in Rapid City, SD. Our room is amazing--it has a balcony overlooking the pool! It's the only room to have this! We feel like the royal family when we step out on it, LOL. The hotel also has a nice business center practically next door to our room, which is where I am while we wait for Grace to fall asleep. She slept a lot in the car, and so she is not really tired right now. I'm glad we bought the new baby monitor before we left. It's working like a charm, and it's nice to not be in there with her while she rustles around!

You may be interested in an update on Jonathan. Bob and Jonathan got home a little after 4:00 Monday afternoon, with Jonathan's arm in a splint. The doctor said actually his arm was looking pretty good, and we should see the doctor at Bethesda in a week when we get home for a follow-up. Bob showed me the picture of the x-ray, and the lower bone is still broken a little bit, so it does still hurt Jonathan. He's doing fine with the splint on, and we can take that off if needed, which is nice. So he is healing, but it is just taking a long time. He did have extensive fractures of both arm bones in the lower arm, so it makes sense that it is taking a little while to heal. Jonathan is happy that he can bend his elbow now!

Well, Grace still hasn't fallen asleep, but Bob has returned from his swim, so I must say goodnight! We're praying that the clouds lift at least a little tomorrow so we can actually see Mount Rushmore!

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!!

Jonathan is 5 years old today! What a way to celerate a birthday--on vacation, surrounded by extended family! Jonathan was 2 weeks overdue when I was finally induced. I told him this morning how glad we all were that he finally decided to make his grand appearance 5 years ago today! He was my biggest baby too--9 pounds, 6 ounces.

We had hoped to get Jonathan's cast off this morning. Bob spent a lot of time on the phone last week with Tricare and Bethesda, trying to get a referral to a civilian provider out here to do it. But Bethesda took forever to get their referral in, and so it hasn't been processed by Tricare . . . the usual sort of thing you expect from Tricare. Bob and Jonathan are at the doctor's right now (1:15 PM MDT), but I think it will be VERY expensive if we get it done without having the referral already in hand. We're considering taking the cast off ourselves. Don't laugh! It's stinky, and it's already been on a week longer than it should have been! We won't be home until middle of next week, so it will be awhile until we can get back to Bethesda. We might stick him in the bathtub and see what happens . . .

Whatever we decide, we are still going to try to make it to Yellowstone this evening. When we leave my aunt's house, we'll be out of computer contact for awhile. After Yellowstone, we are heading over to Mt. Rushmore, and then we'll eventually make our way back to Amy's house for 2 days, and then on home. And on the way to Amy's we will try to pick up the PSP from Golden Corral, that is, if we can find it again, and if they kept it for us, like they said they would!

**Update** After long conversations with both Tricare and Jonathan's PCM doctor at Bethesda, she authorized him to go to the emergency room to have the cast off, since it was way past time. They did x-rays there and discovered that only one of the bones in his lower arm is fully healed, so they are going to put on a new cast. The old cast was so loose, and Jonathan got his arm caught in the screen door a few days ago, which caused him a lot of pain. That might have been enough to jar something loose. The new cast should fit better for now, so hopefully that will do the trick. I told Bob to at least wash his hand before they put the new cast on! Jonathan was in a lot of pain once they cut the old cast off, so hopefully they won't make him wait too long. It's now after 3:00 local. I'm not sure when we'll get to Yellowstone, if at all today.