Pregnancy Exercise Video Comparisons

This post will have limited appeal, but I thought it would be helpful for anyone who is pregnant and looking to increase their fitness options by selecting one or more of the myriad of pregnancy fitness DVDs available at Amazon.  It's hard to get a good sense of the reviews there at Amazon, because one reviewer will be a triathlete when not pregnant, and another will be a total couch potato who just wants to get the blood stirring a bit, so it's hard to make a good comparison.

The day after I found out I was pregnant with this baby, we left for our big space-a adventure to Hawaii, where I ate a ton of delicious food.  When we got back to the states and got stuck in California, I ate a ton of junk food in an attempt to stave off the emotional nervousness about getting back home (didn't work, LOL).  So right away I started off gaining more weight than normal for me!

After I failed the 1 hour glucose test at 16 weeks, I got really serious about exercise, which is earlier than I usually do in pregnancy.  So since then, I have been exercising pretty much daily, and actually twice a day on most days.  Usually I do some sort of pregnancy workout video in the morning after breakfast, and then Bob and I try to go on a 40 minute walk after dinner (or I'll walk on the treadmill or do a lighter exercise video).  I had thought I had a somewhat decent selection of videos, but after a few weeks of them, it became obvious that I needed to increase my choices or go slowly insane, since I still had over 20 weeks of pregnancy left!  So I bought several more from Amazon, and now I have been using them for several weeks, so I think I can give a decent comparison/review for them all.  For the record, I'm in fairly good shape because I exercise a lot, but I'm not the kind of person that you would look at and think, "Wow! There goes an athlete!"  Especially while pregnant, LOL.  So definitely middle of the road, as far as average Amazon reviewer.

We'll go in chronological order.  I got pregnant with Nathan the beginning of October, 1996, so almost 18 years ago.  This Buns of Steel Pregnancy Workout video (yes, my copy is actually a videocassette!) is definitely an antique, having been produced in 1994, and it is the only workout video from that era that I still have around.  My kids think it is hilarious because the 3 pregnant ladies are wearing maternity leotards, and the head person wears shiny nude-colored stockings.  Yes, kids, exercise wear has come a long ways in 20 years!  The problem with only having "modern" videos is that they all mainly have some modified form of pilates or yoga.  This oldie actually has a little over 25 minutes of aerobics, and you know, it really feels good to move around!  This is not an extremely strenuous workout, but it does get the heart rate up, and it is not difficult to follow.  I like the instructor--she doesn't seem too annoying to me--so I think this video is good for something different, especially when it is rainy and I know I won't be walking outside.  After the aerobics section, there is a 15 minute section of toning, which mainly focuses on legs/rear, and not too much on arms or core.  But this video gives a nice 40 minute workout that is a good change of pace from my other DVDs.

Now the first thing you will notice about this next dvd ("Super SlimDown Pilates Yoga Blend) is that it is not technically for pregnant women.  I got it out of the library after I had Grace, and I liked it so much that I bought my own copy.  And when I got pregnant with Faith (and got a specific-for-pregnancy pilates video), I realized that all but one of the sections on this dvd could be modifed for pregnancy, just like in the pregnancy pilates dvd.  This workout really flows nicely, and I always just feel really good when I finish. It's a blend of yoga and pilates, and it works all areas but not in a vigorous, sweaty way.  The only part you can't do while pregnant is a section sort of in the middle where the instructor has you lay on your tummy and do several different exercises.  I usually do several sets of push-ups (like in the Perfect Pregnancy Workout), and when I'm done, I merrily skip to the next section.  That means it takes a little over 35 minutes instead of 40, but it's okay.  When I need a shorter workout, I often pick this one, and I still enjoy doing it when I'm not pregnant!

This "Pilates During Pregnancy" dvd is the one I bought while I was pregnant with Faith and started doing more exercise once I got diagnosed with gestational diabetes.  It is good and thorough, and once you do it, you will know how to modify a lot of basic pilates moves for pregnancy.  You will need several pillows to stack behind you.  There is a 15 minute ab section, and a 25 minute legs/thighs section.  It is fairly rigorous for a beginner, I would say, but doable.  Also, the instructor is in dark clothes in what looks like an airplane hanger with concrete floors and not much natural light, so it can be hard to see what exactly she is doing.   The leg section is actually harder than the abs section, and I have never done it without getting tremendous charlie horses in my hip muscles, LOL.   It's a good workout, but not particularly relaxing, so I don't usually do it in the evenings.

The Perfect Pregnancy Workout I also bought when I was pregnant with Faith.  The instructor is a former Cirque du Soleil acrobat, and she is in amazing shape (also, she has a nice little French accent).  I really like this workout because it really does work out every part of your body ("buddy" as she would say).  You do need a chair with a back, as well as some pillows.  You can use light hand weights for some of the parts, and she also gives intermediate and advanced alternatives to some of the moves.  I personally still can't do most of the advanced moves, even after using this dvd for over 5 years and 4 pregnancies, but hey, for those former triathletes, those modifications are probably excellent.  There are lots of lunges, push-ups, arm work, and other moves more like I don't know, calisthenics, maybe?  The one weird thing is this 3 minute "keep up exercise" she does at the end, where basically you do arm circles for 3 minutes while moving around.  I have read that this is supposed to help you practice focusing during labor, but I'm just going to say it has nothing to do with labor for me (and I am pretty positive I've been through labor more than she has, LOL), so I usually just skip straight to the cool-down, especially if I am in a hurry.  This is not an easy dvd, but none of the moves are really complicated or anything.  She also works out in a darkened gym, but at least there is a little more light actually on her, so you can what she is doing a little bit easier.

These last 3 dvds are the ones I ordered back in the middle of May, so I haven't used them for as long as the others.  The 10 minutes Solutions Prenatal Pilates is a good, not-too-hard workout.  There are 5 10-minute-long sections (buns & thighs, standing, core, flexibility, and total body).  I prefer to do all of them at the same time, so I can feel like I got a good long workout and used all parts of my body.  These moves are similar to the ones in the Pilates During Pregnancy workout, but for some reason they are not as difficult or uncomfortable, so I guess I prefer this one, although it is easier.  For any of you super-paranoid types, there are a few times (about a total of 2 minutes during the flexibility segment) when you are on your back, but not for long AND you are moving around, so you don't have to worry about pressure on your vena cava, unless you are really sensitive and feel faint or something.  It's never bothered me.

Suzanne Bowen's Slim & Toned Prenatal Barre workout is a good, hard workout.  I am always totally exhausted when I finish.  There is a section for the lower body, a section for the upper body and core, and a cardio sculpt section.  Then there is a short stretching section at the end.  I do either the lower body or the upper body section, along with the cardio sculpt and the stretching, and it ends up being about 50 minutes.  I do it just twice a week (so once with the lower body and once with the upper body sections per week), because the rest of that day I'm really tired, LOL.  She does these really intense sculpting moves, where you are up on our tiptoes, but also squatting, and by the end, my legs are just shaking and burning.  Whew!  Definitely the hardest pregnancy workout dvd I have, and I can definitely see doing it while not pregnant and still being quite challenged.  The moves are all pretty small, except in the cardio section, where you actually do move your whole body around.  The instructor Suzanne is not pregnant (there is also a lady who is 35 weeks pregnant who does the workout too--she is a fitness instructor herself, so she is already in fantastic shape), and Suzanne does these modifications for those in their first trimester or for post-partum.  I don't know if I'll ever get around to being able to do the modifications, LOL.  You need a straight-backed chair for this one too, and you can use light handweights for the upper arms section.  The one weird thing about the dvd is that the studio (a lovely open loft area, like in an old downtown area) has a big black pole in the middle of it, and the camera is behind the pole.  So when the camera scrolls across the 2 ladies, all of a sudden, there is a black pole down the center of the screen for a few seconds!  It's just weird, but not a big deal.  I kept wondering--why not move everything back a bit and put the camera on the other side of the pole?!

Last but not least, there is the Fit Mommy-to-Be Prenatal Yoga with Hilaria Baldwin (who sort of needs a bigger top, because she looks like she's about to fall out during some of the moves).   I really like this video for the stretching it provides.  I really started using it at my parents' house, when my hips were bothering me from the long drive in the big van.  There are 3 sections--one that focuses on the back, one for the hips, and one for "de-stressing".  The one for the hips was tremendously helpful for my hips.  I was really surprised at how much better they felt after these deep stretches!  Each section is about 23 minutes long, so I usually do 2 of them.  The instructor is in her 2nd trimester, and there are 2 other ladies doing the workout with her, one in her first trimester, and one in her 3rd (poor thing--she looks uncomfortable!).  They show modifications you can do if you want to.  You are supposed to have pillows as well as "yoga blocks", whatever they are.  I don't have them, so I just make do, and I've been fine without them (the blocks, I mean--I do have pillows, LOL).  This is a relaxing dvd, I think, and I do enjoy doing it in the evenings.  Then I feel nice and stretched out before bed, but my heart isn't pumping away, and I'm not all sweaty.

USAFA Summer Seminar Wrap-up

So Nathan got back Friday from his week in Colorado Springs at the Air Force Academy summer seminar.  He was selected to attend--there are only 600 slots a year, with 3500 applicants, so we were really glad he was able to get in.

The candidates had to arrive at the visitors center between 9:00 and 12:00 Sunday morning, and it was impossible to get a flight out there at that time.  Fortunately, friends of ours in the Springs were kind enough to pick Nathan up at the airport Saturday night, let him spend the night there, took him to church Sunday morning, and then dropped him off at the Academy.  He had a great time at their house!  Eric is a VMI grad, so they were even able to have a little discussion about some of the merits of VMI versus the Academy.

When the candidates got there, they were issued a ton of stuff, all of which they were able to keep--3 sets of athletic clothes, 2 polo shirts, a backpack, water bottle, towel, sleep sack, and binder.  The main activity they did that day was an orientation briefing and dinner.

Monday was "doolie for a day", where they got treated like the 4th classmen ("doolies") do for most of their first year at the Academy.  So they were woken up at 5:00 by the cadre banging on their doors and shouting at them.  Then they had to do PT in the hallway until 7:00.  The candidates had been given knowledge sheets (with info about airplanes and some famous quotes) that they were drilled on, and they also were expected to know things about the other people in their element, like where they were from, favorite colors, etc.

Then they had breakfast at 7:00, where they had to eat like the doolies do, which is at attention--heads look forward, eyes only look down at the plate, feet are at a 45 degree angle, sit on the front 1/3 of the seat, hands are on the thighs.  You can move the hands to get one bite, which you have to move at a 90 degree angle (straight up and then straight over) to your mouth.  You have to put the fork back down, and your hands back on your legs, before you can start chewing.  You have to request things in a special way, even if it is right in front of you.  Not a relaxing way to eat, for sure!

Then they went to the parade field to do more athletics.  They did 8 stations, including running the bleachers, some pushups and ab stuff, sprints, and other game-type things.  Then they ate MREs for lunch, a highlight for Nathan since he had always wanted to try one.  He said it was pretty good (he had maple sausage), and that there was a ton of food in one.  Then they had a tug-of-war battle (Nathan's element won all his matches--above, they are celebrating one of them!), did a fireman's carry relay, and a push-up competition.  Lastly, they got to charge up the hill on the terrazzo, which is pretty symbolic for the Academy, because the cadets run up it when they are recognized (the end of their 1st year there), and when they graduate.

Monday night was an academic fair, where the candidates went around to different tables where the faculty for the different majors had set up.  They could ask questions and find out about the different options.  Before they walked around, there was an academic briefing, which Nathan found very helpful.  They talked about all the different opportunities available, like athletics, glider and jump teams, and so on, and they stressed how if you want to take advantage of these opportunities, then you should not pick a major which is going to be super difficult and suck up all your time.  Pick a major that you really like and are going to enjoy studying for, but not necessarily the most challenging one, especially if you want to go on and be a pilot.  It was a different perspective, and now Nathan is considering majoring in something like economics, which he had not really considered before, especially because at the Academy you already are taking so many classes including engineering classes as just basic requirements.

On Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning, everyone had 4 classes.  Nathan took an economics one, one on officership, an intro to electronics one, and a laser and optics one.  His favorite one was the electronics one because they each built a circuit and soldered it to make a device that is sort of like a "magic 8 ball", where you could ask it a question, and it cycles through answers randomly.

Tuesday afternoon they did some various team-building exercises, including this spider web one, where you have to get each team member out of a different hole in the web, and if you touch the side while in the hole, you can't use that hole anymore.  There was also a v-line, where 2 candidates had to lean on each other as the 2 lines got further apart, and there was one where everyone in the element except 3 people were blind-folded, and the people who could see had to direct the blind-folded people, who were all holding ropes, in doing this complicated thing with a bucket.

The candidates also took a tour of the athletic facilities Tuesday afternoon, and then they took a practice candidate physical assessment test.  Nathan maxed out the sit-ups and push-ups, and he got 14 out of 18 possible pull-ups.  He wants to shave a little time off his shuttle run.  His mile was okay (6:30 but max is 5:20), but that is also at altitude.  He is faster here at sea level!  He really needs to work on the basketball throw, which is a totally useless real-world test in which you kneel down and then heave a basketball (from your knees) as far as you can.  The max is 102 feet, but the average is 70.  Nathan only got a 59, but it seems like the only way to improve is just to practice that one thing, since it's a weird move.

Tuesday evening, they divided into male and female groups.  The cadre also divided into male/female and were in 2 different rooms.  The girls all went in one room, and the boys in another, and you could ask any question you wanted about cadet life.  Nathan was not real impressed by this, as the bulk of the male questions either dealt with sex or were boring, dealing with either career questions, or admission and athletic questions that were going to be covered in later briefings everyone had to sit through.  Nathan was glad to have an element leader that was a cadet, because he talked about what cadet life was like, as far as scheduling and so on, and so that was helpful.

Wednesday morning was an outside PT session.  Here Nathan demonstrates his good push-up and squat form.  Then they had the other 2 classes, which were already mentioned.  Afterward, they went to the cadet store, and Nathan bought a watch cap.  At some point in there, they all toured the chapels.

Wednesday evening they had an ROTC briefing, but Nathan said that wasn't really helpful--it was mostly just stuff that is online or that we had already heard from people at VA Tech or VMI.

Thursday morning the candidates all toured the air field, but there were no pictures of Nathan, so sadly I didn't download anything to show here.  Nathan really enjoyed it though!  First they got to try on equipment from Wings of Blue, the Academy jump team.  They talked to the candidates about how you can get 5 free jumps, which Nathan was really excited about.  Next, they sat in an airplane and 2 different gliders, a trainer glider and a lighter one for cross-country competitions.  Then they had some glider pilots talk to them about that program.

After the air field tour, they had an athletic briefing.  Nathan is thinking that club sports are the way to go, as opposed to intramural sports (which everyone has to participate in), or intercollegiate sports (which have really grueling schedules).  But if you are on the starting team for a club sport, you can still get passes for some things, but you aren't missing as many weekends, and there aren't as many practices.  Nathan is thinking--rugby!

Then they had a character briefing with a really funny master sergeant who talked about your values, vision, purpose, and your influence on other people.  

Right after that briefing, still on Thursday afternoon, there was a career fair, set up like the academic fair, where they could walk around to different tables and talk to different active duty people about things like getting into a specific field, what the opportunities are there, and so on.  The guy above is a computer engineer, but Nathan also talk ed to pilots, security forces guys, and a drone pilot.

Thursday evening was a wrap-up final session, and some parents were there.  Not us, unfortunately!  Then all the candidates stayed up late talking.  Nathan had to get up super early to catch a 6:05 flight back home.  Some people stayed up all night and then caught the 3:00 AM bus, which is the one Nathan had to take. Nathan got home safely and had a great time.  I asked him what his favorite part was, and he said, "Everything.  It was fun just to be there for everything."  But after thinking more, he decided that the doolie day was the most useful experience.

Tomorrow Nathan leaves for another week of adventure.  This time he is flying to Albuquerque, where he will participate in a pararescue orientation course that is a Civil Air Patrol special activity.  He's been training really hard for this, as it will be physically tougher than the time at USAFA, but he is really excited about it!  I'll have the complete report when he returns next Tuesday . . .

Luke is also leaving tomorrow.  He's taking a tour of all the Norfolk-area military installations with a group from their Civil Air Patrol squadron, and he'll be gone until Thursday afternoon.  It is going to be so weird to have both of the biggest boys gone at the same time!  Caleb is quite excited about his chance to be the oldest kid!

Micah

Micah has had a busy past few weeks!  On the Wednesday before we left for Ohio, while I was at my OB appointment and all his brothers and sisters were otherwise engaged and not really paying any attention to him, he decided to be helpful and feed the fish for us.  So he dumped an entire ziploc snack baggie of fish food into the tank.  None of us realized anything was amiss until Bob got home and noticed that there were flakes of fish food all over the place around the tank--and hey, there was a layer of fish food flakes coating the gravel at the bottom of the tank as well!  This little episode brought back memories of the infamous microwave incident almost 2 years ago . . .  We commenced clean-up operations, trying to scoop out the food with our net.  We actually got out quite a bit, but it was a pittance compared to the amount still left!  So we had to call in the big guns--Thursday morning Amanda L came to the rescue, with her gravel vacuum thing, which worked amazingly well, as well as some water clarifier stuff.  She left all her supplies over here, so Thursday, amid all the packing and general chaos of getting ready for a big trip, we also vacuumed out the fish tank a few more times.  Fun!  I was not at all sure the fish would survive all this, since we left on that Friday for a week.  But when we got back home, amazingly all the fish were happily swimming around.  Whew!  So we reduced the charges to "attempted murder"--ha!  Micah has now definitely been told very clearly not to touch the fish food or really anything at all related to the fish, in hopes that there will not be a repeat attempt.

Micah's next big event happened last Thursday, when he went in for his first dentist appointment.  I know I didn't take the older boys in until they were 4, but hey, everyone else is going now, so why not.  Caleb had to get some sealants put on, so I made an appointment for Micah at the same time.  He was very excited about going, until the hygienist came out and actually called his name, LOL.  Then he got all mulish and stubborn.  I went back with him, which is a first for me.  The hygienist was an absolute saint, so kind and patient.  Micah glared at her and was not at all interested in the chair going back, so she pretty much stood up and cleaned his teeth all hunched over.  Eventually Micah sort of relaxed and watched the movie, so she was able to get done.  And by the time the actual dentist came by to examine his teeth, he even was okay with reclining.  Everything looks good, thankfully.  The whole time I alternated between reminding him to obey Mommy and do what the lady was telling him to do, and telling him that only big boys go to the dentist, and he was a big boy.  He was pretty happy when it was all over, and he got a new toothbrush and bouncy ball, so maybe next time he'll have a more cooperative attitude.

All the talk about being a big boy was part of a larger conversation we have all been having with Micah lately.  You see, Micah turned 3 on April 9 and still wasn't potty-trained, the latest so far of my kids.  In fact, he really didn't have any interest in *being* potty-trained.  He would pee on the potty when asked, but with the exception of only one time, he refused to poop on there, and he never peed on the potty of his own initiative.  So we talked about how Nathan, Luke, Caleb, Jonathan, and pretty much any other boy is in his life peed and pooped in the potty and wore big boy underwear--except Drew, who peed and pooped in his diaper, and was a baby . . . and Micah, who also peed and pooped in a diaper, so he must still be a baby as well.  Unfortunately, this air-tight logical argument did nothing to sway him, but we certainly brought it up often enough!  And I told him that his days as a "baby" were numbered, because when we got back from Ohio, he was going to start wearing big boy underwear and going on the potty because I had had it with changing his diapers.  Unfortunately, the week right after we got back was full of various appointments, as well as picking up the girls and getting Nathan ready to go, so it really didn't work to just immediately launch into my plan.  I was counting on starting the whole potty-training thing the following Monday.

Well, the Friday morning after the dentist appointment, Micah pitched a huge fit about getting his (incredibly soggy) morning diaper changed, so I decided I would just not put on another diaper.  After he settled down, I told him to pick out a pair of underwear, and he picked a Cars pair.  I had basically no expectations, but later that morning, while I was doing laundry, the surprising news came that Micah had pooped on the potty!  Of his own volition!  We were all shocked!  And then he just kept right on going both pee and poop, all by himself, and he's been dry each morning since then.  So . . . that's that, I guess.  Here is Micah, enjoyed a little lollipop as a reward for his labors.

If you had ever even hinted that Micah would be the easiest to potty-train, I would have laughed myself out of the room!  But you know, potty-training (and learning to read) are skills that come to most kids pretty easily when *they* decide they are ready to do them.  So (in both cases) you can work and work and work, and be very frustrated because of a lack of progress, until *voila* the light switches on and suddenly they take ownership of it themselves and want it.  I am SO glad that I didn't try to potty-train Micah earlier, when it would have been a huge battle of wills (because everything else certainly was, and things like sitting in the carseat and getting buckled were much bigger issues to me than going on the big potty!).  During the school year, I really don't have the bandwidth at this stage of my life to constantly remind little people to try to go potty, and I definitely don't have the time to sit there and read hours of books to them while they try to decide if they need to go or not!  So maybe this will encourage someone whose child is really fighting something like potty-training.  You don't have to make this the hill to die on.  Eventually they will want it, especially if you are continuing to work on their attitude in other areas of their life!

And that brings me to the last new big thing for Micah--swim lessons!  He and Faith are taking swim lessons for 6 weeks.  Their first one was today.  Micah was (again) somewhat mulish at first, but the teacher was so patient.  He eventually was happily putting his face in the water and kicking around.  Faith is fearless in the water, so we thought it would be especially good to have her actually know how to swim so she is not a danger to herself and others!  Life is full of new and exciting opportunities for big boys and girls!

All Together Again . . . Briefly

On Wednesday, Bob took the day off, and we had a "date day", as we drove into PA to meet my parents, Aunt Claire, and the girls at Cracker Barrel.  Unfortunately, they got stuck in a terrible traffic jam around Wheeling (an unfortunate omen for travel that day, for sure), so they were about an hour later than expected.  Bob and I had a perfectly lovely drive heading west, with hardly any traffic at all!  We were driving the Sienna, which was a wonderful change of pace from driving the big van.  I could drive that little van forever I think!

The girls looked so adorable in their matching Grandma/Grandpa camp outfits--so many people commented on them and asked if they were all sisters.  They definitely look like they are all related!

We had a lovely lunch together, and all too soon it was time to go out to the vans to switch stuff around.  After a sad goodbye, we got into our vans to head our separate ways.  Bob and I were parked facing I-70, and when I looked over there, I couldn't believe it--traffic was at a standstill heading west this time--just the direction my parents and their crew were heading!  Dad ended up creeping along until the next exit, where they bailed and found a different route back to Wheeling, so that didn't end up slowing them down too much.

They all got dinner at McDonalds, and then dropped off Aunt Claire, Emily, and Elia at the Columbus airport so they could catch their flight back to Dallas . . . or not.  Mom and Dad waited around a little bit, and Aunt Claire texted that the second leg of their flight was going to be delayed.  Eventually Mom and Dad started home, and when they were about halfway there, Aunt Claire texted with the terrible news that their flight wasn't going anywhere that night because of mechanical problems, and she was waiting in a huge line to find out if they would be able to go to a hotel! They eventually got put in one, but it was far away, it was late, they were all really exhausted, they didn't have any luggage, and the flight was going to leave at 0600 the next morning!  They slept but couldn't catch the 4:30 shuttle bus, so they had to take a taxi to the airport.  Eventually they got there, where they had to fly down to Tampa and then up to St. Louis before finally getting back to Dallas.  What a nightmare!!  Emily and Elia were real troopers the whole time, and Aunt Claire deserves some kind of medal for her efforts!  She flew back to Salt Lake really early Friday morning, and I'm sure it will take a month for her to recover from this whole adventure, LOL.

So we were all back together again for a few days.  Micah and Drew were so thrilled to have the girls back!  But it didn't last long, because this afternoon Nathan left for the USAFA summer seminar.  His flight got delayed as well, but it did eventually take off about 2 hours late.  At least it was a direct flight, so we didn't have to worry about connections!  He was really excited about this week, so hopefully he will have a really fun time!  I imagine that, like with the girls, we will miss him, but he will not really be missing us at all, LOL.

Happy Birthday, Jonathan!!

Jonathan turned 11 while we were in Ohio!  We actually started celebrating early, before we left.  Bob took Nathan, Luke, and Jonathan to Nathan's new favorite place, a military surplus store, for Nathan to get one last thing for PJOC, which is coming up soon.  Jonathan fell in love with this hat, so Bob bought him an early birthday present.  It's sort of an "Ohio Jonny" look.

On his actual birthday, Nathan, Luke, and I had been doing some thrift store shopping in Ohio.  We also had to stop by Walmart, so we picked up some special after-lunch desserts for everyone, since I wasn't making a cake or anything.  We found this adorable mini-cheese sampler, with 4 different kinds of cheesecake, as well as a small container of this "chocolate mousse dessert".  It was all really yummy, and everyone enjoyed tasting both things!

For dinner that day, we went to Youngs.  Jonathan picked a hot fudge ice cream sundae for his dessert.  He had never had one before!  He picked chocolate peanut butter for the ice cream to go in it.  He enjoyed it, but he couldn't eat it all, so Bob finished it.  He reported that it was "quite rich", LOL.

Jonathan just yesterday was able to use a Walmart gift card Grandma and Grandpa gave him to buy this nerf crossbow and replacement bullets!  That was quite popular around here yesterday, and I foresee lots of random bullets around in the next several months.

Jonathan is such a fun addition to our family!  You might think that being the 4th boy, he would constantly be trying to keep up with his older brothers, but he very much marches to the beat of his own drum.  He's still got the artistic talent, and he is also very interested in birds.  He tells us he would like to be an ornithologist when he grows up.  He really wants to get a pet bird, but I've told him he has to wait a few years.  It took several years for us to get a bunny, and I always wanted one of those!  Birds are so loud and messy, LOL--I think more noise in the house would drive me over the edge right now!  And we really don't have room anywhere for another cage.  In the meantime, we were all pleased to see that our birdhouse in the front yard has another occupant.  It must be another wren, since once again, this bird built its nest really late.  Anyway, he can observe that bird and her babies all he wants!  A "pet" with no responsibilities for me!

Ohio Trip

Last Friday we drove to Ohio for a week.  It was a wonderful vacation--so very relaxing!  It just wasn't long enough!  Bob actually had a TDY there, so he worked during the week, but even that was much less stressful than the Pentagon, and it was so lovely when he would call to say he was on his way home, and then *poof* 5 minutes later, he would be home, unlike here, where it takes over an hour.

We were able to spend good time with Amy and her family.  Before leaving, I had gone through some pictures, looking for baby pictures of Caleb for his TNT yearbook, and I found some really cute ones of Nathan, Luke, Caleb, and Zachary.  Now all our kids take up a lot more room on the couch!

We went over to Amy's house Saturday afternoon, she and I went out to lunch on Tuesday, and then Tuesday we all went over to their house for dinner, and the older 4 boys spent the night.  It's never enough time, though!

Monday we made the obligatory trip to Youngs, this time celebrating Jonathan's birthday.  It was delicious as usual.  Luke had the flavor of the week, which was peaches and cream, while Nathan tried a new flavor, salted caramel pretzel crunch.  That was quite yummy!  We all sampled another new flavor, "maple waffles and bacon".  It was good, but there were little pieces of waffle in the ice cream, and since you were tasting the bacon, these little chewy things made it seem like you were chewing little bits of bacon at the end, and well, it was just a little disconcerting.  The taste was good, though.  Interesting concept.  I stuck with the world's best flavor, chocolate peanut butter, of course.  Why mess with perfection??

Family picture on this nice shade thing Youngs has added!  The weather was actually really, really nice the whole week we were there--not very hot or humid--which made it nice to go to the park, and for Bob and me to take walks in the evening.

Wednesday was a VERY special day.  We picked up the boys from Amy and Jason's, and when we got back, our special company had arrived!  Aunt Claire, Emily, and Elia were in from Utah and Texas!  My girls had been on pins and needles, waiting to see their cousins, so it was a very joyous reunion, with lots of giggles and squeals!

Thursday we went to the base bowling alley for their "eat and exercise" deal--2 games, shoes, and $4.00 worth of lunch coupons for $8.00 a person!  The kids had a good time, although there were some rough patches.  Anna bowled for the first time without using the cute little dinosaur thing they have to help the little kids roll the ball down the lane.  Caleb and Jonathan bowled with Grandpa, Dad, and the older 2 boys, in the lane without the gutter guard, which of course led to many gutter balls and frustrations.  Definitely a learning curve there, and we just don't bowl often enough to get it down!  But by the end of 2 games, everyone was having fun.

Bob, Nathan, Luke, and I had our own little miracle Thursday afternoon.  All 3 of our dependent ID cards were set to expire on July 22, 4 years after that fateful day at the National Zoo when my wallet got stolen.  Well, Nathan and Luke aren't both going to be home to go renew the ID cards during the 30 day window, plus we have to drive to Ft. Belvoir (because Bethesda is just a total pain, with huge wait times).  So I was hoping we could renew them at Wright-Pat, even though it was more than 30 days out.  After we ate, the 4 of us ran over to Pass and ID, where we were greeted by a room full of people, and a sign on the door saying that wait times were significantly increased because people were supporting Corona.  Ack!  So we signed in and then went back to finish bowling.  After we were done, we drove home, put Drew down, and headed back over.  The room was a lot less full, but there were still probably 40 people in there.  It was a little after 3:00 by that time, and the place closed at 4:00, so I was feeling pretty hopeless and discouraged.  But after about 5 minutes, our name was called!  We went back, and the lady told Bob she could only do dependent ID cards, not CAC cards.  Bob just happened to write on the sign-in sheet "dependent ID cards", instead of "mil ID cards", which is what everyone else wrote down.  Wow!  And the lady never mentioned a thing about it not being within the 30 day window. So it took less than 10 minutes to get new ID cards for all 3 of us.  What a blessing!  I was amazed!

Aunt Claire is a "pro" at coloring, so here she is showing the girls her tricks, specifically outlining.  We are so glad she could come out to Ohio too, and that we could overlap with her visit!

Friday we left to drive home--but we had 3 more extra seats in the van, since we left Anna, Grace, and Faith in Ohio for Grandma/Grandpa camp!!  They waved us off enthusiastically, but I think they were all happy to see us go so they could start in on all the fun things they had planned!  The first thing they did was bake pies--blueberry and strawberry.  We were sorry to miss those!  The girls are wearing aprons from my Grandma, which is such a fun connection.  They are also doing other fun things, like going back to Youngs to play putt-putt and go down the giant slide, visiting the Boonshoft kids museum, and the Newport Aquarium, as well as going to the park, playing in the sprinklers, and just enjoying time with Aunt Claire and their cousins!  The week of Grandma/Grandpa camp is definitely a highlight for the girls!

As for us, the house is strangely quiet without the girls.  Micah asks before we do anything or go anywhere, "Now, where are Anna, Grace, and Faith??  I am the lone girl in a sea of testosterone (while my dad is the lone male in a sea of estrogen, LOL).  We'll be meeting halfway to pick them up soon enough, and I know the van will be full of excited little voices telling us about all the fun they had!

Pregnant at 41

Well, I was 22 weeks on Thursday, so over halfway done.  Yay!  I had an OB appointment on Wednesday, and everything was fine.  The doctor said everything on the ultrasound looked good.  She also said I was only a point or so off on my failed glucose tolerance test at 16 weeks.  I guess it's good that I wasn't pulling in sky-high numbers, LOL.  She said for my 28 week glucose test, I had the choice of taking the 1 hour one again, or just going straight to the 3 hour one, since my 16 week one wasn't very abnormal.  Ha--I don't have a chance of passing the one hour test, and I'm almost positive I won't pass the 3 hour one, so I definitely opted to go straight to the 3 hour one!  I don't want to wast my time AND have to drink more of that nasty glucola that I have to!  The baby's heart rate was the low 140s, which would normally be a boy heart rate for me.  I guess I'll be bringing blue and pink outfits to the hospital this time, just in case the ultrasound was wrong!

I was concerned about my weight because I feel like I have gained more this pregnancy than in all my others.  I think I've gained about 20 pounds, and usually I only gain a total of 30 pounds.  But she calculated I had only gained 16 pounds, which she was fine with.  Maybe I wrote down a higher number for my "original" weight?  Who knows?  That got me to thinking about differences in pregnancy now that I am over 40, and metabolism is a big one--I gain weight really easily now!  I've always been able to just eat normally and not gain too much, but now I find if I am not really careful, I'll gain a pound every few days.  Ack!  And this is with exercising twice a day most days, ever since my failed glucose test!  Crazy.  I know it's going to be really, really tough to get this weight off once I deliver too.  Ah, something to look forward to.

I also am already having a lot of round ligament pain.  That may actually not be a function of being over 40, but rather of this being my 10th pregnancy though.  But if the pain can be so bad at 21 or 22 weeks, I am really dreading weeks 38 and 39!  It's really bad at night, and it can be hard to fins a good sleeping position that doesn't cause ligament cramps.  I'm going to have to start wearing my maternity support belt already during the day, especially when I am walking, I think!

I think those are the only big things I've noticed, so hopefully no one is scared off by a pregnancy at such an advanced maternal age, LOL.  The biggest thing is that being pregnant is not the novel condition that it was back with numbers 1 and 2.  No time for naps or any other special treatment!  It's more like just a normal, everyday condition--which is good in some ways, but hard in others.  Oh well, only 18 more weeks to go!  I think I can, I think I can . . .

Camping!

This weekend we went camping with a big group of homeschooling friends.  Last year, the weather was unseasonably cold, and we all froze.  This year, the weather was absolutely *perfect*--lows 70s during the day, and 50s at night.  I hope that doesn't mean next year is slated to be unbearably hot!

Packing for a camping trip involving 11 people is quite a logistical challenge, to say the least.  This year I actually typed up a list, which really helped.  There were only a few items we needed to add to list once we got back home.  The food is definitely the biggest challenge.  Our family eats so much, especially when all those growing boys are outside all day long exercising! 

We had the same 2 tent set-up as last year, with the 4 boys in the red tent that has served us so well since Colorado days, and the other 7 of us in the brown tent we got last year from Costco.
                                        
 With the new baby coming, next year I am planning to move Micah on up to the tent with the other big boys.  I always have trouble with little kids in sleeping bags--they wiggle around during the night, ending up sideways and completely uncovered.  At a consignment sale in March, I found this "toddler travel bed".  It comes with 6 styrofoam strips of equal length--2 for each side, and one for each end.  You slide them in the sleeves, then velcro the corners together, making a little frame for the flat little mattress.  I put Micah's sleeping bag in there, and it worked perfectly!  He didn't move sideways at all, and he stayed perfectly covered, sleeping like a rock each night!

Drew wasn't quite so cooperative.  He was cold the first night, and woke up a few times, but the second night was warmer (and he was so exhausted), so you would think he would have slept great.  But alas, it rained a little bit, and I guess that woke him up, and he ended up crying several times, making a restless night for me.  At least it didn't bother anyone else!  

 Once again, we brought construction toys for the littles to play with.  When we were getting organized, I could not find the brown paper sack in the garage, but I did find a set of 5 little trucks at Target.  But as we were loading up, I did find the bag, so we ended up with 3 bigger vehicles and 5 smaller ones.  Since there were mainly girls leading the playing, the big trucks became the "mommies", and the little ones were the babies.  Lots of happy little construction families, building themselves houses!  It was really cute--until Godzilla Micah or Drew would destroy all the houses and roads, leading to great frustration all around, especially the more tired everyone got.

 Christine gave the boys some camping cooking lessons Saturday morning on their lovely big Costco cooking stove.  We once again borrowed the L's stove--just as we have been for the past 16 years of camping!  Maybe one of these days we'll invest in our own . . .

 Saturday after breakfast we all hiked to the waterfall.  The older kids all went up to the top of the falls with Bob (most of them ending up wet, at least their shoes, if not more), but I was not sure it was a good idea for Micah, Drew, and me to attempt that.  So we stayed at the bottom, and Micah and Drew climbed all over the little rocks there.  Thankfully they both stayed dry, LOL.  Micah was very proud of himself for climbing up on top of this stump all by himself!

This was the same hike we did last year, where on the way back Micah pitched a huge temper tantrum after lagging farther and farther behind.  So I had to carry him, and in the midst of all the drama, I totally missed a trail intersection, and I marched off down a different trail.  This is now known in family lore as "the time when Mom got lost", although I always point out I was not technically "lost".  Once I realized I was on the wrong trail, I turned around and retraced my steps!  Anyhow, nothing like that happened this time.

 The only drama was that Faith somehow acquired a splinter on the hike (she is some sort of splinter magnet?  At least she didn't shriek and scream bloody murder like she did in Sacramento!)  So Nathan had to get part of it out on the hike, and then both he and I worked on the last part once we got back to the campsite.  She looks like she is even laughing a bit here, but don't be fooled--Faith is not our "stoic" one, LOL.  Ah, the drama of girls.

 Saturday night we started a new tradition--a Mexican night with friends!  I made 10 pounds of Amy's nacho meat and beans Thursday so we could just heat that up, along with 2 huge bags of tortilla chips and sour cream.  Christine brought taco shells,cheese, homemade guacamole, tomatoes, salsa, and lettuce, and Shannon brought more chips and salsa, plus brownies and cookies for dessert.  And of course we had s'mores!  It was so yummy and easy!

 Here Nathan is demonstrating a card trick to an interested audience.

 Isaac took Drew on some ripstick rides, which Drew loved.  Drew does not live the life of an average 18 month old, LOL.  He looked so cute in the helmet!

 Sunday we had church in the morning, and then after lunch, we mustered up the energy to go for another hike, this time to a lake.  Drew was absolutely and completely exhausted after his restless night, and he zonked out in the backpack, much to our great relief.  The hike was mostly downhill on the way there, and the last section was pretty steep, so we were wondering how the girls and Micah would do on the way back.  There is a little beach at the lake, and the girls all wore their swimsuits.  Faith had the most fun, I think.  Grace dipped one toe in, got it muddy, and decided she would rather play on the playground with Micah and Drew.  Anna went in but was also grossed out by the slimy gook on the bottom, and she told us she was definitely NOT going in the lake next year!  As we were getting ready to head back up the trail, another family who was camping with us drove by.  They offered to take back as many kids as would fit, so we very happily sent back the 3 girls and Micah.  Shannon also went back with her little girl, as well as Elena.  That made the hike back much more pleasant for all of us!  It was definitely a steep climb at the beginning, and I'm sure Micah and the girls would have complained vigorously, LOL.  Luke wore the backback with Drew for the way back, so he gets lots of bonus points there.  Halfway back, Craig McC took his older 3 boys on a different trail to do some rock climbing.  Nathan was quite excited about that, so he went too.

When we got back, we began the laborious process of tearing everything down.  We had a bit of a time crunch--there was a potluck dinner at 6:00, and we wanted to be done before then!  We got one tent down by 6:00.  They go up faster than they go down!  After the potluck (we brought teriyaki chicken strips that I cooked at home and just reheated there), I continued tearing down.  Nathan went to work on 2 "pie iron contest" recipes.  A pie iron is a square metal thing that opens up and is on 2 long poles, so you can stick something in there and cook it in the coals of a fire.  They've had this contest for several years, but we didn't even have a pie iron before last weekend, when Bob ordered 2 from Amazon!  They are fun little things for camping, and you can definitely make yummy things in them.  Nathan made a caramel apple pie one in a crescent roll crust, and another one with hot fudge topping and coconut (I didn't try that one, if you can believe it).

Everyone had lots of input for the chef.  It was like an episode of "Chopped"!  So much fun!

So after the contest, we were able to finish getting loaded up, and we finally got home around 10:15--exhausted and filthy!  Everyone except Nathan, Luke, Caleb, Bob and me were fast asleep, so we just brought them all in and put them straight to bed.  We unloaded the bare minimun, some of us took showers, and then we fell asleep into bed.  It is so lovely to be in one's own bed, especially after camping!  Baths, showers, and laundry were the first things on the agenda after breakfast, though.  I'm still tired. I think it will take a few days to recover from all the fun, but we are all looking forward to next year!

Testing's Done Too!

I'm in charge of standardized testing for our co-op, and that is the last big thing for me each school year, so it is always such a huge relief to have it over and done!

We tested Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but one boy was sick yesterday and couldn't come, so I had to go to his house and finish testing him this afternoon.  It didn't take long, and I was able to tape up the big box o' tests at his house and take it straight to the UPS store to ship it off.  Yay--gone!

We had a much smaller group testing this year.  We only had 15 families (29 students), down from 21 families and around 40 students last year, which was down from the year before.  I think the main difference is that now you can administer both Iowa and Stanford tests at home (used to be just Iowa) to just your own kids, and a lot of the younger families are choosing that option.  If I only had a few kids, then maybe I would do that as well, but for me, it would take forever, and our house is not really the nice, quiet testing environment one would hope for, LOL.  So it is better to do it in a group.  Plus, as my kids get into 4th or 5th grade, I would want them to be used to testing in a group setting anyway, so I'm sure I would choose a group testing option at that point.  Unfortunately, in today's society, knowing *how* to test is a really important skill.  Might as well practice for a few years while it doesn't mean anything.

On that note, it was Grace's first year testing, and she loved it, as does Anna, the old pro.  Anna said on Wednesday morning, "I wish testing was 5 days, not 3!"  They think it is easy, and they love having special snacks like M&Ms with raisins to eat on their breaks, when they get to play outside on the playground (praise the Lord for 3 beautiful days of weather!).  The younger 3 kids had an absolute ball in the nursery with a few other kids and the wonderful volunteer moms who watched them.  I thought Micah especially might have issues, since he is so resistant to the church nursery now (and because by Wednesday, he was absolutely fried and needed to sleep longer), but he was fine with it too.  I'm sure it helped that Faith was in there too, as well as some other "big" kids.

With such a small number of families, it was a challenge to be able to have enough people to administer the tests.  The high school parents were fantastic about volunteering to test, but their kids are only there Monday and Tuesday, so I had to scramble to fill all the holes on Wednesday!  But it all worked out.  Whew!

Nathan and Luke didn't test this year, since they had both just taken the ACT in April.  I'm going to send those scores in to the county in July.  Tuesday they greeted an honor flight (so nice that Nathan can drive now!!), and Wednesday they had their last online history class.  So now they are done too, except for studying for the SAT II tests for US history and chemistry.

As for me, I am so tired!  For some reason, testing really wears me out.  I guess it's just being responsible for everything.  I'm glad it's over, and I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend, remembering all our brave soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom.  I do not take our freedoms lightly, and I know they have come at a very high price.  I see some of that price every time I go to Bethesda, and also when I go to the commissary and drive by Arlington Cemetery.  And it reminds me to pray for those in other countries who don't have these freedoms, like Meriam, the pregnant Christian Sudanese woman who has been sentenced to death for her faith, and for Pastor Saeed in Iran, who actually in an American, but is being held and tortured over there for his faith.  I encourage you to pray for them, and other persecuted believers around the world, as well this Memorial Day weekend and then keep on praying!

Finishing Up!

Ahhh, it's my favorite time of the year--the time when everything is finishing up and winding down.  The elementary co-op finished up the first week in May with a fun graduation picnic.  Now Caleb is in Rivendell full-time too!

We had our last Rivendell meeting Tuesday afternoon.  First Christine made a fun Jeopardy game for the younger kids to review their memory work, which was a huge hit.  Then we had our traditional ice cream party, complete with loads of toppings--sliced strawberries and bananas, walnuts, M&Ms, 3 different kinds of cookie crumbs, sprinkles, whipped cream, and chocolate, hot fudge, and caramel sauces.  Yummy!!

On Tuesday Nathan took the AP US Government exam.  He self-studied for that class, so we'll see how it ends up.  He felt pretty good about it--he was studying pretty diligently there at the end!  This afternoon he and Luke both took the AP microeconomics exam.  Christine prepared them really well for that exam, so they were fairly confident about it, unlike most of the other students in the room!  Those are the only APs they are taking, so now they are done, which is a huge relief!  We are currently all enjoying those little Dove chocolate-covered cranberries, as well as apple slices and caramel dip, for a special after-testing treat.  Not all their testing is done, though--they still will take SAT subject tests for US history and chemistry on June 7.  But for today--we celebrate!

Testing through our co-op is Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, so Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace are gearing up for that next week.  I'm just sending in Nathan and Luke's ACT scores from April for them, so they don't need to take the Stanford tests.  We have a much smaller group this year--only 15 families are testing with us.  That made it a little tricky for me (I'm the one in charge of it for the co-op) to find enough testers for the grade levels, but I think we're okay.  If we go down much lower, though, something might have to change. I'm still thinking through all that.  I think more people are just testing their own kids at home, since now you can do that with both Iowa Basic and Stanford.  That probably works great if you only have a few kids, but it would take a really long time for me, and what would I do with everyone else for all that time?  So we'll see.  But anyway, after testing is done next week, I'll be well and truly done, which will be wonderful!  Then we will just have to work through the summer to finish math books (we're behind where I want people to be) and Latin for Caleb and Jonathan.  And my big school-related priority for the summer is getting Faith reading fluently.  She's really close! 

And on that note, I'm off to exercise.  Some of us have to pay dearly for "celebrations"!

Ultrasound!

This afternoon I had my 20 week ultrasound at Bethesda.  I drove there, and Bob metro-ed in from the Pentagon.  Once again (like the other ultrasounds I've had at Bethesda only), the tech took me back and conducted the first part of the ultrasound, with all the measurements and images for the doctor to look at, in complete silence.  I took a nice nap, since I couldn't see the screen at all, while Bob just waited in the waiting room and read.

Eventually I realized it seemed to be taking a long time, and the tech was really pressing around.  I must have looked questioningly, because then she told me that the baby was facing away from her, and she was trying to get a picture of the face!  Eventually she told me to get up, use the restroom, and try to get the baby to change positions, while she showed the pictures to the radiologist.  I did all that, she came back with the radiologist, and when I laid back down and she tried again, the baby had turned, so the tech could get the pictures she wanted, and the doctor was happy with that.  While the tech went out to get Bob, the doctor did sit down and scan around himself, but he never said anything, so I don't know what that was about.

After Bob got there, and the doctor left, the tech spent about 3 minutes showing us the baby (everything looked good to me, for what it's worth, LOL), told me the due date from her measurements was Sept. 25, which is exactly the date from my LMP, and said she thought everything looked good, but that the radiologist would look at all the pictures and give a final report to the OB.  Then she tried to get a shot between the legs, and the baby was not really very cooperative!  The baby kept turning away from the screen, and one leg was raised.  I guess the tech hadn't looked at that area before . . .?  Anyhow, eventually the baby deigned to turn and move the one leg, so we could get a brief glance, and it *appears* that this baby is a girl!  The glance was brief, but the tech immediately started calling the baby "her", so maybe the tech actually had looked earlier and gotten a better view?  She didn't seem to be that concerned about the uncertainty!

So we're thinking it is a girl, which is what I had sort of thought it might be.  I have been more tired this pregnancy, and I was very tired in my pregnancy with Anna, who was also the first girl after boys.  Also, I had a terrible time with itching with Anna, and my left hand has had the same sort of rash I had with her off and on since I found out I was pregnant.  These aren't very scientific clues, obviously, but they led me toward thinking this baby might possibly be a girl!  Maybe some sort of hormonal difference?  My boy pregnancies are basically symptom-less.  I don't have many issues with girl pregnancies either, so any difference is bound to be a little thing!  Luke has been thinking it's a girl too--because a girl would complete the pyramid of first 4 boys, then 3 girls, then 2 boys, and finally 1 girl on top.  As a math major, I am all about the patterns, LOL.

Now we move on to considering names (I guess we will still have to come up with a boys name, just in case, but there we are really scraping the bottom of the barrel!), and to where this new little one will eventually fit, bedroom-wise.  It's a good thing we have a big walk-in closet, with a window, even!  Drew had the closet as a bedroom for over a year, and this one will follow in his footsteps.  I will say it is hard to believe that even as we think about where to put another kid, we have to also start thinking about kids moving out.  : (  That is so sad!  But we will have about a year together before Nathan graduates, so right now we will just think happy thoughts about that, and not weepy, hormonal, pregnant thoughts about him leaving . . .

Rugby Tutorial

Today I spent 4 hours watching rugby.  Nathan had a game in downtown DC, at Gonzaga High School.  It was a bit tricky to find, since our GPS decided we should take the scenic route, and we meandered through the monuments and the tunnels by the Capitol for awhile, but we did indeed make it.  I watched the last half of a game that was in progress, all of the "A side" game, and then all of the "B side" game, which was the one Nathan played in.  That's a lot of rugby (and sun) for one day!  Now that I have all the experience from this season, I am taking it upon myself to explain the basics of the game for those of you who are as in the dark about this sport as I used to be.

Rugby starts off with a kickoff, like a lot of sports.  When the other team gets the ball, they run, and even when they get tackled, they just keep handing the ball off, without stopping play. The ref hardly blows his whistle!  Sometimes the play gets stopped with no penalty, and then a "scrum" happens.  Nathan is the "scrum half" for his team.  The 2 teams meet in this complicated hug sort of thing, and (if they have the ball), Nathan rolls the ball down the middle (but more to his team's side).  There is lots of grunting and pushing of the whole pile, while the players kick around at the ball with their feet (still with their arms locked together).

Nathan runs around to the back of his side, and eventually the ball squirts out (that's the plan anyhow--sometimes the other team kicks it out their side).  He grabs it, if possible, and then he laterals it slightly behind him to the backs that are waiting.  Then they start running, and the play starts again.

There is a lot of tackling, but amazingly, not too many injuries.  And none of the bone-jarring crunching you hear in football either!  Nathan says when you aren't wearing a helmet and pads, you are a lot more careful about tackling, and you definitely don't use your head as a weapon!

When someone gets tackled, the team forms a "wall" (or, if you want to be technical, a "ruck"), and the guy on the ground tries to get the ball out behind him to his teammates, who then continue the play.  No whistles!  The ideal plan is to pitch the ball to one back, who then pitches it just slightly behind himself to another waiting guy when it looks like the first guy is going to get tackled, and then on to a 3rd or even 4th guy, as they try to make the turn up field.

When the ball goes out of bounds, there is a throw-in, but unlike in soccer, the 2 teams have these "flyer" people who get hoisted up in the air by the waistbands of their shorts and try to bat the ball towards their waiting teammates.  Like a cheerleading stunt or something!

Also the above picture shows something a bit unusual about rugby--shirtless guys everywhere.  Each rugby team can only have like 15 jersey numbers, and the number you are is dependent on your position.  So when Nathan is scrum half, he is always #9, as is the scrum half on the other side.  If someone goes in as a sub, then the guy he is replacing has to peel off his sweaty jersey, and the sub puts it on.  Nice!  So waiting subs just stand around with no shirt on half the time.  I had really wondered about this whole jersey thing--I couldn't understand why the teams couldn't afford to get shirts for everyone!  Nathan had to explain it to me on the ride home today, LOL.

When someone eventually crosses the goal line (which is called a "try"--the actual score is, I mean), the team gets 5 points and a kick for 2 extra points if it goes through the goal posts.  But the kicker has to kick the ball (always just a drop kick, never with a tee or anything) from the spot where the guy who scored crossed the goal line, so if he was way off to one sideline, then the kicker has a crazy angle.  The ideal case, obviously, is to run it in right down the middle of the field!

So those are the basics of play.  It is really a fun and exciting game, especially because there is always something happening!  If one team feels like they are too close to their own goal line, then they just up and kick it away--and then the other team might catch the ball and kick it right back!  Or run with it or whatever.  Plenty of options, and the game just keeps on going.  I can't believe more people don't play/watch this game!  My friend Johanna said on facebook that she thinks it is because people don't think it is a "safe" game, since everyone isn't covered in pads from head to toe.  All I can say to that is that I've seen several very serious injuries in our years of football, but the worst I've seen this season of rugby is a guy with a bloody nose!  Not that injuries don't happen in rugby of course--Bob played intramural rugby at USAFA and crawled off the field on his elbows, needing both ACLS replaced--but I'm not seeing the concussions and other things that are making the news in football right now.  You should definitely try to watch a game!  You might get hooked!

Celebrations at CiCi's

Last night we had dinner at CiCi's, which is a great place to take a big family with lots of growing boys.  We went there for 2 reasons.  One, it was Grace's actual birthday, she likes pizza, pasta, salad, and dessert, and I was happy to not cook.

Two, it was an awards ceremony for Nathan's CAP drill team that participated in the National Cadet Competition the end of March.  Well, technically it was just a "regional" competition, since, due to the sequestration, they didn't have enough money to actually have the national competition this year.  Still this was the first year Nathan's squadron had entered a team, and most of the team was really, really young and low in rank.  It was a good building year.

They started practicing in January, and it was a huge time commitment!  I was so thankful for Lynnea, who shared the carpooling duties, since her daughter Helena was also on the team.  Practices on Tuesdays were especially crazy once Nathan started rugby.  He would get home around 5:43, Lynnea would pull into the driveway, he would leap out of the car and take a 1 minute shower, throw on his uniform pants and shirt, grab his shoes and whatever else he needed, then race out the door again so they could get to CAP at 6:15 to practice before the meeting.  Whew!

There were several aspects to the competition:  a volleyball tournament (they placed first), a mile run (they placed second), a written exam (2nd), standard drill, innovative drill (2nd), panel quiz (first), and a uniform inspection.  Overall, they placed second.   Last night Nathan was awarded the "most valuable cadet" trophy, voted on by the team!  He was their second place runner for the team, and he answered most of the questions for the panel quiz, leading the team to their victory there!

So it was a really fun night!  Drew approved of the food, for sure!