Why I Haven't Been Blogging

• 3 weeks, 6 days left
• 12 appointments left
• Nesting done, whole house is organized, decluttered and clean (for now)
• Visited friends (2 days this week)
• Piano lessons done until September
• Leg cramps every night
• Swollen feet and very swollen healing broken leg
• Potty every 10 minutes, literally
• Hurts to move
• Hurts to walk
• Soon to be 5 year old, birthday party to get ready for (we are having her party early, since I will be coming home from the hospital just 2 days before her actual birthday.
• School curriculum ordered and received and half read through and almost ready to start school...I think.
• Having a hard time thinking about school, it's still summer!!
• 3 year old potty trained, but not poopy trained. How do you get that poop smell off your hands, even after washing my hands 3-4 times? "Where does poopy go?" "In the pot." She knows the answer very well, just can't seem to get it there.
• Can't sleep at night
• Still throwing up and gagging especially after my bedtime snack that I'm never hungry for.
• This is why my blogging has lagged, I have been not feeling the greatest, not being the most positive, yet at the same time, feeling very, very blessed because of all of this.
• Healthy baby constantly kicking and moving inside me
• Baby in my arms soon.
• Baptism day soon
• Middle of the night feedings
• Nursing my sweet baby
• Going for walks with a stroller again soon
• Wonderful husband who brings home pizza after a busy appt day, just knowing I am too pooped to cook and do dishes!
• Big sisters and big brother very excited for sweet baby to come out soon!
• NO MORE DOCTORS SOON
• Baby in my arms soon

Any Guesses?

Can anyone guess who's mailbox this is? You never know when the crazy blogging lady with a camera will be driving by your mailbox...no one is safe. Isn't it a cool one though? It's some kind of barrel thing. I think it's great!

I Wonder...

Why, on the day I pray specifically for patience and love and joy for one child, I am full of impatience for another child?

It's Official!

I can no longer paint my toes.

My Sweet Boy

My sweet boy, Jedi
Who, wouldn't forget to take Jesus with camping but wanted him to stay and protect us girls for his Canada trip!

His Grandpa asked his girl cousin (his age) if she missed her twin little sisters (age 5). She responded "No Way!!" (She is in Canada fishing too)

When Grandpa asked Jedi, if he missed his 3 little sisters, he responded, sadly and honestly, "Yes, I miss them a lot!"

Tonight on the phone, I asked him if he was having fun and he said "yeah, but I really really miss you guys!"


I'm so thankful to have such a sensitive and sweet little boy and hope he stays that way forever!
We all miss you too Jedi and can't wait to see you tomorrow night!




***Jedi and daddy are fishing in Canada with Grandpa and Grandma and my husband's brother and his daughter. (and will soon be home!)

St Bridget of Sweden

St Bridget, Pray for us.

Missing My Boys!

My boys left Sunday for Canada (about 9 hours away) fishing! I am really missing them. This is Jedi's first big fishing trip with daddy and Grandpa and Grandma. Every year, my husband's dad takes him fishing in Canada. They called last night and I could just tell in Jedi's voice how much fun he was having. It was great to hear him so excited! He caught the most Northerns and the biggest (30 inches).


I, on the other hand, am exhausted with the girlies. They are very busy and Jedi is not here to play with them. Daddy gave Ballerina Rosie instructions to order me to lay down and rest. She seems to only tell me this though when I am cooking or eating or giving baths!!


Babycakes is pretty cute on the phone. "Ummm, daddy, are lou home?" "Ummmm, daddy, jus say one more thing" "Uh, are lou gonna come home? Lou not home right?"


The best thing was hearing Ballerina Rosie and Mary telling Jedi that they loved him and really missed him, and calling him the "ruler of fish"!


They will be home Friday, I can't wait. We miss them so much!

(So much for Wordless Wednesday, I told you, I cannot do it!)

Summer Flowers (Wordless Wednesday) I Did It!

Straight To The Garbage!

Since my parents have become SSPX followers, I've periodically been sent these types of articles from my dad. Nice, huh? Now, for me, just reading the title, I can tell it's not a good book. This from my dad, who used to watch EWTN all the time. I have never watched EWTN and seen anything bad at all. Nothing contrary to the faith at all.

SO, straight to the trash it goes. I've told him not to waste his money, as it goes to the trash, but he doesn't mind, I guess. (yes, that's my belly in the way of the photo) I don't call it "closed minded" I call it standing up for my faith. My Roman Catholic faith, in union with the Holy Father.

Knowing

This review is not a good review, and if you don't like spoilers, don't read on.

I was very disappointed in this movie. I really like Nicholas Cage and usually his movies. This one was not one of them. I thought it would be an action, end of the world type movie where he saves everyone. Not so. This turned out to be a really weird alien movie. The writer tried to bring a little faith into the movie, but clearly didn't know how. He seems to have no faith himself and therefore couldn't portray it in the movie. Towards the end you find out that the weird, creepy guys that follow them are actually nice aliens, yet, somehow might possibly be angels, as they transformed and went up in their space ship, they kind of resembled spiritual type angels. It just loses all reasons for watching the movie. My husband and I just looked at eachother and said "STUPID"! What a waste of time.

One Week of Reading!

A week ago, Friday, my husband brought home the first book A Child Called "it" and once I started it, I could NOT put it down. I wanted to find out what happened to this poor boy, when and if things got better. Now, I told my husband I'd have nightmares if I read it, but it was just too tempting sitting there waiting for me to read it! I think quite a few people have read these and I am late to even talk about them, as every person I mention them too, has read them!

Every free moment I had, I was reading these, including laying on my left side (resting) each day! The first 2 books were the most shocking and sad and "can't put the book down" types, the 3rd book, when Dave is an adult, is much better as it is really him trying to deal with the past. There is still some shocking stuff that comes out in the 3rd book. It sure makes you want to just hug and kiss your own children. These books are an amazing true testimony of forgiveness and hope for so many bad things out there in the world.

Update on Melissa and Her Sweet Baby!

Melissa's baby boy is doing great, he somehow swallowed fluid during the delivery (c-section) and got fluid in his lungs. He was in her hospital room on Saturday when the girls and I visited!
Babycakes, Mary and Ballerina Rosie all got to hold him and I can already tell, I will not get much time to hold my sweet baby when she comes with all these little mamas in the house!

I'd show you a picture of sweet Jonathan, but Melissa wants to do that herself!
So, thank you all for your prayers!!


Thank you also for your prayers for me, my fluid level was up today to 7.7, anything above 7 is good!!

Trimming Petunias!

O.K. Barbara, I hope this works!! I actually cut off like 6 inches. I've never done that before, and yes, by August, they start looking very long and stringy. Thanks for the reminder to cut them back!

Ballerina Rosie is 7!

Sweet Ballerina Rosie. My big mommy helper. You are growing into such a nice young lady! This year, she wanted an Art party! Last year was the big "flower party" with 6 friends, so this year, I told her she could invite one special friend to celebrate with.

This is my little sister Brenna, her godmother. Little Babycakes wanted in the picture too!

My mom has taken up painting as a hobby and gave the girls an art lesson in painting flowers. These are 2 of my mom's paintings given to Ballerina Rosie.

Here's my mom, our featured art teacher!

This is Mikayla, Melissa's daughter. Melissa made these cute little dresses and it was part of Ballerina Rosie's gift! They were very excited to do their hair the same and dress the same way!

True friends!

The finished products, after the lesson!

Mikayla's is the blue one, Mary's is the middle one, (age 4, she didn't want to paint flowers) and the purple one is Ballerina Rosie's. Babycakes also painted one, but only did the background before losing interest, so we will finish hers another day!

The art cake!

My mom during the art lesson!

It was a fun and exciting day!

Melissa's Baby Boy!

Jonathan Bruce was born around 6 pm yesterday, he was 7lbs 8oz and 21 inches long.
Melissa is doing great. Jonathon, however has labored breathing and is in NICU. Please pray for this sweet little boy. He is not on a respirator, yet, and hopefully will get better. They did X-ray and did not find anything.

Not So Wordless Wednesday!

Today we are celebrating Ballerina Rosie's 7th birthday. (it was Sunday the 12th) She's having an art party, with her little sisters and Melissa's daughter. We also have Melissa's other children, as Melissa is delivering her baby today!!! Prayers for her C-section and her precious baby son soon to be born. (sometime after 3 today!) She was supposed to deliver next Thursday, but her blood pressure was too high today so today it is!! (she is 38 weeks)

****UPDATE**** No baby news yet, but, after Melissa's mom picked up the children, and my mom helped me clean up, my children and I went to the video store and picked up a couple movies and YES, I am now on my way to rest, on my left side, thanks for all your concern, I really do appreciate it!! You know me too well, it's VERY hard to rest every day!!

I'll keep you updated on baby news!

Please Pray For Baby Bridget

This picture was taken 2 weeks ago. (they don't give me pictures every week!) Our baby is fine, she is healthy, has a great heart rate. But last week my fluid level was low, and this week it was lower. My doctor says I should prepare to deliver early. I asked if I would go into labor or what would happen. She said that one of these Mondays, I am going to go in for my weekly ultrasound and she is going to say, "I'm delivering today!" She even told us to check on cancelling our vacation scheduled in early August. I have a C-Section scheduled for August 27 when she will be 38 weeks. On Friday, I will be 32 weeks. I really need to make it to 35 weeks, as she is just too small right now. I would really like to make it to 36 weeks at least, if she must come early. I've always had extra fluid, lots extra, so this is a new thing for me. I need to try to lay down every day for an hour on my left side to help with blood flow and circulation which will help with fluid, hopefully. Drinking more water, my doctor said is not the answer it has to do with circulation...and AGE!! **I won't be 40 until September!!


I'm asking for your prayers for our sweet little Bridget to stay in and my fluid level to increase. Thank you so very much.

Mailboxes!

Last Summer, I started a "Tour of Mailboxes" and frequently posted pictures of mailboxes. I love mailboxes!! I love thinking of each person and their personality and why they chose what they chose for their mailbox. A mailbox is a place where people go every day with hopeful expectation of good things, surprises or just something. It can also be a place where bills come and maybe not such nice things for some people. My kids love getting the mail, putting letters in and they daily fight over who gets to go!!

I'm pretty sure I pictured this one last year, but it's still one of my favorites! I'm not walking as much as last year (not walking much at all actually) so I haven't gotten as many pictures of unique mailboxes.

My all time favorite mailboxes are the viney ones, with Clematis or Morning Glories climbing up and around.

This one, too, was pictured last year, but it's right down the road and it's so beautiful!

Here's our mailbox the way it looks right now. Our Morning Glories are just starting to climb and hopefully by August, they will be fully grown and blooming every morning! Can you tell, I'm having a hard time dead heading this year? It's hard work to bend down, in this condition!

Here's our mailbox this past January!! This is Babycakes, the kids sure got a kick out of sitting right next to the mailbox!

This is Tracy's mailbox! She is the Queen of finding great mailboxes for me, she sends me emails quite often with beautiful mailboxes, and it puts a smile on my face every time!!

Send me your mailbox picture or post it on your blog and let me know! Even Paula sent hers, and it was great!!

Click on the highlighted words (except love) and check other mailboxes!

The I Can't Do Wordless Wednesday Post!

7 Weeks left! When my mom was younger and still at home, her 4 brothers would tease her (even though she was thin, they knew it bugged her) and chant "Open wide for chunky" every time she walked into a room! I totally feel like that. I gain my weight all over, not just in the tummy. I kind of feel like a marshmallow man, only my skin is very tight, like how could it possibly get any bigger? Oh, and look at that double chin... Anyway...7 weeks left, 7 weeks left....

Booster Seat Law!

This pink car seat is similar to the one we just bought for Babycakes, we decided with another girl coming in August, we might as go for the pink!! Our old one is at least 6 years old now, so it was time for another new one. At least it will go through 2 girls!

Minnesota has a new law, that started on July 1st. All children under 8 must be in a booster car seat, like this one. We did already have boosters, but had just taken them out, trying to rearrange the kiddos in the van, getting ready for another car seat to be added in August. Our van holds 8 passengers, if all seats are in, which they are not, we have the middle seat out so the kids can go through to the back. I think the law is good, just a hard one for bigger families. 3 car seats do not fit across in one row, come August, we will have 4 car seats, so we must put the middle seat in, which will be especially hard come winter, when mud and snow is everywhere and we'll have to put down the seat and the kiddos in the back will need to climb over the seat to get to the back and again to get in the front. My hubby and I have been joking about getting one of those giant vans...What do people do?

What do you do, you families with 5 or more young children? How do they all fit with the new laws? What type of vehicles work best?

Transformers Movie

My husband and I went on a date Friday and this is the movie we (he) picked. I was fine with it, I wanted to see it too. I was disappointed, I have to say. Oh, the special effects were great, to say the least, and the story was fine, really it was. I was just so disappointed on how sexy this movie was. Does that make sense? The girl in the movie, played by Megan Fox, this beautiful woman pictured below....
See? Beautiful, huh? Every scene though that she was in, she was wearing very revealing and sexy clothes. I felt she was too beautiful for this movie. Do college kids really dress like these young women in this movie? I really hope not. The first scene showing her, they show her straddled on a motorcycle, painting it, wearing very short cut off shorts and barely anything else, sexy scene, but very unnecessary, especially for PG-13, in my opinion. She's playing an 18 year old. Even googling her name, I had a very hard time finding a half-way decent picture of her, and this is it! She would still be beautiful with more clothes on. More beautiful I'd say. Sometimes, I get stuck on something like that and it stays with me through the whole movie, as it did this time. SO I would not recommend it. I'd wish my son could watch it when he's 13, but I'd classify it as an R and he won't be seeing it. (as I've found with most PG-13's I guess) I felt the movie exploited her for her beauty and not her acting abilities, which is sad, really.

Our 4th of July!

Pine Grove Zoo

was our agenda for the day! Pretty close to home, and not too much walking...so I thought!

Daddy with his red and white and blue kiddos!

The prairie dogs are the greatest! They also have cougars, wolves, buffalo, pronghorn deer, emu, peacocks, turkeys, bobcats, bears (with babies), a brand new tortoise, and a petting zoo with bunnies, lambs, donkeys, calves and baby goats.

Here is one pooped out mama, just look how much my right leg is swollen!!! My big belly does not stop littles trying to sit on my non existing lap!

Off to the Mighty Mississippi for a picnic lunch!

Making cupcakes in the afternoon replaced my original plan of going swimming, as I was just too pooped to do much of anything else!

Corn on the cob, a must have on the 4th of July!

Picnic supper outside!

Fireworks in the driveway, put on by daddy!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July everyone!!

God's blessings on you!