Thankful Thursday

 Thank You God for my wonderful husband,

who turned 44 today!

 In honor of his birthday, I made him his favorite Peanut Butter Pie!

(I usually make him pie, and this is his favorite but I was inspired by Maggie's "Worth a Click" on her sidebar)

So I went ahead and made 2!

 Thankful today is also the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin, her birthday!!

It is also our goddaughter, Eva's birthday, she turned 6 today!!! 

Happy birthday sweetheart!

Thankful for you honey!

I had 2 doctor appointments today, so it was a crazy, hectic day....

 Here's a picture of the baby....we did NOT find out the sex, but still might.

I go back in 3 weeks for another level 2 ultrasound to see how the baby is doing.

Thankful the baby's organs are all perfectly formed and the baby is healthy.

However, there are a couple things, that I will go into soon, maybe tomorrow.

I've been crying on and off since this morning.

I need to process all my thoughts and then I'll try to post them.

I am Thankful for this baby and the times we live in, to be able to see our baby like this.

Thankful for the crosses God allows us to carry and the Grace He gives us to do so.

 Thankful for the nature all around us, these dragonflies who love to sit on the end of one of our bushes...

 Thankful for matching girls and curly piggy tails

 Thankful 

 for apple painting....

 in September!!

 Thankful for babies who love babies!

 Thankful for big sisters who will do school work with little sisters on their laps....

 Thankful for manipulative sets.....They are lifesavers during school!

 Thankful for cookie baby faces.....

 Thankful for cookies and lemonade 

in the tree house with friends....

 Thankful for kiddos who love to play "cooking show" outside....

 Thankful for little girls who love to play "cooking show" and make something beautiful out of weeds....

 Thankful for little girls in tutus eating snack....

 Thankful for big brothers who love to read to little sisters 

and 

friends who borrow chicken pox books for us to read!

 Thankful for shorter days and earlier bed times...

 Thankful for girls who love to polish nails

(and me controlling my urge to make it neat)

Thankful, so very thankful for these beautiful, healthy kiddos God has entrusted in my care!

Thankful for all your prayers, you are all wonderful and I truly appreciate it!

Thankful Thursdays

A time to remember to be thankful

A pause in the week for praise,

thanksgiving and thinking positively

in addition to the normal daily praise

we need to give God.

I've Decided...

That the next time my husband surprises the 3 oldest kiddos with 3 extra Twins tickets, on a school night, and
they get home around midnight, that, he has to deal with them the next day.  All 3 were in tears at different times today.

  They did have a blast at the game though, and talked about it all day!!

(and I did get some much loved mommy time with my littles, and 3 loads of laundry done, while they were gone)


So, I guess it's all good.

20 Week Ultrasound

Tomorrow I go in for my 20 week ultrasound.  It's a level 2, which means it is with a Perinatologist,
who will count every heart valve and count every toe and finger, measure the amount of space between the baby's mouth and nose, and just about everything that can be measured, including amniotic fluid, where the placenta is located (hopefully not attached to my scar tissue, after 5 C-sections) and then
make recommendations to my OB as to when and how often my non-stress tests should start, and when and how many ultrasounds should also be scheduled.  Within a couple weeks, I will have about 40 appointments
scheduled leading up to the C-section itself, which will probably be on January 5th.

Being a Type I Diabetic, I should be used to this, right?  Well...I'm so nervous.  I could cry but I don't have time to cry.  We are not finding out the sex of the baby this time, so I am feeling even more nervous, just to find out if the baby is safe.  So far, every time I go in to the doctor (I go 2x/month now) the doctor says I have a very active baby, just yesterday, the heart rate was down to 154....could be a boy!  Could be a girl!!

I'm trying not to panic about all the appointments and trying to fit them all in with trying to homeschool 4 kiddos.  I will be at the clinic for 3, and sometimes 4 appointments per week, starting in about a month or so, til the end.  I'm happy to do what I need to do to have a healthy baby, I am just feeling a little overwhelmed.
Praying for peace of heart.  Trying to take it all in stride.  I've done this before.  This should be easy, right?

I always worry about this little sweet baby in my womb from the moment I find out I'm pregnant til I deliver and have that baby home.  Then, it's a different kind of worry.  Having a little brother that was born with heart defects and had major surgeries and then died after only being home a week, I just know how hard that is and  worry each time something like that will happen to me too.  I know all these fears and worries come from the devil himself.  He wants me to have that unrest.  He wants me to have no peace.

Praying for peace of heart.
Will you pray for me too?
Thank you so very much!

Back to School is So Good!

 OK, we actually went back to school 2 weeks ago.

But

It is sooooo good!

I  have to say this is the first year, we  I am not in tears, 

yelling by the end of the first week, 

"That's it, you are all going to public school!!"

The only difference this year, is we started early, but I think the biggest difference

is I didn't set super high expectations for the first week, or even the first day.

I stuck with what I know works.

I did the easy happy mama cookies (the refrigerated kind)

I didn't do special prizes for starting school

 and

 I didn't feel guilty for not doing those special prizes!!

(You schultute people, it's a great idea, I'm just not doing it)

(you can read my excited comment though from 3 years ago....

oh how much I've learned about myself, since I've turned 40!)

(no offense please, I'm just kidding everyone!!)

It's good for the kiddos to be back on schedule.

Too much free time is...well....too much free time.

Don't get me wrong, I think that is what summer is meant for,

It's just that, 

now there is less fighting,

the kids seem happier and busier and just more confident!

Good-bye lazy summer!

Hello planned meals, 

scheduled days & busy schedules, 

hello learning new things and growing together in our minds and hearts.

 Hello Kindergarten!!

 And First Grade.....

 And Fourth Grade.....

 And Sixth Grade!!!

Orange you glad school is back in session?

"Orange You Glad" orange floats...

Some of the kiddos said, 

"Orange  you glad school has started?"

And some said,

"Orange you glad we only have 8 1/2 more months of school left til summer vacation?"

Mary Hannah is 7!

 Friday was Mary Hannah's birthday!!

She wanted a "piano" birthday, since she started playing this past year.

My cake turned out a little curvy...Oh, well....the kiddos didn't mind!

 I always decorate with streamers and balloons,

 and I thought it was a surprise in the morning every year for them, 

but she asked the day before what color the streamers were.....that I kept a surprise!!

I blew up pink, black and white balloons for about an hour the night before!

 This little girl is so sweet and special.

She's so loving and kind and thoughtful.

She has a tough exterior, but is soft as mush and has a heart of gold.

We had our First Friday Homeschool Mass and picnic scheduled so it was perfect, 

she invited a friend and it was a blast!

She said several times, "This is the best birthday ever Mama!"

Well, good, I always hope each year is the "best birthday ever"!

God bless you my sweet girl!

7 is Heaven!

(2 more birthdays coming this week)

Our Last Free Wednesday!

 We work a 4 day school week, with the exception of Jedi who sometimes will have some work on Wednesdays, so our Wednesdays are our piano and band days in the school year, 

only, piano and band don't start til next week!

So we decided to take the afternoon and go to a local zoo

 We are members, so this was a free trip!!!

Look at those cute baby bears

 The bears were very active,

 it was cooler yesterday and kind of misting out,

 so the animals were pretty active...

 They have an albino peacock walking around, strutting his stuff for the Timberwolf, 

who is trying to ignore him.

 The wise tortoise...

 The tigers would not wake up, but they sure are beautiful! 

 The petting zoo had 

donkeys, sheep, a baby calf and rabbits.

 Running with the wolves...kind of gives me the creeps....

The kids kept saying, they are just like dogs, they love to play!!

 Below, the cute prairie dogs...

 Back to the wolves....

 The kiddos loved the wolves....

Yaks...

Pronghorn deer

Baby pronghorns...

Turkeys, roaming all over

Peacock eating with the deer...

Afterward, we stopped in this historic town, what a neat town...

neat shops, neat old buildings.

This town has tried to keep it's nostalgia alive and done a great job!

We stopped by the bakery in town to get cookies and this bakery, 

had a restaurant to one side, dishes for sale on another and wedding cake and stuff for sale, among 

post cards and a ton of other stuff.  (funny store)
The kiddos would all love to move to this little town,
But
Tom says a lot of crazy people live there...
(it is Christine's hometown!)

A must stop on the way home, Treasure City (more like Junk City)

But the kiddos loved it!!

Where can I get one of these?

Quarter bus ride with free suckers for all!

The whole way there and the whole way home the highway was lined with wild black eyed susans, 

Just beautiful!!

It was such a fun day!!