Memorial Day Weekend

Wow, it's only been 21 days since my last post. I'm doing better! ;-)

This was a great Memorial Day weekend, and Jon wasn't even here! Jon left at 4am Friday to head on a men's retreat in France at an Abbey. The kids and I got to go to mass on Friday with our homeschool group, then one of our good friends and 2 of her kids came over for a while. The evening was laid back, but then I was awake until 1am and not sleeping so well with Jon gone.

On Sat., we were going to go on a culinary walk with our friend, but I was just too tired and exhausted. I sent the kids otu to play and tackled my kitchen. It took 2 hours, but it looks MUCH better. I have counters again! Again, a relaxing evening.

Sunday I actually got up at 6:30 and made it to church at 8:15, which is normal. The people who usually run setting up for mass were all out of town, so another gentleman and I were doing it. (I usually help, but am not in charge) We were really able to work together to make sure everythign was set up correctly, and it just felt good. I love being a doer (Martha much?). Mass went surprisingly well and even though the kids weren't perfect, I left not frustrated with them. SO we went to grab some breakfast. We saw our friend there, and she joined us for breakfast, which was nice having some adult conversation and getting to see her for a bit. CAme home and decided to clean up my room and put my new duvet cover on... the one I've had for about 8 months and haven't used yet ;-) It looks so pretty and fancy in our room!

Monday, I was determined to stop letting the fact that hubby wasn't here stop me from doing things. I"m very much a "Ehh, I'd rather do it with him" so not go type person. I know I can do things without him. We do the grocery store all the time without him. It's just the sight-seeing stuff. It's more fun with him. But alas, it was Memorial Day. I know there is an American Cemetery from WWII just an hour away (Plus the great French grocery store right down the road from it) so our plan of leaving at 10, turned to 11:15, took place to head there with me, the kids, and a picnic lunch. We got in the car and decided we were hungry already so started eating. When we got to St. Avold, France, i realized I saw no signs for the cemetery like I was expecting. Thank Jesus the French put maps on their streets everywhere, so I pulled over and was able to find it. Or so i thought... I found the GErman cemetery. Another map stop, and I finally found the American one. 10,000+ crosses and stars, making it the largest American cemetery in Europe. The kids kept themselves busy as kids do by counting all the stars. They were SOOO well behaved. We had a large conversation about where we were going, how to behave, etc. and they did great. This is the 3rd American cemetery we have visited (Normandy and Luxemburg being the other two) We then went to the grocery store and got our favorite, Speculous and Speculous cookies- YUM! and headed home.

Hubby came home about an hour and a half after kids were in bed. We spent a good 2 hours sitting on the couch talking about our weekends. He had an amazing and spiritually refreshing time at an Abbey in Font Gumbault with a bunch of monks. This has been a bi-annual trip with several men in the area for a few years, but this was the first Jon was able to make it. I can tell it was really good for him.

He has an amazing end to his story. One of those give-you-goosebumps type. So I decided I'd share. On their way back, they also stopped at an American cemetery. This was one from WWI- Aisne Marne American Cemetery. They had all of the Memorial Day festivities on Sunday. As they were talking to the curator, the cemetery was about to close and he asked the men (9 Catholic Knights of Columbus military men) if they'd like to help him take the two flags down. They said of course. Then the man said one of the flags had actually been retired, but they couldn't find it on Sunday, so they had used this one instead. Then he said "Hey, would you guys like this flag?"!?!? They of course said yes, so he took them in to the office and printed out a certificate, etc. The flag that flew over this important cemetery during the Memorial Day celebrations. As they talked on, he told them that the cemetery was on Knights of Columbus Road (Ok, that's not the name, but it was the French name for that, although I looked it up and it's not on google maps, so I don't know) ANyway, they were confused since KOC is an American group. Come to find out, the KOC had come in and helped rebuild the cities around the cemetery after WWI, so it was named in honor of the KOC. They are taking the flag back, getting a shadow box for it, and hope to hang it in the priest's office.  It was such a neat story!

Thank you Lord for all the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom.

6 month old, Florida, Homeschooling and More

It's only been 4 months since I posted. Life hasn't been busy in the least. ::Sarcasm:: Short overview:

Baby girl turned 6 months old yesterday! She's trying to sit up on her own and loves to stick her tongue out. Sometimes that will include raspberries. She is absolutely in love with her family- siblings and daddy especially- especially when he sings. He loves to sing to her while she's nursing, because she'll stop to look at him and smile, then go back to eating. The two of them will do this several times before he quits

.We spent an entire month in FL, mostly during March. I flew alone with the 4 kids in the SC, and then Jon flew in 2 weeks later. My brother was moving to Hawaii (Army) and it just so happened to be the same time we were going to be in town for my best friend's (of 22 years) wedding. It was wonderful to see him and his family before they left, and wonderful to be a part of my best friend's big day. It was also great to see the rest of my family, and for the kids to get to be back and Nana and Papa's after having lived there for a year, and not being back in 2.5 yrs.

Germany never snowed this year, other than a few flurries. It has been wonderful weather already, in the 60's and even a little 70's. We're loving it, with the kids going outside almost every day. We bought an awesome picnic table, and have been eating dinner outside about 4x a week or so. We've planted several window boxes of flowers and are enjoying doing yard work, going on long walks (We went on a 5+ mile family walk on Sunday!) and Jon's getting back in to biking.

Homeschooling is going well. We're trudging along, ready for the year to be over. I think we have about 6 weeks left, which isn't too bad considering we took time off around the baby's birth, and time off when in FL. We've been using Catholic Heritage Curriculum, but are now going to be using St. Thomas Aquinas next year. I've always wanted more of a unit study type program. I had been looking in to Five in a Row, and was going to keep using our same religion, handwriting, and math because I liked them. Then someone told me about St. Thomas, and they use FIAR, along with the same religion and HW, and will likely allow us to stick with the same math. The other benefit is that we'll have a person that helps us tailor things to our family. For example, they'll be able to help me with Hannah's advance reading. At 5, suppose to be entering K this coming fall, she is reading all the American Girl books in less than a day, Magic Treehouse, and so much more. Zach is also advancing really well with reading now, but his books tend to be more science based- any books about critters, volcanoes, fish, etc.

In not such great news, Jon is deploying in August for 6 months. We won't be moving back home this time for a multitude of reasons. However, Jon's sister will be coming to stay with us for 3 months it looks like, which will be an amazing blessing, and put both my mind, and Jon's at ease some. I think we're both nervous, not from a me-handling-kids standpoint, but because I've never lived alone for more than a week or two in my entire life, and diabetes can be scary for that. BUT... we'll do what we can, teach the kids well, and pray for the best. I'm not the first diabetic to be alone. Please keep our family in your prayers though as we prepare for him leaving. He will miss everyone's birthday except mine, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our anniversary.

But because he's leaving, we're trying to make travel plans. Our top two trips at the moment are Legoland- two boys have been dying to go!- and Poland. I've been really wanting to do a pilgrimage there- see Warsaw, Krakow, etc (and stock up on more Polish Pottery!!) Maybe one or two other short trips in there as well. Plus I'll likely do some traveling with Jon's sister being here. Maybe we'll take the kids to Paris since he has no desire to go and the kids desperately want to see the Eiffel Tower! ;-)

One of Those (Good) Days

Have you ever had one of those days were at the end, you sighed and thought "Today was a good day!" That was today. Nothing too exciting, but all good. I spent the morning taking care of some business type work. Then the German Post arrived with a box of insulin pump supplies. It was a first getting a package through them, so it was slightly cool.

Then we began school at 11am. We always pray and then do the Pledge. My kids got a huge kick when we stood to do the Pledge and I said "In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." haha! Our first subject was Religion, where we were talking about the Beatitudes. ::Sigh:: the Beatitudes. Is it wrong of me to say I'm not a fan? Why? Because I have a hard time understanding them and get lost in the whole thing. So to then teach them to my three very  young children, ahh! Well, I'll just say religion was not very successful. They stopped listening about the 2nd Beatitude. I had a craft planned to help them get it more, but they had no care what so ever, so we moved on. I figured we can retry down the road.

Then we began handwriting. I clearly hadn't looked ahead in handwriting because normally it's just copywork, but Hannah brought hers to me and asked about it. OH FUN! HOMOPHONES! We had a lot of fun talking about this big word, and surprising daddy with our knowledge when he got home from work (Homophone- words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings). It was awesome seeing them come alive talking about it and engaging. Then Zach worked on math, where I showed him a neat addition trick with 9's. Hannah spent all of 2 minutes on her 2 pages of math. I tried to read the story of St. Peter to them today, but baby girl would have nothing to do with it. Then I also began looking through our syllabus and realized there are some things I should have been doing that I somehow have forgotten this year. Guess we'll be working on them the rest of the year. This reminds me of a story from last week. They were looking at a piece of art that had two scenes in one-Jesus preaching to the multitudes and Jesus calling Peter on to the water. My kids said "Yeah, there's two Jesus' to show that Jesus is everywhere." That had not been in our book or mentioned. I loved the way they saw the picture!

After school, we had lunch and I told the kids to get done quickly. The sun was shining beautifully, so even though it was like 37 degrees, we set out for a long walk. It was so wonderful. About an hour and a half later, we returned and headed to the grocery store. The grocery store consisted of me using my mommy talents to nurse Beka while walking, while having 2 children push the grocery cart. (Keep in mind, in Europe, grocery carts go every way, not just straight...) I asked for a special meat I wanted, to be surprised at how expensive it was. I ended this trip by attempting to buy two bottles of lieblich (Sweet) wine and kinder eggs for the kids (Do you know what they are? Awesome chocolate eggs with a toy inside- illegal in the US bc of the small toys and huge fines are possible if we get caught sending them! Insane right? Gotta love America...)

We came home, to have our landlord (lives across the street) open her window and tell us "No electric" Apparently it was out for the whole neighborhood. WE went in the house and had a few fun moments of doing things with flashlights and candles. Husband was headed to a meeting, so I loaded the kids up, and we went out to eat at our favorite little Pizzaria (Where hubby would be going anyway after his meeting). I was impressed with my children. They were soooo well behaved and I managed all 4 at a nice restaurant alone. The baby was making this German couple giggle, esp when she got hiccups. We came home to the electric being back on, and the kids being very disappointed. Maybe one night this week we'll have a pretend-the-electric-is-out night for them. ;-)

In other news, while i have free hands and arms, and I'm using the chance to make a blog post, yesterday was our 7th Anniversary. My husband, who does not believe in cards and flowers, surprised me with both. Seven (for our 7th year) Gerbera Daisies (my favorite flower). He's good! And the card... well, it said exactly what I needed to hear. We actually celebrated on Sat. with a sitter for the older three. We went to see "Saving Mr. Banks"- oh my! GREAT MOVIE. I told hubby we must buy it. Right up there with the Blindside for me. THen we went and ate dinner (8:30 reservations- we're becoming German!) at a castle, where he had lobster soup and deer steak, and I had DELICIOUS pumpkin soup and salmon. We then talked about every year we've been together and discussed some memory from each year, aside from kids' births and moving, since we've done a lot of those in 7 yrs (4 kids, 5 moves).

There were other small details about today that I wanted to put in this post, but I can't remember any of them. I have started a new chore system that I'm excited about and I think will work for us. I've really been struggling trying to keep up on the house and need some kind of way to keep them responsible for chores, but I needed a way to get chores that NEED to be done, done. Each kid has one laminated sheet with their name and 1 through 31 across the top. On the side is a list of all kinds of possible chores for them. The rule is they have to do 3 a day (Except today thanks to walk and lack of electricity), and they can earn an extra quarter if they do more than 3 in a day. We did this for one month and it worked wonderfully, but that was a one month chart. With this laminated, I can use dry erase each month. We're all pretty excited about it and I got them all to do some chores this morning before school. Unfortunately the dishes are still waiting for me at 9:15pm! Boo! So with that, and free arms... I have dishes to do and laundry to fold. Good night world!

Trenches of Motherhood

Have you ever looked around your house and said "How did it get THIS bad?" Wasn't it all cleaned up just a few days ago? And the laundry! I swear it was all folded AND put away last week, and now I have 15 loads piling up to fold. Oh, please don't look under the table, as there's enough food down there to feed a crawling toddler.

No? Well, go away then. :-P Because that's where I am today. So while three kids are outside playing, the baby who is tired from 2mo shots today is sleeping, I'm sitting here eating leftover mac and cheese and blogging. WHy? Well, because I can't clean and eat duh! However, I did load the dishes and sweep the kitchen before the mac n cheese. (Shh... it was only because I HAD to make some coffee, even though it was noon, and I was tired of stepping on the crumbs while doing the dishes...)

My husband made Beka's doc appointment for today, because well, we don't have touchtone dialing on our phone so I couldn't "push 1 for pediatrics" when I called. And he made it for before 8! Crazy man! At least he stayed home with the other 3 while I went with just her. I think that even though I hadn't had coffee, and only one eye was really open, I remember the important things the doctor said, that it's ok she hasn't pooped since last Friday since she's breastfed. Anyway, I thought that because I was up so early, I'd be able to come home and just get busy on housework. Ha, an hour after I got home, I woke up from a nice nap and NOW I can do some work.

Anyway, this is motherhood. I've come to that conclusion. My house is going to be a mess for years to come (And has been for years). And I just gotta suck it up and deal. I'll clean what i can while they're outside playing. Will I put their stuff away? Heck no. I'll likely sweep everythign in to a big pile, and when they come in, they'll have about 15 minutes to get their stuff and put it away. Or else...

But you know what? It's worth it. Why? Because the messes of toys and Popsicle sticks are because they have incredible imaginations. The crumbs and dishes are because I'm able to feed my children. And the laundry, I'm able to cloth my children, way more than I even need to be able to do. These are such blessings that the mess isn't a big deal when I focus on those things.

How we got her name

Rebekah is 1 month old today! The past month has been a blur and I can't believe it's already been a month. We are still in a babymoon. With that said, I think the story of how our daughter got her name is a really neat story, and one I'd like to share. 

We'd been trying to get pregnant since last April (2012), when we got pregnant, then had a m/c in June. We'd continued to try since then. I know, not a long time, but it felt like a while. 

In Feb. 2013, we went to Prague and prayed before the Infant of Prague. It is said that many people who pray there end up conceiving. A few weeks later, we found out we were pregnant. So I've felt this child was a gift from God since the beginning.

Soon after we got pregnant, we started discussing names. Jon was set on a boy's name, but a girl's name just kept going through my head. I had no feelings about a boy vs girl, but felt strongly about the name Rebekah/Rebecca. I told him that and we decided to give up the name discussion til we knew. After we found out it was a girl, I told him again. He wasn't fond of it, but started thinking about it, and agreed the name sounded good and felt right. 

But he had 2 requests, could we not spell it Rebecca, and could her middle name be Agnes. I cringed. I did not like Agnes at all. But he was agreeing to the first name, and I could at least consider Agnes. And truthfully, I didn't care how we spelled it, and I liked the Biblical Rebekah form, so that was fine. I began to pray about Agnes. We googled "St. Rebecca" to see if there was one. The only one we found discussed was a St. Rebecca (Rafka) who, when she joined the convent, took the name Anissa (Agnes). So that felt like something from God, but I was still skeptical.

Then I remembered, at the beginning of the year, a lot of my Catholic friends locally went to "Saint of the Year" and I had too. I had a few friends who had done it for many years, and swore by it. So, when I got my saint, who was the patron saint of young girls, chastity and rape victims, I was completely freaking out and worried. Would rape affect our family somehow? I finally just ignored it, decided it was a silly site, and never really prayed to the Saint. Until I began praying about the name Agnes, and remembered that "my" Saint had been Saint Agnes of Rome. When I remembered, I knew this was God telling me that yes, her middle name is suppose to be Agnes. 

So, I feel really giddy and excited about her name. I love saying it, as I feel it's so beautiful now. I just feel like this is what God wants as her name, and that He really has a lot in store for her. I'm also enjoying praying to St. Agnes for her. And the fact that she's the Patron Saint of Chastity helps a momma too ;-) So, she is Rebekah Agnes. :) 

In addition to all this, Abby is Abigayle Claire. Jon was looking up Agnes and discovered St. Claire of Assisi is the older sister of St. Agnes of Assisi! And St Agnes of Assisi's feast day is Nov 16, which was my due date. and finally, St Agnes of Bohemia is known as Agnes of Prague (relates to the Infant of Prague) and in the Order of St. Claire!

Rebekah Agnes' Birth Story

Our fourth child arrived on November 5, 2013. Her name is Rebekah Agnes, and she weighed 11 lbs, 1oz (Smaller than our last baby!) and 20.5 inches and was born at 9:24am.

The details- I went in that morning for a planned c-section. After 3 previous attempts at a vaginal birth, and all ending in a c-section, this one was going to have to be a c-section. It was much different this time, knowing when she'd be born, knowing the c/s was going to happen, etc. I pictured it'd be quick and easy. Go in, have c/s, in an hour or two, we'd be in my room, having skin to skin and nursing and resting. When we arrived, we found out they'd had an unplanned c/s, and we had to wait around until they got the OR cleaned.

38 weeks, 1 day

Finally, a little before 9am, they had me walk to the OR. I was very nervous waiting for the anesthesia, but managed it well enough. It was very odd being awake and aware during the c/s (In my previous 3 csections, I'd been put under, I'd had the anesthesia go to high so was more focused on trying to breath, and was so tired from laboring for 28 hrs that I slept through almost the whole c/s) As soon as I laid down, I threw up some medicine they had given me. They said that was very common.

Thankfully I wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing to me. I was just anxious to hear her cry, to know they had gotten to her. Jon told me it took about 10 minutes to get in usually, but I never knew that. That was the longest 10 minutes of my life haha! Finally, I heard her. It was an overwhelming sound, but she sounded like she was gagging while crying, like she had fluid or something. Jon kept telling me she was fine, but I was skeptical. Eventually, they told me her weight, which we were a bit surprised by, as my doc had guessed she'd only be about 10.5 lbs, not 11lb 1oz. Then they said they were going to have to take her to the NICU. I was NOT expecting that. Come to find out, on her way out, she had swallowed amniotic fluid and needed oxygen. They quickly showed her to me, then took her to NICU. I began to cry and of course, wasn't able to hide it. Jon went with her.

They took me back to L&D to recover. Normally it's about 2 hrs there to recover before going to mom/baby. However, mom/baby was crowded and they were discharging people, so they told me to hang out in L&D for a while. That ended up being a good thing because i was throwing up everything they gave me. They gave me zofran twice, which didn't help. At one point, I went to go see her. I saw her for a short bit, and touched her through the incubator- they wouldn't let us hold her or nurse her because she had been so stressed out from the IVs, as they had to stick her 5 times or more. Very soon after arriving, I told Jon we needed to leave. No sooner did we get out of the NICU and I threw up again. Eventually they gave me a shot that worked instantly. After that, I was finally able to go see Beka and spend some time holding her.

The first time we went in, she was doing better on the oxygen and they felt she'd be able to come off soon. They were waiting until the next day to try to give her any food because they didn't want to stress her body out any more. They were having problems with her IV, getting it to stay. At some point, she had one slightly low blood sugar, so was getting dextrose via IV. (I was shocked because I had amazing control in this pregnancy, and none of my other kids ever had sugar issues.) At 10pm, we were heading to NICU when we were told to wait b/c they were having to do another IV and they were giving her formula so the IV wouldnt be an issue. I started crying, as I wanted to nurse her, no one asked me about formula, and they said they were going to wait until the next day to give it to her.

It was advised that I pump over night, and anything I pumped, I could ask my nurse to take to NICU. So I pumped every 2-3 hrs, and did get some colostrum sent down to her. We went back to visit her at 8am. We spent almost the whole day in the NICU, so it's really all a blur, but at some point, they allowed us to basically do SNS with her, put a tube in to her mouth to get the formula, while she also nursed on me, helping my milk to come in and getting her colostrum. At 7pm, after having to force more formula on her (Which she usually threw up), she was finally able to be discharged. I was frustrated during the day because they kept checking her sugars, said they were great, but were forcing her to continue to take formula to keep them up. Everything i'd heard was that if blood sugars are an issue in a baby, they regulate themselves within 24 hrs, but they wouldn't cut out the formula to see if her sugars were stable without it. My motherly instinct told me she likely was stable.

When she finally got discharged from NICU, they told us she may need to supplement with formula still until my milk came in. Yet, they never checked her blood sugar again after discharging her from NICU. We never supplemented. And she never appeared to need formula. About the 2nd time she tried to nurse after being in my room, we heard her swallowing several times and realized "Wow! My milk must be in already!"

After that, the rest was a blur. I nursed, started to be in more pain, and the next morning, Jon went to pick up the kids from our friends. Right after they arrived and met her, we were discharged to go home. Unlike any other hospital i've been to, they allow you to just walk out without a wheelchair. Oh, BAD idea. I didn't realize how long of a 'short' walk it'd be to the car, and was in a lot of pain by the time i got to the car.

Meeting her for the first time.

Sisters!

Daddy watching a movie with all 4 kiddos.

Recovery this time was much more challenging than in the past. I had a lot more pain, and had to take stronger pain meds than ever before. It also lasted longer, a full week. Now, Rebekah is 3 weeks old, and I'm feeling great. We started back to homeschooling this week from "maternity leave" and we're slowly getting back in to a routine. We've been so blessed by friends who have been so supportive, with watching the other three, providing meals, coming to Beka's baptism, and just wishing us well and praying for us. God is so good and we have been so blessed.

Last week, when she was two weeks old, Rebekah was baptized. We were very blessed because Jon's brother, Fr. Nathan, was able to fly in and do her baptism. It made it even more special for us. We were also very blessed because we picked our very close friends here to be her Godparents, so it was wonderful having her Godparents be present as well. We are slowly settling in to this family of six thing, and enjoying every minute of it.

 Zach got to serve mass with Father at all his masses. He felt so grown up and proud.

We've Moved!

And we are so happy! We have been in the house exactly a month now. I feel like we're mostly settled. We still have several boxes sitting here and there, but they're things that Jon needs to unpack when he gets a chance. Should be able to happen uhh... when he's on paternity leave maybe lol? ;-)

We went back and forth on the bedrooms. Zach wanted to share with the girls, but we really had a small bedroom for him available. However, the girls' room is HUGE. So, we found a compromise, and it's been great. We took all their closets (In Germany, closets don't come with your home. You buy your own. So the military actually issues them to us) We took their closets and divided the room in 2/3rds with them. He gets the smaller area, and the girls get the larger. Jon was really concerned, but it's been GREAT. One room to clean up, one area for all the toys to be contained in, they can be as loud as they want upstairs, oh, it's great. Here's a few pictures.

You can see here the closets dividing the room and Zach's bed in the back.

 The main play area/girls' side

 Girl's bed.

 Then our room. There's orange curtains, which we don't care about. They work. The red rug will likely leave that area eventually.

 Then we used our closets to also divide our room. Behind there is currently boxes we need to get in to still. Eventually the red rug will likely go back there. It also might be used as a nursery area for the baby, but we're not sure yet. The closet on the left came with the house for us to use.

Part of the kitchen. 

 The "School room". It isn't really set up at all. I'm having a hard time getting down to that little table at this point, so we did the first week there, the rest as been at the kitchen table. I'm hoping to pick up a different table this weekend.

 Front door. Kitchen on the right, there's a guest bath with shower on the left next to the coat rack.

 The awesome stairs. There is a fireplace on the other side of the wall, and that archway leads to our "library/den" area.

 View in to the dining room, with the den just past it.

 The library area with the balcony.

 Two of our bookcases with our tv shrunk we bought when we rented the house. LOVE that we can hide (AND LOCK) our entertainment center!!! Best part is the kids ask to watch tv much less when it's closed. ;-)

There's also a great backyard, and the kids have really been enjoying playing out there. In fact, since moving in, Zach has learned to ride without training wheels! Really surprised me since he's never really ridden a bike much before now because it was such a pain to get bikes out when in the apartment. 

We are in our 3rd week of school. It's going really well, and while I hadn't planned on doing school with Abby, she INSISTS on sitting at the table with us, and she's blowing me out of the water with some things. Yesterday she colored a picture and did an amazing job staying in the lines. The other two are doing really well, and I think we're mostly getting in the swing of things. We've begun almost every subject, but I think I'm waiting another week or two to begin spelling. We just began our handwriting workbook today, but were definitely working on handwriting previously. It's really nice to have Zach and Hannah doing a lot of the same grade stuff. 

Jon has taken on teaching the adult religious education class for our church. It meets the same time as the children's. I really did not want to enroll the kids, because they use the same exact curriculum as we're using for religion at home, and I hate making my Sunday's feel so busy instead of relaxed. However, God eventually showed me that by allowing them all to go and JOn to go, I get an hour and half of alone time, which I can use to prepare our school lessons for the coming week. They just started this past Sunday and the kids all loved it. I also enjoyed the time of preparing and focusing w/out being interrupted. Win for all. Only problem is it makes for a VERY, VERY Long day. We get up at 6:30, and get to church at 8am so Jon can warm up for choir. Then their class is over at 12:30. Afterwards this week, we also had to go to the commissary, so we didn't get home until 2. I'm sure we'll get in the hang of things quickly.

I'm now 31 weeks pregnant. I will have a repeat c-section at 39 weeks at the latest. However, I've never made it to 39 weeks, so baby could be here in less than 8 weeks. 8 weeks seems like a while still, but 5-7 weeks, like the other kids were, seems like forever. My blood sugars are really becoming more difficult to manage. I'm doing my best, but I just need LOTS of insulin. So there is also discussion of scheduling me earlier than 39 weeks. It's a fine balance of how long to keep baby in there. I finally ordered the car seat, so hopefully that will be here before baby arrives! ;-) Otherwise, I'm not really ready for it. I need to sort through baby clothes, see what I have, wash it, organize it, etc. I started at one point, like a week ago... ;-) It's just very daunting. 

Well, that's our current life in a nut shell. All in all, we are so much happier in our new house. I think it's evident in all of our attitudes. God is so good and has greatly blessed us here!

A bit better

So, sometime between my last post, and today, things have gotten better in our house.

• VBS ended-wahoo! It was great, but I was exhausted!
• Master bedroom complete packed up
• All 10 or so loads of laundry folded and put away
• den picked up, even vacuumed and swept
• dishes have been done daily
• master bathroom was even cleaned!
• kids' books boxed in to 2 boxes, with just a small handful left
• all toys are now in their room instead of the house
• A few other boxes were packed

So, I feel better about my overall house, may be a little less embarrassed now. Tomorrow my big goals are clean the kids' bathroom and sweep the kitchen/dining room and do a half-hearted job of mopping. Hopefully I'm up for it, since I spent the day with BH contractions. I know it's because I'm dehydrated. We went to a park yesterday afternoon with friends. It was soooo much fun. The men and teens played a lot of kick ball and football. Jon broke his toe (And has a PT test this week!!!), we ate a picnic potluck dinner and just really enjoyed the company. Unfortunately, it was a farewell to one of our friends. We're really sad to see them go. In good news though, we are buying their car, so we will have a 2nd car for the first time in 3 yrs! May seem a bit weird. 

Which reminds me, I'm feeling the need to buy a car seat, and grr! Baby is due in less than 3mo, which is a while still, but when you consider i have to have it shipped from the states, I need to get on it. It's frustrating. I had decided since I never really took the infant seat out of the car with Abby, I just wore her all the time, and my kids were usually only in them about 6mo, that I was going to skip the infant seat this time and just buy a convertible. Then Jon randomly said that we should buy an infant seat, for a few reasons, and I can't decide if the reasons are good enough or not. The only thing convincing me is that I'd keep baby warmer walking into/out of places in a seat with blanket or cover, than trying to get it in the wrap before going in. Not sure if that's enough of a reason or not though... 

Anyway, this is the big week. I'm nervous, excited, scared, excited, all kinds of things! It's going to be a busy week, but hopefully I can take it easy on Monday and Tues. And get rehydrated before the move ;-) 

Keepin' It Real

So, I try to be honest. I have a very open home, people can come over whenever usually, and I don't care about the state of my house. You get what you get. Except this week. It's gotten bad here. Like REAL bad. Seriously, I'm the person who usually has unswept floors because i can't convince the 4yo to do her chore today and instead ended up putting her in bed. Or the dishes aren't done because as hard as I've fought the 5yo to unload them, they still haven't been done. (I know of ideas/consequences, etc. That's besides the point today.) Or just because we haven't been home. And you can come over and just accept that. And usually, one day during the week, it WILL get done, and look well enough...

But not this week. Every morning this week is VBS. WAHOO! We love it. It's great and exciting. And tiring. This momma thought that preK would be easier than the other grades so therefore easier on my pregnancy and my SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction- fun stuff!) It gets worse the more I walk. HA! Joke was on me. Actually, Pre K is much easier, as I only have 18 kids and not 40. But man, it's exhausting. And every night I need to review the Bible story and prepare for it, etc.

So yesterday I had plans to take a nap. I got 5 minutes in to the nap and a friend called in an emergency asking if I can watch her kids. Of course I said yes. But no nap. So today, at 3 pm, a storm was coming in. It was beautiful. Got all dark and super windy. Goodbye 90+ weather we had with no A/C. It was cooling off, and rain is great napping weather! I got in bed with Abby, and put Hannah and Zach in their beds. I woke up about 4:15. I don't think anyone else napped. I put a movie on for them, and crawled back in bed... To be awoken by a "Hey Babe" at 5:45!!! YIKES! So I got up and we jointly prepared a delicious enough dinner, that of course the kids didn't eat. Baths and bed and then I looked at my house.

And then I walked in to the office to uuhhh... yeah, prepare the Bible story. (And post on FB and send my mom a text or 5. and read this HILARIOUS article. ) I promise, I'm going to go do the dishes soon. Because my husband was so kind and thoughtful! He went for a run, and said that I should do the dishes while he ran, and then he'd help me fold laundry when he got back. Except, it's 9:15 now and I'm not ready to fold laundry at 9:15. Maybe it'll go faster together? Or we'll probably start talking, get distracted, and give up after one load. Here's the laundry currently. Just deal with it sideways bc I"m too tired to rotate. Yeah, the towels on the floor there- not sure if they're clean or dirty at this point.

 So my husband is home. I should probably get to this.... Yeah, pretty bad huh? At least I know i'll get that part done tonight. I HAVE to. We need dishes for tomorrow... and cereal just doesn't work on paper plates.

 I also REALLY need to mop. Like, I'm wearing flops all the time it's so gross... but really, we're moving next week, and it'll get really nasty then. Is it worth mopping for one week? When I have 0 energy, and I'm in pain, and I can barely get ^ those dishes done.

 And then there's the den... oh the den... I think I may just throw all that in a box when I feel ok enough to walk and bend down at the same time. But there may be food hiding in there that I'm unaware of...

Like I said, it's BAD. But, let's keep it real, and keep me humble. I know, I need to get to working. Or put my husband to work. But oh yeah, he has a PT test next week, so his evenings are busy making sure he's athletic enough to pass, even though he's old now and his requirements got much easier. I just need strength to get through this week and ignore my house, yet also pack, or have energy to get some of it cleaned up.  Lord hear my prayer!

Great Family Day

Today was one of the greatest family day's we've had in a long time. We started to day out heading to Homburg to visit the flea market. I was VERY underprepared for what we were going to find. It was like one, huge, massive yard sale, table/car after table after table. We quickly learned that we had to be picky and not get something unless we REALLY wanted it. For one, we'd have to carry it and for two, there was so much to see. We walked away buying very little thankfully. We had a plastic Ikea table in yellow, but a whole bunch of random kids' chairs to go with it. Today, I found 3 yellow and orange Ikea chairs that match and fit perfectly with it, for €10! They were kind of a pain to carry back, but well worth it. I also bought a over -the-door shoe bag, in cute blue and nautical patterns. I'll either use it for the kids' room or for the homeschool room for school/craft supplies. Then we also bought some Pommes (German french fries, yum!) for the kids because they were starving. This whole part of the morning was making me happy.

Then we got back to the car, and ate our picnic lunch while driving to Hela. Hela is a huge hardware store, like Lowes or Home Depot. We'd never been, because there was another hardware store closer, but that one is closing down. Since we were just minutes from this one, we checked it out. FYI local friends- they have 3 isles of crafting stuff too! This part of the day was making husband happy.

Finally, I had heard about this great pirate ship park also in Homburg. I got the directions, but unfortunately, they weren't great because we were coming from a different direction. The directions said it was right next to the brewery and follow the castle ruins signs. So we did, and ended up at the castle. No pirate ship park, but a small playground. Since we'd promised the kids the park, we decided to hang out there for a bit. After a while, they wanted to climb the stairs. Next thing we knew, we were totally exploring the castle ruins and having a GREAT time.

At some point during the day, while driving, Hannah asked Jon to turn on the music. Right after he did, Hannah said "Mom, do you feel the baby moving now?" We've told the kids that the baby goes crazy every time music comes on (At Church, in the car, on tv, etc). We were cracking up. I told her no, not yet. But sure enough, about 1-2 minutes later, I did. We left, came home and changed real quick, stopping by the church for a minute. I took the girls to the bathroom where Hannah informed me that princesses don't poop or pee because she's never seen one poop or pee lol!

Then we met friends for dinner at a great restaurant Jon and I had been to once before. It has a rather large outside eating area, so we enjoyed the great evening outside. They have a small little playarea- sandbox, swing, play house, so after dinner, we let the kids go play while we talked as adults. It was DELICIOUS. We topped it off with dessert, ice cream for the kids and knodle for me! YUM! There was a wedding reception going on at the restaurant, and the kids had fun looking at how pretty the bride looked. We've also discovered today that when there's a wedding, everyone puts a white ribbon somewhere on their car, the antenna, rear windshield wiper, etc. I'd seen cars with them before, but tonight made the connection. As we walked in, I felt like everyone was staring at us. At first, it felt like it was because we weren't suppose to be there because of the wedding reception. But we asked and it was fine. As we left, they were all STARING again. I just didn't get it. We finally decided it was because we had 3 kids and a growing belly. That's just not common to Germans. Then we giggled that they were staring at us.

On our way home, even though it was already 8pm and we have to get up at 6:30, I managed to convince Jon to stop at the Blumen field and pick some flowers. Jon hadn't done it before, and the kids were beyond excited. They each got to pick one. I picked an orange, and Jon picked one more purple. As we were leaving, Hannah exclaimed "We need to get one for the baby!!!" So Jon declared the purple one was for the baby, as we were out of change. That made her happy. They really wanted Sunflowers as well, but we convinced them we'd come back and get flowers for the new house after we move.

All in all, it was an absolutely beautiful day spent with our family. We need more like it. I'm ready to go pass out. Tomorrow I have to go decorate for VBS, then it starts Monday. Please pray for VBS, and for me, as I"m already starting to have the 'wiped-out' feeling every afternoon. Then the following week we get our keys, wahoo! And somewhere in there, I do need to finish packing, eek!

Abby fell asleep on the way back to the house, before dinner. She took a good 30 min nap on the couch, laying like this. And she was a star today. Big white classes, denim skirt, and striped socks pulled all the way up with her sandals. She totally rocked the outfit!

Our new flowers.