Pirate Murder Mystery Party

We went to a Murder Mystery Party where I was Sharktooth Brandy and Kendall was Thumbless Jack, what was one of the main suspects.  Not the gloves on Kendall?  They kept back his thumbs all night. HA!  And those 'beer' bottles?  IBC Root Beer bottles, how cool is that?!?!  My 'corsett' and Kendall's vest are all pieces of fabric sewn together with shoelaces.  HA!  And there were some fan-dancy costumes there!  On New Years Eve there will be another Murder Mystery Party with a gangster 1920's theme!  So cool! 

Arrrrrgh matey!

So disgusted. Bleh!

I was sent to the local grocery store today for a few simple items: tomatoes, lettuce, chicken breasts and bacon.  Kendall wanted a grilled chicken salad with bacon for dinner.  To me it should be $2 for three tomatoes, $1 for lettuc, $5.99 for a bag'o'breasts, and $1.99 for bacon.

I think I still live in 1997.

THE PRICES HERE IN TOWN ARE OUTRAGEOUS!  I get so mad when I try to go over there to buy a few things that should be about five or six bucks, not ten or eleven.  I was astounded that they wanted $5.99 for 2.5 pounds of frozen chicken breasts when I KNOW that Aldi's down the road a ways has FIVE pounds of chicken breasts for $4.99 NO JOKE.  Lettuce is .99 at Wal-mart, they wanted $1.49.  Yuck!

So do you know what I did?  I bought a turkey for $1.49/lb and now we have enough food to last till Monday.  Poop on them if they think they can get me to pay $2.99-3.50/lb for chicken!  Good grief the farms are a few towns over, why is is SO EXPENSIVE? 

I try really hard to give the little man his share and not shop so much at huge box stores like Walmart but dog gone it if this po dunk town's grocery chain is going to nickel and dime and QUARTER me to death then I'm willing to drive the 20-30 minute drive down to the beast named Walmart and give them my business. 

Bleh!

Take my breath awaaaaaaaaaay

No, not Top Gun or Jessica Simpson.  Although to go back in time to that particular Tom Cruise would be heavenly....

Today at church I was minding my own business, singing along to I'll Stand by Hillsong when alluva sudden I AM OUT OF BREATH.  Home girl decides she would like to do a handstand and sit on my diaphragm.  Bummer!  That song is so awesome! 

It is so weird to be laying down and be out of breath.  Or to be standing in line at Walmart and pushing my stomach around trying to find relief. 

"Breathlessness in the third trimester is caused by the now much bigger uterus taking up more space in your stomach – which pushes your other organs and reduces the amount of space which your lungs have to expand when you breathe in.  From around weeks 31 to 34 of your pregnancy your uterus will start to press on your diaphragm – which is the flat muscle that moves up and down when you breathe. These changes may make it hard for your lungs to fully expand. This may cause more shallow breathing, and you may feel short of breath."
Managing Breathlessness While Pregnant


And to wake up at 2am to not being able to breath is pretty annoying making yomama pretty cranky for the rest of the day.  Usually walking gets her to settle on down.  Down is where I want her to go!  I think I'd be ok going into labor early.  Well, no earlier than 36 weeks since technically she's not done cooking yet.

On a sad :-( side note, I have entered all FOUR of my kids on BabyCenter.com.  Ethan is 4 years 3 months old, "Your Child" is 28 months old :-( boo hoo!, Ernest is 14 months old, and Eleanor To Be is still coming along at 33weeks.  I had totally forgotten that I'd entered my due date immediately after finding out about "Your Child" and never took the info out when we lost "Your Child".  Talk about some close pregnancies, I tell ya we are filling that minivan up.

Ernest meets a cow. 
The cow finds a long lost cookie in the stroller. 
The end result- mom cleans out cow slobber the next day but by golly this picture is cute!

...Thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice. Psalm 65:8

Shucking corn is serious business at the grocery store.

Kendall is usually up late at night posting and working on ebay.  I don't blame him as I wait until there are no children underfoot to sort out my Mary Kay orders and other projects demanding space that little fingers would be interested in. 

Since he is usually up late, he sleeps in later than most do (as in noon, I get fussy anything later than noon) therefore leaving the boys and I to ourselves during the morning.  This is not a bad gig at all.  I enjoy our quiet time, our "no computer until after lunch" rule, breakfast together, and general fun mornings.  I have my energy in the morning so it is not uncommon for us to all be fed, dressed and at the grocery store by or before 8:00am.  Story time is on Wednesday mornings at the library, MOPS will be in the mornings, Bible studies will be in the mornings, so our mornings are usually pretty planned out.  Ernest goes down for his morning nap from 9:30-11:30 which gives Ethan and I ample time to do our bookwork for the day and scrub floors without a little one demanding attention. 

All in all, feel free to call me at 8am, I'll be up and my brain just might be turned on. :-)

Psalms 65:8 They also that dwell in the uttermost parts are afraid at thy tokens: thou makest the outgoings of the morning and evening to rejoice.

Playing with the puppets after story time at the library.

We're staying!

Kendall has decided that we should stay in the area instead of moving.  This is a "Yay!" and "Darn" all in one. 

Pros:
The hussle and bussle of moving + 33 weeks pregnant + small children = no fun.  I wasn't looking forward to having to implement more time on moving and less time towards my kids and Mary Kay (which has taken a beating due to preparations in a huge garage sale Kendall had and will have once more. yay).  And having to redirect our mail- AGAIN- is a pain.  I think we still have some mail forwarded to Kendall's brother which annoys everyone. 

Decor?  I'd like to decorate our home.  We have been living on the minimum since March because we didn't know what we were doing.  What if he got a job?  2 hours south?  Or in South Dakota?  Then we'd be that much closer to having everything packed up.  Now, I feel like I'd like to hang some pictures.  Maybe bring out some things that I'd like to show.  Make the place feel more like a home than a warehouse basement.

Friendships.  Both Ethan and mine.  I am a social butterfly by nature.  I do not mind telling the Coborn's cashier her earrings are pretty. And they always seem amazed that I notice their new hair cut and color.  The guys at the meat market no longer ask if we need assistance because the only reason we slow down in that area is to check on "Ethan's lobsters".  It is my nature to notice people and to be with them.  (Isn't there some scripture or something about people are the church or bringing the church to the community?  Something like that?  Yo?) 
The first thing I do when put in a new enviroment is to find a church.  Second, what kind of mom/ladies programs do they have?  When we first moved here and tried a church out they had AWANA's for Ethan because we could NOT take him out of Cubbies.  Bless his little heart but the kid just loves Cubbies and has been to three different Cubbie's programs this past year.  That church had a women's indoor walking shindig so we could walk in the sanctuary and not outside on ice (hello we live in a frozen tundra).  We ended up not staying at said church but I developed GREAT friendships with GOOD WOMEN there.  Plus, I'm the youngest in the group so I get to sit and listen on all of their wisdom and smart stuff. 
Then I met another friend at the park.  And another friend at a GARAGE SALE!  Seriously, she was having a huge garage sale and everything was, like, a quarter or something ridiculous.  But I didn't know what I gender the baby was yet so I held off.  The next week I found out Eleanor's a girl, which is good because that'd be weird if she were a boy.  Wait. Anyway... and I went BACK to that garage sale ladies house, left her a note saying "I'm having my first girl after 2 boys.  If you have another garage sale, call me because I need your girl stuff!" and she called the next day and said "I'm taking it all to the used clothing store so come get what you want".  Now, my daughter has at least something to wear until she's two.  Plus, she has 6 kids ages five and under (yes, there are twins in there) so it's so much fun hanging out with her and her crew.  So I don't wanna make new friends!  My other pre-Texas friends are an hour south!  And to start all over, a THIRD time, is just plain poopy.  Plus, Ethan is at the friend making age and asks about other kids and people and when can we go visit.  Awwww. :-)

Cons-
I am petrified of what our electric bill will be.  It was $200 in March.  For a one bedroom basement apartment.  Dude.  So what's it going to be in January when it's twenty below?  And with a newborn you can't just say "Go put on another sweater!" like I can to the 4 year old.  The temperature needs to be manageable! Liveable!  Any suggestions?

Parking.  We park on the lawn because the upstairs people park in the driveway (1 way street type of driveway).  I'm wondering where we are going to park when there are four foot snow drifts.  Will the owner plow the lawn?  And whatever happened to that concrete slab he said he was going to put in for us?  Hmmm, I'd forgotten about that. 

Space. Uno bedroom thats houses a playpen, toddler mattress, king mattress, future bassinet, drawers, and clothes.  Squiiiiiiiiiiiiish.  Long living room that has (from left to right) kids area, ebay area, Mary Kay area, desk, dining room table, 2 bookshelves. Tiny bathroom that nobody fits in.  Large kitchen, though.  Weird.  Our landlord LOVES us because we do pay rent on time, are quiet, and we are have no criminal record.  Plus, we're the family of almost-five living in his rental houses basement.  He fixed up an unused room  for us to use as storage in the back of the house, which is so nice because our storage place was costing us $70 a month.  We have in storage stuff from Texas, different holiday stuff (and I only have the BARE MINIMUMS, nothing crazy), childhood stuff, scrapbooks, and off season clothes.  It'd be different if it were eighty degrees all year round but there is a 120 (140 if you include windchill) difference here so we have a LOT of clothes in a LOT of different sizes.  I finally gave up on my 'mediums' though, gimme some credit!

Getting ready to hunker down for the winter, new baby, and life in the cave!  I think I'm going to look into getting a Happy Lamp.

"It's good to be one."

Not looking forward to school, and loving it.

In some places of the country, school has already begun.  Other's are quickly preparing for it.  Texas usually has a 9% tax on clothes but for one weekend only (this upcoming one) there will be no sales tax on any clothes.  This will mean a monstrous storm of parents at all retail stores much like Black Friday.  SCARY.

I, on the other hand, am not so concerned.  It's so nice to not be so concerned.  I am not counting down days until I send my son to his first day of preschool.  I am not purchasing a Spiderman backpack or 6 Kleenex boxes for a classroom.  I am not looking forward to a bus to come carry him away, or a teacher to meet and adjust to.  I am not looking into downpayments, or any payments, to a school who has decided what will or won't be taught to my son.  And I'm not looking forward to my son being gone 4-6 hours a day, every other day or whatever the new schedules suggest.

I am, however, very muchso looking forward to educating my son.  I am wholeheartedly looking forward to our relaxed mornings at the dinner table reading from a children's Bible and going over the Fruits of the Spirit.  To not have to rush out the door is a blessing in itself!  I want to be the one to correct him when he's wrong or makes a bad choice.  I want him by myself to help shuck corn at the grocery store or pick out the biggest cereal.  I am looking forward to him reading his books by himself for the first time and knowing I played a role in it.  After many hours of pronunciation and asking "And what sound does 'd' make?", you do have a great sense of pride in it.  I am looking forward to making goop and playdoh of different shades and scents.  I am looking forward to using our math manipulatives, especially the marshmallow shapes.  I am looking forward to him being home to play with and help raise his baby brother and new baby sister.  To have him miss out on his siblings would be devestating.   Plus, to have him miss out on listening to his sister's heartbeat while in utero would be a disappointment as he would be missing out on a family event.

"That's my baby sister?"

"Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6


And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Happy 1st Birthday Ernest George!

Sweet little Ernest came into the world on the morning of June 28, 2010.  Don't ask me how big, how long, or the time.  I do not know these things about my children.  Let's just say "normal", mmkay?

And now he is ONE!  I'd have to say that the first six months were pretty trying.  He nursed exclusively for the first six months and wanted to be fed every.two.hours. for the first five.  For real yo'.  I don't remember much, just that we are all still here by the grace of God.  Then after I introduced baby food he wanted to be fed every three hours.  Not much of a relief but it's a start!  Finally, at 10 months I moved him to formula due to the pregnancy.  I haven't figured out how to do both, be pregnant and nurse,  because my milk wasn't as filling anymore to Ernest and he was cranky more often.  I needed to do better in the vitamin/eatting department.  At least I know if it happens again to eat better than just "good enough". 

Let me tell ya, I'm still pretty stinking proud of myself for nursing for ten whole months.  Considering we packed up and moved across the country, went through 3 seasons, and raised a then three year old, not too shabby.  My original plan was to nurse for a year, the move on to whole milk and start to wean.  We'll see how it goes with this one.

Ok, so now the internet knows all about Ernest's infant eatting habits.  Moving along now...

Happy Birthday Ernest!

We had his little get together with Kendall's sister, brother, future sister in law, one set of grandparents, three cousins, and over tired brother (and mother for that matter).  Just a simple cake and some presents while the kids played.  It was EXACTLY what I wanted!  Being with friends and family is all that mattered.

Ethan had been telling me for a few weeks that he was going to help Ernest blow out the candles.  He is SUCH an amazing big brother.  I'm in the hat (and yellow shirt.  Not the blue shirt thankyouverymuch).  My future sister in law is in the red, and my sister in law/Kendall's sister is in yellow.

Yay!  Ethan's super happy for helping blow out the candle, Ernest is just waking up from a nap, and Sarah's trying to balance Ernest and a cake.  Whew!

Ernest opening presents.  He actually did a good job and got the hang of it. 

Can you tell we read books together?  This card sang, so it was a definite hit.

Heather brought a chocolate cake for him to dig into.  He managed to get it everywhere and on everyone.  He's definitly my child- he loves chocolate :-).

And here's the "I need a nap!" face.  Attitude = melt down = nap.  Amen and amen.