35 weeks and 1 day

Today we had our first co-op meeting.  It goes from 9-12 the 2nd Friday of the month.  To say Ethan had a good time is an underscore!  He was so excited and had a great time with his teacher letting me know he was well behaved.  Praise the Lord!  I am volunteering in the nursery since Ernest and the future Ms. Eleanor will be both be in there.  We start with circle time which is the Pledge of Allegiance, singing happy birthday, and announcements.  Then we break to our rooms and rotate every 45 minutes to a new class.  Ethan started in a classroom, has phy ed, then ends in the classroom again.  It is well structured and he was pretty tired by the end.  Several mom's rotated in and out of the nursery to help with the little ones, so there was someone new to talk to every so often, which is a great way to get to know the other mom's.  I started off tired so I sat a lot and played on the floor.  Easy peasy. 

Afterwards we went to a thrift store and got a great deal on a beautiful dress for the brother in law's wedding on Sunday.  Sad to say I'm waiting two days before the wedding to purchase a dress but I didn't want to get a dress and not go or have it not fit.  Plus it's something I can wear in the future, black and white floral halter top.  Pretty!  The boys did great too.

To end our journey we went to McDonald's which is a TREAT in our family.  I didn't know what to get and had to tell them to wait several times while I did calculations in my head.  Ethan ate a LOT and I ended up going back to order more!  He had most of Ernest's burger, another kids burger, a McDouble, most of the french fries (a medium) and we refilled our small drink several times.  A growing boy I tell ya!  Then Ernest only had a piece of his first burger since Ethan scarfed it down, so he had another one and some french fries.  I'm afraid of the teenage years, let me tell ya!  Ethan had great time playing in their playscape said "Mom, I'm done.  I want to go home." after about 45 minutes! 

Now we are working on cleaning the house and preparing for the baby!  It's definitly an ongoing process.

Fall has ARRIVED!

All in a question

While getting ready for #3's arrival we have been sorting and packing away Ernest's 12 month clothes, Ethan's 5t clothes and all of the summer shorts.  Sigh, it's true.  It's too chilly for shorts and sandles.  We now have to wear socks, real shoes, and at least a hoodie.

Some of Ernest's 18 month clothes are short sleeved and shorts, so I explained to Kendall I don't plan on putting him into these clothes at all, eventhough they'd fit.  So question is: "What do you want me to do with them?"

Several times I have exclaimed that I'm done having kids, I can't do it with two much less three, we can't afford three, we can't afford two in diapers, what are we going to do, blah blah blah.  But still, I feel deep inside, we are not done.  I cannot seem to garage sale or give away baby clothes.  I look forward to storing them and awaiting the arrival of the next little baby to wear the handed down clothes so perfectly folded with love, marking them now by gender instead of just by age. 

When I asked Kendall "What do you want me to do with Ernest's clothes?" I held my breath and hesistated.  What if he says to put them in the garage sale bin?  Craigslist?  Send them off to the thrift store!  MY BABY'S CLOTHES!!!! (ohhhh how a woman's mind can race)

Instead, he replies with "Put them in a bag and we'll put them in storage." 

Like, duh.

Ernest resting at the park.  "Just hold me and all is well."

Kendall, you know how to win me over.

Hotter than two rats fighting in a wool sock

Heartburn sucks.


Where did this come from, and so late in the pregnancy.  Isn't this something experienced earlier and not at the end?  Ohhh the burning.  The burning....

The boys eatting spaghetti.  Bland spaghetti.  But they are so cute :)

My favorite art

This painting is entitled "The Elder Sister" and is painted by Willian Bouguereau.  It is the first painting you will see when entering the Houston Museum of Fine Arts.  When dad was recieving cancer treatments at MD Anderson we would go into the city and look for inexpensive (read: free) adventures.  Although we did get our fair share of Astro World during the summer, I'll never forget this painting at the museum.  Her blood vessels are light blue and amazingly detailed on her right hand.  Her eyes are soft but focused and that sweet little sister of her's couldn't be more true with a little fat dimple on her elbow.  Simply beautiful..  It seems to come alive and is almost parallel to that scary painting of Vigo the Carpathian from Ghostbusters 2 due to how how real it is.



Remember how freaky he was?!?!?!?!!!

I just love how women with some extra junk in the trunk are seen as an earmark for beauty.  No skin and bones in these pictures, curves are accepted and highly encouraged.  Why can't we go back to that era?

The Wave

Seated Bather

Here's that Elder Sister again with a crab!  I wonder who she was.

The Crab

  And now onto Mary Cassatt.  Her work is actually pretty popular, mostly because she's all about mom's and kids.  Awwwww. All of these paintings can be found at http://www.marycassatt.org/ .  Go there and be ready to ooooh and ahhh over how sweet these paintings are.

I think of Ernest, fresh from a bath and all cleaned up with this painting. 

Sweet and snuggly, just the way God intends babes to be. (HA!)

 The mom pooch is not forgotten on this one.  Yup, she's still got it.  Hold old do you think he is?  5 months? 6 months?  Looks like she's still holding him up but his legs aren't too jello-y.

"Child, I love you, but momma's tired. 

Let the coffee hit the bloodstream then I promise we'll watch

Veggietales Christmas Spectacular for the 302nd time."  

Nursing!  A lost art in the United States!  WOO HOO!!!!!  Look at those fat thighs!!

Ernest does this to me all. the. time. 

Little ones think the human face is simply a puzzle with never ending ways of coming together.

Clean little bath bottom!  They both look tired yet happy.  This must be before bed time. 

Another nursing picture!  How old do you think THIS baby is?  Certainly no newborn.

Wet sloppery kisses for mama!  Oh Ernest, this is you and me bud.

"And then we wash inbetween your toes, all done!"

And then we have this.

This one is actually a pretty famous painting by Rothko and was recently made into a stamp. 

 He was an "abstract expressionist".

To each his own.

To everything there is a season

And this season I have chosen to not do it. Go me!

Three years ago I was in so many different events such as MOPS, numerous leadership positions, nursery at church, Mary Kay, mom meet ups, and said "Yes, I'd love to help!" to anything thrown my direction.

This time around, I take note of the event and quietly pray over it.  What's the time commitment?  Duration?  Who will be there?  Is this a fun mommy moment kind of get together, or will I walk away feeling refreshed in the Lord? 

Side note: A fellow blogger posts about how evangelism starts in the family first.  Yes, it's so true.  I have to be available to my family first and foremost.

There is a Bible study by Kay Arthur going on at our church right now that I had thought I'd attend, but a paying gig watching some little ones has come up that I've decided to take.  It's twice a month for 2 hours and my kids can come.  I'm thinking of having Ethan stay with me as a "helper" so there's one less 4 year old in their room (it was busy!). 

I've also decided to commit to a local MOPS group that meets 2 times a month for TWO AND A HALF HOURS.  Amen and amen.  There was a speaker today that spoke on birth order (her husband, Dave Brown is running for senate) and we embarked on an easy peasy craft of decorating candles for fall.  All of this plus a delicious breakfast two times a month?  I'll be there in bells and whistles!

Wednesday night's Ethan attends Cubbies through AWANA at church, then while he's in class I attend a Bible Study called The Bait of Satan.  It is is about overcoming bitterness and forgiving people who have offended you.  So who can't relate, right?  He talks really fast in the videos, which are only thirty minutes, so I usually drink a cup of coffee before attending so my brain will reenergize enough to understand the man (it's an evening Bible study) but it's really good.

PLUS, if I'm gone all the time, everything sits.  The dishes, the vacumming, the spiders I continue to allow live in the corners of our home because I have faith they'll keep the weirdo bug population null but I'm disappointed in their work effort.  It's one thing to come home to 'stuff to do', it's another to come home to an explosion. 

"A wise woman builds her home, but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1

Ya can't build up your house if you aren't there!

Stay out of the dog food!!!

Chilifest 2010

Ethan on the tractor pull.  Kendall is in the blue sweatshirt.

Ethan got to sit on the tractor because he came in first place! State bound next year!

First place!  "Mom, do I get to take the trophy home?" :) SO PROUD!!!!!

Sidewalk chalk contest.  "Ethan, what are you going to draw?"

 "Colors!"

 aka: nothing, just put chalk everywhere.  At least Ernest was able to help.

Group photo op!

Boys group photo op!

Going over the edge of the inflatable.  Go Ethan go!  Just like Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson.

(Fyi: if you ever want my kid to do something, mention Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson or daddy did it. 

Then he's all for it.)

Now I'm going to go take a nap and put a hot rice pack on my lower back. 

He loves his daddy

Kendall and Ethan chopping tomatoes.  Ethan has a butter knife and kepy saying "Dad, I'm a big helper!"



A homeschooling moment at the dining table.  Ethan was connecting opposites.

After building a Super Mario Ship using every single Duplo block we own.

Off to Pizza Hut for the Viking's first game of the season.

Can you see how much joy Kendall brings to Ethan?  And how proud Ethan is of his daddy? 

They are two peas in a pod, like peanut butter and jelly.

All of these pictures have been taken in Sept 2010.