Friday Night

It's just been one thing after another. I have been tired and moody - poor Lee! I have no patience right now. Lee is actually having a great semester so far, and his two late classes start this week. So he'll be very busy. Less time for fighting, but that strategy isn't fool proof. When you're as cranky as I have been, there's ALWAYS time to fight.

Monday I spent half the day trying to get my Math test to work. We were having a REALLY hard time with our DSL connection. Our modem finally just went kaput. So we are at dial-up speed now, and in the market for a new DSL provider. NetZero is a nightmare - don't use them. They're outsourced customer is so awful. Oh, don't get me started. Anyway.

Monday night was RCIA class. That was pretty much amazing. We had a theology teacher in charge of the lesson for the night. We learned about the history of the Bible. I even learned a few facts I did not know at all. It was great. Michelle brought blueberry tea for her and me, and that was quite yum.

Now Tuesday was ok, just tiring. I woke up EXHAUSTED. The baby is taking so much energy. I think I need to get an iron pill in addition to my pre-natals. I'm sure when I get my card, the doctor will give me a prescription for it. Anyway, Tuesday is a split shift for me now, so I work morning and night with a long stretch at home in the middle. This is to accomodate Lee's classes. It's fine. It sounds yucky, but I like having it split up and having all that time with the kiddoes.

Wednesday I finally got to go see my Mommi. that was good. I only got to go over and a couple hours, and we did what we always do - talk without stopping from the second I get there until I leave. So in other words, fun. Then Lee went to school, then I went to work. Tiring.

Thursday. I don't remember Thursday. Lee went to work in the morning, brought us pizza for lunch, then went to school. I got some good house cleaning done. Oh, wait, I remember. When Lee went to school, he dropped us off at the library. I read a book while the kids played with the toys. Then in the evening, Lee had more school, so we went to Nan's house. Me and Nan watched sitcoms together and talked about the family. (okay, we gossip way too much and I've got to learn to be a better example)

Now today, I woke up feeling less tired. That was great. I scrubbed down the kitchen, and the kids helped. Lee had to go to school early. When Lee got home, Livvy started throwing up everywhere. Poor darling. We started a steady juice and popsicle routine. A little knot in my tummy tells me I have the bug, too, but my digestive system is insanely strong. I probably won't throw up at all. Boo will probably get it. As long as Lee stays healthy, we'll be fine.

If you think of it, say a prayer for Livvy to be strong and keep drinking, and one for me - I have my first two college exams this week. I am nervous, but I feel okay!

AHHHH!

Please say a little prayer for me. I have 3 persons worth of stuff to do in the next 24 hours. I'm going to be so tired at this time tomorrow.

Pictures

My beautiful happy babies. Some people think the world is a bad place and there's no good in it, but they just haven't met my kids yet.

When Damien was born, I talked to me mother in law a little bit on the phone. I think she thought we didn't want her to see the kids. I told her to get her butt down and see them. So she did.

Lee and Damien. Lee loves his nephew. Like any dad he can get stressed, but when he isn't stressed, he's very good with babies and loves them very much.

And me with my new nephew and all my own babies. Don't I look happy? You're darn right I do.

Happy Almost Birthday, Mommi

September 12th is my mom's birthday. My mom is the very best mom in the world. People who have never met my mom say that she must be a very special person to have so many kids. They are right, but they really don't understand what that means. They don't understand the daily, life-long struggle that comes with being a mom to so many special kids. Being a mom to even just one kid takes everything that you have. Being a mom to 15 makes your heart bigger, more understanding, more patient. I know that Jesus is proud of my mom. So am I.

I know that learned everything about being a person from my mom, and everything about being a Christian. From my mom I learned how to listen for God's voice and how to obey him. From my mom, I learned how to love books and music. From my mom, I learned how to be a Mom.

But more specifically, my mom is my friend, and always has been. I go to my mom when I need to talk something out, to get my head straight. My mom helps me temper the judgemental, quick-thinking parts of my personality. She helps me remember who I am, and lets me be myself. I love you, Mommi. Happy almost-birthday.

Yes, I Really Am

Just a few brief updates to keep the universe up to date with my life. The last two weeks every free moment was spent either on homework or with my sister. Seeing Sarah after so long was nothing short of wonderful, and having to say goodbye was awful. She seems happy, though, and that makes me happy. I definitely like Curtis, though I wish we would have gotten to spend more time with him to get to know him a little better.

Sunday Nan took us out to dinner at Olive Garden, my favorite restaurant in the WHOLE WORLD. Anyway, that was nice, but Nan had her card stolen at the end of the dinner. That was not so nice. Dear crook, shame on you. God will catch up with you.

Then work today, which crawled by. Why? Because I had an appointment to go to the pregnancy center to get a confirmation of my pregnancy for insurance purposes. I was so nervous that my body is still tense. Of course at the pregnancy center we ran into the mother of one of the girls we graduated from high school with. Lee insisted on saying hi and everything, and she was really happy to talk to us and tell us about Julie's life. That was cool. Then we had a little counseling/question session about our state of life, etc. This was neat because it made me feel good to hear Lee's answers to the questions. Its so good to be a family. Then a (very) quick urine test confirmed what we already knew. After that we had an early ultrasound to try and determine gestational age - the baby measured at 6 weeks, giving an EDD of May 6, 2008, but based on LMP it would be April 24th. I think it's somewhere in between there. But then again my kids are always late, so we'd better shoot for early-middle May! lol, like we have any control over that.

Then Lee took me back to Nan's, where a surprise was waiting for me. My sister in law Jackie was waiting for me there with my beautiful nephew Damien. He seems to be doing well. I must have held him tightly for 45 minutes. I just loved him. I have pictures, but Lee is on the computer that has the pictures, so I will post them a bit later.

After we went home, I had RCIA class at church. It was the first official class. It's going to be really interesting. It's quite a blend of people. I really liked the teacher tonight. We got to take home a binder of materials. I got to talk to Michelle a little bit, too, during the break. We've never really got to have a speaking conversation! So that was fun.

When I got home, I cracked open a bag of maternity clothes that Michelle gave me. WOW!!!! They are SOOOO nice!! I would have killed for nice jeans during my last two. We got more Magic School Bus books - oh, is Elijah going to be happy about that. For some weird reason, he loves them. Funny, because they are way over his level. There were a lot of other nice books, too. THANK YOU!!! :) :)

Well, now its time to get back to homework.

...

i miss my sister :(

I Will Miss You, Madeleine

I would like to share a few quotes from the words of a dear friend who I never met. Madeleine L'Engle, the author of many wonderful stories, poems, and writings, was one of the major influences of my life. Although I didn't always agree with her, she always challenged me to think and to grow.

"If we commit ourselves to one person for life, this is not, as many people think, a rejection of freedom; rather, it demands the courage to move into all the risks of freedom, and the risk of love which is permanent; into that love which is not possession but participation."

"Those who do not believe in a loving God do not enjoy parties!."

"We've become too polite. We don't laugh and cry with God. We've forgotten the excitement of the Good News. What greater sign of the extraordinary, lavish marvelous love of God than the incarnation! God so loved the world and all of us in it that God elself came to live with us as one of us! Is it so good that we're afraid to believe it?"

"God says, 'I love you! I love you enough to come and be with you. And because I live forever, you will, too.'"

"There's the rub; an icon can far too easily become an idol. Idols always bring disaster to the idolater. An icon is an open door to the Creator; when it becomes an idol, the door slams in your face."

"Prayer was never meant to be magic," Mother said."Then why bother with it?" Suzy scowled."Because it's an act of love," Mother said." (From A Ring of Endless Light, one of my top 5 books of all time)

"The Trinity is the icon of human family, and the wholeness and holiness of the Trinity is a mystery, so we should not be surprised that the family is a mystery, too."

"To be in a state of unforgiveness is to know hell, at least in a small way." '

"Someone asked me about creation versus evolution," she says. "I said I can't get very excited about it. There's only one question worth asking, and that is, 'Did God make it?' And if the answer is 'Yes,' then why get so excited about it?"

"Evangelism is who you are."

"Nothing important is completely explicable."

"There aren't any easy answers to the questions being raised today, and it may be too easy for me to remember Jesus saying, "Greater love has no man than to give up his life for his friend." Or wife, or children. Isn't staying with your family sometimes a real equivalent of giving up your own life? Cannot it sometimes be a blessing, especially if it is given with graciousness, not rigid rectitude? I believe that it can, because I know of families where this is what has happened. Sacrifice is no longer popular, but I think that sometimes it can lead to true joy. Even the simplest of unions does not come free. There is always sacrifice."

And finally:

"What I believe is so magnificent, so glorious, that it is beyond finite comprehension. To believe that the universe was created by a purposeful, benign Creator is one thing. To believe that this Creator took on human vesture, accepted death and mortality, was tempted, betrayed, broken, and all for love of us, defies reason. It is so wild that it terrifies some Christians who try to dogmatize their fear by lashing out at other Christians, because tidy Christianity with all answers given is easier than one which reaches out to the wild wonder of God's love, a love we don't even have to earn."

Thanks for everything, Madeleine. I wanted more. I really wanted to know what would happen to Adam and Vicky. In your memory, and your honor, Madeleine, even though we never met or conversed, you were like a great-aunt to me, and I will truly miss you.