Rockin' Friday

It was pouring rain when we got home this afternoon. I love the rain and I love my home. Seriously. Coming home to my newly cleaned out and functional library/living room was a shot of pure domestic joy. In about a week I should be able to post pictures of my house as an actual working home. I am partially embarassed that you all have seen it in transition, but the end result is feeling so good that I don't really mind. Looking around at the living room right this second... it feels good. Oh, it still needs beautification. But its a home.

Julius had a nasty yeasty diaper rash that wouldn't quit. It was going on a couple weeks. So I switched him to cloth diapers. I had stocked up on cloth when I first found out I was pregnant. My goal was to save us the $40-60 a month disposable diapers cost. I invested about $100 in a full stock of cloth diapers (about 3 days worth), so I only have to use them for a month and a half to start seeing a profit... Extra helpful is the fact that our water is included in our lot rent so the extra energy cost to us is minimal electricity. Cloth diapering is actually even easier than I thought it would be, and it makes me feel good. I feel more fiscally and environmentally responsible. I'll have to blog more about it at another time. I still have enough disposables to use in emergencies or when we have to run out the door. Ideally, I won't need to buy any diapers at all this year. Thank you, God!

Yesterday I took the kids into my work so my boss could meet the baby. That was nice for all of us. Vicky blessed us with gifts for all the kids. It was good to see her, Lisa, and the store again. I also got hugs from Laura, Gloria, Justin, and Nancy. Yay! I didn't get to see my buddy Stef, though, who is at Creation this week. I miss her.

This evening, Lee's buddy Jon came over. He brought a new Playstation game over for us to play together - "Rock Band". It was AWESOME! The game includes a mockup controller of a guitar and a set of drums, plus a microphone. Each player mans an instrument and "plays" along. Lee played the guitar, Jon played the drums, and I sang. Olivia played cheerleader, Boo took the drums for a song or two, and Julius was my dancing partner! We had SO MUCH FUN. At one point I caught myself and suddenly realised that I was sitting in the living room with Lee and his friends, belting out rock songs that I had never heard before. And I don't exactly have the voice for Rolling Stones if you know what I mean... embarassing! But I was having too much fun to let self-consciousness get in the way. Thanks for a great evening, Jon. We all really enjoyed it.

Tuesday

Lee didn't get to go to Creation this week for reasons beyond his control. He already has the week off work, though, so it will be a "vacation" week for our family. We will probably go to the Celtic Fling at the Faire this weekend.



Today I went to hang out with my Mommi in the later part of the morning and the early part of the afternoon. Apparently I need adult [female!] conversation because four hours slipped by unnoticed by me! It felt good to connect with my mom, as it always does. Talking to her helps me center myself. That's hard to explain, but its a good thing.



When I got home, it felt so peaceful to see my books lined up on my new bookshelves, gifted to us by a friend. I loved books more than any other "thing" in the world. Books are like friends to me. They hold memories and new worlds of knowledge in their pages. I like the way they smell and the way they look. I love to learn from them and to escape into them.



I had a furious fit of decluttering and organizing on Sunday. I got all the storage stuff cleared out of the kids bedroom. There is one big piece of clutter in there - a full sized mattress sans boxspring which needs to go to freecycle. Then there is a pile of toys in the kitchen that need to go to the thrift store.

After dinner tonight I had a horrible gallbladder attack. It has been about eight months since I had one but it was the worst one ever. It is time to seriously change my diet - cut back on fatty meat and dairy (my favorite foods) and increase fiber and vegetables (my least favorite foods). I hate that I am having to deal with this before I even hit thirty, but I have just never eaten healthily. My body is sending me a clear message. During the beginning of my pregnancy, my body wouldn't let me eat the danger foods and I actually craved the good foods like high fiber breads and bean sprout sandwiches. One day I had a bowl of spaghetti with meaty sauce, and i had the only attack of the whole pregnancy. Today I had sloppy joe meat with sour cream and tostitoes. Dairy AND fatty meats... and acidy tomatoes. So. Anyway. No more complaining about this stupid body. Going to go to the store tomorrow and get yummy crusty fibery bread and bean sprouts. Mmmmm. And for desert... jello??

Pics Only

Father's Day Tributes

Cheers for my Daddy, who was there my whole life. He worked his butt off tirelessly every day to provide for us, and he's still doing so for the herd still at home. My dad loves my mom. He loves God. He modeled integrity for me. He taught me to obey God and to be responsible. He taught me to think and to investigate. He taught me to use a computer and to love theology and rock music. Finally, he made me feel special and loved. Even in a big family, I got to spend time with my dad. I love him.

Cheers, too, for the other Dad in my life, my husband. Lee has overcome so much to become the loving, attentive father that he is today. Like my Dad, Lee spends time with each of his kids to make them feel loved. Lee always makes sure that we have food to eat. He gets his hands dirty to wrestle with the car or the house or the lawn to make sure I have what I need. He shares every minute that he has with us. He is going back to school to "better himself" so that he can find a better job and provide for us financially. I love him.

Wednesday

It has been brutally hot and the trailer holds heat like living in a tin can. It's okay though, because it gives us an excuse to go visiting all our family who just happen to have air conditioning and pools. We spent the weekend at Nan's, and then went to see our Nana yesterday.

Today was much nicer. The window fans blew in cooler air and really revived us.


Here's Jules chillin'.

We did a beading project today. One of my biggest motivations for learning to be a good homemaker is wanting to be able to do creative projects with the kids. We had a lot of fun just stringing beads today.

Not the most attractive picture out there, but a happy one.

Julius chillin' in his swing.

Olivia has the world's shortest attention span. Until she puts on headphones. Then she is sucked into whatever she is listening to. I'm sure that will be important to remember. I have a subscription to GameTap, which gives me access to a whole slew of educational games for the kiddoes. All the old Reader Rabbits, Math Blasters, etc. Our favorite is Pajama Sam.

This picture just warms my heart. Her smile is amazing.

brothers

This layout was made with papers and elements from Digital Design Essential's May Idea Notebook by Gina Cabrera.

Elijah took this picture of his little sister. Cute.

Sometimes Julius won't calm down unless his Daddy holds him. They are going to be good buddies. I love Lee.

Another Week Goes By

Have been dealing with some non-bloggable (i.e. personal) medical problems this week which have made me cranky and unsocial. The baby is healthy and chubbing out.

The kids are good and wonderful.

We got the storage cleaned out. So while I had just about got all the boxes out of the living room, I now get to start over.

The Elizabeth ministry at church has brought us a few meals. I can't even say how much that made this week better.

Lee had a little set aside for fun, so we went to the drive in this weekend. They were playing Indiana Jones and Ironman. Both movies were awesome. While we were waiting for the movies to start, Lee was talking about what he'd like to do with his degree - he'd like to either work for a museum or teach history at a college. "So, basically, you want to be Indiana Jones." "Right." If he can find a job at a museum, that would be totally awesome of course, but I'd love it if he were a Professor, too. I love the idea of him being at a school his whole life because he just loves the atmosphere. And we could go on field trips with him! (Yes, college teachers do field trips.)

Julius is settling into a routine, but yesterday was another one of those days. Catnap for twenty minutes, up again and crying. Basically all day. But he is so precious and I am happy for every minute.

I registered for three classes again next semester. I miss school - isn't that weird?

Spiritually, now is the time when we are thanking God each night for our daily bread and the roof over our head. It's the time when we don't actually see or feel Him, but we are leaning on God and know He's there.