Taking a Deep Breath and Pregnancy Update with Belly Shot

Happy Belated Thanksgiving! I pray everyone had a wonderful time with family, and enjoyed the bounty of the Lord! Like everyone else, we had days of busyness leading up to the arrival of much welcomed grandparents, and a big meal on Thursday. Oh, and yes, we finished our costumes. Here is a group pic of what we did:



My folks had bought some new furniture and asked if we wanted the old. We did, and they generously rented a U-Haul, and hauled it out here for us. The new rec area downstairs is so tidy and cozy looking now! There will be many enjoyable hours spent around the woodstove, reading, playing a game, etc. Here is a couple pics of the new and improved area:





This morning I had my home visit with the MW and assistants. Woohoo! We are in the home stretch. We talked over all contingency plans and emergency plans, and figured out what else I need to add to the birthing stuff, and chatted and chatted, and did a quick check up. While she was getting the heart rate on the baby, the baby wiggled and squirmed, and promptly got the hiccups. My BP was good, as usual, for which I am thankful. It really won't be long now... 2 to 4 weeks at most. I am thinking about my "want to get done" list before the baby is born realizing NO WAY I'm going to get it all done. That's okay. I am working on prioritizing it now. Here is a side shot of my 36 week belly:



Here is a front view:



After all the adrenaline rush from getting ready for company, and having Grandparents here, we have basically taken it easy today, not getting our usual Saturday stuff done, but just doing the basics. I'll be jumping back into a mad sewing spree, and schooling, and nesting, and cooking ahead this week.

I was able to cut out the twins' jumpers that I am making for them as a Christmas surprise while they were outside today. They are made out of denim, with embroidered flowers in the fabric. I have one to cut out for Jerusha but ran out of time, and she was a little too interested in what Mama was doing and asking all kinds of questions, so I figured I better wait until one of her naptimes. I also have to cut out PJ bottoms for Benjamin for Christmas. I'll hopefully be able to get all that done pretty quickly. I also need to make some receiving blankets before this little one arrives. Those are all the priority right now. If I can do anything beyond that (besides getting the applesauce done, schoolwork done, and Christmas stuff wrapped, etc... ) then I'll be surprised. The time between now and when baby arrives is going to be busy, thankfully.

One "side effect" from today's visit that I hadn't really thought about was that it made my edginess go up a notch. As far as I am concerned, this baby can pop out anytime now, and it wouldn't hurt my feelings any. I am thankful that we are now in a safe zone as far as the timing goes. I am still praying to have the baby around 38 weeks, and in the middle of the night when the children are asleep. Oh, and I'm praying for a peaceful, smooth as possible, QUICK, labor.

At least I'm not picky, eh?

Whittling Down the Sewing List!

I got another small project out of the way today. I started this baby quilt a while ago, so all I had to do was get the border fabric on, sandwich it, baste, and machine quilt. I finished it this evening. It is made all of flannels. It will be very nice and warm! I still need to make the label and attach it, then it will be completely done.



Here is a close up shot:

The Simple Woman's Daybook ~ November 24th

FOR TODAY...
Outside my window... Some snow, cloudy skies, but warmer temperatures that it was over the weekend.

I am thinking... That I have more to do in four weeks than I will be able to do and will have to seriously prioritize.

I am thankful for... God's provision and love towards us.

From the learning rooms... We have a shortened week this week. We will be finishing our Thanksgiving costumes, doing more reading on Lewis and Clark, Math, English, Bible reading, Pilgrim reading, and the Thanksgiving packets I printed up last week.

From the kitchen... Today is RCO night.. Refrigerator Clean Out night for supper. Tomorrow we'll be making whole wheat bread, and banana bread. Wednesday I'll make dinner rolls and cabbage salad for Thursday.

I am wearing... tan maternity skirt, hunter green tunic with embroidery around the neckline, socks and my slippers.

I am creating... a jumper for me that matches the girls' church dresses.

I am going... to our Fibers of Faith meeting tonight at church, and tomorrow a few of us have eye appointments.

I am reading... The Friday Night Knitter's Club that my grandmother recommended.

I am hoping... That we can get the downstairs cleaned up and old furniture taken to the thrift shop before Wednesday.

I am hearing...beautiful music from Abiding Radio.

Around the house... Lots of laundry today, schoolwork, starting the cleaning process, making up the grocery list, sewing, and music practice.

One of my favorite things... Going downstairs to tend the woodstove, and knowing that we will be warm and cozy this winter, also, curling up in my bed at night with a good book under our warm quilts.

A few plans for the rest of the week:Getting ready for Thanksgiving and company, Tuesday eye appointments, Wednesday morning giving piano lessons, and Lord willing doing some sewing at some point. I would really like to be quilting but the Christmas sewing pile needs to come first. :)

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

God's Provision, Finished Project, and awards Thank You

Every so often in a digest I get, someone writes in about not eating unclean meat, as if we were still under the law. Recently someone said something against eating rabbit meat. I chuckled to myself thinking that in our area, there are many that have no problem eating rabbit meat. We don't, because we don't hunt rabbits. There is also various times that "you shouldn't eat pork" has come up. Really? Well, then, I guess God made a big mistake when He provided 500lbs of pork for us a couple years ago. In this same digest, someone was once whining that they couldn't bear reading the posts about deer hunting because it was just so terrible for her, and could we please not write in about that? Good grief! There are a couple thousand ladies that are part of this group. One bleeding heart gets to dictate what we write in about? Personally, I feel that if God provides it for us, then we eat it. Like the deer meat that was just given to us tonight. Dale figures it is 25 to 30 lbs. of venison. One of the men our church shot it and dressed it for us. That's a lot of work! We feel very blessed to have received that love gift, and are thankful for it. His wife is a woman after my own heart. She is taking the hides from the deer they shoot and treating them, making nice soft skins to make some mocassins and maybe a coat.

Enough of the soapbox... onto something lighter, like.. I FINALLY finished the girls' matching dresses Thursday night. They wore them today for church, so I took a quick pic before dinner. I am working on my matching jumper. Not sure how much time I'll have for sewing this week, but it won't be near so involved as those dresses, I know that!



As a third part to this hodge-podge post, I would like to thank Heart 4 My Home for these two awards:


The is the Marie Antoinette Award, given to those who are brave enough to be transparent in blog land.

This next one is a Butterfly Award.



I am blessed, Thank You!

A Nice Hot Bath Would Be Perfect Right Now

... if I could only get up out of one! LOL

Yesterday we trekked up to my MIL's again. Dale's oldest sister and her family were out visiting from Ohio, well most of them. The two oldest were unable to come out because of work. We haven't seen any of them in three years! It has been too long. It was a joy to see them all again, despite the fact that several of my nephew tower over me now! I am glad she still has a couple that are still shorter. :) I cannot believe how much they have all grown up over the last three years.

Of course the visit ran later than we had planned. We left around 10:30pm, but then found we had to drive quite cautiously because of some snow squalls along the way. We made it in safely around 1 a.m. The children were all in bed and fast asleep by 1:30 and Dale and I weren't but a few minutes behind them.

This morning I woke up to hearing the coffee pot doing its thing, and Dale's side of the bed empty. I was thinking "WHAT is he doing up so early?" Then I turned over and looked at the clock. It was 9:30 a.m.! YIKES! The house was so quiet! Apparently all the gremlins were still asleep, which they did until about 10 a.m. We had a very, very, late breakfast, then did a little cleaning and puttering, and laundry. Then a somewhat late lunch, and then I had piano lessons to do, and Esther had a tutoring session. The family we exchange these talents with stayed for supper as well, upon my invitation. I made chicken enchiladas, a very large batch. Some went in the freezer for future. My twins and her daughter made an apple crisp while we rolled the enchiladas for supper. Her husband, who was at work, missed out so I sent a plate of food home for him too. It was nice to just fellowship and enjoy the time.

I have been keeping a list of what is in the freezer for after the baby is born, and things are stacking up! I have a few more main dishes to do, and some special baking. I probably won't get much done this week with company coming in for Thanksgiving, but after Thanksgiving is over, there will be a couple major cooking sprees, applesauce getting done, and hopefully a good sewing spree to finish up what I need to do for Christmas and before baby's birth.

Right now I am sore and tired, and will be glad to get the kids to bed, get a shower, and snuggle up in our warm bed with a book. I am sitting here in our warm, cozy house, sweating from ironing and doing some chores. I had no idea it was in the single digits outside until Benjamin just happened to look at the thermometer. Wow! I am so thankful for our wood heat!

Happy Birthday Honey!

We celebrated Dale's birthday today. His birthday is actually tomorrow, but we are going to visit some family we haven't seen in a long time, so we decided to do the festivities tonight.

This morning, the children made birthday cards, and a crown for the birthday boy. :) It is traditional in our family to let the birthday boy or girl pick their supper meal, and what kind of cake they want. Dale loves lasagna, so it was no surprise to me when he requested it. We also had garlic bread and corn, and a white cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert.



Here is a close up of the cake. I was trying to show the cow sprinkles on it, but you really can't see it.



After supper was the opening of presents...well, present. One "major" one from all the kids and I. In case you can't tell, it is a CD/cassette player to replace the one in our living room that hasn't worked in over a year.



The "king" with all the court jesters:

A-Hunting We Will Go!

Not for deer.. for mice. After living here for 3 years without any sign whatsoever, our recent suspicions of uninvited guests were confirmed.

A few days ago I was up at 2 a.m. using the bathroom and I heard this scritch-scratching in the walls. I knew, from living in our previous residence, what that meant. I groaned but at 2 a.m., I wasn't about to go looking for any little furry rodents.

I told Dale about it, and sure enough, Tuesday morning while he wandered out to get some coffee, out of the corner of his eye his saw it. A mouse. Oh great. It went and ran under the microwave cart. Then it poked its head back out and ran under the bookcase in the entranceway. He stopped on the way home and got traps and some DeCon.

Last night after all the kids were in bed he set a trap under the microwave cart, and one under the bookcase. Around 1 a.m. we heard a "SNAP" and some clattering. Aha! Got one! He was going to leave it until morning, when we heard a few minutes later quite a bit of noise. More clattering and the like. Dale went out to see what was going on with this mouse, and lo and behold, the trap didn't get the mouse around the neck, but around the bottom half of its body, and it was trying to claw its way out. In other words, it wasn't dead.

Dale realized it was trying to get under the stove, so he went downstairs to get a small chunk of wood to put it out of its misery. By the time he got back up the mouse did indeed disappear under the stove. He pulled out the drawer, and saw kind of wedged up in the area where the draw attaches to the stove. Then he realized he needed to take the drawer assembly off to even get to it. He certainly didn't want it there permanently.

I was still in our room listening to all of the action, chuckling a bit. I could recognize the sounds of what he was doing until the very next thing. I heard this low toned, very soft grinding. "what in the world? That sounds like his drill!" I was thinking. I heard some slattering, then some more drilling, then some poking around, then BAM BAM BAM BAM! It was quiet for a minute and I heard some clattering, then the drill again. I almost got out of bed to take a peek but was inwardly cringing at what my imagination was conjuring up. Especially during the BAM BAM BAM BAM part. I was picturing a mouse smack-down.


What happened was he couldn't exactly reach the mouse that was stuck up in the stove, and had to take the drawer stuff apart. after he did that he went back downstairs and got the poker from the woodstove, and poked at the trap. He heard the mouse squeak and rattle in protest, but got it out. He then took the chunk of wood and... well, you get the picture. I assumed after he disposed of whatever was left of the mouse he put the drawer assembly back together (that was the second drilling I heard) and put everything away. The chunk of wood went right into the woodstove. He also put some DeCon out.

This morning he related all this to me adding that when he checked the DeCon, it was pretty much licked clean. Good. Bon Apetit, and make you bring some back for all your little furry friends.

Part of my chores was cleaning out the stove drawer and washing everything that was in it. Yuck!

Tonight we'll set more traps...