Bizzeee, bizzeee, bizzeee!

Darin and I are entering a time of life that we never truly realized we would be entering.  We started out a very busy family.  Co-Op, tons of church activities, playdates & etc.  After two or three years of that whirlwind we were happy to get off.  The negative impact all that had on our family was not what Darin and I were looking for.  A lot of people might say it was "normal kid stuff."  We don't think there has to be such a thing as normal kid stuff.  So we went the total opposite way and have been accused on more than one occaision of sheltering our kids too much.  So be it.  We have been able to focus on other "normal human stuff" with our kids - i.e. sin.  It's been nice to have the time to work on character issues with our kids that we didn't have time for before because of all our running around.

But life with a big family constantly changes.  The things we have been able to do for our older children we are probably not going to be able to do in the same way for the younger set.  Ben is going to be playing football this fall which will take us out of the house three or four times each week.  Add in AWANA at church on Sunday nights, chiropractor visits, piano lessons and other misc. committments and we're back in the busy life again.  I went to DonnaYoung.org and downloaded some calendar pages for the rest of the year and filled them out.  Once AWANA starts, we will have somewhere to be every day of the week! 

We just don't want to be so busy outside the home, but Ben is at the age (he'll be a Freshman in high school this year) where he truly needs to start exploring his interests and working out just what he wants to do.  Right now he has a list of things he wants to "be."  We're hoping to help him narrow that down.  One of the things on his list is Football Coach.  So we're gonna let him go get all roughed up every week to see how he likes it.  ;-) 

It should be an interesting fall!  The great thing is that everything seems to come to an end all at once in the first week of November.  Good thing.  I will be in the last month of pregnancy by then, doing my Jabba the Hut impersonation, and not moving too quickly.  Just TRY to get me off the couch by then.  ;-) 

Random

I fell asleep on the couch at 9:30.  Darin woke me up at 11:30 to go to bed, but now I can't sleep.  There's so much going on in my head.  Thinking about our new baby.  In NINE days we will know if this baby is a boy or girl.  The name will be Stephen if it's a boy, but we're still haggling over a girl name.  Darin still likes Beatrice.  I like Helen.  At this point, we're sick of talking about it.  ;-)  Really, in the past, when we've been able to settle on a name for a boy or girl first, the baby ends up being the gender of that name.  It has worked with every baby so far.  We'll see in nine days! 

Ben is in Colorado with his Aunt, Uncle and Cuz.  We miss him.  Henry especially.  Poor Henry.  He's just 3 and doesn't get it.  He thinks Ben should "come home now."  So do I, but I guess we'll survive till he gets back.  I know he's going to have a load of fun on this trip. 

I'm craving a chai from Starbucks.

We are going to a new chiropractor!  This guy is the cat's meow, man.  We have benefitted from chiropractic adjustments for three years now and are excited, thinking that we will benefit even more with this new doctor.  Darin has begun to experience some numbness and weakness in his hands and I am especially anxious for him to get better.  Our new chiro said the section of spine that this is related to is in Darin's neck and also relates to heart issues and high blood pressure.  Darin has been diagnosed with high blood pressure which we've kept in check with cod liver oil.  I'm praying hard that these issues are worked out for him with this new chiropractor.

Today I was cleaning up in the office - toys everywhere.  Sophia (19 mos) came in the room and backed into my lap for some cuddling.  I can't resist that.

This pregnancy has left me highly sensitive to noise.  Hmmmmm.  Not a good thing with five other kids in the house!  My impulse is to take all of them up to our bed and for us to all nap the day away.  But you know, they don't want to take naps all day!  LoL  In fact, we are in a phase where the boys cannot stop roughhousing, and they are all very testy with each other and each seems to want to be the parent of all the others.  I have to call out to God for every bit of patience He can spare.  Spending hours at the pool three times each week has helped a little because it wears them out, but I'm concerned about their hearts.  Darin and I keep telling each other, "just be water over the rock.  Water over the rock.  Make their rough edges smooth." 

My niece has been able to hook up with her birth father's family and I'm so glad for her. 

Okay.  I think I can probably go to sleep now.  Yawwwwwwwn. 

 

10 Years Ago

On the 4th of July we bought a month-long membership to our local Community Activity Center.  We're taking the month off from school - sorta - so we thought it would be a fun thing for the kids.  They've got the indoor/outdoor pool thing going with all the slides, lazy river and stuff. 

When we arrived at the pool, Darin and I couldn't believe the TATOOS all over the place!  We live in a fairly conservative suburb of Dallas.  Anywhere ya go, you're gonna see khaki shorts and boat shoes.  It's inevitable.  Little did we realize what everyone was covering up with their khakis!  Oh my.  I mean, these people kind of scared us a little.  And it wasn't just the men.  It was the women, too.  I think we saw just about every symbol of the Chinese alphabet.  The only thing missing was the heart tatoo with "Mom" written in the middle.  But I guess that was another generation.

As I looked around, I noticed that all of the peeps with tatoos looked to be in their early 30's.  They mostly had one or two very young kids.  They were in the same place Darin I were in....er....10 years ago. 

It just made me think of all the things that can happen in 10 years.  10 years ago it was not at all common, as far as I know, for women to cover themselves with tatoos like I saw at the pool on Saturday.  I mean, really.  I wish I had pictures!!!!!

10 years ago, Darin and I only had two children.  A three and one year old. 

10 years ago, Darin and I were at the beginnings of understanding what it really means to live our lives for Christ.  Thank God, He's still teaching us all that.

10 years ago, although Darin and I loved our babies, we did not truly understand yet what REAL blessings they are.

10 years ago, Darin was still finding his way in the Web World.  He taught himself everything he knows.  He's our first homeschooler in the family.  Now he's a pro and has even written a book with a friend about it.

10 years ago, we were just gearing up to begin homeschooling Ben.  I started with him when he was 4 because I was just so darn excited.  We did Preschool three times a week until I got pregnant with Jack.  Then we took it down to two days.  ;-)  Oh, am I ever glad to be out of the homeschooling newbie stage.  Life is so much more manageable these days.

10 years ago, my car was a 2-door Honda Civic.  Today I tool around in a Chevy Suburban and once this baby is born, it will officially be FULL. 

10 years ago we were able to sing Prince's "1999" and really mean it.  Although, really, I never partied "like it's 1999" because I got pregnant with Jack in October and I slept from then on.  But we had fun singing it! 

Okay, okay.  I guess I could go on forever.  It's just interesting, thinking of all that happens in 10 years. Gets me started thinking about 10 years from NOW.  Oyve.  I don't want to go there yet!  :-)

 

Tetanus Vaccine

One of my favorite blogs is written by Kelly at Generation Cedar.  That woman is constantly passionate and interested in issues and I love it.  I visited her this morning and HAVE to share her latest entry with you.  Here's a snip:

Reports have been widely revealed that a population control “program” in some countries has been implemented–unbeknown to its citizens– which laces a free tetanus vaccine with an abortifacient level of hCG hormone.  In a nutshell, young women are being given a vaccine–repeatedly–that makes them infertile or causes multiple miscarriages.

Go to Generation Cedar to read more.