Uhm, really a Chinese Cabbage?

Yep, that is the size of sweet little Eve. At least that is what those crazy baby due date calendars say!

Take a close look. I am thinking of going to the store and posing with one of these babies- teehee pun intended.

We are at 28 weeks.

I think I need to set up a list to make sure I can manage all of the projects I have to get done before she debuts.

Week 28- Lovely Wonderful General Conference Weekend! Run a Triathlon-Hooray!

Week 29-Paint the new Master Bedroom

Week 30-Move all the furniture up to the new master bedroom- Find a comforter that is both masculine and graceful and matches the fresh paint!

Week 31-Garden Preparations #2 birthday

Week 32-Paint new guest room- Have house sprayed for Ants.

Week 33-arrange furniture in new guest room -Go to Texas

Week 34- find a mattress for #3. paint Eve's room and find a crib for Eve- Love Craigslist free stuff!- Back from Texas

Week 35- Paint kitchen -#1's birthday

Week 36- put up wainscoting in Kitchen

Week 37- take down wall paper in bathroom and paint (try to find cute mirror and new pedestal sink on craigslist free stuff

Week 38- Finish built in Book shelves in hall and between dining room and kitchen

Week 39 find a dresser for Eves clothes. Move all the Home school stuff to the ?? Uhh Basement? #3's birthday

Week 40 Get Tom to paint my toenails, pack hospital bag, find a car seat, choose a come home from the hospital out-fit

Lets be honest here

Week 41 Wish I was at Nauvoo with my Girls!! Hoe all the weeds out of Garden enjoy the rest of the strawberry crop

Week 42 Play the waiting game and eat lots of spicy food!!

This looks like way too much! Maybe I will just stay in bed for a few more months and cuddle my baby when she gets here! Who needs fresh paint any way.

My Super Heros

Who do you call, when your house is a mess and your rib is out?

Where do you turn when natural disaster in the form of #4 hits your Living Room?

Bet you wish you had these handy Heroes around, huh!

"faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound"

#5 does not know what she is getting herself in to!

We are so blessed to live in 2011!

So, it snowed last night. And all day today. At 11, hubbin and I went out and shoveled, until 12:30. We got up to the 18 inch mark, during this storm. We have had 74 inches this year. This year is 2nd place in the last 60 years. 76.3 inches in 1982 at first place and 73 in 1963 is in 3rd. After we shoveled (for hopefully the final time of the year, hahaha we have 4 forecasted snow days this week), I went to the thrift store. Today is a double discount holiday, so I had to go. But, as I drove I was reminded of the Little House on Plum Creek by Laura Ingels Wilder. In the book Lauras family faces starvation, white outs, frozen nights, loss of herds, and the longest winter in 49 years. So, like I said I was thinking about it, and I decided that we still have bad winters. We just have amazing machines to remove the snow. We have amazing houses, to keep us warm. We have amazing roads, to truck in food. We have amazing vehicles, that can take us out of the house for double discount Mondays. We do not live off the land, depend on herds, fresh springs, wax paper windows, and coal burning stoves to help us survive the winter. As I sit here in my shorts and t-shirt typing to the world I feel blessed.
In the book, Lauras dad took a job helping to dig the train out and keep it running. I imagine it looked something like this
That seems like a much more daunting job than the few feet I shoveled earlier today. I was also thinking about the terribly uncomfortable clothes that they used to wear. I am so blessed! Try shoveling in one of these, or staying warm and dry for that matter.
I wish I was grateful more often, for all the blessings I have been given, but I am grateful today!

Pink we think!

Arriving soon to our clan is little miss Twila Eve. Eve for short. She is due on June 21st, which means that she will most likely be here around the 28th- the 5th of July. We are excited. Enoch points to the baby (from experience we realize that he has no idea what we are talking about- but it is still cute) , and the boys tell everyone we meet.
I am finally going to paint a room pink- and get all of the little baby girl clothes out of storage- the ones I have bought with each pregnancy.
I also get to dust off my glass dolls and put them up. I think I may have to buy some pink finger nail polish for the hospital. This is, in fact, a momentous occasion!
The boys thought of some ideas for names. They like Chrysanthemum, Daisy, Emily, Aleasea and Stop sign. They were all ready to vote on the names. But I had to tell them, since I was growing the baby, I got to name the baby. However Tom reminded me, as he often does that he actually gets to name the baby. And he has always liked the name Quintessa(especially for a fifth child, if that fifth child was a girl). I sure hope he comes to his/err uh my senses before blessing day!
So top 10 reasons why Erika is excited for a girl
(here we go)insert drum roll please
10 Baby dresses and bloomers are so adorable!!
9 I need to keep my mad hair doin' skills up, the boys are sick of me trying to put their hair in pigtails
8 Tom has vetoed all fingernail painting on little hands in this house- I think I can over ride that, when she comes
7 A shopping buddy would be nice
6 I have been severely out numbered for the last several years
5 Knights in shining armor(I have four) want Damsels in distress to rescue (mommies don't count)
4 Girls camp, young womens, bows, activity days 3 white dresses!
3 ruby red slippers
2 A gender I can understand
1 Curling Irons, hair spray, blow drying, strawberry smelling shampoo, pretend makeup, mud pies at tea parties, dandelion cakes for desert, help with dinner, playing house, dancing with daddy, dates with daddy, no more wishing and praying, longing, and crying for a girl.

Oh their are so many reasons- and these of course are mostly silly and superficial. I mean I may have a "Tom boy" on my hands. But I have cried for, begged for, and longed for a girl. I am just plain excited.
This would probably be a pretty good place to interject. They are only 70% sure its a girl. But it is the first time that they haven't been 100% sure it was a boy. So, that is like 170% points in favor of a girl, right? Any way I am going with it. Even if in the end, I have to wash all the baby boy clothes and write a top 10 list on why Erika wanted another boy.
So for now, I am seeing pink!
*Imagine momma dancing for the next 4 months absolutely giddy with excitement!*

Snowman Gruesomly Murdered

On Saturday February 5th, in the Suburbs of St. Paul a snowman was gruesomely murdered. Passerby's figure the homeowner, Tom, was just plain fed up with the winter. Neighbors interviewed later said, " Tom seemed like such a normal guy. He always plays with his kids and helps out where he can in the neighborhood. We think the sub zero temperatures must have finally made him crack."

The area was having a bit of balmy weather on Saturday. Toms wife, Erika took their oldest son shopping in preparation for Valentines Day. Nothing could have prepared the two for the shock and carnage they would see as they returned home. "When we saw the snowman, we ran into the house to make sure everyone was all right. They were sitting around the table sipping milkshakes, like nothing had happened. I worry about that man." Erika said later, when asked about the crime scene and her husbands' state of mind.
The Snowman's family has decided not to press charges.

Nice weather we are having, Dear!

Well, all week long we have been looking forward to the Christmas breakfast at church. It is so fun, and the food is so yummy, and to top it off Santa clause comes. Well, last night at 5:00 we got the call that the breakfast had been canceled-due to the weather. Bummer! Then, we looked outside, the skies were clear. Tom and I laughed. We couldn't believe they would cancel for snowy conditions 15 hours early, when there was no snow in sight. Ahh well, we decided we would enjoy sleeping in anyway. Then, I got on the internet to see what all the fuss was about. They were predicting a 14 inch dump, high winds, and freezing temperatures. So, Tom and I decided to wait and see. The weather man did not disappoint! We got 21 inches. Our temperature with the wind chill is negative 20, and the wind blew all day. Tom is a human snow plow. I mean the man can shovel! But, today when he went out to shovel all of the forces of nature were against him. He shoveled off the side walk, and 10 seconds later I saw that it was covered with about 3 inches (the wind was drifting it). Then, I looked back out the window, and it was clear again-more wind! On the 5:00 news we saw that they pulled all of the plows in our county off the roads until the conditions improve. We got an email from the news man at church, saying church is canceled! When I went out to help Tom with the shoveling, all I could think of was "Nice weather we are having, Dear!"
We giggle a little about how much people talk about the weather here, but this year Minnesota gave us all something to talk about! This is the worst weather year since 1991. I am proud to be a part of it. With the bad weather comes offers of meals, neighbors plowing other neighbors out, people offering to pick up groceries, and general care and concern among every one you meet. What a perfect way to put us all in the Christmas spirit!! Keep it coming Minnesota winter- give us all something to talk about and a reason to reach out to our neighbors.

Mi Vida Loca!

Long time no see. I can't remember if I posted about this already, but #2 has a sensory processing disorder. We have been taking him to therapy, and the brushing technique that they showed us, has made a world of difference. Taking my tiger and turning him into a cuddly kitten. We do therapy twice a week. On therapy days, he runs down the stairs singing "I get to go to therapy!" Other things have improved. He gets dressed with out a struggle most days. Most days he dosn't yell as much. Most days he is more like the other boys. This is after one month of therapy. I am just so pleased! I haven't had a call from the teacher in weeks. Great job #2
#3 is in preschool. He is so happy to ride the bus, eat at school, and make friends. #4 and I go in 3 times a week to volunteer and help with the small group activities. There are 16 kids, and usually about 4 adults. It has been really nice for me to see where #3 falls in terms of behavior. He does great during play time and the small group activities. He does really well during the "good morning" large group circle time. But, he has a hard time during the "good bye" circle time. He seems to be getting better though.
#1 is loving school! Usually he does his homework without being reminded, because he has friends that come knocking at 4:00 sharp to play. The rule at our house, is you can't play until the work is done. So, jobs, reading, and homework all need to be finished. I love that his friends come over to play with him, it is such a great motivator!! All of the 2nd graders and up, here, get tested at the start, middle, and end of every year. They found out he was ahead in math and behind in reading. So, they put him in an intervention program- to catch him up. He just graduated. I learned alot from the program, too. I didn't realize that I should have him read books that were simple for him. I thought I should challenge him. They say, that they should be able to read all but 4 words in the book, otherwise it is to hard. So for a while Seth went back to the original books that he first read. But, now, just a month later he is into the box car children and loving it!
#2 is also in reading intervention. I think it has more to do with behavior than anything else, but I am sure he will get it sorted. Until then, I don't mind that he gets the extra one on one attention.
I just got asked to be the nursery leader. Four kids later I was surprised to find that I do not have a talent for teaching 14 1-3 year olds! Who knew?! I was shocked when I realized this. And very overwhelmed! This is the hardest job I have ever had, and I have so much to learn. I know the Lord wants me to make this the best experience for these kiddos. What a job!
We have all been sick for the last couple weeks. But, I think we are on the mend. Today I get to go to #3's class and help. After words, we take #2 to Therapy. When we get home from that, I am going to lunch with the Fast Wives. This evening we have a date with the plumber to pull something out of the toilet. Tomorrow I clean the house till it shines, because on Friday we have 4 teenage boys staying here for a church activity. Saturday is the leadership meeting, and Sunday the primary program. I am so grateful for the Sabbath! It is so wonderful to have a day of rest from mi vida loca!