Things I Love About Today

1. Listening to my baby sing in her crib. She loves to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star".

2. My hot cup of coffee with a chocolate truffle. A Valentine for myself

3. The snow is melting and it is warm enough for a stroll today.

4. My eldest finally got his driver's license this weekend, and today, drove his sisters and himself to school. Yipee!

5. I've got these Chocolove bars tucked away for each of my family members for Valentine treat after dinner. And one for myself ;)

6. I put up a pregnancy ticker on the blog over the weekend. For what that is worth.

7. We get the morning off of school with the other kids because of an orthodontist appointment. I love legitimate mornings off school!

8. I love this crazyacres classic post I used to always put up on St. Valentine's Day. Here it is, and may your day be blessed!



"Little Skunk," said Cat, "I have a kiss for Little Bear. It is from his grandmother. Take it to him like a good little skunk."

Little Skunk was glad to do that. But then he saw another little skunk.

She was very pretty. He gave the kiss to her.

And she gave it back.

And he gave it back.

And then Hen came along. "Too much kissing," she said.
"But this is Little Bear's kiss, from his grandmother," said Little Skunk.
"Indeed!" said Hen. "Who has it now."
Little Skunk had it. Hen got it back. She ran to Little Bear, and she gave him the kiss.

The skunks decided to get married. They had a lovely wedding. Everyone came.


(From "A Kiss for Little Bear" by Else Holmelund Minarik)

Putting the Pieces Together

You can tell quite a bit about a child's personality by the way they do puzzles as a toddler. At least with the luxury of having 7 older than toddler children, and one current toddler, it seems to me, upon retrospect, to be a good indicator of a few personality traits.

For instance, my eldest (now nearly 18 years old), who is very methodical, private and independent, used to go to his room as a toddler, shut the door, and sit quietly and do puzzles. When he would come out, they would be all put together, and put away, with out a shred of evidence he ever did them. If it hadn't been for my quiet peeks into his room, I wouldn't have even know what he was up to.

My third child (nearly 15) is creative, exuberant and lively, and would dump out numerous puzzles, put in a piece or two, make up another game with the rest of the puzzle pieces, and then leave them all over the place and go off to a new activity.

My fourth child (nearly 13) has shown a love for work, sticking to a task until it is finished, regardless of how challenging it is. He would do puzzles, and with many trials and errors, keep at it until it was finished. Sometimes he would ask for help, but he stuck to it. He didn't seems to do puzzles for fun, but like a job. He is a very work oriented boy to this day.

Now the little one, Melanie, is nearly 2, and she loves puzzles, talks to all the pieces and is very diligent with putting them back together. She shows great perseverance and joy in doing puzzles, and I will be interested to see if these traits carry through to her grown up self.

I purposely didn't go through all 8 of my children (it would be a long post, with lots of repetition, I fear), but as I thought about writing this post, I mentally went through them all in my head, and it truly is a very accurate correlation regarding their personalities now. I also, purposely, didn't mention which one of my children it was that has the fiery temper, and used to, as a toddler, throw all the pieces across the room in a fit of anger when they would not fit in first try. But you get the idea ;)

7 Quick Takes

I am trying to make this place more active, so I will use some scheduled posts to assist me. Fridays mean "7 Quick Takes", hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary. So here you go:

1. Today my 8 year old son asked me, "Mom, if the new baby is a boy, can we name him Goliath?". That actually caused me a little pain. *shiver*

2. My interest in coffee has returned. I missed it. Just having my morning cuppa' makes my life feel more normal. I think the first trimester upheaval, both physically and emotionally is partly because I feel as if I stepped into an alternate reality, and left my "normal" life behind. My real life -----> My pregnant life. By 14 weeks, I feel the two are a bit more integrated, and I am looking forward to this *New Normal* becoming settled. Until the baby is born, then there will be another *new normal*, but I'll worry about that later.

3. Wardrobe crisis: In my anti-hoarding attempts after Melanie was born, I rid myself of most of my maternity clothes. Now, I could use some, and as I look around, I see most clothing manufacturers do not make maternity clothes for an amply sized 44 year old. To add to the crisis, I am going on a business trip with my husband in a few weeks, to a warm sunny place (yay), but that means I need warm, sunny clothing that fits. And I'll be meeting lots of new people, and making lots of first impressions, and what, oh, what, am I going to wear. I don't really look "pregnant" yet, but I can't wear my regular clothing comfortably. I see shopping in my future, but I fear it will be the discouraging kind, not the fun kind. I'll keep you all posted.

4. I have been very faithful about taking my vitamins during this pregnancy, and have found my craving for fruits and vegetables has really increased. I have been devouring salads with lettuce, avocado, cucumbers and dried cherries. Fresh, lightly steamed broccoli tastes like ambrosia. Pears and oranges and apples are like candy. Weird.

5. As promised, here is the photo of my latest icon, The Samaritan Woman at the Well


6. I have been blessed with God's providence by finding someone to help me with schooling my 12 year old son. Everyday, my son gets 3 hours of one on one instruction and encouragement. He is responding quite well, and is stretching his abilities and enjoying working with his tutor. This has freed up my time for house duties and school with the other children, as well as posting a bit more here. What a gift!

7. Finally, the weather has been very, very wintery, and kept me inside quite a bit lately. This weekend it supposed to warm up substantially, and I am looking forward to taking a nice, long walk. I am asking for actual prayers that I carry through on this desire, because I feel that exercise and fresh air are missing from my life, but I often give up on my desire to partake. Please pray that I have the internal strength to make myself go outside and enjoy the great outdoor. Thank you!

So there you have it! May your day be blessed!

Small Successes

I am using this as an excuse for a post. So here goes.

1. I cleaned out the drawers in my kitchen. It was actually a pretty quick job, and made a terrific difference come dinnertime when I am trying to find my utensils. We rotate kitchen jobs, and no one seems to put things away in the same place. I figure if I do it weekly, it'll e quick and easy, and keep me in a better mood.

2. Cleaned out my laundry room. Again, fairly quick and easy job, that makes a huge difference in my daily mood.

3. And finally, I finished and varnished my "Samaritan Woman at the Well" icon. I don't have photos yet, but this should motivate me to get one up later today.

Thank you.

What a nice little flurry of activity over here! Thanks to Elizabeth, Suzanne and Kelly for linking to me, and everyone who stopped by, and particularly who left me words of encouragement. I can't tell you how much I needed that! For some reason I was feeling very alone (don't know why because I have lots of friends and family and what not, but there it is). Maybe it was just the combination of hormones and fatigue, but both because of the very welcome support, and I trust, the entrance into week 13, I am feeling quite a bit better.

I found out my Vitamin D level is super, super low (single digits!), and for a month or so have been supplementing aggressively (at the advice of my midwife). I may be crazy, but I am beginning to feel a lifting of the oppressive, heavy lethargy from which I have been suffering for some time (longer than this pregnancy, for what it is worth). I don't know if they are related, but I am feeling significantly more light-hearted, if you will, like I have been playing out in the sun for a while. I even went outside in the post-blizzard beauty and took Melanie for a sled ride around our street. She very much liked being outside, it was sunny and cold, refreshing really. I hope to do it again today.

The kids spent many hours outside yesterday making a snow fort in the huge pile of snow left by the plow. After a quick math lesson and some oral dictation, they will be at it again, making tunnels and new rooms. I plan on doing laundry some more, and tidying up, enjoying the sunshine streaming through my windows and generally taking pleasure in the fact that my life is so full.

Thank you again, everyone, and I hope to have more to offer soon.