She's Got the Magic

One of the standing jokes at our castle has to do with our girls' growth. If the king or queen happen to notice ankles or wrists or behinds poking out of the ends of clothing we tell the offender to stop growing. We tell them we don't allow it and they had better stop it (you know, in a very serious tone). The girls' think that this is great fun and take great pride in showing off the ankles, wrists, and behinds, just to play the game.

Recently Princess #3 has a new take on the game. As I was tucking her into bed one night last week, I couldn't get over how long she was in bed-seriously long. So I told her that she better stop growing or she was going to run out of bed. After she got done giggling she told me that she couldn't stop because of the "magic". So I bit.

Queen: What magic?

Princess #3: God's magic. I have it in me and it makes me grow. I tried asking Him to take the magic out, but He doesn't want to.

Queen: Oh, why doesn't He want to take it out?

Princess #3: Because you only have the magic when you're little to make you get big like Mama.

Queen: What happens to the magic once you're big like Mama?

Princess #3: God takes it out when you're done. And that is all I know right now.

Go Figure

Last night I decided to give into two cravings. The first (and most important) being not cooking dinner. The second being Olive Garden salad and bread sticks. I looked high and low on-line to find a coupon for dinner, but was unsuccessful, so I decided to blow my month's eat-out budget in one fell swoop. I am pleased to report that both cravings were fulfilled-deliciously, with leftovers being devoured at lunch and dinner today!

Then as I flipped through the coupon circular in our local paper what is the first coupon for???

(drum roll please)

. . . Olive Garden.

Knock, Knock

I think that one of the best (only?) perks about being pregnant is feeling the baby move. I remember with Princess #1 feeling her first strong kick on Christmas Eve morning and then at very predictable times thereafter. Princess #2 was a different story, she was like having an internal amusement park 24/7! Princess #3 was also a predictable baby, preferring to move only after meals. This little one loves to really move it, move it at night and early in the mornings. He moves during the day too, but the wee hours seem to be his favorite (yah, I'm scared).

This morning, I had my first "conversation" with him!! He kicked, a real good one, and I pushed back where I felt the move, and then he instantly replied with another good strong kick. Too much fun. This went on for several minutes during which I know I had the biggest, dopiest smile on my face.

And I couldn't help it, I'm in love.

Baby Boom

As some of you know, I am the oldest of four girls. All married, all settled and all having babies! That's right. This weekend we discovered that all four of us will be adding children to our families. My next sister and hubby are waiting to adopt-most likely by the end of next year (pray with me, will ya?), the third one of us is due with her 2nd in March/April, and the youngest one of us is due with her 1st in May/June. Pretty crazy. My parents and grandparents will double the number of (great)grandkids they have next year!!

I was thinking of my next youngest sister today, and her impending adoption and realized that very likely her baby may be growing in it's biological mom's womb, and if not, his/her conception is imminent! That is pretty amazing to think about. I've been praying for his/her mom and for this important, so many lives-changing decision she is going to make. God is good and He knows all the details and is in all the details. It will be exciting to see His hand in all of this.

As for me, I am doing my best to race through the Christmas knitting. My goal was to be done by the end of October. Unrealistic to be sure. Especially when some of the gifts are two-parters. So, I am doing my best to be content with my progress and delay the baby knitting a bit longer. But, I may have to have a fix and tear into the first official "boy" yarn I have purchased . . .

Playing Hooky

As some of you know, I am one of those militant homeschool moms. My girls have school daily. I am a firm believer in sticking to the schedule. We try to keep the same schedule as the local school district, so that the girls are available to play with friends on their days off.

That being said, I do try to be flexible, which is one of the beauties of homeschooling. We are free to go to MOPS once a month, and every Friday from October through March they attend a homeschool co-op, so we do have "breaks" from the weekly grind. Today, however, I decided that I needed a day to play hooky. I had a bunch of errands that I actually wanted to do and those were all in the same general vicinity of the photo studio where #2 had her appointment, so we shopped til we dropped! And it was great. The girls had so much fun looking at all the pretty fall (and now Christmas!) things that were for sale. Princess #1 kept us on task, reading the list and checking the time (some school was being done!), Princess #2 marked the list off, and Princess #3 stayed close to the cart (always a bonus!) and gave her opinions.

Tomorrow we are off to pick apples at a local orchard in the afternoon. The girls can't wait, and honestly, neither can I!

Overwhelmed

Today is overwhelming. Not because of anything specific, it just is. A good house cleaning is way overdue, school to be taught, laundry to be washed, dried, folded and put away, meals to prepare, children to ferry to activities, Bible study to be hosted, and no energy to want to deal with any of the above. So I sit here and compound the problem and the feeling of knowing that I'm wasting precious time blogging about it! How ironic!

However, as I think about it, things have been accomplished today despite me. I actually remembered to call the sprinkler guy to have him winterize the irrigation system, and to call to reschedule Princess #2's picture session and I am switching loads of laundry (maybe not folding or putting away just yet), but it is getting washed and dried. School was taught and hopefully absorbed. Two meals down, one to go.

I should do this more often, I'm feeling much better about the day's outlook. I think I will rally the troops and have them do some vacuuming before rest-time. Thanks for listening!

When You Hear the Beep

So, I just had to relate this conversation I had yesterday with the littlest Princess. She had a night-time accident over the weekend and was explaining to me why exactly it had happened.

Princess #3: If I had just got up when I heard the first beep then I could have gone potty in the bathroom.

Queen: What beep?

Princess #3 (very matter-of-factly): The beep I hear when I have to go potty. God makes a beep sound and when I hear it it means I have to go potty. But the other night I didn't go when I heard the beep and then I heard another beep, and the last beep I got up but I didn't have enough time to make it.

Queen: How come I don't hear a beep?

Princess #3 (shrugs): You better listen better Mama. I'll ask God if I can share my beeps with you if you want.

Queen: Thanks, that would be great.

Now the phrase "when you hear the beep", has taken on a whole new meaning for me!

Who Knew?

I have a new weakness-boy clothes! Today as I just happened to be reaching up in a cupboard for something, a "gym bucks" coupon fell out. I had totally forgot that I had it, since I so rarely shop at Gymboree, much less spend enough to get the coupons. I quickly checked the expiration and was just under the mark (Divine coincidence? I think so!).

So after school and lunch and lunch clean-up I checked out their clearance pages! And bought the cutest raccoon stuff ever! I love raccoons and I love the idea of my little guy sporting some cute rascally clothes. Who knew there were so many fun things to dress a boy in?

A New FAQ

This one is sure to haunt us for a long time I am sure. So here it is.

Q: So now that you are finally having a boy, you guys must done having kids right?

A: [To be read/said with extreme sugary sweet, drippy sarcasm, my favorite kind, the kind that keeps them guessing.] Yep, you're right we are, because the only reason we will soon have four kids is that we just had to have that boy. Oh, and we would have kept on having kids until we got the gender that was "missing" from our family. Because as everyone knows, having a boy when you have daughters is all that matters.

Let the Knitting Begin

So now that baby's gender is known, I am itching to get knitting for him! Last night I couldn't get to sleep because my mind was humming with projects I want to make, and the quandary of which one to do first. Get Ziggy, cargo pants, the token beanie or two or three, the sweet Norwegian baby cap, Hickory Dickory Dot, a little brimmed golf hat like his Great Grandpa used to wear, the possibilities are endless (Ravelry isn't helping contain the madness either). And the color choices!! Reds, navys, greens, browns, I am in a non-purple-colored-yarn haze of bliss!!

His blanket is on the needles and going well, but it is going to have to take a hiatus because I have committed (as in, I bought the yarn already darn it) to make Christmas gifts this year. So I am committing the month of October to Christmas knitting. So far one down and four to go!! Thankfully, I have already finished a couple of gifts earlier this year. So I'm off to get to the gifts but I'll be dreaming of baby boy knits all the while-forgetting all about those dreams of a white Christmas!

Baby News

We had our ultrasound today and even though it feels weird to say/type this--we're having a BOY! I'll write more later, but for now we're just riding the baby boy is healthy high!

Yikes-I just realized I'm going to have to rename my blog!! Still it's still sinking in . . .

I Guess That's Why

Princess #3 is finishing up with her "business" while pondering this thought: "Why don't Murray and Jackson (our dogs) need to use toilet paper?"

When Mama doesn't answer with a satisfactory answer, she decides: "It's because they don't have any hands!"

That must be it.

I Hate It When. . .

. . . I am overly confident in what my pantry contains and flippantly assume that the ingredients for the meal on my menu exist in my house and arrogantly continue to knit . . . only to discover that I was sadly mistaken.