34/4

Today I am 34 weeks + 4 days... so close! Only 38 days till my due date. I'm not sure that I am completely ready for this, but I do know that I am definitely ready to lose this belly. I am in that very huge and awkward, uncomfortable stage. Baby girl is very active, much more so than any of the 3 boys. I just love every kick and movement, letting me know she's there and getting ready to come out and meet us all. Can't wait!

This has been a good weekend. I love long weekends. We didn't really do anything special, just worked around the house. I bought a dresser and desk set for baby girl off Craigslist, so I began sanding that down to fix it up. I also worked on some sewing projects for the boys' room. Adam worked on some weeding, mowing, de-squeaking all our doors, and cleaning up the basement. It was super hot so we spent most of our time indoors and only emerged in the evenings when it was somewhat cool. The boys tried to sneak out several times to play, but would soon come back inside all red-cheeked and soggy-haired. It's amazing the difference between 80 degrees in Reno versus 80 degrees in Milwaukee. The humidity here just takes it to a whole new level. We've been eating mostly cold subs, veggies and dip and basically anything that doesn't require cooking... unless we're grilling of course.

My husband grilled up a fantastic dinner this evening... Beef Kabobs with red potatoes, onions, zucchini, and mushrooms in a sun dried tomato marinade. DELICIOUS! This isn't really helping with the big belly issue. No wonder I can't bend over these days :)

Craft Week

Okay, so our first week of summer vacation was a busy one... lots of cleaning, playing, napping (even me!) and CRAFTING!!! I plan to keep up with a little bit of school related stuff... just so Sam doesn't forget everything we've worked so hard to learn. We'll probably do some reading each day... along with a different topic: coin counting, special phonics sounds, math flashcards, etc. for just a few minutes. It is summer vacation after all. BUT this week we took a break, a much needed one since I was feeling a bit under the weather for much of it. We did a few fun little projects instead.

The first project we tackled was the diamond weaving thing (not really sure what it's called). Sam did great at it, and requested yarn crafts for the next 70 days. Funny kid!!! Sooo, the next day we made woven flowers. This time Seth and I worked on one as well. I was very impressed that Seth was able to do it. I had to help start the string with each new color, but after that the boys were able to do it completely on their own. In fact, I actually like the boys' much better than my own... theirs have much more texture and color. After we finished the woven centers, we markered the petals. I found the idea off some random blog I was reading... I could probably find it if anybody wants good instructions. Finally, our project for today was tissue paper collages. (No yarn today... if anybody has any fun yarn craft ideas fit for kids... about 70 of them... please let me know) I didn't have any tissue paper on hand, but I remembered some tissue confetti I bought at some party store for a quarter (clearance!)a couple years ago -- because you just never know when such things will come in handy. I got this idea off a different blog actually... surprise!


So anyway, it's been a good week BUT I am very glad it's the weekend. Yay! I just love having my hubby home! And this is a 3 day weekend... double YAY!!!

Room Redo

I am crazy, I know, for blogging at this crazy hour (it's midnight!), but I have always been a night person.... but tonight especially. It's Adam's first overnight call (here we go again!) and I've never been able to get to sleep very easily when he is gone. I better get used to it though, cuz it's about to start happening quite frequently. We have been so blessed to have him around so much this past year. It's the most we've seen of him since he started this journey 6 years ago, and we've really loved every moment of it.

Anyway, on to my post...

One of my projects for the summer includes a redoing a room... the boy's room. It's really lacking in personality and... well, it's just lacking in everything really. So my goal for this summer is to make it a fun place to be. It's the biggest room in the house so we have lots of space to play around with - a good thing, too, since Aaron will soon be moving up to join the big boys. My plan is to dress it up in a nautical/patriotic theme. There are lots of ideas floating around in my head, but we'll just have to wait and see what happens... I do tend to change my mind over and over again. I'll keep you updated on all the fun stuff. I am guessing it will be a long process since I don't really have the energy (or budget) to do it all right away.

SO... here are the four corners of said room as it is right now... BORING!

******

And, I just can't get enough of this kid.... not only is he absolutely adorable, but he also has the sweetest, funniest personality. Of course, I might just be a little bit biased :)

(before and after photos)

We recently cut his hair (for the 4th time already!!!). I guess you could say he needed it. I kinda liked his wild and crazy do, but it was getting a little hard to comb, especially with his eating habits. It's amazing how fast this little guy's hair grows. Sam and Seth hadn't even gotten their first haircuts at this age.

That's not his only big news... In the past couple weeks he's gotten 3 new teeth - his final bottom front tooth as well as 2 bottom molars.

The Finished Product

We finally got around to finishing Sam's masterpiece... yay! He's been asking each day since he built it so I finally caved today and got out the paints. Actually, it worked out perfectly because yesterday we went garage saling and found this really cool wooden drafting table.... for $5!!! And, a little chair to go with it... for $2!!! I just can't tell you how excited I was. We put it to work right away this morning. Seth was a little jealous that he didn't have a project to paint so I sent him upstairs to find Daddy and see what they could whip up in the garage. Not long after, Seth came rushing in (beaming from ear to ear) with his "speeder boat that's really speedy." Both boys did a great job painting and had a little lesson in patience... since they had to wait for the paint to dry between coats. Sam can't wait to hang his up in his room just like Grandpa hangs his airplanes :)

By the way, we used some leftover paint that we had from our little kitchen makeover... they are sample paints from either Home Depot or Lowes (can't remember, but the both do them). They are a great option for kid's projects because they come in smaller amounts for a smaller price ($3) but have better coverage than kid's paints.... plus you can choose from tons of colors and shades. And sometimes you can find sample-sized cans on the mis-matched cart for only 50 cents. Can't beat that!

~*~***~*~

And some more yummy food that my husband made me for dinner.... just another reason it's great to be married to him! I'm so spoiled!

Another Pretty Thing

So, I decided to try my own little baby dress...

I had a vision at the beginning, but I couldn't quite seem to figure out how to make it happen so I just winged it (and ripped out a lot of seams) the whole way thru. I started with the same basic pattern as the first dress (so I would get the sizing somewhat accurate) and just modified it to fit the little pleats in. I think it turned out pretty cute!!! My favorite part is the little flower thing at the bottom... so cute and girly! I love her little colorful dresses and just can't wait to try them on her some day... but, I think I'm done with making apparel, for the time being anyway.

Just another day...

We had a very uneventful day today... a slightly dreary and yucky day for the most part. Aaron is sick again, the poor little guy! He has spent more of his little life sick than healthy. This time he's got a really bad cough and a really runny nose. He spent at least an hour straight coughing rather than napping, so I got him out of bed and proceeded to give him some meds. He was coughing so much that when I tried to squeeze in a little dropperfull in between, I ended up wearing it all. It's amazing how far 2 mls can spread... all over me, all over him, and all over our cabinets. Yuck! He was eventually able to get it down and he became a much happier little man.

We had a little reprieve from the rain today (though as I type this, it's pouring outside) so the boys spent a lot of time outside. Aaron was stuck inside so he spent much of the day up on the table keeping an eye on the brothers. Of course, when they saw picture taking going on they had to become a part of that. Doesn't bother me! I love getting pictures of all 3 together... we sure make some handsome boys!!! They worked on sanding the airplane for a little while and are eager to get to the painting part. Maybe we'll do that tomorrow evening since Ad will be taking his first "baby call" meaning he won't get home until after midnight tomorrow.... I am so not looking forward to this next year... lots and lots of overnight call :(

Other than that, we just worked on some cleaning, some kindergarten, and a little playing. Tomorrow I will be 32 weeks along and have another OB appointment... the boys are ecstatic because Whitney gets to come play. She is a 14 year old girl from our church that we met at our homeschool co-op. She's very sweet and loves to come and play with the boys... I am sure they will be very disappointed when our baby girl comes and Whitney won't be coming as often.

That about wraps up the day around here... just looking forward to the sun shining once again.

Yumm-O

Well, I got my Mother's Day steak, and it was sooooo good. Unfortunately it was a little too chilly to enjoy on our new, beautiful picnic table, but that's okay. We just got some kind of round steak, whatever was cheap... when you have a husband that grills like mine, you don't need an expensive steak. We decided to try grilling ciabatta bread as well... definitely my favorite part of the meal. You should really try it.... cut your ciabatta in half, butter it, sprinkle with garlic salt and parsley and throw it buttered side down on the grill for a few minutes = absolute perfection! The rest of our meal included baked potatoes and salad - with strawberries and sunflower seeds, another new favorite!!! We ate entirely too much and had loads of leftovers, YAY for us!!!

Sooo, here's what we did with the leftover steaks:

Fry bread topped with sliced steak, shredded cabbage, cheese, diced tomatoes, ranch dressing and A-1 -- just a little concoction I came up with.... yes, I am pregnant! :) It was soooo good too, and will become a regular around here, I'm sure. With the extra fry breads we made dessert... cinnamon fry bread! Aaron really enjoyed it, though I'm not sure how. His newest phase = eating with his forehead... fun for him... not so much for me :)

Warning: If you try and make any of these items... Please be aware that they are NOT for the health conscious eater! Well, except maybe the salad.

We still have a huge chunk of steak left... hmmm, what to do for tomorrow night? We just eat way too well around here. I'm thinking we are gonna have to diet next week for sure...

~*~*~*~*~

Oh, and here is a project that Sam whipped up today while he and Dad were out working in the garage. From what I hear, he built it almost entirely by himself, using some wood pieces out of Ad's scrap box, a few nails, and a hammer. (I must admit, I was a little nervous watching him with that hammer the few moments that I was out there) He can't wait to paint it and hang it up in his room... we'll have to see about that! What a creative little kid! He is so good with 3-dementional building.... you should see some of the things he builds with legos... it's incredible!

Happy Mother's Day

Yesterday afternoon I "suggested" to Ad that we ought to build a picnic table sometime soon. The one we've been using was terribly warped and had tons of mushrooms and other random things growing off the bottom of the table and benches. Well, within an hour he was off to Home Depot to get the supplies. Our table is just about complete... tomorrow evening all he needs to do is round off the benches and screw them down. I'm thinkin' that I should start making a lot more suggestions :) hee hee! I love when he gets to work on projects... and the boys love "helping" him out. It's so awesome to be married to such a talented man! I hope my boys will someday make such great husbands too...

Adam and Sam were discussing tonight what they ought to get me for Mother's Day, and I made a little suggestion (I guess I'm pretty good at those). "How bout' a picnic table?" They weren't really thrilled with this idea since it was already made so I came up with another..... STEAKS to grill and eat on my new picnic table!!! Yummy... I am really looking forward to Mother's Day!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day too... in case I forget :)