'what's up' weekly.

This has been a great week.  We took the week off of school to rest, recover, and spend some time catching up on things that kind of get overlooked when we're hitting the books.  I cleaned the bathrooms, including the showers!, which was a major feat.  (Atticus wipes down the upstairs bathroom every day, but it needs adult attention occasionally, and the downstairs bathroom was so very scary after the stretch of neglect it's been facing.  To give you an idea, I was informed today that one child has been working perfecting what has been dubbed 'fireworks peeing.'  It explains so much of what I encountered this week.)

I washed shower curtains, mopped floors, bleached grout.  It was freeing.  Also exhausting.  I plan on giving it another six months before any of that happens again.  (At which point, I'll have a newborn, so then I'll put it off another six months.  So my bathrooms will be clean again sometime around next February.)

I worked on laundry, got caught up on the kids' homeschool records, made a bunch of appointments I've been putting off, and tried (and admittedly failed) to get some medical insurance issues squared away.  I was a regular lady-on-a-mission.  Plus, an incident early on in the week necessitated taking the LEGO collection away for a while, so the house stayed relatively tidy on its own accord.  *Patting self on back for job well done.*

On Monday, I had a midwife appointment early in the morning, so I chucked the kids in the van and hauled tuckus over there, just to spend 2 minutes in the exam room being weighed and measured, and then told to return for more of the same thing in two weeks.  I really hate this part of pregnancy, when they expect to see your face every seven seconds, but they don't make it seem all that worth it.  At this point, I'm kind of like, "I'll call you if anything comes up; otherwise, plan on seeing me next around the time that the baby is crowning."

In order to make our outing seem less pointless, we hit Hobby Lobby on the way home.  I got some felt to make a puzzle mat (over the weekend, a friend gave us a puzzle, and I'm wanting to get it started and maybe even done before spring.  Which seems like a realistic hope, considering winter seems to be just now getting its legs and cajones), and I got a few supplies to make some beeswax candles.  I have developed a strong reaction to paraffin and soy candles, but I'm wanting to create some more ambiance around here, so beeswax it is.  Unfortunately, they're crazy expensive, so I'm hoping to head into Hobby Lobby every once in a while with a coupon to buy the wax and hopefully cut costs that way.

On Tuesday morning I hung out with a friend, and then Todd and I spent some time in the evening working on the church building.  Anthem has a home!  (For the last two and a half years, we've been meeting in the conference center of a local hotel.)  This will be our first weekend in our new space, and there was a lot of last minute stuff needing to be done, so the Connection Groups met out there to work instead of doing their regular thing.  We left the kids with a new babysitter, and I think the sheer number of them ended up being a bit overwhelming for her.  At one point, Callista found herself unsupervised and promptly started brushing her teeth with the toothbrush we clean Stumpi with.  So the fact that she hasn't come down with Legionnaire's disease this week is pure miracle.  Praise hands.

Wednesday, we headed up to the Amish in the morning, spent the afternoon with a friend, and in the evening I called my sister for her 30th birthday!  ('What's so special about a 30th birthday?' asked the kids, to which Penelope responded, 'Thirty is when you stop being a young adult and start just being an adult.'  Astute observation, Eight Year Old Child.)

Yesterday was Valentine's Day, and we tried to elevate the day a bit.  I'm not really a celebrater-of-things by nature, but I'm trying to get better, and what better gateway holiday to observe than Valentine's Day, I ask you?  So we did a popcorn party for lunch, at which I surprised them with expired bags of M&M's I bought for a quarter apiece at the Amish store.  Surprise!  Then Todd came home over his lunch break to carry on our yearly tradition of encouraging the boys to give each girl a flower.  The boys love being chivalrous, the girls love being doted on, the whole thing is so much fun.

Things turned south for Laurelai for some unknown reason.  At least she didn't get overly dramatic about it.

Then for dinner last night, I made stir-fry, which was nothing special in and of itself (especially if you were to ask Callista, who was so determined not to eat it that she somehow managed to fling it all over the walls, the china cabinet, the curtains, the table, the floor, etc., etc.) but we presented the kids with a small gift each.  This is NOT typical for our house - first of all, I'm not really a natural gift-giver, and second of all, anything I give them I then have to store and keep organized, so I have a lot of incentive to not give gifts.  But I'm trying to grow.

A couple other items of note regarding yesterday: it was in the mid-sixties outside, so the kids played outside for like three hours and came in just COVERED in mud.  Of course it was right after I'd washed the shower curtains... sigh.  But also, an older mom from church came over and chatted away the afternoon with me, and it was so wonderful.  What a great day.

And that brings us to today!  We have plans to meet up with a few friends - a family with nine kids in the morning; a family with five kids in the afternoon.  It's going to be like an all-day party.  (Are you seeing a theme here?  This is how we spend our off-school weeks, because I don't really do many meet-ups anymore during regular weeks; so we get super social for one very intense week every couple of months).  But the weather is supposed to be bad again - five inches of snow in the forecast for today?? - so we may or may not have to cancel our plans.  I hate driving around here when the weather is bad, since they don't clear the roads and I can't guarantee I'll be able to get up our hill on the way home.  So we'll play it by ear.

In pregnancy news, I'm in the single-digit countdown now.  I'm gaining a ton of weight, we haven't picked a name yet, I haven't even started planning freezer meals or pulling out baby clothes.  I think I'm in a bit of denial still... I'm hoping the reality that THIS BABY IS COMING SOON will hit me sooner rather than later so I get my tail in gear.  But I'm going to just remain in blissful ignorance a liiiiiittle longer.

Hey, remember how my hair used to be naturally curly?  This photo makes it look like that's still my default state, but sadly, no.  You have no idea how much blackmail and coercion and bribery went into getting my hair to show any sign of life.

Apparently, my hair's natural level of buoyancy is a direct reflection of my own.

And that was our week!  In case you didn't see it, there's a quilt raffle currently happening to help us with the expense of purchasing a passenger van in which to fit us all once the new baby comes.  Entries are just $5, and a winner will be announced next Wednesday - so go here for details on how to get in on that while you still can!