what's up weekly. (Two Weeks' Worth, and Finneas Turned Twelve!)

Hey guys! Sorry I was a no-show last week.  As ridiculous as it is to say it, my back was really hurting and it hurt too much to type.  Ridiculous.  But it means that I am going to cover two weeks' worth of news if I can muster the energy.  If not, this post will just leave off in a cliffhanger and you will know that I had to leave to go soak in the tub.  This is pregnancy; it's hard on us all.

THIS IS A VERY HEAVY BELLY.  Can you tell?

Okay.  What were we up to two weeks ago?  

Well, last time I blogged, I was gearing up for a grocery trip.  I ended up taking Atticus with me because he wanted to look at some stuff at Tractor Supply, and man alive. Why had it not occurred to me sooner to take him shopping with me? I was under the impression that I go more quickly when I'm on my own, that I appreciate the alone time.  BUT do you have any idea what an asset it is to have someone along with you who can lift the 40 lb bags of chicken feed into the cart?  Who can push a second cart at Aldi?  Who can bend down easily and lift a flat of tuna cans onto the lower rack of the shopping cart?  Who can run a couple of aisles over and grab that thing you forgot?  My eyes have been opened to the previous error of my ways, and I will not continue to make the same mistakes.  This new revelation has changed me.

The next day was Saturday, and I had it on my list to tackle some cleaning and build a compost bin.  Well, I got to (some of) the cleaning, but by building time, I just didn't have it in me.  My lower back has been giving me grief and I just can't do physical projects with the same gusto.  (And by 'physical projects,' I mean anything that has me moving or standing at all.)  Todd kindly offered to do it for me!  So now I not only have a compost bin, but I have one that I didn't have to build myself, and also the pleasure of watching my husband build something with his hands.  All things work together for the good of us who love Christ.

The guys and their little foreman.

This will make cleaning out the chicken coop much easier moving forward.  I have more compost material from that than I really know what to do with, mostly leaves and pine shavings mixed with chicken poop. I can mix it with the few kitchen scraps that the chickens don't eat, let it compost in the bin, and then refill the soil in my garden beds and planters with it.  Most of our food waste gets fed to the chickens, which is great because they eat things that couldn't go in the compost, like meat scraps and fat/grease and grains; but things that don't go to the chickens, like egg shells and coffee grounds and avocado peels, now don't have to go in the garbage.   

We jumped back into school after our break week and are trying to cram a little.  When I originally sat down last summer to plan our school year's schedule, I wasn't pregnant.  I didn't know at the time that my due date would fall directly on the last scheduled day of school.  Now that I am aware of this fact, I am also nonplussed.  This will not do.  So we're trying to move a little more quickly through our scheduled material so that I can have a couple weeks' buffer at the end of pregnancy.  This is a bit challenging, since our schedule is already kind of packed to the gills, and increasing prenatal appointments require us to take more days off than I had planned.  But we're trying.

Don't let that cheesy toddler grin fool you; she became less cheesy and stayed just as much toddler as the morning progressed.  School time is hard on the littlest ones.

This seems like a fine place to jump ahead for a second and mention that my midwife appointment that was scheduled for yesterday got cancelled because another mom went into labor, but I had already called off school for the day and set the kids to deep cleaning their rooms.  We took an extra day off for no reason, and it was rainy so they couldn't even play outside.  It was a super weird day.

Okay, jumping back to last week.  We got contacted early in the week by the father of a friend of ours, who owns a farm and was wondering if Atticus would like a job helping him with the work that's gearing up as we approach spring.  We got together with him on Thursday night to ask some questions and get to know him, and by Friday morning Atticus was working on pruning what he could of 800 grape vines.  He will be helping with various aspects of crops, animals, machinery, and home construction.  He is super excited, and we're excited for him.  I feel like we've hit a busy season with lots of milestones happening all at once for him.

Last Saturday, we took a day trip up to Des Moines to celebrate Finneas' 12th birthday.  He requested a knight-themed party with grilled cheese sandwiches and spaghettios.  The kids spent the day playing outside in the yard with cousins and a grand time was had by all.  

My mom made a cake for him.  How does it have this many candles?!

Lolo got him a Jack Sparrow hat/wig, and Penelope got him face paints.  Rocco got him the gift of his amiable presence, which is what Finneas values most deeply anyway.

Wednesday of this week was Finneas' actual birthday!  He requested cereal for breakfast, grilled chicken and Takis for lunch, and Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner.

Finneas numbers among my favorite people in the whole world.  He is funny, quick witted, smart, sweet.  He likes to come sit by me after dinner and just chat with me.  He is really good with Oey.  He is comfortable in his own skin and makes friends easily, and is the life of the party.  He is just such a fun member of our household, and I'm so glad we have him.

We only have a few other items of note.  I took Atticus to Walmart to get the things he'll need for work: boots and socks, shirts and jeans, work gloves, a watch.  Basic but necessary items.  He'll head out for a few hours this afternoon to keep working on those grape vines, and may spend some time out there again tomorrow.

Laurelai turned ten and a half.

And Callista pulled her own tooth out.  Her tooth was super wiggly, but Todd and Atticus were at the Men's Beer and Books night, and I Don't Do Teeth.  (Seriously, teeth give me the full-on creeps.  Grossest part of parenting.  I can clean up vomit without batting an eyelash, but don't you dare show me your loose tooth.)  Well, she decided it needed to come out, so she took matters into her own hands and just... got it out herself like an old pro.  She named it Miss Paige.

How scrappy is she?

And that is all that I can remember, and all the typing my back can take.  So that is my cue to head out!  I hope you have a great weekend.  As a send-off present, here is some nature art Callista made, to refresh your heart with gladness this Friday.