~18 Weeks & A Swimming Story~

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

~18 Weeks & A Swimming Story~ Nearly Halfway...   Is it just me or do I look bigger than 18 weeks? I realize it's been a few years but I have had four children....you would think I would know. Anyway....I had to get my calendar out to see how far along I am. It's crazy to think I'm nearly half way done. Where has the time gone? We plan to find out what we're having next week. Brad mentioned not finding out. He may as well have spoken in Latin. I have no box for that! There are gowns and onesies to buy and I'd rather not have ALL yellow, white, and green.  But it HAS been so much fun telling him, "That's okay. You don't have to know. I'll just find out and not tell you." I plan to see how much fun I can have with that. I figure I can make it last a least several hours.   Avery has been my sidekick more than ever with Jake and Reese in school. She was lost the first couple days but now seems to thrive on the time with just the two of us.    Didn't mean to cut my head off in every single picture but that's pretty much what happened. My "backdrop" is my partially primed dining room.   It's such an accurate portrayal of the current state of my life. Really is. And it's okay....attempting to learn to be content in whatever state I find myself.   Quick Mommy story. The other day at the pool, Reese decided to swim to the deep end with her new, much more advanced swimmer, friend. I'm in clothes. It was going to be a quick pool trip but from my perch, I see her half swimming, half bobbing in "over her head" water. The amazing thing was even though she was really struggling, she kept right on going, looking at me every time she surfaced. "Reese! Turn around and go back!", I half spoke and half yelled as I casually walked to the pool's edge. (Trying to remain calm....the thought of drowning is almost more than I can bear and this little girl has already had one episode in water that will never leave my memory) At this point, she really couldn't get back. I waited a few more seconds til I succumbed to that instinctive, no thought, head first dive into the water. There was a really sweet Mom on the steps, dressed to swim, saying, "I'll get her" as she slowly strolled through the water. I figured she would have gotten to her just fine but she wasn't moving quite fast enough to satisfy me! (Plus, she wasn't aware of how long Reese had been bobbing)  The funniest part was when I got my hands on my second born, she had this perplexed look on her face and asked, "What did you do that for?" To which I dryly responded, "Because you can't quite swim in the deep end, darling." "But you have your clothes on!" I just smiled, rolled my eyes, and marched myself to the steps. They really have no idea how much they're loved, do they?                                                                                          ~Reese and Lauren~ ~Stacey

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~What We're Doing.....Today~

Monday, August 17, 2009

What We're Doing......Today. The last couple weeks have been strange for so many reasons. The amount of time I've spent blogging or on fb has been practically nothing of late.  My life has been the extreme opposite of what it was this time last year. Last year, we lived in a town from August to June while Brad was completing his fellowship. We lived at the end of a street in a new development and met only a couple neighbors the entire time we lived in our little rental house. I'm 99% sure I was the only person home during the day. I felt so isolated the entire time we were there. We homeschooled, had it done within four hours, then attempted to fill the remaining time until Daddy came home. It sounds pathetic, but if I had to describe our time there, I would say, "Yawn". At times, it was MIND NUMBINGLY boring. We had fun, spent lots of time playing and I kept telling myself to enjoy the slow pace, but after a while, I was ready to pull my hair out. I did my best to "bloom where I was planted" but it's hard for me to really plug in quickly.  We move here, begin the unpacking process, had a really nice summer.....we were finally in the place we had spent the last 12 years trying to get. We made the surprising decision to put our two "big" kids in school...... which by the way, has been the most interesting thing ever.  I realize for someone who has never entertained the thought of homeschooling, that's a weird thing to say.  BUT, for those of you who are or have homeschooled, you may better relate to my awe and wonder at this whole school decision. We're a little more than a week into it, but I'm still amazed by the obvious peace in a decision I NEVER thought I would make. Had you asked me even three months ago, I would have said, "No way, Jose".  The verse in Psalms that says, "The mind of man plans his way but the Lord directs his steps" has never been more true for me than in these last weeks. Me, being the planner that I am....someone who really wants to know every detail about what's going to go on even in the distant future, to witness God lovingly, peaceFULLy change my direction so decidedly, is nothing short of a miracle!  Learning not to lean on my own understanding but rather to be flexible, trusting Him to change my course even on short notice is a nice place to be. (Also learning I can just take things one year, one month, and even one day at a time...I don't have to know what I'll do next year.....just today.) It's been a busy week, adjusting to the school routine. Getting up way earlier than I ever had to last year, enforcing early bedtime, packing lunches, going to school meetings, and having other "normal" appointments, has forced me to be more productive than I would've thought possible with so much time spent running around.  Brad started work last week and had his first surgeries this morning. He's thrilled to finally have his own patients and feels incredibly blessed with the group he joined. He loves, loves, loves what he does...I can't see him doing anything else. ~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~                                                                                                                              Easy hasn't quite grown into his ears yet! ;)   When Abby gets the camera, I get goofy. And when I cook, I get messy.  ~Stacey

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~The End of Summer....Sort Of~

Wednesday, August 05, 2009

The End of Summer......Sort Of. When I think summer, I think heat. And let's face it, we gotta WHOLE lot of heat left before we hit autumn! However over the years, August has become a school month. "Back to school" clothes now have to be summer things even though the stores and catalogs are bursting at the seem with plaids, sweaters, and wool. Nonetheless, tomorrow marks the official end of summer for us BECAUSE, my oldest two are going to school for the first time. . Yep. They are. I still can't believe it myself. I've homeschooled them to this point but this year, we're giving "away" school a try. This is a post in and of itself which just might come later this week.  But for now, I just have to say that peace is a funny thing. I've discovered you can't always explain why or how peace comes. But I guess that's the nature of true peace. It "passes all understanding". So our summer recap would look something like this: ~Moving. More moving. Still wondering when exactly we will be completely moved in. ~Being without my Brad for June and July. Not fun. ~Swimming in our great neighborhood pool right across the street...a lot. One of the saving graces of the summer. ~Lots and lots of painting. Walls, beds, dressers, bedside tables, mantles, and ceilings. A couple days ago, Brad said, "I think you paint stuff more than most people." hehe ~Adjusting to a new puppy. Nothing more to say on that one.  ~Basking in the wonder of living so close to family and in knowing that all the years of school for Brad are d.o.n.e. ~How could I forget! Discovering the fact that we're having another baby.  My camera has taken a back seat to all the craziness of life in the recent past but here are a couple regular life shots from these last few months. ~Riding the "Mountain Goat"~   ~Sweet Feet~ ~Up Close and Personal~ ~Can I Touch It?~ ~First Theme Park Experience~ It's 10:34 and I'm tired. The kids are so excited about school.....I need to at least not cry when I take them. (For their sakes!) I'm going to miss them. I know that for a fact.

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