Marie's Musings

Musings from the mundane day to day life of a mom of 9 to more serious ponderings of the day.

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Dad can superglue anything!

I was sitting with Ezekiel this afternoon , pretending to pull his ears off. He tells me " Dont do that, it will broke, then Dad will have to superglue it" Its nice to know that everything can be solved by superglue and Dad!

Had my ultrasound today and I am indeed growing a giant. Im currently dating 2 weeks and 4 days ahead of my due date. Granted dating at this stage in pregnancy is less accurate but hes a big guy. They are estimating him at 5 lbs already! I do also have extra fluid, not sure what that means if anything at this point. Im sure the doctor will let me know what this means in terms of pregnancy next week at my appt. I know for sure im not letting her put me off beyond 40 weeks, I dont want to be having a 12 lb baby!

Gideon is also breech, so Im praying that he turns around before delivery. This would be my first c-section out of 9 pregnancies, so I guess thats not too shabby.

At this point its in Gods hands, where its supposed to be. I cant say i wouldnt mind an earlier delivery, I feel huge already!

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Monday, February 26, 2007

No energy

This little one, or should i say not so little, is really starting to drain me. I dont have much energy and what i do have, doesnt take much to drain quickly. I also start feeling weak if i dont eat soon enough, apparently Im growing a giant.

I had my prenatal appt at the end of last week and at 31 weeks I was already measuring 38 cm. So my doctor ordered another ultrasound, this will be our 4th, sure hope Gideon likes his picture taken. She thinks its just that hes extra long, still up high and have extra fluid but who knows. All i know is the bigger size definitely makes things harder and I have 9 more weeks to go! So i imagine this will be a difficult 2 months.

Its just maddening at times though, when I actually do have the motivation(y'all know how often that is) to clean, i dont get hardly anything done before im worn out. I guess ill have to chunk my projects or cleaning sprees more so i can actually feel like i have done something.

Well thats all for now folks
MJ

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Almost 19 months

The time seems to be sneaking by, perhaps her little size adds to the delusion, in reality my baby girl is almost 19 months old already. Shes only bout 20 lbs and pretty short, so she still looks more like 12 months rather than 19. Well then you get to know her and her stubborness and determination put an end to that errant thought.

Zemirah is a climber like her brothers, in fact like all of the kids when they were young. She is constantly finding herself in places she ought not to be. Her vocabulary is also expanding at a drastic rate. Just last week as she was leaving the room to go to bed, she calls out to her dad, "see you later". One of her favorite words is up lol, quite often clamoring to get up in my lap. She loves baby dollies, moreso than her sisters did i think. In the toy aisle its almost unbearable for her to see all the babies she cant have. She definitely is a charmer when she wants to, but the determination of her will shines thru. She holds her own against ezekiel, who is 3 and well somtimes frustrates her older siblings in her quest for their stuff.

I just realized today as i counted back the months, how old she really had gotten. My baby girl is growing up!

Thats all for now folks
MJ

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

A sense of peace

Im not sure if Ive just grown in my faith finally or God is just working differently in my life today but its a welcome change.

We got news today that andrews 2nd job, his college teaching parttime, is going to be cut dramatically for the fall of 07 and spring of 08. He may still pick up some misc courses here or there to teach, so we might have a bit of income from that. Previously news like this would have sent me into a tailspin, after all thats a significant part of our income that we do rely on, but today its different. I have a sense of peace that I cant explain. Maybe its that Im older and somewhat wiser ( i can hear all of you laughing now). Maybe its that Im finally letting Gods truth sink into my heart. He always has provided in the past and I have no doubt he will in the future.

What that means exactly dont know. Im thankful he brought us to the place of starting to be prepared even before we got this news. We really have commited to taking this year to pay down debts and bring our financial house back in order. So that means we may not make it home this summer or xmas to visit family . Or it might mean that we put off a few things we wanted to purchase, thats okay ... God will continue to be alongside us all the way!


God is good ... all the time
MJ

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Sunday Sickies

Another sunday morning home due to sick kids. Its really a bummer, I was looking forward to going to church since I missed last week.

But alas, coughs, colds, and even throwing up keeps me home today. I suspect Ariana is mostly fine, just that she coughed so much she made herself throw up. Esp since she ate brekky this morning just fine and is off playing but we kept her home anyway. The two youngest, have this nasty chest cold, with coughs, low grade fevers off and on as well. I think if they arent any better by tommorrow, to the doc we go. I tried to get a same day appt for them friday but they were all booked up.

So i sit here in the semi quiet, kids playing round me, thinking hmm what shall i do wiht my morning. Im thinking probably some laundry, loading the dishwasher, figuring out lunch is the most likely agenda.

We made a gigantic run to Sams Club yesterday, 3 carts later, our larder is well stocked. Praising God from whom all blessings come. With the larger mortgage and adjusting to that, our grocery budget has been, well, lets just say less than optimal. But God never failed to provide for us and not once did we go hungry. Sometimes it was food from unexpected sources such as our pastor bringing us 100 lb sack of potatoes or my dad giving us venison meat. Sometimes it was anounymous people giving us gift cards to walmart or friends bringing us tons of bread from a thrift store near their town. Sometimes it just was figuring out unique ways to use the food we had still in the cupboard. Any way you slice it, God provided time and time again and for that Im thankful. And im so ever grateful now that he has filled our storehouse once again and for that I praise him.

A telling point yesterday was when one of our sons said for our next movie night "can we have burritoes instead of candy" Havent made those in awhile I guess :)

Got some pretty good prices but two deals stick out. They had boneless skinless chix thighs for 99 cents a pound. Thats hugely cheap, even the ground beef was way more than that at 1.71 a lb. You did need to buy the case to get that price, but heck thats 8 -16 meals for us, not a hardship in the least! Ground beef in the case was 1.71 a lb, still a good price but not nearly as great as the chix. The other one was we found 5 lbs of frozen corn for 1.43 a bag. Prices vary from club to club, the nice thing is we were able to see which one was the cheapest for most things by comparing them online. One a little further away had definitive higher prices and the two that were in proximity were close but generally the one we went to was 20-80 cents cheaper on most items. Not all of course. The other club had the corn at 3.88 which is a normal price for that. So im not sure if this club just had extra shipments thus the lower price, but we bought 6 bags at that price!

Hopefully this will last us awhile. Unfortunely I think it wont last as long as we hope with our family size. I remember when we used to shop at sams club, and it was buying in bulk, now with a family of 10 the pkgs are just about the right size for one portion or grocery period. Ah well I guess I wouldnt trade them for more groceries :)

God is good ... all the time! Praising him for his blessings today!
MJ

Friday, February 16, 2007

Friday Fancy

Hubby has done very well this week, for two days in a row, he hit the mark with gifts. Gifts arent everything, but it is nice when the present really hits the target.

My valentines day present was exceptionally sweet. He got me a really nice box of chocolates and inside he had cut out 14 hearts (for 14 yrs of marriage) and wrote something unique on each one. I really loved it! Chocolate and creativity, bonus points!

Then yesterday I was having a rough afternoon, feeling sick, baby up early, had to go into work late cause i couldnt get a sitter and just too much to do in too little time. So i had called to let him know and well lets just say his response was less than optimal in terms of what I was looking for, just some extra support. Well fast forward, i went to work and all that jazz. I came home and he has this adorable little beanie baby husky dog( i love huskies). He just said I knew you were having a rough day, so i got you this. Awwww .,.. I just about melted. More points scored :) I was feeling better and my night had gone okay at that point, but it was just a really nice little surprise I didnt expect. I love that man!

I have to work again tonite but Im looking foward to a weekend off. Woohoo!

God is good ... all the time!
MJ

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

My Valentine

I fell in love with my valentine over 15 yrs ago now.
He came into the place where i worked quite often for meals. While I cant quite explain it , I was drawn to him. One of the things I noticed was his outward declaration of faith-- he was always talking bout Jesus.

There are many things I love bout him.
  • His commitment to me. We may fight, argue or whatever but hes always been there for me
  • His gentle spirit underneath his gruff exterior. God made a grizzly bear with a heart of gold.
  • The way he makes me laugh and insists I smiled at him differently than all the other "regular" customers.
  • The way he answers my question,"why do you love me" over and over even though hes annoyed :)
  • The little things like playing solitaire showdown even when he doesn't want to, going out late at night to get something for me, giving me a foot rub when hes just as tired as I am.
  • Calling me at least once a day to see how I'm doing or to tell me some interesting fact he heard that morning
  • The fact he works hard to provide for us yet makes sure he is home for supper.
  • The way he actively works to keep his eyes only for me
  • His creativity and crazy ideas
  • The way he puts up with all my idiosyncrasies and loves me anyway.
  • The way he enjoys spending time with me and is genuinely sad when we cant.
  • His surprises from a surprise birthday party to unexpected flowers to a special note.
  • The way he remembers that the salad bowl was a rummage sale find and the ability to laugh over our iced tea story.
  • I love him just for being him ... my honeybear!

Happy Valentines Day Bear ... here's to 14+ more!

MJ

Sunday, February 11, 2007

Two families

Early in our marriage we agreed we wanted kids close together in age. Both of us came from families with large gaps and we didnt enjoy the disconnect that came with that. My sister was 2 when I moved out of the house and got married. 3 of andrews brothers were out of the house before he hit kidnergarten. So we planned at least one or two of them lol, to be close together in age.

And while it was crazy at times cause God blessed with so many in a short time frame, I enjoyed the fact they were all into the same things. They could play together or we could all go to mcdonalds playplace and everyone would be happy and able to play.

Yesterday was one of those moments in time that drove home the point things are changing, as they should but changing nonetheless. Its been happening for awhile, but yesterday was distinct enough to just make me a little sad.

There was a youth broomball game at the lake and the 4 oldest were invited, even though the younger two arent techincally really old enough. So everyone was preparing to go to that, katarina was at a sleepover and would meet the boys there. So our 4 eldest out of 8 were off to an event and we were left with the 4 youngest. It was then I realized the thing we sought to avoid was happening anyway, the gap between siblings. I think its slightly different since we have kids in the ages between the gap but still.

Dont get me wrong, it was an enjoyable morning with the younger ones--we played skipbo, chutes and ladders, and bumperena. And relxed as well and the older ones had a great time at broomball. But it did illustrate a life change that had been sneaking up quietly for awhile. And it made me sad even though knowing this was a stage in life that is coming and normal. So now the challenge comes in finding things that can cross multiage groups that we can do together as a family, so we dont lose our connection.

And finding ways to celebrate the independence of the older ones as they go out into the world and still making the connections at home. I only saw katarina for 10 minutes yesterday as she flitted between a sleepover, broomball and bible quiz meet. And already the waiting up has started.... we knew where she was, we just expected her home earlier than midnite. But she made it back from the meet safe and sound, thankfully.

Well enough hyperbole
MJ

Friday, February 09, 2007

Tired doesnt seem to cover it

The last 3 days I have been really tired. Not just tired, literally exhausted, the kind where you it feels like you could fall asleep standing up. Usually a little short 10 or 15 minute doze helps but its hard to get much accomplished feeling exhausted.

Thankfully I dont have to work today and I should thereotically be able to sleep in tommorrow unless i go on the road trip with hubby. We are helping a coworker move this weekend and since shes nervous bout driving the van, hes going to drive and help unload. If i can find a sitter, i might go with too but not sure since i have to work that afternoon too.

Im sure some of the tiredness is the 3rd trimester pregnancy exhaustion too, Im 29 weeks now. 11 weeks to go! Not too long now. Im getting to the point though that Im thinking bout cutting out an additional 1 or 2 days off my work schedule. Its been difficult to get sitters for all the shifts, so that would eliminate that hassle too.

well thats all for now
MJ

Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Crabby today

It seems like the little things are getting under my skin from Zemirah and Ezekiel starting the morning off argueing to a post on my message board. Im trying to let most of it go, cause I know im overreacting cause Im crabby and tired.

Even when I have tried to vent , it seems to be irritating me. Perhaps a nap is in order. Its too bad I have things to do and the kids are due off early today from school. Sigh I suppose tommorrow will be better!

Thats all for now folks!
MJ

Monday, February 05, 2007

Good morning

It was a pretty nice weekend, not working definitely helped that prospect. We went to chuckie cheese on saturday with my aunt, uncle and cousin. They gave the kids a whole bunch of tokens and bought pizza etc as a christmas present to the family. It was really a lot of fun. We came at 10 am when it opened so for the first hour or two it wasnt very packed at all, that definitely was nice.

Then in the afternoon, we took the kids out to spend thier money. My parents had sent them cash for christmas. But we had them wait til some birthdays were done with and they had all their money. So a few winter birthday kids had a bit more to spend than others. Everyone seemed pretty happy with their purchases. Although I think a few early spenders(bought at the first stop) are reconsidering theirs after seeing how much fun their brothers are having. Two of the boys bought nerf dart guns and are enjoying shooting thruout the house.

Then Sunday was church and some family time. We even got a nap in there, played some games and generally had a good time. We finished up the evening by creating Arianas star of the week board with pics of her and our family.

God is good ... all the time!

MJ