On tickers and updates..

I assume that anyone looking at my blog is seeing my tickers mess up. Or is it just me that sees the set up icon posted everywhere? If they're not working in a few days, I suppose I'll just remove all the tickers and start posting other buttons to hold my interest.

In other news tomorrow (or probably Monday) Micaela and I (and a partially attentive Bubba) will begin studying ancient cultures who placed a heavy emphasis on idols. I'm nervous about teaching this subject, but I'm convinced that I shouldn't avoid it. We begin with Egypt and before the end of the year will have covered Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome and scattered others in between. Up to today our history has mainly been focused on creation, flood, and 'prehistory' so this has not been an issue. I'm certain that studying the Egyptian pantheon has value- knowing their beliefs helps us understand God's dealings with the Egyptians in scripture, but I don't want magic or the occult to become fascinating. I want to cover Egyptian history without skipping or emphasizing their religion, but I'm chicken to introduce it.

Also- yes, Mother, I know it's about time- I'm determined to start math next week. It's just one more thing, and I've been avoiding it. Micaela asks daily for math, but it has lots of 'pieces' and my house is already such a mess that I don't want the pieces out. But I'm going to do it. And I'm going to continue to organize my mess. First I'm shipping 3/4 of all my toys to my mother's house, which is perfectly okay since most of them came from her and she's on vacation and cannot defend herself. haha. Not really; although, most of them did come from the collective grandparents' quarter. In reality I'm saving for rubbermaids. And I think we're going to do a two week toy rotation. I'll probably get busy on that about the time I start nesting with this baby, so I'll let you know how it's going in February.

Which brings us to the baby. No news I guess is good news. I have not bled again; although, I'm tender in the abdominal area. Not painfully, but noticeably so. I am concerned that maybe I'm bleeding internally a little. I have no idea- I did not discuss this with a doctor, it just makes me wonder since she said the word hemorrage (which I'm sure I can't spell) and I feel like you do after you have a baby and your fundus is huge and needs to be massaged. My next ultrasound is scheduled for the 13th. Hopefully we will see the baby growing normally and the blood clot shrinking or gone. Also I'm very grateful to the church we've been attending. They have called or visited us several times since Tuesday morning (it's only been two days, but it's a small community). It's nice to know that so many people are concerned and praying for the baby.

I just can't seem to keep up :)

Well, for a couple of days, the kids and I went to my mom's house. They got to swim in the pool for the last time before it's closed for the season. They really enjoyed it, and this was the first time that I've gotten to see them swim. Gabriel and Nathaniel have NO fear. It really suprised me that Nathaniel was that adventurous. Micaela is super cautious in the water, but not paralyzed. I don't think she'll learn to swim well if she continues this way. She fears going under, hates water in her nose and won't even try to really swim. Gabriel just bounced around the pool from one foot to the other, never even minding whether he could stand or not. He'd also jump in over his head and wait to be rescued (without fear). Scary!
Anyway, when we got home I got busy with schooling, cleaning, cooking and hosting. We've had several families over for dinner lately. Micaela got to attend a birthday tea party and really enjoyed herself. Afterwards that family came over, and we used our campfire to make smores. It was hot, but the kids loved playing in the back yard and eating junk.

I'll post a few pictures of the kids later, but mostly please pray for our baby. I have a subchorionic hematoma- a hemorrage between the placenta and uterus. It is small, but may lead to miscarraige or later to preterm labor/placental abruption. Ian and I are very close to choosing a hospital delivery this time for that reason. We need peace about my care-giver, the place of delivery, and the health of the baby.

Just for fun...

Take the Quiz here!

:: L I Z Z Y :: You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed.

Like mother like daughter :)

I have been reading to the kids from The Hobbit this week. The boys are mildly interested in the words hobbit, dwarf, troll, goblin, warg, elf, and shape-changer. Micaela is following the story pretty well; however, I can never really tell as I'm reading that she is actually listening. She sits with her own book, a big hardback copy of Heidi, and sounds out all the small words from every page. Yes, she is reading, speaking, and listening all at one time. How do I know? I can see and hear her reading, and she's able to retell the story of the hobbit the next day before we start reading again. It's funny and impressive all at once. Scary too, I always skated through school not really paying attention. I learned enough, but I know I should have been more diligent and pushed myself harder. I hope I can challange her as she grows.

Firsts

Asher's first homemade, whole wheat cookie. The first fruit (a nectarine) that I allowed him to gum to death all by himself.
His first round of funny food face pictures (we did this for all the kids).
Trying to share.
His not quite first carousel ride, but the first that he really, really liked.
His first apron? Ask Micaela, maybe it's his first time playing doll, except he is the doll?Asher's first hat. Well- it's Gabe's or Bubba's hat, but it's cute!Asher's first boots!

Just in case you ever wondered...

Two year olds can NOT be trusted with a bottle of sunscreen. Even if it is sitting high up out of reach on the back porch. It is possible that the two year old may empty the entire brand new bottle out on your concrete porch and then commence rubbing it in. He may then enlist aid from his conspirators- those elder siblings who should be guiding him away from wrong by their exemplary behavior. If any of that should happen my advice is to give them a big bucket of water and some scrub brushes. Let them scrub the porch for a few hours. It won't help. The sunscreen will be there for weeks, and be slippery for days, but it'll be just as fun for them as rubbing it in was. Did they learn a lesson? No, they begged for days to clean the porch again.

Up late?

You never know what's sleeping in your bathroom...

On climbing trees...

Micaela loves to climb trees. Nathaniel desperately wants to love to climb trees.
He finally made the attempt and was so proud of himself. Now he climbs everthing- as long as Micaela does it first! He's followed her to the top of the swingset, to sit on top of the play house, to the top of Ian's truck, and now into several of our smaller trees.
Gabriel is still working on actually getting off the ground.

A small miracle...

Since the 27th of July I've been following the progress of a black swallowtail caterpillar. I had no idea it would stay on the same plant for so long or somehow manage not to be eaten by a bird (or anything else)! It is still there today, and it has grown. Last week, Micaela and I both drew him into our nature notebooks. I can't wait to see if he makes a chrysalis there. I should have been taking pictures, but I never thought he'd make it. It is raining quite hard just now, but when it's sunny again I plan to get Micaela to take pictures of it. I just read that these caterpillars overwinter in the chrysalis, I suppose he's got a while to go!