Don't Forget!

...to change my blog to storiesandsongs.wordpress.com! I seem to have lost lots of you. :)

Moving

OK, it's official. Moving to Wordpress. See ya there!

See, the thing is, I shouldn't even write posts like I did today. Because then I read the news and hear about how almost 10% of people don't even HAVE a JOB, and then I feel bad. I went to the grocery store tonight and was able to buy everything we would need to eat for the week. My family is strong and healthy. God is a terrific provider - I got a phone call tonight from a company that might hire me as a virtual assistant, doing exactly the kinds of things I love doing. It all always works out. Enough poor me. Sorry about that. The end.

Where I've Been

Um...I don't really know where to start.

I haven't been writing lately. Part of it's because I just haven't felt like it. But I suppose a bigger part of it is that life's just been kinda tough lately. I know all the arguments for writing during the good and bad times, and I agree with them...I think. But I also know that when I go to read stuff online, all I need is something to drag me down a little! Life's hard enough without hearing about other people's problems too! But I'm home, kids are in bed, and frankly I'm lonely, so I suppose I'll tell you about it.

First, I have made basically no extra money for us since a month before we moved. I had been making money from piano lessons, 2 different online freelance jobs and Maeve. In addition, we have recent additional bills - school loans, dental bill we're trying to pay off before they send it to collections, and things related to moving (our house had almost no window coverings, for example). That has made for a ridiculously tight money situation the past 2 1/2 months. There is nothing like money issues to wear you out FAST.

The Jetta is still broken. It has some sort of coolant system issue, but it could be a whole host of things and (see above) we can't afford to just start replacing stuff, hoping it'll fix the problem. So I've been without a car for literally three weeks now. Nick drives 25 minutes each way to work and could technically bring me the car and I could drive him back to work and then go pick him up again...but the thought of trying all that with two little kids wears me out too.

We still have not received our deposit back from our old house. We moved a week before the lease was up, and the landlord had in the lease that she didn't have to send the deposit back until 30 days after we moved out. So on the 30th, Nick called her and she sent him a text saying she'd sent it that day. Thanks for that. Now it's 2 days later and we still don't have it. Um, that's only 10-15 minutes from here. Is there any reason it should take more than 2 days? Not that I can think of.

In the midst of all this, we've moved out of the Maeve office to cut our costs, had company for a week straight, tried to celebrate birthdays for me, Nick, my dad, and my sister, and had Father's day. My kiddos are going through a stage where they're fighting a lot and I'm trying to work with them but my patience is just thin from everything else going on. Audrey has been getting hurt a lot while playing outside...can't figure out if she's just getting used to being outside, or if her blood sugar is low a lot (I almost have to force-feed this child protein 90% of the time), or what. Her knees are all skinned and bruised up though. I can't carry an almost 3 year old everywhere she goes!

And because our small group is on a summer schedule, I haven't seen any of you guys lately and I'm lonely and don't have a car to come see you. Sigh!

One thing I can say, I'm feeling really good. I'm already at 15 weeks and time is flying by. It's a world of difference being pregnant now that I'm off gluten. With my other two pregnancies I had to adjust to just having a stomach ache nonstop. At this point my energy is good, I'm not sick, and I'm doing well.

I know it will all get better eventually. But I wish there was a quick fix. I am really glad my kids have a big house and huge backyard to play in so they have stuff to do while I work through all of this, even if I do have to still break up fights every 10 minutes...

So there ya go. The honest truth.

Call...

Got this in an email from Homeschool Legal Defense. Google the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and read what it would do to our freedom to raise our children the way we believe is right. Scary stuff.

Call Now to Stop
UN Children’s Treaty

Dear HSLDA Members and Friends,

Monday in a Harlem middle school, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice told a group of 120 students that administration officials are actively discussing “when and how it might be possible to join” (that is, ratify) the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). As before, she also communicated what a disgrace it is that the U.S. would stand with only Somalia against such a widely accepted treaty.

This is the first direct public statement by the Obama administration that it will seek ratification of the UN CRC.

In my 30 years of political involvement, I have learned to recognize this as what is called a “trial balloon.” Like in World War I trench warfare, our opponents have “sent up a balloon” to see if it will draw fire. If things remain quiet, they will proceed with their plans to push for ratification of the CRC in the U.S. Senate. To discourage them from doing so, we need to make sure that our voices are heard with unmistakable clarity. We must let the Obama administration know that we oppose this anti-family, anti-American treaty.

Action

Here’s what we need you all to do:

1. Call the White House comments line at 202-456-1111. Tell them you heard the administration wants to ratify the CRC, and you strongly oppose this giving away of U.S. sovereignty to the UN. Also, keep in mind that this treaty gives the government jurisdiction to override any decision made by any parent if the government thinks that a better decision can be made—even if there is no proof of any harm.

2. Call the Ambassador Susan Rice’s office at the United Nations. Tell her that you want her to represent the United States to the world rather than trying to get the United States to go along with international law initiated by the UN. Her office number is 212-415-4000.

3. Contact your senators and urge them to oppose ratification of this treaty. (Find your senators’ contact information by using HSLDA’s Legislative Toolbox.) Ask them also to defeat it once and for all by cosponsoring SJRes 16—the Parental Rights Amendment.

It is very important that we speak up right now. Please call before you close this email!

Michael Farris
HSLDA Chairman

Testing...testing

I have never experienced so little desire to blog. Kinda funny. I'll give it a try today though. :)
Here's our update:

1. Still working on various projects related to moving. My parents have a ride-on lawnmower that they don't use anymore, and Nick's been working with my dad to try to get it working for two weeks. They have the problem narrowed down to the carburetor, so that's getting rebuilt when the repair guy has time to get to it in a couple weeks. Meanwhile, the grass (read:weeds) is growing very, very tall. I think we're going to hit it with the weed whacker here pretty quickly. But, we've got lots of wildflowers!

2. Our friends Marty and Casey are coming to stay with us next week, as they attend New Life's ENTER worship conference. We're so excited to see them. I used to play keys in Marty's worship band in Tulsa, many moons ago, and Nick did his degree internship with Marty.

3. Nick's birthday was yesterday. We both agreed this year was a bit of a downer in the birthday department. Money's been spent on moving, lots of projects to do, very little time to relax. But, we did get to go down to the reservoir swim beach (which was a little cold, but still fun), and then to see "UP" at the drive in theater. Our friends Rich and Bekah and their kids went with us, as well as my sister Amy and her boyfriend. Aside from the trouble we had finding the drive-in, it was really a fun day. And even getting lost was pretty entertaining. :)

4. I got a few plants and flowers this weekend. I'd LOVE to put in a vegetable garden, but it doesn't seem like it'll happen this year. I have lots of large containers though, so I planted one tomato, one zucchini, a row of bush beans in a long narrow flower pot, and I repotted several houseplants. My spider plant had sort of split itself into three plants, so I pulled them apart and repotted. I got a cheap hanging basket of petunias for the front entry. Now we just need to mow and it'll actually look like someone lives here!

5. Ran into my old piano teacher at Walmart last night. She's lived about 2 minutes from here for the past 5 years. Mildly intimidating, since there's no way I can compete for the limited piano lesson clientele out here. She's been teaching like 30 or 40 years or something and I think has a master's degree. But, she's also the one who told me you couldn't learn to play from chord charts and since that's mainly what I teach now, I feel somewhat redeemed. :)

6. We've decided to take a break from Maeve. We're pulling out of our office before the end of the month and doing remaining fittings at my house. We have two more projects for August weddings and then no more committments. There are various reasons for this, but I feel we've made a really good decision. I thought about being disappointed about it, but the more I've thought about it, none of it was wasted. We learned a ton, created some beautiful things, and we can always go back to it when we're ready. For right now, I'm honestly really looking forward to a peaceful, restful time when I can focus on my husband, kids, and home, and get ready to have a baby. Expect to see me much less frazzled, coming soon. :)

7. The Jetta is broken again. It's right around 100,000 miles, so it was due for issues, I suppose. It overheats when we drive fast and then cools down when we stop or drive slowly. It's weird. But it's kind of a problem since we have to drive 55 to get out to our house now. Between that and the lawnmower, I'm tired of mechanical things, just in general.

That's probably good enough for now. I've missed hearing from you guys! Leave me a comment, just to say hi, if you're up for it. :)

Need a pick me up?

Dr Laura wrote a book called "In Praise of Stay at Home Moms" and was on the Focus radio show on April 7 and 8. So encouraging to me today. (You'll have to search for the April 7 and 8 shows.)

Can't Touch This!

12 Weeks!

OK, I couldn't resist the title. Hopefully you won't be fighting that song in your head the rest of the day...

I've been mulling over this post for a few months now, and now that I have a (albeit tiny) baby belly, I figure I now have the authority to say it.

I often hear pregnant women ranting about how much they hate that people want to touch their belly. Here's the disclaimer for this post - don't miss it - it is kinda weird when complete strangers and men in general touch women's bellies. I gotta say that first. Don't be creepy, people.

That said, here's my thought: the type of people who will touch pregnant bellies are typically the type who do not understand social norms. I think you'll give me that. They don't "get" personal space. Therefore, I submit to you that the desire to touch pregnant bellies comes from an instinctual or possibly even spiritual place.

I think people want to touch because they want to be connected with new life.

Our society has become so disconnected from each other. Touching is taboo, though at the same time sexual images are pervasive. (How does that work, by the way?)

I'm rambling a bit, but the point I want to make is this: it should be okay for us to touch each other in healthy ways, especially between Christians. We need to be touched. You may have something in your past that makes you a little uncomfortable with being touched. That's okay. You still need it. We all do.

Now, it still weirds me out when men other than my husband touch my belly. But, if we women can't touch and bless each others' babies, who can? I think we should be (or work on becoming) open enough with each other that we can receive this kind of touch as a blessing and not as torture. I particularly feel this way when older Christian women want to touch me. Please, please do. I need your mothering. I need your encouragement. I want my children to be blessed by your years of walking with the Lord. Same goes for my close friends.

I don't want to go through life isolated because of the social norms of the world around me. So, feel free to hug me. And bless my growing baby through your touch. We all need it!

Hi

I'm predicting a return to blogging soon. Just as soon as the wedding season is over. ;) No, maybe before that. We'll see.

Thought this was interesting today. I have talked with so many people about skin rashes in their tiny babies. Probiotics aren't cheap, but they're more than worth the investment in your health and the health of your kids! Now, if I could just remember to take mine...

Quiet

I haven't felt much like blogging for a few weeks now. I'm processing lots of stuff related to moving, and doing lots of (rather boring) things related to moving. I've started posts and they don't say what I want them to. So, for now there's quiet. I kinda like it. Come have tea and I'll tell you stories. :)

See...it's made that way for a reason...

Found this interesting today.

What is it about being pregnant that makes me want to wear a paper bag, with another one to cover my head, until it's over? I determined this time I wasn't going to get like that, but a broken-out face, a poochy tummy, and the fact that none of my clothes fit but I'm too small for maternity stuff has weakened my resolve. Arg. Get over it, Sara....

What's your baby eating?

Here's an article I found interesting. Among other interesting tidbits, was one brand of "biscuits" for children that were found to contain 29 percent sugar! Others contained trans fat. The article also talks about the effects of soy formula on children - the more I learn about soy, the more I understand why my body hates it so much! Even organic jars of baby food are either way too expensive, or contain high levels of sodium (the brand I mostly fed Audrey has high sodium levels, apparently).

Hannah got all freshly prepared homemade baby food, but I got lax with Audrey's since they were just 16 1/2 months apart. Oh, that and the fact that Audrey pretty much refused solids until she was about 14 months. I had given up by then! :)

I think you always have to take things like this with a grain of salt (no pun intended!). We all have to do the best we can as mothers. But if you understand the choices you're making, you're likely to make BETTER choices than you would if you didn't know any better. No guilt, just doing the best we can with what we know, and the situation we have, right?

(Oh, and the liver & egg recipe at the end of the article? GROSS!!!) :)

Stream of Consciousness

-I think I dreamed about moving boxes last night. We don't have that much stuff, but all my thoughts are occupied with getting ready to move.
-We're getting cable again when we move, because with the local company, it's like $8 more than for just internet. I have mixed feelings about this.
-Oh man, I got the worst cold/flu I've had in a long time over the weekend. I'm feeling much better today. We were joking that it was swine flu. We've all had it now, so I half hope that's what it was. No fever, just incredibly congested and achy. Oscillo works great on it though (it's homeopathic medicine made from a duck egg, which all makes sense, if you understand homeopathics). I was doing silver and vit c and getting sicker and sicker...
-I love Twitter. I find the coolest things on there.
-Why do important errands for Maeve come up only on the days when neither Holly or I can do anything about them? Stressful!
-Went out to the new house again last night. Gotta get stuff to cover several windows. The windows in the house are HUGE, which is great for light, but expensive to cover, even with roller blinds. We'll have to do one room at a time and use blankets for a while, I think. Maybe I can find good deals on actual curtains? Or make them out of clearance sheets maybe?
-There is a hot tub in the backyard at the new house that currently doesn't work. We figured the landlord would pull it out rather than pay to fix it. But when we asked him about it, he said he's planning to fix it within the next couple months. (Not that I can use it anyway since I'm pregnant, but you all can! :) So...party at our house!
-I made sweet potato fries as part of our dinner last night. I haven't perfected the recipe, probably having something to do with the fact that I get impatient and leave pieces too big rather than cutting them down thin and all the same size. However, I could eat them till I'm sick anyway. SO good.
-Oh man, it's currently 77 degrees at my house. Every window that opens is open, and the pine trees smell incredible!
-OK, here's a story: I am very much due for a visit to the dentist. In the mail a couple of weeks ago, I got a postcard from a new dentist that is offering free whitening products for life if you go to them. The dentist I usually go to is excellent, albeit very expensive. Do I try this? Will I be sorry? Sure would be nice to have whiter teeth...
-Feeling a little lonesome this week, between being sick and trying to pack (thus the ridiculously long, random post). Moving boxes do not carry on conversations so well (not that I've tried!). Talk to me. :)

hi there

This has been a WEEK, let me tell ya.

But, since I collapsed on the couch when we got home at 5, and Nick is now sound asleep in the recliner, I'm giving a little update.

-Went to a college friend's seminary graduation today. His dad took the entire crowd to dinner at Ted's afterward. Everyone ordered steak, drinks and even some dessert. The tab was HUNDREDS of dollars. Our kids absolutely blew me away today. Not only did they sit through the two hour ceremony, but lunch at a nice restaurant too. Since when can they do that?

-I've been packing the house a little each day. Many of our shelves are empty, and we're down to the things we use every day. It's a weird feeling. I'm antsy to actually sign the lease and get the keys. It's been two years of this tiny living space - hard to believe it's almost over.

-We all finally got the cold that's been going around, along with achiness and plugged ears and cough. The girls are pretty much done with it, but I crashed yesterday and today. Hopefully the worst of it is over. I'm not even that congested, but my ears are plugged. Between that, morning sickness, first trimester tiredness, and packing, I've been occupied. 3 1/2 weeks till 1st trimester is over! I scheduled my first prenatal appt. Yay! And the other night I woke up on my back and my right leg was asleep. A little early for that, don't we think? Seriously, it's like my body remembers how to do this a little too well...

-My grandparents arrive from CA tomorrow night. My youngest sister Amy graduates from high school on Thursday. This means we have church and family stuff tomorrow, family in town Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, graduation ceremony stuff Thursday, her grad party Friday, and then moving Saturday. I think I probably need to put the stuff we use every day in suitcases, and then knock out the rest of the packing ASAP.

-Oh, while we were at the restaurant today, Nick took Hannah to the bathroom. A guy was walking in, and Hannah, with a huge arm gesture to show the way, said to him, "Help yourself!" Where do they get these things?

I suppose I should gather my snoring husband and go to bed. Hope your week was great!

Grocery Store Conversations

When I grocery shop, particularly if I'm blessed enough to be able to go on my own, I like to chat with the person at the register. It's always the same handful of people, and we all recognize each other. I shop at a regional family-owned health food store.

Anyway, last night, the bagger was sneezing all over the place and excusing himself, so I said to him, "It's that swine flu, ya know." He and the lady at the register cracked up laughing, and then he proceeded to tell me about how the media is all about benefiting the drug companies through their scare tactic reporting, and how we have all these weird strains of flu happening because of our overuse of antibiotics and chemical sanitizers, and how he was testing chicken eggs in the 70's and finding tetracycline in them because farmers were using antibiotics to increase yields, and how "that didn't really work for us, did it?"

Couldn't agree more, buddy...

Weekly Update

1. Wow. What a weekend. Our Maeve open house went well - we met lots of great people. I was a little concerned about being on my feet working for that long, but I survived, morning sickness and all. :) Then I was done, and pretty much stayed in bed the rest of the weekend. I wish I was kidding. My incredible husband worked his tail off this weekend.

2. The house we wanted is gone. I was disappointed for a little while, because I can't see how anything would be as good as that one. But I was reminded this weekend of what Moses told God when they were in the desert - if You don't go with us, do not take us up from here. If God's presence goes with us, and as long as my family is together, it doesn't really matter that much where we live. I'm choosing to trust.

3. Between Maeve, (which has kept me really really busy), looking for/at houses, keeping up with the kids, and morning sickness, I really don't have much else to say. My life is both VERY full and VERY simple right now, out of necessity.

Surely somebody else has something more interesting to say. Please share. :)

Swine Flu?

I've been impatiently awaiting Dr Mercola's take on the Swine flu, and he says what I expected. Take good care of yourself. You'll be fine. As long at the govenment doesn't force you to take poison. :)

If you crave...what you need is...

Kim posted this today. Love this kind of thing...

Weekly Update

1. Oh.My.Goodness. We had one of those nights last night. It all started when Nick and I decided to watch Casino Royale (James Bond) at 9:30 after the kids were in bed. We made popcorn. He fell asleep about 30 minutes in, but I of course had to finish the thing. So, they did the things they normally do in Bond movies, tortured and killed a couple of women, almost poisioned Bond to death, you know, the usual. The movie ended at midnight. Then, I got up to grab something to eat and Hannah started crying out in her sleep. Remember, I'm already trying not to be spooked. I went in her room, talked to her about her bad dream and was rubbing her back, when suddenly she sat straight up, screamed her head off, and flailed like she was terrified. I guess she hadn't really been awake? She then ended up in our bed where she kicked and played until probably 3 or 4 and finally asked to be put back in her own bed. The only good part of this story is that Audrey got out of bed at 8 and I put her back and told her to stay there, and they did. Until 10am!

Moral of the story: don't watch yucky movies, particularly until midnight. Not sure how that affected Hannah, but it sure didn't make my life easier. :)

2. Another first fitting tonight. Holly's text to me was, "Oh, man, this dress is pretty." I don't know that Holly has EVER said that about her own work... We also just consulted about this dress. Neat, huh? She's in her mom's 20's style wedding. :) Illustration by the talented Wendy Clum!

3. Pregnancy update: Still feeling good. Had a weird experience last week that turned out to be nothing and I'm very grateful. If I get too hungry I start feeling a little like gagging. Morning sickness set in at 6 weeks with my other two, and we have arrived at that point... It's gonna be great. :) Nick walked up behind me chewing on some chocolate the other night and I almost threw up on him. Heehee...

4. Keeping coming across scammers on Craig's List while I'm looking for houses. Email for info and they write back with these elaborate stories about how they got moved out of the area and now must have all your info before they tell you where the key to their empty house is so you can rent from them sight unseen. Um, yeah. So far I have restrained myself from writing back with some variation of, "Die scamming scumbag!" Ahem. Click delete. (Must be that Bond movie again. ;))

5. Maeve's open house is Saturday the 2nd. We have an event set up on Facebook. If you know anybody who needs a dress (I guess we've moved into formalwear also at this point) tell them to come! Feel free to stop by if you'd just like to say hi and see our office too. :)

6. I'm determined to start packing this week. The past two or three moves, I have left everything to the last minute (imagine that!) and have been packing the day of the move. This time, I'm packing and labeling everything, and then I'm taking the kids and going to my parents' for the day while the guys move stuff. So there! Now if we can just get into the house we love...

Alright. I suppose I should go do something more productive. :)