How I Spent My Birthday!

The girls and I got ready for the day after eating part of our breakfast with Kevin. Kj and I were going to Bible Study and L had to stay home with our friend, E's mama. Didn't really participate in the discussion as I had been ill and unable to finish my "homework". Got dropped off back at home where E, C, and L were waiting. Got a call from my ride, "I'm a horrible friend, is it your birthday today? Well, have a great time with your good friend (meaning C)."

Went out to eat at a new restaurant. Two moms, three kids 3 and under. Adventure!! Not much fun talking. That's ok, it was quite enjoyable, and I didn't have to prepare it. Bonus!

Naptime...sort of. I kept hearing L's, "mama, mama." I go in and Kj tells me L is signing potty. Good girl (l)! Wonderful helper (kj)! So, no naptime. Play, try not to play, play, try to read, play.

Kevin home and heading to church for supper. Again, no preparation for me!! And no clean-up! L now has goopy eyes, so took her out with me when my friend surprised me with a treat outing. Yummy bagel to share. Back to church to pick up the girls. Kevin stayed for worship team practice.

Some computer messaging fun with birthday well-wishers. Then sewing! Finished one hat, waiting for a part from my mom to finish the other. I'll post pictures another day. Kevin's now waiting and ready for my teeth brushing companionship. Good night! Good day!

Hats...

Found an adult hat pattern to match some that Roxanne made for the girls after L's birth. So, I decided to make a few for my aunt. The pattern (in case the link doesn't work someday) is a 7 1/4" circle (or two: one with cotton for the outside, one with flannel for next to the head is nice), and a rectangle 17 x 21 1/2". May have to make some for myself for the winter!! My mom is making some flower things...can't remember the name...it will come to me once I post this.

L and Her Random Illnesses

L had her second bout of hives today. Last time we thought maybe she had too many berries, this time ?? Not sure... reaction to my illness, she didn't eat anything different, she wore new pants... So, I changed the pants. The rash is nearly gone, but she still a bit warm. As I was laying the girls down for a nap, Kj says to me, "Mama, you can use a blanket for L during naptime. That will help her fever. Just pull up her pant legs and put the blanket on." How thoughtful. Love you girls.

Gratitude

• A wonderful husband who takes such good care of me when I am very ill.
• Two lovely daughters that are relaxing with their mama before temporary daycare begins again tomorrow, they were especially helpful by taking a two hour nap with me this morning!
• Left-over anti-nausea medicine from previous ER visit to keep me out of the ER two more times!
• Doctors that understand that if it has helped three times in the past nine months it may help in the future...thus giving me a prescription with refills.
• Doctors in general!!
  
• Good medical coverage!!
• A friend who knows how to check the furnace we thought was broken...no longer broke, and not needed with the change back to summer weather again.
• The thought of having my mom's homemade chicken soup the next time we visit her...at my request...when I couldn't think of eating anything else, that made me want to get to her house right away! Mmm, mmm good!
• Lovely friends - we dropped the kids off at their house for a doctor's appointment and they fed them supper and didn't mind that the doctor's visit took so much longer because I needed IV fluids. Kevin says as we were driving towards the doctor's office, "Everyone should have a R.'s family in their life!" I thought, "I hope we are that family to someone!"
  
• A flexible friend, willing to find alternate daycare for a temporarily weakened daycare lady.
• Windows open to hear the outdoor noises of fall.
• The bank statement in the mail today so I can toss the excess receipts we've had around here.
• Energy to do little bits of tidying.
• Our first homestudy visit tomorrow night. Glad they don't grade us on dust or toy dispersion or piles of laundry that will probably still be around.
• Health.
• Strength.
• Daily food.
• Music.
• Praise.
• Laughter.
• A little time for some girly movie watching.
• Girls chattering during naptime...probably because they slept this morning already...Are they thinking, "At least we have each other."
  

Just Bits

• On the adoption front: We are currently researching "other" countries (including our own) for adopting. We will probably let little M go as the adoptions are currently closed in SL and we're not sure about the process length etc. Democratic Republic of Congo is what we are doing most of our research about right now.
  

• Painting: Ah, I got to paint my way through last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It was quite enjoyable, as it was a change of pace for me. My mom was here to take care of the girls and paint shutters at naptime. We got a lot accomplished. On Thursday, I was realizing that I was a sporadic painter. I had to finish up a bit of priming before starting with the true house color. So, I was here and there and everywhere, and then as I started the true color, I did the same as I had to paint the dry spots. It kept me interested. :) Friday, I was a little more organized. Saturday, I lost my momentum as Kevin was back from his conference and was doing most of the painting. I'll have to get back to it in a couple weeks. It's my turn again. He finished up the peaks and now I have to do the second coat down below.

• Daycare: It's going well. The kids are getting along great and Kj takes good care of E when I am out of the room. They are good for entertaining each other and I am getting a taste of parenting 3. But...our time with E is almost over...it seems. Two weeks remaining. We'll see in October if I get more done or less done throughout the day!

• New season: You would think that with no kids in school one season would just run into the next with little to no change, besides the wardrobe! Well, tomorrow the girls and I start up BSF and Kevin starts clubs at church while I sit with the couch ladies and get our girlfriend time! I'm really looking forward to these things. Something really nice about our Wednesday church night is that they provide a meal. So, instead of Kevin rushing in the door, changing, gobbling down supper, packing the family in the car and heading to church. Kevin gets home. He hugs us all. He changes. We pack in the car. We drive a couple miles. We go through the line to get supper. We find friends to eat with and then we carry on with the nights activities. Marvelous idea!

• L: She is hilarious! My friend described her as a little mime. She runs around doing, doing, doing things and back and forth and all around, and so animated. She cracks herself up sometimes too. Which in turn cracks us up!! I asked my friend if Kj and Z were this funny at this age. She said yes! I don't remember. I LOVE THAT GIRL! We went out to eat tonight and she waves at everyone going by our table and when she was done eating we set her on the floor to look at a couple tables and she peaked at people and got them to wave back.
  

• Kj: She's a thinker. My friend didn't eat her crusts and Kj asked why not. My friend told her that she had very old bread and that it was all dry. So, Kj stores this new excuse in her mind for a later date. She kind of looked at me and pointed to her crust...No, I shake my head, that's not going to work for you! At one time she found out that my mom couldn't eat dairy products, because "her body didn't like it." She's tried that line before. So funny! This evening when I needed to hold E to give him a bottle or hold L because she was hungry, Kj requested that I hold her and snuggle her while we walked. She's getting too big for that, but I am glad that she can tell us what she needs. She is such a "big girl". I LOVE THIS GIRL!

• Bedtime: It's getting earlier and earlier. Kevin, a while ago, was falling asleep on the couch. He is now up and moving around, but I know he's still ready. Me too!! Another big day tomorrow. Better get the rest while we can! Take care all!!
  

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Oh, Brother!

Oh, my! I might have broken or misaligned something on my serger. I was just discovering the wonders of it this afternoon, making skirtleggings for Kj...I came across a "bump"...and uhoh...I am very sad. But, I just ordered a coupon through our recycling company. In a few weeks when the coupon comes in, I'll take it in if I am still concerned. I guess I'll be sewing with my sewing machine until then.

Sewing Streak...Hopefully!

Well, I have been enjoying looking over blogs and things with lots of sewing ideas, and now it is my time to DO IT! I have a sweater that my mom was given as a gift. The arms are way too tight for either of us. So, I took it home thinking that someday I would make it into a vest. Well, that day finally arrived...about a year after the original thought. Also, the sleeves, are going to make really good "leggers" for the girls when I get to deciding what length to fit them too. The other fun thing about this project is that I got to use my serger. Without any adjustments to settings I just serged to clean up the pieces. You know what!? No adjustments were needed. It serged perfectly.


I've also been working on a pile of flannel baby wipes. I meant to have them done before the rummage sale, but didn't so now they are meant for in between projects. Also, I am trying to record serger settings so that I don't have to keep testing them each time I get out a new fabric, so here are a couple:

This is something I was trying to make for C, but her birthday passed by, so I kind of set it aside...

This is the setting for the flannel wipes.

Adoption Money 3

Say, we got another grant, but we need your help. The grant is through a store called Ordinary Hero. We are now an "affiliate" of them. If you would like to purchase something from there store, you can give 40% of the cost to our adoption agency for our adoption. As you are checking out, you need to find our name in the affiliate drop down menu. If you are following this blog without knowing our name, please contact us by commenting on this post. I will send you the info you need, or just pick someone on the list to help them out!!



P.S. If we sold 250 shirts, it would pay for our homestudy!