New Beginnings

Yesterday started pretty rough for me, and yet a it turned out to be a great day for new beginnings. I had a terrible night after Bunco, which was adding to a string of really terrible nights and leaving me even more emotional than was previously 'normal'. I knew that I had alot to get done and was worried about getting it all done. Here are my new beginnings:

Yesterday morning I felt so lousy, emotional and just a mess so I asked LeRoy for a blessing. I fell back to sleep for about an hour and a half and when I woke up I just felt like I had a more clear head. I was able to get going, though rather slowly, and even though my body still seemed to be dragging around, my head was on top of things. I forget sometimes that the power of the priesthood can be so reassuring. Not that it took away the pain or the problems, but my spirit felt more calm as well as ready and willing to get through the next month. It really did feel like a new beginning.

I had an appointment with my midwife this afternoon (which I will get to next) but first I needed to go take care of some liens at the court house. I was kind of dreading it only because there is never parking close to the court house but I was glad to get the mess taken care of. We had put liens on a couple of homes for one contractor that just does not get us paid. He has even called and asked us to remove the liens before he sells the houses so that he can do other things with the money but we stood firm in keeping them. It finally feels so good (and a new beginning) to finally have all of his invoices paid in full - thanks to the title company and the liens. Now our policy with this contractor is that he must have 60% paid in cash before we do any work for him.

Then I had my midwife appointment. It was the first time with her that I really showed how lousy I felt and had been feeling for the last week. The thing that is so wonderful about her is that she is more like an angel than a midwife and gave me almost 2 full hours. I had a massage, which during that time really helped my body to relax and somewhat match my spirit (the new feeling of confidence and clarity) and we talked about the coming birth. By the time I left I was no longer limping from pain in my hips, I had new tips on how to take care of myself these last few weeks and I am excited to pull out the newborn and birth stuff to be ready. It is the first time in this pregnancy that I can actually imagine holding my new little one, being excited for and looking forward to his coming rather than just seeing all the pain, change and family stuff going on around me and just hoping that I can handle adding him to the chaos. Definitely a new beginning.

Last night we had YW New Beginnings for the ward we are currently in. We went to New Beginnings last month with the ward we will be moving into. The night was nice but also kind of an eye opener to see that Erika really is ready to move to the new YW group (which she has been attending mutual with for the last 6 weeks). I am so thankful for that! It isn't that this ward is bad, it just really struggles and some of Erika's past year problems were coming directly from things going on in YW. Even some of the leaders (2 of whom are in my bunco group) have expressed concern for the problems going on. Though it was a fun night with great food and a couple of touching moments, it was good to see that we really are ready for the new beginning coming with a new ward and also to recognize the new beginnings that Erika seems to be making as she has been making better choices than in the past. She really seemed to shine last night and we haven't seen that in a few months.

This morning (after a better night sleep than I have had in quite a while) I decided to ignore the usual routine (empty dishwasher, tidy up around the house, plan dinner, shower) and went for a couple of things that I want to get done before the baby comes. So I started with my bedroom (and with Nathan having his own sponge and rag he has been helpful). I have cleaned the fan which still had last fall's dust on it, washed ALL of the bedding and curtains, washed the walls that had been collecting dust and hand prints since we moved in here, cleaned the blinds and as soon as I get the gumption to go to the store and get a new vacuum filter I will vacuum the floor up with the shop vac. It really needs a new filter after Levi's little episode with fishy water on the floor. The room smells so nice now - completely dust free - because of a new cleaner that I am trying. I really can't stand the smell of most cleaners, especially now, so I found one (Simple Green) that leaves a clean smell without a bunch of flowery, perfumey, chemical smells behind. Ahhhh, a clean bedroom for the birth and a major new beginning! Of course I will still need to wash the bedding and vacuum up again before he comes but the major cleaning part is done - at least for that room.

Now that I've had a little break at the computer (where else, the office chair doesn't hurt my hips) I am going to go back to tackling projects. After all it is only 11:00 - I have a whole day ahead of me and I'm not even dreading it.

**I just read through this again and realized that I may have over-used the whole 'new beginnings' idea, or at least the phrase . . . sorry!

Bunco Night

So what does a gal do when she has caught up everything in the office, run her kids to all the appropriate places on time, made dinner, done 3 loads of laundry and is suffering from the pains of pregnancy?

Go to Bunco!!!

Bunco was exactly what I needed last night. By early afternoon I was having so many contractions that my work was constantly interrupted so that I could pause and breath. I had already told the family that no matter what else was going on I was going to Bunco and it was so worth it!

Sarah, our hostest this month, is the one who started Bunco nearly 3 years ago. She is one to go overboard a little but we all love it! We have such a variety of bunco nights because it depends on what the hostest wants to do for dinner and prizes. We have had pizza, tacos, pancakes (we all went in our jammies to that one), salads, elegant dinners and next month we are doing pot luck. Last night we had a wonderful meal of pork roast, deliciously herbed red potatoes and carrots, oh, so yummy asparagus, herb rolls, and spinach salad. For dessert we had creme brulee which we each got to 'torch' ourselves to make the perfect sugar/carmel topping.

The prizes were wonderful, creating a little more enthusiasm in the winning effort and each of us walked away with our own special prize. I knew Sarah had wanted to do something like this for a while now but I was totally unaware as we were each given our own personalized gift to unwrap.

Underneath it says "Rexburg Bunco Babes Rule!"

We were each given a t-shirt that Sarah had designed and on the back was our stripper name. Ok, calm down! We are not one of those kind of bunco groups. A while back Sarah was telling us about her husband and his friend and how they came up a way to figure out your stripper name. You take your childhood pets name and your mother's maiden name and you get your stripper name. As you can see, mine is Mama Hawkins. Others in our group have some really fun ones. It's kind of the way that we welcome in a new member of the group, we find out her stripper name. Can you think of a better way to make someone feel like one of the gang?

Oh yea, I also won the 'fuzzy die' prize and came home with the cookbook "101 Things To Do With a Slow Cooker". I love using my slow cooker so this is perfect!

The Week's Leftovers

There have been so many things that were not posted during the last week that I am going to take a bit to catch up before the next week takes off with me. (Too late . . . it's already noon on Monday!) **Warning - this is more for me to get typed up than for anyone to enjoy . . . not meant for storyreading pleasure, just information.**

Thursday: Derek had a science project due which he had been working on with his assigned partner (who also happens to be his best friend). They had to present it at the evening science fair held at the school with a demonstration of their project. The boys did a great job but were a little disappointed with the final grade they were given. (B-). LeRoy and I were also a little disappointed with the grade but not because of the boys or their efforts. Those who received A's were rare and it looked like there was alot of parent involvement on those "A" projects, even down to the wording on the posters. We were proud of the boys for doing all the research, building, poster and typing work as well as hunting Cal-Ranch, BMC West and Ace Hardware all by themselves to find the right part to connect the bottles. We made sure that they knew that we thought they both deserved an A. Way to go Boys!


Tuesday and Thursday: Dentists appointments - aghhh. I always dread the news, and the bills, that come from these appointments. However, I am glad to report that Levi and Erika are cavity free. Justin has 2 extremely small cavities that they won't even have to numb him for. Derek (what a mess!) has to have 2 teeth pulled (the permanent ones are coming in clear up in his gums and the baby teeth aren't even loose) and has 2 rather large cavities. He has had such a bad time with his teeth and of course is the one to cry every single time he is in the chair, before they even start, and even for a cleaning.

*Added this afternoon: Justin did great at his dentist appointment today. I'm kind of a softy momma when it comes to the dentist (because I detest going myself) so Justin was awarded the usual I-did-a-great-job-at-the-dentist-today Jamba treat. They numbed him after all because the cavities were so close to the gums so his poor little cheek looked all swollen.

Friday: We had a ward dinner and cake auction to raise money for the scouts. This is a big event every year in this ward and is usually very successful. Last year they raised $1440 just from the cake auction and people go all out to do these fancy cakes as well as each of the scouts making a cake. Derek and Justin worked together to make a campfire cake (which I didn't get a picture of because we were running a little late), I made a chocolate trifle, and LeRoy made a cookies and cream cake. The boys were so excited when their cake went for $30! Most of the scout cakes go for at least $25, regardless of the cake, because the ward is good to make each boy feel special. Total made that night was $930.

Saturday: This was a big scout night for Levi and Derek. Levi went snowboarding and Derek did skiing. I now have 2 boys who are very sympathetic to my constant soreness and waddling. It was funny to see the boys pass the sacrament yesterday because several of them were walking a little tender. Levi said that at first he couldn't quite see the thrill of snowboarding because he kept "biffin' it" but once he got the hang of it he said it was quite a rush flying down the mountain. Derek really didn't like it at all at first and kept saying he wanted to quit but his leader kept convincing him to try again. By the end of the evening he made it down the hill once without falling down, almost knocking another guy over, and called it good. I'm not sure he will ever go again but for scouts they try almost anything once.

Sunday deserves it's own post just for drama quality but I'll just include it here. After such a lousy, swollen night I determined that I was going to be positive and pulled out my Bradley Method book to relax for a bit before church at 11. LeRoy has been coming home early from meetings to help get kids ready so I was able to have a little quiet time in the rocker just focusing on breathing and relaxing. All that relaxation was noisily interrupted by a loud crashing sound which made me jump! As LeRoy ran downstairs, following the noise, to see what had happened we realized that the ice had finally fallen off the roof and had managed to shatter the 4x4 window in the boys room leaving a 1 1/2 foot thick huge chunk of ice block in the boys room. And that doesn't say anything for all the shattered glass laying around Derek's bed, the floor and even their entire drawer full of legos. (Does anyone have any hints on how to separate splinters of glass from legos?)

Before the ice fell.

After the ice fell.

We managed to get most of it cleaned up and covered the window and still managed to make it to church on time. However, it was anything but the relaxing event that I was hoping for. Nathan was so upset because his Daddy time before church was taken up with the cleanup of the window. I felt mauled by the time sacrament meeting was over and just really could not deal with much more at that point. I decided that it is not worth it to try and get Nathan to go to this nursery (which has been a screaming, crying, failure thus far) just to have his whole world change in 4 weeks with a new baby, 6 weeks with a move and new home and then a new ward. I took him home, put him down for a nap, cried a bit trying to avoid the guilt feelings of a failing mother, made lunch and sat down to try to relax again.

After church and lunch LeRoy, Erika and I went out to look at the new house because we had been told that most of the painting was finished. After a walkthru - still not believing that we will be living there soon - we left. Or we tried to. LeRoy misjudged the drive path that has been packed down during construction and we ended up stuck - very stuck! He tried several different ways to get us out but we ended up just waiting for everyone in our new subdivision to get out of church at 4:00 (a 20 minute wait). It was one of the few moments that LeRoy didn't have his cell phone with him or we would have just had Levi drive the truck out. Our soon to be neighbor was great to pull us out. Erika and I were glad we had already met the family for a first impression and we felt fine about it but LeRoy was quite embarrassed.

Monday: Today I started out just trying to get going after a terrible night, went visiting teaching which seemed to fall under "no good deed goes unpunished", I took Justin to the dentist, arranged for the boys window to be measured and replaced, made dinner, and completely ditched FHE. Luckily, LeRoy made plans with the kids for FHE and they all popped popcorn and watched Mobsters and Mormons for a little family time. I took a bath and cried. Now I am going to try to get some sleep and start again tomorrow.

Erika's Dance Weekend

This weekend was the Gem State Ballroom Classic Competition. This is the 2 day event that is the most fun for all the kids on the dance teams and of course is Erika's favorite. They all seem to forget that they are competing because they are so busy making friends and 'hanging out' with kids from last year. They are also very encouraging to each other. I was so impressed when Erika, along with 2 of the other girls from the team, went over to congratulate the champions after it was announced. As Erika fell into bed Saturday night (around midnight) she had a sore throat from all the yelling and cheering.

I'm Tho Thwollen

I am so swollen that I feel like I am talking with a lisp! My feet, hands, face, lips! I have trouble holding things with my water logged fingers that can't bend that easily. My feet are just gross and they hurt when I walk. My face . . . ughhh. I don't like smiling because my eyes disappear into the puffiness of eyelids and cheeks. I can't even wear my contacts right now because they feel like they will pop out every time I smile. And I am still trying to smile once in a while. Kara is posting these really cute pregnant picture and looks so good. Why did I inherit all of Grandma's yucky pregnancy problems??

These don't look so bad other than the sock ring around my ankle.

This is more what they really look like . . . and this is NOT normal for me!

Deep sigh . . . 4 more long, drawn out, swollen weeks

I'm just wondering how I could volunteer for this 6 times! Someone please remind me that this is all worth it. I need to refocus and tomorrow is Sunday, the worst day of my pregnant week!

Levi: the driving musician

Levi has been bugging me for almost 2 weeks to get his pictures up. I was beginning to wonder who's blog this is?! I did have intentions of posting his latest big news so after much teenage persuasion (begging, bugging, nagging, whining) my intentions are becoming actions.

Levi finished drivers ed the end of January and has his permit. This means it is now up to his parents (ok - mostly me) to help him get his 60 hours of drive time in the next 6 months so that he can get his license. I really am comfortable with him driving, more comfortable at times than with his dad driving :S However, Rexburg has been an icy mess since he got his permit and most days I don't know if I trust myself, let alone the 5000+ college students, and one teenage permit driver driving around town. I did give in and let him drive out to our new house which is in the country and he did great. Then he drove a good part of the way to Utah for the shower and I was impressed with his willingness to ask questions and his concentration. He did find though that driving is "BORING" when you have 5 hours to go. He gave in part way and had me finish out the trip so that he could read.

Levi's other news is that he now has a Warlock - not just any electric guitar, but a Warlock! It took him a while to convince us that he should get it but after his willingness to bring up, and keep up, his grades and funding it himself without using his savings he finally ordered it. And it was on backorder. Which of course is my fault for putting it off so long. He now has it, the amp and oodles of music to work with but the coffin case (that's really what it is called) is still on backorder. He has been great to follow the rules (grades, quiet time using the headphones, and still practicing the viola). I have actually been quite impressed with his skills on it. It sounds like real music!

So there Levi, it's posted!!

Bloggy Bloggy

I am so new to this blog stuff that I really don't know all the proper etiquette:

• How often is proper to post?
• Is it ok to comment on others posts if they don't know me?
• Am I just spying on people by reading and really enjoying their blogs?
• Am I allowed to post about a really trying, crappy day?
• How personal should I be with my own posts?

So I've just been going at it at my own pace which is currently giving me plenty of time at the computer. I know things will change once this baby comes (32 days!):

• I will actually be able to bend over without excruciating pain in my low back and tailbone to clean up the floors - which really deserve much more attention than I can give
• I would have the energy to run errands that I now just pack into one trip one day a week so that the additional pain is only 1 day a week
• Nathan likes to sit next to me and look at pictures as I peruse Blogland and then he just plays with magnets on the file cabinet or wanders over to watch Elmo
• I'm at the computer a good part of the day anyway doing office stuff so posting has become a quick thing for me
• Duh - I will have a baby! I know I won't be able to be here as much in the future

And I'm sure I will be a little absent as we move into our new house. That comment alone shouldn't require any additional 'bulleted' thoughts.

The only thing that I've really had to overcome in my newfound blogging hobby (borderline addiction right now) is that I really don't write well. Ok, so Miss Barnes told me as a senior that I write good papers. It was all just middle-of-the-night-got-to-get-this-paper-done-b.s. So I fooled my teachers all through school but really I don't write well - I write the way I think. I guarantee you that my thoughts do not follow the proper English rules of sentence structure, punctuation or phraseology (is that really a word?). Oh, and I also doubt my own spelling most of the time and having the spellcheck on blogger not working leaves me a little uncomfortable with the words that I choose to use for risk of looking blond in my spelling - and I tend to use words that I'm not sure are even real words :D

With all that said - I was sent some "Bloggy Love" from Ally and she gave me an award. I'm am so honored to get this from Ally because I so admire her! She writes in a way that is believable, fun, real, touching and well - readable. Thanks Ally!

The rules for being A Roar For Powerful Words recipient are that I share 3 writing tips and pass the award on to 3 more bloggers "worthy of recognition and esteem."

With my previous confession of my lack of writing skill I struggle to come up with 3 writing tips to share and I'm sure any of my thoughts have already been passed around Blogland but here is what comes to mind:

1. Post something, it doesn't have to be amazing. I know I am not alone when I claim that nothing exciting ever happens in my life and what is there that someone else would even care to read about our family but hey - ordinary life is what we all like reading about. There are enough unreal, impossible standards out there grasping for our attention that it is comforting to read about real people (women), leading real lives.

2. Don't be afraid to comment on others posts. Not really a writing tip but come on, we all like getting mail. It's like getting little post cards throughout the day.

3. Keep it simple. Did you just roll your eyes? I know, I have yet to do a short post. That's not what I mean. Don't overwork yourself trying to dress up a post. If you only have a couple of minutes use it but don't stress about the perfect posts.

I now pass this award to 3 bloggers that inspire my writing tips:

• Kara at Seeking Balance is great to post regularly. Some days she just posts a picture and it gets so many positive comments!
• Laurie at My Priceless Treasures started leaving comments on my blog and through e-mail, etc we have found that we have quite a bit in common. I look forward to meeting her! She has already received this award, and for very good reason! I'm going to give it to her anyway :D
• Jill at Thou Shalt Not Whine has a simple format, posts mostly just text and yet captivates me. I've been spying on her blog and have not followed suggestion #2 until today to actually leave a comment. (Sorry Jill)

So, your assignment - should you choose to accept it - is to check out these fun bloggers!

I have to hurry and get kids to the dentist. Where did the time go? Is naptime over already?

My Little Hero

I have to say that the last 2 days and nights have been a couple of the worst for me so far this pregnancy. During most of the night I had a good cry (what an oxymoron!) which has left my nose looking like a slightly overheated marshmallow, one of the large ones, and my eyes are just a red puffy mess. Crying really doesn't help but I can't help but cry! I have pretty much been celebrating in my own pity party - and a big one it has been. Then Nathan woke up this morning.

He actually woke up during the night and I rocked him for a few minutes, gave him a drink and he asked for his pillow and bed so I put him back to bed. Since I got back from Utah Sunday night he has been a little whiny and would say "ouwie, ouwie, ouwie" every once in a while but when I asked him what hurt he would shrug his shoulders, always with his hands behind his back, and would go on playing after a hug and kiss. I assumed he was a little constipated because his diapers weren't normal and I had no idea what he had eaten over the weekend while I was gone. So I wasn't too surprised when he woke up during the night but he seemed to go back to bed rather quickly.

Then this morning he slept in until almost 10:00 (8 being normal) and when I went in to get him he was standing in his bed with his head tipped to one side, rubbing the side of his head and saying "ear". I looked and sure enough he had dried bloody puss all over the side of his head and on his sheet. I have been through this enough with Derek to know that his ear had ruptured some time during the night. How did I miss the signs of an ear infection?? I feel aweful that I have been so self-absorbed in my own pity party to even notice that he was hurting. However, to my credit, he is so much like Derek in just enduring pain and playing cheerfully that it is just too late by the time I really know there is a problem. So let me photographically show you what this little guy has done today while enduring an ear infection. Would you suspect a kid in pain?

I was in the kitchen making some lunch and Nathan kept pointing to the food closet and saying "aa-dorn, aa-dorn". I can understand most of what he wants but this one had me confused and his pointing to all of the boxes of crackers and cereal wasn't sending the right message. In frustration he went and got a mixing bowl out of the cupboard, almost crying as he kept saying "aa-dorn, aa-dorn". I'm guessing like crazy, mostly to avoid all the snot that comes with crying, and trying to figure out what he wants. He then pushes a chair over to the microwave and opens it and in a forceful, frustrated voice announces "AA-DORN". "Do you want popcorn?" I asked. With a 'finally mom' sigh and grin he says "uh-huh". When I told this to Erika later today she told me that they had had kettle corn a couple of times over the weekend. Who am I to know, I'm just the mom.

After his nap I was once again in the kitchen (why does it feel like I am always in the kitchen?) when he opened up the silverware drawer and peeking his little eyes just slightly over the top of the drawer kept saying "sing, sing". Well this one wasn't too hard to figure out because he has a habit of taking the whisk and performing for us. Yup, my mommy radar was right and he went through the house singing very loud for me. I think he caught on to American Idol a little to strongly last night. He was rather vocal and had enthusiastic facial expressions to go along with it.

When I pulled off his pants to get him ready for bed I was shocked to find his legs covered in marker. Not just one color but three! The thing that amazes me is that his legs were covered but he only had a couple of blue marks on his pants, which were denim, and it hardly showed. He must have been in Derek's room (he was using the markers for a school assignment) and managed to pull up his pant legs to color his legs and then went on with the day, non of us any wiser to his artwork.

Really, would you suspect this is a kid with an ear infection? It really didn't slow him down any - I'm the one getting to slow to keep up with him. I only wish I could keep trudging through my pain with even an ounce of the joy and curiosity that Nathan puts into his sick days. He really is a mini-hero for me.

This is a little old (if last November is old) but I wanted to share it anyway. This is a typical family home evening activity for us. Try having a spiritual lesson with this entertainer in the house. Nathan and I watched it several times today - which was a much more positive activity than wallowing in my own pity.

Baby Shower

I have had such a fun time during the last couple of weeks doing a baby shower for Kara! LeRoy looked at the prep work and projects involved as just busy work and me doing to much. My view of all of it was that I was doing something that kept me focused outside of myself and beyond impending due dates (for house and baby). It has also given me something to plan and create beyond my basic mothering duties. I have wanted to post pictures of things for the shower but resisted knowing that Kara would be seeing it and I wanted to surprise her. So now I am excited to show a few things that have given me so much satisfaction in the thinking up, creating and sharing processes.

First of all, I did the invitations. Most of you received one so I won't worry about sharing a picture, but I just want to say that I love doing that kind of a project. The papers were all spread out, cut and in an assembly line and I truly relish in the time that it takes to go from an assembly line to a finished pile of envelopes ready to send out. It may seem like just work to some but I love it! It's something that the kids can't mess up before I even get it finished.

Next project was the cake. Not edible, or I would not have been able to make it 2 weeks in advance. This one took me a little while to put together because I had a picture in my head but actually getting that picture to finished project is a little bit of a struggle working only with the limited supplies that Rexburg has to offer. There is only 1 craft store in town, they are expensive and they really don't have much compared to the larger stores in Idaho Falls or Utah. It did come together though and Erika and I had a giggling bonding moment getting all those diapers to fit into 1 rubberband for each level of the cake. If anyone else needs a diaper cake let us know - we are experts at the whole rubberbanded diaper thing now!

A full package of size 1 diapers (completely usable), ribbon, a large sunflower, and a baby tiger tops it off.

Back in November I saw a 'daddy diaper dootie bag' online and really liked the idea as something to give to Baddaddy as a shower gift but once again the picture of what I wanted was nothing like what I was finding online. They all looked a little cheesey and even cheap and didn't seem to fit Baddaddy. So what does a girl do? Make one herself! (I was feeling a little Celia Garth moment there :) It took some very creative energy to find the right fabric, ribbon and backing but wa-laa - it came to fruition! I am too embarassed to say what I finally used because the finished product would never show it but it was so fun to use something completely created for another use and come up with my own creative version of the before said cheap items. Filling it was fun as well: a little comedy, a little necessity and alot of fun!

Baddaddy is now set with a mask, gloves, wipes and germ-x for sanity, lotion and diaper ointment to protect baby's skin, diapers and a clean onesie to change baby into, and a pacifier and toy to help calm baby either before, during or after the changing process.

The food was so much fun for me to plan and prepare! I debated between a few recipes for the menu. I wanted something that was new to Kara and I wanted to try a couple of new recipes but I wanted it simple knowing that I would be 5 weeks from my due date. I settled on vegetable cheese soup and crackers, tortilla rollups, a fruit bowl, a chocolate trifle and a raspberry trifle. The drink was simple water with strawberries and cucumbers in it. I hope everyone enjoyed eating it as much as I enjoyed making it. I tried to figure out why I love making a full luncheon for a group of friends yet I despise the question "what's for dinner?" from my kids. I think the answer comes in all the compliments and gratitude that come from the group of friends compared to the complaining or wrinkled noses that come from my kids.

For our baby shower game it seemed only fitting that we should play Baby Bunko. Why? Because at Kara's bridal shower we played Bride Bunko. So why the fettish with bunco you might ask. Well, I am part of a bunco group that meets once a month (about 16 ladies) and we have an evening of dinner, game, and great conversation. It was my hope that Baby Bunko would provide a fun game that was a little original and new to everyone and would create a similar feeling that I crave when waiting for bunco night with the gals. My aunts who attended the shower informed me that they would prefer the games that they can compare written answers on but they, along with everyone else, seemed to still enjoy it while playing.

Created with pictures of my sons Justin and Nathan as well as my nephew Korben. "Naptime" fuzzy pillow was tossed around plenty during this particular game of Baby Bunko.

The baby shower also provided a final trip before my baby comes. I have been known on many occasions to run away to Kara's for a brief perspective boost and to return home ready to face motherhood. This was another much needed opportunity to take a deep breath before facing the final month before all the major changes come and I did find that brief relief and a jolt of renewed enthusiasm for the weeks to come.

As a final note to the baby shower . . . I also received a gift. I adored it and then, against my will to keep it forever, I ate it! Kara made a beautiful 'thank you' bouquet of fruit for me. I have never received flowers that I wanted to keep as much as I wished I could preserve this bouquet. I had been on the phone with her a few days prior and she was being very secretive about what she was making and all I could hear in the background was running water. I never imagined something so fun and for it to fit my personality so well. Thanks Kara! It is perfect!

Strawberries, green and red grapes, pineapple cut into hearts. I love it!!

As if that wasn't enough she also gave me this great picture which will match perfect with the new quilt I just got for our bed. It will look great in our new bedroom!

Derek's Totem Pole

Derek had an assigment for one of his classes (6th grade) to do a totem pole representing his family. I didn't help him on any of this, I only got to see the finished project. He used 2 paper towel tubes, taped them together, gathered the pictures, pasted them onto his 'pole' and had a family totem pole. He also had to provide a description of why he chose each animal for each person in the family. I couldn't believe how appropriate each animal seemed (especially mine, wahahaha). So here are the pictures he used and his descriptions. Sorry, I didn't get a picture of the finished project.

Dad - head of the family

Mom - more quiet, pretty

Levi - big, strong, looks cool, awesome

Erika - good at getting out of trouble, sneaky

Derek - quiet and observant, tall and gangly

Justin - rolls up into a ball and rolls all over, he is small

Nathan - small, has big cheeks, cute