66 years

66 Years.

In some countries that is longer than the life expectancy. Jeff's Grandma passed away last week and yesterday was the funeral. I wasn't able to go (too far away for me to travel this late in pregnancy) but he went and got home last night.

Grandma and Grandpa had been married for 66 years.

They ran away together and got married when she was 17 and he was 21. They had 5 children together, 5 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren... with number 13 due to arrive soon (that would be baby J).

She was a thoroughly modern woman, as she liked to call herself, long before anyone was modern. This self-dubbed modernity stemmed from the simple fact that she couldn't cook at all... never made anything that didn't start out life in a can. She was famous (infamous?) for messing up a green bean casserole by putting chow mein noodles on it instead of those crunchy onion rings. By the time I joined the family, it was tradition to have green bean casserole with chow mein noodles, on purpose, and she would gleefully recount the story of exactly how that had happened. However, there was far more to her than her lack of cooking ability. She was an artist, accomplished in both photography and drawing/cartooning, and a published author with at least one full length novel published (and many more manuscripts), and widely published in various magazines as diverse as children's stories and antique guides.

Speaking of my joining the family, Grandma actually proposed to me before Jeff did. The first time I met all that side of his family was for a 4th of July party at their home (even back then Grandma had a hard time getting around so all functions had to be held on her turf). She called me in for an audience, grilled me pretty good, then pronounced my name to be beautiful... except that last name is a mouthful and I should probably go ahead and change it... what did I think of the last name of Luck? When was I going to marry her doted upon grandson? I replied that while I didn't have a problem with this suggestion, I was going to go ahead and wait until he asked me. I'm not sure when she got to him, but she must have gotten the message across since he did ask me shortly thereafter.

The last time the kids and I saw Grandma was this spring at a party. She was very ill by this time and couldn't get around at all. We had the party in a small house on the property and went up to the big house to visit with her, a few at a time. I took the kids up to see her and after Jeff took them back down to the other house for dinner, I sat with her for a while. We talked about everything...and what stays in my mind is how she wouldn't let me leave. I would mention that I needed to go down and fix a plate and she never said not to go, but would simply reach out and take my hand and keep on talking. This went on for over an hour, we talked and she would just keep an eye on me...if I so much as shifted next to her, she would reach out and take my hand.

I'm so glad now that she did.

This summer she did really go downhill fast and Jeff took the time to go see her, but she was really too ill to take the kids so I didn't get to see her again.

66 years together. Grandpa is lost, his whole adult life has been centered around her, especially the last few years with her declining health--and her stubborn streak about who exactly was allowed to come and help care for her.

A lifetime together, and even though you know it is coming to an end soon... when it does, it's still a shock. Realistically, Jeff and I got married too late to have 66 years, you kind of have to elope as children to pull that one off and we were both staid and pushing 30 when we got married (and honestly Grandma, he did ask me as soon as he could and we got married in an utterly indecent rush after that!), but the life together, the devotion for each other...that we can strive for.

One thing Grandma showed me during that last visit was a poem. I could tell that it was a statement and a reply type dialogue, but what I couldn't tell until she told me, is that she wrote some stanzas and Grandpa wrote the others. They were so in tune... their life was such poetry, that their words and thoughts flowed in sync as if from the same mind.

We miss you Grandma.

ramblings (yes, again)

I know, I know, I hesitate to guess how many posts in the past year or two are called "ramblings" but hey, it's my blog.

so, yes, I'm still pregnant. I should have learned my lesson with Joy and just never even announced I was expecting.. it sure did cut back on the end of pregnancy comments. So yes, I'm miserable, yes I still have a few weeks to go, no we don't know what it is (well, we are pretty sure it's a baby).

Today was our MOPS registration party. Of course it's totally possible to do MOPS registration without a mid-summer party, but we pretty much are deep into withdrawal by this time of summer and really need to have a get-together. We had a great turn out and it looks like we have a number of new mommies joining us, some from our church and some from other places. The theme this year is "Adventures in Motherhood" so it's kind of like a theme park/carnival type theme. In keeping with this, the event today was kind of carnival theme. They (it sounds so weird to say they... for the past three years I've had some kind of official role in MOPS and this year I'm sitting out) hired a bunch of youth group kids that work in the clown ministry to do balloons, face painting, play games, and had little booths with popcorn, snow cones, and candy.

Interesting tidbit, I met a lady who was registering for the first time and we got to talking about kids and school and she is homeschooling this year for the first time. She was saying that she was still confused about filing her NOI (notice of intent) so I got her email addy to send her a link to one of our state homeschool associations that has sample letters. When she wrote it for me, it looked very familiar... her name with the numbers 81900... mine is the same, thing, 8192000, so I asked her if those numbers were meaningful and sure enough, they are her anniversary-- just like me. So that was cool. I have another friend at church with the same anniversary too.

Note: large WHINE ahead!
Now... you all know that I have laid down the law concerning any more sickness in this house, right? it has simply gotten out of hand. first Jeff, then Jeff some more, then Jessi...
Well, dontcha know that Jeff just went and got his toenail cut out last week? Yeppers. I thought the appointment was for a consult with the podiatrist. Nope. I took him in (with all the kids of course, since I found out about it the night before and didnt' have time for a babysitter) and they cut half of it out right then and there. I KNOW he has been suffering with ingrown toenails for 6 months. NO I don't want him to hurt, but by george, I am the one who is hobbling around now...having us both shuffling like senior citizens is just not good!
Now... I do have to say that he is doing GREAT, very little pain at all. Which is good, because he had his follow up with the surgeon today and UGH UGH UGH UGH NOOOOOOOOO WHINE GROAN OWEEEEEEEEE, sure enough he says that he has to go BACK in AGAIN and work on the incisions. On August 14th. Ok ladies and gentlemen, I fully plan on having a baby right about then, if not before! It's not the procedure so much as the recovery I dread. the last time they did this, Jeff was in MORE pain than he had been from the first time (as far as recovery goes that is). I need him in one piece. Seriously, I know that if it has to be done then it has to be done, but come ON!!! Do I eventually get dibs on laying around and getting waited on? If so, when pray tell?

Whine over, it's safe to start reading again.

I have to brag on the kids. I have been feeling really crummy and just not up to much at all, the kids have totally stepped up, at least as much as a 5 and 6 year old can. Obviously they aren't doing cooking and cleaning, but as far as taking care of Joy/keeping her entertained, they have done great, Jessi especially. Joey has stepped up with chores too, not only with his part of the dishes but helping with laundry too so I don't have to carry anything, and even loading the washer and dryer. In fact, today I got a surprise, I knew we had put in a load this morning and then this afternoon went back to switch them out and he had already moved the wet clothes from the washer to the dryer and started refilling the washer from the dirty bin. We have front loaders so he can't reach the controls and I wouldn't want him messing with the detergent anyway, but I was so pleased! I never told him to do the switchout, he just went and did it. Sorry moms of girls, he already has two girls picked out to marry and is quite concerned about which one he will actually choose.

Well, I had another cute story to share but 2 out of 3 kids are asking to go to bed. I probably should take them up on that.

Parenting help?!?

Jessi (our 5 year old daughter) is very sensitive, I'm sure I've mentioned that. It's a good thing and a bad thing... she is very tender hearted spiritually, but also very volatile and quick to fly off the handle. We have been working on this trait through discipline, training, Bible memory and other ways, and really she has improved.
This morning, I printed off some coloring sheets for Joy (age 2.5) and Jessi wanted some too, Joy asked me if I would make Jessi a coloring paper and I said sure and I *assumed that Jessi was behind me and heard me say this. So I turn around to the computer and start to pull up the files so Jessi can choose a picture... I hear loud paper crumpling and Joy start crying. Jessi had snatched Joy's coloring sheet out of her hand and balled it up and ruined it!
I was aghast and asked her what on earth she had just done!? She said that Joy wouldn't give her the picture that she wanted, so she ruined it. Honestly, I was too mad to deal with her, it would have been out of pure ANGER and not corrective, and I'm afraid I yelled in anger too (yes she comes by the quick temper honestly...) and told her that was the most selfish brattiest thing ever and go to her room!!
I sat for a minute to calm down and got ready to go deal with her. It took a few minutes (I was HOT) so I printed out papers for Joey and then was about ready to go to her when Jessi came out crying SO hard.
I was not very compassionate I'm afraid, and asked her what she was crying about, and she stammered out that she was sorry for ruining Joy's picture and being bad.
Ok...my dilemma. I'm sure that she WAS sorry, and not even sorry just because she knew she was about to get trouble, but really sorry... she loves Joy and Joy worships her and for her to do that to Joy was SO out of character. However, I was annoyed that by crying she was turning this around and it was all about her--Joy came over and hugged her and comforted her and I think she was expecting me to do the same.
I did not.
I told her that I was glad she was sorry and I forgave her, but she needed to go back to her room and pray and tell Jesus what had happened and ask him to help her build her walls (referring to her memory verse about self control) and then when she was done crying she could come back out and tell Joy she was sorry.
Here is my question... I realize that one of the weaknesses of the super sensitive personality is to find some sort of weird pleasure in the guilt that you feel and then enjoy the crying and moaning and then finish it up with the emotional "high" of being forgiven. I do NOT want Jessi to develop a habit of indulging in such behavior. I do of course understand that often tears accompany penitence and repentance, but other than saying "she's my kid and I can see this turning into something ugly" I just can't explain why, just that I truly see this as a slippery slope.

I really wanted to tell her to stop her bawling and if she was REALLY sorry, just to make sure she practiced self-control next time, I didn't because I didn't think it would do much good.

Am I making any sense? How much of the crying and guilt and sorrow do I allow? How much of the crying and guilt and sorrow is actually just another part of her ultra-sensitive personality? Even as I write this it seems so harsh to say that I don't want to allow her to cry when she is sorry for doing wrong... I'm not trying to be harsh, I'm trying to prevent a twisted enjoyment of her guilty feelings.
The upside to her sensitivity is that Jesus is as real to her as I am, that she prays with faith that is amazing, and that she is quick to see the needs of others. The downside is... well, all of the previous part of this post- a quick temper, an enjoyment of "vain imaginations" such as worst case scenarios of sadness or in this case, guilt, and being too sensitive to imagined slights by others.

So... words of wisdom? Success in training a personality like this? Am I on the right track or am I just a mean mommy who doesn't get that some people actually have feelings (I am SUCH a non-girly girl!)? Talk to be about this please!

Please understand that I am not trying to "break" her personality, merely to mold it and train her... no one likes "those" kinds of women, and I don't want her to grow up to be one. I do appreciate the personality that God created her to have and have been touched (as have those around us who know her and our family) by her faith and prayers. Also, please understand that as far as imagination...I am the poster child for this, I'm not talking about normal (or even beyond normal) childhood imaginary games. I'm talking about vain imaginations that get our eyes off of reality and into a pattern of worry and despair.

Christmas in July (& a shameless brag)

For Christmas for the past few years, my in laws have given us a family pass to the Virginia Living Museum, which is located just a few blocks away from us. I LOVE having this family pass and highly recommend that you look into asking for annual passes to your local zoo or museum the next time grandparents wonder what the kids would like for a gift.

We visit often (although not as often as the short people think we should), and every time, I am able to remind the kids that Grandpa and Grandma gave us our tickets, for which they are very grateful.

Today we went specifically to see "The Giant Dinosaur Puppet Show" that is running in conjunction with the big dino exhibit going on now.

The following are pictures of the kids on some of the dino props and with some of the creatures they brought out before the puppet show. Check out Joy's strangle hold around Jessi's neck. It makes me laugh.
With one of the puppeteers and small puppets (Some of the puppets were VERY large).
Joyana touching a snake.
Joey touching an alligator.
Before the show, Jessi was waiting and sat in this circle of sunshine from a skylight, I thought it looked neat.

Joey touching a blue-tongued skink. A dragonfly I spotted as we walked through the native Virginia garden. He was so nice, let me get up close and take a number of shots before flying away.
This is where the shameless brag starts. Joyana enjoying her chocolate ice cream cone. She is so funny, if you ask her where she got her green eyes, she says, "God", but if you ask her where she got her curly hair, she goes into this long explanation that I only understand about half of, but has to do with "last night she got bonked on the head." Go figure.
This was right after a nice big lick and she still had her eyes closed in ecstasy.

Oh, the above pictures were just bragging on her cuteness, this is where I brag on her smartness. :-)
She is two and a half, look at her draw... she must take after Mom-Mom (my mom), I love to be creative, but drawing certainly isn't my niche.

This is "tiny baby Jesus", of course, she thinks all babies are baby Jesus, this could get interesting when our new baby comes...
This is Daddy. The line on his chin is his beard.
All that, and she can count to 11. Why 11 and not 10? I really don't know. At least she has now learned her odd numbers, there for a while she was counting by 2's. I did figure that one out... when I knit I usually count by 2.

My "piece de resistance"

I've posted before about my dyeing and spinning and of course knitting. I'm sure I've posted pictures of items I've knit out of yarn I dyed, but I do believe this is the first that I've shown of an item that I dyed AND spun AND knit. I spin on a drop spindle and to make enough yarn to actually create something takes a while (probably because of my crafting ADD which makes me change gears every few minutes!).
So, without further ado...
hand dyed, handspun, then Navajo plied, Targhee wool yarn. I did everything but raise the sheep for this! *Ok,everything except raise the sheep, shear the sheep, degrease the wool, comb the wool...but really, this is pretty much "from scratch." The Navajo ply is what makes each strand a different color at any given point in the yarn and gives it the sudden random color changes.

I made brown trim yarn to tone it down a bit, although I love all the jewel colors, I think the brown helps to anchor it a bit.
Another close up of the scrumptious yarn.

This is a wool soaker that I will use for Cloth Diapering BabyJ. Wool, when untreated, has natural waterproof and antibacterial properties that make it a wonderful choice to use as a "moisture barrier" for covering cloth dipes. Here it is in progress, still on the needles.

And now, the finished soaker. I am just so thrilled with how it turned out. I made it a small so I wouldn't run out of yarn, and ended up having a little bit left. I think when baby outgrows this I will rip it out and redo it one size up so he/she can wear it again.

when it rains, it pours

and no, I'm not talking about Morton Salt.

Right off I want to say that my intention in posting the following is to somehow glorify God, not to have a "poor me" thing going on. I don't believe that God causes everything that happens to happen; I do think that as a Christian, my life is in his hands and things are allowed to happen, and he may or may not choose to intervene. What amazes me though is that when things DO happen, when we give them to the Lord, he can redeem things and make all things work together for our good. Not what we may think is good, not our preferences, but what is truly good FOR us. At times... it may be like medicine.

I mentioned several posts ago that Jeff had to go back in for outpatient surgery. Thanks to wonderful friends, I had no shortage of people to watch the kids for me. One little thing that was "neat" (hats off to Mrs. B) was that the one friend who I wanted to watch the kids due to her proximity to the hospital didn't return my phone call in time, so I made arrangements with another friend who lives across town. After the arrangements were made, I found out that the procedure was NOT in the hospital I thought it was... it was in fact, in a location closer to our house and to the home of the friend who had agreed to watch the kids. My plan didn't work... but God knew and the plans that ended up happening were far better.

The procedure went well in the sense that there ended up being nothing wrong, but the downside is that it is taking longer than we expected to heal (perhaps from having two incisions in the same spot within 8 weeks??) so he has spent another week doing part time days at work and is quite sore.

This week was Jeff's actual follow up with the GI for his pathology report (we had previously gotten initial reports by phone from the nurse). I really wanted to go with Jeff so we could talk to the Doctor together. I knew the date was July 2 and had actually mentioned it to a few friends about a week and a half ago (when I was arranging for care for the outpatient procedure) that I would need help again on this date. Well, living in my own little world as I do, I was unaware that July 2 was this soon. I honestly thought I had another week... On Monday, not one, but TWO friends called to make sure that I had someone to watch the kids on Wednesday. I was a little confused, why did I need a sitter on Wednesday? For Jeff's appointment. Oh, is that THIS week? Duh. But seriously, how cool is that? How BLESSED am I that I not only have friends willing to practically raise my kids through all this physical stuff we've been dealing with, but they remember my appointments better than I do and call to make sure someone is watching the kids? Is God good or what?

Wednesday morning Jessi woke up with her left eye swollen shut. I assumed it was allergies or something like that and gave her benedryl. It went down some but did not respond like I would have liked, however, we went to the GI anyway and left the kids with my friends, went on to church that night. I knew it wasn't pinkeye as her eye itself looked fine, it was just the lid and all around it.

The report from the GI doctor was pretty much as expected,but he worded it a little stronger than the nurse had... "you should be thanking whoever it is that you thank that you were sick enough to be sent in and all the pieces came together to make me do the colonoscopy. Your cells were precancerous and you would not have made it to age 50 to begin check-ups" Again, we are struck with the fact that nothing about all the sickness that Jeff went through was good, but GOD has worked it all together for our good. Jeff being so severely ill and in the hospital and having the surgery literally has saved his life. Every so often it hits me, and I get chills. Praise God!

Thursday morning Jessi woke up with the eye still pretty bad, and an addition of having a pretty good fever. Now you must understand that I do not normally run the kids to the doctor (see previous post about procrastinating for MONTHS to transfer to a new pediatrician), however, none of this added up and I felt very strongly, almost compelled, to call and get an appointment. I figured if the new ped wouldn't take us (I hadn't even had the records transferred yet) that I would call the old ped and just drive all the way there. The new Ped did take us "can you be here in 35 minutes?" Uh... gulp. all three kids in PJs still and driving there through morning traffic. SURE we can be there... by the way, where is the office exactly!?!?

We made it, I filled out much paperwork, called the old ped and had them fax over just the shot records, and they took her back. Our appointment was with the NP (nurse practitioner) who was quite shocked at her eye. She did a very complete exam and history then left to go get the Doctor. Hmmm. Interesting. The doctor came in and was shocked at the eye, confirmed that it was cellulitis, and told the NP to proceed as she had planned, and warned us that if it got worse, to go straight to the hospital. The NP told me that they would give her oral and eye drop antibiotics, and to use warm compresses on the eye. She showed me a small slit inside the eyelid where they assume Jessi was developing a sty but instead of forming a head, it "went internal." She also told me that I was going to have to come back on Monday to check her, but in the meantime if anything happened over the long weekend to go straight to the hospital. She walked us up to the checkout desk and AGAIN told me to keep an eye on it, if it got any worse or looked bigger, go straight to the ER. Yikes. I get the message!

Not being familiar with cellulitis, I came home and looked it up online. Note to self: don't DO that! Apparently cellulitis can be treated with antibiotics, but can go bad very quickly if not treated appropriately. Scary stuff.

We dropped the prescriptions off and went home for a little while before it was time to pick up Jeff. Jessi's fever was now up to 102.5 so I gave her tylenol, an hour later it was still there so I gave her motrin as well and started wondering about this whole cellulitis thing...

I was supposed to have gone in to the Chiropractor Thursday morning but due to Jessi, didn't go in. I called and she said that she got off at noon but she would meet me back there in the afternoon. This actually worked out GREAT because she wanted to show Jeff some moves to do to me to keep me functioning in between visits to her. Between me not making it in the morning and needing to go pick up Jeff early from work in the afternoon, it was perfect timing, she wanted to meet me right at the time that I had to go get Jeff anyway.

We went and got Jeff, picked up Jessi's prescriptions (her fever was down now) and went to the Chiro. They are a husband and wife team and our kids LOVE their kids. Since she was officially off duty, she had the girls with her so all our kids played together. It looked like a daycare and not a doctor's office, LOL. Dr. Kelly showed Jeff some things he could do to help my hip and pelvis issues and also had Dr. Kevin come in and strong arm me some too. By the way, how AWESOME is it to have a Dr. who instead of telling me that I have to come see her every day to stay well, comes in after hours to teach my husband how to help me at home? Is God good? Oh yes!

After a long day we went home and toward evening Jessi was really feeling punky. She had napped a few times through the day but now the fever started climbing and she urped a few times. I gave her tylenol with her temp at 103, an hour later it was 104 and she couldn't keep the motrin down. I put her in the tub and got her calm and a little cooler, tried the motrin again and it stayed down. Then we tried the antibiotic and got an immediate and violent vomiting, her fever was above 104 and she was having chills/shaking. Jeff and I decided after all the warnings that morning, she needed to go straight in to the hospital. He took her in and I stayed with the other kids.

She apparently scored the right numbers on the triage because they took her back immediately upon arrival. The first nurse tried to give her oral meds for the fever... Jeff warned them, but hey, they have to try, right? On cue she gave it right back to the nurse (and of course her and Jeff's clothes). They then moved on to suppositories which she was not liking, and they started an IV for fluid and antibiotic. They couldn't get the fever down either so gave her something else in the IV and finally the combo worked. They also did a CT scan to make sure that the infection was not going in deeper behind the eye into the eye socket. That came back clear, so the big issue was just getting the fever down. Jeff and Jessi made it home from the hospital about 4 am Friday. They did get the fever down to 99/100 range and said that the IV antibiotics would last for about 24 hours and that gave us time to figure out how to get her to keep the oral ones down or contact her ped for more instructions. Oh yes, also a prescription for phenergan (anti nausea). She slept almost the whole day on Friday, waking up for an hour here or there for medicine, drink, and food.

By Friday night the change was AMAZING. Her eye was 80% better and she hasn't had a fever issue since then. The big deal was getting her to take the antibiotic. Not only does it taste NASTY (Augmentin), she had it associated with being what made her SO very sick the day before. By layering drink, food, phenergan, and then the Augmentin, she did keep it down. That and the fact that I appealed to her sense of logic by showing her pictures of germs online and telling her that such ucky gross germs needed a super ucky gross medicine to kill them, worked. She screws up her face and takes it like a champ, confident that she is really giving those gross germs a good beating.

This is the first day, she couldn't open her eyelid for several hours.Second day, it's open, but barely. I missed taking a picture yesterday. It was mostly open, but very bruised and purple looking all around.
You can see how much better it is! If I weren't watching it so closely, I probably wouldn't notice. The eyelid is still tiny bit droopy and there is a purple shadow all around the eye. Otherwise, it's fine.
Today (Saturday) she is acting like she is fine, but she is still tired easily. I am SO Thankful to God for putting that feeling on me that I knew I needed to take her in. I never do that... they have to be half dead and I have exhausted all my potions, herbs, and spices to go in. I certainly didn't want to go in...after all, I wasn't even officially a patient yet!

I have laid down the law. No one, for any reason, is allowed to get sick until at least November. I can not go through what we have gone through in the past two months with a newborn! And, with all my hip and pelvis problems, I am DONE for now too. So that is that. Schedule all sickies for three months post baby. Hmph.

As far as Jessi's sickness goes, this is what I have to share. Jessi is in Rainbow Kids Club at church (precursor to the scouting age classes) and for the month of July, they have a project called a "Praise Calendar", they are supposed to come up with one thing to praise God for each day and we write it down. Tuesday her praise was "daddy went back to work", Wednesday, it was "Got to go to Rainbows and learn about God", Thursday was, "Saw our new doctor and she is nice", Friday was "they took care of me at the hospital and I'm much better." Friday evening as we wrote this down, she wanted to go ahead put Saturday's praise on the calendar. I asked her what it was, and she said, "God healed me and I am all better today."

Talk about conviction. What faith! After years of serving God and experiencing his care and goodness, is my faith strong enough to go ahead and fill out my praise calendar for the next day?

Dear God, when I get too involved with thoughts of doctrine and theology and the ins and outs how God works...take me right back to the basics, the simple and all encompassing faith of a child who fully trusts that God will do what is best.

stuff

There is a reason my blog is called Stuff and Nonsense. Don't get mad at me... you clicked it!

--Today I finally called the pediatrician who I've been thinking of switching to. I only got the number from a friend like... 3 months ago or something. Anyway, she is taking new patients and takes our insurance. We've used the same amazing ped practice since I became a civilian when Jessi was a tiny baby but his office is in Va Beach. That was far enough when we lived in Hampton, but now in N.N., it is prohibitively far. The kids are SOOOO behind on well-child checks (although I figure I can tell if they are well or not), but with a new baby coming, I figured I did need to find a local Doctor that I will actually go to, you know? Anyway, this Ped practice is very "natural family" friendly, in fact your first new baby appointment, even before the two week check up with the Dr., is with their lactation consultant. She also has a reputation for not freaking out if you don't vax on schedule, which will be handy. And, she is not 45 minutes away through bridge/tunnel traffic, that is the biggest plus of all. So it took 30 minutes on the phone to get the kids into the system and schedule new patient/well-child checks for them all, but that is done.
--I was planning to call the violin teacher and interview her/ make arrangements for a visit, but am still hoping for a little more feedback in all the places I've posted.
--I sewed on the kids' badges for Rainbows and Rangers.. although I think I may be missing some for Jessi. The teacher told me once that they should have 19 badges when they finish, and I only have 15, unless they are counting the club patch and the Rainbow patch, which is 17, but still, they are on their last badge before graduation, so I would still be missing one. I know Jessi has earned them all, but I was SO behind that I sewed on 5 just today and there could easily be some lost.
--We took Jeff in to work and then went and picked him up (he's working partial days again post surgery) and stopped at a thrift store to check the price on a bookcase they have outside. I was thinking $15-20. Ha. The guy claims it's solid oak and it's $80. Well... if it's solid oak and worth $80, he needs to strip the 23 layers of white paint off of it so it will look like it!
--We played outside for a bit, how lazy am I? I got one of those battery operated bubble blower wands so I can sit my fat pregnant self in the shade and with a push of the button generate 100's of bubbles. Seriously, the other week they wanted bubbles and I got light headed trying to blow that much. There is not much lung room left in there. When they were done with that, I turned on the sprinkler and pretended like I minded that I got wet.
--I cut off a pair of jeans that Joey had completely split the knee on and hemmed them for shorts. They were way too short anyway and made the boy look like he was going crabbing, so they are better as shorts. That child is so big. I can't keep him in clothes. Most of his pants are too short, not only in length but sit low on his waist, and most of his shirts are too short also, so there is frequently a good amount of Joey showing around the middle. Unfortunately, we were given a large quantity of underwear (new) for him and it is a tiny bit large. You are getting the picture, aren't you? the shirt rides high, the pants ride low, and all around the underpants show. Hey, that rhymes. I'm so clever. Anyway, we are just going to have to deal with it until it's time for new fall clothes. I think I'll just pin his shirts to his pants and tell him he can't raise his arms under any circumstances.
--I made a master list of all the half earned badges Joey has for Ranger Kids so he can finish those badges before we get out for the summer.
I made (and explained to him) a family tree for one of the badges. My dad would turn 104 this year. Isn't that crazy? To me it seems normal, but then I grew up with it. It just seemed funny putting all the grandparents' birth years down, 1947, 1946, 1940, 1904... I bet Joey's Ranger Commander will think it's a typo.
--Oh, thanks to my frozen meals, we had dinner tonight. Last night, no lie, and I'm woman enough to admit this out loud, we had pudding for dinner. It was layers of chocolate and vanilla, and made with real milk, but still it was pudding. Don't roll your eyes at me. If I posted that I had a girls night out and Jeff had fed the kids pudding for supper, we would all chuckle indulgently and declare that one night of pudding wouldn't hurt. So chuckle already.

Funny stuff:
Joey wanted to discuss baby names for BabyJ, I told him the boy name and some of the possible girl names. In all seriousness he said, "Mom, actually, I was thinking something more like 'Dinosaur'." I, in all seriousness told him that "dinosaur" was not acceptable because it doesn't start with J and we can't mess up the Christmas cards. He replied, "Well, how about 'Jinosaur'?" Hmmm. I had to think fast to try and get out of THAT one. But Jessi, dear Jessi, she saved the day. She informed him that that was a CRAZY name and we should of course, name the baby "Jelly", you must understand that she doesn't even LIKE jelly (texture issue), but still, somehow this was a much less crazy name than "Jinosaur." With my lightening like mental reflexes, I told them that we would not be naming the baby "Jelly", however, they could CALL the baby Jelly and that would be its nickname.

More funny stuff:
I'm having a lot of trouble with my pelvis this pregnancy as it has been trying to separate since about 25 weeks or so. Some days it is really bad and not only painful, but I truly can't walk. The other day I was walking through the house and something "went out" and I couldn't put any weight on my left leg. I stood there and experimented for a while, and said outloud, "Oh dear, I can't walk". The only person in hearing distance was Joy, who looked up from her coloring and said, "Mommy can't walk? Oh Mommy...." then very excitedly she thought of a solution and said, "Mommy RUN!". Very sweet and all, but still not too useful. My continued lack of locomotion cemented for her the notion that mommy was indeed in a bad way, so she proceeded to demonstrate. "Like this mommy." ("wike dis mommy") and she got up from her playing, and in slow motion, "ran" across the room and sticking her little hiney out, showed me how to "Sit down" in my chair. It was classic I tell you, just classic. Such caring and problem solving from a 2 year old.
So with that sage advice I'll close for today - if you can't walk, well then, just RUN!