Friday, June 30, 2006

Sewer lines?

Jack attends a University Model Classical Christian School, which means he goes to school three days a week and we homeschool the other two days. We absolutely love it. Over the summer, we are trying to keep up with the "school routine" by doing a little bit of work during Mitchell's naptime most weekdays. We're reviewing math facts and other math concepts with Jack and, since Holly Grace wanted to "do schoolwork" too, we're working on number recognition and writing numbers with her. As a side note, Wal-Mart has some really great little "workbooks" by SchoolZone that the kids really enjoy.

So to make things a bit more fun, I picked up a "Travel the 50 States" workbook and some maps with stickers for the kids. We read about and study a state each day and geography is their favorite "subject". For each state, there's a map with major cities and landforms and we talk about them each day. We started with Alabama and are working our way through the states alphabetically.

Today we were on Connecticut, and we were looking at the map. We were talking about the symbols on the map (as we do every day) for highways, rivers, lakes, cities, etc. Jack turned to me and said, "When are we going to have another sewer line?"

"Excuse me?" I say, thinking something has gone horribly wrong with the installation of the backyard sprinkler system that is John's current project.

"When are we going to have another sewer line?" he repeats.

"I'm sorry, Jack, but I really don't know what you're talking about."

"Here, I'll show you," he says patiently, and flips through our book till he gets to the Alaska page. "See, like this one," he says and points to a red line cutting a swath from North to South in Alaska.

"Ah, yes," I say, suppressing my laughter, "You mean pipeline. That's the Alaska pipeline." Whew.

By the way, I think that Alaska is the only state with a pipeline on its map. I'll let you know when we've finished all 50 states.

Where have my ankles gone?!?


This is what my ankles and feet feel like. Ugh. Okay, they don't really look that bad, but to put it in perspective, I couldn't find any flip flops at Target today that I could squish them into; they're just too thick! Woe is me. I can't wear my lime green flip flops for the next two weeks!

Eclair cake

Or, as Jack would say, "Declare Cake." This is so very, very easy to make, but make sure you start it a day in advance. And, if you let your kids help mix up the pudding, make sure you use a DEEP bowl because vanilla pudding flying all over the kitchen, while fun in theory, is a mess in reality.

2 small boxes vanilla instant pudding
12 oz. container whipped topping, thawed
1 box chocolate graham crackers
3 c. milk (I used whole to make it extra rich and fattening!)
1 container dark chocolate frosting
powdered sugar (optional)

In a large bowl, combine pudding mixes, whipped topping, and milk. Mix 2 minutes at high speed, or until thick.

Layer a 9x13x2 inch pan in the following way:
-graham crackers
-pudding mixture
-graham crackers
-pudding mixture
-graham crackers.

Refrigerate 2 hours. Use the whole container of frosting, and spread over the entire surface. Refrigerate 24 hours, to allow time for the graham crackers to soften. Just before serving, sprinkle with powdered sugar, if desired.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Appointment update

I saw my OB today and I'm now 2 cm. dilated and 30% effaced. So, slow and steady wins the race. She is going to call the hospital tomorrow and make an appointment for me to be induced on the 13th of July (just two weeks!). So we will have a baby by mid-July one way or the other!

I got my double stroller today. Boy, did I labor over that decision. I've had a tandem before and it was a monster to push, so I opted for a side-by-side this time. I found a great deal online at Kids Palace and I'm really pleased so far. It's a Combi Twin Savvy EX and holds an infant carrier on one side (for those of you who care or might be in the market yourselves).

Dried Cherry & Pecan Oatmeal

3 C Water
3 C Fat Free Milk
2 C Whole Oats
½ C Dried Cherries, chopped
5 T Brown Sugar
1 T Butter
¼ t Cinnamon
¼ t Vanilla
2 T Toasted Pecans

Bring water, milk, oats, cherries & 1 T brown sugar to boil; reduce heat & simmer, stirring occasionally 20 minutes or until thickened.
Remove from heat, stir in 4 T brown sugar & next 3 ingredients.
Spoon 1 C oatmeal into 6 bowls. Sprinkle with toasted pecans & additional brown sugar, if desired. Serve immediately.

This yummy recipe is from my mom. You should double it if you're feeding a crowd or really hungry kids, or if you want to have leftovers. If you have some real maple syrup just sitting around from recent trip to Vermont, you can add a dash of it to your bowl. There's nothing like it!

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

Cars


Jack, Holly Grace and I went to see Cars today. What a fun movie. For an animated film, the scenery is spectacular! Be forewarned, though ... it's a long movie - 116 minutes! Very enjoyable - we highly recommend.

4 weeks and counting

Okay, so it's been about 28 weeks since I posted. I guess you could say I've been rather busy, with growing a baby and three other kids!

I've decided to "go public" here so that everyone can keep up with the pregnancy progress. It's been quite a ride! We're having a girl, due date July 25. Her name will be Charlotte Ivey and we are all terribly excited. Well, except for Mitchell, who has NO IDEA what's headed his way. He's not quite 21 months old and, while he loves babies, he still likes to be rocked and snuggled himself.

I had a test done early in the pregnancy (about 15 weeks) that showed that the baby had an increased risk of having Down's Syndrome, so I went to a perinatologist who did an extensive sonogram. She looked good ... well-developed nasal bone (lots of Down's babies don't have a nasal bone at all) and some other indicators that were good. We went back four weeks later to have a look at a more developed heart and everything looks good for now. Unfortunately, without having an amnio, we can't know for sure that everything is okay until she is born. But we aren't losing any sleep over it. She is what she is and we love her just the same.

When we were getting ready to go on our annual trip to Vermont I got kind of apprehensive. I was about 30 weeks along and something didn't feel quite right. I was honestly afraid I was going to deliver in Vermont. So right before we left we had a sonogram that showed the baby was breech! So that's why it felt different! She's turned now and is head-down, ready to go. Which brings me to the 35-week appointment (last week). With Mitchell, I was dilated to 2-3 cm. and 50% effaced at 35 weeks. With this baby, however, I was only at 1.5 cm. and not at all effaced. So I think I may be in this for the long haul! I have appointments every Wednesday morning from now till delivery, so I'll try to post soon after each appointment. I guess I'd better learn how to post photos, too, so everyone can see the baby after her appearance!