Holidays in Hand - Free JS Class!

Interested in a free digital scrapbooking class??
It's a Jessica Sprague class www.jessicasprague.com.

She does great stuff and this class will have freebies & be lots of fun.
I'd recommend it for teens & up!

This would be a great ice breaker into the world of digital scrapbooking and hybrid scrapbooking/memory keeping!

Registration is open as of today.

Class runs November 16-23, 2009.

"No digital scrapbooking or Photoshop experience is needed, just some holiday stories to tell. :)" JS

Bye Bye Bunny

We brought Easter home right before Easter 2006. He was still a baby. We gave him to the kids on Easter morning. We've not ever been easterbunny parents - Easter is about Jesus. Anyway, the kids loved him and we've had him for almost four years.

They've learned a lot about taking care of a pet - cleaning up after him and feeding him daily. We've done silly things like take him to the beach with us... we've brought him in on cold nights to play with. The kids have taken him out to granddad's garden to have a veggie.

Yesterday, Jedediah went out to feed our bunny, Easter - and he was gone. Not missing gone, but dead gone. So we got to spend a good portion of our day processing death from a child's perspective. Bless the kid's hearts - they really are good kids. I got asked good questions, like, "Will I ever see him again?" and "Will Easter be with us in Heaven?" Oh, how it all pulls the heart strings!

Something I realized awhile ago, is that Jed is closer to me emotionally than the rest of the kids. He reacts the way I naturally do. Things affect him/effect him (whatever) the way that things effect me.

So when Jed came in and said that there was something wrong with Easter, I had Josiah go out and check. Yep, he's gone. Jedediah took it so hard. Hard enough, that the rest of us felt so bad that we didn't need to be upset. Jed was carrying that burden for us all. Like I said, that's something that I would do, he reminds me of me!

Last night, I printed six or seven pictures of the kids with Easter. Hoping that that would help the process along...

So, immediately the plans of having bunny babies in the spring fell. I let the kids know that we'll just need to get two bunnies now to have bunny babies instead of a mate for Easter. So, begins, the process of looking for new bunnies. I think I'd like to get dwarf bunnies again, Easter was such a nice manageable size.

Lord, thank you, for using pets, as a way to teach us about the real things of life.

14 Weeks & Counting...

(Nelson baby #5, photo on 10/5/09)

Apparently, it was around my Birthday in August, that I posted last. I've had much higher hopes of myself blogging more often than this! Lots lots going on - and keeping me busy - and keeping me from my blog. Part of it is my pregnancy! Yep, it's official. I'm pregnant.

My due date is April 10, 2010. I kind of hope, because it would be a cool birthdate, that this baby is born on it's due date. I'm usually about 10 days early, which would put it at April 1st. I guess we'll just have to wait & see! But the first couple of months of pregnancy, I usually check out of the world. So I haven't been on facebook as much either. Even been lousy with my email... Ready to be done with the nausea and the tiredness...

(Nelson baby #5, 10/5/09)

I just found out last week how far along I am. As of today, I am 14 weeks, 5 days. The reason it took me so long to find out was because there was a glitch with our insurance. (And apparently, I didn't keep track of things very well!) Seems like there's always a glitch somewhere. When I miscarried last spring, I notified my insurance. They didn't take me off of the maternity care. So when I told them I am pregnant, they said, well, of course you are! So I had to wait & get that straightened out before going to the doctor. I wasn't too worried about it - it's not like it's my first baby :D

I went in a week or so ago for my first appt. and they couldn't find a heartbeat. Here I am, thinking, that I am far enough along that there is supposed to be one. I tried not to be upset, maybe she just couldn't locate it. So they set me up for an ultrasound appt. They wanted me to take one of the appts where Rod couldn't be there - I was like - uh, no. My last was a miscarriage, and i'm not doing an ultrasound, where I could potentially get bad news, by myself. The midwife understood & we rescheduled.

What a blessing it was to see our little wee one moving and kicking and wiggling around! After a miscarriage, there are always those doubts you fight off - thinking that you have lost your vitality & that you couldn't get pregnant if you wanted to. It's been about 4 years since Julia - so there was lots of room for doubt. After the miscarriage, I knew that I wanted another baby. And we decided to give it to the Lord, that we would let it happen, if the Lord would have it!

I had determined though, that NO MORE November babies - well, getting pregnant in November. Julia & Josiah were both conceived in November - born in August. (My first miscarriage was also due in August!) We have 3 birthdays (Julia, Josiah & Mine) within the first 10 days of August! I was sincerely hoping to avoid another August Birthday!!! :D Funny, the things we decide!

Anyhooo - now that i'm out of my first trimester - you'll probably be seeing more of me ;).

The Cakemaker's Wife Got Strawberry Shortcake

Today is my birthday! Or it was before Midnight. And I had a sincerely wonderful day. I was up early with Rod & the kids before Rod went to work. Some days he leaves pretty early & none of us are up. Sad but true. Today though, after we were all up & Rod was checking to make sure that the last of his school stuff actually did get turned in - we discussed that it was my birthday.

I was just going to have Rod take me out for dinner & a movie. It's been such a long time since we've done either. I guess it's not been forever. We did see Star Trek in the theatre (but it was about 7 months since we'd seen one before that) and we also went to Azteca down by where he works a couple of months ago... Really, we just haven't had any time to do anything together since summer quarter started. So that was my wish to go to dinner & a movie.

Well, we told Jed that we weren't doing a party for mom and he sprouted tears. Real tears! He wanted to celebrate my birthday with a party! Bless his heart! So within 30 seconds, our plans for the evening changed. Once I saw his heart and how real he meant it - we made arrangements.

Funny as it sounds, by the time my birthday comes, I'm done with eating cake :D So what we did do, was dinner, gifts, strawberry shortcake & ice cream out at my parents. Yep, the cakemaker's wife got strawberry shortcake! (bet that would be a cute cake though!) On kinda short notice. Too funny, eh? Then Rod & I went to a well deserved movie!!!

The kids today, were absolutely adorable. The gifts that Rod & the kids bought, the kids wrapped. And then they made me wonderful pictures and cards. All of their heart felt hand made goodies really did touch my heart. Josiah took charge and made sure that they each made me something and that they signed their cards. They took the time, made the effort to do a good job and they were excited about doing it. What more could you really ask? Our kids really did make me feel good today. loved. appreciated. very sweet. This was a birthday that I will always cherish!

PS: Thanks to all of my facebook friends & their well wishes. (Anyone who says FB isn't good for much of anything, obviously hasn't had a birthday while being a member of Facebook!)

Way to go Rod!

Last night, we stayed up late once again to get Rod's work done for school. I spent time proofing papers and websites - donning some encouragement when needed. You'd think that for the last day of school - and knowing it's the last day - that somehow it would be easier... but it wasn't. Somehow, it seemed harder. The last day of the quarter - and there was so much to do. He spent almost every waking moment Sat. & Sun. in front of a computer getting his work done. He did take a break here or there, to run to the store, play with the kids and eat - but really that was about all!

I can't say enough, how proud of him I am for seeing this all the way through. When he signed up for it eons ago, at least it seems that way now... he signed up because he was struggling finding jobs to turn in for unemployment. Honest. So, he thought he would try retraining. In the midst of it, he got a job - he told the college counselor he'd like permission to do both work/school. Now, if his current job doesn't pan out, I guess he has a new skills set.

Yesterday, he got a certificate in the mail from SVC - he made the honor roll! Gosh, it's been so long (esp. with homeschooling) since I've thought about modern schooling conventions like the Honor Roll! Flashback! What was your GPA??

So, in the next few weeks, you may not catch us home in the evenings. *see Zindra doing a little jig* We have some serious summer time fun catching up to do with Dad. Boating, lake, fishing, bike rides, walks, pool time and maybe even a trip to the zoo. Hopefully, I'll have the energy for it!

Way, to go Rod! I so look forward today, to seeing you tell the kids - that you're done!