My dear, sweet, thoughtful and talented husband

I have had a few posts on how wonderful my husband is and how much I love him for being so good to me, but he really topped himself today. If you've read my blog recently I've complained a bit about being bed rest and how boring and miserable it can be; I'm not completely knocking it because there is a small part of me that is enjoying not jumping up 100 times an hour to wipe bottoms, clean noses, get water, change someones clothes...you get the picture.

I do sort of feel bad for my husband, though. He's trying to complete a remodeling project in our bedroom to get ready for the baby, as well as organize a lot of our clutter. He's also helping get Connor to swim lessons, geography class and other miscellaneous appts we have. All while trying to work, take care of kids, listening to me grumble about the house being dirty, no clean clothes upstairs, Lillee needs a drink, Isabel has a stinky diaper, Connor needs some attention. He's a patient and loving husband.

Today Al had really hoped for a chance to work on the bedroom and finish the walls so we can paint soon. I insisted it was not a good day as I needed to rest a LOT due to fluid retention and numb arms and hands. I could not be responsible for the kids while he worked around the house. This did not go over well, but he accepted my request, did not get (too) angry and helped out a ton.

Around 2:00pm today I got a taste for pastry, sweet and spicy. I was thinking cinnamon bread from Great Harvest but I'm such a thrifty person I'd never spend money on it. So I asked my husband to make cinnamon rolls...thinking, "It's a long shot." To my surprise, he agreed and made 3 pans of cinnamon rolls completely by himself. They were delicious, hit the spot and I knew what it was like to eat food made with love! I've not had food made with that much love since I was in college and my mom would make me my favorite foods every time I came home for a visit.

My crafty side

I have never felt like a crafty person; while growing up I remember wanting to make things, but I never felt equipped to do so. My husband lovingly mocks me when I claim I cannot make anything. I do not make cards, do scrap booking, nor anything along the lines of sewing or quilting. My husband even purchased me a TON of scrapping software and printable papers when our 1st child was born...he was so hopeful. I shot it all down quickly, though. I explained this was not my cup of tea and put an end to the years of feeling the pressure to lovingly and beautifully preserve our lives in binders while knowing there was not a chance I would ever enjoy doing it.

HOWEVER! Five years ago I joined the church on Sept 27th and attended my first Super Saturday event one month later and vowed I'd learn a usable craft and overcome my feelings of being a craft-inept Mormon girl. If I could not scrap, sew or quilt I was going to be a useful one way or the other. You can see how skewed my views were at baptism, these crazy misconceptions do not still hold true today. I have embraced Molly Mormon and accepted that I'll never fit into her many shoes...I'll never make funeral potatoes nor store wheat under my mattress.

Well, learn a craft, I did! I was taught to crohook, which is a form of crocheting and I could make scarfs and blankets. I did not learn how to crohook in the class, though. I thought I figured it out, but then when I went home I could not recreate the steps. So I sat up late one night (3am late!) until I figured out a way to make crohooking work for me. I did not use a traditional method, but it was mine. I made beautiful, cozy scarfs for everyone in my family the following year. I made blankets for my kids and friends who were having babies. Then the newness wore off or I just had no time with 3 kids 3 years and under so I put all my yarn away in a storage container and have rarely touched it since.

HOWEVER! The yarn storage has been resurrected! A friend of mine (THANKS Sherry!) showed me a fabulous loom system called Knifty Knitter. Now, I'm sure you Michael's and AC Moore addicts are shaking your heads and thinking, "Hello, what rock has this girl been under?" But I don't get to shop often. Taking 3 screaming kids into a craft store makes for a really explosive situation. But I did it, after seeing this loom I took all 3 kids to Michael's in search of the Knifty Knitter; I only braved it because my husband was in tow. After acquiring this amazing loom I sat down one night when I couldn't sleep and decided to give it a whirl. Look what I made!!!

This is for baby Chase, our soon to arrive baby boy. I was hooked, I could not stop myself from diving into the next hat. Last year I made a scarf for Connor by crohooking and had some left over yarn. So I decided to make a matching hat.


My husband was so impressed (read: jealous) he insisted on a hat just like Connor's.


Then I got really crazy and took all 3 kids by myself to Michael's so my girls could pick out their own yarn for hats. BAD idea...this resulted in all three kids sitting on the floor in the middle of the aisle while I gave them a stern lecture on manners in public. But I'm happy with the results of the yarn they chose.
Lillee's Hat



Isabel's Hat

So for a pregnant momma put on bed rest in her 31st week of pregnancy, I found the perfect time-consuming task that I'll never have a free moment for after the baby comes. The plan is to hit the craft store for stocking up on yarn once a week when I have my many OB appts and spend the rest of the week with my butt planted on the sofa, my feet propped up high and crank away on hats and scarves.

EDITED: Now that my models are awake I was able to get pics of each hat on it's owner

Election Day Thought

I don't claim to be a witty writer to capture your attention and keep you coming back, I blog to preserve my fleeting thoughts because I can't hold onto them for more than a second or two throughout the day. Without getting too political, I think Thomas Jefferson said it all,

"I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against any form of tyranny over the minds and lives of men. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must take our choice between economy and liberty, or profusion and servitude. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labors and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people under the pretense of caring for them, they [the people] will be happy."

-- Thomas Jefferson

He's a reader!

We started home schooling this year and have definitely faced a few challenges; the biggest was reading...did you catch that was? ;)

A couple months ago Connor was definitely recognizing words, he knew the sounds that each letter makes, he understood sounding it out but every night when we would read it was a frustrating and miserable task that resulted in him being in tears and me being grumpy. Fortunately, this period did not last long!

I found a great series of books called You Read to Me, I'll Read to You by Mary Ann Hoberman. I also started using Dolch site word flashcards and this combination was MONEY! Connor was looking forward to reading as he was recognizing more of the words and because of the rhyming nature of the book he was able to use the first letter or two to determine what the next word was to be.

We stuck with You Read to Me, I'll Read to You for 1.5-2 weeks and then started back on some of his First Reader books and the frustration was completely gone...so were the tears! In September we set a reading goal of 10 minutes a day for 5 days a week...10 minutes of him reading, not me reading to him. Each day he completes his reading he marks it on a calendar and at the end of the month if he completes his reading goal then he gets a certificate from Pizza Hut through their Book it! reading program.

I was able to fill out his first certificate on Friday and Connor had a special trip with his Mamaw & Papaw to have pizza on Saturday. He's tearing through books and really looks forward to reading, now...we never have to struggle through 10 minutes, I'm usually cutting him off at 20 minutes because we have to move on to another project. I am so proud of him!!!

Making room for baby

Well, we're getting geared up for baby #4. My husband has been working on a remodeling project in our bedroom to create some extra space for the baby. I have to admit, it's REALLY nice having such a handy husband around the house. Not only do I have more room in my bedroom, but I also have specialty lighting for reading and nursing that will not cause any distress to my sleeping husband. So with the bedroom project coming along I feel like we're getting closer to baby coming.

My parents are visiting from NC for the weekend and they wondered what we needed for the baby. I only needed to acquire 2 things before we were completely ready...a car seat and a baby sling. My husband, parents and children all went shopping for the day and came home with lots of goodies, including a new car seat. Since I'm suppose to be taking it easy, I was unable to join them so I shopped from home :) I found the Maya sling I wanted and ordered it this evening. We're all set!

If we can keep the bun in the oven for another month then all will seem perfect! But 1 month of bed rest with 3 young kids is going to be hard...thank God for my mother-in-law!!! I swear, if it weren't for her we would have never had 4 kids. You don't often hear women praising their mother-in-law, but I have a very special one who has been such a blessing in my life. Thanks Jane!!!