Another Inconvienent Truth

Just had to share this.

Lost in a Mountain of Fabric

Jeremiah so kindly reminded me that I haven't posted anything since Friday. Nothing is really going on here. The boys have been spending the bulk of the day outside, which is an all-around good thing. They burn off so much more energy which causes them to fall asleep earlier at night, and they tear up the house a little bit less each day.

Isaac is rounding a corner with reading. He is actually attempting to read things like titles of books I am reading and signs in the store. This is something I have been waiting for, a little bit of interest on his part.

My one and only goal this week is to organize my sewing space. It hasn't really been organized since we moved here and it keeps on growing. I'm still at a loss of how I'm going to accomplish this, but it needs to be done. The biggest problem is my ever growing stash of fabric. I never get rid of scraps because I always feel like I will be able to use them for something someday. This is the only area where I am a pack rat. Generally, I have no problem getting rid of things at all.

On the Pregnancy Front...

I passed the glucose tolerance test, all four numbers. Good thing too, because I have been waiting all winter for S*m's Club to carry potato salad (a seasonal item), and they just started stocking it. I'm no nutritionist, but I'm pretty sure potato salad would not be on a diabetic diet.

I have another ultrasound scheduled in the beginning of April. I am so extremely nervous that this ultrasound will show boy parts. Half of me has just not accepted that I could actually have a girl baby inside of me. If this baby is a boy, however, that is definitely info I would like before the birth.

My blood pressure continues to creep up. The bottom number is getting pretty close to high. If it gets any higher I'm going to have to go back to an OB to see what they say about it. Later on we will be doing non-stress tests and blood tests to make sure it's not affecting my kidney function (something that happened when I was pregnant with Sammy). I had a feeling I was going to be dealing with my blood pressure again this time. It always happens on my odd number babies.

I guess that's it.

Lovely

I was trying to get Jonah to do his "fish lips" for the camera. He decided to spit and I somehow managed to capture a pic of it in mid-air. Now, had I been trying to do that it would of never happened! Of course, the boys -being boys- think it's the best picture ever taken.

Spoke too soon...

I didn't pass my glucose screening. Now I have to take the three hour test. I've never had to do the three hour test before and it doesn't sound fun. *sigh* I guess I could look at it as three hours of uninterrupted quiet reading time. It's not like I get that a lot.

Misc.

• It's a bit chilly again today, but the last few days have been gorgeous. We took the boys on nice long walks everyday. Dirt and mud = happy boys.
• I've been working all week on a sewing project. It should be finished today.
  
• I had my glucose screening on Monday. I haven't heard from my midwife so I'm assuming I passed. That's always good.
  
• Over the last few weeks, three different families have given us homeschooling stuff. The coolest thing we received is one of those little bodies with all the organs and bones inside that you can take apart. We had fun taking it apart, still haven't been able to get it back together correctly.
  
• I have a brownie mix in the pantry that has been there two weeks! That has to be a record. It's going to end today though, I'm thinking that brownies are sounding pretty good.
• Jeremiah replaced a broken toilet handle with a push button one. Of course that made him the coolest dad ever. It still feels kind of weird to flush a toilet by pushing a button though.
  

Shadow

The other morning I was standing in our kitchen doorway -in sunlight! I couldn't help but notice how very pregnant my shadow looked. I had to take a pic.

Homeschooling on Growing Pains

Last night I caught the second half of a Growing Pains episode where Maggie took Ben out of school and started teaching him at home. I missed the first part of the show so I'm not sure what provoked that decision. Of course they had to touch on the socialization issue. His little sister was worried that if it worked with Ben, she would have to be homeschooled also. "There goes my socialization" she laments. At first Ben resisted out of embarrassment of what his friends would think. In the end,though, he admits he likes it, that he is learning and he likes not feeling stupid (a label he had in school). So they keep doing it.

I was surprised to see this episode for two reasons. One, this show ended 15 years ago when homeschooling was still under the radar. In fact, I don't think they even used the word "homeschool", they simply called it "teaching at home". Two, it was actually a positive portrayal of homeschooling. Another reason to like Growing Pains :D

Sewing

Over on my sewing blog, 'Ailina said she would be interested in hearing how I began sewing. Since you probably don't want to hear anymore about snow, and I love to talk about sewing, I'm happy to recount.

Technically, my first sewing projects were in 4-H. I don't remember much about those, and I suspect my 4-H leaders probably did most of the work. We also did a few sewing projects in Jr. High Home Ec., but again I don't remember much about that. When I was a sophomore in high school I veered of what some might call "the college track" and took what we used to call slacker classes. Child Development and Clothing and Textiles were two of them. Honestly, I didn't even know what a class called Clothing and Textiles was going to be about but it sounded easy. Turns out it was a whole semester of sewing. Our only requirements for the whole semester was to make something for the top half of our body, and something for the bottom half of our body. While my classmates grumbled and struggled to meet even those requirements, I finished a shirt and a dress in no time. Then I used the extra material from my dress to make my little sister an outfit. Then I made a couple baby outfits for my teacher's brand new niece. I loved sewing! I would often stay during our "Enrichment Period" (basically study hall) and keep sewing. I was sorry when the class was over.

That was the end of my sewing until four years later. About a month before we got married we managed to afford the cheapest sewing machine W*l-Mart had. It was a lot harder to sew without a teacher right there to help, but thanks to my high school class I knew how to read patterns and apply interfacing ect. I used that machine for seven years, improving over the years and learning how to do more difficult things. Finally, two years ago I upgraded to a new machine which helped my sewing improve even more. There is just something in me that loves to sew.

FYI, I did work hard the next two years in high school to catch up with those classes I avoided during 10th grade.

Watercolors

So painting with watercolors on canvas is really fun! The canvas regularly cost about $5 a piece, and next time I get a coupon for Mich*els I will get more. After the boys saw me carefully draw and paint my picture, they are interested in doing another one with more thought put into it.

So here is our plain hallway turned Art Gallery:


And since we had an extra canvas (they came in packs of 2), I tried my hand at watercolors: