April Showers Bring May Flowers

Day 3 of the rain & my sickness. I went to the doctor today & was told it is a minor case of a sinus infection. Since I had antibiotics a few weeks ago she didn’t give me any today because of nursing baby. Well, I could have stayed home had I known & saved myself from sitting in the hot waiting room for almost 1 1/2 hrs. I am just glad I wasn’t freezing in there & that the people were nice.
Super Sweet has a yucky nose, but nothing to worry about. I turned the heat on upstairs on Wednesday night. I think the infection has me colder then usual. I like sleeping in a cold room, but it isn’t too good for a Super Sweet. He’s in his saucer right now playing the drop stuff game. Babies are so funny at this age. He keeps us all laughing & I love it. He’s like Bean though when you tell him “no”, he starts crying. The poor dears, very sensitive. Of course right now she is testing some boundries being that she is 4 and all.
Elijah has been good about doing his school & occupying the girls the past few days so I could sleep & feel better. That boy always comes through for me. I don’t know what I’d do without him, I really don’t.
I have been reading a lot of information for over a year now regarding head coverings & paedo communion & must say that both of them are supported by Scripture. That being the final judge on our actions has spoken volumes to me. I think that my main hold up now regarding head coverings is “dying to the flesh”, as the apostle Paul cried out. I have been praying for this & I think that God has finally spoken in a way that I won’t ignore any longer. Once convicted you can’t go back. I know many people look on head coverings as being outdated, but Christ said nothing  (in the Law) would be replaced (except the sacrifice of the Lamb). Our passover is in now communion, circumsion is now the baptism of our young. Apostle Paul even talks about head coverings in Corinthians so it made it past the Resurrection & into the Good Book so we must not ignore it any longer. I must say that we Christians need to start taking a closer look at our Bibles & not just skimming over certain areas. There are a lot of things in there that we are missing out on & not adhering to. All we can do is pray for understanding, ask for forgiveness & do what we are called to do, even if we stand alone.

Well, we brought Derek to work once again & are hanging out at the library. Elijah is finishing up school while the girls play puzzles & look at books. The rain has stopped, but there is a call for some snow on Thursday. We shall see how it goes.
I had a good time at my Women’s retreat this past weekend & the weather was lovely as well. Super got to play with another boy his size. Although the other boy is slightly bigger & almost walking. He slept well in the pack n play too.
Super Sweet has 3 teeth now with another just waiting to break out. Yesterday I had him in the walker when Derek came home & he went “running” to him as fast as he could & threw up his arms. What a sweet little boy to make his father that happy. I am sure that some other fun things have gone on with him, but I can’t remember right now.
I borrowed Daniel Boone last week from the library & the children have been enjoying it a lot. In fact, Elijah wants a coonskin cap, without the face. He has turned his light sabers into rifles like Daniel Boone would have used. Needless to say we are encouraging this since Daniel Boone was a Christian & had lots of adventures that we can learn from.
If I continue on the crazy train I will end up buying the girls a wardrobe for their babies. As if we need more furniture in our house. It’ll be good to help them clean up & practice their mommy skills as well.
I guess that sums it up for today. Except for the really exciting part, Derek & I celebrated 10 years this past Friday. I can’t believe it went by so fast!

The party for Bean was great. The pizza, cake & ice cream went over perfectly. Super Sweet ate almost 2 pieces of pizza by himself & then proceeded to gulp down some ice cream. Well, that little boy ate a bit too much but & got sick. I do believe his little belly hurt a some also because he was a bit whoozy in the evening. He did sleep well last night. Today his third tooth has popped out up top. It’s so cute.
Bean enjoyed being called a four year old girl all day, again, & school went on smoothingly.
Derek’s ankle is healing slowly but surely, the rain held off today & I finished my skirt! The next step is to cut out the next one & get it put together. I am so excited. Ok, now Super Sweet just woke up & don’t know why so I best tend to him.

She has waited a long time for this day, it’s the grown up age. She is so full of life, love & laughter. If I had to re-name her it would be Joy because that is what she brings to our lives. I can hardly believe she’s 4!!! Where has the time gone? I have cherished each day with her & am so thankful that the Lord has seen fit to bless our lives with another year of hers.
I remember very well my first thought upon seeing her, of hearing that she was a girl, of watching her siblings flock over her. Oh, what would life be like without her? Of my four littles she resembles her father the most in all things. They share a love of food, they are very good story tellers, they are happy people, they are laid back (until pushed too far then very explosive), they are passionate, they are funny, they could never deny belonging to each other. Maybe that’s what endures her so much to me, she is just like her father. She is my Sweet Jumpin’ Bean, my Bethany Aileen!

My children are growing so fast, as if they are the only ones. Some days it seems so slow & other days I wonder when they got so big. With Super Sweet it is fun to watch with different eyes. There are 3 years between him & Bean & it almost seems like a lifetime. The first three being in less then 4 years really went fast & blurry many days, but I wouldn’t change it for a thing. You can look at Super’s upper gums & see the top front teeth about to burst on out. Once this boy gets going there is no stopping him. I sometimes forget how old he is because he is small for his age & compared to the others, but he’s a man on the move & full of life & laughter. I didn’t think anyone could smile more then Bean could, I was wrong.
I really enjoy my new camera too. As we waited for Derek to finish up with work yesterday I let the three big ones run around a small training course & got lots of good shots. What makes it even better is that I was holding Super the entire time & the quality wasn’t effected. I didn’t have to run around after the wild ones either, the camera zooms real nicely from far off so it looks like I was up close. Now that is technology for the good. Our weather has been nice & cold the past two days & I have been listening to my neighbor work on his horseshoes. Tink, tink, tink. When I went for milk this morning he was re-shoeing one of the horses front hoof. Too bad the children weren’t with me, they would have enjoyed that alot.
Super just pulled himself up to his knees while holding a box. Great job! Unlike the other places we’ve lived with babies, this house really doesn’t have much for him to grab hold of in his playing areas. Must make the most of what he has. Ok, so now he’s pulling everything out of the box. I don’t want to pick all that up & he’s laughing at me when I speak to him about it. That’s not right. They are so cute at this age & exploring. Off to tidy & put clean sheets on the bunks.

Super Sweet has another tooth! This one is on the bottom left. It is so cute too. Right now we are at the library conducting school, wasting time. Dh can’t drive his car, sprained ankle, so we drove him down today. I sure am glad that there is somethng for us to do to waste these hours. We get to do it all over again tomorrow too. Hopefully by Monday he’ll be able to drive. If not, he can just drive the van down.
Super is rolling around the floor now & Bean is having a good time with him. She woke up singing this song this morning, “Four more days until I’m four!”. I wonder if she is excited.
We have a lovely rainy day today but that’s ok too. We must need it. My 3 children have been very successful in making this room a mess as well. I am rambling on & on right now, maybe I should read a book. Better yet, maybe I should read the directions to my new camera that I got yesterday. I need to learn how to work it before Monday. It’s only 4 days away according to the news flash. I sure will miss these days whenthey are gone. Maybe I should have more littles to make it last longer.

Talk about a wild weekend. This past Friday morning we were headed out the door to some friends to play when the phone rang. It was our friends inviting us to stay to dinner. I called dh & gave him the directions & we were on our way. During the course of dinner we got to talking about our weekend plans. As it turned out they invited us to join them on a trip, day trip to either Worms or Wittenburg. We let the Lord decide & casted lots. To Wittenburg we would go.
We left their house at 845pm heading for home & the promise to meet in the morning. The hour came & we were off on our three hour trip to Wittenburg. We arrived 6 hours later. One hour was spent to eat lunch & socialize. Two hours are dedicated to road work. When our caravan stopped after 4 1/2 hrs for gas we noticed just how close to Berlin we were. (Normally I would consult a map before going anywhere new, but this time I just went witht he flow.) The possibility of staying over & seeing Berlin the next day, Sunday, was mentioned.
Upon arrival to Wittenburg we found the church where Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the door (it has been replaced with a bronze door with them engraved on it). Took some pictures, walked up a tower that was attached & then into the building itself. It was very pretty inside. Martin Luther is buried under the pulpit. The benches were comfy & the pipe organ was grand! After the Reformation began this church left the Roman Catholic denomination to become protestant. We attended a worship service in English, another unplanned event, & then off to eat. Once we found a place a stay over the children, 5 of them, ran around their last bit of energy before passing out.
Sunday morning found us having breakfast & heading to Berlin. We found the Bradenberg gate & parked nearby. It wasn’t that far of a walk really, not yet anyway. We got a couple of postcards, a stamp just like what was used before the Wall came down. Saw the holocaust memorial (it was very modern), saw parts of the Wall that were left up in the original places as a reminder, you could also see tracks on the ground of where the Wall once was. It was a really neat experience. Lunch was a bust, we got lost in a park trying to get back to our cars & used the bushes before heading towards home, now 7 1/2hrs away.
I could complain about all that didn’t go right. We got turned away from the first two hotels. We didn’t have spare clothes or a toothbrush, children had to sleep on the floor, we got lost in Berlin, some of the site were hard to find, lunch was a bust, there were so many people, we got lost in a fog on the way home. But I am going to focus on the great things that happened. The Lord kept us & our cars safe the entire time. We were with wonderful, God loving friends. No one was sick, we found a hotel that wasn’t expensive, the gas stations were at the perfect place, it didn’t rain & it wasn’t overly cold. Berlin is a nice place to tour at least once, we saw some great historical places & taught a lot of school, parking in Berlin is free, we had snacks to eat along the way, I am even more thankful for the “large” city of Wiesbaden after going to Berlin (it really is huge & I lived in London so I know big city). We got home safely & it only took 3 mins. to get back on track in the fog. Our God is so great! He made a beautiful world to see & enjoy & it will only get better in eternity. He gave us the opportunity to see an important place in history for the Refomation & a place that was divided so long in this country over political power. I feel very blessed to have been able to go on this three hour tour that turned into a weekend. And the next time we go some where with our friends, even a day trip, I am taking overnight supplies because I never know what God has in store for me.

A couple of weeks ago Super Sweet lifted up his arm to his dad. I guess it could be called a wave or a salute. But yesterday, it was a wave indeed. His crib sits in front of my dresser so sometimes I stand him up to see the pretty baby. As we were looking at this baby I waved to him. Don’t you know that Super waved at the baby also, 3 times. I love how babies just open & close their little fists as a wave. To celebrage his tooth I gave him some pizza for supper. He ate like a champ, or like any child of mine would. When it comes to pizza we can hold our own around here. If ever a baby came into this house & didn’t want any you would know that it does not belong to me.
I like pizza. In fact, the other year we went to Italy for a few days & that is what the littles & I had for lunch everyday. It may taste different in other areas of Italy, but the region I was in was top notch. In all my travels I have yet to taste anything that compares, and I’ve been around. I asked dh if it would be wrong for me to buy tickets to Italy for supper. He said no. It’s a 1hr, 20 min drive to airport, & 1hr, 30min flight to Italy, 10 min drive to resturant & if planned properly, less then $200 for the tickets. Now, is it justifiable? Probably not so I haven’t done it yet, but wouldn’t that be a great surprise one day?
I think I’ll just save the money for something a little more grand…like a house with a few acres out in the country. I can justify that purchase very easily because then I’d be making the most out of the land & not relying on the economic machine to feed my family. Using the land to provide for our families is a Biblical mandate that we no longer adhere to & that never leads to anything good. Satan has succeeded in attacking the family by destroying the family farms, this also has led to the decline in morals because now children are being sent off for the “education”. I don’t like the way the government is giving away money, taxpayers money to help a bunch of rich guys while the rest continue to struggle. There is nothing wrong with these companies going under, they should for all the extravagant pay checks they get. Our God is judging our country & like Rome, we are falling.

Can you guess what is here? Ok, I’ll tell. Super Sweet has his first tooth! It popped out last night after supper. It’s just as great as when Big E got his first tooth, only now he’s loosing his & has already got 4 “grown up” teeth. As if that isn’t enough, Peanut has a loose tooth. Where has all the time gone? I am so excited about these lands marks & so sad at the same time. Bean wants to know when her teeth will fall out. I told her to wait a few more years. Right now she is so focused on her upcoming birthday that it’s amazing she can think of anything else. It is not easy for her to have a birthday at the end of the year with the two oldest being in January & February. At least now Super is with her at the end, maybe that will ease her suffering.
Last year my folks embarked on a grand adventure way out of their comfort zone. They went white water rafting, a few times. We have pictures of these events & their faces are priceless! After seeing these my children invented a rafting game. I tell you this because they are playing it now, with their father. He is perfect for feeding their imaginations & grossing all of us out. They strap something to their head for a helmet, sometimes a bicycle helmet or napkin, grab a sword or stick for the oar & hop on the bed. DH rocks the bed, yells out like he’s afraid, makes noises like he’s sea sick & they tumble off of the bed. Sometimes they grab a foot to keep someone from falling in. (That actually happened to my mom so it has to be in the game.) Well, a few minutes ago Big E shouts that he is stuck. Like any good father, Derek laughed a lot then recued the boy. Since the bed is moved off of the wall a little Big E slipped between it & the bed & instead of hitting the floor his helmet got lodged. I bet it was funny to see, I thought it was funny to hear.
We started week number 3 of sickness in our home on Sunday. I am not happy about that since I am now a patient. Bean joined in last night & that has been lovely. My dad left out on Sunday & drove home last night (4 hours mind you), with the sickness he picked up at our house. Poor guy, great sport. I guess all of the assissting me tend to sick people & doing the laundry took it’s toll on him. I hope he doesn’t give it to my mom. Thankfully once the fever breaks the whole thing lasts about 24hrs, the bad part is that you still have to rest for a few days or it will come back. Happened to Peanut because she wouldn’t listen. Worst part of all of this is that we didn’t get to go apple or pumpkin picking with my dad, we have to cancel a playdate & miss a homeschool event. I’ll be glad when it’s over but thankful that it isn’t anything worse. With that I best tend to the Super Sweet & that cute little tooth.

Our house has been one of sickness for 2 weeks now. Don’t know what has come through here, but it is ruthless. My dh usually gets a cold every year & the littles & I get stuffy noses at worse. Not this year. Dh got mono, Big E, Super Sweet & Peanut got some 20hr bug (high fever, chills, no food) & then started to mend. Peanut also has a cough but seems to be shedding that as well. Bean is hanging tough & hope that contiues & Super Sweet got some gross junk in his nose & eyes. It is diminishing & his breathing is improving, but thankfully it didn’t reach his lungs! I have a headache & am tired. Praise God that I am still up & running & that my dad has been here to help. He keeps the laundry going & there is no price tag I can put on that. He learned to work my machine last year when he came to help after Super Sweet was born. The Lord always sends help when we need it.
I am in the process of making another skirt & hope to have it finished to wear tomorrow, it’s really pretty. Some kind of brown wool my mom picked up.
I am looking forward to the backery truck coming in 30 mins so I can eat & go to sleep. Did I mention I’m tired? I’ve been up since I don’t know. Went to bed at 930pm, slept an hour, dozed off & on until 12, then started dozing again around 1am & have been going strong since 3am. Come on morning nap! Big E thinks naps are the worse thing I can make him do, but since he & the sisters have been up since 530am they too will find their beds early.
I am so thankful that my problems are so small & fleeting & that the Lord is with  me through it all. I could never function & care for children without His holding me up & pushing me onwards!