my arch enemy, the stomach bug

last night, clara joy woke up vomitting. i deserted my husband and puking daughter and fled to the guest room in the hopes that i wouldn't phsyche myself into throwing up too. i'm so nauseous lately that listening to someone throw up is almost unbearable. thankfully, matt handled it well and like the great hubby he is, he woke up with her throughout the night and cleaned up as needed. thankfully, i slept and didn't spend the night throwing up! i woke up discouraged though, thinking of the doom that now lay over matt's spring break and the next several days for us. i confess that i am very afraid of stomach bugs. i know they pass quickly and that God has not forgotten us, but i struggle with even the thought that my nausea is possibly going to get worse. i spent the morning feeling depressed and talking to God about it. i snuggled up in bed while the kids watched a movie and rested. i checked email and facebook. i read an update from a missionary couple in Japan, the aoyagis and a woman they met who had lost all three of her children during the earthquake/tsunami. i read about an officer who was shot and killed this morning in chattanooga. suddenly, i was thankful. when i think about my four healthy children and my husband who is alive and well it doesn't seem to matter so much about stomach bugs or nausea. i am blessed and humbled that i have been so fearful with so little to be afraid of and so much to praise God for.

a fresh start?

after some deliberation on the merits and challenges of facebook, i have decided to try to blog again, even though i have surely lost my followers for good. it serves as a kind of journal for me, and with as much as i am cooped up lately, i think this will be good for me.

as for why i have been cooped up, i'm pregnant with our fifth baby. this was a huge adjustment for us, because we had hoped to be done having children. God has better plans though and we are thankful that He's in charge. right now, i'm 12 weeks and counting. it's been a rough transition so far. i've been very nauseous and unable to keep up with much of our busy family life. thankfully, we made the choice to put our older two in school this year, so i'm only home with two during the day and i'm able to rest. if we were homeschooling, i'm pretty sure things would be a little bit crazier around here.

we sold our house last may. i wish i had been blogging then, because i would have posted some pictures of the house finished. it was beautiful. the only mistake we made with it was buying a smaller house to start with. it was very hard to outgrow it and leave. we love the house we're in now. it's much larger and older, with so many amazing little details, but nothing will ever feel the same as the house my husband put so much loving care into. maybe this house will feel more like home to me when our new baby comes home to it. there's such a connection with the place you have brought your babies home to. i can't think about the old house without seeing snapshots of my life as a mother in it flashing through my mind. i used to feel so cramped and crowded there, with laundry piled up and children running laps around the house. it was our life though, our family. there were messes and accidental art on the walls and delicious smells and happy screeches.

thankfully, our family is a family in this big beautiful house too. we have suddenly found a way to make every square inch of a large house messy too! we have lovely neighbors, old and young. we have flowers blooming, little friends knocking on the door, and thankful hearts. i suppose these are precious things, aren't they?

still here and busy as usual

well we've gone through a long season of illness and sleeplessness. that and everything else that goes into keeping a family of six running has left me too tired to write much. the idea of catching up is so daunting, that i'm just going to start with today.

during bean's morning nap today, dana and i started our school routine with a half-day. we worked on reading and handwriting this morning and as odd as it sounds, we both needed it. i loved being able to connect with him again and it's so satisfying for him and for me to see how much he's learning. even though we haven't done any formal learning times over Christmas break, he's been stealing away with books here and there and spelling out words for me to help him with when he gets stuck. reading isn't something i have to motivate him to do anymore. he loves it and i'm so thankful that i get to watch it all happen.

while dana did some independent work, janie and i filled out our calendar for january, drew a picture of the weather for her weather journal, and started her work on /i/ for this week. in the meantime, clara joy insisted that she get to do school too. i dug out some handwriting and early phonics sheets from an early learning workbook and she happily filled out 10 pages worth of information. she loves worksheets, which of course makes things easier for me when i'm working with the big kids.

later, we went to a friend's house for a playdate. the kids had big fun dumping out their friends' toys and making huge messes, while i got to catch up with a friend i see far too little of lately.

thankfully, tonight we're eating leftovers, so i'm currently sitting in the kitchen freezing my hiney off, waiting for matt and janie to get home so we can microwave some leftover goodness for dinner.

and i'm writing in lowercase... maybe it will save me time? maybe i won't spend so much time searching for the caps key? or mistakenly hitting it when i shouldn't?

some progress:)

Again, this is just a small update...

I finally got my pants' size down to a single digit number! I'm glad that all of the early morning trips to the Y and south beachin' it have paid off. I've indulged a little bit over Thanksgiving, but I'm going to keep at it and hopefully keep those pesky pounds from coming back.

So I'm pretty busy lately and our hard drive is dead, but I'm going to try to leave little posts here and there when I get a chance. I've just started the south beach diet, which is my first attempt ever at a formal diet. My thirties haven't been very good for the bottom or waistline. Ahem...

I'm encouraged about my progress so far, but would love to hear some suggestions from anyone who has tried this diet or a similar one. Did you have any favorite recipes or websites that were helpful?

Stay tuned for another brief and choppy update...

a good reminder borrowed from another woman's blog

“Jehoiachin was not sent away from the king’s palace with a store to last him for months, but his provision was given him as a daily pension (2 Kings 25:30). Herein he well pictures the happy Position of all the Lord’s people. A daily portion is all that a man really wants. We do not need tomorrow’s supplies; that day has not yet dawned, and its wants are as yet unborn. The thirst which we may suffer in the month of June does not need to be quenced in February for we do not feel it as yet. If we have enough for each day as the days arrive, we shall never know want. Sufficient for the day is all that we can enjoy…You have no store of strength. Day by day must you seek help from above…In Jesus all needful things are laid up for you…enjoy your continual allowance. ~C.H.Spurgeon

a little something new

trying to spice up the old bloggy :)

Matt, Papi, and kids at blue hole

click here to see the photos