The Somero Saga: February update/Celeste turns 2

It seems like I usually remember to only write things when I'm struggling, and not when things are going well (for the most part). If things are going well, you see recipes and health articles; if things are going poorly, you see my struggles on this blog. Anyhow, today I thought I'd just do a family update and things are going well. Also, this pregnancy I've needed a nap pretty much every day, so my writing time is taken up with sleep instead. If given the opportunity to sleep, I try not to miss out (unless something super fun is on the agenda).

Yesterday we had a busy day. We got up, ate breakfast and then headed to the midwife's for a checkup. Baby is head down, lots of fluid, placenta in good position, blood pressure and sugars all normal. And she's still a girl! (Laura always checks, just in case previous views were wrong). We then visited a bit, bought a bunch of apples from a roadside stand and came home (stopping for lunch on the go on our way) and came home to my friend Janine and her kids coming over for a visit. We visited and the kids played all afternoon and then had Kirk's dry rub chicken legs (drumsticks) for supper (with rice and baked yams) and then I took the two oldest boys to wrestling practice while Greg stayed home with the little 3 and they had a bubble bath and watched some Winnie the Pooh. Being at wrestling is pretty low stress, although baby gets uncomfortable when I sit too long in any place, so moving around is necessary. Home to bed.

Today we stayed home and I paid the bills that were piling up, and tried to sort out our finances. We recently were able to reach one of our financial goals, so it was time to revamp the budget, re-prioritize the funds and see where to go from here. We've been accumulating lists over the last few weeks, so today I put them together so that we can decide what to do with what. Greg has a big list of expensive things (bigger van, home repairs, yard work, etc.) and I have a small list of less costly things (vision and dental checkups for kids, overdue passport renewal, storage shelves/cupboards, etc.). We also (sadly) plan to sell our pickup and station wagon since they don't get used near enough to justify keeping them. Anyone want to buy? Lots of changes in the near future, but it's exciting too!

Today we also went for a long walk in the sunshine, which does oodles for our mindsets. I've wondered how going for a walk cures much of the kids' behavior problems, but I recently realized it has more to do with the time we spend together than it does with the fresh air and exercise. As a homeschooling mom of many, I am constantly directing someone to do something. Just as I get tired of this, they do as well. When we go for a walk, we can leave the housework, the schoolwork, the long lists of things to do behind us and just enjoy each other's company. I may have to remind a toddler to stay off the road now and then, but other than that, we just visit. Lately our subject of focus has been praise and worship of God. We've been thinking up as many songs as we can about the adoration of God, and so we sang some of them on our walk today. We also have been reading and rereading Psalms that also show how great our God is. I've been asking the kids to try to recognize (specifically rather than generically) how God shows Himself in their little (and bigger) lives. It's refreshing to hear their answers, but also full of great teaching moments to learn to recognize rather than overlook His goodness in the mundane, the everyday aspects of normal life.

How to save on laundry: buy your daughters dresses that they love, and they will wear them every day. 2 Halloweens ago I found a hot pink dress at Goodwill for Elise and she has worn that dress probably 85% of the days following. She only wears different ones when I request that she does, for town and church and such. Now she found a Snow White dress at the Kids Resale shop, so has been wearing it every day. She does have a Cinderella one as well (size 5-6) which Celeste has adopted, so I have 2 princesses tromping around here on a daily basis. The Cinderella one is much to big for Celeste, so she trips on it pretty frequently also, but oh well. She's happy being like big sister. She's getting quite a mind of her own about clothes, which is rather wearying as well, because she's also learned to undress herself many times each day and then needs help putting her clothes back on many times each day!

This is our little 2 year old birthday girl. She wanted an "brella" for her birthday just like Isaac's Thomas the Train one, so we were able to find her a Tinkerbell one that fit the bill and she bought it with some money from Great Grandma D. She was pretty thrilled. She is also talking like crazy, and we love hearing most of what comes out of her mouth. She is trying to be quite bossy, and two year old-ish, so we're doing our best to curb that before it gets out of hand.

Celeste loves to sing, and we often hear her singing away while she's playing (isn't she too young for that?). We have a little Golden Hymns book (from when Greg was little, my family had the same one) and so she loves "Sunbeam" and "Jesus Loves Me" out of that. She also likes "Down in my Happy (Heart)" and "Knock, knock, knock (Behold, behold)".