Less Than 24 Hours

Jack took some pictures of my belly this morning.  I guess it is evidence of how much bigger I got this time than with any of the other kids.  (At least it feels that way!)  I looked at these pictures and thought I looked bigger than I realized I did.  It makes me wonder about those people at church today telling me how small I looked and how they didn't think I looked big enough to be having a baby tomorrow...

Last Activity as a Family of 5

 The girls didn't have school on Friday, so we decided to take the kids to the Children's Museum.  They had a great time playing at the different exhibits.  Joseph wanted to go up on the pulley chairs until he actually got a spot, and then he wasn't so sure about the idea!

 The huge bubble was one of Joseph's favorite things to do, although he manages to step in the bubble solution every time! 

Rebecca spent most of her time dressing up in the different costumes.  Unfortunately, most of the outfits are geared toward smaller kids, so there weren't very many outfits for her to try out.

Miriam loved the story time.  She sat and listened to the stories long after the other kids had lost interest and wandered off.

The Pumpkin Patch

 Every year we plant pumpkins in our garden, but only the first year did we get enough pumpkins for all of our kids (and there were only two kids at the time!).  So we still have to take a trip to the local pumpkin patch to pick up some pumpkins.

 Funny, funny.  I still think the pumpkin is bigger than my belly!

 Miriam was trying to smile, but she was weighed down by that heavy pumpkin.

 After we got our pumpkins, Jack took the kids through the corn maze.  They started out planning on going through the shortest of the four, but then somehow got in the longest maze.  Miriam got pretty nervous about having to go 6 miles, so they cut through the corn and got back on the path for the short maze.  Afterward, they read the rules for the corn maze and it specifically prohibits doing this.  Oops.

 We finished off our afternoon by going to the other activities they had there, like the jumping castles and hay maze.  Joseph liked looking at the animals with Jack.  I heard that while they were looking at the pigs, Jack told Joseph that the pigs stink.  So as I was walking with Joseph to the car and asking him about the animals, he told me about the pigs stinking.  Very cute.  He also told me he saw an elephant.  Jack had to explain that the jumping castle he was in had an elephant on it.  Good thing, because I knew there were no elephants in the cages!

A Blessing Fulfilled

When I got pregnant, we were very much aware that due to my history with pregnancy, there was a good chance that I would be on bedrest for an extended period of time.  I tried to do things to minimize this likelihood, but I was still pretty convinced that bedrest was in my future.

At the very beginning of the pregnancy (before we told anyone we were expecting), I was released from my calling as Young Women Secretary and called as Boy Scout Committee Chair.  I figured this was a blessing in that the Young Women's calling would take much more time, and really, without a Boy Scout Committee Chair, life would go on.  There hadn't been an active chair for a while, anyway.

When I was set apart for my new calling, I was told that my health would not impact my ability to perform my calling.  My first thought was not faith-filled, unfortunately.  I thought about how the bishopric member didn't know my circumstance.  The main thing I do is hold a meeting once a month-- how would I do that on bedrest???

Throughout the pregnancy, I had several powerful experiences where the Lord taught me about faith and his power to heal.  I progressed from being convinced that bedrest and complications were inevitable, to understanding that bedrest and medication could be ways that the Lord uses to heal me, to believing that the Lord could even take away my problems.  As I gained faith, I found my pregnancy complications diminishing.

This past Wednesday, I went to my Boy Scout Committee Meeting.  I have had the promise that the Lord made through a bishopric member that didn't know my circumstances fulfilled.  I have been strengthened and healed through these past months.  I know that the Lord knows me and will help me.

Camping

 Jack and I had discussed taking the kids camping all summer.  It just never got beyond the 'discussion' phase of planning.  We knew the kids would have fun, but it is a lot of work and effort for the adults involved.  Then, as Labor Day weekend was approaching, we were trying to think of something fun to do with the kids to finish off the summer.  We talked about taking them to Water World, but I wasn't up to going and Jack wasn't up to taking three kids of different ages and interests by himself.  So Jack called his brother to see if he wanted to come along.  I don't really know how the conversation went, but they ended up planning a camping trip for the next weekend.  

 The kids were so excited to go.  This was their first tent camping experience.  Jack picked the girls up from school and headed straight up to pick David up.  Then they went up the Poudre Canyon to find their campground before it got dark.  Plans went according to schedule, except for one bout of carsickness.  (Notice Miriam is wearing her pajamas...)  The kids had a great time playing in the river, sitting around the campfire and finding out where the trails led.

Camping requires some unexpected events, and this outing was no exception.  Jack reported that the night was frigid, and that if we want to pursue camping as a family hobby, we need new sleeping bags to keep warm.  Luckily he brought an extra sleeping bag!  Breakfast was adventurous because the cooking stove we acquired while Jack was Scoutmaster no longer works.  Luckily the people camping next to them were very generous and let Jack borrow their stove to cook breakfast on.  

                         

When everyone arrived home, the kids were all still bouncing with excitement.  They told me about what a great time they had.  Jack looked exhausted and proceeded to take a nap.

Joseph Smith

While we are reading scriptures as a family, the girls each take turns reading with the family, while Joseph looks through some church-related books that he calls his 'scriptures'.  Last night while we were reading, Joseph came to a picture of the first vision and started saying, "Joseph Smith, Joseph Smith."

Of course, I immediately thought of what an intelligent boy I have, knowing that was a picture of Joseph Smith.  And he is.

After scriptures, we were kneeling to have family prayer when Joseph started naming the family members-- Rebecca Smith, Miriam Smith.  Hmmm, not quite right.  Now we need to have a lesson about what his last name is.  Or maybe Joseph is just setting his sights high...

A Weekend Alone

Jack left for a conference in San Francisco on Saturday, and since taking care of three kids over a long weekend (they had Monday off of school) didn't seem in keeping with 'taking it really, really easy' Jack's parents took the children for the weekend.

So what was I to do for three days, all by myself, without doing too much?

1. I had my good friend Laura over to visit and do a little scrapbooking. 
2. Go out to dinner without any of my children to feed or take care of!
3. Go to the adult session of Stake Conference without having to find a babysitter!
4. Try to catch up on my blogging.
5. Check the children's rooms before I go to bed, even though I know they are safely sleeping at Grandma and Grandpa's house.
6. Visit with Jack without noisy, exuberant children climbing all over me.
7. Slip into a row with only one seat left at Stake Conference.
8. Not worry about the bad influence the children sitting in front of me would be to my children (as they were literally having a fist fight while their parents sat on a different pew from them).
9. Lie on the couch watching BYUTV while I wait for the contractions to slow down.
10. Only reheat leftovers and frozen food to eat.  No cooking at all!

 I found that as I tried to relax during this weekend, I missed the children so much and was excited to have them home, sleeping in their own beds, climbing all over, and being noisy.  I love those kids!  Now I just have to wait a couple days before Jack gets home and we are all together again.