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Spottings of unidentified foreign objects falling from the sky have been reported in our area.  It is the first of these spottings in months, possible years…no one can recall because their eyeballs are fried from the recent intense heat and sunlight.  The objects are falling from strange dark grey creatures that seem to be floating. 

All humans are being asked to stay indoors until the objects can be identified by local officials.  "There is no need to panic at this time," says one official.  "We believe that they are friendly," says another.

THIS JUST IN…

Historians have been up all night researching and are now saying that the objects have been seen before.  And that they actually have names for them.

The objects are called RAIN.  The creatures from which they fall are known as CLOUDS.

Again, folks, there is no need to panic.  Do not be alarmed.  History tells us that these things can actually be good for the earth.

Stay tuned…

This is what we spent yesterday doing:

Trying out mattresses!  After 4 stores we finally decided on one and it is, we’re proud to say, used as the Westin Heavenly Bed.  We’re hoping it will be heavenly for us.  I’m embarassed to admit it in public, but Derek and I have been sleeping in different bedrooms since mid-July!  Our ultra firm queen size mattress just wasn’t cutting it anymore.  I went upstairs one night when I was sick and couldn’t sleep and it was all over.  The guest room upstairs has a double bed with a pillow top and 400-count sheets.  I told Derek, "adios!".  So he knew that in order to get me back downstairs he was going to have to get me something ultra plush.  Plus, he wakes up stiff and miserable anyway.  Never buy a firm mattress…even if you’re newlywed and poor. 

Also, here’s a picture of Caleb on his first day of school.  I can’t believe how big he looks in these pictures.  Sadly, he had strep throat on his offical first day…YUCK!  But he recovered in time for Thursday’s second day.

WE made it!

We’re 1/2 way there.

1/2 way done.

1/2 way to seeing our new son.

I should say it’s bittersweet…that I’m sad that the first 20 weeks of what will probably be my last pregnancy are over.  But I’m not!  I hated all 20 of them!

But I’m happy now.  I’m feeling better.  Baby is doing flips and kicks and all kinds of acrobatics and we’re all enjoying that.

And I’m getting excited to welcome a baby to our home.   A new brother for the boys.  A new life.  I’m actually looking forward to the next 20 weeks.  All of the holidays and cooler weather and a growing belly. 🙂

And I’ve been eyeing nursery bedding.  Derek looks at me a little funny with this selection.  The men at my house are "all boy".  There’s no gray when it comes to their manlihood (or so they like us to think).  We’ve always had BLUE nurseries, primary colors…MANLY colors.  But this time, I just want something "baby-like"…neutral.  Not to diminish any manliness, just to enjoy the softness of baby-dom.  We’ll see.  You can take a peek here (click on it).  I love that yellow chenille and the black-and-white gingham.

So…here’s to 20 more weeks of anticipation.

So, Derek got invited to a marketing yuppity-yup dinner last night.

At Maggiano’s (an Italian place that I happen to really enjoy).

I had Minute Rice and Ranch Style beans from the can (lovely, I know…still struggling getting motivated with the whole cooking thing).

He came home with a free iPod nano…a little gift they just happened to be giving out.

And a $25 gift card for free iTunes.

I got two kids crying "I miss daaaaddddyyyyy" at bedtime, and Larry King Live.

Where’s the LOVE?!

Sometimes, and only a very few sometimes, the corporate world looks very appealing.

sidenote: I told him that after the pathetic evening I had it would only be right of him to share 1/2 the iTunes with me.  he agreed, reluctantly. 🙂

Hard to believe it’s been a year since I wrote those sad Kindergarten posts!  Here we are again…1st day of school in the big 1st grade.  He’s taller and more confident.  But had nightmares last night about sharks attacking him…hmmm…what could that mean?  And it came on the heels of him being worried about the "bully" of his Kindergarten class last night.  Poor kid!  I’m gonna miss him…he brings a lot of conversation and laughter to our home and right now it’s just me and Caleb and it’s QUIET…very quiet.  But in some ways that’s good.  I haven’t had a nap in weeks because Jacob is so "noisy" (in a good way, of course).  I could use a nap.  But he’s a great helper around the house, so now I’m stuck making lunch for Caleb and me by myself.  This is going to be a big year for him.  He’s reading everything he can get his hands on and I know pretty soon he’ll be a fast reader, mastering chapter books even.  He started piano lessons last week and is so excited about practicing and learning to play…let’s hope that will last for a while.  He loves to learn and school is his "playground" – friends, fun, learning.  You can see it on his face…it’s going to be a great year!

Ok…so here it comes, another fun year of school.  Jacob’s thrilled and I’m ready for him to have some more structure.  This summer has been hard on all of us and it feels good to be putting it behind us.

Tonight we’ll go to Meet the Teacher Night.  There will be sign-up sheets galore that will be staring me in the face asking me to put my name on them.  So I’m doing some self-affirmations today…they go like this.

"Just because no one’s name is on the paper does not mean you have to put yours there."

"There is no need to feel guilt…you are having a baby.  You have enough guilt as it is…why add more?"

"No you don’t need to justify why you’re not putting your name on every paper just because you’ve been sick and in bed.  Saying NO is enough."

Those are just a few of my pep talks today!  Never mind the fact that I am the PTA Historian and have to attend monthly Board Meetings and take pictures at all PTA events and tonight I’ll be manning the Membership Table at Meet-the-Teacher Night!  I still worry that the urge will come and I won’t be armed and ready.  For all I know they need a Facilities Manager to clean the toilets this year. 🙂  And no matter what, I will NOT look at the marquee tonight.

Let me start out by saying that I won’t be able to post any pictures for a little while.  I was hoping to do this post with a scanned picture of our ultrasound pictures, but my computer monitor is on the fritz and my repair man (Derek) is in Vancouver on a business trip, so I’m on the kids computer upstairs with no scanner.  Bummer.  You’ll just have to imagine the pictures until I can get them up.

I will preface this announcement with a story (make you wait for a little while longer).  The other day I asked Jacob what he thought the baby was…boy or girl.  We’ve had this conversation a million times this summer.  But this time he responded, "well, I think Heavenly Father heard my prayers and I think it’s going to be a girl."  Sigh.  He prayed for about 6 months earlier this year for a baby…specifically a baby sister.  This child prays with more faith than all of us combined.  What Jacob asks for in prayer, Jacob usually gets.  So he had me feeling pretty confident about our chances. 

So when we saw IT yesterday…you know, the little turtle between the legs…we were all a little surprised.  It was definitely not a little Clara (the name we’ve had picked for a girl for years).  As Derek says, "It’s Clarence!"

Jacob looked at me and I pointed to the screen…"Jacob, do you know what that is?"  (please excuse the language here) "Is that a peni, Mom?"  "It sure is, buddy."  He looked hard at the screen and then turned to the doctor and said, "What do you think?"  needing confirmation.  He answered him that it was a boy.  And Jacob smiled at me and nodded his head, and said "it’s OK mom…I’m fine with a boy."

Such a sweetie, that Jacob.  I know it was hard for him, but he was really good about it.  And now he seems thrilled to talk to my belly and call the baby "buddy".  He and I had a long talk yesterday about the fact that we think this baby must be really special.  And must have been sent to our family for a purpose.  I know that God heard our prayers, and just needed to say "nope…not a girl for you".  We’re excited to see this little guy and hopefully come up with a name for him!  Any suggestions would be helpful!

So there you have it…we are members of the 3-boy club.  An elite and special membership only organization.  Its members love fishing, camping, scouting and cars.  They stop for big trucks and tractors, construction vehicles and fire trucks.  They like getting dirty and don’t mind sweat lines on their hats.  They enjoy golf, soccer, baseball and football.  They play hard and work hard.  And best of all they love their mommas.

LUCKY ME.

I don’t have much to report from our trip to Austin…I laid around most of the time, which was nice.  But the boys went with Derek to our family farm, they went to Vacation Bible School, they swam everyday, they went to a minor league baseball game (I went too) and they had an overall great time.  Caleb had his first bout of home sickness…it occurred as we were pulling out of our neighborhood Fri night…strange!  And Jacob had his first experience with a bully…a little girl at VBS who attacked him with her claws and left a large scratch on his back (and this was the day after telling me how mean she had been all week).  But overall it was a relaxing and fun time.

Thanks to Dad and Christy for hosting us for such a long time.

My boys at the Robinson Farm

The boys with their "Papa C"

Jacob’s latest trick – front flips!

J and C with "Mimi"

And I’ll end with these…Derek took these pictures of the lizard at the Farm…they remind me of the Geico "gecko"…doesn’t he look like he has something to say.

Oh…and one more.  We’ve been starved for rain.  And we got about 7 minutes of it yesterday.  The boys took their umbrellas out to the driveway and met our favorite 10-year old neighbor doing the same thing.  You would have thought it was the first time it had ever rained in their lifetime with their enthusiasm!  Too bad we don’t see it more.

Well, today marks the one-year anniversary of this blog.  Pretty sure it hasn’t been any kind of eye opening experience for anyone.  I haven’t said much that is of serious value or worth, to anyone except me maybe.  But it’s been a great way for me to record the everyday blessings of daily life…the little things…the moments…the memories.  I think I will especially appreciate one day the things I’ve written about the kids…the things that I will forget about even though I try so hard not to.  It’s been a great outlet for me.  So here’s to another year of CYB. 

Pics of our trip to follow… 

Derek has fond memories of childhood toys.  We still have all of the Hot Wheels he played with as a kid…and he remembers stories about each one.  ("This one was great in the dirt"…you get the idea).  We also have his Darth Vader carrying case full of all of the original Star Wars action figures.  He’s very reluctant to let the kids play with them…which is a little crazy to me, but heh?!  For a long time he’s been looking for Hot Wheels tracks that you can configure any way you want…nothing pre-fabricated and nothing you have to follow directions on.  He did find them on E-bay…they’re just like the ones he remembers playing with.  They cost a pretty penny, but we got 152 pieces of orange and blue tracks…loop-d-loops and ramps, etc.  He was intending on having them for the Hot Wheels b’day party for Caleb, but the seller was not on the ball.  We got them yesterday and all 3 boys are thrilled.  They got 2 hours of playing time in last night, and the boys have been playing with them since 8 this morning.  And the best part is they’ve only just started with about 20 pieces out of the 152…we’ve got a lot of pieces still to explore!  When was the last time my kids played with any toy for that long, I ask you?!  Vintage really is best!

**Please note:  Caleb – no shirt.

In other news, you’ll all be pleased and surprised to know that this week I made dinner.  After 10 full weeks of not going any where near food, I just up and made dinner.  I’m feeling better!  Nothing gourmet or fancy…apricot chicken, Minute rice and green beans from a can.  But it’s a good start.

**Please note:  Caleb – different day – no shirt!

Caleb is taking a stand against cloth on his abdomen.  He refuses to wear shirts.  I don’t know what to do about it, really.  I’m too tired still to fight him on it.  We were in the car last night at a gas station and ran into a friend…first question from her, "Caleb, where’s your shirt?" 

I’m sad to announce that this is my last day of the summer with hired "help".  We’ve had a teenager from church helping for 7 weeks out of the summer and it has been such a blessing.  I really don’t know what I would have done without it.  Or better yet, what the boys would have done.  I’m thankful for Erin and more recently, her cousin, Renae. 

We’re off to Austin tonight for a week.  The boys are going to go to VBS at my Dad’s church and then swim like crazy at their pool.  We’ll also fit in a trip to the Robinson Farm. 

Adios!