7 Quick Takes. . . almost summer

1) We finally got our garden planted.  I would not say I am a great gardener, but some of my little plants are starting to come up, so I am a little hopeful.  Gordie planted the bulk of the "big garden" and it looks really good.  He got it finished right before our rain yesterday - awesome timing :)

2) I made up the kids' summer school schedule.  Now, before you go all "wow, what a mean mom" on me, I should add that they ASKED for it.  They are super pumped to do Chemistry so I told them they could start as soon as they got all their current school work done and their end-of-the-year-tests. (I have them take a standardized test that is sent in - just so I have some tangible proof that they are not falling way behind.)

We are doing Science, Latin (because we never seem to have time for foreign language during our "regular year"), Spelling (because I skipped it for most of the year), and a few other things to "keep sharp" or "finish up" (such as the "Catholicism" on Samuel's list - that was totally my fault to fall behind as I lost the book for about a month - LOL).

On the same note, I planned out our next few weeks of what we need to get done.  This week we are preparing for our end-of-the-year homeschool presentation.  Next week we have Rebekah's dance recital and all that goes with that.  Then test-week and hello summer school :)

3) Miriam is going on day three of sleeping in a toddler bed in the room with the boys.  It takes her a bit to settle at bedtime, but she does well once she finally falls asleep.  Unfortunately it often takes a trip to her old crib (still set up in Rebekah's room for naps and then eventually for new baby) as "punishment" for a few minutes to get her to realize that sleeping in this new bed is a PRIVILEGE and she needs to follow the "rules" (aka stay in bed and no talking).

4) I am reading Hypnobirthing right now and am finding it EXCEEDINGLY helpful.  Why it has taken me five births to find this book is beyond me, but I am overjoyed to have it now.  There are no classes or anything offered specifically on this method here and the products are pretty pricey, so just reading the book may be as far as I get "officially."  However, I am feeling quite affirmed just reading it as it makes a lot of sense.  And as I reflected back over my past labors, it was interesting to see how I responded to everything - what my "natural instincts" appear to be.  But overall, I would say in the past I have carried A LOT of fear into labor and that is really counterproductive (as is one of the main points of this book) and really not fun, either.  In any case, I'm getting a great sense of peace about this upcoming labor and have some great new "tools and ideas" to try and employ this time.  It also helps to know basically how things happen and what I want to happen and what will probably happen.  In short I'm really feeling like "I got this."

5) Nesting has finally urged me to get our carseats figured out for the new baby.  And it helps that our neighbor kindly donated an extra seat to our cause.  A couple of our seats are expiring soon, so I took those out of the mix and threw in a another booster.  Then I washed all our covers and stuck them all back together.  I am waiting to install the new baby's seat until we get the replacement buckle from Graco (as it was recalled), but I JUST ordered it, so we shall see if it arrives soon enough.

6) I started ANOTHER knitting project.  I really enjoy knitting (even though it frustrates me when I mess up and am unable to fix it) and feel compelled to do so, especially in the last few weeks of pregnancy.  It is very soothing for me.  Anyhow, I found some nice chunky yarn (good for me as I am a real tight-knitter) tucked away in the basement (while looking for something else, of course) and I'm going to try and make a "baby swaddle sock" (basically like a stocking cap - but you stick the baby in it -very handy).

I should add, that I'm only about three rows in and already dropped a stitch, BUT I looked up how to fix it on youtube and managed to pick it back up!  Go me! :)

7) The kids threw a "surprise party" for me today.  It was real sweet.

Here is the table, all set with food.

Samuel and Jacob both hid under the bed and popped out.  Miriam laid down here by them after for a picture.

Rebekah and Paul were hiding in the corner.

Rebekah even came up with a craft - snowflakes!