Tonight, my good-natured grumbling got a check. I have nursery duty rotation on Wednesday nights and have been doing it with a friend for well over a year now. I got to know this particular friend when she started coming to our church almost three years ago and I greeted her at the door (another nursery duty I volunteer for) and saw she had a daughter the same age as Liam. I directed her to our Sunday school class and talked a little bit. She said I dragged her in there and have held them captive…so be it…gotta get people in church somehow.

Anyway, as I got to know her and her husband, I soon found out that the “daughter” she had was not really hers but a foster child and that they were foster parents. I got so excited about that, but my heart ached when she told me why they were foster parents. She was unable to have children.

Since the time they first came to our church, we’ve met many a kid through them. And, they were blessed with a finalization on a adoption of a beautiful daughter who is a mere four days younger than Josiah (she’s adorable I must say…although very much a toddler as is Josiah).

Back to tonight…We love doing nursery together so we can catch up and talk and grumble about our misbehavin’ kids…and what cute things they are doing, etc. Anyway, tonight Ceili Rain decided to do her normal evening acrobatics of flipping completely around. It kind of takes my breath when she does this but I’m getting used to it. I remarked about how I can feel her twisting and turning completely around. K got completely silent and then asked, “Is it amazing being able to feel another living human being inside you?”

Wow! Definitely puts my past grumblings in perspective. I thought about it and thought about how amazing it truly is and what a blessing I’ve had to feel not one nor two but five little ones moving and grooving inside me. And with Ceili Rain, not just her kicks, but her pushes and flips and turns. I am so blessed and wish so much I could give that same feeling to some of my friends who long to be pregnant either again or at all.

We’ve been witness to a lot of parents losing their children, babies really, lately, and my heart aches so much for them. I’ve taken this pregnancy at less of a grumbling stage. Even when Ceili Rain uses my bladder as a trampoline, I just grin and giggle and rush to the bathroom…I think I took that more for granted my last pregnancies. Not this time. Life is too precious.

So, when people look at me sympathetically and ask how I’m feeling I’m not lying when I say great. I really do feel good and not huge and not bloated and not uncomfortable (unless you see me flying to the bathroom…you know what’s going on then)…I just feel blessed.

One bag of dried beans does not make the same amount as a can of beans. Sixty four ounces of dried beans made about TEN cans of beans!

Totally didn’t know that. I only needed 140 ounces of beans for white chicken chili…I got more than I bargained for…but now I have beans ready to go in the freezer for that ever impressive Great Northern Bean side dish (always a fav in my house, by the way…I hope you realize I’m joking).

Just so you know…

I’ve been reading Angie Smith’s blog since the spring. Her husband is a singer with Selah. She is real, funny, and full of God’s grace. This morning, I was reading a post about praying for our kids. I thought this was great, and worthy of posting a link here. She basically has short prayers she says for her kids as they go through out the day doing normal acitvities.

So visit her site…but I have to warn you…it’s addicting to read her stuff.

Bring the Rain

I’m wondering if people realize that our next president is not, in fact, black…nor is he full-blooded African-American…he’s bi-racial. His mama was/is Caucasian. And his father is not African-American. He’s African. Let’s get this straight people!!! However, historically, he is the first bi-racial president in office. And yes, I consider that to be historical…and that’s about it.

Here’s something my mom shared with me from someone she heard yesterday. Apparently a speaker made a statement about thinking about what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s reaction would be when he learned that people voted for the color of a person’s skin and not his character. I believe the speaker my mom heard surmised that it would set back all of the work that Dr. King strove for…where it’s not the color of a person’s skin but who they are that counts. Personally, that’s what Mark and I had discussed earlier…we didn’t notice his skin color but what he said (and mostly what he didn’t say) he would do as president.

We’re praying that God would work to protect and lead our family and our country during these next four years…and of course, since He is Sovereign, His will will be done, no matter who’s in charge of our our country.

‘Nuff said about this election. Feel free to stop reading my blog if you must or just send comments my way (remember they’re moderated…my blog/my prerogative).

is home. We got it today. I’m so excited. It’s a 12 passenger van. Crimson, as I like to say. The only down side is that it’s the same color as another family at our church, but theirs is bigger (#12 is due in November) and has a different passenger door on it…so it’s a little different Cindy!

Anyway, God has really provided for us and we feel so blessed. He has guided our steps in this purchase and we have (okay some of us better than others…Mark over me) patiently waited for this van. It was a private sale and we had to drive to Atlanta to test drive it last Monday. However, we didn’t have the paperwork to complete the sale, nor could we pick up the van until the next week with our Canada trip. The van did not sale, even with two other interested buyers later in the week last week. Mark was able to contact the seller on Monday when we arrived in D.C. (another story) and confirmed the go ahead with it.

Mark drove the van home and said it handles really well. I’m hoping for a little practice before striking out on my own. We’ll see how the kids wake up. If I don’t get practice before my doctor’s appointment, I’ll just make sure I park where no one can hit me and where I can’t hit anyone.

Canada pictures coming sometime tomorrow, with everything else!

Just checked the box office ratings and Fireproof came in 4th. It grossed 6.5 million. I believe that their previous movie (the Kendrick brothers/Sherwood Baptist), Facing the Giants, grossed a total of 10 million. Wow! What a blessing! Don’t forget to go see it if you haven’t already. Highly recommended!!

More later. Battling a cold (with a yucky headache) so taken it easy this afternoon. Stay tuned…

Got our stuff at the landscape place today and hope to have it in the ground next week. Definitely count on “after” pictures but I’m infamous for forgetting “before” ones.

Mark and I just got back from a date to see the new movie Fireproof. This was a great movie! The best role Kirk Cameron has played in a long time (except for his father role and his work with The Way of the Master…but those aren’t acting roles). Anyways, it was really, really good and the best movie from the Kendrick brothers. Very well done. Very well acted (especially since the overwhelming majority of the actors were volunteers). I didn’t notice the “cheese” that can go along with Christian films which was wonderful. So if you can go, go. Mark and I really thought we were going to have to wait to see it next weekend. We had plans with some friends but last minute a child got sick on Thursday. While she was better today, we didn’t want to risk any of ours (or me, which is always the case with the stomach bug) to get sick. So, a friend watched our kids and we’ll watch hers tomorrow when she goes to see the movie with her husband. Fair trade…’cept I have twice as many kids as she does!

Anyway, after the movie, we headed to get something to eat and went to the closest Subway since that isn’t really a “kid” place to eat (meaning my kids wouldn’t enjoy it but Mark and I do). The employee preparing the sandwiches was unbelievably rude. The couple in front of us scooted down to the middle of the display case and the employee all but yelled at them to move back and told us not to move. When she finished with the customers ahead of the couple in front of us, she came back to them and continued to berate them about moving ahead. She told them that they needed to stay at the front of the case so she could prepare their sandwiches as they placed the order. I asked Mark if he thought maybe her neck and body were messed up so she couldn’t turn the less than 45 degrees needed to talk to the customers. She continued that the only reason to move down the line was if (and only if) they were ordering a cookie. At that point, I looked at Mark and told him that I didn’t want to pay to be yelled at. I’d only do that at one place…The Varsity, in Atlanta, because their chili cheese dogs and orange drinks are sooo worth it! He agreed and we left and ate a nice Southwestern style restaurant across the street (which was understaffed and a little behind but good and they were decent). So there’s a bad review for now. If you live near me, email me and I’ll tell you which Subway it was. Not all of them are bad, I know. I’ve eaten at some really nice ones, but this one…the employee was so rude. That’s hard to take and I didn’t feel like being rude since we’d just come from a Christian movie and all (I’m trying, just keep praying for me ya’ll!).

Champ, our youngest of two cats, has been acting really weird lately. Keep in mind that he’s around 11 years old…no spring chicken, so he’s set in his ways. Well, Saturday night, he came to our room about every two hours to meow. Not just once, but several times…enough to get me awake.

So Sunday night, not to be outdone by his antics the previous night, Champ decided to sleep right up against Mark and purr every time I moved. He hasn’t slept with us in several years (at least since kids). And his purr sounds like a freight train (especially when it’s right near your ear.

Then to top it off, last night, he decided that right smack on my head is the best place to sleep. I’m just not a cuddler, especially with a cat that has not really wanted to cuddle much at night in a loooong time. I also get hot really easily at night. This didn’t bode well with me, and I tried to move him three times (he was also purring right on my head) before I gave up and flipped around. That worked fine until something woke me up and I panicked trying to figure out who moved the door and what happened to our bathroom. I was also incredibly hot because my feet were not next to the fan (yes, I know I’m weird, T can back me up though!). So, I answered the call of the bladder and returned to sit on the edge of the bed for a little while until I cooled off and decided the best option was to lay on the floor. As I got a pallet made on the floor, Champ decided it was time to get up and roam the house. I got to sleep in bed peacefully until Mark left for work and Champ decided that it was time to drive me crazy again.

I haven’t had this little sleep since Zoe was a newborn and had colic! If I don’t get sleep tonight, I may just go a little more crazy!!