Sad iPod = Sad Me

Boo hoo. My iPod is sad, and apparently that is a $274.00 repair. Ummm, I can buy one brand new for less than that. So I guess we can say that my iPod has officially bit the dust. Bummer!!

Vacation and Moving

I so enjoyed our time at the beach, and one of the things I enjoyed the most was having a neat, clean "home" to return to each evening. The day we left, we cleaned the whole place so it would be good as new for the next group of relatives coming to stay. It was actually fun cleaning it! It really made me start to think of ways I can make our actual home feel sort of like a vacation home. Obviously, our real home holds so much more stuff than a vacation home does, but there are ways to make that stuff organized and cute. Like, the books next to my bed could be cute in a basket instead of in an always-scattering stack. The papers on my desk should be sorted and filed, not just stacked up. Toys have their places and should be put there. You get the idea. Moving is such a great time for me to be thinking of all of this, because as we move things over I can make sure each thing actually has a place and doesn't get just shoved in somewhere.

Beach Trip II

Caris did not play in the water but had a great time playing in the sand!












Malachi and Graham, however, had a grand time playing in the water. All the way in the water. LOL












Each of the kids got a chance to fly the kite















All of that running and playing really wears a girl out!












Georgia and Dad were such good sports, coming along on all the child-oriented activities and eating at our favorite fish n chips place. We loved having them all to ourselves for a couple of days!











"Look Mommy! Daddy made me this horsie!"

Thanksgiving Beach Trip

One of our favorite restaurants is in Morro Bay. They have great fish n chips, and the kids love this big whale out front. Caris got a little nervous once she was up on it and clung close to Daddy.










As we walked down Morro Bay's main street, Caris found this little shark friend and said he wanted some of her candy stick. She was very generous sharing it with him, and she said he liked it very much.










Alif got the kite up in the air in no time flat, and later told me he's never flown a kite in his life!












Graham (and all of the kids) ran with joyful abandon along the beach. They'd have played the entire three days right on the sand if we had let them!










Mommy forcing a pose under the pier.

It's a Free Saturday!

On Halloween Malachi took this cute picture of me kissing my sweet "Cleo".











And here's the growing baby bump at 28 weeks! Don't mind my "mommy scars". LOL














Today is the first day we haven't had soccer in 10 weeks! It's been so nice and quiet today. I've gotten quite a bit of sewing and cleaning done. Hooray!

Oatmeal Madness

I made some oatmeal for lunch and it looked SO GOOD! It was fully decked out with butter, plump raisins, milk, and brown sugar, and as I walked away from the counter I dropped it!! Let me tell you, that was ONE BIG MESS!! It made me so mad I actually threw my spoon! (Hormonal maybe?) Geez, I am normally so not volatile at all. ROFL Thank God the kids weren't in the room!!

Spring Forward, Fall Back

Just in the last four or five days, I think this baby has had a big growth spurt! I am only 6 months pregnant, and I suddenly feel more like 8 months pregnant. My belly is in the way when I bend over, when I tie my shoes, even when I squat! Wow. I told Alif the other day that I don't know how women do it 7, 8 times. This is only baby #4 and I feel huge at 6 months! On the plus side though, it's absolutely wonderful rolling over in bed and seeing my large belly with its protruding belly button, or catching a glimpse of my growing self in a reflection, or feeling him move so big and strong now. The excitement is definitely building! Only three more months until we meet the newest member of our family!

The time change was this past Sunday. I was so looking forward to that extra hour of sleep, but of course I should have realized that with little children in the house, that wasn't bound to happen. Caris woke up bright & early for a few days, and now I think we're all back to a normal sleeping schedule. (Well, as normal as it gets for me at this stage of pregnancy). One thing though - being up earlier and it getting dark so early makes for days that feel VERY, VERY long.

ROFL

Caris just came up to me and said, "Did you sleep on your bed with your husband?" ROFL ROFL