Happy Birthday Ben!

Can it really be true that the crazy boy above is really nine years old? I can't believe it. It seems like just yesterday he was born. I remember being told we'd probably never have children due to my having severe endometriosis and scarring and then the pleasant surprise that we were indeed going to be parents, the nine months of the worst nausea and vomiting I have ever experienced in my life and the look of horror on the doctor's face when she delivered Ben because he was so huge. You don't expect to have a 10lb 9 oz baby when you only gain 7 lbs!

Ben had a nice day today. Lots of presents, lunch at one of his favorite restaurants (Famous Daves) and ice cream pie for dessert. He had a little trouble blowing out the nine candles on his pie, but his sister Macy was more than happy to help him out.

Now we're just playing the waiting game for baby #5. Unfortunately I seem to be developing a very nasty cold. I only hope that it will be gone by the time the baby decides to make her appearance. I still need to do a few things, so if she could wait just a bit longer, it would greatly be appreciated.

Baltimore

Yesterday we took the family up to Baltimore for the day. We often go in the summer, but I was feeling so sick and time slipped away. So we planned for January instead (brrrr it was very cold!). We went to Port Discovery in the morning. Port Discovery is a children's museum with a large indoor play space. You may have heard of it a couple of years ago when they had a hot air balloon full of families go kind of crazy. Needless to say that particular feature isn't offered any longer. While we were there we purchased a family membership so we can get into the Creative Discovery museum in Chattanooga my children were eyeing this winter and Imagine It! Children's Museum of Atlanta this summer when we visit my in-laws. There are several others that offer reciprocal programs that are very close to us that I think we will take advantage of just because we can!
After lunch at California Pizza Kitchen (yum!), we spent the afternoon at the Baltimore Aquarium. I was hoping this picture I took would be clearer and then I could enter it in the fair, but it's too blurry.

Looking back, I wished we hadn't gone to the aquarium. It was very crowded due to the fact it was a holiday. We saw mostly the back of people looking at the fish/animals than the animals themselves. It was hard to keep everyone together, even when they were trying to stay with us. (What is it with people cutting into an obvious family trying to separate the children from the adults?) The kids were tired after a very busy morning climbing, running and playing and as a result just a little bit cranky. Next time we're only doing one thing. To be honest, the aquarium doesn't offer much more than what we can see at the National Zoo and that's free. Okay, there's no dolphins, but that was just a small part of the afternoon.

I need to get busy cutting out a few items and sewing them up before the baby comes. Ben's teacher is due the month after me and I would like to sew something new for our baby coming up (about one more month!). Now if I could just find the energy and make my stomach behave!

Surprises

Here is the latest picture of the newest member of our family, due to arrive in about a month or so. I had placenta previa at my 19 week scan and we had to have another this week to see if it resolved itself (it did). Even with just about a month to six weeks to go, this is a fat baby. I usually have big babies, so this wasn't a surprise, but no one ever said my others were big before I gave birth. This one may break all family records. We'll see.

Related to the little one pictured above, I would like to share one of the nicest things that has ever happened to me. A little background info first. This has been a hard pregnancy. I've had the usual unrelenting nausea, tiredness, aches and pains that have accompanied all of my pregnancies. What has been the hardest for me has been the reactions of many to this pregnancy. Let's just say many people weren't as thrilled that we were expecting baby #5. Some family members have yet to ask one question about how this baby is doing, how my appointments with the midwife have gone, etc. Some have even made snide comments such as "If you get so sick when you're pregnant, I would think you would stop getting pregnant." I find myself making excuses by saying things like, "It's not like we were planning this." and then I get mad because even if she wasn't planned, it doesn't mean we're not anymore excited about her arrival. So needless to say, I've been feeling a bit down about the whole thing.

Well today I felt the baby and I were truly appreciated. My neighbor threw me a surprise baby shower and I was so surprised. For one thing, I have never had a surprise party for anything so that was a first. Then there were people there I wouldn't have expected in a hundred years. She had me thinking were going to a surprise 50th birthday party for her husband. I had even ran out to get rolls to contribute and I made him a funny t-shirt. I had no clue. I thought her husband looked much younger than 50, but other than that I really had no idea. Unfortunately 10 minutes before we were to go over to the party I glanced out the window and saw someone I recognized from church. Since we worship about 27 miles from our house, I was surprised to see her get out of the car that had just parked. I just thought, "She must know our neighbors, too" but then upon a second look, I saw two others with her and then it hit me that something was going on. I said to my husband, "Is this really a birthday party or is this for me?" He just sheepishly looked at me, but my son was smiling from ear to ear. I just burst out crying and spent the next 10 minutes trying to compose myself.

At this point we headed over and brought the rolls and the t-shirt because I didn't want them to know I knew something was up, but once we got inside and I saw people I wasn't expecting, I started to cry all over again. It was such a wonderful party and it was so nice to be surrounded by people that were not only happy for us, but took time out of their busy Saturdays to celebrate the arrival of another gift to our family. I still can't stop thinking about it. It was truly one of the nicest, most wonderful things that has ever been done for me. Just goes to show you that life is full of surprises!

What a trip

We're back and we survived. Although not the worst trip to my in-laws, not one of the better ones. Claire spent the night before we left throwing up (Ben had the stomach virus about a week before and it's been going around school). We were about to cancel our trip, but by morning she seemed to be doing better. When I mentioned that we might not be going, the older ones were very sad and Ellie cried. I called my SIL and she said her parents were in good health and that we should still come. I was worried of sick children in the car, hotel, etc. but we went ahead.

On the way down we stopped at Rock City to enjoy their Christmas lights. We had visited this summer-first time for the kids-and they were very excited. We got very wet from rain and mist, but the kids really enjoyed themselves once again. Sunday night Trent and I got to go to the Melting Pot restaurant for a date and that was nice. We have one here, but we have to find a babysitter, pay the babysitter and pay for the Melting Pot, which is not cheap. At least down in Georgia we have free babysitters. Well, we don't have to pay them money, but it comes at a cost in other ways!

Early Monday morning Ellie was the next one to get sick. Fortunately she's older than Claire and able to aim a bit better. I stayed home with her most of the day while Trent and the kids went here and there. On Christmas Day Trent was the one who was sick and I had to take the kids, by myself, to the family part of Christmas. This would be fine if it were my family, but it's not and they never seem to really know what to do with me when Trent's not there. At least the kids had fun.

The most stressful part of the trip, other than sickness, was my MIL. She refuses to cook any meat using a meat thermometer or put any kind of leftovers away within the two hour window recommended to prevent food poisoning. Christmas dinner leftovers were left out for over 8 hours and then she proceeded to heat them up a few days later and serve them for dinner. This is where part of the stress comes in. Do I let my children eat those leftovers and take the chance of making them very ill, but not hurt her feelings (which isn't hard to do anyway) or do I put my foot down and say I will not risk my children's health?

Well, I took the risk and said a prayer. Most of the foods were not my children's favorites so they didn't eat most of them. She did make a fresh roast, but again the dilemma-no meat thermometer. Then she didn't cook it long enough so it was extremely rare and bloody. I had to microwave each of my children's meals to make sure they were safe to eat. That upset her and made her cry. UGH. She then put the roast back in the oven at 200 degrees and cooked for a long time after that, but at that temperature she was just inviting bacteria growth. After a few more hours, she asked me, "Do you think it's done?" to which I said, "I don't know. I always go by what the meat thermometer says." This is what I always tell her when she asks me if the meat (whatever she's cooking) looks done. She has a meat thermometer, I know she does, because I gave her and every other female member of my husband's family one for Christmas one year, along with literature on safe food handling practices. She still has the thermometer, just refuses to use it. When I question her about that or leaving out leftovers for extended periods of time, she just says, "Well my mother/MIL did it and we never got sick." How they manage to keep doing that and not get sick is beyond me. My husband has had severe food poisoning (from a restaurant) and I have had to witness the dehydration and seizures that accompanied it and so I am very careful!
On a happier note, here we are the day before we came home at the World of Coke in Atlanta. None of us had been to the new one they built this past year (?) so we decided to go. We were going to go to the zoo, but it had been raining and Ben didn't think that was very exciting, so we decided to go to the World of Coke instead. My children really had a fun time. Of course Ben would drink coke every living moment if we let him, so he was in heaven. Here Macy and he are waiting to go into the 4D movie:
I did manage to do a bit of knitting. Here are some socks I started working on for my daughter Ellie. They are the second pair I've ever made (well, they're not finished yet, but hopefully will be soon) and the first I've used double pointed needles. I bought two sets of sock sticks for a Christmas present for myself (so I could knit two socks at the same time) and I have already broken one of the needles-UGH! They are not cheap! The first pair of socks I made were for my husband and I used two circular needles. That was fun, but I wanted to try this way too. I'm using some kind of yarn that makes the stripes and designs for you. They are acrylic, so I don't really care for how they feel, but Ellie likes them. I just need to finish the feet and do the toes.
If you stuck with me this long, thanks. Sorry about the venting! I keep telling myself "what is one or two weeks out of the year?" and my children love going to Georgia so much. At least I won't have to go this summer, since I'll have the new baby. I stopped going when they were so young after taking Ben and the conflicts that caused (another post for another time). Trent will go with the four older ones by himself and they'll have a grand time. That means I won't have to stress for another year. :)

Here's hoping you all have a fun, non-stressful and food safe 2008!

Christmas Cookies

In just two days we will be leaving for Georgia to visit my in-laws, but for the last few days I've been frantically trying to bake half batches of several different kinds of cookies to take with us on our trip (we'll be driving-ugh). The above cookies are a new venture for me this year. I got them from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. They are a slightly sweet, very soft cookie with a colored egg wash. After you bake them, you add a powdered sugar/milk/egg white frosting to accent. Her's were much prettier to look at than mine, but my children helped with the painting of these cookies and my icing was too thick and hard to squirt out of my piping tip to really make it do what I wanted. As far as eating, I really enjoyed these cookies, as I'm not fond of very sweet sugar cookies. These were just the right amount of sweet for me. If you like a very sweet sugar cookie, these are not for you.

In addition to the above cookies, we made chocolate chip, shortbread, chocolate peanut butter chip, Oatmeal raisin (my husband's favorite), oatmeal scotchies and Chocolate Peppermint Drops. The chocolate peppermint drops were a new favorite from last year. This is only the third time I'm made them. They are very good right out of the oven and the first time I made them they were moist, brownie like and wonderful. My husband and I agreed they were a fairworthy cookie and I saved some candy canes to replicate them this past year at the fair. Unfortunately they were not fairworthy when I made them a second time. They were fine right out of the oven-delicious even, but by the next day they were awful. They were chewy and just wrong. So of course I didn't enter them. Although not awful, they weren't as wonderful this time either. Better tasting, but still chewy and kind of tough. Luckily we ate a bunch right out of the oven and since I only made about 2 dozen, they are almost gone.

I've been trying not to eat too many as anything sweet has made me very ill this pregnancy. I will say though the Pioneer Woman's sugar cookies have been worth the risk. Maybe because they aren't too sweet? All I know is that I just ate four and hope to go to bed in the next 15 minutes or so before the resulting nausea hits me. I think it's okay to eat four at one time since I found out I lost 3 pounds at my midwife appointment and it's a bit too early for me to be losing weight. So I'm just trying to play catch up. At least that's my story. :)

One last parting shot of my youngest Claire. She was very quiet this past Saturday and I wondered what she was doing. She filled up a laundry tub with sheets of stickers, sat inside the tub and proceeded in applying the stickers to the inside of the tub. Why can't they do anything like just read a book when they're off being really quiet? At least now we have a very decorative laundry tub-on the inside anyway.I hope everyone has a nice couple of weeks. I will be glad when we're back from Georgia. Except for all the smocking and knitting I will have a chance to do, along with a date or two with my husband, I don't enjoy the trip very much. My children, on the other hand, love going to visit my husband's family, so I will have to let that be good enough for me! Happy Holidays!!

A gift for an Angel

A Salvation Army angel that is. I made this dress for their angel program. Every year Ellie's preschool picks several children through the Salvation Army's Angel program to provide clothes and toys for the holidays. I asked if they thought it would be okay if I made something and they said yes. Our angel was the same size as Ellie so it was nice to see if everything would fit. Just perfect with room to grow.

Ellie helped pick out the material from my stash (a pink sweatshirt knit from fabric.com). All I had to get was the butterfly applique since I don't have an embroidery machine and wanted to add something to liven up the dress. Pattern is Kwik Sew 2708. It was very easy to sew up-much easier than Macy's dress. It was the fabric.

I would definitely enter this in the fair if I were to keep it. I think I'll enter Macy's dress that I gave her for her birthday. Remember her coat? It already has ink stains and a big black smudge from who knows where. If those don't come out, it's not going in the fair. That's why I like to make most of my items in July before anyone has a chance to wear them and ruin them for the fair!

Den Flag Completed

This is not the best picture, but here it is finished. I wanted to have my children hold it up, but they were busy doing other things today. I put it on the floor and stood on a chair to get the picture.

As I mentioned before, I got help/ideas/suggestions from Mary. I actually found her site while googling the words den flag or cub scout flag-I don't remember which. She was nice enough to write to me and post an extra post about her flag making experience. There's not much out there. So if you look at her flag, you'll see some similarities. I did make a couple of mock ups for the boys to vote on and the above design is what they chose.

I wish I could say this went as planned or smoothly, but of course that would be too easy! I had this great idea that I would have the boys draw pictures of what they liked about scouting on paper, scan those in and then print them out on fabric that I had soaked in Bubble Jet Set. I would then apply the fabric to the flag and outline the pictures with yellow ribbon. I had been wanting to try out the Bubble Jet Set ever since I read about Rowena using it to make dolls for her daughter.

I already had the Bubble Jet Set. Soaked the fabric (although not as long as I was supposed to because I hadn't read the directions in a while), let it dry and then ironed it onto freezer paper. So far, so good. Then I tried to use it in my printer. Sometimes it worked, but more often it didn't. The paper/fabric would jam, get folded over or get these black streaks. The colors were just okay. I could see I would need a plan B. So I thought about it and remembered I had some iron on transfers I had tried after reading about Debbie using them to make T-shirts for her sons. They worked like a charm! I applied them to the fabric I had left over (but hadn't soaked) and then cut them out and applied as planned. The colors were much more vibrant and the pictures turned out really well. Here's Ben's (the invisible man is camping and roasting marshmallows apparently):


My application of the pack and den numbers is a little off, but hey, that's the story of my life. I told my husband you won't notice from a galloping horse!

I'm glad that's done, although I'm glad I volunteered to do it. I'm still waiting on one more picture and hopefully can add that by next week. It will go in the blank space above the pack number.

I just finished a dress for the adopt an angel program my daughter's preschool participates in this time of year. I want to apply a bit of embellishment and hope to have that up by tomorrow.