29 Weeks

Today was my 29 week doctor's appointment. Everything is going well. From now on I will be having my appointments every 2 weeks. I guess that will make things go faster :) The downside is that the doctor said that I couldn't travel farther than 1 hour from my hospital after 32 weeks. I was hoping to go on an overnite trip to a taekwondo tournament in Edgewood, KY (south of Cincinnati, OH). I guess that is out now :( But that's ok. While the guys are gone I guess that I will keep myself busy around here.

Physically, I can definately tell that the pregnancy is progressing. I always get carpal tunnel when pregnant and it is in full swing. My sciatic nerve is also making it very difficult to sleep, sit and walk. I am uncomfortable, but it isn't anything that I can't handle.

We heard the baby's heartbeat on our home doppler today for the first time! That was exciting. I was beginning to think that it would never work. So we have something to entertain us now. The baby was still feet down, but the doctor said that we had until about 35 weeks for him to turn. I sure hope he feels inclined to do so sometime soon.

Guess that is it. I am having a lazy day today. I think that I will work on a cross stitch bib that I started this spring. Have a good week!
Blessings,
Carie

Sunday - Minute by Minute

This concludes my minute by minute week. I hope that you have enjoyed or been encouaged by the look into our daily lives.

On Sunday morning I woke up, at 6, and had cereal for breakfast. I remembered that I needed the last egg for the meatloaf :) I mixed up the meatloaf and peeled potatoes and got that ready to cook once we got home from church. Then I checked email, showered and dressed. I dozed on the couch till time to wake the boys up. They were hard to get up after our late night the night before.

Our Sunday services were very uplifting. We are studying Matthew 24 in Sunday school. I am going to be working on that more in-depth this week. We had a substitute preacher, a young man still in Bible college who did a wonderful job speaking on the direction of the church.

After services, I made some copies and we went home. Thankfully Norman had stuck the meatloaf in the oven so I started the potatoes and broccoli and mixed up the cheese sauce. Then I vaccumed the living room, hallway and air conditioner door vents. Then we had lunch (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese). After lunch I cleaned up the mess and got Norman off to work. I cleaned off the kitchen table, put on a clean table cloth, made tea and Kool-Aid and mixed up an apple cobbler. The other parents involved in the youth group came for a meeting.

We enjoyed a wonderful time of fellowship together.

After they left, I fed the boys supper and cleaned up the kitchen. Then we went to evening church services. Tonight we had a meeting about the direction of our church.

When we got home, late again, I went to bed!

Blessings,
Carie

Saturday - Minute by Minute

On Saturday I was up at 6. Ate an egg for breakfast (the baby is sitting on my stomach so I am having to limit what I eat at one time to keep from feeling ill). My niece got here at 6:45 (I am babysitting today). I showered, dressed and checked on the internet/email.

I woke Norman and the kids around 8. The kids ate breakfast and got dressed. Norman just got dressed :) We gathered up our taekwondo stuff and headed for town. Today is rank testing :)

I dropped Norman and the kids off at his vehicle (we had left it in town) and I ran to Walmart for some last minute items that we needed for the cookout. It rained while I was at Walmart, but it didn't rain across town at the park (where the testing/cookout was being held). I met everyone at the park and testing began. Everyone did great!

After testing we enjoyed a fine cookout of hot dogs and hamburgers with all the salads and desserts you can imagine. Everything was fabulous :) Then we sat and visited while all the kids played with water guns/ballons/buckets/hoses. They were all very wet!

Norman left for work. About 1 hour later I got a call from him that he had a blown tire and I would need to come and get him (he didn't realize this vehicle didn't have a spare). We are so grateful to God that his tire blew while sitting at a gas station. If it would have went while he was driving he would have probably wrecked. While he was waiting on me to get there a good Samaritan showed up with a spare tire for him to borrow. What a blessing!!!!! By the time I got there all I had to do was follow him home. He had to call in to work because it was so late by the time I was able to get there. He will be driving my van the rest of the week until he has time to take his truck to get new tires.

We got home and I went back to town to Walmart to get school supplies for the kids. We had leftovers for supper and then enjoyed our unexpected "family" evening with a trip to the drive-in movie theatre. We watched Rush Hour 3 and Bourne Ultimatum. Well, some of us did! I fell asleep in the van about half-way through the first movie!!!!!! I knew that I was tired.

We made it home after midnight and I fell into bed.

Not really a typical day here, but maybe more typical than not. Things don't seem to always go as planned around here :)
Blessings,
Carie

Friday - Minute by Minute

On Friday morning I woke up at 7 and ate my eggs while checking my email. Afterwards I showered, got dressed and started a load of laundry.

I woke the boys and we did our Bible reading, character training and memory work. They did their chores and got dressed while I emptied and reloaded the dishwasher and changed around the laundry.

****Side note **** Leland is loving his reader from Sonlight Core 3. He is reading A Lion to Guard Us and can't hardly put it down. He begs to do his reading first and has been consistantly reading more than required every day!!!!!! With an attitude like that from "he who hates school" school has become a joy :)

Once we are done with our morning assignments, I fixed lunch (tacos) while we danced to some 80's music CDs that Norman got in the mail. The kids were suitably embarrassed by their parents :)

We ate lunch while the boys played chess and I checked the internet again. I decluttered the living room. Norman left for work and we finished school then the boys picked up their stuff from the living room.

Once that was finished I sat down and made up a supply list for next week's science assignments and wrote 2 cards/letters to be mailed. I had just sat down to take a little siesta when it was time to leave for a planetarium exhibit that we were attending. So off we went!!!!

The exhibit was cool. The boys really liked it and now we know what to look for with Greg's telescope.

We got home late and I collapsed in bed.

I am getting ready to hit the shower now for Saturday :)
Post more about that later.
Blessings,
Carie

Thursday - Minute by Minute

Once again, Thursday didn't go exactly as I had planned...or even hoped for that matter.

I got up late because I had another night of really bad sleep. The phone woke me up. I hate when that happens. So after prying my eyes open I fixed myself egg burritos and ate while talking to my mom on the phone (she wasn't the call that woke me up, but she was right behind it!). After breakfast I checked email and spent way to much time on the internet. I also talked to a dear friend on the phone and then finished my internet stuff.

After dragging myself off the computer I took a shower and got dressed. I woke the boys up an hour later than usual. My mother-in-law called and needed dh to work on her car so I woke him up and then we started school. We skipped Bible reading, character study and memory work. Norman left. The boys finished up their schoolwork while I decluttered the kitchen. You can actually see both ends of my bar now :) When the clock struck 11 I dismissed the boys to do their chores and I fixed lunch, tuna helper, which I know isn't the best (and I won't tell you what they had for breakfast) but I figured that it was something.

I sat down and read my mail.

By then dh had made it back home. He and Lee played a couple of games of chess while Greg and I watched then the boys and I finished school. After school was done Norman and Greg went outside and fixed the door on my van (the drivers side sliding door hasn't opened in close to 2 years). I talked to my brother briefly on the phone and then laid down in my chair and took a nap. I have no idea what the rest of them where doing :)

We left for town about 3:30 and went to the bank and medicine shoppe to get prescriptions filled. We also went to Dairy Queen and had peanut buster parfaits :) Yummy!!!!! Then we went to taekwondo.

I do almost all of the bookkeeping and secretarial work at taekwondo so I am usually pretty busy while we are there. When I am not actually busy I work sudoku puzzles. We got home very late, again, and I collapsed into bed.

Here it is Friday morning and I up only slightly earlier than yesterday.....but I am almost done on the internet. We might actually get school started when we are supposed to today.

Have a good day!
Blessings,
Carie

Wednesday - Minute by Minutes

Wednesday is always my day "off" cause dh is home and we do things with him. I got up late, around 7, cause I didn't sleep worth a hoot. I ate an egg/potato scramble, checked email and got in the shower. Dh got up early, picked the garden (I am done canning so all the leftover tomatos are going to his mom's) and then we got ready to leave. We usually spend Wednesdays at my mother-in-laws house. We played scrabble most of the day and visited while the kids played. I had a funeral visitation to attend and then we went to town for Taekwondo. While in town I picked up some cat food (the cat had been out of food for all of about 8 hours, but he thought he might starve) and played with our instructor's son while they had class. We ate supper at McDonald's and then came home and I collapsed into bed.

I didn't sleep good Wednesday night either and I have gotten an even later start for this Thursday. I really, really need to get in the shower now :)

Blessings,
Carie

Tuesday - Minute by Minute

Today is one of those days when I have been busy all day but didn't manage to accomplish much!

I got up at 6:15, sat down to watch a little FNC and went back to sleep. Woke up at 7, jumped in the shower and got dressed. I grabbed a load of laundry (sheets) and got that started and then made myself egg burritos. While they were cooking, my mom called. We visited and then I ate breakfast and hung out the sheets. I started the next load (towels) and then woke the boys up.

We did bible reading, character training and Bible memory then they went to get dressed and pick up their rooms while I hung out the towels. They decided to do reading first so I quick checked my email. I prepped other school stuff while they finished reading and then we worked on math assignments. Lee is really having trouble with double digit multiplication. Greg worked through most of his schoolwork while Lee and I worked on math. At 11 I dismissed them to do their chores while I fixed lunch (pancakes). I also mixed up some brownies :)

After we ate lunch, I read the mail and then cleaned up the kitchen. Then I sat down to rest and visit with dh. He left for work a little early today. At 1:30 we finished up schoolwork. The boys brought in the laundry and I folded it and put it away. Then I mixed up banana bread (my bananas were very brown) and put it into the oven. The boys rode their bikes to grandma's house.

I rested (and almost went to sleep) while the bread baked. I am so tired lately!!!!! When the bread got done I took half a loaf and went to my mom's for supper. The boys played while she and I visited. We had grilled chicken, potato salad and fresh tomatoes for supper. We just got home a little bit ago. The boys took their baths and are watching an episode of Monk that we had on the DVR. I am on the internet :)

I hope that everyone had a good day!
Blessings,
Carie

Monday, Minute by Minute

Candy recommended that we post about our daily activities this week as part of a self-improvement exercise. I agree, so here goes:

I get up at 6 a.m. most days. I got up and flopped on the couch and watched about 15 mins. of Fox News Channel. Then I showered, dressed and started laundry (colors). I fixed myself breakfast (egg and sausage burritos with cheese) and ate. Hung the laundry on the clothesline and started another load (jeans). I got the boys up (around 8) and fed them breakfast while I read our new testament and old testament Bible readings. We also worked on memory work and character training. While I hung out the jeans the boys got dressed, brushed teeth and picked up their bedrooms. School officially starts at 9. They decided to read first so I began making bread dough (Honey Wheat recipe from More With Less Cookbook) and got out meat for lunch.
I also started a load of whites and put them in the dryer (it was sprinkling outside).

We worked on school work until 11 when I started lunch. The boys did their chores (feed dog and fetch mail). We had round steak, mashed potatoes and mac and cheese for lunch. Then I did lunch clean up, put the bread in the oven and visited with Norman until he left for work at 1:30.

Once Norman went to work we did our history, read aloud and science assignments (Sonlight Core 3) and Lee finished the assignments that he didn't get to in the morning. When we got that finished and my planner up-to-date I swept the kitchen floor while the boys brought the laundry in from the line. I folded it and we all put it away. Now the boys are playing while I am reading on the internet.

We are having grilled cheese sandwiches for supper and then we are off to town to run errands and go to taekwondo. I work at the front desk answering the phone and doing paperwork while the boys take classes. When we get home (probably around 9) I will collapse in bed :)

I will post again tomorrow. I am already finding gaps in my use of time......I could really use my time better. I need to work on that before this baby gets here :)

Blessings,
Carie

Saturday Happenings

Officially the 3rd trimester begins TODAY for me and Baby!!!!!! Yeah!!!!! We are 2/3 of the way there.

Currently my servants (dishwasher and washing machine) are working on their duties. I have canning jars and other dishes in the dishwasher in preparation for the 12 quarts of spaghetti sauce I will be working up this afternoon. My washing machine is on its 3rd load of laundry (the first 2 are on the clothes line) and has one more to do before it is done. After I get done with this post (I logged on to do some online banking and check email) I will be doing the quiet cleaning of the house. Dh worked OT last night and will be working another 16 hours tonight so he needs all the sleep and quiet that I can give him. After he leaves for work at 1:30 I will get the tomatoes ran through the food processor, get the sauce cooking and then do the vacuuming of the carpets and clean-up of our room and bathroom.

I am praising God today because the governor and state courts reached an agreement to cut the Aug. 15th and 31st checks for state employees. Hopefully by the 31st they will have the budget voted on and everything can return to normal. I am so glad that we have at least this little bit of a reprieve. I reworked out budget yesterday and was very pleased to see that we had a little bit of money left over each paycheck. I guess that usually that money was just "disappearing". Now I have it assigned a "job". I am still working on this budgeting thing, but with God's help I will get it all figured out.

Better get to work!!!!! Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Carie

My Home Management Binder

I am working on my Home Management Binder (HMB) and thought that I would share how I have mine set up.

Cover Page
Picture of the boys taken in 2004.

Front Pages
Emergency contacts. The first page is a list of emergency numbers, mostly fire, doctors and hospital. The next page contains our address, directions to our house and names and numbers of family/friends to contact in cause of emergency. This is basically a "babysitter" page with all the important information in one place.

Home Section
This section contains all of the home making stuff.

Routines
all routines are works-in-progress :)
Before-Bed Routine
shine my sink
lay out clothes for tomorrow
brush my teethc and remind the kids to do the same!

Morning Routine
get out of bed
get showered and dressed
while in the bathroom, swish the toliet, wipe the counters and put things away
scoop cat liter box (not while I am pregnant - that is dh's job)
empty the dishwasher
check calender
made sure the assignments are ready for the boys
start laundry
bible study
set out lunch to thaw

Afternoon Routine
decide on supper
clean as I go
deal with mail
check on laundry
check the daily duties or target zone for cleaning

Daily Duties
Monday - Errand/grocery day
Tuesday - Zone cleaning
Wednesday - Office day
update planner and HMB
mail cards, letters and bills
declutter desk area
Thursday - Project day
clean out purse and van
outdoor work
Friday - Kitchen Day
mass cooking, bake bread and desserts
clean fridge
update menus and make grocery lists
Saturday - Weekly Cleaning Day (ala flylady)

Zone Section
This is where I keep my checklists for my zone cleaning, ala flylady. I will be doing one zone each week with most of the cleaning for that zone to be done on Tuesday and Thursday.

Menu Lists
I made up these menu list a year or so ago. I chose 6 meals for each week with a 4 week rotation. Then a made up a grocery list for each week (including everything needed for those meals). That way I can look at my menu list and the check the grocery list and see what is needed that week. I also have an extras list with things like household goods, dog food, kool aid, etc. I try to have a variety of foods each week.

Here is a sample from week 1:
Day 1: chicken and noodles, mashed potatoes
Day 2: meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
Day 3: tenderloin steaks, mac and cheese, carrots
Day 4: grilled/broiled chicken breasts, diced/baked potatoes, broccoli
Day 5: tacos
Day 6: sausage/bacon, eggs, toast

I am out of time this morning. We are having our last Fabulous Friday for the summer! Have a great weekend!
Blessings,
Carie

Today is a beautiful day!

The weather here is absolutely beautiful! Hot, but beautiful :) I am working in the house due to the heat. I worked very hard today cleaning and reorganizing the school stuff in the living room. I was able to make room for the newly cleaned changing table and I stocked the shelves with receiving blankets, burp rags, bibs and diapers. I am pleased with the results.

Norman and the boys are at his mom's house working on his sister's car. I have been researching Home Management Binders online (see Candy's website). I am going to work on re-organizing my binder the rest of this week. Some of the categories in my HMB contains are:
Schedules
Menus
Cleaning
Homeschool
Children
Budget
Gardening
Sewing

I may add more sections later also. I will try to post about each section as I get it done. If this is something that interested you, I urge you to check out Candy's website and set up your own HMB!

I am feeling very, very tired (we were up late last night and I got up early this a.m.) so I am thinking of taking a nap while it is so quiet here.

Have a wonderful day!
Blessings,
Carie

26 Weeks

Hello everyone!

My doctor's appt. on Wed. went well. When I commented to the doctor that I has having many slightly painful contractions he ordered an ultrasound to make sure that everything was ok. Everything is ok and we got some more wonderful pictures of our darling baby boy. He is still a boy for those of you who were wondering LOL! He weights 2 pounds, which is a little big for his age, but everything looks great.

I haven't got back the results from my gtt test yet, but I did get a card from the doctor's office that said I was low on iron so now I am taking supplements in addition to everything else. I feel compelled to eat a large breakfast so that all those pills aren't swimming around in there by themselves!

As a side note, the state of IL hasn't balanced their budget yet. Norman, and all other state employees, got notice on July 31 that they may not be getting their Aug. 15th paychecks on time. They could delay payment indefinately until the budget is balanced. In 2003 I think, it took until Oct. althought they continued to pay us during that time. So we are in limbo. We have some in savings and a good payment history with all of our bills so we will be good for at least a month and various friends have offered assistance if it goes beyond that. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends! They are more like family :)

This is our wake-up call I guess that we need to get our financial affairs into better order. So I guess we will be working on that as soon as the paychecks start coming back in. I know most of the tricks for frugal living, but I am open to more suggestions and any ideas on how to bulk up that savings account. I know that I have a few blog readers................................any ideas anyone???

We are getting ready to leave for a taekwondo tournament in Lawrencevile IL. This will be a nice short drive. I hope that everyone else has a great weekend!
Blessings,
Carie