Christmas with Four Munchkins

Yes, having four kids is a lot of work. Sometimes it feels like very hard work, other times the joy so completely overflows the effort it doesn't feel like work at all.  These last three days of opening presents (presents from each other, Nana and Papa on Christmas Eve, presents from Mommy, Daddy, Grandma and Santa on Christmas morning, and yesterday shopping at Toys R Us to spend money from great-grandparents) have brought lots of love and hugs for each other (mainly Rylan wanting to hug his big brother and sisters... sweetness!).  As a friend recently reminded me, there will come a time when we may not have all our children in our home on Christmas morning due to living apart, choosing to spend the day with in-laws, etc.  These formative, growing-up years are precious and something I want to always hold dear to my heart.  Yes, tonight when they were all getting rowdy while playing a family game and I told them they had to quiet down, I still cherished each of them. Maybe wanting to cherish them each in their own beds by that point, but you get the idea.  So Merry Christmas from my four munchkins and I pray you had a Christmas to remember too!

Not My Timing

It's 4:51 am, perfect time for a post on my blog.  All the kids and Matthew are sleeping peacefully, but me and the baby woke up starving!  I've eaten a bowl of cereal, read an online devotional, and caught up on my friend's blog.  Time for a catch up to my own blog.

From the side bar, you can see that I'm 36 weeks pregnant.  I'm excited to have this new baby but feel pretty miserable.  Not as bad as many people going through worse things, but out of sorts in my own body.  Beached whale comes to mind while laying in bed. Waddling penguin when I'm walking around.  I want the baby to be strong before I give birth, but signs point to me having this little one sooner than later.  The Lord knows this kid's exact birthday and I know things will work out according to plan.  I'm mentally flip-flopping between wanting so much to be done with this pregnancy and on the other hand, I'm still kind of scared to see how me caring for FIVE kids is gonna play out.  I have to remind myself, it's not me caring for five random kids.  I know four of them personally very well.  Just the youngest will be new and we'll all get to know that one together.

Last Monday, I was shocked to be told by my doctor that I'm 3 cm dilated.  I had been feeling contractions off and on each day for a few weeks, but really didn't expect to find out they had been doing anything.  Later this morning, I have another appointment (yup, soon I might have to go twice a week!) with an ultrasound included.  I'm excited to see our baby again and both grandmas get to come this time too!  We'll be given a weight estimate and I'm hoping my cervix can be seen on the ultrasound to find out if the contractions from this past week have increased that 3 cm to 4 cm or more!  Kind of creeps me out to think that my body is getting ready for this baby just to fall out.  I know it's not that simple, but walking time bomb is how I see myself these days.  God's timing is perfect always - even when it doesn't look like it to me.  This time I see it as really good as Ruth Ann, my mother-in-law, is on school break for the next two weeks and Matthew had already asked off work from Christmas Eve through New Year's Day.  I kind of hope the baby comes on January 1st so then I'd get Matthew home for two weeks straight but that calls for me to be pregnant for another ten days.  Equally, I hope not to have the baby until after Christmas morning.  This week is so exciting as we count down the days until Christmas with little people in the house eagerly anticipating that morning of reading the Christmas story from the Bible and then opening presents!  I can't wait to see their faces when they see their presents.

All that said, I can wish for this and wish for that, but it's all just a waiting game for me.  When I'm not feeling tired or sore, it makes for a very exciting season of life.  Welcoming a new baby into the family is one of God's greatest miracles a family can experience.  I'm thankful that He chose us to care for this newest little one. I'll be posting pictures probably within the next two weeks!

Where did October go?

Hard to believe that October will be over in an hour and a half.  Fall seems to have just arrived and now the weather report says possible chance of snow tomorrow.  Our school year is zooming by as well.  With the new baby coming in January, I wanted to get a jump on things so we began in July.  It feels good having completed 12 weeks of school now so we should be half way through the year by Christmas.

Another thing causing this fall to fly is my pregnancy.  Having been told back in June that my due date was January 15 left me with the feeling of "Oh, that's next year. Forever from now."  Well forever is quickly approaching as I know how the holidays just roll from one to the next and my pregnancy update emails tell me I am now 29 weeks along.  Only 11 to go!  In some ways, I cannot wait to meet our newest little Brooks, but more often than not I feel overwhelmed and completely lacking any sense of readiness.  We decided again to not find out the baby's gender and it seems we also lack a desire to talk about name choices.  Will we just decide what to name him/her by what he/she looks like?!  Thankfully (or actually somewhat to my detriment), I'm not much of a Type A personality so I feel ok saying it'll all work out.  That is until crunch time and I'm so frustrated that nothing is in order and I blow a gasket.  Maybe I should write out a loose plan on how to get things in order by mid December.

Enough of that.  The first holiday of the holiday season is seen by many to be Halloween.  I'm not against the costumes (kid-friendly of course) and fall festivals, but holiday seems to imply "holy day" which Halloween certainly is not.  On bad days, I wonder why we even bother with Halloween.  There's money spent on costumes, allowing my children to outright beg for candy, and then my job to distribute said candy over the next several weeks so said children don't make themselves sick.  (And also try to muster self control to not eat that candy myself!)  Guess it comes down to creating happy childhood memories as my brother said recently.  And gushing over how adorable my kids really are in their costumes.  Get ready for some treats. No tricks here.

First stop of the evening was a nearby church festival with Doc McStuffins, Queen Guinevere, Baby Dragon and Snake Eyes

Doc even loves dragons

As Rylan has always hated hoods, hats, etc., we were shocked that he was ok with his dragon head

Ready to get more candy

One of a few "games" to "win" candy

Doc was happy to get fruit snacks

Trick or treating on our street meant a visit to see Mattie Steinert

Home at last!

And more Doc when it was time for pajamas

Excited to wear this shirt for the 5th time!

Baby #5 filled out this pumpkin rather nicely.

Hot Summer Day at the Apple Farm

One of our favorite fall destinations is Nivens Apple Farm.  We have usually visited on a brisk October day to pick out our carving pumpkins, but when my friend Tammy invited me a week ago to join her family there this weekend, I couldn't say no.  Picking apples in September still seems to be a fall activity and heading there my main concern was rain.  Rain we did not get.  Instead, hot, hot air and sweaty, sweaty kids and parents.  There were moments of character building when the whining was at its peak in the corn maze, but also moments of childhood joy when hayride wagon was coming around the pond and heading up a hill.  Despite the heat, it was a great day which we finished up with a much appreciated early dinner at Denny's.  We got our money's worth as kids eat free on Saturdays!!

First a little recap...

Philip's first visit to Nivens. He was 21 months old.

And Philip this year.

Braewyn's first visit to Nivens. She was 5 months old.

And Braewyn this year.

Juliet's first visit to Nivens. She was 20 months old.

And Juliet this year.

And this was Rylan's first time at Nivens!  He is 15 months old.

Click on the above picture to see the rest in a larger format.

Carl Sandburg Home Field Trip

We had a great day Monday visiting a National Park just up the road from where we live.  Carl Sandburg was a widely known poet and author in the 1920's and 1930's who bought a large estate near Asheville, NC in 1945.  When he died in the 1967, his wife donated their home as it was, leaving all their personal possessions inside, to the National Park Service as a memorial to her husband.  Between the educational tour of the home and the carefree enjoyment of walking among goats, this made for a great family day / field trip.  We could kill two birds with one stone by celebrating Labor Day together and getting another day of school checked off the calendar.  The kids learned a lot (I hope!) by completing these great Junior Ranger workbooks and earning badges after turning them in at the Park store.  They even had to raise their right hands (Braewyn was given mercy and could raise her non-broken left hand) and repeat a pledge to the Park Ranger!  This is definitely a destination I would recommend.  You even get a good bit of exercise as the parking lot is a distance from the house and house is a distance from the goat barn.  Makes for a wonderful day to experience God's creation all around you. (Click on any picture to see them enlarged but captions will not be present.)

At this point, we didn't really know who Sandburg was.

A wooded trail from the parking lot / welcome center to Carl Sandburg's house.

Part of the tour.  We were told to stay on the carpeted path and not touch anything!

Grandma and Juliet look at the photos of the families' prize-winning goats.

Braewyn looks around Sandburg's living room.  He thought TV was a thief of your time, but was given this one as a gift.  His daughters enjoyed watching it.

Victory after finishing the tour.  The house does not have air-conditioning so we were pretty warm.

In the work garage near the barn.  Guess my shirt is a little tight.  It's not maternity.

Rylan was not too sure about these goats.

Juliet warmed up quickly to the goats... on the other side of the fence!

Grandma, the boys, and some goats.

Rylan finally got his courage up and touched one!

Braewyn was working on her Junior Ranger workbook.  Do you know what color a Saanen goat is?

All smiles!

Here is your answer.

Hanging out at the salt block.

We saw chickens too. Check out that rooster!

Thank you Lord for a beautiful day!

My big girl and I had a great time.

Peaceful away from the busy pace of "real life".

"Let's go see the scarecrow, Mom!"

"Aaaahhhh, we're looking scared!"

A cold drink on a park bench.  This is the life.

Philip was excited to catch a butterfly.

Rylan says we need to go that way.

And he held on for so long, but Daddy's shoulder is just too comfortable.

Proud new members of the Junior Ranger program.

It is official. (Officially plastic!)

And Braewyn spent some of her own money to bring a goat home, too!