Allow me to pose a question...

So last night, my sweet husband met me in town (after the kids and I had gone grocery shopping) and traded me vehicles. He took  the kids and perishables home, and I went to the hospital to visit some sweet friends who just had babies.

I went to visit the first mama... she went in to get checked out... she was having problems breathing and the baby was not doing well with the contractions... It turned out, she had pneumonia and the baby WAS having problems with the contractions... they ended up doing an emergency C-section to get baby, and mama needed a blood transfusion (anemic) and lots of antibiotics for the pneumonia... poor thing... She is doing a little better now that she can sleep, but really disheartened that she has not been able to see baby (he went to NICU and she has been drugged up). I will keep praying for her and the rest of her clan as both her and baby recover from this.

The second visit I made was for some friends that we have gotten to know pretty well over the last few years. What a blessing... They had twins! Not that it was a surprise or anything. I knew they were having twins, I don't know what I was expecting... I guess I don't really think about TWO babies... It was... refreshing... surreal... surprising... no, none of those are right, but interesting... to see them both.

As I stood there and talked with my friends and held their babies and listened to their stories... I found myself.. blessed. Even as I am writing this I am tearing up... what a sap I am .. 
Sawyer and Greyson
Proud mama and papa

ANYWAY, I have not really concreted in my brain yet that we are not going to be doing the same thing, ever, again. That was my life for so long. I went up the elevator (the wrong one mind you) and recalled my water breaking IN the same elevator, the doors opened and I walked to the counter and had to confess that I had NO idea where I was going... "Excuse me, I wonder if you can help me? I have only ever been here to HAVE babies before. I know I am not in the right place, but I dont know where to go to VISIT them..."  I walked down the halls and realized that any one of my reletives would laugh at me because they would all know the hospital better than I do...

Boy, I get distracted... back to the point of the story... I got to sit in the room with my friends, holding their babies, and watching them be new parents... remembering my experiences, and ... missed it, longed for it.

 For two and a half years now I have been trying to tell myself that I am better off now... knowing that I will not be a size bigger in a month, knowing that we will be able to fit in the car we are driving, knowing that I do not need to save all of the toys and clothes and diaper bags and car seats... knowing that within sight is a time with no more diapers, no more bottles, no more pacifiers... knowing that my emotions are my own and not some alien inside me injecting hormones where they do not belong... I have been trying to convince myself that sleeping through the night is a great consolation prize... that it is good to wear a normal bra (not the kind with easy access for hungry mouths).... that engorged breasts and cracked, bleeding nipples and stained shirts are happily a thing of the past.

After last night... I think I have convinced myself exactly the opposite... that all of those seemingly undesirable things, are SO worth the product... So worth the beautifully wrapped gift that God has prepared you for. Those sweet little coo's and the tiny little fingertips on the side of your ribcage as you nurse that little one... the wonder of new life and all of the miracles that go with it... the forming of a body, the coming together of its personality, all the physical developments, and after the birth, that God is SO good as to put EVERYTHING that that baby needs to survive, inside its mama. (Yes, I am a believer in nursing) 

I am not discontent with my life as it is... I love my husband! Even if we had not had kids, I was still blessed beyond my worth through Gods gift of my sweet man. And I am so grateful for the four precious lives that we have already been entrusted. Each one of them is so unique. I truly enjoy each of my kids.  If they were not my kids, I would want to be around them...

I LOVE the creativity of my first one. She see's good in EVERYTHING...

The passion of my second. Let me tell you... since she was a week old, if she was happy, her toes would tell you, and if that child was mad, well, there was NO denying it, when she is excited she literally JUMPS, and if she is sad, you want to cry for her....

The desire to be a gentleman that is so strong in my third. He will be so offended if you do not let him open the door for you....
And the excitement in my fourth. He enjoys life to its fullest... he wants to be all of his siblings.

No, I am not discontent AT ALL! But I find myself regretful that we chose to be done having babies.

SO that brings me to the title of this post...

What is baby fever? Is it jealousy? Is it discontentment? Is it trying to fill a void? Will it go away? Should it? Is it God reminding you that He has something in store for you?

I am eager to hear your opinions... I am still formulating mine.

NO, I have not fallen off of the face of the plannet....

So as usual, I read more blogs than I post! Not like that is a surprise to anyone... Well, I am convicted today... I really do LOVE reading blogs... some have advice from people who have it together better than I do, some are moms, struggling to have it together as good as I do (I like to encourage them), and some are EXACTLY the same as me.... I think those are my favorites... and the most convicting.... If they can blog, why cant I? So.... Here I go...

Sooooo..... Way back in June(the 13th to be exact), we were invited by a sweet friend to come and pick in her plum orchard... we happily went and picked a TON of plums.... the kids had so much fun... here are a few pictures that I took while we were there...
HeatherThe kidsJeremiahSteven RebekahMe and my littlest man
Our haul....
I don't know how I managed to take 0 pictures of just my amazing hunny, but at least he is in this one... Oh, and the pictures that I did not post include several of a bunny that had its hutch in the orchard, and a few really beautiful spiders webs... It was a good day!

yard sale

So we had a yard sale a few weeks ago (two) and it was HOT!!!! We sold a bunch of stuff, made a bunch of money, spent a bunch of money, sweltered in the heat... all kinds of things happened over the weekend, but the one that I took pictures of was.... well... here you seee......
This is Heather... posing, cause that is what she does....
Can you guess what she is doing?

The jar is a good clue
She is hunting for butterflies.
It was her idea that if she dressed in bright colors and sprayed herself with fruity spray (bathroom freshener) that she could attract the butterflies, making them think she was a flower.
She was nearly devastated when they did not jump in her jar!

My baby is a silly (imaginative) little thing...
Cute though...

We made bread!

So once again it has been FOREVER since I have written anything on here... I have been consumed by Facebook and even further into Farmtown... I am weaning myself off of there right now, but it is a bumpy process..... I have not even been keeping up on reading my usual blogs. But.... tonight was fun so here goes...

We made bread! I measured out the right amount of each ingredient and they mixed it all up and tried to take a few pictures and then after it had risen once, they each got a clump for the purpose of shaping..... Here are a few pictures
yes this is my house and it is a mess... but that is my two year old making bread ...and my 6 year old taking pictures... so there....  :-)

Lets see, Heather made the heart, Rebekah made the pretty "twisty" one, Steven came and asked if I would help him make a "human" (not sure why he didnt want a man or a boy or a person, but that works....), and my Jer boy asked for a "blob" which is pronounced "dlod" :-)

Then for dinner we decided to eat Stevens "body" and had WAY too much fun chewing on his legs and arms and filling his parts with "blood vessles"

I must say, that human was scrumptious!

Mmmm fishies...

Oh look, snack time...
No, wait, its learning colors..... what a delish way for the two year old to learn colors....
Wow... hold on here... it is also math and reading WHAT is going on here?!
How did snack time turn into school?
Oh, wait, we home school.... that's right, I remember now... This is how WE teach.... ok, go on, you have my permission...
*insert picture of happy kids eating fish crackers and stuffing them in daddies mouth*
(mommy went back to washing dishes)

My little boy turned 4!

So, It has been a really busy month... I have not blogged much, and in order to remember what we did, i had to consult my good ole trusty.... camera. That is right, If I tried to write down appointments or activities in a day planner, I would be LOST! HOPELESSLY LOST!!! I actually do have one, but it is better suited for telling me what date it is when I write a check at Win Co (since they do not accept credit.... :-( ) Anyway, I did check my camera to see where I left off on my seldom updated blog, and noticed that my baby boy (no, not the baby OR the first born, just.... mine....) had a birthday since I was on here last. (His birthday was the 6th of June)
So.... without further adieu, I bring you, Steven's 4th birthday!
#1 Cake (Costco baby!)
#2 Gifts
#3 Pizza
#4 (and my personal favorite) GREAT FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!

And that my friends is how to have a great birthday party.

Oh, I forgot to mention the sweet people in the backround of the pizza picture... they were amazing strangers.... they had rented the arbor that we set up camp in. In fact, ALL of the arbors were rented and being used. (I have never thrown a birthday party at a public park on a weekend before, so this was BIG news to me) Anyway, these sweet people gave us their arbor when they were finished with it... Isn't that sweet?! You should have seen us before that.... We had bed blankets and table cloths and WAY too many people for them.... and the wind was kicking up and the food was getting blown about... it was an interesting sight to see... But our lovely strangers swept in and saved the day. THANK YOU STRANGERS!!! It was a lovely party.

what to do with a TON of plums???

ok, so I do not think i have a months worth of updates in me tonight, but I wanted to show you all (me when I look back at this) what I did!
I made a screen about 2ft x3ft
Then I lined one with plastic wrap. and poured plum puree on it and put another screen on top to keep out the bugs and dust and stuff...
Then I let this wonderful heat do its magic.... and LOOK what happened!!!
FRUIT LEATHER!!!  So.... well, what else? Made something that could be transported easily...
Mmmmmm..... it is really yummy.... and nothin but plum. I just cut the flesh away from the pit and took most of the skin off.... I dare say it could even be considered healthy. YAY me!!! I am really excited!