32 Weeks...7 to go!

In just 7 short weeks, our baby girl will be arriving  and we are all so excited!  She is a little "mover" and wiggles all the time, especially when I take a break to read.  She likes to make my ipad bounce when I hold it on my tummy. 

 

These past two weeks have been up and down for me.  I started feeling extremely tired and sick but just figured it was because we are at the end of the school year, and I've been trying to juggle all of the assemblies, banquets, final sporting events, final homework projects, as well as get all of my kids registered and transferred over to their new schools for next fall...and I just kind of ignored how I was feeling until it got pretty bad. 

 

Thankfully, I have a great doctor and when I called to talk with him (finally) about how I was feeling, he had me come right in and took a blood draw.  Come to find out, the Heparin I have to inject twice daily...has made me anemic...and it was making me sick.  So I immediately went on an iron supplement to boost my platelet count.  After about a week and a half, I finally feel "normal" again.  Pregnancy "normal" is just abnormal, let's face it! 

 

At my appointment yesterday, some of my vitals and lab results were off, high blood pressure and showing protein so now they've got me watching for sudden swelling because these are signs of preeclampsia.  But so far, so good.  In two weeks, I have to start going in twice a week for stress tests to make sure baby girl is doing okay and will do that until the delivery date. 

 

So here I am with my huge 32 week tummy! 

Last week I was standing in a check out line in a store, and then turned sideways to look at something on the shelf and the lady behind me exclaims, "Oh my gosh, You're pregnant!"  It cracked me up.  Keep in mind, she's a complete stranger...but she was really nice.  She told me that from behind she couldn't even tell, so when I turned sideways it "freaked her out."  So glad that I have that effect on people.  So if I have been freaking out any of my friends for the past few months, I sincerely apologize...

Lainah keeps praying that baby sister will "come to visit when she's supposed to."  I love it...we're planning on her debut "visit" to be Friday, July 11th...we'll see if she cooperates!

Final Projects

There should be a law against having projects assigned to students during the last two weeks of school.  Seriously?  I don't know about other families, but around here...the last two weeks are just about survival.  Every day I hear myself saying, "remember guys...you're almost done, finish strong!  Stay focused!  Keep on top of your work!"  Then they leave the door and I collapse onto the sofa and think, "how many more days?"  I have this secret countdown calendar in my head...and believe me, I celebrate just as hard as my kids do when school finally gets out!

 

Rachel's Social Studies teacher is an over-achiever or something.  Here is Rachel working on one part of a 3-Part project.  Sheesh.  She made a replica of Mt. Vesuvius erupting.  Personally, I think she made great use of my polyester fiberfill and wire cleaners from the craft room.

Tada!  Finished!

She is such a goof. 

Now please tell me...no more projects right?  I mean...there's only 2 more days of school left...are we finally in the clear?!?

Father and Son's Campout

The annual Father and Son Campout was last weekend.  We loaded the boys up with food, and fishing gear...bug spray and sleeping bags...and then the girls got out their tutus and danced on the trampoline. 

 

I just kept thinking...next year there will be 5 girlies to party with when the guys go away for the night!

 

 

After the fairy dancing on the trampoline...we painted nails...and we didn't even have to worry about the boys complaining about the smell of the polish!

After nails, our pizza arrived...and we went downstairs and watched "Barbie and Something about Being a Mermaid Pearl Princess."  Ahem.  We watched a Barbie movie that had something to do with a pearl princess...I can't remember the name of it.  It was cute.  Then we came upstairs and had ice cream sundaes.  Then the little ones got put to bed while Rachel, Brooklynn and I stayed up to watch...Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.  I let the girls choose.  I think the boys would be very proud of them in their choice.

We love Father and Son's weekend around here!  It's fun to have just our girl time together...but the next day I am so ready for my boys to come home!

Fishing Date with Tay

I had my date with Taylor last week.  We went fishing...which translates into Tay went fishing, and he brought a camp chair for me to sit in while he fished.  It was a beautiful relaxing afternoon. 

 

We got all situated, and he started casting, and then he just started talking.  It's no wonder he didn't catch anything...I think we were being too loud.  We were laughing and joking about so many things.  One of the things that made me laugh the loudest was when I said, "So Taylor, you're going to be turning 14 in a month...how does that make you feel, are you excited?"  and his reply, "Well...it just means I'm getting older, I mean I'm going to have to get a fishing license!"  Too funny.

 

He gets to start going to the stake dances too, and he's excited but he's also worried because part of Andy's responsibility for his calling is for us as a couple to chaperone at the dances.  Hee hee!  Just what a 14 year old wants...his parents there watching everything!  I told him not to worry, that Andy and I are AMAZING dancers.  He just looked at me with horror on his face before we both burst out laughing.  But seriously, I think that Andy and I will have to come up with something...

 

We also saw this weird fish!  It looks like it caught in a paint ball war or something!  We named it "Gollum."  So anyone fishing at Wilson Mills Ponds...look out for this guy!

What a fun afternoon with Taylor.  He's a great kid.  He has a great sense of humor, and one thing that I've loved about him ever since he was an inquisitive little 3 year old...is the questions that he asks!  I used to be able to answer and explain everything to him... but his mind is amazing...and half the time nowadays I don't have the answers to his questions, but we have great discussions about space, biology, math theories, religion, and life in general. 

 

I told him next time I'd get my fishing license so I could teach him the fine art of CATCHING a fish.  Ha ha!

Our Thuernagle Track Stars

 

I love spring track...and this year was even more busy and fun because both Rachel and Taylor were on the middle school team together.  They had me hopping at the meets to try and get to all the best viewing spots for their different events!  This is Tay's last year of middle school...and Rachel's first.  And it's the last year they'll be wearing maroon and gold.  Next year they'll be in Navy and white for Skyview High and South Middle.  Crazy!

These two are only 18 months apart in age.  They have always had a "love/hate" relationship...but as they've gotten older, I've noticed that most of the time they are great friends and show each other a tremendous amount of support.  This year especially...where Rachey was a new 6th grader, I noticed how Taylor (the big 8th grader) did so much to let her know how awesome she is.

 

This was Rachey's first year in track.  She competed in the 100M hurdles, 200M hurdles, 100M run, and 200M run or the 4X100 relay depending on the meet. 

 

Rachel is in maroon on the inside lane.  We were so proud of her, she was only 1 of a few 6th graders who even competed in the hurdles.  Here she is in the first heat against all 8th graders, and although she always finished 5th or 6th...she was never far behind, and she never gave up. 

Throughout the season, I just kept telling her to forget about how she placed, but to concentrate on her times and try to improve...and to remember that she was running in the 1st heat each time, which meant she was running against the best!  She had a great attitude...even though she never won or even placed in the top 3, she just kept trying and didn't quit.  She had a bad hit on a hurdle early in the season, but she didn't even let that make her quit...she overcame her fear of hitting another one and kept on going. 

She was so disappointed at this meet...because the timers somehow lost the times before they were recorded...and this was her last meet of the season, so she didn't find out how much her total improvement time was.  But I am so excited to see what the next couple of years bring for Rachey...as a 6th grader to be keeping up with the 8th graders....she's amazing and I'm sure she'll have her turn "on top."  As it was, I couldn't have been more excited or proud to watch her compete, she is awesome!

 

Taylor had the best season any graduating 8th grader could want.  He had so much fun with his friends from his own school, and met a lot of other kids from the competing schools.  In fact, he kept having girls from other schools tell him, "you have pretty eyes."  ha ha!  This made me laugh!  He kept asking me, "mom, why do they say things like that anyway?  Isn't that strange?"  I couldn't decide if I should leave him in the dark, or let him know that um...duh...they were flirting with that cute tall blond guy from East Valley.

This was Taylor's first year doing hurdles too.  He competed in the 100M hurdles, and ended up taking 4th place at District in them!  He was super excited about that and plans to continue with them next season.

And he had a great season on the "runway".  He improved from last year by 4 feet in the triple, and 2 feet in the running long.  And all of that improvement with no coaching.  East Valley doesn't have a jumping coach...so Taylor is so excited to be going to Skyview next year where we hear they have an amazing jumping coach.

 

I love watching him launch, it is amazing...and stressful too.  Its so disappointing if they "scratch" which means they launched after their mark...so each jump I'm silently praying, "please don't let him scratch, please don't let him scratch!" 

 

These two shots show how pretty much ever single muscle is involved in jumping.  The jump is over in a matter of seconds...but it's just amazing how it takes every bit of physical effort to fly that far.

Tay's best triple jump was 36 feet, 7 inches...and his best running long was 17 feet, 6 inches.  He took 1st place in both jumps nearly all season, and took 3rd place in the Triple at Districts, and 5th place in the running long jump at Districts.  (He had a really "off" night on his long jump, but stuck with it for a medal.)

 

After Districts, Tay's head coach told me something that made me even prouder of my son than any of his awards or medals.  His coach said, "I wish every member of this track team had an attitude like Taylor's.  He has been so positive and such a hard worker all season long.  I've never met a kid like Taylor, he has a personality all his own, and he's a natural leader.  He's going to go far."  Wow.  Now that was an awesome "Mom" moment. 

 

I love these two!  They are the best! 

Spring Planting

We planted our garden last week...

Not sure if everything will grow...but Matthew and Lainah had a blast planting all the seeds...

And I'm not even sure if we got the seeds into their own rows, or if we have corn mixed up with beans!  This should make for an interesting harvest!

Addy helped sow seeds too...she kept finding dandelions and blowing "wishes" all over the yard.  She is so thoughtful that way...I'm sure Andy really appreciates that so much. ;)

After propagating dandelions...she jumped on the trampoline while the big kids worked...

And took a turn on the swing too.  This is going to be a fun summer with this little one running around!

No pictures yet...but we got the pool set up this weekend too...the kids cannot wait for school to be over this Friday!  We are SO ready for summer!

Brooklynn's Awards

Brooklynn has had a great 4th grade year!  She is a great student, and loves being involved in just about everything.  She's earned awards throughout the year for academics, and for perfect attendance...and here she is receiving her Fractions "Wizardry" award!  She didn't used to like math, but this year she made it a goal to get her math grades as high as her reading and spelling grades, which are always near 100%.  She met her goal, and we are so proud of her.

 

I love how dedicated Brooklynn can be to whatever goal or project she chooses to do.  Even though she is so young...only 9 years old, she is an inspiration to me in so many ways.  She loves to learn new things, and I hope she never lets go of that eagerness to learn and grow.

 

Each year the 4th and 5th graders also have a track meet.  Brooklynn told me a few days before the meet that she didn't like to run and didn't want to do it at all, but it's part of their P.E. grade so she had to.  I just told her to do her very best, and that it was okay to not like running!  Just to have fun at the meet and not worry about anything else! 

Brooklynn passed this runner and one other to take 3rd place in the 400M run.

 Well...for someone who doesn't like to run, she did a fabulous job on a really hard race.  She won 3rd place in the 400m, and she took 2nd place in the running long jump with a jump of 10 feet, 6 inches.  Looks like she just might be taking after her older brother in the jumping events.  She was a natural!

Taking a flying leap for a 10'6" jump

She qualified in both events to go to a "cluster" meet, with all the top winners from the 6 district elementary schools.  But there was also a Mother/Daughter Tea night scheduled for that same night at the same time...and Brooklynn chose not to compete at the cluster meet but to instead spend the evening eating little desserts and sandwiches and sipping "tea" with me.  We had a great time.

 

So proud of this cutie!

Shopping Is More Than Spending Money

It might seem cliché that for my date with Rachey last week, that I took her shopping.  But...if it's one thing I know about "tween" girls...it's that if you want to get to know about them, and have them open up to you...you take them shopping.  What is it about gazing at clothes that you'll never buy, or laughing at bizarre-looking jewelry that you'd never get caught dead in...or trying on crazy shoes that again, you'd never really wear that opens up those lines of communication between a mother and daughter? 

 

We had a blast together...I learned all about a few of the boys that she "kinda sorta" likes, but hasn't told anyone...she told me about what was going on in some of her classes, and why she doesn't like a couple teachers...and we talked about her first year of girl's camp, which is coming up in a month. 

 

Rachel keeps so many of her worries and concerns locked away from the view of others, and so if you didn't know that about her, you'd be fooled much of the time.  You'd think she never worried, that she was always confident and happy...and always had everything under control.  She's a lot like me in that regard...maybe that's why I "get it" so well.  I love that we were able to talk through a few things, and just have a lot of fun together while we were at it.

 

and....we did buy a few things.  I needed a helper to help choose the Mother's Day gifts... 

And...we also ended up leaving with a few new tops for Rachel.  Not quite sure how that happened...ha ha!  I owed her for babysitting...she likes the way I pay. :)

So see?  Shopping is SO much more than just spending money...in fact I'd say it's a lot like guys going fishing.  Except different.  (Wink)

Kindergarten Registration!

It's hard to believe that my little Lainah will be going to school next year.  The years have flown by, and I'm really not ready even now to let her start going.  She is more than ready though...and I can't believe how tall she has gotten in just the past couple of months.  She had Kindergarten registration last week...it made the whole "we're building a house and moving" thing seem a lot more real.

Lainah all ready for registration...I told them to smile, and Addy did her "Wanna build a Snowman?" face instead.

Our Elementary school kids will be going to a new school in the fall because of the house build...they'll be attending Lake Ridge Elementary.  The school sits up on top of a knoll above Lake Lowell...and from the playground, you can see the knoll about a mile away where our new house will be.

Lainah was SO excited to go see her new school...and since she was the first to go into it, she got to tell Matthew and Brooklynn all about it.  Their mascot is the Leopards, and she liked all of the trees around the school.  She met another little girl who would be in Kindergarten with her, and they hit it off immediately.  While I filled out paperwork, those two were sitting on a little couch talking about...Frozen, and My Little Ponies...and their SHOES.  Sheesh.

So it's official.  My little girlie is growing up.  She is so beautiful, and spunky, and smart, and eager to learn, and eager to meet other kids...and with that cute little giggle of hers...I'm sure she's going to have a fantastic Kindergarten year!

Design Winning Car

Taylor took a beginning engineering class this year and has thoroughly enjoyed it.  When we ask him what he'd like to do for a career, lately it's been centering around some sort of engineering...biomedical, and aeronautical specifically. 

 

The students have been learning to use the CAD program this semester, and one of the projects was to design a car.  Each student had to design it, using the computer program...and the top two student design winners got to have their car design brought to life.  Taylor's car actually took second place in design...but we think it's interesting that the winner's car actually broke the first time being tested out and the Engineering teacher had to fix it...so I know we're biased...but Andy and I both agree that THAT means Taylor's design was actually the better of the two.  I mean...it's not rocket science.  (ha ha!)

 

Side view of Tay's car

Top view

and the "oh yeah" view...

I haven't told Tay yet...but hey, Matthew turns 8 next year and guess who is going to get nominated for helping little brother with his Pinewood Derby car for Cub Scouts?  Oh yeah.....