Pregnancy cont, again....

I am really going to try to not constantly be writing about pregnancy.

This is my fifth. 

No big news here.

I don't even think there was a whole lot of shocked people.

HA.

The sickness has come upon me.

Don't even say the word milk.  

DON'T SAY IT.

Gag.

I have some sad news.

Tomorrow is our last day at our church.

I am very broken up about it.

Though, we knew it was leading toward that for a while, it is still heartbreaking.

When we moved to Akron it was from Arkansas.

We decided that this would be our last move.

EVER.

This is where we are going to plant our family.

I was pregnant with Ben.

He's 9 1/2.

That's a long time.

We have grown to love the people at our church.

Made some very dear friends.

We KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is moving in our lives.

We don't know why.

But so often, the verse "thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and light unto my path" have crossed my mind.

That lamp that lights our feet doesn't shine forward....

it just shows us the next step.

We have no idea what is ahead for us.

But God has it all worked out already.

And He loves us.

And we love Him.

Pray for us tomorrow if you think about it.

I have to say goodbye to my little Sunday School girls and to the Jr Church kids who we love so much.

Then tomorrow night is saying goodbye to the people who have been our family through so much.

When my Mom died of cancer 5 years ago, these people became our family.

Everytime I had a child, these people brought us meals.

When we had a need, these people met it.

And sometimes, they didn't even know we had a need,

they listened to the Holy Spirit and maybe slipped my husband some money.

Or, brought us a bag of food from Amish Country.

They couldn't possibly know what that meant to us,

but they did it.

So, pray for us and them tomorrow. 

Pregnancy cont.

So, let's talk baby weight.

I have gained around 50 pounds with each of my children.

I KNOW!  

And, to date, I have been pregnant 4 times....that's 200 pounds!

WOW.

And while, I have lost most of the 200 (oy)

I still had some weight to lose.  

And then one Saturday evening...

I realized...

something isn't right.

And surprise, we are expecting again.

So, my question is:

How can I NOT gain 50 pounds?

I have been doing my treadmill. 

20-30 minutes 3 or 4 days a week.

I am trying to do more, but I am super busy right now.

I am trying to eat good.

Atleast a salad a day. 

I know I can't cut out a whole lot of calories, but the junk has to go.

Chocolate...how I love thee.

Coffee creamer....love thee too.

Ok, you get the point.

I need tips, advice, help, someone to check in and say "are you gaining 50?"

Thanks!

My Weekend

Pregnancy.

I forgot how very tired it made me...

Though, I haven't been really sick yet. 

Normally its bad before I even know I am expecting...

So, I will praise the Lord for that.

I don't really have a whole lot of time to stop and be sick.

Not today anyway.

My step dad came up on Saturday and we took the kid to a covered bridge.

Here are some pics:

I love to make these collages that tell a story.

Picture #1:

Lovely children.

Picture #2:

Ty: DON'T TOUCH ME!!!

Picture #3:

Ty: I will not stand with these heathen children.

Picture #4:

Chloe: Oh yes you will you little rascal!!!!

And then Mommy says, 

"Everyone get down, we are done."

Sadly, no good pictures of my kids came of that day.

But I did take a good one of my step Dad for his FB page:

Nice pic, huh?

If only my children would cooperate as nicely as PawPaw did.

Ty and his puppy.

My Ty just loves this dog.  

It has been pee'd on.

Shoved nose first into Ty's dinner.

Run over.

Left in the van only to be gotten in the cold dark night by Mamma in her jammies.

(I'm ashamed to say.)

Sneezed on by other kids in the nursery.

Etc.

And yet somehow it makes it back into Ty's mouth.

He wubs his puppy.

And I wub him!

~Amy~

So much going on all at once....

Do you ever feel your head spinning?

Oh my.

We have been through a tornado this year....

one thing after another.

And it all started with Isaac's broken leg.

Imagine that.

Our Pastor told my husband 3 weeks ago that at the end of October he couldn't afford to pay him anymore.

We have felt God leading us out for a while.

Though, to be truthful, when we moved here, it was for life.

It was actually a couple of years ago that we started to feel like maybe our time here was ending.

And it broke my heart into a million pieces.

God was so GRACIOUS to give us this time to get used to the idea.

And, circumstances would happen and we would chalk another one up for God.

Knowing that though "they meant it for evil, but God meant it for good."

It is so comforting to know that we have put our lives in the palm of his hands and He is in control.

AND HE IS.

I know.

So many people have said "I'm so excited for you."

"God is going to do great things through your family."

And, I know this is true, but right now, that doubt keeps coming up.

What if we don't get a job?

EVER?

What if we lose our home and live on the street?

What if...

And then...

SURPRISE!

You are pregnant.

HA. 

DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING AT ALL.

We had thought I might be and then I wasn't, so we moved on and I started seriously job hunting thinking that it was for the best with everything the way it is now.

I certainly don't need pregnancy hormones on top of everything else!

HA.

God knows.

And, what a blessing He has given us.

"God meant it for good."

Baby......

Mundane things.....

So, I am terribly sorry about this post.

It may be a bit mundane.

But I have to tell you all about this wonderful product!

HA.

Wow.

Has my life really come to this?

Anyway, I hate dishrags.

Hate.

With a passion.

But, using paper towels (one to two rolls a day) 

was getting to be a bit pricey.

And making my husband lose his mind.

So, I have been shopping for dishrags for a while now.

Again, wow.

And I found these Clorox ones.

And thought to myself "these are clorox, they should stay white and smelling yummy." 

Which is what we all want in a dishrag, right girls?

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

I always like to look at product reviews on other peoples blogs.

I'd rather someone else tell me if its worth the money or not.

Thanks for listening!!!

A neat game at the pumpkin patch...

We had such a great time at the pumpkin patch! 

I took over 100 pictures. 

They had so many games.

Every where you turned there was a game to be played or something to do.

This had to be one of my favorites.

You got to pick your favorite little ducky.

And the color of pump you wanted.

And pump the water out until your ducky made it to the other end!

So fun!

And whoever wins gets a BRAND NEW...

pat on the back from Mamma.

And cheap!

It was free!

Oh yeah.

Aperture.

Been really enjoying using my new camera.

So, I had all three boys the other night while Chloe and her Daddy were running some errands.

We had been schooling all day long and it was like 4:30!

I was nigh unto death.

Seriously.

So, what do all good women do who are 'bout to die?

Call the husband and say "I need money!"

And he said "okay."

Off me and the boys went.

I took them down to Hale Farm and Village again and just took pictures of them.

It was so fun.

Well, I have been diligently studying Pioneer Womans Photography site and reading up about aperture.

I do so think it's my most favorite thing to do with my new camera!  

You see how Isaac is blurry and Ben is completely in focus. 

That is because I messed with the aperture.

I direct you again to PW's sight.

Because I have no idea what it means!

Except that I love it!

Thanks P-dub.

Another lesson learned from one of the greats!

I love you, Man!!!

Pumpkin Farm!!!!

Listening to Louis,

Looking at my babies,

and my man.

I am almost in tears at how blessed I am.

What a Wonderful World.

Sweet Words....

I just got a call from a sweet lady here in Akron.

She called to thank me for being such a blessing to her daughter.

She told me I was a jewel.

Wow. 

I bawled. 

And then I tried to talk.

And then I bawled.

She couldn't possible know what her words meant to me.

We have been going through some major "changes" in our life.

Hard stuff.

Big life changes.

And, I don't know if it happens for everyone, but it certainly did for us

you start to doubt or wonder about everything.

Am I a complete failure?

Could I have done something different?

Why am I doing this?

What's the point?

And on

and on

and on 

it goes.

All day long.

Am I even worthy to teach my own children?

My husband and I have beaten ourselves up this whole year wondering.

But, in the end, we always come back to the fact that it is God 

working in our lives.  

Moving us, preparing us, changing us.

Totally God.

I know that!

Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

But, you still wonder.

This lady didn't know what we had been through.

She didn't know how much I needed someone to say that.

To mean it.

To know that I matter to someone.

All this to say, 

"Withhold not good from them to whom it is due,when it is in the power of thine hand to do it."

and

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue."

Thank you, Mary for giving me life.

It really meant the world to me.

My Weekly Date with ME!

So, my 2 eldest kids take piano lessons from the song leader who used to be at our church.

His whole family is musically talented.

It's a beautiful thing!

They have a music studio on the square in Medina Ohio.

THE SQUARE as you would imagine is beautiful.

Aren't most of them?

Beautiful gazebo in the middle.

And a ton of quaint little shops all around it.

Toy shops.

Restaurants.

2 coffee shops!

Could life get any better?

I think not.

So, every week I leave the baby boys at home to get a good nap in on Wednesday afternoon and 

travel the 1/2 hour it takes to get to Medina to drop off Ben and Chloe.

And then it's me time.

Oh glorious day!

I usually buy myself a treat at the Potomac Bakery Shoppe.

I love when people spell shoppe with 2 p's and an e!  

Makes me happy just to be here.

Last week I had her fresh baked lemon square!

Holey Moley!

It was huge and delicious.

I also had a frappucino.

Nummy.

This week, I ordered a Cherry Italian Soda.

I would have to say that they are my favorite thing.

I had the peach one and it was delightful as well.

So, here I sit.

Sipping my Italian Soda.

Big grin on my face.

By myself.

Smelling the delightful fragrance of a bakery.

I shall go read my Bible, I think.

And then I will read my latest series of books I am into.

Here:

What do you do when you are all alone?????

Update on us....

I spent today in the kitchen!!!

With my husband!

A family in our church has been sharing their bounty from their garden and so

today I cut up about a million green peppers, red peppers and some yellow peppers.

I dice them and then freeze them.

What a novel idea!!

And it makes me happy every time I need peppers for a dish!

Just get in the freezer and stick your hand in the bag, and your done.

They also gave us a ton of zucchini. 

My family LOVES Zucchini bread.

So, I got out my food processor and shredded all of it and put it in ziplocks for the freezer as well.

And then made 2 loaves for now.

Thank you Mellors for sharing!

What a blessing you are to our family!!!

A sad thing happened the other day.

I mentioned my Mom to the kids.

She passed away before Iz or Ty entered the world.

Ty was carrying around her bracelet that I always wear and I told him and Isaac that 

that bracelet was very special to me!

It's my Mamma's.

Isaac looked at me and cocked his head sideways and said:

"You have a Mamma?"

Just broke my heart into a million pieces.  

I'm so sad that she will never know my babies.

I'm so sad that they will never knew her.

That they don't even know that of coarse I had a MOM!

Every one does.

But they don't know.

Just thought I arrived by way of stork.

I am motherless.

That's sad.

                                                               

Picnik

  

What a difference a photo editing program can make!!!

And a good camera!

Non-picniked one: 

Picnik'd:

Non-picnik'd:

I could just spend all day doing this.

Maybe I will.

Oh, yeah, I can't.

Since I have been cleaning out the kids rooms this week, the rest of my house has been a bit 

neglected.  

Man!

Off I go to clean.