Hot and heavy....

Hee hee! It's hot outside and I'm getting heavy!!! I personally think my stomach is huge, but at the store today I saw a girl whose baby belly must have been twice as big! Something like 17 days to go now. I'm definitely more and more uncomfortable as this baby gets bigger and "delivery" time gets nearer. Hey, if he/she wants to come early, that's great with me. Anytime now .... I'm past the 36 week mark, so we're good to go. Maybe I should pack a hospital suitcase just in case....

Elizabeth had her last swimming lesson today. She has improved SOOO much in 2 weeks. I've thought of signing her up for the next session too, but the thought of sitting out in that heat again everyday is yucky to me. One of her teachers, Leon, told me today that if I bring her back at the same time next week, he'll give her some lessons for free. She's so close to swimming - she can float on her own and put her head all the way underwater and kick around on the kickboard using her arms at the same time. We'll see....

Tuesday is the Fourth. No big plans here. Maybe we'll barbecue. maybe not. 103 degrees is not so fun for a picnic. We'll probably go again to a little town near us called Hanford where they have a very fun celebration/fireworks in the evening. Elizabeth asked if we could buy 2 snow cones this year instead of one for both kids to share! We'll see...

Happy summer weekend to all of you!!

kids

Last Sunday our church plant, Home Fellowship Celebration Church, had their monthly celebration time at a park. I opted to stay home since it was 101 that day. But Luke and the kids went. The kids were anxious to try out their new bright greenish fold-up chairs, as you can see. Their friends Toby and Abby liked them too!

Elizabeth has had 2 swimming lessons now. I signed her up at a park in our neighborhood for a couple reasons - because the pool is only a learner pool so it's only 2-4 feet deep - I thought she wouldn't be intimidated by it - and also because I knew there wouldn't be many students in her class! I was right, there's only her and one other girl. So they get lots of individual attention. And I knew it would be an urban experience. I mean, I was okay with the large group of guys smoking pot at the entrance to the park and even with the kids coming up and asking the lifeguards every 2 minutes why they couldn't swim yet. The mom with at least 8 youngsters coming by and cussing like crazy at the lifeguards and our kids because it wasn't time for her kids to swim yet was kinda crrazy. I guess I haven't been out in the neighborhood as much as usual lately!!

And this week Elizabeth is going to VBS every night at a large church in Fresno. Luke has to speak at the VBS every night because they are focusing on World IMpact for their missions emphasis, which means all their donations will go to the W.I. Fresno budget, which is awesome. So she is having a super-fun week. Poor Caleb gets lots of one-on-one time with Daddy and Mommy, but he misses Elizabeth.

Okay, I better rest for a couple minutes before the kids' naptime is over!

Chicks 'n stuff

Elizabeth got 2 new chicks last week. It's been almost a year since our last chick adventures, so we decided to try it again. They've lived a whole week so far! Actually Caleb isn't as obsessed with them as he was before, so they MIGHT live. She named them shadow and Sunflower. Good names, I thought.

And for those of you who have wondered, there is a picture of me with my big baby belly. I don't love those pictures, so there aren't many of them!!

Today was a busy, fun summer day. Luke took the kids to the zoo for a little bit this morning - before it got too hot - and they had fun seeing lots of animals and seeing the bird show. Then this afternoon we decided to check out a local pool at a high school that is very nice. It has waterslides (which we didnt' go on) and the main pool has a beach-like entry so it's great for little ones like Caleb. It also has fun water attractions like a waterfall mushroom, etc. The kids loved it. Caleb loved jumping into the pool from the side over and over and over..... Elizabeth loved the mushroom. We stayed until almost 6 pm. then we had a yummy and cool dinner at Sweet Tomatoes. So, a busy fun day and now I'm ready for bed!!! BUt it's our watering day and this house does not have automatic sprinklers so I'll be up for awhile turning sprinklers on and off so our yard doesn't die. It won't rain again till October, so we have to be pretty vigilant with the water.

School stuff

This weekend I got to attend (kinda) a home school conference here in Fresno. I went off and on and attended a couple sessions but mostly looked at curriculum for Elizabeth for next year. And bought some. It was fun. Friday night Luke and I both went and looked and talked a lot about what we saw and liked/didn't like. Then today I went back and bought some stuff. I'm thankful that I didn't spend too much money. Just bought basic stuff like phonics, writing, math. And a couple of 1st grade level books in science and American history because Elizabeth reads so well already. And she's been asking lots of questions about freedom. Anyhow, it was good and I'm excited about what I bought.

I also need to get on the ball registering her with Tower Christian School, which is a private homeschool group here in Fresno. (They have a website: towerchristian.com) That is exciting too. Elizabeth is very excited that she will be having school at home in the fall. She is a great learner.

Caleb is talking SOOO much these days. He also still needs lots of "big hug"s. A very favorite library book of his (which we've probably taken out 4 or 5 times lately) is called HUG. It's about a little monkey going around the jungle seeing all the baby animals hugging their mommies. Then he gets sad until his mommy finds him. And hugs him of course. Caleb loves it.

We're getting busier and busier these days. Then the baby..... Not long now!