Today...

I've been working on our 2011 blog book for the last few nights. I love going back and rereading old posts and remembering what my kids were like when they were tiny. I've been noticing that in my older posts I gave a lot more detail about our day-to-day lives, and I've been missing that lately. I feel like recently I haven't had a lot of time to do much more than dump a bunch of pictures on the blog and briefly tell about what they are. But, in my rereadings, I'm finding that it's the little daily-life details that I find interesting and humorous. So my new goal is to try and be better.

So today...

I woke up feeling really stiff and achy, which is pretty normal for this pregnancy. The first thing I have to do every morning is waddle (yes, waddle, like a duck. I'm serious.) to the bathroom to ease the pressure on my bladder, which is one of the reasons I walk so funny. And the next thing is a hot bath, so loosen up my muscles and get my body to a point where it's willing to start the day.

By the time I got out of the tub and dressed today, it was time to run Aaron to work, so I went with wet hair, and saved the blow-drying until we got home. While I was blow-drying my hair, these three adorable super-heroes decided the best place to practice their take-offs and landings, was on my bed. I had to stop and watch for awhile, and just soak the moment in. I love that they asked me to safety pin dish towels around their necks for capes.

Lincoln has been wearing his cape all day long, even to my Dr.'s appointment and to WalMart. He's insisting that I call him Batman. When we got out of the car at the doctor's office, I said, "Linc don't run out into the parking lot, stay by the car." He replied, "Mom, I've told you a hundred times, and you keep forgetting to call me Batman!" I don't know why I can't remember, since he's got Ivan and Adelia calling Batman. I'm not sure where this fixation on Batman comes from. He's certainly never seen the movie. Maybe the super-hero thing is just hard-wired into little boys. I'm fine with it.

I probably shouldn't call it a doctor's appointment...since I'm seeing a group of midwives. Either way, the appointment went well today. She said Oliver sounds good, and he was being sneaky and sliding away from the Doppler, so it took us a minute to find his heart beat, but you could hear him sliding around in there. Ivan thought it was hilarious that the midwife called Oliver sneaky. Ivan has been doing little silly acts of sneakiness lately, like snitching a spaghetti noodle out of the bowl before dinner. But he does it really obviously, so that I will "catch" him in the act and call him sneaky, and then he laughs and laughs and thinks it's so funny. So I'm sure that the fact that Oliver is sneaky, has elevated Oliver up a few notches in Ivan's mind. Maybe having a little brother won't be so bad, eh?

Ollie is a low rider. I feel like all the time he is just so low inside me that he might fall out. I asked the midwife about it, and she said it's because he's my fourth, so my muscle tone just isn't what it used to be. That makes sense. Lincoln and Ivan always felt like they lived right underneath my rib cage, and I could barely breath. Adelia not so much. And now Ollie is all the way down. Makes my trips to the bathroom extremely frequent.Why is it that there is no happy medium in pregnancy? No matter how you slice it, the fact is that you are going to be uncomfortable for nine very long months. But then I scroll back up to that picture of my little super heroes, and I know it's worth it. I need to make Oliver a cape. :)

We did some good school work this morning. We did our devotional and read aloud. Right now we're reading the Junior Classics version of The Jungle Book, and the kids are loving it. Aaron and I pretty into it too. I know this, because if one of the other of us reads a chapter without the other one present, we always ask what we missed. I think I'd be interested to read the original one of these days. I like the Junior Classics for Young Readers series, #1 because you can usually find them in the Target dollar bin for a dollar, and #2 because they have a picture on almost every single page. The Jungle Book is the third or fourth one we've read. We've also done Dr. Dolittle, Peter Pan, and one other that's not coming to mind.

 After read aloud, we did our handwriting, some math, cutting, name writing, and our preschool activity. We are slightly behind in the alphabet, because we did a lot of Halloween and Thanksgiving related lessons, so we're trying to get back on track, and are doing a quick couple of Letter H activities. Today we did magnet sheets. It's been a while since we did one of these, and I had forgotten how much my kids enjoy them. And they are so simple. Google search "Letter H cookie sheet magnet page" find one you like, hit print, give the kids a cookie sheet, the paper, and a stack of round magnets (you can find packs of 50 at WalMart for a couple bucks), and you're good to go.

When the kids got tired of the papers, they just set them aside, and kept playing with the magnets. At first they built different letters, and at one point Lincoln showed me that on his cookie sheet he'd made the trail of footprints the children of Israelite left in the dust as they were walking for 40 years in the wilderness (we talked about them being in the wilderness for 40 years in devotional today, so that idea isn't as random as it might come across).

Here's the (blurry) Letter H craft we did yesterday. It's not my favorite, and Aaron made fun of me because he said it looked like we made Valentines, but it was easy, and I already had all the materials, so it was also fast, which is a win-win in my book.

On a completely different note, my Otter Box case for my iphone came in the mail today! Hooray! Now I can stop being scared to death that I'm going to drop my phone and have it break into a million pieces. Have I mentioned that Aaron and I got iphones yet? They were a birthday/thanks-for-all-the-work-you've-put-into-the-website gift from Ryan and Melissa. It was Aaron's birthday, and Aaron who did all the work on the website, but I'm very happy to be a beneficiary of such a spectacular gift! I love my iphone already. Especially how easy it is to take and share pictures and videos. The kids love that we can facetime with Aaron on his lunch break. Yay for technology and all the cool apps that come with it!

I'm almost finished Christmas shopping and it's not even December yet. Thank you Amazon Prime and your free 2-day shipping! The only things I have left to get are presents for Aaron's parents (but I think that's in the works),  stocking stuffers for the kids, and Aaron and I have to decide what we're doing for each other, whether we want to combine and get something big, or get each other separate small things. AND THAT'S IT! Oh, and Christmas cards...but our friends are taking our family pictures on the 8th, so I'll probably wait on that and use one of those photos. But seriously, I'm practically done Christmas shopping! I might get to sit back and enjoy December.

I'm so excited about what we're getting the kids, I can't wait. I'm also very excited because this is the first year since we've been married that we are not traveling anywhere for Christmas! Wahoo! That means we don't have to load all the presents and luggage into our van, haul it somewhere, and then turn around and load it all again and haul it back. And since Aaron's parents live in Springville now, we'll still get to see family, so we aren't missing out on anything. I can have a slow Christmas morning watching my kids open and enjoy their gifts without a lot of chaos, and still be with family in the afternoon.

I have big plans for our Christmas Eve dinner. I'm hosting a meal like the Savior would have eaten in his time. I want the evening to be different, and simple, and most importantly focused on the Savior. I'm going to try and get all wooden tableware (plates, cups, bowls, etc.), and serve foods that we can eat mostly with our hands. Smoked salmon, grapes, olives, cheese, dried apricots and dates, nuts, grape juice, and pita bread. My sister-in-law is going to make homemade humus, and Aaron's mom is bringing some sort of salad that I can't remember the name of. We will be eating by candle light. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS. I have been trying to years, literally, to think of a way to bring Christ more into our Christmas celebration. And while this isn't the only way we'll try to do it, I think it will be different enough from our regular routine that it will be something our family will really remember and get into. I hope so. And if not, hey, at least the kids will enjoy being allowed to eat with their hands (since they mostly do that anyway). 

Speaking of Christmas...I finally turned on the Christmas music today, even thought technically it's been allowed since last Friday. :) I needed the kids to help me clean up a little bit, and they were resisting, so I told them I'd turn on some music and we could dance while we cleaned. They loved it. I think they did more dancing than cleaning, but at least we were all in a good mood. I think Barenaked Ladies version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen is going to be a big favorite in our house again this year. But one song has really been catching my attention, I think because the idea behind it has been on my mind for awhile. The song is Through Heaven's Eyes from The Prince of Egypt

A single thread in a tapestry
Through its color brightly shine
Can never see its purpose
In the pattern of the grand design

And the stone that sits on the very top
Of the mountains mighty face
Does it think its more important
Than the stones that form the base?

So how can you see what your life is worth
Or where your value lies?
You can never see through the eyes of man
You must look at your life

Look at your life through heavens eyes
Lai-la-lai...

A lake of gold in the desert sand
Is less than a cool fresh spring
And to one lost sheep, a shepherd boy
Is greater than the richest king
If a man lose everything he owns
Has he truly lost his worth?
Or is it the beginning
Of a new and brighter birth?

So how do you measure the worth of a man
In wealth or strength or size?
In how much he gained or how much he gave?
The answer will come
The answer will come to him who tries
To look at his life through heavens eyes

And thats why we share all we have with you
Though theres little to be found
When all youve got is nothing
Theres a lot to go around

No life can escape being blown about
By the winds of change and chance
And though you never know all the steps
You must learn to join the dance
You must learn to join the dance
Lai-la-lai...

So how do you judge what a man is worth
By what he builds or buys?
You can never see with your eyes on earth
Look through heavens eyes
Look at your life
Look at your life
Look at your life through heaven's eyes

Isn't it funny how sometimes one topic seems to pop up again over and over. I swear every Relief Society lesson, every conference talk I've listened to or read, and many random daily occurrences, have been bring to my mind thoughts about our eternal perspective. Sometimes it seems like my life and the tasks I fill it with are so small and meaningless, and it's really frustrating. And I wonder if any of the things I do even matter, and if they matter, why do they matter? But I keep coming back to this eternal perspective...if we "look through Heaven's eyes" then things look a lot differently. We do matter, our actions matter, their is a reason, and a purpose, and a time. The Lord's time might be different than ours, the Lord's way is very likely different than ours, and the Lord's outcome is far better than anything we could envision for ourselves.  And "we must learn to join the dance" and trust in Him.

And, on a completely different note...I'm craving a chocolate orange so bad I could kill someone. Good thing I have one stashed away. :) I'll be going to scarf that down now...