Almost forgot...

The other day Forrest was asking Timothy, "Can you go downstairs and get the tortillas out of the freezer, or do you need me to do that?"
Timothy took a bit of thinking to decide, and finally answered, "Okay, I'll do that, and I'll let you take care of David and Noelle. They're in your bedroom eating Mama's heartburns."

Forrest just thought it was hilarious that Timothy was going to "let" Forrest take care of the kids. Oh, and heartburns is what they call Rolaids.

Random...

So the other day Timothy wanted me to throw him some pitches outside. I'm not a good pitcher, but I try to get it within range of the bat. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes not. Well, Timothy's not perfect at batting either. At one point he says, with a smile on his face, "There's a kinda bad pitcher pitching out here today..."
"Hey!" I said and gave him a look.
"Just kidding," he said, smiling even bigger.

And then Noelle yesterday, at about 10:30 in the morning, was upset about something so started crying and just lying on the floor. I asked her what was wrong and she wailed, "I had a long day!"

And I'm excited to be at 33 weeks! Only seven to go...or maybe eight. Or nine...but hopefully not. Anyway, I *should* have the baby before November 21st, so we can make it to church on the 23rd to be confirmed (and possibly have the baby baptized)! My "baby-gaga" ticker on the blog says the baby is about 4.75 lbs now...I totally believe that, she feels so big in there! I'm obviously not the only one feeling crowded lately. It's reassuring to feel the bottom on the left side, and the head down (I can especially tell when she has the hiccups, just where the head is). I feel like I'm hardly eating lately...but then I have to have protein shake and a couple slices of cheese before bed just so I can sleep, and if I wake up too much in the middle of the night I can't get back to sleep easily, partly from being hungry and partly from being thirsty...but then I can't drink much or I'll be up several times in the next hour! *Sigh*...it's not all bad though...and I am so excited about meeting my new baby! It's a little strange (and cool) to think of being mother to a newborn again...my other three kids seem so independent at this point.
And in the meantime, we have plenty to do...possibly help my dad get firewood (always a fun outing), possibly see Matthew do the Drum-Off store finals (he was in top 2 out of 10 at the prelim!)....plus we have to get in our annual visit to the corn maze & pumpkin patch, and the Arboretum; then we have Halloween, and then Shane's baptism on All Saints' Sunday. Now that I think about it it's a little bit exhausting!

Taken from Holly...

"HOW WELL CAN YOU...?"

1. COOK: I flatter myself that I'm a really good cook, and baker; plus I enjoy it.

2. SEW: I can sew pretty well, but don't enjoy doing it often.

3. CLEAN: I pride myself on my cleaning. That is, when I actually get around to it.

4. SING: I think I can sing pretty well, but hate hearing my voice recorded or mic'd--it so embarrasses me.

5. PLAY AN INSTRUMENT: I *can* play viola, a little, I just haven't for a long time.

6. WRITE: Again...it's not a question of "can you"...but "do you"...and I really haven't for a long time.

7. READ: I'm not an avid reader.

8. PAINT/DRAW: I paint horribly, I draw a little...if I take forever I can make something look decent.

9. TELL STORIES: I give way too much unnecessary detail when telling a story and totally bog it down!

10. PERSUADE: Not well.

11. RESIST THOSE WHO WOULD PERSUADE YOU: Huh. Depends on the person. If it's Forrest, resistance is futile.

12. FLIRT: I don't know!

13. SEDUCE: Well, when I try it always seems to be effective...but that could be because my husband really likes me.

14. DRESS: As well as I can, if I feel like it.

15. DECORATE A ROOM: I think I can do this fairly well.

16. DECORATE A CAKE: Not great.

17. PARALLEL PARK: Ugh. I don't think I've ever done it, and hope I never have to 'cause I would probably end up hitting another car.

18. REGULAR PARK: Fine. I prefer the slanted parking spaces to the straight ones.

19. CONTROL YOURSELF AROUND FOOD: I don't usually find the need to control myself...I don't feel that I have very much temptation that needs resisting when it comes to food. However...in a couple months...things might be different when everything sounds good again.

20. CONTROL YOUR STRONGEST EMOTIONS: If by "control" you mean "suppress"...not well at all.

21. TAKE CARE OF CHILDREN: Really well...but I have my days...

22. MAKE A CUP OF COFFEE: Pretty well.

23. MOTIVATE YOURSELF: It depends.

24. ORGANIZE: Pretty well.

25. MAKE A DEADLINE: I make deadlines all the time with my kids... "Get this job done by X time...or else."

26. MAKE OTHERS FEEL COMFORTABLE: As long as I'm trying to, I think I do fairly well. ?

27. WRAP A GIFT: Quite well, and I enjoy it.

28. DANCE: I like dancing but wouldn't say I'm good at it.

29. SWIM: I like swimming but am really bad at it.

30. DEBATE: Not well at all. I'd take it too personally.

31. DEFEND YOURSELF PHYSICALLY: Horribly. That's what guys are for.

Meal ideas?

We need some new ideas for dinners around here. I went looking online and there's just so much to weed through...if any of you have good ideas for meals, your own favorites, whatever, please tell me about them!

Noelle's haircut and other miscellaneous...

Forrest suggested the other day that we bob Noelle's hair to give it some fullness...I thought it was a good idea so we went right ahead and did it. I was very happy with the results.


































































Here she is playing with Lightning...which she absolutely loves to do.






































This was from before the haircut...all the kids were just being crazy on the couch.














And here is me at 30 weeks. I'm making a weird face and the picture is a little blurry since David took it...but it's better than the other ones the kids got!

In these pictures you can see how much Timothy looks like his daddy...they are playing a videogame and making the exact same expression.

Fishing

On Labor Day we went fishing out at Clear Lake. (The name is misleading, but it was still fun.) Timothy, David and Nathan each caught their first fish.

Andrew had the first catch of the day...



























Nathan with his "first" (that is, first big-enough-to-keep) fish



















David with his fish...






































And Timothy with his.

Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful wife! I am so blessed to have such a wonderful wife and mother for my children! Eight down, many many more to go!