• Joe telling me at breakfast that he knows that I am cooking the same things, but that they just taste better in the country, “like at Hanshill.”
• Still scrubbing soap scum and hard water stains every time I take a shower and still seeing no difference. BTW, if anyone has tips let me know.

This past weekend my MIL Beth came for a visit and we had a good time with her. The boys, of course, loved seeing Meemaw, and it was nice to have the extra help with them while we are still trying to get settled. The last of the boxes are out of the house now, but all that means is that stuff is now lying around the house rather than being stacked up in boxes. I have many pictures still to hang and much to organize. I’ve decided that I am of the “just get it unpacked” school of moving rather than the “get it all put in the right place” school.

We also had our first Sunday at church and I managed to convince Joe to just go to worship rather than worship and Sunday school. As it was we were inundated with new people to meet and I was overwhelmed. Everyone was very nice though and the younger boys did fine in the new nurseries. It was actually the first time that David had been in a church nursery; for the last 7 months, he has sat/slept with us in service. So it was quite a transition.

You know you are married to a pastor....

....when you apply theology to everything.

Joe: "I think that Oreos must have been invented by the devil because they are so tempting."
Me: "Nope. They were given by God because they are so good!"

Rainy Thursday

Today was Joe's day off and it was a treat to have a little extra time with him. Our church's annual Missions Conference starts tomorrow and so the next few days are filled with extra activities. Our little MS church proudly supports many missionaries and has a legacy of passion for missions that has been passed down from previous generations. It should be good to hear of God's work in advancing His kingdom around the world.

Happy Independence Day!

Thinking about leaving this house has sweetened the time that we have here. Tonight after we got home from the prayer meeting (where Joe taught since the senior pastor is out of town and where our family made up more than half of the attenders), we had fireworks in the front yard. Now, when you are under 5, fireworks that consist of sparklers, Roman candles, and bottle rockets are top of the line because you don't know any better. And actually a smaller show was nice because I didn't have to worry about the little ones getting scared. Even timid David ran around with a sparkler by the end of the night--imitating his brothers and squealing with glee. A game of tag ensued after the fireworks. When I jumped out of my usual chair to join in for the last few minutes ("Mama is running!!!"), I realized that I had been pregnant for a long time--especially in the mind of my boys who probably don't remember Mama running. The game dissolved into chaos because everyone wanted to chase and tag Mama. And Will really hauls off and hits when he is "tagging." Ouch! A rousing good time for all!

Ice cream social, Holland style

We had chocolate ice cream on cake cones for dessert tonight, which was the incentive to get the boys to eat a less than favorite dinner. We had marinated grilled top round steak, grilled squash with herbs, and some leftover Mexican salad from today's Bible school lunch. They are not huge fans of squash and certainly weren't fond of the herbs--garlic, oregano, and a bit of mint--so good! And they never are good salad eaters. However, whenever they know a good dessert is coming, it is amazing what they will eat. They enjoyed their cones immensely, as you can see, and were then shepherded off to baths. I should have taken an after picture too.

Bible School!

It is Bible School week at our little church and we have spent a fun morning getting caught up in all of the festivities. William got to join Joseph's class (even though he's too young they said he could come, which was so nice) and both boys were exhausted when I got them home. David and I hung out in the nursery visiting with friends most of the morning and then ran to the grocery store before going back to church for lunch.

Right now, everyone is sleeping and I'm eating chocolate ice cream and enjoying the quiet. I need to do a bit of cleaning before the boys wake up, so I'd better go. I'm going to try to get Joe to get a 39 weeks picture for me later tonight.

BTW, does it count as nesting if the reason that I am cleaning is because I know that "nesting" indicates impending labor and I want to be in labor?

Bits and pieces

Still struggling with issues at church, but we have already seen God's goodness, mercy, and unexpected work.

On the pregnancy front, I was marveling at how good I felt last week and this week is another story, unfortunately. But, we are in the final stretch now and that is exciting!

Will and I traveled to Jackson yesterday for an appointment with an orthopedist about his legs. For now, the dr. just suggested getting him some good support shoes and so I ordered some New Balances for him this morning. We'll see if that seems to help.

Edited to add (thanks, Katie): Oops, forgot that I hadn't written about Will yet. What I first noticed about a month ago was that one of his knees seemed to bend in when he was standing. He also started falling and hurting his knees--talking about them bending or poppping--and then he would limp badly or refuse to walk (which means it was significant pain; he's usually pretty rough and tumble). Children are naturally "knock-knee-ed" (even the dr. used this term) and then grow out of it, but Will is more than normally so. The orthopedist said that he also had pronated feet and that his hips rotated in too. All of these things are connected and interrelated, and that is what the shoes are supposed to help. The dr. said he also might have a problem with his meniscus, but couldn't tell for sure.

We are generally a Keds-in-the-winter, plain, brown leather buckle sandals-in-the-summer sort of family, and so it would be nice if some more supportive shoes would help. The problem is (as I found out while shopping today online) not many small kids shoes come with the kinds of support and stability that will help. Anything under a size 10.5 in New Balance is an infant shoe with nothing fancy about it. In recommending that we buy Will some New Balance shoes, I think that the dr. was thinking about how you can find great adult shoes with stability features as he wears NB himself. And I bet he often recommends them to his adult patients as a first step in trying to help.

My MIL and SIL are coming for the weekend and I am working today to try to get some extra meals in the freezer for when the baby comes. I have a few now and I know that I will wish I had many more!

We still haven't made final determinations for a name for this little one. We're pretty settled on our girl's name since we've had it for 4 years, but are still wavering on a boy's name. We are thinking about doing a non-family name, but aren't sure since the other boys all have family names for people that we love and admire. I guess we'd better talk about it more and soon!

"HIgh times, hard times"

It seems that when things happen in real life that my blog is the first thing to go. Many times what is going on is church-related and so I am unable to write about it, even if I wanted to. Also, one has to process something to be able to write about it and that just takes time. Such has been the situation here with me recently. Hard things going on in church. Nothing has been resolved, and Joe and I are working through how to deal with it.

I had a conversation with a friend in real life who had found my blog. She expressed feeling inadequate because I am so together! Hee, hee....she must've not been reading long, huh? Anyway, lest anyone else out there hold that mistaken impression, rest assured that I am a sinner just like each of you. I find similarities between myself and Katie in Prentisss's Stepping Heavenward who admits that, "you knew I had faults...I never tried to conceal them" because my besetting sins are so visible and outward. While it is my goal to become more and more Christ-like, I have so far to go and it is painfully obvious to any who observe me! As for the glimpses of our domestic life that I record here, they are just glimpses. I have much to learn in this area too. I am not Martha Stewart, only a bumbling servant of the King who is trying to make our home a haven that honors Him and that nurtures my dear family and those that visit here.

Circle meeting

I am so thankful for the ladies of this church. I am part of a circle that meets monthly and we study a book and discuss it at each meeting, along with sharing and prayer requests. We had our meeting last week and are studying Stepping Heavenward this year--one of my favorites! (On a side note, the girltalk blog is reading the biography of Elizabeth Prentiss for their current book club and they always have good content. Get the book and join it!) We just did chapters 1 and 2 last week, and I was so encouraged by the depth of sharing and the openness to God's work. One of the topics discussed was our failings as mothers and the struggles with our children's sin. It was a heart-wrenching time as we started to feel overwhelmed by our insufficiency. The next night, I was reading Barbara Curtis's Lord, Meet Me in the Laundry Room (heartily recommended) and found this quote:
When Satan hounds you about your weaknesses, you feel tired, depressed, and full of despair. When God confronts you, you feel remorse, quickly followed by the desire to change and hope for the future. (pg. 80)

What a good reminder! Romans 8:15 tell us, 'For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father."' God is our loving Father and convicts in order to bring repentance, not worry or fear.

Friday night

I haven't posted in a while, but mostly just because I haven't had much to say. We had the Palmertrees (our head pastor and his family) over for dinner tonight and had a good time.
This past Tuesday night, I spoke to the women in the church at a "Meet the Pastors' Wives" night that was a lot of fun. I got to meet some new ladies and enjoyed the chance to get to talk without worrying that my little guys were getting into trouble. I spoke too, but could barely say what I had prepapred because I got so teary. I was really speaking from my heart and couldn't get much out without misting up. I really enjoyed what Judy and Camille said though and am so grateful to be serving alongside both of them.
This is one of about 100 pictures of our family from a whole night of posing trying to get an acceptable picture for our Christmas card...None were right!!!