I can't keep thinking of titles!

Although my digi cam is up and running, and I have a ton of pics taken....I can't believe I still don't have pics up yet on my blog! Paul has worked on it a couple of times, but there are more important things. Last night we were looking at my Facebook together and he noticed all the neat pics that everyone else has, my neice, his cousin, a couple friends, etc. I think he's motivated now! Our computer can be such a pain to load stuff on and take stuff off. I really don't blame him!

Community Bible Study (CBS) this morning. I absolutley love this study! This is my fourth year. I schedule the time every year from Sept. through May. Sometimes this makes my Thursdays very busy, especially when I have Advisory Board the 3rd Thursday of the month, but it is absolutely worth it. There are so many great things about it:

• while I'm at my class-my kids have their own class with solid Bible teaching, with different teachers besides mom and dad! (by-product of being PK's)
• the lessons stick to Scripture only- while there is some commentary at the end, there isn't any preachy devotionals which means I have to get the message out of it for myself
• I am in the Word solely for myself, not preparing to teach it or preach it. So I'm getting fed and filled up because I'm not having to put out
• it keeps me accountable week to week because nobody wants to show up without their lesson being done!
• the women who lead CBS are professional in their dealings, and keep everyone on strict rules- no discussing denominations, no discussing politics, no discussing church doctrine. Basically it's Scripture only- what a way to avoid conflict and "holier than thou" attitudes!
• I meet so many different women from different walks of life and makes me feel more connected to the community

So this afternoon, I am hurriedly (I must not be in that much of a hurry because here I am blogging!) getting ready to leave for 2 days for Round 2 of our Officer's Christmas Party at the Great Wolf Lodge in Grand Mound, WA. Last time it was cancelled (postponed). Fortunately for us, when they re-scheduled it worked fine into this weekend! So we're leaving at 7:30am tomorrow morning and coming home Saturday evening. I am half packed (the children and me) but I also like to have a clean home when I leave to go somewhere-1. because it's so nice to come home to a clean home 2. because if we were to all die, I would want things to be nice for those who come behind us to clean out all our stuff. I also need to finish preparing for Sunday, beecause it's Family First Sunday, which always takes extra prep time, and I won't be here Saturday to catch up. I also know it will feel much better on the drive home to know that Sunday is all ready to go :)

I love Crockpots!

I’m big on planning ahead so I use my crock pot a couple of times a week to make dinner ahead of time. I get all ready the night before, assemble and start cooking in the morning. I especially use it on Wednesday nights after Troop meetings and Youth Discipleship classes. I also use my crockpot for Sunday lunches, so when we come home late for lunch it’s all ready!

So it’s Wednesday, and what’s for dinner tonight?

This is one of our favorite crockpot meals. Delicious, Easy, Inexpensive, Healthy. The kids love it and so do Paul and I! I will need to start making a double batch soon!
This is the way I make it…

2 Cups of dried split peas (sold in the dried beans section of the grocery store)
4 Cups of vegetable broth
3 Cups of water
1 medium to large onion (depends on your tastes) finely chopped
2 Cups of chopped up ham

Mix it all in the crockpot, set it to low and cook for 8 hours. You can salt and pepper it to taste when it’s time to serve. Also, you can add more or less liquid depending on how thick or thin you like it. I have also added grated carrots to this soup and it gives it a nice flavor too.

I like to set my bread maker to be finished at dinner time, so we eat our soup with warm ww bread.

When I have just a tad leftover, I freeze it and mix it in a meatloaf (added veggies that noone knows about!).

Yummy Recipe!

I got most of this recipe from my Taste of Home magazine, but after trying it once, needed to spruce it up for our own tastes. This mix makes enough for 2 casseroles, I use ½ right away and freeze the other ½ for later, just making up a new stuffing mixture when I go to bake it.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole

Mix together:
8 Cups Cooked Cubed Chicken
10 Ounces of Ham Lunchmeat
3 Cups of Peas
2 Cups of Swiss Cheese
1 Cup of Cheddar
2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Cup Milk
¾ Cup Mayo
½ Cup Mustard
2 Tablespoons lemon juice

Spread out in 9x13 Dish

Mix together 2 6 ounce boxes of stuffing mix with 3 cups water and one stick of melted butter. Let it set until all liquid is absorbed (about a minute or two).

Spread over chicken mixture in baking dish. Cover with foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, take of foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, until stuffing topping is crispy golden.

Are people assets or liabilities?

I just read the following on a blog I read occasionally. I'm so glad I read it today! I agree wholeheartedly with this post and wholemindedly! The Jueb family has said it best in regards to Nany Pelosi's, President Obama's and countless other socialist minded democrats, who are anti-life. Read on....
"You’d hate to ask this question, but sometimes reality forces the issue. Nancy Pelosi is making the headlines today over her ABC News exchange claiming $200 million in contraception is needed to boost the economy. Her logic goes something like this:
People consume.People drain the economy.Therefore, $200 million in contraceptives will help the economy.
Brilliant. That is, if you’re Planned Parenthood, one of Pelosi’s favorite lobbyists. Such a stretch is incredibly revealing as to who is in whose pockets. $200 million for “family planning” to reduce the number of children born in America? Sure, that may work, but this would somehow boost the economy? Who is Pelosi trying to fool? Andrea Tantaros of Fox News has declared Pelosi’s brain “officially gone numb” in her well-worded title blog, “Show Me the Economist Who Says We Are In a Crisis Because of a Birth Control Shortage.” That’s a good request!
There was 19th century economist Carl Marx who believed humans to be a burden to society. Adolf Hitler would agree, too, but he was a military dictator, not an economist. China’s leaders have been limiting family size for three decades, but I wonder where they’ll be once that generation reaches retirement?
Perhaps where Japan is today. Tokyo reports corporations are aggressively urging couples to start multiplying. In a CNN article, it was reported that the economy is tanking in Japan. “Japan in the midst of an unprecedented recession, so corporations are being asked to work toward fixing another major problem: the country’s low birthrate.”
America is not built on the notion that the government needs to take care of its people. Quite contrare, Ms. Pelosi. America is built on the notion that its government is of the people and for the people. People are the driving force of our economic prosperity and our freedoms. Reversing this to make government the driving force has been tried before, but never succeeded (note Marx’s successors above). As long as people are given opportunity to prosper, they will give into the economy and everyone will grow. Economists who believe this are a dime a dozen.
A government who actively encourages through millions in funding to terminate pregnancies and limit births is begging for–at least–an economic bruising. Change is definitely in the air. One of the first executive orders from the Obama administration was to reverse the Bush policy of refusing federal funds for overseas abortions. So now tax-payers are paying for overseas abortionists. Just what is needed to help stimulate the American economy!
You see, only populations that procreate are ones that have the opportunity to prosper and grow. This isn’t Jeub bias talking here; this is the reality of demographics. Japan–whose birthrate is 1.3 per couple, below the replacement ratio of 2.1–are wising up. They’re seeing the devastating effects of a childless society: they’re getting old, and there are no children left to fill the jobs.
This is why we believe it is quite obvious: people are assets. Ms. Pelosi is sorely short-sighted, seeing only babies in diapers needing government-assisted childcare. We see every person as a unique and special gift from God, a contributor in unique ways to society. On a purely economic level, the Jeub children will grow into 15 adult contributors to society, through their work and their ingenuity. Here’s a much more logical syllogism:
People contribute to society.Government takes from people.Therefore, give back to those families creating more people.
Granted, this logic is Jeub-biased. I would love to see the per-child tax credit go up, and see our government actively encourage couples to stop fearing parenthood and start engaging in this most beautiful stage of life. Such incentives would work better than Pelosi/Obama’s call for contraception spending." -from the Jeub family blog

Afternoon of Learning!

Yesterday afternoon my friend and church member, Linda, came over to teach me how to make her most absolutely fabulous, best ever pie crust. Now I too am an expert and will be able to stop buying pre-made pie crusts because I've always been a failure when it comes to them. My mom taught me when I was a kid, I've had other helpful people offer advice but I could just never make one that was satisfying to me. I've even used an all butter recipe from my sis-n-law, but it never turned out like hers. Anyways this pie crust has two unique ingredients- an egg and a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. Soooo delicious, thick and flaky! I will post the recipe, but be warned.... it has shortening. I kept thinking... I'm poisoning my family for dinner but then I thought, okay that's not really rational and I don't use a pie crust that often either, about as often as a store bought pie crust (which is way worse!) The pie crust is for 2

Mix together in separate bowl
1 Egg
About 3-4 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar (according to your preference, make sure it smells strong, and you're good)About 1/4 water

In another bowl cut in 12 tablespoons of shortening (I remember buying a non-hydrogenated form at Wild Oats when we lived in Springfield, so it does exist! Lots of luck finding it)

into 2 Cups of flour

until about the size of peas

Now, add about 1/2 the egg mixture into the flour mixture and mix up. Keep mixing in the egg mixture until the dough is almost wet/sticky. Stop when it reaches this consistency, you may not use all of the egg mixture.

Roll out on a heavily floured board.

Enjoy!

With one of the pie crusts, I made a Quiche for dinner (aka egg pie, we eat it monthly in my home). This time I made it with Monterey Jack Cheese, Ham (I use Hormel Natural... nitrate free!) and Finely Chopped Broccoli. 12 eggs (I use cage free, eggland's best... nice to the chickens and the eggs are much better!), about a cup of half and half a dash of salt and pepper and about 1 1/2 Tsp of nutmeg. Served with salad and this delicious pie for dessert:

With the other pie crust, Linda introduced me to this easy and tasty pie!

Coconut Macadamia Nut Pie

Whisk together:

1 Cup Sugar

3 Eggs

Add- 1 Cup light corn syrup

1/2 Cream

1Tablespoon of melted butter

1 Cup coursely chopped Macadamia nuts

1 Cup flaked coconut

Pour into unbaked pie crust

Bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes

Last Few Days

Friday was Hannhah's 2nd Birthday. She really seemed to know what was going on. I think because we have so many birthday celebrations in our house that it's old hat to her. I did my usual "decorate the dining room" when she went to bed the night before. So when she woke up and we were all telling her "Happy Birthday!" she kept saying "Oh!" with her eyes real big. It was so cute!! Elijah wrapped her gifts (one from mom and dad, one from siblings) and made her some birthday signs. David was at guitar, so he didn't get to help much. Ann decorated her cake. I put the white frosting on, and Ann purplefied it with a tube of frosting. She was sooo proud, and it actually looked really good! There were "flowers" and stripes all over it.

I also took the the kids to our free local zoo (aka Petco) especially for Hannah who loves to look at the fish. She was screaming "fiiiish" most of the time. Atleast people think it's cute at her age. We love going there! There are a ton of cute critters to look at, all at a kid's eye level. Plus people bring in their own animals for us to gawk at. AND there are the cutest little buggies for the kids to push, I put stuff in it for them and then put it back before we have to pay for it! David and Elijah always want to go next door to look at the store, not Big 5, but Staples! Weirdos! They love to save up and buy their own rubberbands, paperclips and whatever else you can reinvent into something else. I just take them, and pick-up supplies for the Corps. I love to pick on the youngest children and ask them to help me lift the 50 pound box of copy paper into the buggy. It makes me laugh so hard! Everyone's had their turn, lately it's been Hannah who tries soooo hard and grunts and everything!!

Saturday we had our very good friends, Stacie and children (minus the husband who had to work), over at lunchtime. The kids played and played and I talked and talked. Paul played and talked. It was great. The Brown kids are just about a perfect match for all of our kids. Their older boy is a few months older than our oldest. Their next 2 are one year older than our next 2. Their fourth just kind of roams about. It's funny to keep track of him, but so nice that he keeps himself entertained! And then we have babies, well 2 yods, that are the same age by about a month. It makes for everyone to have a playmate of their own, including us adults when Steve's around, plus extra! Our next babies will only be 2 weeks apart. Crazy! In fact when I met Stacie, I had just moved here and was pregnant with Ann, and she had just been pregnant with Andrew. I try to play matchmaker with the kids, but the personalities are still not mature enough to figure it out for sure. Elijah has already said that if Stacie has a girl next, he gets dibs on her!! Great way to think ahead! Ha!Ha!

Today is a full day, especially for me. My turn to preach (Psalm 71, "A Lifestyle of Dependance") and my turn to go to Evergreen nursing home to hold church (the boys and Ann will come with me to help), in addition to my regular teaching Sunday School, pick-ups/drop-offs, and be bombarded by 50 people at church (oooops... did I say that? he!he!). That on top of the regular get my own children out the door and kept track of! Wow, when I write that down, I don't feel so guilty about my feelings toward the day! But I've done it long enough to know that when all is said and done, I'm really the one who gets the blessing! And I've learned that in just fulfilling my duties (being obedient!), God gives me enough grace for the day!

Wednesday

Aaaah... blessed Wednesdays, full of people and programs. I'm taking a break! Home League (women's ministries) was good, but I missed the first 45minutes due to a staff meeting and a counseling session. But they got started without me and all was well. We made a prayer blanket for one of our missionaries. It still needs a few finishing touches. I made gooseberry pie for Home League. I was thinking that not everyone would like it because it has a strong flavor, but we were fighting over the last peice. They all loved it. Do you know how hard it is to transport a pie with 4 kids?!? I was constantly telling everyone... "watch out for the pie!" as they climbed in and out of the mini-van. We almost made it, but Hannah stepped on the edge and flattened out the meringue just as we arrived at the Corps. It was covered in plastic, so I ate the smashed part, hoping the ladies wouldn't notice. I don't think they did... unless they just read this!

Tonight is youth activities (Troop meetings and Jr. Soldiers). Paul and I are still trying to juggle pick-ups and youth activities with David's Destination Imagination team meetings which also meet on Wednesdays. He will just have to leave early on some days. Thankfully after the competition in March, it will be over for the year.

Paul spent the entire day yesterday putting together bunk beds for the girls. We got them for only $199, but after that experience, we're willing to pay more just to get it already assembled. It was a huge project and the kids and I heard many loud complaints coming from the bedroom. We were giggling, but Paul sure wasn't! I built the boys' first set of bunk beds in Springfield, but is was the metal kind with much less peices and only took an hour or so. I think since it was Paul's turn, he was jealous that mine were so easy! (ha!ha!) Anyways, they are up and the girls slept last night in them. Hannah is on the bottom with her purple sheets (the only color she knows) and Ann is on top with her pink sheets. They were sooo excited! Hannah keeps saying "big" and Ann is having a blast with the ladder.

I was up for 3 hours last night between 1am and 4am, only to get up less than 2 hours later at my usual 5:45am. I am so tired of my sleeping! (or lack of!). I'm willing to not sleep for a newborn baby, but nothing good comes of this! I go to bed exhausted every night, and then half the time- my eyes pop open and I'm up and ready for the day- even if it's 1am!! Last night I read, prayed, watched the news, unloaded the dishwasher, packed lunches... I was wide awake. I wish this would stop. Psalms says that "God gives sleep to those He loves" so why aren't I fitting in there!? I think it's all these darn pregnancy hormones. But, it's still a good day and there could be a whole lot worse wrong with me! This too shall pass... say in about 30 years when life slows down a bit (right?!).

monday

Home all day! Wonderful! I'm usually at the office monday mornings but the kids are out for MLK day. I just didn't feel like taking them to the Corps and I honestly had more to do at home than there!

Paul is at the Corps all day to make up for our Caseworker who is on vacation and fill in the Thrift Store in which our manager has the day off. Mondays are a bear for Paul, so I try to make sure the kids are bathed and in their jammies, rooms cleaned up and dinner on the table when he gets home close to 6pm. (Wednesdays are my draining days... thank God for crockpots!)

The kids and I did a short study on MLK over the internet. I did 9 loads of laundry, (sort, wash, dry, fold, put away). The boys read books to the girls, Ann and I cleaned out and organized her room. Hannah just kept getting into stuff, so I put her in front of a Dora movie. I tackled the kids' momento boxes and finally got caught up on that. They each have a medium sized plastic tub with baby momentos and other special things. Over the last year, I think, I've just piled up the stuff on top of the closet thinking... "I'll get to it later". Well today must've been a year later because I found stuff from Elijah in Kindergarten and David in 3rd grade! How pathetic, Rachel! But now it is more rewarding to be done!! The kids and I played the Wi for an hour. It is so FUN! Even Hannah can swing the remote for baseball.

Fish (hake), brown rice and peas for dinner. I want to stay up tonight and watch John and Kate plus 8 at 9pm. It looked like a good episode. Paul can't believe I like to "chill" by watching another big, crazy family, but I love it!

Ann will finally get her bandages off tomorrow morning . She has been real good with them, but desperately wants it off. I think I'll just take her back to the Corps with me and Hannah can be at school by herself until we pick her up at lunch. Ann likes to use the chalkboard in my office to teach school to all her baby doll and stuffed animal students. She has a stick and everything to point to the alphabet that I write up there. She takes it so seriously! Hannah likes to teach school too, but she mostly likes to beat her students with the stick.

the weekend

Today was a good day, yesterday was too. Actually it's been a good week :). We are back to a normal Corps schedule, which is easier for everyone to keep track of. Attendance has been great, even on Sunday mornings we are seeing those on the "fringes" come more and more.

Saturday was spent at home, yay! We played games, did chores, watched a movie, the boys and Paul had a nerf gun fight. The boys work hard building their "fort" downstairs, it's actually pretty impressive. Paul just gets the matress, but still nails them like crazy. Ann is the bullet girl and happily retrieves bullets for daddy. I stay upstairs with Hannah because there is no doubt she'd get hurt and with all I hear, I don't want to be down there either. I was once and I kept "accidently" being hit. Plus they have all these crazy rules that I can't keep track of.

After church today we went out to lunch with a Corps family. It was a real nice time. I can't believe we were at there for almost 3 hours! It's nice on the Sundays that we don't have church services at the nursing homes because we're able to relax after church instead of gearing up for the next thing.

The boys are playing in the bathtub with their legos. They are waterboarding their lego guys and coming up with other forms of torture in order to interrogate them (like they're ever going to talk!). I wonder if I should be worried.

Ann and Hannah did my hair. I think I have close to 25 bows and clips in my hair. They think I look beautiful. I told the girls the story of the woman who washed Jesus' feet with her perfume and then wiped His feet with her hair. Ann was amazed that someone would do that. It was funny trying to explain the lesson to her, she just couldn't get past the feet and hair thing!

I have my digi cam up and working and have taken a ton of pics. I'm so happy! The kids are dying to use it too, but I don't know if I want to open that door. Paul will teach me how to get everything on the computer since he has done that before with the Corps camera. I can't believe how dumb these computer things make me feel. I was proud of myself just getting my camera up and running, getting it on the computer is another thing.

Well, good riddens. I need to get back upstairs and throw something on the table for a late dinner. Everyone was stuffed after lunch so dinner will be easy.

These are pics of Jacob (my twin) and I when we were kids (obviously!) These are us in our Jr. Soldier uniforms for The Salvation Army. I think the one on top is us when we were a little older. My mom emailed these to me so that I could share them with my children and our Jr. Soldiers at church and now I share with you...

Quick Update

Ann's surgery went great. She was a real trooper. I think the worst part was her not being able to eat or drink all day long, until about dinner time. It was only a 20 minute surgery, but we were there for about 7 hours and saw about 20 nurses. Her thumb was worse than we thought after the Doctor got in there. He fixed her right up. She has to wear bandages until Tuesday and that is kind of bugging her. Her thumb also hurts but we're able to give her Tylenol for that.

What's Up

I know, I've been terrible keeping my blog updated. Funny thing that when I'm busy and there are many things to write about, I just don't make the time to write it all!! Plus our internet wasn't working for a few days. I feel bad I still haven't gotten my digi cam totally set up. I will do it this week for sure. I really want to start posting pics of the children!!
This could be long, so I'll try to keep it organized...

Ann's Surgery: Ann is getting her crooked thumb fixed tomorrow. We noticed it's crookedness almost 2 years ago when she gave us a thumbs up with her right hand. (We have a standing joke in our family in that we always give each other a crooked thumbs up, in honor of Ann.) We've been taking her to doctors and they have given us the same prognosis... that we need to get it fixed. It is on her right hand and is commonly referred to "trigger finger". It happens in the very young or the very old. The ligament in her thumb is not moving through properly and can get worse with age and affect her dexterity. The surgeoun does about 80 of these a year and it can be done locally on adults who will hold still. They can't count on a 4 year old to hold still and could end up cutting a nerve so Ann will be put under for this. I think the worst part will be her not being able to eat or drink anything after bedtime tonight and her surgery isn't until 11:30am tomorrow. I will be trying to stuff her full tonight.

Some letdowns: Here are just a few... After a long battle with the flu and a frankly terrible Christmas, we were all looking forward to our Officer's Christmas party to be held at the Great Wolf Lodge which is a new super waterpark hotel. We were invited to spend the night and then to the party the next day. The kids always look forward to it. At the last minute, it was cancelled (postponed) due to the flooding in Washington. The lodge itself was flooded and 20 miles around it. BIG bummer. So, instead we went to Portland to a hotel with lots of swimming, the mall, the movies, and out to eat, thankfully we had some Christmas money leftover. The weirdest thing happened to me at the mall and then at the movies, but I'll save it for later. Then when we got home Saturday night the refridgerator started breaking down. HUGE bummer. We are too busy on Sunday to buy a new one (SS, Church, CCM meetings) so we stick blocks of ice in and that has worked pretty well. First thing this morning we got a new fridge and I'm really excited to have one that I picked out. (I don't get much say about my house, furniture, appliances, etc unless it breaks during our appointment, then I can get a new one) It has a filtered water/ice dispenser in the door, lots of room and great organized, adjustable shelves. At lunchtime when the girls and I got home, I couldn't get in the house. The dumb door was broken again, after we just replaced the handle. Very frustrating. (I can't even tell you how much I have not liked this house. I could blog for days about how much I can't stand this house. But I'm stuck with it.) Next to go will be my minivan which is making strange noises and the locks and windows have decided to work just sometimes. I am still wondering what in the world I am supposed to be learning from a few months(starting with Paul's staph infection) of one disapointment after another. I think we're adjusting though. That's life.

WIERD: Okay, now for weird... we're at the Clackamas Mall. Just roaming around until our movie starts (Bedtime Stories,which we loved!). First weird thing was when we were at the mall, we ran into our across the street neighbor. 2 hours away from home in the great big city of Portland with an overcrowded mall and we end up with them. Before that we saw some friends from school (local resturaunt owners) at Chuck E Cheese, 2 hours away in the great big city of Portland. Weird! Then I'm standing there and a hand runs up my back to my shoulder and someone starts giving me a hug. I turn around and it's my old Corps Officer, Mrs. Walcott! She was at the mall shopping with her now very grown up daughter. We caught up for a little bit, but I had to go get to the movie. She lives in Portland and is not an Officer anymore and we lost track of each other. It was so neat to see her.

SUPER WEIRD: (I realize this may just be a Rachel thing, but I think it would be weird to you too!.....)We get into the movie theater, the first and only ones in there. It takes a family of 6 a little while to get situated, pass out popcorn, bathroom trips, etc. Everyone is sitting down, except for me. I was half standing with my knee on the seat orchestrating everything, my DC was in the cup holder, my "territory" was clearly marked, and this 50 or so year old couple sits down RIGHT NEXT TO ME. Let me remind you, the movie theater is empty except for us. It is a big theater with balcony seating and everything. I looked at them, looked at the empty seats to their right, looked at the empty seats behind them, in front of them (well you get the point) and I blurted out "Are you really sitting there?" The guy laughs and says "Yeah, you look like a responsible adult and I know you'll keep us out of trouble" and he's laughing and his wife is going right along with it. I'm shocked and then I say looking all around "Am I on candid camera? Is this a joke?" I told the lady who was practically on my lap... "Look, halfway through this movie, there will be children all over my lap and then on yours too. I think you should move." She looks at Hannah and tells me "oh that's okay, your kids look darling". Then I said "Well, who will get the armrest? I even fight over that with my own husband." and she says "we'll take turns". I ask them again... "is this a joke? are you kidding me?!?" This starts churning in my head, and just doesn't feel right, so I stand up, and move every single one of the Chouinards down 2 seats, which is an ordeal, with 4 already situated children. We're talking boosters, drinks, popcorn, coats, etc. Paul missed a lot of it because he was at the other end (why didn't they sit next to him???) But I told him and the rest of the movie theater (people were starting to trickle in by now) "This is way to weird... who in the world sits right next to someone in an empty theater... I must be on candid camera... it would've been easier for them to move.... and on and on..." until Paul told me to be quiet. I think I got kind of worked up. I don't know, maybe I'm the weird one.

PREGNANCY: I guess I haven't written much about this, so here it goes... I am due April 18. That's the same due date I had with David. David's birthday is April 15, Adolf Hitler's birthday is April 20. I'm hoping for something in between. I went to the doctor this morning for my monthly check up and am still doing well. I lost more weight due to the flu and was accused of "dieting". Yah right!!! I eat often, but my stomach gets smaller and doesn't hold as much (I should be prego all the time!) The Dr. told me this morning that I am measuring 3-4 weeks big, so it looks like another big baby. My blood sugar has been fine, so that's not to blame. I think I have to blame my mom's side of the family who make big babies. Smile. I pray this baby will level off. I was miserable the last 6 weeks of pregnancy with Elijah (11.5 lbs) and even Ann (9.3 lbs.) We don't know if we're having a boy or girl but will probably get another ultrasound and the Dr. will right it down for us to send to our family. When I was in the Corps office this morning, I even overheard 3 of our staff in deep discussion about what the Chouinards are having. If we didn't gamble, I'd use this as fundraiser.

Today's my birthday (my borther's too), so we're going to Cousins for dinner with my free dinner and dessert coupon. I love coupons ;). It is a treat to me because I don't have to plan, cook and clean-up dinner. I already know I want the turkey dinner, my favorite! Yesterday at church they all surprised me during Sunday School with a birthday cake and candles. I felt spoiled. They are too good to me. Then we played guess the age. I can't believe the kids thought I was 45 or more! Crazy kids. Anyway, I told them the truth: 21. Some remembered I was 21 last year, but I told them that just couldn't be true. They'll know for sure next week when I drop my 33 pennies on the drum.

Over The Weekend

Saturday the kids and I were up at the hospital for Ann. She was having terrible ear pain and it turned out to be an ear infection. Now she is on antibiotics. She has been feeling MUCH better and wants me to stop asking about her ear. Apparently it is "annoying her" she said. She cracks me up!

Then we went to the Corps to bring Paul his lunch and to set up for Family First Sunday School before heading home. Paul and I had approved our Thrift Store Manager's vacation weeks ago, never knowing how sick we'd be. So, Paul had to run the store on Saturday with a 103 fever. Thankfully, our cashier who is battling breast cancer was able to work and Paul could just kind of rest. One thing about being a Corps Commmanding Officer.... THE BUCK STOPS HERE! While we are here to bail out our employees or congregation, there is noone to bail us out. I was feeling pretty bitter about that, until I noticed last week that my fab youth pastor and her family and a few other Soldiers did the following while we were laid up: put away every Christmas decoration in the Corps (there was a lot!), decorated for my Family First Sunday School, packed away over 200 leftover Christmas toys for next year, ran the church service we missed, preached my already written sermon (thank God I was ahead on that!), and got ready for a Baby Shower that I was to be mainly throwing this week. All without being asked!! What a blessing! That is the way church is supposed to be!! Everyone helping, not just a few select people. I don't know if our last appointments would've shown so much initiative, they were gifted in other ways.

Yesterday, Paul and I kept the kids home from church. There was still some coughing and Ann's ear needed to rest. So how do we pull that one off? Well, we have a system for when one or more of the kids need to stay home.... I go to the the Corps to open and teach Sunday School then I get the class going on something so that I can leave by 10:40am. I come home, tag Paul "you're it" and he goes and leads the Holiness meeting and preaches. We came up with that one in Springfield when David was 2 and had crup real bad. We end up doing that once or twice a year and it works great. I refuse to drag my sick children to church or anywhere. Their health is WAY more important than church.

So this morning, school is delayed for 2 hours due to the snow and ice we got last night. Will life ever get back to normal?? Roosevelt will be leaving us today. We've had fun with him, but I have noticed a distinct smell coming from his home despite frequent cleanings. I can smell like a dog when I'm pregnant.

Looking forward to going to tea with my friend tomorrow. It has been way to long. It's really hard for me to get out by myself so I soooo appreciate when I can! It makes me feel like a person again, not just somebody's mother or minister. But I'm not complaining... I have a great life and great people in it!

Off We Go!

This is the first morning we woke up to NO fevers!!! We woke up this morning and felt so good that we made a spontaneous decision to go to Portland! Yeah! I desperately need to go to Costco and the kids desperately want to spend some of their Christmas money at Toys R Us. We figure the kids can sleep in the car. I am so excited!! Everyone's wearing shoes for the first time in 8 days.

We're just waiting for Paul to get home from the Corps so we can leave. In the meantime, the kids took down the Christmas tree. I sat on the couch and wrapped up the ornaments while they brought them to me. It was a pretty good deal for me ;) I still need to get the rest of the stuff down that is throughout the house. It will feel good to put this all behind me and get on with the year.

Happy New Year!

It's a new year, a fresh start, a brighter future, new adventure and it still feels like any other day! There is a Twilight Zone marathon on so that makes it an even greater day! Paul and I stayed up last night watching it. Those marathons are addicting! We kept saying to ourselves... we'll go to bed after this one last episode.

Yesterday, after 7 straight days in the house, I went out. Paul came home and nursed the kids, I stopped at the office to pick up some things for Family First Sunday School to work on, then I went to Safeway to use my 10$ off coupon on a box of diapers. It was packed. Insane. I can't stores like that. Then of course, I ran into a couple of people from church so I had to stop twice to visit amongst the madness.

Here goes the blah, blah, blah of Rachel's head.... I don't know when the last time, if ever, I spent so many consecutive days in the house. I have a lot of thoughts about that. Here are just a couple. I love to be home, but 2 days is usually tops for me. My innermost fantasy is also my most often thought about "escape route" from the kind of life we live. To live out in the middle of nowhere, with just my family, and never have outside contact with the world. I know the reason for that is because my life is so much less complicated, stressful, and easier when I'm protected in my own home. After 7 days in the house it was wierd for me to go out yesterday and see that the world is just as I left it. Same old staff, same old church people, same old clients.... all with the same old issues and problems. Even with the flu, my life has been so simple the last week. I'm going to miss that but am not able to get around the many Scriptures that point me and my family to the world and not "hidden under a bowl" which, admittedly, I would prefer! The fact of the matter is that the kids and I are home way more than we're not but even a couple of hours with some of the people in our lives can feel like 50 and I have to really discipline my brain not to get sidetracked while I'm in my home! And no whining intended at all.... the other reality is that while we my put our roots down in our home for 3,4,5,or more years, there is always the knowing that we are in any given place for a short while. I try not to think about it, but each Christmas in our home brings us closer to our last one. When I pack up Christmas decorations or anything for that matter, I pack like we're moving. It's just a way of life that is just hard to explain, but God calls us and we choose it! That's why we make such an effort to build a strong marraige, a strong family and strong children. Only time will tell though how everyone turns out!! Of course, I'm almost 33 and still "turning out"!!

I'm hoping to go to Fred Meyer today. I'm thinking everyone's sleeping and/or have hangovers from New Year's Eve so it shouldn't be very crowded. The kids STILL aren't well enough to go out, although they are getting better slowly. I'm trying to get us back in a routine. We'll play some games today, for as long as they can sit up. I think Paul can start reading our Bible time again, but it is so annoying to have to stop to cough. I know I'm terrible, but his coughing drives me crazy, even though I'm sitting there doing it too! It's funny, I just hate annoying noises and his cough is one of them! I know, I'm so mean. That's why I'm definately not in the health profession.

The kids are freaking out that Hannah really outdid herself this time. I better go see the mess.