Last Couple Days

Thursday was so nice! I went to Anzac Tea Parlour with my CBS ladies group. Just an informal get together. I got the childcare to watch the girls for me for a quick hour (thanks G&S!), the boys were in school, and I brought Mary with me, praying she'd be easy. Turned out that I didn't even deal with Mary at all. The 11 other ladies passed her around and around. What a special ministry that babies have! I heard so many comments from the ladies "I haven't held a little one in so long" "This reminds me of my own babies who are all grown up" "Sorry if I dropped crumbs on her" "I miss my grandchildren" were all some of the comments.
hen we had our good friends over, the Browns. Too bad Steve couldn't make it. He's Paul's "buddy". Otherwise everyone else always has a perfect playmate buddy with the Browns. Even us grown-ups. There is someone for everyone. If Snickers came, Buster would have one too.
Elijah also got to take a trip to the Portland Zoo with his 1st Grade class on Thursday. He had so much fun!

Friday I brought the girls to the Office with me to take care of a couple of things. The air conditioning wasn't working right, in fact the repairmen were there working on it. My Office was an OVEN! I was joking that I must've dropped 10pounds just sweating it off in there!
We met Elijah at Sorosis Park. He got to go as a special reward for being a great student all year long. David would've went too, but he chose to stay with his class so that he could participate in their Friday Pioneer day. (I will definately post separately about all of David's Pioneer activities!) The girls and I had a picnic while Elijah ate his lunch. When I was nursing Mary, Hannah got an ant on her finger and was screaming bloody murder. I was glad to rescue her before someone called 911. I don't know what it is about my girls and bugs!! Ann used to be that way too, but has kind of grown out of it. They definately did not learn that fear from me. I'm the one that fears drowning, not bugs.
Paul and I got to go out on a "date"!! Third one this year. Yay!! We just happened to call Courtney, our babysittter and she said she could come. So, with Mary in tow, we went to K-Mart (a dreaded trip for me, but Elijah desperately needed some pants), went to Lilo's (a new Hawaiin food place on 2nd) and went to see Star Trek at the movies. Mary was an angel. So was Paul.

Today Paul went to a retirement party in Portland for some comrads of ours. I would've went but we didn't want to leave the kids with a babysitter all day long, plus I would've had to bring Mary anyways.
So, the kids and I spent late morning, early afternoon in the front yard. I worked on the rose bushes. The kids played with the hose, rode bikes and chalked. I'm working on laundry, washing a down a stroller I bought for $10 at a yard sale (yay!), working on my sermon (Jonah), in between one of the kids always needing something from me. Earlier I had all 3 of the girls and 1 of the boys all crying at once... aaaahh the joys of motherhood. Well anyway, they're upstairs setting up the Monopoly game to play. I like that one. They wanted Twister, but I'm just not in the mood for that today!

I'm thinking about doing Pizza for dinner. It's hot and I don't feel like cooking. Lazy me.

Church tomorrow, and we get the afternoon off with no programs scheduled. That will be nice.

Oh Happy Day!

Yesterday I got what I wanted after 5 looong years... NEW BLINDS!! Every window of our house is now fitted with new blinds. Honeycomb blackout. A sort of sandy color. I am one happy girl! Why?... we've been living with sheets on the bedroom windows for 5 summers. An ugly wall of broken curtains over our beautiful picture window. Rolling fabric blinds downstairs that are dated and don't work. And over every window upstaits- mutilated metal blinds after probably 20 or more years of wear and tear. Now when I want a room dark, it is dark. When I want a room light, it is light. I spent last night adjusting them to show everyone the different effects I could create with the lighting. We had a lovely taco night with just the right amount of lighting. Ha!Ha!

Oh My!

Oh my! Almost 2 weeks of no posts! We're still here. Alive and mostly well. Except for another plugged duct for me (I believe exhaustion induced) , poor Ann with a very bad canker sore, and Mary with a diaper rash (STILL after being treated for a yeast infection). Us girls are falling apart!! Thank God we have a good man, Paul, who diligently takes good, loving care of us (and forces me to rest). I believe that the best time for a man to pull rank as head of the wife is in order to protect her. I was a good wife and stayed in bed all afternoon on Thursday, and stayed on the couch all day on Friday. Yes the house has fallen apart even though the kids have kept up on their chores, mommy hasn't for two days.

Our last week and a half have been very full. Here are some highlights:

David continues to play some awesome Baseball! He is a star Catcher and Batter.

Mother and Daughter Banquet which is always a ton of work but such great fun! Over 50 women and girls in a very crowded Fellowship Hall.

Paul went to Men's Camp last weekend, which left me to hold the fort both at home and at Church.

A couple of the church ladies were very helpful with my own children while I ran the banquet and the church service/sermon. Thank you Lord for helpers!

Paul started getting our back yard summer ready, starting with setting up our above ground pool.

Paul has also been at the Corps very late every night (like until midnight or longer) to fit in additional responsbilities that come up this time of the year... Budget, TS improvements, etc. It never ends!!

David's 4th grade class held their school perfomance "Destination Rock 'N Roll" which was great! I actually truly enjoyed this perfomance for more than just "my kid's in it". Paul and I were practically singing along.

Elijah is all psyched up for Soccer this season after we went and signed him up. He got a yellow sticker on his paperwork which was the highest you can get for your skill level. OF COURSE he got the highest skill level... I got to make the call (ha!ha!) But really, he's pretty good and confident and obeys/respects his coaches. That counts for something!

Ann had her pre-school "graduation". Quite cute!! They all wore graduation caps, received a diploma and sang a song. Funny though... she only attends 2 mornings a week, maybe one afternoon a month during Advisory Board and is coming back for more next year... but she still "graduated". Is that the "everyone's a winner" mentality??

I was so sick on Thursday morning and had slept a total of 6-7 hours over the previous 4 days that I was seriously losing it. I was scared to even drive. I gave up on Advisory Board and having our good friends over for dinner. I did still go to Ann's graduation in the morning though because she is one person I do not want to fail. I was so tired that I forgot my friends name from her school. DUH!!

I am feeling much better now and am earnestly praying that God show me what is MOST important in my daily tasks and to h*** with the rest ;)

I'm Still Here!

I'm still here and will be posting soon!

The Good and Bad of Mother's Day/ WM Sunday

Yesterday was a good and bad day. The bad part of the day actually started on Friday night when two things happened...

ONE- I got Mastitis, an infected clogged milk duct in my right boob. Mary didn't feed so well on Thursday night, she was tired and kept falling asleep after a few suckles, which left me engorged. Then I put on a bra that was too tight because of the engorgement. And by lunchtime, at the Corps (because we were waiting to see if we got moved!) I was not feeling so well. Just suddenly feeling achy and chills. So what did I do?? We took the 3 girls to McDonalds. (I LOVE the Southwest Grilled Chicken Salad. I could eat it everyday.) I hadn't told Paul yet or he would've sent me home. Then at the end of lunch I was getting shooting pains in my boob. BAD! So I went home and packed up on the couch (well the best I can with 5 kids who need me!) My boob was swollen and hot red. I kept nursing and nursing. I've had a plugged duct before, but nursing cured it within a day. Saturday I woke up. Big fever and a LOT of PAIN!! So I called the Dr. and he put me on antibiotics right away. By Sunday morning my fever was gone. Today, I am still in some pain and nursing like crazy. Mary is in heaven. I am not.

TWO- My precious digital camera seems to be broken!!! I am SO bummed!! Even more than the mastitis (ha!ha!) I wanted to take pictures of all my Mother's Day delights to keep forever. Paul is taking a look at it. We might have to take it to a repair shop ($$).

The GOOD!! - We had a fantastic Women's Ministries Sunday. One lady shared her testimony, another sang a solo. 4 ladies helped me do the sermon about the Seasons of our lives. One did the Call to Worship and another the Benediction. We had over 50 people there and were still missing a few of our regulars. I did a special thank you/ recognition of the Women and Mothers. I shared the Scripture from Mark 14 when the woman anointed Jesus with perfume. Then some of those present were agitated that she had done this. But Jesus stuck up for her and said "she had done a beautiful thing" and that "she did what she could". I just LOVE this Scripture because Jesus is speaking about this woman's precious ministry to Him doing what she could. And wherever we are in life, whatever "Season" we're in, whatever God has given us, as women, we do what we can for Jesus! And it is a beautiful thing to Him! I gave each woman a small bottle of perfume with this quote on it "Ministry isn't something we pursue. Ministry happens in our footsteps as we pursue after Christ."

How my family blessed me for Mother's Day: Paul gave me a dozen pink roses, a special card and my favorite pepperidge farm cookies. I also treated myself (why not!) to a 3 DVD set from Franklin Springs Media- "Homestead Blessings" on Soapmaking, Candlemaking and Breadmaking. I had been eyeing it for a while and when it went on sale for Mother's Day- I nabbed it. David made me a card and wrote a beautiful but funny letter to me. Elijah made me a very nice gift bag and inside it was a framed shadow picture of his profile on which he wrote "I love you Mom" on it. Ann made me a card complete with glued on hairclips, ribbons and glitter. One of her brothers wrote on it for her exactly what she wanted "I love you, you're the best mom, from Ann". Hannah made be a giant flower out of construction paper with her cute little picture in the middle of it. Mary made me about 8 poops in her tiny diaper.

I hope all the other Moms out there had a great Mother's Day. Being a Mom may not be the only thing you do, but it is the most important!! Keep your head up, your heart soft, your mind sharp, and a big smile on your face (whether you feel like it or not! ha!ha!)

Got some office work done this morning (Sunday Bulletin, Mother Daughter Banquet programs, Sr. Soldier uniform orders, and other "not worth mentioning" stuff). Some serious counseling with 2 different people that ate up my time. (Their Mothers Day- not so good) Took Ann to Ballet lesson. Sat on the Ballet couch and read books to Hannah while- you guessed it- nursing Mary and trying to give thumbs up to Ann when she passed by. If only I had ONE MORE ARM! Now I'm spending the afternoon "resting" for my mastitis while I do laundry and keep the kids occupied.

Dinner tonight: Leftover Turkey Dinner from Saturday, and Leftover Pizza from Friday night. Along with a salad and fresh pears.

Happy Mother's Day!

Thanks to my Great Aunt Ruby for emailing me this! I wanted to share it with you all.

Back In The Saddle Again

I am so glad to be serving in The Dalles another year!! This is our longest appointment and we're so stoked to be able to get our long term projects done, really know our people well, and get to see a little fruit from the work! Our first appointment was 3 years, second appointment 4 years and now, we're going on 6!! Yay!

Today was a crazy day, lots of stuff just going on plus lots to do. We're all back in the saddle again... It's amazing to me that just 2 weeks after Mary's birth, we're back to our routine. She has fit in so nicely! I will say though that any "spare" time that I thought I had is now filled with Mary: nursing, cuddling, changing, co-ordinating which sibling gets to hold her next, protecting her from unnamed 2 year old, and more.

I got my Corps office schedule back in the groove, starting on Monday morning with preparing for Women's Ministries Sunday which is this Sunday and catching up on reports and other majorly lame-o deskwork, got some phone calls in, checking up on people, touching base with some staff and did I mention nursing, nursing, nursing. I think the only hard part is just that people are still draining and I am DRAINED!! I am forced to rely on the Lord for enough emotional and spiritual energy to deal with the demands of child rearing and ministry. But I am still one happy lady! I feel so blessed.

Yesterday was our last meeting for CBS (Community Bible Study). I will miss it this summer. I sooo love these disciplined, in-depth studies and the opportunity that it provides for my children to be taught Bible lessons other than Paul and I doing it. They need to know that there are other believers out there! It was the first meeting I was able to attend since Mary was born, so she was the center of attention. A little embarrassing. I just wanted to blend in and be taught, but oh no... it was all about Mary. God has knitted a woman's DNA to oogle babies! And when you're around 70 other ladies the oogling goes on and on. Very fun!

David has a late night baseball game tonight. He gets to play with the field lights on and everything. He's excited. (I really need to post pics of him playing.) He still has to go an hour and half early for practice though. Baseball has been a big part of our life lately!

Looking forward to a good, easy, family Saturday tomorrow. The next 4 Saturdays are booked. We're going to celebrate Mother's Day tomorrow, since Sunday is so darn busy. Women's Ministries Sunday and all that goes with that, plus church at the Veteran's Home. Paul and the kids are going to be my little helpers to cook my favorite meal- Turkey dinner and the fixin's. Yummy! They want to use the fancy dishes, my Old Country Rose set, but I'm a little undecided because I'll have to wash them all by hand afterwards. Not my idea of Mother's Day. We'll see.

Not much else to say. Of course my brain is also not working at full capacity, (as if it ever did!)One of the many wonders (ah sacrifices) of mothering a newborn! I am so tired that my eyes have been bloodshot for 10 days. I look like a drunk. Everytime it looks like it's clearing up, I get another night of no sleep and they're all red again. I'm tired of people telling me my eyes are red. DUH!

Mary's Debut at Church Today

My Mom sent this dress for Mary. She wore it to church today for her debut. Of course, we all know what I wore...

Church was great. It is good to get back in the groove. We now take up an entire church pew, as was pointed out to us several times. We are giving it our all for church growth. ha!ha!

I'm learning to type with one hand again (baby in the other one) So I won't have as much to say sometimes, like now! Better go!

Sleeping Mary

May 1 Pic of the 5 Chouinard kiddos