Randomness

Things have been going pretty well for us. We've fully recovered (I think) from our Labor Day weekend away. With Monday off, the week flew by pretty quickly and involved a 24 hour virus of some sort for Luke. He was acting pretty cranky and tired and before I knew it was burning up. It only lasted a little over 24 hours and wasn't too painful. We spent Thursday in a very low-key fashion - cuddling and rocking a lot (My 3 year-old still loves to be rocked!) and watching some cartoons and the Food Network (My 3 year-old also loves watching the Food Network - esp. "the pretty cooking lady," aka: Rachel Ray.) Friday morning, Luke woke up a new boy and was completely back to normal - jumping off of everything in sight (literally, the boy loves to jump). It's a good thing he was feeling better, because we got to spend a rare night alone with Nony & Pappy! They came in about 1pm on Thursday on their way home from Louisville; they helped Scott & April move into their new apartment down there. We had a pretty full afternoon: we went to Cosley Zoo (more like a little farm, but free and only 5 minutes away!), visited Chris in his office (very small cubicle with a door and lock on it), and went to a nearby mall, where Luke got his now very favorite frog jammies (I SO wish I had my cord so you can see him in them!) and the baby got a coat/bunting or whatever you call it. Thanks so much Nony & Pappy!

Saturday morning after my mom & dad left we were beat! We had a very lazy Saturday, and Luke wore his frog jammies until about 1pm, then just a diaper until after his shower, at which time he returned to the beloved frog jammies. All that to say, I think we need to get a back-up pair of frog jammies!

I loaded up on a bunch of meat at a fabulous sale at the market across the street ($1.99/lb for ground sirloin!) and also hit a huge children's sale at the fair grounds. Have you ever been to a Step by Step sale? or Mom to Moms, or something like that? There were 3 separate sales, and 2 had half-off sales in the afternoon. I had never been to one of these before, and it was obvious! I meandered in there, hoping to find some irresistible sales; I didn't want to spend much. But these sales are quite an operation, and the women who go to them mean serious business. Most had brought their own huge black garbage bags or laundry baskets to put their items in. Me? I had a measly 4 items at the first sale, and they did not have an express line! The sale is ideal if you have to buy entire wardrobes of clothes for your children, but Luke is well stocked up on clothes for this fall/winter, and I don't have room (nor the money) to store clothes further into the future. I bought a couple of things that I couldn't resist for the baby - esp. up to 6 months. Although I'm having my second boy, Luke was born in July, whereas this baby will be born in December. So, for the first year or so, many of Luke's old clothes will be out of season. All in all, I spent $7 on the baby (hat/mitts,2 gowns, fleece sweatsuit, 2 pairs knit pants, and a comfy knit outfit), $3 on me (2 knit maternity shirts), and about a dollar on Luke (2 fun books - just so he didn't feel left out with the baby stuff I got).

Sunday was a pretty ordinary Sunday - we really enjoy the church we're attending - Grace Community Bible Church. And that evening I took Luke back to the mall where they have a great play area. We'll definitely be frequent visitors there this winter!

Today was rough, as some Mondays can be. We all woke up tired. Luke has yet to conquer some night-time demons. This can be so discouraging to me! I do feel like we are making some positive progress in that, the last few nights I've taken Luke back to bed, turned the music on, and he hasn't cried when I left the room. But he woke up 3 times between midnight and 3am. WHY? It's a mystery, made all the more frustrating when he woke up at 6:45 this morning! He also has been less than pleasant and obedient lately (probably from being tired). So, we are going to try to go back to afternoon naps. I am afraid that he will not go to bed as willingly at night, but we're going to give it a try. Has anyone else found the 3's to be the most trying and challenging? There were no terrible twos year, but Luke's making up for it with the 3's.

Finally, a last piece of encouraging news for us. Chris passed his German exam! Woohoo!! We were surprised that we didn't hear until today (the test was on August 24), but we are very happy! He now does not need to take a German reading class, but he did not pass it with a high enough margin to discontinue working on it. Nevertheless, it is good news!

I have been encouraged lately by studying Titus 2 and reading the book Feminine Appeal by Carolyn Mahaney. Ever read it? I am only on ch. 3, but it's been very helpful and encouraging to me when I sometimes can struggle and be discouraged in the challenges of being a wife and mother. Check it out if you've never heard of it.