Musing Along Some More on a Monday

The soon-to-be "birthday boy." I loved his expression here...
Happy Monday -- already -- to you! Can it really be Monday again?

We begin our third week of school today, and so far the kids seem to be enjoying themselves...as much as kids ever enjoy school. *wink*

We are in the final week of awaiting "Leechie," though that means nothing in the world of delivering babies. It seems to me that I was once reminded of the fact that babies choose their own day to make their big debut. I am due on Friday -- a mere 5 days away, counting today -- but that doesn't mean I'll give birth on that day. The whole thing is amazing to think about really...or maybe the word is "surreal?" As I was explaining to someone, once I finished the baby's room and had everything washed and ready, I entered the "school/activity zone" with the older two kids...and that's where I've remained. So the idea of giving birth to a baby and having a newborn in the house again seems very, very foreign to me. Good thing God equipped us with mommy instincts, right? *grin*

Stuart finished the last-but-one of the "house/codes" projects this weekend by installing an extension to our back downspout. Hopefully, we won't get any more citations? We're still not sure why we were cited in the first place, given the fact that none of the violations had anything to do with safety. Oh, well. At least we got the house looking a bit nicer. Now to finish some more inside.

The kids wanted to go to Motherhood Maternity for one last "hurrah," as we called it. They've been so cute during my pregnancy, asking to go there to pick out different maternity outfits for me to try on...even Edward enjoys it.

Emily's goal -- from the start of my pregnancy -- has been to get me into styles much different from my usual, in her eyes, "conservative" ones. (She's our little fashion diva-designer.) She had me in hugely flared maternity jeans and some kind of flashy shirt at one point...and another time she got me into some camo maternity capris and a black tank top. Happily, I can say that neither outfit made it home and into my actual wardrobe. But trying on unusual stuff is part of the fun.

Funny enough, Edward enjoys picking out outfits for me, too. But last Thursday, on our last visit to the store, he began to cry as we entered. The sales associate and I asked him what was wrong, and he explained that he was going to miss coming to the store and picking out stuff for me to try on. The sales lady told him there were other clothing stores for Mommy where he could do the same thing. He shook his head sadly and said, "But she won't be pregnant any more. She's so cute when she's pregnant." I'm still smiling from that little exchange. Out of the mouths of babes, right?

Speaking of Edward, his Autumn soccer season begins tomorrow evening. He was reluctant to sign up again last, and we basically arm-twisted him into it. But when he saw it on his schedule this morning he got really excited. Yippee!!

Emily has her first Monday dance class tonight. She started last week with only a Wednesday class, so this will be the first week she has both classes -- for a total of 3 1/2 hours of ballet a week. Hopefully, she'll continue to enjoy it. She had a "drama queen" rolling on the floor, moaning about sore toes, during the pointe portion of her class last week. I'm amazed this girl wasn't too embarrassed to act like this, but as I pointed out to Emily who was annoyed by it, her ballet room is a room full of emerging hormones...go easy on the other girls. *wink*

Our homeschool learning group starts on Wednesday. I'm hoping "Leechie" stays put at least through that day since I'd like to meet my new journalism class...of three. *grin* It should be interesting, to say the least. None of the three guys in this class has ever taken it before -- I had one repeat last year which helped immensely -- but hopefully they'll be enthusiastic enough about the subject matter that it will be a fun year for us. Either way, we have two newspapers to produce.... Yikes.

Stuart has his 38th birthday on Thursday, and secretly we're both hoping for a "newborn" birthday gift for him. Hmm....time to break out all the old wives' tricks? I think it might thunderstorm before then... *wink*

Time will tell, I guess...

Until then, enjoy your Monday!