Hello... is anyone still there?

Must. Write. On. Blog.
Must. Form. Coherent. Thoughts.

It's been a little while since I've written, and probably nobody cares except me. I am okay with that, but I've missed the process of putting down my thoughts. I do have a good excuse. Here it is.

I am pregnant. Some may say "Hooray"! Some may say ,"Are you crazy?" Some may question how many children you can legally put in the same bedroom. Just for the record, I am in the "Hooray" camp.

I am about 13 weeks along, due the first week of August. I think it will probably be the end of July, so let's just say July because it seems a lot closer than August. I have experienced my smoothest first trimester to date. I felt pretty crummy in the evenings, but my days were great and that is a real blessing because I don't exactly have the luxury of lounging on the couch all day.

I tend to get a bit depressed during pregnancy, but feeling better has definitely helped my state of mind so far. That being said, I am really going to try not to let the "fog" cloud my thinking too much. I found I wasn't really feeling a desire to write on this blog very much, which is usually something I really enjoy, so I figured I should just do it. Already I feel a bit better. Also I took a happy nappy on the couch this afternoon, so I have a bit more wakey-time at night after the kiddos are in bed. They are outlasting me in the energy department these days.

A few thoughts to share:

*I'm reading "The Lightning Thief" and it's great. Clark got the series for Christmas and he's really enjoying it. I needed a lighter read. "Atlas Shrugged" was killing me. Can you say, downer?

*We have no pretzels left in our house. Nor shall we for a long time. It turns out Bethany was able to be SO picky about food because she was stashing baggies of pretzels around the house to subsist on when the food I prepared was unacceptable. Abe declared a "pretzel fast" and hid the big Costco bag in our closet, which was subsequently discovered and the pretzel sneaking continued. Their was also some dishonesty involved, but I won't go into that. The punishment for the crime? The girls had to carry the big pretzel bag to the big trash can outside. Too harsh or responsible parenting-- you be the judge.

*After much howling and gnashing of teeth Clark and I finally came to an agreement-- WE HATE THE K12 MATH PROGRAM and will be ordering the next Math-U-See book.
Note to my fellow homeschoolers: If what you are doing is working for you- DON'T MESS WITH IT. Lesson learned.

*Abe has decided to play basketball with the church team. He's so happy he is old enough to play on the "vets" team because "there is less running". Well, there would be less running, unless you kill yourself trying to prove to yourself and your team-mates that you've still got the skills you had when you were 19. He has his first game tomorrow, which we are all excited to go and cheer for.

*Clark is also playing basketball. He tells us he has "mean, jerk-coaches". Always yelling at the boys what they should have done. He is not that far off base. They are pretty jerky, but Clark is handling it pretty well. The coaches want the boys to be more aggressive and foul more. He came home from practice tonight and said it was their most aggressive scrimmage yet. By the end of practice three boys had blood and the coaches were really happy. Hmm. Do I need to write a letter to someone?

*Softball sign-ups are coming next week. I find myself fantasizing about spring time and going to the park for games. I think I might be more excited than Elinor. It's been a very cold, gray, blah winter so far.

*I tried to make refried beans the other day in my crock pot. It sounded really tasty to me, so I doubled that batch. Why did I do that? The flavor was good, but the consistency was too thin. Now I have a LOT of refried bean soup in my fridge. On that note, does anyone know a recipie that has a base of refried beans?

That is about all I have to talk about tonight. Glad to be back.