Maryn had some friends over yesterday.

Josiah loves to do what Maryn does.  She sat on a ball and read a book, so he did too.  The only thing was that the ball he chose was really quite small.

It's fun to be pregnant and have an excuse for looking, feeling, and acting terrible.  But I am ready to be skinny again.  I think I will need a lot of new clothes.  I have hardly bought any skinny clothes for myself in years because I keep getting pregnant, growing and shrinking.  But I think we may be done with this whole carrying a baby for 40 weeks stuff, so maybe it's time to make an investment in some new clothing.  Where should I buy clothes?

We went on a date night last night.  It was nice but it was nicer that the kids went right to bed without much fuss right when we got home.  We never know what in the world to do on date nights.  This might make us losers.  We ate at a cheap but yummy burger place, bought Maryn and Josiah each a new t-shirt from The Children's Place (Owen will "give" them to them as big brother and big sister presents the day he is born), we walked around the mall, I went to the bathroom 4 times, and then we came home and watched Ocean's 11.

It's so easy to drop our kids off somewhere.  There's never tears and I don't worry about them (not too much anyway).  I feel like people like them, too.  Maryn's gotten pretty obedient and more respectful lately, and Josiah is just everyone's sweetheart.  I wonder if a newborn will just throw everyone into a tailspin.  I forget sometimes that he's going to be a new little baby, and that I'll love him just as much as I love the rest, and everything will come naturally.  I don't actually think/worry about it much at all, but when I do, I just figure...it's going to be crazy for a while and I'm really going to have to loosen up, lower my expectations of myself.  But we will have a SEVEN month old at Christmas.  A two year old and a four year old.  And that sounds so cool to me.

Thanks everyone, for all your support in these last few months.  This pregnancy has been painful but it's been by far my most cheerful, happy pregnancy.

Updates on Everything :)

Maryn:  Maryn attended her big siblings class last night.  We went to Chick Fil A beforehand and had a pretty good time.  I think it really helped her to meet so many other kids her age getting ready to welcome a new baby, too.  She is such a great little student.  She sat criss-cross and stayed focused on the teacher the whole time.  They took us on a tour of the hospital which I think eased her fears too.  She is still scared for me, so please pray for her anxiety.  She has so many worries for a three year old that she can't always verbalize, so who knows what is going on in her head right now.

Josiah:  Josiah needs prayer too.  He is such a snuggle bunny.  I'm grateful he's gotten much more attached to daddy in the last few weeks.  But welcoming a new baby is going to be hard for him, and not being able to crawl up on me all the time is going to be even harder.

Gestational Diabetes:  My sugar has been really good.  I've had a lot more energy the last few days.  I haven't been able to eat a whole lot at a time, so it's been hard to fast for two hours after meals and snacks like I'm supposed to, but I'm hanging in there.  I've had a lot of sweets lately (ice cream mostly), but they don't seem to affect me like the carbs do in breads.  Lucky me :)

I am still in a lot of pain with my back and legs, but having energy sure does make a difference.

Pregnancy:  We had a really good 36 week appointment today.  I am not measuring large, despite what some of you may think.  I haven't gained much weight, despite what some of you may think, and I even lost a pound from last week!  The dr. said he doesn't think I have extra fluid (sometimes the case with GD) or that the baby is large.  The dr. said the baby's head is down and I'm dilated a couple centimeters, which is incredibly unusual for me.  The baby is also really low, so if I did have a chance to labor.....he might come rather quickly! So the question is do I cheat and try to labor some at home if the opportunity arises even though I'm scheduled for a c-section?

What a great thing it would be to have my dream of holding my baby immediately on my chest after labor come true.  And have a short recovery time and not worry about picking up Josiah or snuggling him and Maryn without so much pain.

Grandparents Visit

 Just a few days after we got home from Kansas, Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma and Great Great Aunt Sharron came to visit us at our house.  They just couldn't get enough of us.  Notice Maryn eating carrots in all the pictures.

 With their Great Great Aunt Sharron (Grandma Joyce's sister from California)

Daddy's tired girl (eating carrots):

 Playing with Great Grandma!

 The cutest outfit from Grandma and Grandpa!

 Maryn posing in her new dress from Grandma and Grandpa:

Home Schooling is definitely the right choice for us.

We just went to a preschool "siblings" class at the hospital.  It was really sweet.  The nurses were great.  But I am so glad I'm not sending Maryn to preschool.  And that's all I'm saying about that.

Baby Stuff!

Three weeks from yesterday we will have our new baby boy!  I just updated our registry on Babies R Us and Target for anyone interested.  Thank you all for sharing in this exciting time of our lives!  We don't need much for this baby at all, but if for some reason you felt inclined to get something, it should steer you in the right direction.

Our Trip to Kansas! Part 1

I thought I should write about our trip before I forgot all the details!

We traveled to Kansas last Friday, April 20, in order to attend John's sister, Martina's wedding in Salina.  She was truly one of the most beautiful brides I've ever seen.  We loved her dress--it was perfect and timeless.  I wish I had more pictures of her, but I didn't want to steal any of the photographer's pictures.  I was a terrible photographer on this trip.

John was such a trooper.  I went to the doctor Wednesday and he suggested I not go on the trip.  But when I told John the bad news, he looked so sad.  So I knew we all had to go.  It was the first time I had ever been west of the Mississippi and John's first time back in Kansas in over ten years.  He went to middle school and high school there, and it is therefore to him, the place "where he came from" (actually I know it's the place from which he came, but no one says that.  They say, "Where're you from?"  Hehe :)).

So I guess we made a non-verbal agreement that he would basically do everything, because that's pretty much what he did.  I didn't even change very many diapers!  I even got a nap in almost every day (I think I may have actually napped every single day of the trip).

This is going to be a long boring post now, but I need to get some of this down for our own record.  You can skip down to the pictures.

We left our house at about 7:10 am and drove to Columbia, MO, where we stopped to have our lunch at about 12:30.  We packed a lunch and lots of snacks in a cooler, saving us tons of money.  But it was unusually cold (50 degrees), so we played at the park but ate in the van.

Then we drove on to Salina, KS, where we arrived at the tail end of Martina and Brant's rehearsal dinner.  We grabbed some food, had a million pictures taken of us, and then went to our hotel.  The Courtyard Marriot!  Yay.  It was so nice.  The only drawback was that it wasn't a suite...

John and I had the kids ready for bed and we just looked at each other.  "I don't know how we're going to do this," I told him.  "I don't know either," he said.  And this is one of those times, and this was one of those weeks, where I am darn sure glad we have a strong marriage.  I laid down in one bed with Josiah, and he laid down in the other with Maryn.  Josiah has never fallen asleep in this way.  He first laid his head right on my face.  But after I moved his head off my face, he snuggled in to me as close as possible and conked right out.  Maryn snuggled into her daddy and nodded off before long as well.  Then I moved Josiah to his Pack-N-Play and John and I were out cold within minutes, probably.  It was about 9 central time, but 10:00 to us (late!).

But it wasn't really a happy ending.  We had sleep troubles most of the trip.  I think partially because of Josiah's allergies, teething and maybe tummy troubles.  Something about car trips really binds him up (not enough moving around I guess).  So almost every night he was awake from 1:30-3:00 or he was up insanely early, or both, which was hard since we were all in the same room the whole trip and we really, really, REALLY don't want Maryn waking up in the middle of the night :)

Saturday was the day of Martina's wedding.  I stayed back with Josiah for OUR nap time while John and Maryn went to a breakfast buffet with the rest of the family.  So I had a nice rest and time to get ready.  And now here's a great tip for traveling with toddlers:

BRING BATH TOYS!

The bathtub kept Josiah so occupied!  He must have taken at least an hour long bath that day while I did my hair and makeup, and whatever else.  We didn't bring bath toys, but he played with the hotel cups and some other toys we had in our bag.

Here's another tip for traveling with toddlers:

GET A SUITE!

Or else you may be eating your lunch on the toilet.  Just sayin!


At a park in Salina, Kansas for Martina and Brant's rehearsal dinner:

 From left, John's cousins Jen and Michael, John's brother and his wife, Mark and Melissa, and of course us.

 John's Dad and Donna surprised the kids with some Western Wear!  So cute.  Josiah LOVES hats.

This is the park we stopped at in Columbia, MO.  Josiah went down these huge slides head first.  

 Oops, here is one I forgot...from the rehearsal.  Uncle Mark and Josiah!  Too cute.

And tomorrow...I will try to write another blog post.  Part II:  The WEDDING!

so this is love

This little boy is getting bigger and smarter every day.  He just keeps surprising us.  Look at how he's concentrating, and cutting his Play Doh with a pizza cutter!  He's getting so old :-/

 Maryn would choose not to sit next to anyone, but Josiah insists while they eat popcorn and watch movies.  :)  This is them watching Cinderella for, I don't know, maybe the fifth time in three days?

Love, love, love my babies.

Ten Things for Tuesday :)

1.  I am having time to myself today!

2.  I feel depressed because it's Food Line day and I always dread it, then I feel guilty for dreading it, and then I dread it some more.

3.  Our kids are getting so smart!  I love watching them grow.

4.  I was in terrible pain yesterday and feel much better today.  I MUST take it easy.

5.  Food Line days are anything but easy.

6.  Maryn keeps telling me her ankles are swollen.  Hahaha.

7.  I feel so stinkin slow hobbling around this apartment.

8.  Josiah grabbed a lid from a can of tomato sauce out of the trash can this morning and licked it.

9.  I made my own enchilada sauce last night.  It was very good!

10.  Maryn said, "I want to be a Mommy like you when I grow up."

Twins!

My sister in law's sister in law (Melissa's SIL for those of you who know Melissa, Mark's wife) just had twin girls!  LOOK at them.  They are little miracles.  I think they look gigantic, both weighing in over 6 lbs., Lucy and Emma.  So, so sweet.  I think they may look bigger to me since I am in that third trimester where seeing a big newborn just hurts me.  I just had to share how beautiful they are.  God is good!  Their mama, Amy, is a little thing too.  Probably about my size.  Yikes!  I just can't imagine.

Growing Up Quickly

The other night while we were Skyping with Grandma and Grandpa, Maryn started making all kinds of letters on the white board, much to my surprise.  I know she can write letters, but these were especially good.  The capital A, for one, has been a struggle for her but she finally just figured it out on her own.  And she's been doing it every day since!

 We had rotini with alfredo sauce and a ton of fresh veggies for lunch on a tray we shared.  Maryn shouted, "Cucumbers!  Can I have some cucumbers!?"  And reprimanded me for eating too many carrots and cucumber slices.  She's been such a good sport about this diet I'm on, and wants to eat healthy too.

And by the way, she never did eat that pasta on her plate.  She filled up on veggies.

 She likes edamame a little bit...

 Okay, more than a little bit.

 She likes edamame a LOT!

John taught Maryn how to play Go Fish and UNO this week.  She's a pro!  Next I think we want to get our hands on a Yahtzee game, and Trouble and Sorry!  All some of my childhood favorites.  She's gotten so good with games and math concepts.  It's really unbelievable how quickly children grow.

Except when I asked her if she could count backwards yesterday, she quickly stood up, turned her back towards me and shouted, "1, 2, 3..."

Do you have any game recommendations or favorites from your childhood?

Almost 34 Weeks!

Time for a pregnancy update!

This pregnancy has been rough.  Shwew!  Gestational diabetes has been a sanctifying experience.  The highest my blood sugar has been is 199.  They want me to stay under 120.  The first time it was 199 was because had the Maple Nut Blondie Sundae at Applebee's.  The second time was because I had a cup of sugar free pudding.  My second highest blood sugar was because I had barbecue sauce.

That kind of thing just makes me mad.  If I knew sugar free pudding (which is actually recommended on my diet) would cause a 199 blood sugar, I would have eaten another brownie sundae.

Other than that, I've figured out a few tricks on my diet.  First of all, I can't follow their schedule for me.  If I eat breakfast at a normal time for me (8:30), my sugar doesn't spike at all in the morning.  Second, a few cookies in the afternoon doesn't bother me.  Third, which I put a finally test on today with the pudding, I can NOT have dairy products like pudding or yogurt.  Cheese seems to be harmless.

In other news, I am having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions, which I've hardly ever experienced before.  A lot of low back, leg and pelvic pain and pressure.  Stuff that I never had before.  I wonder if this baby could come early?

Next week I think I'm going to have an ultrasound and exam to see if I'm dilated (fat chance) and test for Strep B.  Please pray that our baby is not considered "too large," and is not born with low blood sugar.  Both are risks of GD but neither one is too serious.  I also feel that he is in a strange position, which doesn't matter too much since I'm having a c-section anyway, but is kind of painful right now.

Wolves

We have some friends pastoring a church out west who are facing great persecution, danger and evil from the KKK and possibly other racist people in their small town.  Please pray for them.  They are the sweetest couple, stubborn as mules but strong and will not likely yield to this persecution.

"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed, perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed."  2 Corinthians 4:8-9

Jesus came to save all people.  He loves all of us despite our sin, and undoubtedly our color.  The KKK is an evil organization and we shouldn't be tolerant of their views.

Another prayer request I have is for a very persistent Jehovah's Witness who frequents our neighborhood.  She is by far the most aggressive JW I've ever met, and after talking to many neighbors, she is steadfast in her beliefs.  God can turn any heart, but I am done with this "wolf in sheep's clothing."  Please pray she would give up on our neighborhood.

If you have a JW come to your door, remember these verses.

For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we have worked for, but may win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever abides in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.  2 John 1:7-11

He is Risen!

Here's a random photo we took the other night of Josiah in his new Superman costume (with a Viking hat).  He loves dressing up.

 Maryn woke up first and found ALL the eggs before Josiah had a chance.  So she re-hid some for him.  What a good big sister.  Then she pointed right to every one to help him find them.  :)

He of course wanted all the candy immediately.

This child was super, super excited:

After finding all her eggs, she found her Easter basket in the bath tub!

I got some videos of them with their baskets.  They also each got their first taste of Peeps, which was a big deal.  Josiah was a little surprised.

Maryn is missing her pants in these photos because she did pee her pants, just like my Mom said she would.

Then we found Jesus was not in the tomb any more (in our Easter Mountain that we made)!  So we asked the "angel" who told us He Is Risen!  We read about Jesus' resurrection before church.  Maryn went to big church with us, and Josiah went to a new class for kids closer to his age.  He even made a craft in the class!  He's getting so big.

Maryn wanted to go to big church with us until she realized half way through service that she was missing craft time.  Then she was a little upset, but she did okay.

Happy Resurrection Day everyone!  He is Risen!

Easter Egg Dying, Easter Basket Making

Maryn and Josiah were SO excited to dye eggs, it was very difficult to get a picture.  And my camera battery died after a few bad shots.  So bear with me!  Josiah was literally trembling with excitement.

 Can you tell he has the biggest smile?

 Maryn stuck stickers on the eggs so hard that she poked her finger several times right through the egg shell!

John surprised me by bringing home a beautiful new dress to wear tomorrow and to Martina's wedding, as well as a gift card to go eat dinner tonight so I had to do no cooking or clean up!  And >>>the dress was NOT on sale<<< He paid full price!  He must love me!

Here's Josiah's Easter basket.  A coloring book, an Easter story book, Lightning McQueen, bubbles, toothbrush, Play Doh, a soccer ball egg with candy, and some candy pieces.  Peeps too!  But Peeps aren't in there yet.

 Maryn's Easter basket!  A new Children's Bible, a coloring book, Princess Aurora dresses, a Princess Aurora bath doll (with a shower puff skirt, bath oil and bath crayon to draw jewelry on her!), fingernail polish, pink Play Doh, and candy.

I can't wait to see them find their Easter baskets and all their eggs in the morning!

Maryn is going to go to big church with us tomorrow morning, with her new big kid Bible story book.  She's growing up so much!

Josiah's Easter Egg Hunt Method

Josiah may not take after his father in efficiency.

No, he hunts for eggs more like his Mama.

First, find an egg:

Pry it open...

Grrrr!

Candy!  Candy!  Candy!!!!

CANDY!  MUST OPEN NOW! MUST!  OPEN!  NOW!

Josiah was thereafter candy obsessed.  A totally new experience for us.  Maryn had her fill of candies as well.  She even stole Smarties out of the RA closet when I wasn't looking and ate them in front of me as if I wouldn't notice!  So I stole a Reese's Peanut Butter Egg from her basket.  There!  How do you like it?  LOL Mwahahaha!  And I've kind of been eating candy all day after I told the kids no more.  Maryn said, "Why do you get to eat candy?"  And I said, "Cuz Mommy can do whatever she wants."

Parenting is so much fun!

The Easter Egg Hunt

Organizing an Easter Egg Hunt sounds like a pretty easy thing, until you sit down and start working out the details and realize--wow, there's a lot of details here we need to figure out.  Age groups, how many eggs, how much candy to buy, filling the eggs with candy, special prize eggs, volunteers to help stuff, hide, monitor (and chase away squirrels), someone to deliver an Easter message, etc.  And really, it's all over in about ten minutes!  But I think the kiddos and parents all had fun.  

Here are our friends, the Syzmanski girls (Chloe and Lilia, backyard friends):

 Here's my sweet baby boy, with Ella Grace perhaps thinking there may be eggs hidden in the landscaping?  I don't know...

 Maryn brought her HUGE basket because her actual Easter basket was too pretty to bring outside.  Aren't I such a fun mom?

 We had the kiddos sit down for an Easter message delivered by our friend and next door neighbor, Drew (Ella is his daughter, seated in the middle between Eli and Ella Grace).

Our friends the Powells.  Their Mommy Elise helped us out so much today!  She is one of my dearest friends, and Julia is probably Josiah's best friend, and Ella Grace is Maryn's best friend.  Eli and Josiah love each other as well.  We love all of them!  We had a cookout with the Powells last night, too.  And Elise's new baby boy is due just two weeks after ours.  Owen and Aidan, destined to be buddies!

What a blessing friends are.

One of my favorite things

Sometimes a kind word, a cute moment, or a special little memory just between John and I can keep me smiling all day.  Today I kept laughing out loud about a conversation we had last night.

After Cubbies, I told John how hot our classroom had been.  I was drenched with sweat and even had "pit stains!"  Ugh, that phrase makes me so uncomfortable.  I'm sorry I even had to type it.  Ew, ew, ew!  I don't think everyone is grossed out like me about that body part (the underarm, let's call it) so I think it's okay, but sorry if I just made you throw up a little.

John then went on to describe how hot he gets at Target, and that "Dri-Fit" shirts help a  lot.  Or shirts that are designed for golfing.  But he said he hadn't found a good solution for pants.  They have to wear khaki colored pants without pockets--dressier khaki pants, you know.

Knowing how much my (beautiful, clean, shaven and lovely) legs sweat, I can only imagine how much his seriously hairy legs sweat.  Gross!  So I suggested he shave his legs.

He just kind of looked at me for a minute.  And I knew it was the kind of look like I just said something absolutely ridiculous.

So I said, "Well just shave your thighs and up in this area, you know, where it gets really hot."

And after just looking at me for another minute, he said, "You give the weirdest solutions for things."

Ha!  Well it makes sense to me.

Holy Week Part 2

Yesterday, we learned about the Passover.  We read about the first Passover, when the Israelites were instructed to put lamb's blood on their doors to protect their children from death.  Those without the blood of the lamb on their doors lost their firstborn sons.  On Passover, Jews remember how God spared them and rescued them from lives of slavery in Egypt.  Why did God have them do this strange thing, put lamb's blood around the door frames? 

This act was just foreshadowing the Lamb that would one day come and shed his blood for all of us.  Jesus.  Why did the spirit pass by those bloodied doors?  Was it because the oldest boy inside was good, or better than an Egyptian boy?  No.  It was simply because of the blood of the lamb.

And now I know as a Christian that, through no sacrifice or special deeds of my own, I am saved by the blood of the true lamb, Jesus Christ.  He is the only one who could take away my sin, the Son of God, who lived a sinless life and became a perfect sacrifice.

Yesterday, we re-enacted the Last Supper (Passover meal) in which Jesus also instituted holy communion.  Here you see the disciples reclining at the table with Jesus after they finished their unleavened bread, wine, and bitter herbs.  

 And here is Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, while Peter, James and John kept falling asleep (they're in the leaves).  We discussed how Jesus said to God, "Take this cup from me..." but he also said, "Your will be done."  We talked about what that means to say, "Your will be done."

Today we read about Jesus death a little bit (tomorrow is Good Friday so we'll talk about it more then) and focused on the thieves on the crosses beside Jesus.  At least one of the thieves is in Heaven with Jesus today.  It is never too late to be saved, and even the dirtiest, most awful criminals can be saved.  "While we were sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8)."  FREE grace is one of the hardest things in the world to understand!
But all it takes is a word, a whisper, a cry out to him to be saved.

And he [the thief] said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

More info about my gestational diabetes schedule

My Aunt Cheryl's comment made me realize that you guys don't know what my schedule is right now.  Okay, this is fun...

7:00 am  Wake up, check ketone levels, check blood sugar level with the blood glucose monitor (a finger prick)
7:30 am  Eat breakfast:  2 starches, 1 oz. protein, non-starchy vegetables always an option
9:30 am  Check blood glucose level
10:00 am  Eat Snack  1 starch, 1 protein
12:30 pm  Eat Lunch:  2 starches, 1 fruit, 3 oz. protein
2:30 pm  Check blood glucose level
3:00 pm  Eat Snack:  1 starch, 1 oz. protein
5:30 pm  Eat Dinner:  3 starches, 1 fruit, 3 oz. protein
7:30 pm  Check blood glucose level
10:30 pm  Eat Snack:  2 starches, 1 oz. protein

So far I think I need to cut back on the starches they've told me above especially in the morning, have MORE protein, no dairy, no fruit.  My ketone levels being messed up means I need more calories, so I'm going to buy a bunch of bacon tomorrow and just start putting it on everything I guess (not everything but you know :)) It seems pretty jacked up to me but I'm going to try it and hopefully I'll get some kind of fruit back in there somehow.

Crystal was so right.  This is really hard with two little ones to take care of.  In some ways it's good--I haven't "cared for myself" so much in a long time!  I could have done without the sinus infection on top of it though.  Plus I have had a lot of RA stuff to do, a bunch of homework for my SWI class, teaching Cubbies which is always such a pleasure every Wednesday since August, getting some type of order to our house in prep. for baby Owen, etc. etc.  I can't wait to have the baby.  I may have my hands full as people say to me so often now, but...maybe I'll get more rest!  My chances of more rest after May 21st are looking pretty high right now.

The positives of this pregnancy:  The baby is really low, which is painful for the hips but makes it easier to breathe.  I have also not been depressed at all through this pregnancy or had suicidal thoughts or anything, although that may change in the next week or so!

Thank you all for your kind words.  We will get this figured out, I'm sure!

Fed up with gestational diabetes, seriously.

Please pray for me if you think of it this week.  I am absolutely fed up with gestational diabetes.  The diet continues to not work.  My blood sugar is totally random.  The only safe thing to eat, it seems, is nuts and maybe carrots.  Can man live on nuts and carrots alone?

Other times I can eat cookies or things that should cause it to spike and lo and behold, it's fine.  Why am I eating cookies when I'm not supposed to?  I figure I may as well because it doesn't seem to make one bit of difference how disciplined I am.  This whole thing is. really. stupid.

Last night I went to bed early because I am sick.  I probably have a sinus infection paired with some dreadful allergies.  But since I didn't eat for about ten hours, my body went into "ketosis," which is caused by not eating enough.  And I'm supposed to "call my doctor if my ketone levels are high."  I have to test my ketone levels every morning by peeing on a strip.  So I don't really know what that means for me--if it's dangerous to be in ketosis or not.  But it's hard to eat the incredible amount of food they want me to eat when I don't feel well, especially at 7:30 in the morning and 10:30 at night.  I went to bed before ten last night.  Goodness, I had to...I was miserable and knew it would be a rough night.

I need to snack at some point in the middle of the night, I think.  I just haven't done that yet.  I guess I've just been so thirsty and have a sore throat during the night (since I can't breathe through my nose) that eating is very unappealing during the night.  Did I mention I can't smell anything?  Which means I also can't taste anything.  I haven't showered in three days either, so I probably smell.  Our house probably stinks too.

And, I think this diet is causing me to eat too much salt.  Pickles and peanuts are "free" foods so I've been eating those more than usual.  Salted nuts :)  Now I have three canker sores in my mouth.  Canker sores are nothing much to complain about, I know, but sheesh.  I just can't catch a break.

Palm Sunday

 We made our "Easter Mountain" out of salt dough today.

 We read about The Triumphal Entry in the Bible and re-enacted it with plastic trees (palms), napkins (cloaks), pipe cleaners (Jesus), and a plastic donkey.

Here's our Easter Mountain.  So you see Golgotha there on the left, where Jesus was crucified.  And the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, where Jesus was buried.  And to the right is our Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed before he was handed over to the officials.  The pipe cleaner people we made this time are an Angel, Jesus, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and John, Peter, James, John and Judas, and Pilate and Herod.

Maryn has been loving this so far.  She can't wait to put Jesus in the tomb...not sure what that's about.  She insisted we have a little panda watch over the tomb.  :)  She wanted to read The Triumphal Entry story 3 times.  We read it from Matthew 21:1-11, and practiced the verse, "And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Happy Palm Sunday, everyone.  One week until Easter, and we celebrate Jesus is Risen!