Life is crazy....but so good!

Well, where to start. I've not made time to blog lately so I'm really behind! I can't post pictures right now because that would take too long and it is already 11 pm and I still have to nurse Benjamin, ......................just came back from oh yeah, finish making the oatmeal that is on the stove for tomorrow mornings breakfast, clear off the kitchen table of the two stacks of books about 30 books high.....that I got today (thank you Lord!) from the thrift store (it is 1/2 price day).... Hope to post some pics of those later. A lady walked by and said, "you hit the jack pot!" and she is right! I got lots of old Charlotte Mason style books, can't believe it! Including one that I had decided to give to my sister because although I loved it I knew she would love love it! It seems that the verse that says, "give and it will be given to you, the same measure pressed down, shaken and poured over" (well something like that) happened to me today! God gave me the same book back (I've not actually given the book to my sis yet, because I'm going to SEE HER THIS WEEKEND and her new baby and NEW BOYS FROM LIBERIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) as well as a WHOLE bunch more that I absolutely love!

Okay, so far this post is probably driving you crazy because it has ADD written all over it (no pun intended :). It is what my life feels like right now. So here are a few of the goings on here:

1. Steve's office flooded this past weekend.

2. We had to move ALL his stuff out.

3. His stuff is now throughout the house from the basement all the way to our upstairs bedroom. (his temporary office is now in our bedroom)

4. Benjamin has some sort of food allergies showing up through eczema, green, bloody and foul smelling poops.

5. This means I will be omitting the following from my diet for an unknown amount of time: milk, cheese, butter, gluten (ie all the wonderfully baked goods I make from freshly ground grains), nuts, soy, and eggs (yes, those yummy eggs that I've now been buying from a local couple who raise the hens....oh how I love those fresh brown fresh locally grown I've met the chickens EGGS)

6. Therefore, I feel hungry. A lot.

7. I never care to see another rice chip in my life.

8. My TMJ is really acting up. It hurts to talk, hence it hurts to read. I read A LOT to my kids for school. If I press on a certain spot on my jaw it feels better. I wonder what people think of me in public when I'm walking around with my finger pressed into my jaw.... Could this flare-up be a sign of stress??? hmmm......

9. We went to an apple farm yesterday and picked 1/2 bushel of apples. So far I've made a gluten free apple crisp and had rice dream ice cream on top. It was actually really good! (Thank you Lord for all these gluten free, egg free, dairy free substitutes for those of us who can't live on meat, vegetables and rice chips alone!) I made tonight a big pot of apples with sucanat, cinnamon, nutmeg and vegan butter. We will put these on top of slightly sweetened oatmeal for breakfast in the morning.

10. I have an ultrasound of my breast tomorrow. I've needed to have it done for a couple months now. The doctor doesn't think the lump I have feels cancerous but he wants this done as a precaution. I've been too busy to remember it often but when I do I get those butterfly tight feelings in my stomach.

11. We got fingerprinted today for our FBI clearances for our THIRD home study. The boys enjoyed watching...

12. My in-laws are coming to stay with us on Thursday until Saturday afternoon. We always enjoy having them with us but I feel a little nervous about food preparation this time. With all my diet restrictions it gets a little tricky to prepare different stuff for myself and prepare food for everyone else. My mother-in-law is great though. I know she will help me!

13. Saturday morning our home study provider will be coming to our house. Oh yeah, our house is in chaos right now---remember? Hmmm..... gotta clean this place up......when, when, when??

14. Saturday afternoon my SISTER AND HER FAMILY will be ARRIVING at my PARENT'S house in Duluth! Oh my gosh, I couldn't be more excited. I get to meet their new baby and their boys from Liberia who came home in January. In a way it will be like meeting Gidstina, Serena and Gideon. Just a little similar. I've been looking at these boys pictures for over 2 years now so I'm so thrilled to meet them! But I can't make a big fuss over them my sister says. I do understand but it is going to be hard because can you TELL I'M EXCITED!!!!!

15. To be honest, I'm craving that my children from Liberia would come home. I know things sound a bit hairy around here, but I still want them home. Bad. Every time I pray it is like the first thing that comes to my mind. It goes something like this, "Dear God....(thinking to ask for S, G and G to come home but shouldn't ask right away....gotta thank Him for my blessings, confess my sins, pray for those who are already in my home, etc.......still can't stop my thoughts from turning to S, G and G.....) Would you please open up adoptions so Serena, Gidstina and Gideon could come home?" And then my heart just throbs (can't think of a less dorky word) with a longing to have them home, to hold them in my arms, to kiss those cheeks of Gideons, to do the girls hair (I may laugh about that one later!), to hug them, to tell them I love them, to see them in their rooms and running through the house and jumping on the trampoline in the back yard, and reading stories to them. I just have to give all this to the Lord. He knows what is best and he is good!!!!

Okay, so it is now 11:18 pm and I really need to wrap things up around the house and get up to Benjamin!