Long-Awaited Update

Here we are, the days before week 28 of this third, and possibly last, pregnancy. A LOT has changed since the last time I blogged, and a lot more changes are coming.

Husband is still in the midst of his first semester of college, first out of 4 years of them. He only has about 3.5 weeks to go yet for this semester, though, and he's doing REALLY well (he generally gets close to 100, if not over, for every single test and assignment). He has a high standard of perfection for himself. These are just the pre-reqs though, so we shall see how it goes in the future. The best part of his attending school is that he is getting paid to go, so he's not having to work another job around farming and school to support us. Add that to IL's support of school-going veterans, and we're doing well.

G has hopped on her bike WITHOUT training wheels, so hopefully that will continue to develop. For the most part she's doing well in school, but she does have a few struggle issues that she'll be working through with a tutor this summer.

J is almost potty trained! We've been hoping we would make this breakthrough before the baby comes, so we wouldn't have two in diapers, and while he's not COMPLETELY there, he's close. Pants and outings seem to be our stumbling blocks, but yesterday he hustled me out of over 10 Oreos just for pooping on the potty. And I'm happy to give them if it shows him that the potty, and not his underwear, is where poop belongs.

Tiny is a girl! We found out around 22 weeks, but then it was verified further about 10 days ago in another ultrasound they wanted to do to make sure that a fibroid in my uterus wasn't going to hinder her growth. She's growing big and strong, kicking like crazy. Meanwhile, while she grows, I'm actually LOSING weight. Go figure. I'll take it though, since I'm far more prepared and determined to nurse this baby, I'll likely lose a lot more with a quickness when she's out!

And finally, one of our newest developments: we bought a house. I know, I know, we were gonna build and turn it into an off-the-grid wonder that would make normal people today wonder what was wrong with us...but due to some timing issues, between family and a new baby, we found a well-priced house that just needs a little love, and then we will have a lovely home that we OWN, that we can move into before Tiny gets here, and even before G comes for her summer visit. We're very excited; this month before closing has been the longest month in the history of forever. My parents, ever the blessing, are gifting us with paint, and hard labor, so that we can get it looking more like ours before any of our stuff gets in there. I'll try to post progress pictures once some of the work is done. :D

I think that's all for now. Farming season is about to kick in gear, and we FINALLY have a decent week of weather, so hopefully we'll be shrooming soon too, along with moving and having some outside time for poor, cooped up J!

Yet Another Hilarious Pinterest Fail

It's time, folks! Time for another adventure with Camper Boy! In today's episode, we will explore why living in a camper is not the opportune time to take it upon oneself to be crafty and creative.

Some months ago, I got the idea that a lot of Camper Boy's aggravation was the lack of ability to work on calming himself down, and, ever the DIYer, I decided Pinterest must, in all its infinite wisdom, have the answer. Lo and behold, I was not disappointed, and soon came upon the concept of Calm Down Jars. If you are a Pinterest fiend with children, you may have seen these clever devices. They are sparkly and colorful and sometimes filled with small floaty items. The idea is that when a child is upset due to overstimulation or what have you, you shake the jar, sit them down in a quiet space and let them watch the glitter and swirls settle, and by that time they're redirected and calm enough to continue on with their day without hassle. Or at least for the next 30 seconds. I thought, really, what could it hurt? And so I acquired a mason jar, some glitter, and light colored spikey balls to put in it, thinking I wanted a few more items in Camper Boy's jar, and then when he goes bonkers from boredom, we'll dig it out and let him watch and all will be well. But the project sat. And sat. I was missing ingredients and didn't want to start until I had everything I felt I needed.

This morning, Husband went to school, as is customary for Tuesdays and Thursdays, and so as is normal for us EVERY morning, I started Camper Boy's movie, got him some juice and cereal, and made sure he was comfortable and happy. And then I slipped down the hall for another few minutes of peace before forcing myself to get dressed, break down his bed and make the camper normal for the day. The next time I peeked to check on Camper Boy, the bottle of glitter that I had stashed in the catch-all shelf above the kitchen sink was no longer in said shelf. It was open, and its contents were ALL OVER THE BED/COUCH.

As you might expect, my gut reaction was NOT, "Aww, how cute, he wanted to play with glitter!" No. No, my initial reaction was more akin to a dropped jaw, and "Are you freaking serious?" Things of this nature have happened enough times now that I have a routine, and as long as I manage to keep my mouth shut, it's not scary. Camper Boy's sparkly little heiny was plopped in time out and my wheels of methodology in figuring out the least painful way to clean it up started turning. The blankets and sheets were all shaken onto the floor, and then when I was satisfied that they were generally free of craft herpes, I tossed them down the hall and onto my bed. The vacuum is stored in the bench right under that back window there, with the yellow, so I had to shake, fold and strip EVERYTHING down before I could suck any of that shiny awfulness up. Camper Boy remained in time out. Finally, with a camper covered in silver glitter, the bed was stripped, and I was free to get out the vacuum. And so began 30 solid minutes of sucking it up.....and it's still not all gone, because after all, this is glitter we're talking about. I took a picture of it, as you can see above, and sent it to my mother, and when she heard what it had been destined for, she asked if I was calm. I found it hilarious and began laughing, and that moment of levity is, folks, why Camper Boy will live to see another day, and in all likelhood, will live to give you all another chapter in the the Adventures of Camper Boy. For now, though, this one is over, because it's lunch time and I need to replenish the energy I purged cleaning up the unicorn after party.