Another Shower!!!

We were very blessed today with another shower! Our chapel here threw a lovely one for us! Some of the ladies put A LOT of work into it, like one of them creating BEAUTIFUL invitations that must have taken sooooo much time and work. She did something called "quilling" (sp?) where you cut, roll up, etc., pieces of paper and and make designs out of them. I took some pictures this evening. I also took some pictures of the card she made to give us with her family's gifts, and one of a gift she gave us. She used the same technique on all of them. She must have spent hours upon hours! If you want to see the detail better, click on the picture and it should come up large.

Another friend did a beautiful job decorating the fellowship room where the shower was held! We had a pot luck with lots of good food! Yum! And there was dessert, including a cute shower cake that someone had got for us! And of course, there were the gifts! Our friends were sooooo generous and we were extremely blessed with many lovely things!!! There were a couple people taking pictures, so once I get some of them I'll try to put at least a few on the blog. Another special part of the day was that a couple of Stephen's co-workers and friends, who are also becoming friends of mine, came as well!!! To all of you who worked so hard (some in ways I may never know about) to give us such a special time and to all who gave so generously to us, THANK YOU a million times!

Ok, here are some picures of quilling:

News

Well, Easter lunch turned out quite nicely! We ended up having our neighbor and her sister (who came later). Stephen did a lot of the cooking! You, know he's not bad in the kitchen! :-) My very favorite part of the meal was the pierogies and cheese sauce! Yummy! The coconut cream pie was really yummy too! That was the first one we had made from scratch (with the exception of the cool whip). We did a joint effort on that part of the meal. Stephen had this really good idea of putting roasted almonds between the layer of coconut custard and the cool whip.

Saturday night (a week ago) Stephen was a brave man and cut my hair for the first time! He did a nice a job! He ended up taking off quite a bit...about three inches. Stephen had a frustrating time trying to get his hair cut at a barbers earlier in the day. We went to the first place and waited and waited, and finally got up and left. We went to a second place and waited and waited while two barbers worked and what appeared to be two others sat off to the side...taking their break, I guess, while customers waited. Then a young guy that walked in after us was allowed to cut. Perhaps he'd been there earlier or something but, if that was true, that was not explained. We walked out of that place too and looking for a third option, which we found. They were able to take Stephen quite quickly, but the lady was a little "over ambitious" and cut the hair too short too high. The look wasn't exactly what he was going for. I've cut his hair a couple times with him instructing me along the way. After a day like that we may make cutting each other's hair the norm around here.

Have A Joyful Easter!

May you all have a joyful Easter tomorrow as you remember and thank the Lord Jesus Christ for what He did on the cross and for His glorious resurrection! Stephen is supposed to speak tomorrow at the chapel for the 11:00 service, so you could be praying for him!

Afterward, the two of us are planning to do a joint effort on lunch and have a neighbor over. We may also invite some friends from the chapel, though I imagine many of them already have plans. The plan is to do a ham, and have pierogies (they are Polish. And no we are NOT doing them from scratch. We got them pre-made and frozen in a box) and cheese sauce, rolls and asparagus and a coconut cream pie for dessert. This neighbor who we are planning to have over was very kind to us last year and had us over for Easter, shortly after we had moved in.

Getting Spoiled!

My hubby has been spoiling me this weekend! He came home a little early from work on Friday...and I had only done part of the work on dinner. He ended up deciding to finish it up himself and have me stay on the couch and put my feet up. Then this morning he made us breakfast...yummy omelets! He's a Best-Case-Scenario kind of husband!

Valiant Bloomers

Well, well, what do you know??!!! Somewhere around last October I planted some tomato seeds in our yard but I wasn't very consistent about caring for them...only watering them some. For a while there I had pretty much given the garden up as a lost cause/neglected interest. Well, several of the seeds had sprouted and for some reason, they haven't died, but have kept growing and growing, and what should I find on them today, about five months after being planted, but little yellow blooms! So, I guess they're probably going to get some wires to hold up the plants and more consistent watering!

The BIG project!

Remember those light fixtures I mentioned in the last post? Well, you may have been wondering how on earth one would turn light fixtures into a fence and shelves. Stephen was able to bring some more of them home yesterday and I was the "helpful", pregnant photographer. Maybe it will all make more sense to you after you see these:








P.S. Should a guy with back problems be doing this?

A Very Nice Visit!

We had a very nice visit these last few days from Stephen's parents. They got here on Thursday afternoon and left after lunch today. We were able to spend time chatting and they were able to see a couple other people from around here that they know. Mom and Dad both helped us out MAJORLY with some projects around here. Dad broke up some extremely large light fixtures that Stephen had got from a job. They had some very nice oak in them and Stephen is thinking of using them for making the required pool fence and maybe shelves as well. Dad also fixed one of our gates.

Mom painted the baby's room while she was here and Stephen helped her finish it up today. It looks really nice! They painted it a really light, pretty green and painted the book shelves Stephen had made pink. It looks very nice! It's pretty and kind of girly, but not too much...it could easily become a boy room down the road.

Thanks Mom and Dad M. for the nice visit and all the great help!!!

Baby, Baby, Baby!

Well, I got to experience my first birthing class last night...it was Stephen's second, as you may have guessed if you read my last post. :-) The instructor is very nice and covered quite a bit of info last night. Next week, one of the things we're suppose to learn about is epidurals and other medical intervention type things. Should be interesting. The goal is going to be to not have to use that stuff, but we shall see.

I had an OB visit today and Clara checked out well. Good heart beat and measurements! Yay! We're at week 32! Getting so close!

It Takes A Real Man...

Would you not agree with me that it takes a real man to go with his wife to birthing class...willingly? And would you not also agree that it takes an even more impressively real man to go ALONE to birthing class, because his wife is out of town, and take notes, and even sit on a mat all by himself and practice the breathing techniques that he may soon be helping his laboring wife with? Well, if you concurred with the above, then you'll have to admit that I married an impressively real man! I was out of town last week, which was when our first birth education class, that I had signed us up for, was scheduled to happen. My dear hubby did not say, "Why don't we try to sign up for a different session" or give me a hard time about it, but willingly went off to class alone. I got home on Saturday and on Sunday night he gave me a class "briefing" and we even had a breathing practice session! It looks like he is going to be such a great coach! How very blessed I am!

Sisters!

One day during my family visit last week, my sisters and I decided to do hair and make-up and take sister pictures. Caleb agreed to be our photographer. Here are a few of them.





I don't look pregnant do I? :-)

A Couple Baby Shower Pictures

Here's a couple pictures from the lovely shower that friends and family in CA gave us.

Clara with her Mommy, Grandma and three Aunts!




The darling cake my friend Robin made for us!

CA Trip!

I got to spend the last week in CA visiting family and friends! That was a treat! We drove out there on Friday, a week ago, and attended a friend's wedding and got to see so many people I know! On Sunday, friends from the chapel I grew up in threw a lovely baby shower for Clara and I! Thank you everyone! On Monday, my dear hubby took off and drove all the way home on his own. That's such a long trip. Stephen, being the dear husband that he is, had bought me a ticket to fly back here on Saturday. So, I got to be there for over a week and spend more time with the family and friends!

I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow. I tried tonight, but it was taking a long time to upload.