More springtime preparations

It's becoming a sad habit now. I'm only posting in order to sum up recent events. Life is so very busy lately.

We'll finally be getting a new dryer tomorrow. Our's has finally eaten it's last piece of clothing! The dryer was given to us when our older one was still working. We saved it and ultimately needed it. So, although it is too small for our family we have been thankful to have it and very glad to now replace it! We've decided to wait until our insufficient washer dies again before replacing it...

Preparing for baby. We're still without a name. Still praying and discussing. I have four packages of newborn diapers in my closet and a box near the attic door of newborn clothing. Bob came home with a load of baby gifts and cards from his co-workers. How fun! It seems premature with the due date nearly three months away. But we all enjoyed gathering around to read the cards and admire the tiny clothing. I've been visiting alot of thrift stores in search of teacups and saucers for an upcoming Mother/Daughter tea at church. While I haven't found many teacups, I have picked up several tiny baby boy sleepers. No, we didn't need them since Noah's were all new. But at $0.50-2.00 apiece, why not? I have only a row or two left of the blanket I'm knitting and I am excited to start another. The pattern I'm currently using (bastketweave) requires too much counting and I grew tired of the colors (sage and brown). So my next one will be a solid blue with a very simple pattern. If I love it I might start to make them for other people. It's a beautiful diagonal design with a border.

In the meantime, we are still working on new dresses for Easter. That leaves about three days. We started with a plan for Kendal, Kelsey, Joy and me. Since we all had leftover fabric, I've decided to make one for Anna and Mary. If it works out we'll all match in pairs. Mary's will be made of my fabric. Joy's is the same as Kendal's. Anna's will be the same as Kelsey's. I hope we will have time to take a picture so that we can remember our projects.

The garden. The new beds are built but have no dirt in them. They are for summer planting so we're in no hurry. The rabbits have been found sitting in our spinach patch, inside the raised bed. We put the plastic owl there. I hope it works! The lettuce seeds have not been as successful as they were in the fall. I've sown twice, and have less than twenty sprouts.

We freshened all the bed linens today and even bought some new ones. Thankfully we still have some Christmas giftcard money from my sister, so I didnt' have to stress over buying new sheets. I'm trying to figure how many times we'll have to change all those beds again before the baby comes...atleast the new dryer will be bigger!

I can't figure out why life seems so busy and overwhelming lately. The passing around of a sore throat and cold hasn't helped. Noah has been miserable. I hurt my foot and have been walking in pain for almost a week. Sewing projects and spring fever take time away from school and chores. Or maybe it's just that there are eight children and one pregnant mommy here all day and we are trying to keep it all together.

A friend at church gave a great testimony last week. She told me that instead of worrying over the thousands of details that mothers have bouncing around in our heads, she's been asking God to speak specifically to her regarding each one. He has! It has made her life much more simple. I need to do that more often, everyday!

We did celebrate Passover on the right evening. We did not go through the entire service but it was a very nice dinner with nearly two hours of reading and discussion and singing! The rest of our week has not felt quite as "holy" with Bob gone or late home from work. But we are grateful for the good memories. At one point we were stumped as to what we were supposed to do with certain pieces of unleavened bread that were hidden in the folds of a napkin. We'll have to do more research for next year. : ) There is a lot of detail in that celebration. Hopefully over time we'll be more familiar with it and be able to complete it.

God is good!