stunningly quiet

This week has been a big load of crap. I thought that I had allergies, but when the allergy medicine did absolutely nothing I realized I had a head cold. Of course. I have no immune system. John has been working twelve hour days most days this week, and I feel like all I do is make the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drive the carpool. It is like Groundhog Day, over and over again.

So here we are on Saturday morning, and John has taken the children to town--to the farmer's market, the grocery store, and out to lunch. I'm going to clean the house, but at least it is quiet.

...

I suppose I'll continue with this disgruntled housewife post while I rest before I start my next project. I think I'm feeling slow and pregnant. I don't usually use the hormonal excuse, but I think that has to be part of it. Early in the week John was wondering when I planned on going back to work. Honestly, I find that humorous and sad at the moment. I'm eight months pregnant, have a two year old and a six year old, and honestly I can't think of a way to make a blessed cent at the moment. That question threw me into a funk that was later magnified by a visit to a new house with a friend of mine who was house shopping. The house was pretty ugly, a Brady Bunch tri-level thing that offends all my basic sensibilties, but the inside was completely redone, beautiful furniture, glowing hardwood floors, and the piece de resistance, the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. Of course they all matched. The kitchen also had a tile floor and nice countertops. So, for days I've been on the verge of crying over a stranger's stupid expensive refridgerator.

Big Boy Unpants

We've talked about underapants before, but today John saw something that gave him a little thrill. Elmo Big Boy Unpants. He wants to wear them.

He is talking up a storm. He still has a baby owl in his belly, and hopefully we are setting up his big boy bed this weekend.

stick and dotty

stick and dotty, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

afternoon

sand::box, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

smoochie

smoochie, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

He loves her so much, even though her incessant singing has been driving him crazy. Today she was watching a documentary on Dr. Seuss, and he set up two stools right in front of the television and started singing at the top of his lungs because he wanted her to turn off the television and play Legos with him.

When asked where he learned so many words so fast he responds by saying, "Ella's Head".

The Eight Week List

1. paint bedroom. a great chocolate brown.
2 print photos on camera

4. fix closet doors
5. stitch 2 simple curtains

7. make leaf and bird mobile out of fabric
8. fabric wall art for children's room- leaves and birds

10. sew porch chair seats
11. wax bath and kitchen cabinets
12. John's photo album
13. Ella's scrapbook

15. spread mulch




20. Clean and organize laundry room.





Come on over! I honestly believe that I can do all of this before Ruby is born. I just need to start knocking them out, and I thought that posting my list here would be a nice kick in the pants.

I started the crocheted blanket yesterday and ended up working on it for seven or eight hours. John wanted to play outside so I sat in a lawn chair most of the afternoon. I'm addicted. I can take the blanket with me and work on it while John is napping before we work at the school. I haven't crocheted anything in decades so it took me a while to get the hang of it again. I kept accidentally decreasing by not chaining at the end and was making little pink triangles. I've already change my original pattern choice, but, well, it is just a square. The body of the blanket is the pale green, and the edging is either going to be a ruffled pale pink or pink crocheted flowers.

John just took the children to the farmer's market, so I have to go face my room and it's piles.

science museum with granny and grampy

science museum, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

ella with ice cream

ella with ice cream, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

ruby::mirror

ruby::mirror, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Here is someone you don't see every day. I'm somewhere between 28 and 30 weeks depending on which doctor is doing the math.

science fair

school science fair project, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Ella showed her project to all eight grades plus the parents at the evening science fair. Of course the kindergarten projects were my favorite. How many books can you pile on top of an egg before it cracks? We are so proud of her. It was definitely an oya baka evening. She was explaining her "procedure" to strangers, shy but proud. She sprouted four kinds of seeds, but when it came down to what she valued as a conclusion, she wanted to talk about which sprouts tasted best and which ones colored the paper towels the prettiest colors when the seed coat opened.

rolling the dough

rolling, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

easter sunday

chocolate face, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

Eggs in egg cups :: ham biscuits, :: oyster stew :: easter baskets ::puppet shows :: a playroom cleanup ::goodwill boxes :: folding baby clothes :: john and ella churning butter :: ella talking a mile a minute ::

early spring

pensive jbp, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

how low can you go?

Third trimester. Coughing constantly. At one point this week I was actually wearing a pullup.

All I can do is laugh.

At one point I thought I was coughing up blood. (It was a nosebleed)
Then I thought I was spotting. ( It was sock lint)

whose immune system is this?

I never used to get sick, but this winter I've been a regular at our local family practice. Throw in my regular prenatal visits, the high risk clinic in the big city, and my children's germs, and I feel like I spend much of my life in a waiting room. Here in the third trimester I'm seeing the OB every two weeks, so I'm going even more often.

I passed the three hour gestational diabetes screening, but barely, so I'm going to the diabetes educator next week. Hopefully if I just avoid choking down one hundred grams of warmish orange dextrose, my blood sugar will be somewhat lower.

Now I have bronchitis. Where is my immune system? I'm going to brew a vat of green tea and watch The Wire.

failed

I failed my one hour gestational diabetes test, so I'm going to the hospital tomorrow at the crack of dawn to do the three hour test. I'm gonna fail it, so I went ahead and started the diet. I'll miss the rice.

I had GD when I was pregnant wilth Ella, but then with John I managed to pass the one hour test twice and give birth to an almost eleven pound baby.

oatmeal molasses bread

4 cups boiling water
3 cups rolled oats
7 cups all purpose flour
2 packages active dry yeast
2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons salad oil
1/2 cup molasses

Pour the boiling water over the oats in a large bowl and leave to cool. Stir in 2 cups of flour and the yeast. Allow to rise, uncovered, until doubled. Punch down and work in the salt, salad oil, molasses, and enough of the flour to make a smooth pliable firm dough--about ten minutes. Children cannot overknead this bread! Divide into three equal pieces and from into loaves to fit three buttered loaf tins. I brushed the top with water and pressed on some whole oats. Allow to rise again, uncovered, until doubled in bulk. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven 40 to 60 minutes or until the bread sounds hollow when removed from the tins and rapped on the top and bottom. Cool on racks before slicing.

Delicious. Forgiving. Toddler friendly. John baked some tiny tins of overkneaded dough with no salt, oil, or molasses and even they were good. I made this when the oven was half dead, and it still wasn't too bad. Today I'm making it in our new oven, and it should be fairly miraculous.

ella's friend snowboarding with a chicken

ella's friend snowboarding with a chcken, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

rainy friday

rainy friday, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

girly

ruby, originally uploaded by ellajohn.

This one was on Flickr too, but she just looks so girly that I thought I'd post it here too. Ella said, 'Mama, did you know that your insides were so lumpy?" She has Ella's lips.