Baby Update

Homeschooling continues, but all thoughts are on the impending arrival.

I am 2 weeks away from my due date, and I am locked, loaded, and ready to go. Just waiting for God to pull the trigger and get this baby rollin’. The doctor says the baby is fully in position, and that I may feel “some pressure.” MmmmHmmmm. I feel like I have a sumo wrestler sitting on me. Of course, sometimes that is almost true. Max thinks that climbing my stomach is one of the great joys of life. I think this baby is so terrified of Max that he is going to try hiding inside for as long as he can!

The doctor seems to think I will be right on time since I have been one day late, one day early, and right on time. Still, he asked if I was having contractions. I did have 4 hours of them last Sunday night, and spent 3 hours hovering at 7-8 minute intervals with them getting stronger. When I told him that, he said, “If the contractions stop, you know you aren’t in labor.”

I just stared at him. I wondered if I should ask for my co-pay back, but thought I shouldn’t push my luck. I may ask for pain meds if things get rough, and I’ll need him to be on my side.

As much as I appreciate that this kid needs this time in the womb, I don’t wait well. I met someone who is being induced 2 weeks early because she is so tired. If being tired is the criteria, I should have been induced a long time ago. I had to look it up on the internet. Naturally, I found several references for ways to induce labor naturally.

I like pineapple a lot, and I was willing to eat a few slices, but I thought that eating 7 raw pineapples in a row would be too much. I was afraid I get half way through the 6th one and get tired of pineapple, and then I would have consumed 1500 calories for nothing.

We went for a drive yesterday in search of bumpy roads, but couldn’t find many. I think I’ll write a letter to the editor to complain that there aren’t as many as there used to be, and they should leave a few around for emergencies like this.

I also found a website that showed various acupressure points that are supposed to either induce labor or make it less painful, depending on which you use. I tried pressing on my legs, 4 fingers’ width above my ankle bone, but nothing happened. I just figured that with all Max’s climbing, he has probably pushed the anti-induction pressure points so many times that the trigger has shut off.

Then there was the castor oil. Let’s just say I’m not that desperate. Yet. There were 2 suggestions: take it with orange juice or take it with eggs. I like eggs and I like OJ, so I don’t see how it would help me to mess them up. If I did ever take it, I’d want to take it with liver or Brussels sprouts so I wouldn’t have to worry about hating those foods for the rest of my life. Am I the only one who thinks of these things?

Since today was Sunday, I thought I might get a nap. If taking a nap on Sunday counts as keeping the Sabbath holy, then I’ll get an A for effort. Brian got a movie, we put Max down for a nap, and I settled in. They say that pregnancy makes a woman’s thermostat go up, and I am no exception to this rule. My internal body temp has reset from a constant of 97.1 all the way up to 97.2.

I piled on a down comforter and took another one and doubled it up to put on top. I used a lap blanket to cover up the one arm and my ear that were sticking out. After listening to Brian breathe for a quarter of an hour, I felt myself getting warm and falling asleep. I woke up in great pain, wondering if my bladder could possibly hold any more. This was that “some pressure” the doctor had warmed me about. It had been a half hour since I’d been in the bathroom, and I was afraid my bladder would burst, sending urine icicles spewing all over the room. I ran to the bathroom. There must have been 3 tablespoons’ worth in there. Whew!

The clock said I’d been asleep for 20 minutes. I settled in again and tried to get comfortable. I’m afraid to lie on my back for fear that I’ll get stuck and spend a half hour trying to roll over with my arms and legs flailing, like one of those beetles you see on the nature shows. I finally got into a position that wasn’t painful and relaxed. I felt myself drifting off. That is when Max woke up, screaming.

I think I’ll go eat some more pineapple.

Graduation rates

Our local paper today had a story which stated that, in California, it is impossible to know the correct graduation rate in public schools. Something about not being able to track that info accurately so they give an official and unofficial estimate.

Maybe I'm missing something, but I'm thinking someone needs to go back to class and figure out a way to count students and follow them along to see who is graduating. By the article's estimate, it will be 4 years before the CDE is able to track that info. Interesting.

Science at home

Hmmm, it has been a while, I see. We're still here, still homeschooling. Our latest science project is raising the 25 chicks we just received from Belt Hatchery in Fresno. The kids are having a blast. Unfortunately, we seem to be losing 3 of them. Not sure what went wrong, but the others seem hale and hearty.

Thanksgiving Thoughts

OK, OK, so it's been a while since I've posted. In my defense, coming home from our and getting caught up with life was hectic! The article about the trip appeared in our paper today, reminding me that I need to do a bit more writing for some of the publications that expressed an interest in our trip story. Plus, I'd rather spend time writing than folding laundry, so here I am.

Before I forget, the link to the article is here:
http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/2006/11/23/features/education/edu1.txt
and I think that expires in a few days, so I will try to figure out how to get that to work after that if I can.

This was the laziest Thanksgiving I can remember. Katia, Ed, and Alyona helped Wednesday evening with making pies and our side dishes, so all we had to do today was reheat them while Brian grilled the turkey. We usually do the big dinner and sit around at the table with guests and all that traditional stuff, but today seemed like a day to do something different, so we ate in front of the TV. Gasp!! Well.....what can I say except that, for us, that is a pretty rare thing, so it seemed like something fun to do. Of course, we discussed what we are thankful for before we got started, and everyone mentioned family at the top of the list. Turkey was up there too, so we're in good company.

We never can figure out when the Macy's parade is, so we ended up only seeing part of it. I guess it looks the same either way, but watching it in Spanish gives it a whole new twist.
Adios!

Cracker Barrel

Yesterday we left the Grand Canyon a bit earlier than planned so that we could add some drive time. The kids agreed to push through past Barstow, so we added 3 hours to the drive in order to make today, our last day on the road, a bit easier. When we hit Kingman, Brian fulfilled a trip-long dream of going to a Cracker Barrel store/restaurant. He had been seeing signs along the way, and something about them interested him. As it turned out, the one in Kingman was the last one on our trip. It was a cute little place, and we had a good time rocking on the porch.

We ended up staying in Tulare, about 5 hours from home--I think. I'm getting a little punchy and I am really ready to be home.

Grand Canyon

We spent 3 relaxing days in Pinetop, AZ where we lounged by the pool, played games, and wandered about. Brian and Katia did take a ride in to vacuum out the van, and Brian picked up some groceries so we could make use of the kitchens in the units where we were staying (we always need 2).

Yesterday afternoon we arrived at the Grand Canyon. We made a brief stop at the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff which was a bit of a letdown for the kids--lots of exhibits to read, but not a lot of hands-on things to do.

We walked around quite a bit along the rim trail, and Brian took a lot of pictures. I walked out to the first observation point and made an observation of my own. I am afraid of heights. Now, I know this about myself, it is not a new revelation. For some reason, I had not equated being terrified even of standing on a ladder with having any reservations about looking out over the canyon. I did manage to drag myself to the rail a couple of times. As long as I look out over the expanse, I am fine, but as soon as I look directly down, I am overcome with an irrational fear. I was quite content to stay on the rim trail from that point on, and, I have to confess, there were moments where I could not even look at the kids as they ventured in closer.

This morning, Brian and Ed went to watch the sunrise. I stayed back with the sleeping brood. We are all anxiously awaiting their return so we can head out to breakfast. We are back to the canyon today for a bit more exploring, then we'll head out. We expect to cross over into California this evening and head home tomorrow.

More Directions Gone Awry

September 27, 2006
Phone call to the Holiday Inn Express in Albuquerque, NM.

Rose: “Hi, I’m calling for directions. I’m coming in on I-40 West.”

Desk Clerk: “You can’t get here from I-40 West, you have to come in on I-40 East.”

“I can’t come in on I-40 East, I’m driving from Texas.”

“You’re driving here from Texas?”

“Yes, on I-40 West”

“Well, you’ll just have to get on I-40 East then.”

I think I should stop calling for directions.

Quite a Discovery

Wednesday September 27
After calling information for the number for the Don Harrington Discovery Center in Amarillo, TX, the conversation went something like this:
Operator: “(muffled speech)…..help you?”

Rose: “Hi, I’m coming in on I-40 West, and I need directions.

“OK, are you familiar with Amarillo?”

“No, I haven’t been to Amarillo in about 20 years.”

“No problem. From I-40, you take the Coulter exit. That’s C-O-U-L-T-E-R. Turn onto Coulter and then take a right onto Wallace. We’re right there.”

“OK, I exit at Coulter and turn onto Wallace. I got it. Thank you.”

“So, are you coming in for a breast exam?” (long pause--maybe the cell phone is acting up).

“Ummmmm, what was that?”

“Are you coming in for a breast exam today?”

“You know, I might have the wrong number, I’m calling for the Don Harrington Discovery Center” (and I’m wondering what sort of discovery center this is!)

“Oh, the Discovery Center is just down the road, also on Wallace.”

“Good. Thank you. Bye!”

I was a little cautious going in, and completely relieved to find that the Discovery Center was, after all, a hands-on science museum for kids with a new exhibit on engineering and a planetarium show. Whew! What a relief.

Where the Buffalo Roam--or something like that

Tuesday, September 26
Somewhere in Oklahoma, along I-40
We stopped at a roadside “trading post” because we are ahead of schedule. We are supposed to be meeting my aunt and uncle for dinner and we stopping more often than usual to keep everyone occupied. I took the little girls on a little walk to see some buffalo that were in an enclosure. I felt sad to see such creatures penned up. It is hard to imagine the plains they used to roam. Of course, if I had a vote, I’d give the plains back to them, and they could deal with the infernal wind.

OKC Memorial

Tuesday, September 26, 1:30 P.M.
The chairs in the yard are hauntingly empty, a reminder of what we have lost. Not only the bodies and souls that might have occupied these spaces, but the innocence we knew in that time before. The memorial marks this time 9:01 on April 19, 1995, and references it often, as a reminder that there was a time when we did not know what it was to have a large-scale terrorist attack on American soil.

Maybe it is because I have a lot of kids, but I found it easy to relate to the parents in the videos today when we visited the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. I was often moved to tears, and my sentiments and thoughts were just as often interrupted by my younger children who had no concept of what we were doing in this place. I wasn’t sure how I should even feel about them being there. I did not want them to be disrespectful to the memories of those who were killed in the attack, and they did not understand why everyone was so solemn.They sometimes ran over and were exuberant at buttons they could push. Other times, they were whiny and fussy that they couldn’t do what they wanted.

We kept them in line as much as we could--Bella, at 6, is old enough to understand some of what she was seeing. I was frustrated that I could not spend more time focused on the information that was presented. I wanted to give each of the victims a moment of my time, to honor their memory in some small way.

I tried to block out the bickering. It is wearing after a while. I tried to look at it in a different perspective. For the parents who lost their children--children who would be about the age of my Alex and Alyona right now--I tried to imagine what they would trade for a chance to see them today.

Toward the end of the memorial, there is a room where there is a picture of each person who died in the attack on the Murrah Federal Building. Most pictures have a small object that the family of the victim selected. One child has a pacifier, another a favorite toy. One adult had a work I.D., some had Bibles or plaques with favorite verses, others had sports items or stuffed animals. It got me to thinking: If I had to pick something to represent my life, my passion, what would that one thing be? And if my family had to choose, what would they choose as the one object that defined who I am?

Heading to Tulsa

Monday, September 25
Tulsa 9:00 p.m.

Back to traveling today. We managed to leave St. Louis around 10:30. We are heading west for the first time in our trip--headed toward home. But first we had to navigate Missouri. After a flurry of phone calls, we figured out that the Philipp family was now living about 30-40 minutes from Lebanon. We would be passing through Lebanon, and they would be able to meet us. Jim, Daisy, Faith, Justice, Boaz, Esther, and Jubilee moved to Missouri about a month ago to study with New Tribes Missions.
We figured out that they would be driving south on State Route 5, so we turned off of I-44 onto SR 5 and called them. As we were driving and talking, calling out where we are, we realized that we were waiting at the same stoplight--just driving in opposite directions!

It was really great to spend an hour and a half talking over some ice cream. The only plus to having them out of town is that we no longer get our vans mixed up in the church parking lot. Just in case, after this picture was taken, we did a quick head count to make sure we all had our own kids before we got started.

Once we got to Tulsa, we got a visit from Caroline (college roommate’s mom) and her friend Glen -The-Computer-Genius who came to see if there was any hope for my laptop. He was not able to fix it, but he had some ideas for Brian once we got home and had access to some recovery disks--so there may be hope yet.

The night ended with laundry--and picking corn kernels out of the dryer after washing the little girls’ clothes.

Godfrey, IL

Sunday, Sept. 24
Today was Godfrey day. We started out at Heritage Days on the Goshen Trail, an annual event held in Godfrey. All the vendors were in period costumes. Bella got to make a rope, and Jolina, Katia, Ed, Alex, and Alyona all got to fire a musket. Olivia, Sophia and I discovered kettle chips made right before our eyes, and we were enjoying our bag immensely when the rest of the family discovered us--so we had to go back for more.

We had lunch and headed over the corn maze. Brian and I decided that official T-shirts were in order. He asked if there might be a discount for “real Godfreys”, but the girl behind the counter just laughed. The little girls were most impressed with the ability to play in a big corn pit which we did while Brian made a run to the bank. Ed, Alex, and Alyona took a second turn through the maze while he went.

Welcome to Godfrey

We had to get a picture in front of the sign.

Apple Picking Time

Saturday, Sept 23
We decided to rent another car so that Brian could go to Six Flags with the big kids. Emily and I took the younger ones around town and then out towards Otterville to pick apples at Yates’ Orchards. I think we got too many, but they were so yummy that we couldn’t stop picking!

We arrive in St. Louis

Friday, Sept 22
Our arrival into St. Louis came with the realization that we would be staying well north of the city and that Six Flags--our destination for Saturday--was well south of the city. In all, it was about 1 1/2 hours away. We started to rethink our plan of going in the morning, going back to the house for lunch and then returning to the park. That would mean about 6 hours of driving.

Brian got us settled at the Grafton Homestead Retreat, and we stayed there while he made an airport run to pick up Jolina and Emily. It was pretty late before we got everything squared away. It was a tight fit, but we managed. We loved the grounds, but it was a little rough with only 1 bathroom. Still, you could hardly say we were roughing it. It was a welcome change to cook some familiar food and have a nice dinner.

The kids will have fun exploring some of the 60+ acres of the property and enjoying the paddle boat.

Meramec Caverns

Friday, Sept. 22
The caverns were....cavernous. We are off to Illinois.

We are not in Kansas anymore!

Friday, September 22
We are not in Kansas anymore! Falling gas prices met us in Kansas City--a welcome sight!

Wee are on the way to Meramec Caverns after a night in Kansas City, MO. We are expecting to have lunch there, tour the caverns, and then head on to Grafton, IL to the Grafton Homestead where we will spend the next 3 nights.

KANSAS

KANSAS--September 21, 2006
Barely into Kansas, we pulled over and picked up a copy of The Wizard of Oz to watch on our way through the state. This was really the only bad day we’ve had. We started out from the hotel with a hot breakfast and very full tummies, only to discover the Kansas Wind. Our van was buffeted all over the road which made for a very tumultuous ride in which several kids wondered if they would lose that breakfast after all.

We made a pit stop in Salina to eat our lunch and see if we might pick up a laptop. Finding a laptop was impossible, but we were able to eat. All the kids chose to stay in the van, but Ed took Max out to get some air. It took him 5 minutes or so before Max headed back to the van and started trying to climb in. He was begging to be back in his carseat, and even started pulling it over his head to show that he was ready to be strapped in and go. I didn’t think there was anything that would make him want to get back in that seat, but the great Kansas Wind did the trick.

DENVER AND BEYOND

Sept. 20
After the amphitheater, we headed out with sleepy little ones for another half hour or so drive to Denver where we met up with my aunt Carolyn and cousin Cara and her son MalachI. My aunt brought along some homemade cookies, milk, and tea, and the kids climbed and played in the park while we talked for a bit.

I was beginning to suspect that all of America was one big mountain range, and then we drove out of Denver and into eastern Colorado. We stayed in a little town called Stratton which is close to the Kansas border. We drove down the entire length of the “business district,“ an activity that took 3 minutes, including the turnaround time. It was in Stratton that I plugged in my computer to charge the battery, and I am wondering if we had a power surge--of course I didn’t think of a surge protector for the road, and it was an older building.

RED ROCKS

RED ROCKS (pictures later :)
Wednesday, Sept 20--reconstructed since my laptop crashed and burned.

We started out from Glenwood Springs, CO. On the advice of my aunt Carolyn, we stopped at a rest stop in the Glenwood Canyon and went for a nice walk alongside the river with the canyon walls just on the other side of the water. Although we were only yards away from Interstate 70, which was elevated a bit, we rarely heard the traffic because of the roaring of the river. Saying that Glenwood Canyon is “magnificent” is kind of like saying that a 7-course meal at a 5-star restaurant is “alright.”
After getting back into the van, we drove out of the canyon and through resort areas like Vail and Breckinridge. We made the mistake of pulling into a grocery store in Breckenridge to pick up some sandwich fixings for lunch. That little adventure left us wondering how anyone in the town can afford to eat with those prices.

We headed on into Denver. I had intended to work on my laptop, but the scenery was too striking to take my eyes off the trip. It is just as well that I didn’t do any work since it would have been lost in the great computer brain dump anyway. Just outside of Denver we stopped to see the Red Rocks Amphitheater.

We thought we might find a place to let the kids climb the rocks, but ended up just going into the amphitheater instead where we found a lot of stairs waiting to be climbed. We started at the top level, so we headed on down. I tried to talk Katia into going down on the stage and getting a feel for what it would be like to be on stage in such a big place, but she was too shy. She did eventually head down, but I couldn’t talk her into singing even one little note. Sophia was about to belt out “God Bless America,” but she changed her mind at the last minute.