Full of Joy

I came out unscathed by the colds the boys (are still) suffering with, BUT ended up with my own virus.  Seems it was created just for me and Baby Girl.  I was attacked on Saturday morning with an awful, AWFUL stomach virus.  I thought for sure I was going to end up in the hospital.  To describe the symptoms in this post would not be very courteous to you readers, so I will spare you.  Thankfully the worst seems to be behind me, I've just been weak.  Tonight I am going to try to attend my writer's group as it's our last meeting for October. (We meet for a whole month every other month.)  If I make it, it will be my first time out of the house since last Friday when I went grocery shopping.  It's really cool how God has taken care of me, and our little family during this whole ordeal. ~2 friends brought us meals on 2 different nights ~my in-laws had given us groceries the last time they visited so we were set with food ~Chuck was able to take Mo...

Hello friends!  We are bummin' today.  Chuck and Jase are both sick.  Chuck always carries on like normal when he's sick, which makes me feel bad for him.  So far I seem to be fine.  I feel lethargic, but what else is new?  I did have a strange bloody nose experience this morning, which I contribute to the pregnancy.  I don't want to gross anyone out with the details, but it was the first time that's happened to me with that amount of blood.  Moving on. The positive angle of Jase being sick is that he slept until almost 8:15 this morning, took a morning nap, and is now taking an afternoon nap.  He is also a little more clingy than normal, which I cherish because he's usually an independent little thing.  And if Chuck is home, forget about Mama.  The boy is ALL ABOUT his Papa.  He says, "Papa, Papa, Papa" a million times a day.  Hopefully those two will keep their germs to themselves.  I am already exhausted, achey, le...

Believe it or not, these are the best cousin pictures I could get the last time the boys were all together a few weeks ago.  We had a lovely little visit to the Dubbe family farm house in VA.  The boys are so sweet with Jase.  They definitely keep him entertained, which is awesome for us.  They also wanted to celebrate Jase's birthday again- with a darling gift as well as a crazy, multi-colored cake!

I keep a book journal.  This means I write down the title of every book I read, some information about it,  the date I finished it, and my opinion of said book.  Some years I am amazed at how many books I've read, but others years I am dismayed at how few books I've read.  Of course since January of this year I haven't got a whole long list going.  But, I am happy that I've had the chance to read some good ones. The one I flew through the fastest was Francine Rivers' newest book, "Bridge to Haven".  I could only keep it checked out of the library for two weeks, and it was a huge book.  I told the lady at the desk I probably wouldn't be able to finish the book in two weeks, but it was easy actually.  I could hardly put it down.  I stayed up late reading, went to bed "early" so I could read in bed, read it during TV commercials, etc.  I never do that with a slow book. I do have to say I finally read, "The Fault in Our Stars" by Jo...

I got to go back to the beach in September?  And that I went all by myself?  Well, I did!  The girls on my Mom's side of the family got together at the Jersey Shore to celebrate my aunt's 50th birthday (a little late), and as a reunion of sorts.  We stayed in such a great place!  It was a condo, I think, but big enough that we all slept comfortably.  My cousin and I shared a room, just like old times.  It was a lot of fun!  Us cousins are in the middle with Grandma and Aunt Keren on the ends. While I was at the beach, Chuck took Jase to VA where my in-laws baby-sat for the week.  Chuck was able to take his sabbatical while there, which was really perfect.  It was so wonderful to sit and chat with no interruptions.  It was also amazing to stay up late, and sleep in till whenever I woke up!  We went out to eat a few times, and here is our group picture after brunch one morning.  As you can see, it was a gorgeous day, wo...

I spent the last 30 minutes thinking I was uploading pictures from our camera.  I wanted to do this task all by myself, but of course it didn't work.  Now I will have to wait until tonight so Chuck can show me what I did wrong.  I can't stand this computer. On the bright side, I did find a new album from my Mom's camera- even though the pictures were taken in July.  When I look through these pictures I am reminded of how much of a baby Jase was just three months ago.  He is so different now! The best cousin beach picture we got! My Mom took this picture.  She was laughing at how distracted and busy us  Mothers were when we were supposed to be enjoying a nice dinner out.  =) This kind of feels like our family ferris wheel.   Jase just loved this tiny Golden book.  He looks so chubby here to me.  Sweet boy.

Last Thursday night I attended my first night of a new writer's group.  I was pretty nervous about going.  The naturally shy part of me really wanted a friend to go with.  But I had to put on my brave hat, and venture out by myself.  Before I left, I shared with Chuck that I didn't even know if I had a writer in me anymore.  I wasn't sure if there were any creative synapses left firing up there.  I haven't been apart of an official writing class or group for a few years.  After my grad class, I felt extremely burned out. When I arrived at the group last Thursday, the leader greeted me immediately and I felt instantly at ease.  She even walked me to the right meeting room.  Describing it makes me feel like I was starting kindergarten, but really aren't we all just little kids inside?  We all still have the innate need for another human to welcome us, be friendly to us, and make us feel connected. The writer's group was only an hour an...