Out of the Mouths of Babes....

I got this email from a friend of mine the other day. Unable to conceive, she and her husband adopted two children from Russia. She related this conversation she and her husband had with their daughter Yana:

We were praying for a friend who went on bedrest last night. Afterwards, Yana says, "When I get older, I'm not going to grow a baby like Ms. Nettie. I'm going to adopt like you did instead."

Ron: Well, Yana you don't have to choose one or the other. You can do both.

Christine: That's right. You know Ruth and Betsy. One of them was adopted and the other grew inside their mom.

Yana: Which one?

Christine: Do you think you know which one?

Yana: No, do you know?

Always Think Before you Leap

Betsy taught me a valuable lesson today. She was busy coloring in her Care Bears coloring book when she stopped, sought me out and asked, "Mom, how do you make love?" Thankfully, I paused a moment before I answered that question and realized she was wondering how to *draw* love - an excercise apparantly suggested by Love Bear or some such critter.....whew....Well, Betsy, hearts will do....

Pickles and Butter

The past few days have been all about pickles and butter. My giant jar of pickles I bought at BJ's yesterday is already half empty and, for some reason, I just can't get enough melted butter. I think the kids are a bit disappointed with this pregnancy. My chocolate pregnancies have been a delight to them - some chocolate confection available nearly every hour of the day. But they aren't so impressed with the presence of pickles and melted butter...ah well...more for me - and baby. Maybe we'll start calling this one Pickles.

Sir Ben's Grand Birthday Adventure

Benjamin's party was a real hoot. He was rather tied in knots about it for months ahead of time because he wanted to plan it out but his dad took over all the plan-making. He was allowed to name a few companions for the journey but beyond that dad was the Plan Man. On the day of his party, he had Eli, Patrick and Dan meet up at Patrick's family's farm. There they were greeted on the porch and given their assignment. Sir Benjamin and his 3 companions were informed that the princess had been carried off by goblins and it was their mission to follow the trail of the goblins, fight them off and rescue the princess. They would need to show their knightly virtues as they went along in order to fulfill their mission. They were given a bag with some food, basic medical supplies and each was issued a sword for the journey. They set off down the driveway toward the woods for their first encounter and their first challenge.

At the edge of the woods they came across an old woman wailing loudly about the destruction and pillaging of her home and bemoaning the emptiness of her stomach. The kindly knights stopped to ask if she knew of the whereabouts of the princess which was met with more loud grumblings about her gastric state. They reached into their bag and handed her some bread and cheese. Such generosity and kindness was awarded with a conical hennin (princess hat) which the old woman had horded but now felt perhaps may better serve her young knights.

The hat contained a clue as to further directions to take and the 4 companions headed across the drive and into the woods on the opposite side. After wandering about for a bit they now encountered an old man holding a locked box. He had, he told them, lost the key to the box. But if they could open the box they would find a map which would guide them further on their journey. He gave them a puzzle of two joined metal pieces which, if they could be separated, could be used to open the box. The companions all attempted to separate the pieces but to no avail. Their resourcefulness could not be proved, even with the help of the old man. He granted them a different way to open the box and they retrieved their map and moved on.

After traveling over hill and dale a bit they then encountered a wounded soldier in a field. He prevailed upon them to bandage his wounds and provide him with some victuals and he, in turn, gave them a detailed description of his own battle with the goblins and a good idea of where the troll's hideout was which would need to be passed in order to get to the princess. After lingering a bit with the soldier and sharing in strategy and provisions, the companions headed off in the direction indicated to them.

They found the troll a bit further along guarding his cave viciously. A battle ensued in which they had already been informed their swords would not be of use. They attempted to trip the troll with a length of rope and finally defeated him by tripping him and then dropping a rock upon him. Once sure he was dead, they raided his cave where they gleefully snatched up a cache of jewels, chocolate, bread and fine drink. They spent so much time arguing over the division of their spoils they almost seemed to have forgotten about the mission at hand. It wasn't until a young woman came running down the hill screaming for the help of some noble knights that they were pulled from their business and moved on to where the young lady indicated the princess had last been seen in the wretched grasp of the greedy goblins.

As the 4 came upon a dip in the terrain where a small stream passed, they were suddenly beset upon by small green creatures bearing plastic balls which they threw with great force at the knightly rescuers. It wasn't long before they had been cut down and the wiliest of them been captured and forced to lead them to the princess' hiding spot. This unfortunate goblin hobbled into the woods down a path forged by his evil counterparts to a small clearing where the princess was being guarded by a small horde of vicious little green creatures (who looked surprisingly just like the ones who had been killed on the path). A battle ensued until most of the goblins had been defeated and the head goblin called off his minions and issued a challenge to Sir Benjamin. There was to be man to goblin combat - Sir Benjamin vs Chief of the Goblins. Whoever won the battle would earn the right to choose the future of the princess. Sir Benjamin fought well and defeated the Chief Goblin after a bold battle. The princess was rescued and she and the companions returned to the Great Hall for a celebratory feast.

Upon arriving at the hall, the 4 companions were seated at a table of honor and each was served a generous portion of bread, cheese, pear ale and a roasted turkey leg. They enjoyed devouring their food with their fingers while reliving the day's adventure together.

They also enjoyed the more modern tradition of birthday cake, song and candles.

Hurrah for Sir Benjamin!

The Cat's out of the Bag

Well, my growing midriff is no longer a secret - impossible to keep it one, actually. Pulling out the maternity clothes was probably a big give-away but I just couldn't keep that big bulge from overflowing up and over the top of my not-prego-just-fat pants. We had Betsy call Muffy. She informed Muff that "we knew Mommy was pregnant because she was fat but now she's fatter." Thanks Boo. I'll use that one on you when you have your first....naaahhhh.

John Michael got to tell Grammy. I'm not sure how that went because he walked away with the phone just as he was about to share the big news. People are taking it a bit better than I expected although I suppose most are keeping the negative comments in the arena of idle gossip to be shared with others. I can hear the loudly whispered questions now "Don't they know how that happens?" "When is enough going to be enough?" "Are they trying to break some kind of a record?" "Six more and they can catch up with the Duggars!" Whatever.

And, for the record, yes - we do know how that happens and we're quite good at it. God knew what He was doing when He invented that one. We'd be happy to explain it to anyone who hasn't managed to figure it out...

Thanks to those of you have offered sincere congratulations. It means a lot to us to know you join us in valuing this little life just as much as the other 10. I got the best response yet today when I informed a good friend of mine on the phone. First a bit of a silence and then giggling and giggling and chuckling. She was there when we were diagnosed infertile and she was there for every one of our last 5 pregnancies. She was chuckling at the goodness of God who likes to confound the experts and do things a way all His own. As I've said all along, He got us into this mess, He'll get us out. He hasn't failed us yet.