It's 6 am on Saturday morning. No reason for me to be up since we have nowhere to go and four of my kids are at my mom's house. But my body has this internal alarm that goes off and will not allow me to go back to sleep. So here I am.

As I said, Mama came and got the older kids and took them out to her house for the weekend. It's Little Thomas's birthday (who is not so little anymore at 13) as well Big Thomas's birthday (who is no longer little either at 37) this coming week. All the cousins but Hazel were going out for the weekend, as well as Big Thomas. Brian and I opted to stay in Austin and enjoy some time mostly to ourselves before Olive comes. I suppose Hazel could've gone, too, but she's the youngest, I I didn't want to add another one to the already crazy crew of ten for my mom and Thomas to take care of. 

Our plans for the weekend are to finalize our year's budget, do a few odd jobs around the house, and get some exercise. Brian has his half marathon next month, so he's got a long run to do. I just want to get out and enjoy some fresh air and then maybe I'll do something crafty. I have so much sewing stuff waiting to be used. 

I'm getting lots of good ideas of books to read since lots of my friends are are posting their reading goals for the year on their blogs and Facebook. Here's what mine looks like so far...

Read through the Bible using my Devotional Daily Bible

Pleasing God by RC Sproul

The Holiness of God by RC Sproul

Inerrancy by Norm Geisler

The Bondage of the Will by Martin Luther

The Freeom of Self Forgetfulness by Tim Keller

Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards

The Pursuit of God by AW Tozer

As you can see, I'm on a doctrine theme. I seem to go through phases where I read only one genre of books almost to the point if overkill. I'm sure I'll add to this list as I discover new reads. I'm not great at writing reviews (or writing, period!) but I'll try to add some thoughts about each as I finish them. That is if I can remember to blog, and I really hope to blog more this year. I did write a blog post this week, but never got around to publishing it. Probably better that I didn't since I was loose with my words on a particular subject and typed things I'm sure I would regret later. 

crossing my fingers that i'll be able to blog a post before hazel wakes up from her nap. this napping thing is a new thing we're starting. I'm taking advantage of her being sick to get her in the habit of going down for a little while after lunch. it makes both of us a lot happier campers.

yesterday i cleaned house, cooked a pot roast, took a bubble bath with hazel, but was otherwise lazy. william had a dentist appointment down the street right after school, and we all rejoiced when he got a good report. it's been two years since we've been to the dentist and so far two kids are cavity-less. what a blessing! hoping the other two also get a clean bill.

last night i made king cake to celebrate epiphany. for several reasons our evening was rushed and we didn't get to read about the wise men and sing any traditional epiphany songs. maybe we'll do that tonight.

trying to get back into the groove of getting the kids and brian off in the morning and then establishing a meaningful routine for hazel and i during the day. i'm trying to strike a balance between playing with hazel on her terms and time, and keeping up with my to do list each day.

the kids were really glad to be back at school yesterday, especially william. he just thrives off of structure and clearly laid out agendas and expectations. i am so thankful for the schools we have in our neighborhood. all three are top notch and places i feel comfortable sending the kids each day.

well, the washing machine just told me she's done, so i had better help her out of her clothes.

i'm not even gonna try to cover all of life that has happened since i last blogged. ugh. let's just start with right now. 

it's bitterly cold outside right now. they say we're going to get the coldest temps Austin has seen since 1970! supposed to be in the low teens tonight. it wouldn't be so bad except that it's also windy. 

today was the first day back to school for all the kids. i dropped off all the boys and didn't make them ride their bikes, then waited with Margaret at the bus stop so she wouldn't have to stand out in the cold. central texans are just not equipped for this kids of weather. 

i just checked on hazel, and thankfully, she is finally napping in Olive's crib. she sleeps alright in her Big Girl Bed upstairs, but napping is another thing. i have to put her in the crib to keep her contained. she hates it. 

january and february will be busy with school work plus extracurricular  activities. Margaret begins track, Samuel continues with basketball that started before the break, as well as track. and then somewhere in the middle i'll have a baby. Brian turns 41 at the end of the month. and by the way, i sure am enjoying being married to an older man. Samuel turns 13 the week Olive is due. this will be an interesting year having two teenagers, two tweens, and two littles. 

i've got back into reading, whereas i'd dropped off quite a bit the last several months. i picked up a NKJV Daily Devotional Bible at HPB. i've never had a one year Bible, and for some reason it just thrills me to have all my readings laid out like that. i've done a lot of reading plans, but i find them hard to stick to. seeing it all in one place with the date just makes me so happy! i picked up Pleasing God by RC Sproul, which i'm really enjoying, and i downloaded about ten ebooks by Sproul, Martin Luther, Jonathan Edwards, and others that I'm looking forward to reading. 

i'm late to the party, but i've been enjoying apartmenttherapy.com and getting lots of decorating inspiration as that is just my style.

on the exercise front, i've done pretty well. i walk every day, most days 5 or 6 miles, and some days up to 9 when the weather is good and i have the time. not all at one time, mind you. usually divided between morning and afternoon. i love being outside and so does hazel. on top of the walking, i've been working out with weights. since we dropped our Y membership we've been slowly adding to our home gym (if you can even call it that) collection of weights and such. there's a weekly yoga class that meets at the neighborhood club house that i had intended to join over the summer but never got around to it. hopefully after baby O gets here i'll make it over there.

and speaking of baby, this pregnancy has gone by so fast. it's crazy to me that i'm already 33 weeks. in no time i'll be holding little olive, or as hazel has started calling her, baby awful. =) this has been an uneventful pregnancy. no real complaints, other than the minor insomnia that has over taken me lately. i don't mind being pregnant. ok, i actually really enjoy it. 

well, that's all i have time for right now. these are rare moments when hazel is napping and i have the house to myself, so i'd better make the most of them!

getting a late start on this, but here we go….

2013

1. What did you do in 2013 that you’d never done before? move to the suburbs! have always lived in the country or the city up until this year

2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year? i made some goals last year (reading through the Bible following R.M. M'Cheyne's reading plan, the vague goal of "being more artsy", running the Marathon for Adoption, learning some spanish, reading lots of books), and kept up with some. others, like running the marathon weren't even an option since i was 6 months pregnant at that time. i did read a good deal, but not as much as in previous years. i didn't learn any spanish at all. i did quite a bit of art stuff as time allowed. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? a handful of friends

4. Did anyone close to you die? yes: Nicole, Trey, Walter...

5. What countries did you visit? none. didn't even make it outside of Texas this year (not that there's anything wrong with that). with getting our house ready to sell and the subsequent move, we didn't have a lot of money left over for vacationing. 

6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013? a more sensitive heart to the needs of others. more creativity. patience. a wiring KitchenAid mixer. a healthy newborn.

7. What date from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? no one date stands out. to be honest, this year was pretty much a whirl wind.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? making it through the first half of the school year and all the juggling of schedules and homework and all that without doping the ball too often. 

9. What was your biggest failure? getting angry at my kids, laziness of mind, pride... 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? a recurrence of ulcerative colitis carried over from 2012. thankfully it was quickly cleared up once i got on the right meds.

11. What was the best thing you bought? our house! it wasn't our dream house when we found it, but it has been such a blessing! and after living in a 1700 square foot house for ten years, moving to a nearly 3200 square feet house makes it feel like we're in a castle! 

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? my kids. they've made the adjustment to a new neighborhood and new schools with such good attitudes. so proud of them!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? those who treated me unkindly when they find out i was expecting again.

14. Where did most of your money go? house, food, church, healthcare, car 

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? discovering Brian and i were going to be parents again, and also learning that my childhood BFF was moving from Houston to my neighborhood!

16. What song will always remind you of 2013? Home by Philip Philips. mostly because it was my kids and they cousins theme song for the summer and they always asked me to play it when we were in the car

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: happier or sadder? happier. 

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? praying, being hospitable to others, taking time to write letters and make phone calls to friends and family, spend one on one time with each of my kids. 

19. What do you wish you’d done less of? criticizing, eating sugar, wasting time on the 'net.

20. How did you spend Christmas? we hosted Christmas Eve for my mom's side of the family at our house, then went to the service at church that night. we came him and watched It's A Wonderful Life. Christmas morning we opened gifts and stockings with the kids, ate breakfast casserole, and played outside. 

21. How will you spend New Years? NYE Brian and i went out on a  date and ran some errands. New Year's Day he sent me off for "me" time while he took the kids down to the lake. 

22. What was your favorite TV program? i watched a lot of HG TV shows the first half of the year when i would work out at the Y. the second half of the year we had u verse and i only watched the local news and football. so i guess i didnt really have a favorite tv show. what would be a better question is what my favorite website was. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? no

24. What was the best book you read? the Bible

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? the Lumineers, i suppose 

26. What did you want and got? life, a new house in a good neighborhood with excellent schools and on the greenbelt. 

27. What was your favorite film of this year? i didn't see any

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? my mom took Hazel and I to lunch and shopping and then in the evening Brian took me out for Italian food.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? not worrying

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2013? carefree

31. What kept you sane? time with the Lord, exercise 

32. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? not sure

33. What political issue stirred you the most? the abortion debate in Texas

34. Who did you miss? neighbors from our old 'hood

35. Who was the best new person you met?  our neighbors across the street, Noah and Lisa

36. Tell us some valuable life lessons you learned in 2013:  The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.  Proverbs 16:9                          

i had the best intentions to blog every morning since i last blogged, but obviously it didn't happen. i did blog once but never published it. i guess that doesn't count.

today is my friday since brian is taking tomorrow off for us to get away a bit for our anniversary. ben and linda (brian's parents) are coming this evening to stay with the kids. they'll have their plate full with all the kids regular activities plus some. i'm so thankful for the active role they play in their grandkids' lives. they'll have two football practices to get boys to, Margaret to pick up at the airport, a cross country meet for Margaret, two football games, and homework to remind kids to do. not to mention Hazel to wrangle! this will be the first time they've kept Hazel over night. actually the first time she's been away from us at all over night.

yesterday we got to get a peek at Baby Wells. She is beautiful and looks healthy and whole. i love her already! the only concern was marginal placenta previa which Dr. Love believes will resolve on its own before delivery. i'll need another ultrasound in 8 weeks to make sure it's moved away from the cervix. other than that, there really wasn't any big news. blood pressure and weight were good. i've gained 11 pounds so far which is probably more than i had gained with Hazel at this point, but i guess it's still in the "good range", and my BP was 100/70 which is good. i've been exercising a lot (walked 9 miles yesterday!), but have been eating junk lately. gotta fix that.

i got the best news yesterday (on top of the good baby news)! my oldest and dearest best friend is moving to steiner ranch! i'm thrilled beyond words! her boys will be in the same schools as ours, too! we've never lived near each other, so this will be a whole new thing for us. looking forward to many good times ahead with Tasha and her family!

well, margaret gets back from New York tomorrow. that is if she doesn't decide to find a way to stay. she has fallen in love with the city and i'm sure is going to figure out a way to get back there as soon as she graduates high school. i can totally see her studying art at some university up there. i'm afraid she's going to find suburban austin awfully dull after her week in the Big Apple.

well, got places to go and people to see.

i'm blogging! i have put it off so long because it seems impossible to catch up on all of life that has passed by since i last blogged! i'm not even going to attempt that, except to give a brief overview. well, hopefully brief.

the kids have comfortably settled into their new schools and a new routine. they've  been at it for over a month and all are doing well. 

Margaret loves high school, especially the way they treat them like adults, a big jump from middle school, so she says. she chose art and athletics for her three electives (athletics counts as two). next year she'll have more options and will begin taking a foreign language. she chose to take one pre-AP course, that being English, and one AP course: human  geography. those have been her toughest classes, but she's hanging in there. she's also taking algebra 1 and biology. she has a class called ACE which is all about college and career plans that is required for all freshman. she's been working out with the cross country team since the beginning of august, which she has enjoyed immensley. she leaves the house every morning at 6 to join the team for runs. she fared very well the first few meets, but got injured about three weeks ago with what seems to be a stress fracture. she was on crutches for awhile,  but has recovered and hopes to run again in friday's meet. she's also taken on a babysitting job for a family two doors down which she's so grateful for. she used to babysit regularly for the one family in Austin, but we're too far away for her to babysit very often for them now. and speaking of that family, they've invited Margaret to go to New York with them next week to help with their boys. she's been cleared to miss a week of school and is thrilled for the opportunity!

Samuel has surprised us in how well he has adjusted to his new situation. we convinced him to sign up for athletics instead of PE, since he's such an athletic boy. the only problem with that is that all boys in athletics are required to play football, a sport Samuel has never been intersted it. he didn't know the slightest thing about the game, which iis a very complicated game to explain! he made up his mind to give it his best shot and has done remarkably well. he mostly plays nose tackle has had many quarterback sacks. he loves the camaraderie of being part a school team. he has football buddies that sit with him at lunch and play basketball with him after school. i think that the fact that he has done well in football has transfered over into his academics. he's been so much more confident this year than ever before, and for him attitude is everthing. when he feels bad about himself he shuts down and doesn't even try. getting out every morning and pushing himself on the field, then going to class...i don't know what it is, but it seems to be working for him. he loves his teachers and his coaches and is just happy. he rides his bike to school every morning, carrying a backpack full of books and his lunch box, a sports bag with his basketball, and a couple of times a week another sports bag with his football laundry. if he was hit by a car he'd be just fine with all that padding surrounding him. Samuel has grown so responsible over the last year! he comes home and does his homework without reminders or complaint, a huge improvement over how he was just a couple of years ago. of his own volition he goes to the appropiate teachers if he feels he needs tutoring. the thing we're most proud of is that he is survivng without any formal accomodations being made for hos Aspergers or ADD. the counselor suggested we just wait and see how he does before intervening to help him, and amazingly he's not only survived, but thrived. 

it has been so exciting to watch him (and Margaret) grow up and grow more independent. i see both of them becoming their own people and making wise (most of the time) decisions, and Brian and i sit back and think, wow! how did they know to do that?! i just don't understand why some parents want to control their kids and keep them from growing up. that has never appealed to me. i want them to grow up and be the people God made them to be, not young adults still waiting for us to tell them what to do at every turn, or clones of me or Brian. anyways, thats for another discussion at another time.

William was disappointed that we decided to hold him back a year and put him in 5th grade instead of letting him go on to middle school. he has a late birthday and has always been small for his age. also we had a less than stellar year homeschooling last year and we knew the kids were going into a school district with much higher expectations than that which they had been in previously. he seems to be happy enough now and is doing quite well. he has near perfect grades in almost every subject. and the most exciting thing is that HE TALKS! for those who have followed my blog for the last four or so years, you will realize what a huge deal that is. William went the first four years of school without speaking AT ALL! no one believed us when we said that he talked perfectly normal at home or with extended family. he played the role of a mute so well eveyone thought he could not speak.  anyways, he's matured a lot and pretty much acts like a normal, though a big shy kid. he and John ride their bikes to school together every day, and i think it's been so good for him to have to step up and be the big brother instead of being the middle brother (or Samuel's little brother). William has always been high anxiety, but i see it working more for him more than against him as he gets older. it helps him stay on top of things and cover all the bases. as long as he can temper it with the realization that he cannot control everything, he'll do well. 

John is a happy-go-lucky 3rd grader this year. we held him back a year as well. he has struggled tremendously with learning to read, and we're so thankful to be in a school district that jumps on learning problems quickly and has the resources to deal with them. he qualified for SRP (Supplemental Reading Program) which will aggressively target his struggles with reading, writing, and phonics. if he continues to have trouble, he will be tested for dyslexia. I've already seen improvement in his reading ability, though his writing and spelling are still very poor. other than that, he's doing well. he likes his teacher and his classmates, and likes that he gets to sit on an exercise ball in class instead of a desk chair. he is the least independent of our kids, and i think it's not just that he's the youngest of the four, i think it's his personality, too. he is dreamy, carefree, and needs lots of reminders and helps. even though he's in school, i still spend many hours a week working with him on reading, writing, and math. I'm learning to value those hours, as tiring and frustrating as they sometimes are. i know it won't always be that way. 

And then there's Hazel and me. that girl is high maintenance! i feel guilty about this, but right now she's parked in front of the tv watching babytv, thanks to the new world of cable tv that has been opened up to us. if she wasn't watching, she'd be putting on my makeup or drawing on the floor or walls, or pulling all the food out of the pantry and stacking it on the dining table bench. she is constantly changing clothes, or at least trying, forever asking me to read, paint her nails, color with her, or go walking. she asks why about everything! she loves cheese, peanuts, beans, oranges, popsicles, and french fries with ketchup. she says everyone's name but Margaret's which seems to be too difficult for some reason. she is thrilled when one-by-one the big kids get home from school. days with her are long and tiring, but also fun. we go walking a lot - I've been shooting for 6 miles every day. she helps me clean, we take bubble baths together, take care of our patio garden, go to the library, go to Bible study, go grocery shopping, fold laundry, walk to Samuel's school to watch his football practices, visit William and John for lunch, and just do girl friend stuff together. 

next week marks the halfway point in my pregnancy! it has pretty much flown by, i guess with all the busyness of keeping up with a family of seven i just lose track of time. I've felt pretty good, just more tired this go round than ever before. i have an ultrasound next wednesday when we'll hopefully find out whether it's a boy or girl. Brian is thinking it's a girl, most the kids say it's a boy. i don't know. we have some names we like, but nothing is decided on. either way, Hazel is going be over the moon when she realizes she's getting a baby of her own! we've been telling her that there's a baby in my tummy, and showing her pictures online. lately, as she's seen my belly grow, she's started asking about "the baby in my tummy". =)

Brian and i celebrate our 16th anniversary next week. sixteen years! i'm more grateful every year that passes. we're getting away for a long weekend, the first time we've been away without Hazel in nearly two years, and i am so looking forward to it!

well, that's about all there is to say, or all i have time for. 

 

This will be a test to see if anyone but Shortney reads my blog anymore. Haha. 

The summer is half over already. I feel as of it should just be getting started though. Margaret spent the first half of it working as a nanny for our friends Ben and Robyn and living at ther house at Mueller Austin near our old neighborhood. She did swim team with her old Patterson Piranha team, which she loved. She was able to ride over on a bike to Patterson from B & R's house every night. Swim team a d her nanny gig finished up last Saturday, so she's home for the rest of the summer. We all missed her a lot. It was a taste of what it will be like when she leaves home for college. 

The kids spent some time with each set of grandparents a week or so ago: half a week with one set and the other half with the other set. I think they have fun, but I was so ready for all of them to come home! Hazel was, too.

We had cousin camp for the past week. Eight kids in the house for a week, and nine for one day and night when Tommy joined the pack. It really wasn't too hard at all. The only challenge was trying to keep food on the table and in the pantry. We even managed to get all of them to the early service last Sunday. Our much larger house was a real blessing when hosting the gang. Everyone could spread out and still have room to spare. There was constant motion. There was always a group playing basketball or soccer. Or walking to the park. Or swimming. Or playing store. Or running through the woods behind our house. Or riding bikes up and down the street. Or playing restaurant in the kitchen.

I think everyone had a great time and made some wonderful memories.

For the last month we've been getting used to the idea of six Wells kids. Yes, we are expecting another, the final edition in February. I'm feeling good and looking forward to my first OB appointment this morning with Dr. Love. The big kids are thrilled and I'm sure Hazel will be, too. She's so mothering. It will be beyond her wildest dreams to have a real live baby to care for! It will be weird to have a newborn and a high school freshman! I her these things keep you young. I hope so, because I've felt pretty old and tired the last few weeks.

 

So there's the latest news. Hopefully I will get around to blogging again soon.