I am so, so tired right now. I started off last night (or actually this morning) with a sleep deficit by not getting to bed until after 1 a.m. Ella, too. I stayed up to wait for Cory to get home from work and to talk with him for a while, and Ella's earlier-in-the-evening sleeping was interrupted by the storms and she was still hanging on at that point. We had both slept for about 2 1/2 hours when Ella woke up crying and wouldn't stop. I got up with her and went downstairs and she started holding her ear. So we were downstairs for about an hour while she nursed and I held a warm rice pack to her ear and massaged along the back of it. We went back upstairs and slept fitfully for about an hour before Ella woke up crying and we headed back downstairs again. We ended up sleeping in the recliner for a couple more hours before I got up for the day and Ella slept a little longer on the couch. Ella's been asleep since a little after 6 p.m., so hopefully she catches up on a little sleep tonight.

The neighbor girls have been playing here all day. They were already up and outside riding their bikes in front of our house by the time Accalia and Cole woke up around 9 a.m. We took a break from the playing when we went out for lunch and then to the carnival (all three kids had a blast). Then we had another hour break when the kids and I went to the store to pick up a few gardening supplies. Accalia and Cole are really getting tired but just can't stop playing quite yet.

I forgot to mention something I put together for the kids yesterday that they really seem to like. I had read an article a few months ago in Wondertime about going on archeological digs with children. The article also had ideas for making your own dig kit, and I knew Accalia and Cole would love something like that. I ordered kid size fanny packs on Amazon to put everything in, but I'm not sure if I'd order the same packs again. The pockets are really small. If you want to put a regular sized paintbrush or knife in them, they would be too long for the pockets. It worked out fine for us, though, because we already had mini brushes and knives from other things. Ella doesn't actually have an interest in using the pack as a dig kit, but she wore her pack for the longest time.

I really need to do some dishes before all motivation slips away. Tomorrow we'll go grocery shopping, but there's not much more that we need to do tomorrow.

The rainy/stormy weather this week has ruined a lot of our plans, ranging from Cory wanting to mow the lawn on Tuesday to our going to the carnival yesterday as well as a state park program tonight. Last night we had severe thunderstorms and weren't able to go to the carnival, so we're going to do that tomorrow afternoon. Tonight I was going to take the kids to a program about wildflowers in our state parks, which Accalia was super excited about because there was a craft, but severe storms moved into the area as we were supposed to leave for that. The kids are having a good night so far, though, playing with the neighbors and having new Pokeman trading cards.

I had a prenatal appointment this morning, and all is well. I don't have to worry about gestational diabetes or high blood pressure at this point. Everything looked fine with my bloodwork and urine, and the baby's measuring exactly where she should for 28 1/2 weeks. And I definitely have no problem gaining weight. Yikes! I've had a little swelling in the ankles and legs today, but I think that's mostly because of the humid day.

I really need to sit down and pay bills, but that's such an unenjoyable way to spend the time.

It stormed or rained much of last night, and this morning everything is a soggy, muddy mess outside. It's supposed to be in the upper 70s, though, which includes a chance of severe weather tonight. For the kids' sake, I really hope it dries out and stays storm free so they can have fun at the carnival.

Ella woke up but fell back to sleep, and she's still sleeping at nearly 10 a.m. Accalia and Cole are up in their room organizing their collection of Spongebob figures. Anne has tagged me, so I guess I'll answer a meme while I have the chance.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

Five years ago I was mothering a nearly four year old and a baby. We were settling back into life in Yankton after moving back from Mitchell about nine months before. We had no idea that the next year would see Mary being diagnosed with cancer and fighting that for nearly a year until her death.

What are five things to do on your to do list today?

I probably need to make a to do list, don't I? Uhm, I'd say the regular duties such as 1) laundry 2) dishes 3) sweeping the floor multiple times. I guess I'll also need to 4) take Accalia to swimming lessons (unless Cory has no appointments and does that and 5) go to the carnival. If all works out time wise, Cory and I are definitely sitting down to watch the season finale of Lost.

What are five snacks you enjoy?

Popcorn, dark chocolate, lately Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal, gummy bears, iced coffee.

What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?

Pay off all of our debt, move to a different house or possibly move closer to family if Cory's not dependent on having his current job, donate to charities working to cure cancer, donate to our church, travel so the kids can go to places they've always wanted to visit (Disney World would probably be at the top of the list for them.

What are five of your bad habits?

Biting my nails, procrastinating, not planning ahead enough, buying too many books and not reading them, being too optimistic.

What are five jobs you have had?

Waitress, home health care, newspaper reporter, daycare provider, piano teacher. I had to go back to late high school, early college days for some of these since I had Accalia right after graduating from college and have been at home with the kids ever since.

What five people do you want to tag?

I tag Rachel, Jessica, Shannon (password protected blog), and Mel because they don't post nearly enough for my liking. Alicia posts plenty, but I still want to read her answers!

Today our niece Lizzie (Anthony and Kathy's youngest) celebrates her fourth birthday. Happy birthday!!!

It was another cool and cloudy day, although it was about 10 degrees warmer so we made it to around 60 degrees. Poor Cory has been freezing at work because they turned on the air conditioning last week, and right now his office is below 60 degrees the majority of the day.

Today I spent timing cleaning up our guest room, which is also where Cory sleeps when all three kids are in bed with me. It's also where we have several bookshelves and a growing pile of boxes filled mostly with artwork from the kids. I still have to go through the boxes to get rid of some of it and then figure out where to put the rest. We've definitely run out of storage space in our house, but if we managed to declutter a bit and add on some shelving that would help a lot. Cory's delivering pizza tonight, and when he called a bit ago I said I was cleaning up our upstairs landing area. "Oh, so you're nesting!" was Cory's reply. I told him no, I was just tired of walking through the mess. I really do hope I do some major nesting before this baby arrives, though. Unfortunately, that's not something I usually do, at least as far as major cleaning and organizing. I do always want to read as much as possible and pare down the magazines and books that I'm not interested in keeping. I guess that's how I nest, huh? It's too bad that there isn't as much time to read as there once was.

Tomorrow Accalia has swimming lessons again (she seems to like them so far) and then we're going to take the kids to the carnival that sets up in the mall parking lot twice a year - at the beginning of summer and at the end. I think they're all really excited about that.

Okay. Time to get Cole the snack he's asking for and pick up one last pile upstairs.

Our Memorial Day was cool and rather windy. By the end of the day, Accalia and Cole were wearing jackets while playing outside with the neighbor girl. Accalia and Cole both asked what Memorial Day was about, and it wasn't particularly exciting for them to learn that it's a day set aside to honor and remember those who have lost their lives in wars. I told them we usually visit Grandma Nelson's grave on this day, but that didn't happen this year because Myron's plans with his new lady friend kind of screwed up our plans to visit Lake Wilson. Anyway. Truth be told, even growing up Memorial Day was never a day we spent attending services or finding other ways to honor soldiers. Looking back, it seems rather odd since my dad is a Vietnam veteran, but at the same time there are other ways my dad has always included that part of his life in our world.

So, our day mostly consisted of doing things around the house. We did look around at bunk beds but didn't find a great selection right here in town. There's one more store to check out, and maybe the kids and I will do that this afternoon. We have to go out anyway to return a movie to the library. Cory also put the final coat of paint on in Accalia and Cole's room. We've put a few things back, but we're not going to go overboard since hopefully we'll have bunk beds soon and can get a better idea of just how much space they'll take up and what the kids will want included in their room.

It's cold today; the high is only supposed to be maybe 50. So we're mostly just hanging out inside and taking it easy. Accalia's emptying the dishwasher, Cole's watching cartoons, and Ella's running around naked. They all seem ready to head out, though.

We've had a pretty quiet, at home Memorial Day weekend so far. Cory has worked Friday, Saturday and Sunday delivering pizzas. Yesterday it was as if we went from our cool spring to the hot, humid days of summer right away. I think I'm going to be rather miserable over the next 11 weeks or so if our summer consists mostly of hot, humid days. Actually, it's the humidity more than the heat that bothers me, and thankfully we have air conditioning. We just didn't use it yesterday. Today, though, is starting out cool and breezy, so hopefully it continues like that.

Yesterday the kids and I picked up paint for what will be Accalia and Cole's room (currently Accalia's room), and Cory was off early enough yesterday that he decided to paint last night. Accalia and Cole had picked out a green that they saw in a Land of Nod catalogue, and we found pretty much the same shade at the store. Cory's already put two coats on, but it's going to need another coat and we'll need to buy another gallon. I had thought that covering the light pink walls currently in that room wouldn't be a problem, but Cory, the experienced painter, tells me it's usually more difficult to cover light shades.

Today Cory has the entire day off. Yay! So, we'll need to get that gallon of paint, and we're also planning to shop around for bunk beds. I'm not sure if we'll actually buy one today or not, but Accalia and Cole are very excited. It's really too bad that we don't have the money to right away buy the new bedding, curtains, rugs, etc. that the kids would like, too. It could end up being a rainy/stormy day, but there are a few outdoor things that would be nice to get done, too, if we could. We have pepper plants to plant, and we also have a mixture of sunflower seedlings (from storytime) and seeds (from The Great Sunflower Project) to plant.

This could be a slightly frustrating summer for Accalia and Cole when it comes to having the next door neighbors around. Yesterday the youngest girl was over here for most of the afternoon, which Cole loved but Accalia would have liked having the older one around, too. The girls have different fathers and therefore different visitations, and it seems that the older one is gone more often. Maybe the older girl's father lives out of town.

Lately I've had a really hard time thinking of new things for the kids to do, so if they come up to me saying they're bored, I usually don't have too many exciting ideas. So, I bookmarked a bunch of sites that have ideas for summer fun, including this one that lists a different thing to do each day.

Even without my help in the ideas department, the kids have been quite busy. Ella has recently discovered how much she likes computer games, although she just sticks with a Playdough game that's relatively simple to point and click to get results. She sits at our old computer playing that a lot. She also wants me involved in a lot of pretend play, but it's usually in the role of me just sitting where she points so I can watch her.

Cole is just so eager to be outside and work in the garden. If we're able to get outside to do that today, he'll be in heaven - especially if he's out there with Cory. We can tell that Cole has been missing Cory a lot because on the rare nights that Cory is actually home, He'll just follow Cory everywhere and talk and talk and talk. He does that with my dad, too, when they're together.

Accalia is spending a lot of her time preparing for future events, whether it's the baby or all of the activities she wants to do this summer. Right now she's just excited to get out and get bunkbeds and put the new room together. This week she starts swimming lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays and can't wait to do that.

All of the kids are up and about and wanting this or that, so I'll end this entry.

Today was definitely a better day in most ways. We all seemed to be in better moods. It was a cool, windy and rainy day - not exactly summery weather for the last day of public schools in Yankton. We took two shopping trips today - the first to pick up a few necessities and the second for Cole to pick up another Ben 10 action figure because he discovered he had enough money to do that.

On the downside, all of us (except Cory) seem to have a little bit of a cold. Accalia was the first to show symptoms, and now we're all kind of sniffling. Poor Ella and Cole are having the hardest time with it tonight, though. Just like last night, Ella fell asleep early but was waking up every 45 minutes or so. Now she's up and fairly content. Cole fell asleep early, woke up for a short time and is up in bed fast asleep. He must be feeling pretty poorly to have fallen asleep early.

Cory was home tonight, and you could just see how much Cole has missed having him around every night. He was by Cory's side most of the time and just talked and talked and talked. We have some pepper plants to put in the garden (put in some tomato plants Tuesday), but it was too wet today to want to get out in the garden.

Tossing in some pregnancy talk, I've noticed in the past week that the baby's movement has slowed down quite a bit. There are still really active times - usually right away in the morning or late at night like now - where I'm feeling the baby, but otherwise it's pretty quiet. Just a sign that there's not quite as much space to move. I'm curious what the next few months will be like. I remember with both Ella and Cole how active they were the entire time. I don't really remember with Accalia what it was like toward the end, though.

Cory will be working a lot this weekend, so we don't have any big plans for the holiday weekend. We might try out the new Mexican restaurant on Saturday. For the past couple years, our Memorial Day tradition seems to have been going to Lake Wilson so the kids can fish with Myron. When Cory asked about it this year, though, Myron said he might have plans with Joannie (we met her at Easter). So, I doubt we'll be going that way. The thought of not traveling on Monday is actually a nice one, especially when it costs nearly $70 to fill up the van. What we might do if we're in town on Monday is (if we get the paint picked out) paint Accalia's room in preparation for it becoming Accalia and Cole's room. We might also shop for bunk beds.

I'll close for now since the girls and I are going to head to bed soon.

I truly do love spring for the warm weather after a long, cold winter. I love being able to open up doors and windows and let the house breathe. I love being able to walk outside without putting on a jacket or even shoes for that matter. I love seeing everything around me green up and all of the beautiful plants and flowers appear. I love seeing how excited the kids are about all of the summery activities they are able to do now, whether it's playing at the park, running through the sprinkler or camping.

Honestly, though, I'm an even bigger lover of summer winding down and fall coming on down. I'm exhausted by the end of the three months and can't wait for school to start and for our days to become more focused on being indoors. I've always thought I'm a little odd for feeling this way, but I really do think it's my introverted self coming through. There's only so much of the doorbell ringing and kids running in and out to play and trying to get past my childhood memories of my dad insisting that if it's nice outside we should be outside and not sitting inside "wasting" our time before I just want to shut all of the doors and windows and curl up somewhere with an interesting read. Of course, this isn't really practical with a household of three active kids who love playing with the neighbor kids and love nothing more than to be able to run inside and outside with them all day long. So it seems that my introverted self and this season of warmth and outdoor activity are going to have to work out a compromise in order for my sanity to remain intact.

Or maybe it's just because I'm pregnant and am not really looking forward to trying to keep up this activity level for the next three months. In much warmer and more humid weather to boot.

Yesterday was not a pleasant day. There are some day afters when we return from a trip where the kids are so happy to be at home that they're relaxed and joyful and busy with all of the things they were separated from for a few days. Yesterday was not one of those day afters. We were all tired and had to make trips to two different stores for groceries. I told Cory that I was never setting foot in XYZ store with the three kids again. Ever. Of course that won't happen, but I sure wanted it to after leaving the store yesterday. Then, in the other store, I decided it wouldn't bother me much if I just left them all there to live for a year or three. Of course I didn't really mean that either. But I felt like I did at the moment.

So, by the time Cory got home, I told him I was going out to get myself a ginormous iced coffee as a reward for surviving the day. I did, but it contributed to an awful night of sleep last night. I woke very frequently and kept having brief dreams involving the Sex & the City ladies. I've never watched the show but was thumbing through a magazine filled with stuff about the television series and the upcoming movie. I really could have used a more restful night of sleep, but that just didn't happen. Thankfully all three kids are in much, much better moods today.

The trip to Mankato was fun and quick. When we weren't at my brother Anthony's open house or my cousin Matthew's wedding, we were going to parks and trails. I'm a little concerned about how I'll hold up during activities in a month or two as my pregnancy advances because this weekend wore me out.

So, I'm 27 weeks (almost typed months) and still doing fine as far as I know. It's a good thing this baby doesn't need my constant attention to grow and thrive because I would really be failing right now. The only things we have figured out for sure are that we have someone lined up to be with the kids (still don't know what the kids want to do, but that will probably wait until I actually go into labor like it did with Ella), we have my doctor and planned place of delivery set, we have a doula, and we have first names and one middle name figured out. Haven't even thought about that other middle name yet. Honestly, all of the other stuff isn't necessary for us to make it once the baby is here, but it would definitely help make life easier or at least more organized.

Tonight we have to run out to pick up Accalia's soccer pictures, but that's about it. This whole week is basically full of nothing needing to be done, and then next week activities start picking up again. And that is about it.

We've had construction on our street most of the week. It looks as if they're doing something with water lines and the gas meters. We haven't heard that they're going to tear up the street, although that would be nice to have a new street and curbs. The biggest inconveniences for us have been parking in back and Cory not being able to mow on Tuesday because of the construction equipment in our yard.

Today we've been busy packing and doing a bunch of other things to prepare for leaving for the weekend. We're going to take off after Accalia's art class in the afternoon, so we won't make it to Mankato in time for Anthony's pinning ceremony. I think our time in Mankato is going to fly by, and I think this may be one of our last visits to Mankato before the baby arrives. Family is coming out to Yankton in June for our annual camp out, and the kids and I are going back to Mankato in July for a family reunion, but that may be it. I guess our church is having vacation bible school the first full week in August, but I don't know that we'll make it. That's going to be when lots of summer activities are winding down, and frankly I don't know if I'm going to want to sit in a vehicle to travel that far at that point. We'll just have to see.

On Tuesday the kids and I went out to the Gavins Point aquarium out by the lake. The displays rarely change from year to year, but the kids still love to see the albino catfish, the huge snapping turtle, the endangered pallid sturgeon, and the buffalo fish (nicknamed sucking fish by the kids). When we went there, a school bus pulled in ahead of us, so we drove over to the campground to check out the loop that we'll be camping at in June. It's very nice and spacious. The bus was still at the aquarium when we went back, but it wasn't nearly as crowded as we thought it might be.

Cory's brother Mark stopped by to say hi yesterday. My heart skipped a beat when the highway patrol car pulled up in front of our house, so I was relieved when I saw Mark get out. He and the canine officer were patrolling Highway 81 (great drug running road), and they stopped in Yankton for lunch. Mark gave Accalia and Cole a ride in his patrol car, which they thought was pretty cool.

I think the kids and I are kind of going through an in between phase right now. We all seem restless and not sure what to do. I think Accalia told me she was bored three times yesterday, which was mostly because she wanted to play with the neighbor girls but they weren't home. I'd love to feel motivated to do things now because I know these three months before the baby arrives will pass so quickly. Hopefully that nesting instinct kicks in at some point! I know that no matter has lazy I feel right now during these last months, there's no way I'm going to want to do any of these things after the baby arrives.

Speaking of pregnancy, isn't it fabulous that I share a due date with Angelina Jolie? Considering she's expecting twins, though, I think she'll probably deliver well before me. Nearing 27 weeks, I'm still having relatively few complaints. Every once in a while I'll have painful sciatica, but it makes a huge difference after getting adjusted at the chiropractor. Our chiropractor was talking with me about how he'd adjust his wife when she started to swell and the swelling would be gone the next day. So far I haven't had to deal with any regular swelling, although there are times when I notice it starting on my left ankle especially. Taking a break and putting my feet up seems to take care of that, though. Lately, as it gets later in the day, I'll sometimes get sharp pains really low in my pelvis. That's not fun because it's really painful to walk, but at least it's not around constantly. Some women seem to deal with feeling faint a lot during pregnancy, but I usually only have one or two instances of that. One of those instances happened this morning when I was upstairs in the bedroom getting dressed. My heart was really racing (that doesn't happen very often either) and I started to black out. Thankfully I made it to the bed and only had to lie there for a minute before I felt fine.

I should get busy with some other things that I really need to do before we leave.

A belated happy Mother's Day to all of you mothers out there! Since Cory was scheduled to work from 10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m., there wasn't much of a chance for me to relax or be pampered, but overall it was a good day. Before Cory left for work, he and the kids had a few things to give me. Accalia had made a card and then presented me with a box that turned out to be empty. "It's a box full of hugs!" she said as she gave me one. Cole's speciality lately is cutting out snowflakes, and he gave me one that had heart shapes in it. For a while now, I've wanted/needed something to serve as a night stand on my side of the bed, and that's what I got. I also received one of how many books on my wish list, Dr. Robert Sears' The Vaccine Book.

The kids and I went grocery shopping in the morning, and it was amazing how many dads were there with their kids. Cory actually ended up coming home for a couple hours in the afternoon because it was so dead at the restaurant. For supper, Cory delivered food to us. So, even though he couldn't be there to take us out or cook for us, he still managed to find a way.

Ella just went down for a nap and was very unhappy to have the neighbor girl ring the doorbell just as she was falling asleep. Ella may not get quite as long of a nap as she'd like, though, since we have to be at the chiropractor's in about an hour. Tonight I think Cory has to do a little supervision with a fellow counselor who is working towards her license, but otherwise he'll be at home.

The cold, rainy weather today has cancelled Accalia's two soccer games. It was actually announced last night after her game. That means Accalia is done with soccer this spring. There is one more game next Saturday - a make up game - but we'll be in Mankato for Anthony's graduation and my cousin's wedding.

Yesterday Ella was in an absolutely awful, awful mood. It came on so suddenly, too. One moment we were dropping Accalia off at the art studio and taking about going to look at the fish at the store, and suddenly nothing is right with the world. I tried to get Ella to nap, but she wasn't interested. Thankfully being outside and running around at Accalia's soccer game kept her mood happy for that time. I thought it would be a disaster, though, before the game even started. The field we thought Accalia's team would be playing on was closest to the playground, and Ella and Cole ran over there right away. Then we found out that they were actually playing on the field farthest from the playground, so I had to go over and get the kids and drag them halfway across the park. Thankfully there was a big baseball diamond nearby, and Ella and Cole ran around with a few other kids for most of the time.

So today it's just the LLL meeting this morning. Guess we'll see if anyone shows up! Cory does work tonight delivering pizzas, but we'll have the majority of the day together. Tomorrow Cory works all day (10:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.) delivering pizzas, so I'll definitely be putting my full mothering skills to use on Mother's Day. I'm sure Cory would have taken the day off if he hadn't already taken most of the past week off for Accalia's recital and his trip.

Guess I should get some diapers in the dryer before everyone else wakes up and I forget about it.

My friend Karine sent a few pictures of Accalia on stage during her ballet performance. Here are a few of those:





Cory made it home yesterday from his meeting in Sioux Falls. It was very nice to have him back, and the kids were very excited to see him. Otherwise, yesterday was a pretty quiet day. On Wednesday, it was the last day of storytime for the spring session. The kids had a lot of fun, and even Accalia took part in the activity of planting sunflower seeds to bring home.

Cory hasn't gotten a call yet about his car and the new transmission being finished. Hopefully he'll be able to pick it up before tonight since we're assuming he'll have to deliver pizzas. Accalia is supposed to play soccer tonight as part of a weekend soccer festival, so it could be interesting if we only have one vehicle. We'll get it worked out, though. Both tonight and tomorrow (Accalia has two soccer games then) it's supposed to be rainy, so maybe she won't be playing as much soccer as she's scheduled to do. I have LLL in the morning and need to come up with a plan for that.

Wow, I really wouldn't mind a quiet day very soon. It seems that the weekend being filled with so much has just continued over into the week. We're all surviving, though, and most things are good.

Cory delivered pizzas on Friday and called a couple hours into his shift to say that the check engine light in his car had gone on and wasn't going off and that I should be prepared to pick him up if he got stranded. Thankfully he made it through the rest of the night and took the car in right away the next day. Unfortunately, the computer diagnostics showed that it was the transmission, so his car was out of commission for the rest of the weekend until we could get it into a transmission place on Monday. We did and were told what we were expecting - rebuild the transmission to the tune of nearly $1800. Ugh. It certainly doesn't make the $1000 worth of repairs we're waiting to do on the van any more pleasant. The positive in this situation is that, while Cory's car is in the shop for most of the week, Cory is up in Sioux Falls for a department meeting and using a state vehicle. That means we're not struggling to figure out working around only one vehicle.

Cory's birthday was Saturday - 36 - and other than taking his car in to the shop, we spent a lot of time (more than four hours) at Accalia's two recital run throughs. I went to the one in the morning and Cory went to the one in the afternoon. My parents arrived in the early afternoon, and we spent the time waiting for Accalia to finish her second run through taking walks around the neighborhood and playing at a park. My parents took us out for supper that night to celebrate Cory's birthday, and then we went to the hotel they were staying at so we could swim in the pool. My parents decided to get a hotel instead of stay with us just so the kids would be able to go swimming in a pool, which I thought was very sweet. I was pretty exhausted after getting home, though, because I spent a lot of time climbing up and down the pool ladders following Ella around. There's nothing like being in the sixth month of pregnancy to realize how much energy your two-year-old has throughout the day.

Speaking of pregnancy, I had a prenatal appointment on Friday and everything is fine. I've gained around 28 pounds so far, which is unfortunately not much different than other pregnancies. Next visit will include testing for gestational diabetes and anemia.

The day of the recitals was pretty packed. It also happened to be the day of the art show at the art studio Accalia has gone to for the past few years. We ran over quickly after lunch and then raced home to get Accalia ready for the first recital. Both recitals went really well and Accalia really enjoyed herself. My parents took Cole and Ella home about half way through the first recital since there's no way they would have done well sitting through four hours of dance recitals. We already have Accalia's professional pictures back, so I'll have to scan those to show what her costumes were this year. Accalia was also very happy to be finished and just relax that night. She and Cole were talking about all the good things that had happened, and Accalia said this was "the best day ever!" (There are a lot of those around here.) Cole replied, "Yeah, except for the dancing!"

I was really hoping to catch up with stuff on Monday, but the youngest next door day came over a little after noon (she goes to preschool in the mornings) wanting to play. She (and later her older sister) ended up being here more or less until around 8 p.m. I think the only break was when Cory came home from work and we took his car to the shop and had supper. Now that Ella is older, it's not as easy to do things inside the house and keep an eye on the older kids outside because Ella won't tolerate being inside if everyone else is outside playing. She was going strong after everyone else had gone inside because she wanted me to jump rope. I'm sure that was an amusing sight to see, although I'm glad to know I'm still coordinated enough at this point in the pregnancy to be able to jump rope.

Today really didn't have any more of a chance to play catch up. We had the van (Cory took it to work Monday), so the first thing we did was go to the store to pick up some things we had run out of since we hadn't had a chance to grocery shop over the weekend. Then the phone didn't seem to stop ringing most of the day. Sometimes it was Cory in Sioux Falls. Or there were LLL helping calls or calls from people around town. I was on the phone a long time on Monday, too, talking with a friend who likes to talk quite a bit. For someone who just is not huge on talking on the phone, I think I'm worn out partly from that alone.

Tonight Accalia had a soccer game. We had a thunderstorm pass through earlier in the afternoon, and it was growing dark again by the time her game was supposed to start. The girls started playing and played nearly a quarter before the game was called off because of lighting. We never actually had another storm, and the lightning and rain stayed to the south. They must have policies, though, about getting off the field after seeing so many lightning strikes Hopefully this weekend will be a bit better for soccer since Accalia has a soccer festival and plays one game on Friday and two on Saturday. I have my LLL meeting on Saturday morning, so I'll have to miss one of her games.

Okay, that's a brief rundown of the past few days. Hopefully I can catch up with things tomorrow and get back to normal.