Here is a new "belly shot". I am 21 weeks today. I feel the baby move often but no one can feel it from the outside yet.

I have lots of photos to share this week! Yesterday we picked up mamaw and took a day trip to Pigeon Forge, up in the Smokey Mountains. We fed the ducks at the Old Mill. One of them came right up and ate out of Shawn's hand!

We also took the kids to a Chuck E. Cheese Hell type of pizza place where they played games and won prizes.

However, the highlight of the day was when the "boys" got to ride in a real monster truck! Ben said it was a "dream come true".

Baseball time again...

And so it begins...

Tonight was the first baseball practice for both kids. Natalie's was at 5:30 and Ben's at 6:30. They were adorable dressed in the baseball uniforms, ready to head off to the field.

Natalie threw in the towel a bit early and refused to bat, but in her defense she only had a thirty minute nap today so after a day at home school co-op and then baseball practice, she was exhausted. She and her team were so cute out on the field. You don't realize how little they are until you see them all out there together trying to play ball.

Ben has really improved this year! When he and daddy practice in the backyard he prides himself on hitting the ball out of the yard and into the road behind the house. If he hits the ball that far at the ball field he is going to be hitting some home runs this year!

Natalie had a potty accident at the field and the only change of clothes I had in the van was a dress. Unfortunately, I didn't include shoes when packing the change of clothes so she ended up wearing a flower dress with her black cleats. It was a pretty interesting sight to behold. I got a photo of her when we got home, asleep from a long day...all curled up in her dress and cleats.

Our Weekend...

For the most part we had a pretty uneventful week. We seem to be "under the weather" again but that has been more the norm than the unusual this winter.

We had a light snow Saturday morning and the kids got bundled up and went outside to play before it stopped.

Then today Natalie helped daddy change Um-bah's oil. I don't know weather they got more oil in the car or into her!

After the chores we got all of the baseball stuff out of the building and got it organized for the upcoming Little League season. The kids and daddy played some ball while I watched. Ben hit more than he missed! Natalie was a bit tired as she didn't get a good nap today so she was a bit cranky, as you can see from the photo!

We had a family day yesterday. We took the kids to the Ocoee River Park and then went to get ice cream. We had a great time! I've included some photos and will try to get more up soon.

The first two are of the kids and I and then a new belly shot.

This is one of Shawn and the kids throwing rocks in the river and then one of Shawn trying to ride Ben's scooter.

Ben took his scooter and tried it out for the first time. Natalie took her tricycle. She got very upset when Ben tried to ride her tricycle. She actually chased him and tried to pull him off! Notice that in the photo of the sign, you can see her under it, holding on to the tricycle with all of her might.

Off to church...

Our friend's daughter was baptised on Saturday and we attended the celebration. We are becoming more knowledgeable about the Orthodox church but this was the first baptism that we have attended. I found it to be very interesting. It was also cool that it was basically the same baptism that the church did two thousand years ago...from what I understand, very little has changed in way of how the services are done.

As for news on the "home front", we found out last week that the baby is a girl! We are all excited. The kids both wanted a girl. I was honestly ok either way but I am thrilled to have another baby girl. This pregnancy seems to be going by quickly. I am 18 weeks today. I guess when you have two other kids to care for, you don't have as much time to sit and focus on the pregnancy!

The kids are growing and learning each day. This morning they were in the bed with us, playing with Lego blocks. I started putting them together in a pattern of red, blue, red, blue. I would ask Natalie which color came next and she got it right every time! Then I added another color to the pattern and she still would choose the correct block to hand to me. I was impressed that she got the concept at her age.

Then Ben found an old tape measure and started measuring everything in sight, which lead to an impromptu math lesson. He already understood the concept of an inch and that it takes twelve inches to equal a foot so it was basically a review. But he enjoyed himself. We found a math page in an old workbook and worked on estimating and then actually measuring objects to see how close our estimates of measurement were. Natalie even got into it. She ran around the house finding things for Ben to measure!

Ben got his cast off on Friday and his arm had healed nicely. He was able to play in the last basketball game of the year. His basketball photos should be back soon and I will be giving them out/mailing them out to everyone.

Here is a photo of Ben and Natalie and their friend Elias at the baptism.

Natalie and friends got together at the Chattanooga Creative Discovery Museum on Sunday. I think that everyone had a good time. Here are some photos from that day.

The little ones enjoyed watching what air can do to a ball (and getting their hair blown back in the process!).

As we left the restaurant, the kids insisted on having their photo taken in the brick boat that sits on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant. This is Ben, Elias, Pearl, Eliza and Natalie.

The kids put on a "show" in the theater area of the museum.




They enjoyed digging for "dinosaur bones" in the sand pit. This is one of Natalie and Pearl Ann.

Life has been busy for us the past couple of months. I don't want to jinx myself by saying this but I seem to be feeling a bit better. I still don't have very much energy but at least I am not sick from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep!

The pregnancy is going by very quickly. I am already in my fifth month! I am starting to get a little baby belly and I have felt it move a few times. I am 16 weeks 5 days today so it will not be long until we can find out the sex! I debated on not finding out. I have baby clothes for either sex so there is really no practical reason to do so. But everyone else in my life boycotted that idea! But I'll admit, I too am tempted to know so that I can start going through all of the cute baby clothes I have stored in the building!

We used some of our tax money to buy an inexpensive (but in very good shape!) mini-van. No matter which type of seat we tried to fit into the Escape, there was just no way to get all three car seats in the back. Natalie's seat is very large but because her her size and age, it is necessary for her to be in it. She is too large for the regular toddler seat but too short and too young for a regular booster. Ben is still in his booster as well. There is literally about six inches between their two seats - definitely not enough room for another baby!

The kids also have a new treat. Their Um-bah found the perfect set of bunk beds for them at the local thrift store. These were some of the nicest beds I have seen and they were at a thrift store price! Ben is delighted to sleep on the top bunk and Natalie is still working on being delighted to sleep on the bottom.

Shawn has joined a basketball team through is work. They play their games on Monday nights and the kids love going to watch daddy play!

Ben is doing well with his school. We are doing some tweaking on how we do school. I have found that trying to sit down between certain hours each day and "do school" does not work for either one of us. With this pregnancy, sometimes *I* don't feel well, or sometimes he is in the middle of something and doesn't want to stop or sometimes Natalie is in one of her moods and tries to sing over me reading a book to Ben, which makes learning impossible. It occurred to me that one of the points of not sending him to public school is that we have the freedom to learn our own way. Why bother homeschooling if we are just going to do a carbon copy of school while at home?

So I have given Ben more control over his schedule, which works much better. It saves the struggle of when to "do school" and it saves the guilt on my part that I am not sitting down at a certain time each day to teach him. He is actually learning more this way! Each Sunday I make out a lesson plan for the week. I have an organizer with folders. Each subject has its own folder. I put all of the math worksheets for the week in one folder, his grammar pages in anther, the books he needs to read for the week in another, etc. He is allowed to set his own pace and schedule. He can choose to do three math sheets in one day and then take a break or he can do one each day. He can choose to do it at nine in the morning or at three in the afternoon. As long as he is learning, I have no problem with him setting his own pace.

He is reading on a second grade level, doing math on a third and is fascinated with history (I have no way to put a grade level on history). So I am very satisfied with where we stand. Often times just a simple question on his part leads to us doing an Internet search and spending two hours learning about a subject together.

I think that most of you know that Ben arm a while back. He was leaving his Um-bah's house and accidentally shut his pant leg in the door. When he tried to walk down the step, he fell on his arm. His cast is due to come off on the third of March but we are going to see if they will take it off a few days early so that he can play in his last basketball game of the year.

And last but definitely not least, today is Natalie's third birthday! Around this time three years ago (it is currently 1:00 in the afternoon) Shawn was on his way to the birthing center from his work and I was trying to get the hospital room organized. I remember my midwife walking in and giving me a strange look because when she asked how things were going, I replied that "I was trying to get all of my stuff unpacked and organized but that these darned contractions kept stopping me!" It's pretty funny now but I remember being quite indignant that I was being interrupted from my "important work" by those silly old contractions, lol. She came into the world just a few hours later so those contractions must have been doing something! I can't believe that in just a few shorts months we will be doing it all over again.

The Corder's are coming over tonight and we are having a spaghetti dinner for Natalie before the boys head out for basketball practice. She is looking forward to playing with her friend Pearl.

So that is the update for this week. I will try to be better about writing!