update on me.

Hey everyone...I know it has been so long since I have updated this blog! Life has taken some unexpected turns! So around the first of March, I noticed I was really tired, and someone asked me if I was pregnant...and I thought, Oh my word, I guess I could be! Yikes! I picked up a pregnancy test that evening, which I was going to use in the morning...but then woke up around 2:00am thinking about it, and because I had to pee, and decided to do it then...and it was positive! This was totally unexpected and quite shocking to both of us. I laid in bed for 2 hours and couldn't go back to sleep, so I woke Sam up and told him. He wasn't upset, which I thought maybe he would be. So the idea has sunk in and we are looking forward to it. It's a little scary, though, thinking about going through the infant thing. I loved all my babies as infants...but it's such a hard time with the whole sleeping schedule and the crying. And we were thinking we wouldn't be having to do that anymore, and how nice it is to not have anyone in diapers or waking up in the night anymore. Anyway...why I haven't blogged for so long...I usually do my blogging/drawing in the evening after the kids are in bed. My normal bedtime used to be sometime between 12 and 2 am. But since being pregnant...I can barely get to 10:00 pm. I am hoping the exhaustion goes away soon, and it should, but in the meantime, I just have very little energy to do anything after working all day, coming home and fixing dinner, doing stuff with the fam and putting the kids to bed. I honestly don't ever remember being this tired with the others, but then I am older, and doing more...maybe that's why. Who knows. Anyway, I am 11 weeks along. Due November 3rd. We will probably find out whether it is a boy or girl...but we aren't for sure about that.
The kids are very excited about it. Savannah jumped up and down screaming when we told them, Max just sat there and thought about it, saying nothing, and Karson...he asked for a snack! So typical. Really, Karson is excited. He loves baby Ava (4 months now) and can't wait to have a baby of his own. He talks about the baby almost everyday.

I haven't done a lot of journaling lately. But I have journaled some, so I thought I would post a couple of the pages I have done. In March, my mom, my sister and I went on a Scrapbooking retreat to Somerset camp. It was a lot of fun. I got like 9 pages done...which isn't a lot (I know) for a whole weekend, but it was relaxing and a lot of fun, and a much needed break.

For Spring Break my sister and I took all 6 of our kids to my mom and dads for a few days. Grandma had a little system where they could earn chips for helping or being good, and then they got rewards for them at the end of our time there. She let each of them pick one of her teapots from her collection to keep their chips in. So that is what you see in this drawing.

I recently switched from my Moleskine to a small (I think 6 x 6") Handbook, which I ordered from Blick's. I really like the small size and the format of a square book. I also really love the paper, it takes watercolors pretty well and is still nice to draw on. I decorated the cover and spine with some stamps my mom has and it just looks so cool! I love it. And it fits in my bag very nicely. It's very similar to Moleskines with a pocket and the elastic strap to keep it closed.

At school things are crazy. The year is coming to a close and we are dealing with the reality of people having to get laid off because we have been losing students. Tensions are high at times, and it's kind of sad that our friends have to leave us. I wish the economy would pick up here. I found out that our county is the worst shape in the nation for jobs and selling homes! Scary. None of our close friends or family are losing their jobs yet...and I pray they don't, but small businesses are closing and companies are downsizing...and the schools...well, many are in much worse shape than ours, so I guess we should be thankful. I thank God that my job still exists and I still get to teach ART. That is a real blessing to me, because I was worried that they might start cutting specials for next year.

Right now I have a student teacher, which will be wonderful for having the extra time to get stuff ready for the art shows coming up in May. She is doing a great job too.

Anyway, so there you have a bit of an update on my life. Check back again soon, I will seriously try to be more diligent about posting regularly. God bless.