What is wrong with people + my fatter belly

Would you believe that yesterday (one week after the tree in the road incident and one week and 1 day after Ricky's tooth incident) Ricky gets his new car hit by a older couple driving to the hospital in a mini van. They just pushed right in front of him during a 2 lane left hand turn (He was in the left they were on the right).

Not only are there no witnesses (and it was too small of an incident for police to come out) but after exchanging insurance information the lady who WAS cooperative at first and said it was HER fault and she was sorry now claims to her insurance company that Ricky hit her.

His car has large scratches and paint damage from the front passenger wheel to the headlight. There is also a small dent that could surely come out with a visit to the body shop. So now it's his word against hers and we are waiting to see what's going to happen. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE?

This is small beans compared to our friend "Aunt" Penny (a long time friend of the family) whose house burnt down to the ground 2 am Sunday morning (August3). Everything is gone, and she has no one (but my family). NO family at all. And get this: the first insurance guy to come out to her place right after it happened had the gonads to tell her to rather rudely and coldly to "Buck up and hold it together" when she was crying. Again, WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? She complained and his boss is livid at the guy.

Last year August SUCKED and this year it does too.
(no offense to the little cute baby in my womb who will come out this month...I think this month anyway!)

Belly Thoughts....
My belly is getting fatter! Yay!
My pelvis sorer. Boo!
I think I have heartburn, but it's not that bad.
Too many onions at lunch time I guess.
I have so much to do before this baby is born.
Oh geeez.

July is almost gone, and trees falling from heaven

Well I have not had the time to write. Life is just bursting at the seams with other things to do. I guess that's what I get for having 5 and a half kids...

I have pictures of our summer days and I would like to share here but haven't had the time to post. Posting pictures takes so much longer than I'd like it to. (I usually re-size them all first).

I guess I'll update about myself and then update the kids on the homeschool blog today or tomorrow.

This pregnancy is going wonderfully. I'm happy, healthy, and growing. There was about a 2 week span this month where I swear I wasn't growing, but suddenly my belly seems rounder and I keep hitting it on things (kitchen counter, van door, ricky... lol). This baby kicks, and moves alot. I was tired a lot this month. I miss May and June where I had seemed to have endless energy, but I feel a little energy coming back. I have been hoping the nesting instinct would kick in soon because I have a closet and a basement I had wanted to get cleaned up before the baby is born. I just haven't found the motivation though.

Ricky is doing well but working long hours (mostly due to driving). His work is easy overall (read: too easy) when he knows what he is doing that is (he has stuff apparently they want him to do but haven't trained him in). Time wise, it's not much different than graduate school. (other than the butt-crack time he has to get up in the morning.) I will say one thing; work is not utilizing him for what he went to school for and it's making both him and I scratch our heads a bit.

We have been talking a lot however and have some very good ideas about where we want our future to go. This weekend we began to make some surprising plans and are looking at some really exciting ideas for our future. We plan to stay in this area that's all I'm going to say for now, so it's not about moving per say. At least I hope not. I can't yet say exactly what we are cooking up. I'm not sure we know LOL.

All I really know for sure is that I want my husband to be happy and fulfilled. And he wants me happy and fulfilled. Our marriage is beautiful because of this.

~~~

Last night we had a terrible storm and a huge HUGE tree fell across our road. We were without power for 12 hours and I helped Ricky get ready by flashlight this morning...

A few minutes after Ricky left for work he came back into the house and unexpectedly changed out of his suit into jeans and then headed out the door (still dark outside) with his hatchet and a busted chain saw to tackle the tree he just discovered TOTALLY blocking the only road off our hill. He could not get the chainsaw working but he tried and then used his hatchet and started on smaller branches. I walked down to him and told him he had to stop. I mean there was NO WAY he was going to get this done without killing himself or it taking forever. (The biggest part of the tree was only partially covering the road, he thought he could clear enough room to squeeze by though). His determination always impresses me. Always has, always will.

A little while later we were able to get some help from our neighbor with a working chain saw. So Ricky with his hatchet and our buddy with the chain saw made some real progress and cleared the road up very well despite the still falling rain. Thinking back the whole thing was cinematic.

<---Layla outside with me. She talked me into walking her down to see the tree by saying, "But it might be fun mom!" after I told her we didn't need to go down and see it.

I see this tree in the road as nothing less than a sign for something. This obstruction meant something.

As if nothing more exciting could happen today...Ricky had a back molar crack in half on his way home from work today. (A tooth that we neglected to get a needed crown for last year. Crap.)

Just more symptom of a crappy (Mon)day? A sign we have bitten off more than we can chew? Or maybe we just neglected his tooth long enough that it cracked? Nothing more. Nothing less.

How about this sign? What is it telling me...

I might need to quit reading into everything so much. Then again maybe not, it's keeping me motivated. We have some very serious life changing events on the horizon. :)

New homeschool blog, the bad and good ...

I started a homeschool blog for more homeschooled-kid related things. I thought it would be a good way to log some of the things they do. I like to look back and see what we've done in more detail.
http://halfdozenkids.blogspot.com/

In other news things have been both wonderful and awful. Here's the Cliff'sNotes rundown: Our family run campground business was flooded horribly by the Midwest floods. The damage is stunning. Our store/bar/kitchen/dance hall was almost completely underwater. Our chickens were attacked and killed by a dog. Ricky's job hunt is not improving (he goes to Texas on the 8th for that other interview) Charlotte started soccer which is great, but time consuming. My husband is really busy with school, but slightly less so than his last 6week mini-semester (which was not much unlike hell). I actually get to see him 1 or 2 hours a night now! Yay! I am turning 30 in 2 days. Waiting to turn 30 is like waiting to give birth, it's exciting and anxious and I don't really feel like doing it, but the only other option is death :) I am happy my last baby will be born when I'm 30. That's just such a great age to say I'm done having kids now. My husband will be 28. What a baby! :P

Speaking of Ricky, things are so good with us. We are so happy and I'm so thankful for our relationship. It often feels like the only uncomplicated thing in my life is my marriage. What a wonderful place to be in.

Well this morning, although a do-it-yourself cereal morning, is off to a slow start. I better get off here. We have stuff to do! I need to eat more than cereal I'm afraid. This baby is wanting juice, eggs, tomatoes, salt...

I am 20 weeks pregnant this week. (photo is 17 weeks pregnant though) I feel the baby wiggle and kick. (I think there is a boy in there) We rub my belly in wonder like we've never done this before. Life is so magic.

August turned bad

For once I'm not worried about the laundry. Usually if clean laundry piles up in my room waiting to be folded I think about it everyday and sigh at night if I go to bed without folding it. I looked at the laundry tonight as I'm getting ready for bed and I thought to myself, 'I don't even care about the laundry.' There is too many other things going on.

This month is not a good one. I'd like to throw it back. I'm ready for the next one now please. I'm on the verge of that hopeless feeling. But so many positive and happy things are in my head, I just wish bad stuff would keep happening.

This month Ricky bizarrely had every wire ripped from our minivan when he had a blow out (and near accident) on I44. His car doesn't have air, so he was taking the van during this heat wave. Ricky is embarking on a brand new experience with graduate school, I can feel the stress and sense the toll driving to St Louis is taking on him. I have my own problems because I have been emotional, hormonal, and at times a bitch.

I told Ricky it was because I was ovulating. To which he replied, "You've been ovulating for 3 weeks!" LOL.

All in all Ricky's school is going good, so far. The workload hasn't started yet. We are both a little worried because this is not going to be easy. This program is intensive. He's earning a Masters of Science in Finance degree in 10 months. I'm sure he'll do great with the workload, but it's the family thing that will be hard on us both. His first day he found out he is one of 250 applicants for this program, 33 of which were accepted. He is also the only one married and that has children which was a fun fact. There are 10 woman in the program, the rest men.

So back to the van I got sidetracked.
I shrieked as Ricky talked to the insurance company about our van (twice now) for various reasons. Our insurance company won't fix it because it's a total loss and "not worth" fixing. It's because our van has so many miles on it. It's an awesome and well cared for minivan though, which is still under warranty. We are working on getting a new van. We have one picked out.

Sage (7) got very sick over the past couple days. Our relaxing Sunday at home turned into a trip to the emergency room. It's a long story but he ended up having strep throat and severe tonsillitis. He had near tennis ball size lumps in his neck (We thought it was mumps for half of a day). For me to go to the emergency room (we mainly did so because it was a Sunday so our Dr wasn't in) says it must have been bad. He was given an antibiotic IV in the hospital. Him and Layla (who insisted on going with us) were given Popsicle's and cartoons. It was a great hospital (Sullivan Baptist). They were very kind there. I was not hassled for not vaxing, and the on call doc was shocked Sage had never been on any antibiotics (except for an abscessed tooth.) The doc kept asking if Sage had ever had tonsillitis or strep before. I had to keep saying no no no. I can not, like many of us, imagine what it was like when people used to just get infections and die. I bitch about modern medicine a lot, but I am thankful for a lot too. I always want to make that clear.

What modern medicine can't do
My Uncle Doyle is dying of lung cancer. He lives here at the resort. He is in his 70's and the life of the party. I've never had a family member die like this. He is dying, and it's starting to hit us all. Death is bad enough but when you have to watch it... it seems so unbearable. He has 6 months to live. Ethan drew a heart breaking picture yesterday and handed it to me. It said get well on it. It had a stick person and a cigarette in a crossed out circle. It is so hard explaining to kids when someone just isn't going to get well.

Udate about my uncles cancer 8/23/07:
my uncle has now been given 30-60 days to live. The cancer is very aggrestive and he is worse than he was even 1 weeks ago. *Sigh* I felt like I was punched in the belly hearing that. It's starting to really become real now.