Hush Little Baby

I had a sonogram today! It went so well. I am 28 weeks and the baby is measuring just over that! I think she said the estimated weight was around 2.5 lbs! Even with number 5 it truly amazes me. God is just awesome. And everyday I just feel more and more blessed! The baby had his/her legs up over his/her head and arms up. It was the funniest thing I had ever seen. She flipped over to the 3d version, but all you could see was nose and mouth. 2 legs were on top of the rest of the face. All very odd:) All of my other 4 would stretch out from finger tip to toe! So watching this little one be all squished is funny. My mom came with me. She enjoyed it as well. Laurel, Anabelle and Corbin were there, too. They actually did so well, thanks to some fast lollipop thinking! Anabelle was able to make out the nose and eyes. It was so cute once she saw that. And Laurel was amazed when she heard the heart beat! I can't believe we are on the last trimester! Just amazing!

Swimmie, our fish

So, Chloe went to a birthday party and the party favor was a beta fish! She named him Swimmie. I have never seen people so excited about a fish! I of course am thinking, great...1 more thing to keep alive in this house:) I'm already down 1 dog! So, Swimmie is officially a Sparks family member. I have never really gotten the idea of a fish or bird or reptile as a pet. If you can't hold it and pet it, I don't get how it is really a pet. But we have a pet fish now. I think Swimmie has been with us for about 4 weeks now. I didn't think he was going to make it that long. Sometimes Anabelle and Laurel get his "cup" and get so excited .... reminds me of the scene from finding Nemo when the little girl is shaking him to death!

We even had to hire a fish sitter to go to Denver.
So realizing Swimmie is around for a while we decided he needed a better home then the cup he came in!

So off we went to the pet store(my kids called it a petting zoo the entire time). We saw lots of animals, including a hairless rat. GROSS! We got what we needed and got home to put Swimmie in his new digs...We got the bowl ready and now it was time for Swimmie. I didn't want to pour him in there bc his water was so nasty! I had the bright idea I would use a 1/4 cup measuring spoon. I mean he is small! Laurel and Chloe are on the counter. Corbin under my feet, and Shelby following Corbin, and his trail of crumbs. Anabelle was in the den doing her own thing. I got him in the cup, and started to pour a little water out. I wanted as little dirty water as possible. That is when he made a break for it, "All drains lead to the ocean!" He flipped out all over the counter! I am screaming, "Oh! Oh!' And Chloe and Laurel are in shock! Chloe is screaming, "He is going to die!" I try to get him with all the various junk on my counter and he flips onto the floor! Luckily his fall is padded by Anabelle's silky! GROSS! So, I get the silky and try to flip him into the bowl that I now have on the floor! He doesn't go! Back onto the floor! Now I am trying to protect him from Shelby who is trying to eat him, and Corbin who is laughing and trying to catch him! All the while I am now screaming, "Shoot!" over and over! I am sure that will be Corbin's next word! We finally got Swimmie back in the bowl! Chloe kept telling me to get him with my hands! I kept tell her, "No!" It was all quite comical. He is now in his new home, and I sure hope he stays a live after all of that! Otherwise I want my $16 dollars back from the pet store for all my supplies:)

Gross public sin....vs Closet sin

This was an article I read that reminded me of the saying, "Would you jump off a cliff if everyone else did?" But more, would that make it right, bc everyone else did? A great little article on the hidden sins in our closets that we don't want the public to see. That most of us don't have a huge public "gross sin" surrounding us, but closet ones. This is a nice reminder that we need to live life each day the same as the day before. Live life genuine in each cirlce of people we encounter. Evaluate what has become acceptible, but deep down in the places that makes us feel joy and pain, is it really a sin.
http://www.childrensministry.com/article.asp?ID=1871

WCF( World Cranial Foundation)

If you have a minute, read the news letter in this link. It is so amazing to see how anyone can help any of these precious children.
As well, one of the Drs who is a part of the WCF was the surgeon who did Corbin's surgery to remove his cyst.

http://www.worldcf.org/documents/newsletters/08SummerNewsletter_email.pdf

Rock in my windshield in Childress, Texas : $200(deductible)
Lost little boy in the mountains while
watching Fire Works: $0 (only bc we found him)
Lost wedding band in gold min: $1500
Ticket in Colorado Springs while admiring
the Air Force Academy : $190
Poop falling out the car door
during diaper change : $0
(Can you put a dollar amount on how funny that really was?)
Extra gas spent while an impromptu
tour of Roy, New Mexico : $50
Brand New sheets flying out of
the car in New Mexico: $80
More poop falling out of the car door
during diaper change: $30
(That is what dinner cost us that caused it!)
One more movie to get us home
from Amarillo at 9 pm: $19.99
(Meet the Robinson's was very entertaining)
Roll of duct tape to tape up the mangled
car top carrier due to the black cloud and
hail that followed us through 3 states: $5
Ticket in Claredon from Officer Duley who
really needs to find a happier place: $170
Crawling into my own bed at 4:30 in
the morning, with a clean house that
smells great......: $You thought I was going to
say priceless... but there was a price
______________________
$2499.99
Holy cow..... let's use this ending instead:
Time spent with my wonderfully large
family celebrating our country while
frolicking through the mountains in
Breckenridge: PRICELESS

3rd Birthday Party

How did this happen? I can't believe my little girls are turing 3! I remember Fred and I talking when they were little babies. I remember him saying, "What do you think it will be like when they can talk and walk?" Wow, I didn't know it would be so busy...and so great. Listening to them is one of the highlites of my days! Listening to Anabelle tell me very matter of factly what she is doing, and listening to Laurel start every morning with , "Hi mommy!" is the way I want to always start my days!

I cried off and on a lot at their party. They just looked so terribly big. And next week, on their real birthday they will get big girl beds....I think it will just do me in. All my babies are getting bigger..I am not ready for that. I know some people say how wonderful it is... but I just want to hold on to each baby a day longer! Is that too much too ask?