potluck supper

One of my favorite things about growing up in church was the potluck suppers.  I especially remember these during my teenage years.  Baptists are always looking for a reason to eat so we had a lot of "Family Potluck Suppers".  All the women in the church brought a dish.  Maybe a side dish, a casserole or a dessert.  Everything was always delicious! The Family Life Center of our Southern Baptist Church was full of laughter and fellowship. I loved it! I loved getting to hang out with all of my friends and be silly.  It was a an awesome break from the pew where we usually just passed notes and our Moms sat in the Choir loft shooting threatening looks our way.  (Right Kelly Ann?)  Something about sitting through a sermon (boring), which is what you usually do when you are fourteen years old, made the potluck suppers so fun.  As soon as that ending prayer was done, we took off for the food and had some fun. So it's time for some "Potluck" blogging!  I'm going to jump all over the place and share a meal of thoughts with you.

*Tomorrow is my first day of my THIRD TRIMESTER.  In many ways this is shocking because time has flown.  In other ways this is no big deal because I think this is when time stands still the most. The doctor visits are now every two weeks which means every two weeks I have to take all three kids with me to the doctor (I've done this my entire pregnancy) unless Jeremy can meet me.  I have an appointment tomorrow and Jeremy will be home with the kids.  Thank you Lord! I am used to not having help or a sitter so that's no big deal but my children are still at the age where they are learning how to act like humans instead of monkeys.  I just try to look at each appointment as a time for me to train my children how to act like calm and quiet children in hopes that this will be the day they "get it".  Maybe today they will hang their monkey hat up and sit still!  I don't hold my breath for long!

*I am looking to buy a breast pump.  Did you know that there are about ten pages on ebay of breast pumps? And every single time I ask someone the year they purchased, they tell me that the breast pump they are selling was originally someone Else's and they don't know the age but  remind me that it's in "Excellent" and "Hardly used" condition.  "It worked great with all three of my children!", they say.  Hmmmm, no thanks.  

*I registered for the baby.  That was weird.  You would think since this is my fourth child I would have everything I need but I don't.  I will never sell or give away baby stuff again.  Ava Beth went with me.  Jeremy decided he would hang with the boys and let us have some girl time.  Ava Beth had a blast and scanned way too many things but it was fun!  Not much has changed in the baby world in the last four years but things have gotten fancier.  I fell in love with this snack container that holds cheerios.  It is in the shape of a ball.  I had to put it on the list because it truly impressed me.  

*Diaper bags are an issue for me.  I do not like ANY of them.  So I am hoping I can find a giant purse I love and use that.  I don't like patterns, shiny material, pickle petunia this or pickle petunia that,  I don't like anything that even remotely looks like a diaper bag. There are many out there that fit the description of my "want" but they have a price tag that fit the description of Melania Trump's "wants". I guess if you have a gold stroller, you probably have a pretty nice diaper bag.  Does someone like this even carry a diaper bag?

*I just finished this book yesterday and it of course was phenomenal and life changing.  I think all of her books are!  It's a must read! The Mission of Motherhood is my favorite but this one was a great follow up and I love the questions at the end of the chapters.

*ALL OF MY CURRICULUM has been purchased! FINALLY!  I have decided to start school earlier because of the baby coming.  My Father's World curriculum should be here by next Wednesday so I will probably start the following week.  I have NO idea what to expect with a newborn in the house.  I have even googled "Homeschooling with a newborn" and found great encouragement.  I am pretty sure my friend Kim will have some great wisdom for me because she has five with two different age groups.  Regardless, we will get through the "transition phase" of having a newborn and if we get behind, we will get caught up.  I LOVE this about Homeschooling!  

*And for all of you Homeschoolers out there who get the annoying  curious question about Socialization, check out this picture! I love it and it is sooooooooooo true!  Thankfully I learned from Kim a while back about how to answer this question and I use it whenever I am asked. I am able to answer it without sounding rude too so that's even better!  But this picture really describes how the answer goes, it's just a lot more blunt than me.  I love it! 

Yes!! I AM worried about socialization!!!

There you have it folks!  I hope you enjoyed the potluck meal of thoughts and at least got a few good laughs! Now you can burp and enjoy your day!  We have one car right now (until Thursday) and I've got monkeys hanging from the ceiling!

-Amanda