Great Homebirth Story

I just read Cjane's homebirth story (she is Nie Nie's sister) and thought it was beautifully written. There are four parts. She had the same midwife that I did, Suzanne from Better Birth. I know there were some comments about her on my homebirth post awhile back, and I was happy to see that she got the birth experience that she'd hoped for. I loved reading this and thought some of you might enjoy it too.

I love reading birth stories--all of them--not just homebirths or natural births. It is just such an inspiring and momentous thing to welcome a baby into the world. It is a time that brings all of our vulnerability to the surface and is just pure, raw emotion. I love that first glimpse of getting to see the tiny baby that has been inside you for nine months.

If you haven't already done it, go write your birth story too. Your kids will love it, I will love it. Simone's birth story was the second post here on this blog. I've written the other kids too in various birthday posts. They love to hear the stories of how they were born.

4200 pages later. . .

Monet and Elise have been burning the midnight oil. After they get sent to bed they read for hours. Which makes for difficult mornings sometimes. Jared has actually told them they need to play instead of reading on more than one occasion. Elise, who was anti-reading until last year has read the Percy Jackson series three times. Monet finished the final book (over 4200 pages if you count Beedle the Bard) on the Harry Potter series the other day, then promptly picked up the first to start reading them again.

So I banned my girls from reading a book more than once. There are way too many good books out there to be reading the same ones over and over and over. Elise is starting in on the Chronicles of Narnia, and Monet is reading the Sisters Grimm series. Elise won't read Harry Potter because Monet read it already, and Monet won't read Percy Jackson because Elise read it already. I think they are both missing out.

I just finished the Time Traveller's Wife, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Percy Jackson Lightning Thief, Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Cutting for Stone. I've found that I don't like tragic stories in the least. I loved the Hunger Games and am excited for the third book to come out in August. I don't like to feel sad because of a fictional book. Maybe I should stick to my Mary Higgins Clark. : )

I did something crafty!

Isn't this cute? I can't believe I actually dusted off my sewing machine. I have all kinds of projects I want to work on, namely my kitchen curtains, but I just never get around to it.

Anyway, I bought this placemat last night at Target and just loved the fabric. So I whipped up a cute little scripture bag out of it. I was even surprised to actually have some buttons left from my button box that my kids have been raiding.

I rarely do crafts because they usually involve lots of errand running to pick up all the necessary supplies, and that just doesn't sound fun to me. Walking out of JoAnne's, I've usually spent far more than what it would cost to just buy whatever it is I am trying to make.

But this was easy: thread, placemat, button. And now Monet has a cute new scripture bag. It even has little slots for pencils and pens on the inside. I should have bought two placemats, and used some fabric for a back pocket. Oh well.

If you are especially crafty, I've got several friends that are always so inspiring. Check out their links on my sidebar. Char from "Crap I've Made" has all kinds of really cool freezer paper stencil ideas. Miles would love the Yoda t-shirt. And Linsey at "Voila" is doing a very cool kitchen remodel, as well as fixing up thrifted furniture, etc. Lei from "My Many Colored Days" has some cute home decorating ideas.

My Favorite Children's Books

So I may have mentioned that growing up I probably read every children's book in the library. My mom was a kindergarten teacher and had tons of patience. She read us millions of books. Naptime, bedtime, we'd all pile in her waterbed and read until she couldn't keep her eyes open.

I haven't mastered the patience she had, but I do love kids' books. Particularly shorter ones that are funny. So here are a few of my newer favorites.

Your kids will love them!

Knufflebunny: A Cautionary Tale

This book was especially great for younger kids, but my older kids like it too. My kids have all had special blankets they couldn't sleep without, so we understood how Trixie felt when her special bunny went missing and she couldn't say any words yet to tell her daddy what she wanted. I loved the expressions. Very funny book. And the pictures are really cool.

Knufflebunny Too: A Case of Mistaken Identity


Just as great as the first one. We love this one too.

Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!



This was hilarious. My kids favorite page was the one where the pigeon throws a temper tantrum. They love it! I love it. They see the humor in their own tantrum behavior. And it gives them a little perspective I think.

No, David!


So this one is also a favorite. For several years, I thought David looked like a little demon child and didn't want this scary book. However, we ended up getting it from the library and we both related to the story. Even the page about the little boy running down the street naked. LOL. It was pretty funny.

Pirates Don't Change Diapers

My sister sent us this one signed by David Shannon. I really loved the humor and the illustrating is great.

There was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

Strega Nona

The Rainbabies

Heckedy Peg

This is a little bit scary--and I think that is why Elise liked it so much. Probably best for kids who are 4 and up. It has a heroic mother in it and lots of children who almost get eaten by a witch.

The Paperboy

As a former Papergirl, I loved reading this to my kids. They got to see just a little bit of how I used to start my days when I was 11.

Boxes for Katje

This is a Reading Rainbow book, and after catching it on the show, I finally ordered it for my kids. It tells about a girl in the U.S. who had a penpal in Holland during WWII and how they help each other out. I still can't read it without crying.

The Empty Pot

The Big Red Barn

Another lyrical book by Margaret Wise Brown. My kids love animals, and this simple book has lots of them in it!

Regards to the Man in the Moon

Cute book that has a good message. Very imaginative and of course great pictures.

Our favorite classics
Tikki Tikki Tembo
Rosie's Walk
The Snowy Day
Goodnight Moon
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
A Chair for My Mother
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Is Your Mama a Llama
Goodnight Gorilla

I'd love to hear what some of your favorites are!

Mom Was Right

Snowshoeing during our Denver Trip

Michelle and Angela--love how their expressions are identical

Bekah and Rachel--the dirty porch and no clothes goes so well together!

Angela and Michelle Swinging me around--previous to the time they dropped me on my head and I got amnesia

Angela and Michelle
Bekah and Rachel jumping on our tramp--Must have been a before the no jumping on Sunday was enforced
Me and Bekah--I clearly remember this day and our new clothes.

I don't know how I got so lucky to have four sisters, but I did. Four. It makes get togethers so perfect. I've professed my love for each of them here. But that was two years ago. We just got back from a sister's trip to Denver. We had such a great time. I always come home from these girls weekends determined to figure out how my parents helped us to avoid sibling rivalry and why we can all get along so well. I think part of it is they were such good examples of brother and sisterly love to us. My mom was always telling us how her sister sewed all her clothes for her in college and what a generous and kind person she was. All of my mom's family is that way. My uncles Rick and Ron are jovial and so sweet to her. My dad was ten years old when his little brother Ron was born. They've always had a great relationship and really love each other.

Growing up, we definitely had our sibling squabbles. In fact, my Jr. High days were filled with clever plots to steal Michelle's clothes. I even intercepted her mail-ordered swimsuit from Avon once before she had a chance to even see it. She was always nice and patient with me. Wrote me notes on cute stationary about "asking" first. That's Michelle for you! Always so gracious.

On the other hand, when it came my turn to be the one whose thieving little sisters "borrowed" all the hard earned clothes in my closet, I went and broke Bekah's nose. Then she punched me back and we both had bloody noses. My mom was so mad, she made me go to the ER with her and I had to tell the story over and over again. It was very embarassing. No girl fights here. Punching each other's lights out worked better (okay, to be truthful, I don't remember ever having another physical fight). I've never seen my mom so mad. Bekah and I laugh about it now though--thankfully. And my mom was always telling us that we'd be "Best Friends" when we grew up.

She could see that beyond the bickering and normal kid fights, we did have a deep love for one another. Bekah, Rachel and I were the "three little girls." When we were very little we shared a room. In that large room we had two sets of twin bunkbeds. Superflous beds. We all slept in one twin. How we managed that I haven't figured out yet. But we'd stay up talking about everything. And occasionally we'd get a knock on the wall that separated us from Angela's room and hear her commenting on our chatter.
The Three Little Girls--Bekah, Sheree, Rachel. This looks awfully posed! Our hair is way too perfect.

We bonded over Barbies and Cabbage Patch dolls. I often made Bekah and Rachel sit for hours while I french braided their hair. Then we'd jump on a bus and go down to the Cottonwood Mall and take pictures at the Woolworth's booth.

We looked at everything Angela and Michelle did and liked as ultra cool. I'd try on their gunny sack dresses when they weren't around. Their makeup also got a test drive or two. I loved all the magazine pages and posters and dance pictures on their walls. I even lived their love stories vicariously.

My mom used to say when we'd fight that we'd be best friends when we grew up. She was right. I think that somewhere along the line, I started thinking of each of my siblings as an extension of myself. I am so proud of each of them and so happy to have such a great relationship with each one of them. It is a really wonderful thing to feel their complete love and acceptance.

Angela summed up our Denver experience perfectly here, but I just had to pay tribute in my own little way here too. It was so much fun to have a whole weekend to just do fun stuff with my sisters again! I hope someday my girls are as good as friends as we are.

Happy 101rst Birthday Grandma!

Sweet Grandma Regen, Michelle and Angela