i'm raising hoodlums.

last night we went to a dinner at a local lodge for N's post (it's closing & they're all relocating to different areas). i met N up there with all the kids, who immediately started racing around the room saying hi to everyone they ran into. during a presentation for his former lieutenant, val marched up to N's sergeant at the front of the room & demanded to be picked up & then appropriated the man's watch, while emmie & conrad snuck up behind a detective & started going through his coat pockets. i managed to get their attention before the guy turned around & caught them. everyone knows our kids, so thankfully everyone was laughing, but it just figures in a room packed with cops, my kids are picking pockets & stealing watches. later, the boys also snuck into the kitchen & conned some nice trooper into giving them a plate of cupcakes, & i found emma in the lap of the scariest looking undercover dude there, eating potato chips off his plate & smacking his hand when he tried to eat some. the kids had a fabulous time, the cops all thought they were hysterical, & i gave up completely half way through the night.
i am very, very glad we're staying in tonight.

what i've been up to....

i've been a very lazy blogger lately, but not so lazy at home. i've decided to can everything possible this year, so i've spent nearly all my free time in the kitchen canning fruit, making applesauce, tomato soup, loads of pickles, etc.
& now i'm tackling a home made exzema lotion for the itchy little ones. it's mostly coconut oil with a little olive oil, but i'm hoping it will help & involve a few fewer chemicals. (not that i'm anti-medicine-- we're totally pro-vaccine, etc, but i hate the constant use of topical steroids. if it's what they need, so be it, i just am hoping they'll need it less.)
anyways, all these hands-on projects have been keeping me entertained & busy. plus we've been doing alot of apple picking & zoo trips with the kiddos. for some reason i've been hit with the need to be constantly moving lately (& now i'm trying be justify my absence from the blogging world...) i tihnk its bc i know soon i'll be so uncomfortable i wont want to do anything, so i'm being as active as possible now.

#4 is good... kicking the snot of my insides & keeping me up nights. & i'd be lying if i said i wasn't sort of enjoying the abuse :) it's the last time, & that seems to give even the uncomfortable moments a special luster. instead of thinking "ack... when will this end?" i think " aw, it's the last time some one will wedge their toes into my hip & kick my bladder..."

lazy, lazy, lazy...

i have been a lazy blogger of late, & still can't seem to shake my blahs. so in lieu of an intelligent substantive post, here are some belly pics!

first up-- 22 weeks with the boys:

23 weeks with #3, aka miss emma:

& alst but not least-- 21 weeks with #4!