Redeeming Love

My Thursday morning ladies Bible study decided to switch things up a bit before we break for the summer. Instead of picking a traditional Bible study book to work through, we picked a work of Christian fiction to read and discuss. Our choice was Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, and today was our last discussion. Several of us (myself included) had read the book before, but this book is so good that it was just as wonderful to read the second time around. The book is a retelling of the story of Hosea from the Bible. Instead of Hosea and Gomer (what a name!), it is about a farmer named Michael Hosea and a prostitute called Angel. Through both the Biblical account and River's retelling, the power of God's redeeming love for us is revealed.

Daniel, Weeks 7-12

For anyone who has actually been reading the blog posts about the Daniel study I am involved in, this will probably be the last one. If you noticed, the last post was from week six of the study which covered chapter six of the book Daniel. Chapters 1-6 are all about Daniel's life and chapters 7-12 are Biblical prophecy. I am loving this second half of the study. It is thrilling, and I would have a hard time summing up a short list of highlights from each week. Instead, I would encourage you to do the study yourself!

25 Week Appointment

Total weight gain: 16 pounds (only 2 pounds in the past month... much better)
Blood pressure: 98/52
Fundal height: 25 cm
Baby's heart rate: 145 bpm. The baby kept kicking the doppler, then finally just moved away from it.

My next appointment is 28 weeks, and I'll do the dreaded glucose tolerance test. Apparently, the lab in the office now does it differently and instead of the one-hour test, it's a two-hour test. It's supposed to cut down on the false positive results... we'll see!

This pregnancy is seriously flying by!!

Step-Up Program/Science Night/Book Fair

Tuesday night was the Step-Up Program at SPCS. It is an opportunity to go to next year's classroom and hear from the teacher what is in store for your child(ren). They also give ideas about what you can do with your child over the summer to prepare for next year. I thought it was especially important this year because parent orientation is August 11 and the baby is due August 14. Although I usually go past my due date, you never know what to expect! (Also super excited that the girls' first day is August 15. Lord, work it out so I don't miss the first day of school!) The original plan was for all of us to go visit the classrooms and then stay for Science Night. However, Chloe came home from school sick, so Sophie and I were the only two able to go. I went to Chloe's classroom first because we have never had a child in fifth grade and I didn't know exactly what to expect. I am so excited for her! I think fifth grade is going to be great. Next, we stopped in at the book fair, so Sophie could purchase a new book with her hard earned allowance. :-) After she made her selection, we went to her classroom for next year (third grade). Her teacher for is currently out on maternity leave after having an adorable baby boy in February. Hopefully, she will be returning in the fall. I don't think much will have changed since Chloe was in third grade. Finally, we went to the gym to watch Mr. Byrd's Science Show. Mr. Byrd is a former science teacher and had many cool science demonstrations to show us. I loved it!!! I didn't take any pictures because I was so interested in the show, and forgot I had my camera in my purse (again). Here is the one picture I took:

This was the final demonstration of the evening. The shot I missed before I got my camera out to take this picture was a HUGE plume of fog that shot out of the tub (a result of adding hot water to liquid nitrogen). It was really neat! Seriously, I can't say enough about how cool Mr. Byrd's Science Show was. Lots of neat demonstrations, and I know I'm a bit of a geek, but I really think anyone would enjoy it!

Skating Party

Monday night was the last skating party for this school year, and all three girls were excited to go. We decided to let Charlotte try skating for the first time (she asked). I really thought we would strap on the skates and let her skate for 10 minutes until she got bored and wanted to do something else. I was wrong. She wanted to skate for the entire party! Jason was a trooper and helped her the whole time.

Sophie, Charlotte, and Chloe ready to hit the rink!

Daddy and Charlotte

Here are a couple videos of Charlotte's first time skating:

Princesses

When I was a young girl, I found a picture of Princess Grace in her wedding dress. I loved it so much that I cut it out and saved it for when I grew up and got married (I'm sure I still have it stashed away somewhere). I didn't end up with a wedding dress that looked anything like Grace Kelly's dress, but that romantic image was burned into my brain for eternity. On Friday, I was excited to see anything about William and Kate's wedding (I had little girl anticipation over it for months!), and to my delight, Kate's dress reminded me immediately of Princess Grace!

Grace Kelly

Kate Middleton