Plumbers, malls, birthdays and other things that make up our life

The days are motoring on. This has been one of those weeks where I have constantly been confused about what day it is. Not what the date is, what the DAY is. So goes the life of a mom who stays home with four kids. Not that every day is the same...but every day is the same. (This is not said in complaint, just stating how it is sometimes!)

One highlight of the week is that I had some VERY cute plumbers come by to work on the bathroom sink.







I didn't even know the sink was broken. Hopefully in their next training session at work they'll learn to use a plunger.

Last Wednesday was my 35th birthday. I've now reached the age that in my head I had always thought (in the past, certainly not now!)was getting on up there in age. I'm officially halfway to old. I keep trying not to think about it, but my body has other ideas. My hair gave me gray ones for my birthday, apparently. I keep finding a few stray ones here and there. My brother has been going gray since he was 19, so I guess I should be grateful for the longevity I've had with my not gray hair up until now! Also, I went horseback riding first thing Wednesday morning, thanks to a terrific homeschooler who watched the kids for me, but when I got back MAN WAS I BEAT! I could have gone right back to bed. I shall chalk that up to pathetic post-carrying/birthing/nursing four children while not exercising for the past five years body. It certainly can't have anything to do with having another birthday. If it does I'm not having any more of them! (Birthdays or babies!) :)

We had Thursday night dinner at the Jennings house last week. James drove separately, and walked in with a birthday cake for me which he had made himself in the camp kitchen. It was a fun surprise, and I was very impressed with his skill and creativity. I told him he's the kids' birthday cake maker from now on.

Check it out!

It was red velvet. He found some little horses in the basement which had been mine as a kid. He even built little jumps out of candles and icing.

And you don't notice it at first, but the cake has a special guy's touch. Each of the horses have their own chocolate chip poop piles behind them. When you gotta go, you gotta go. Even if you're on an edible surface.

The picture's not great, but I wanted one of me with the baker.

Saturday we went to a fourth birthday party for our church and playgroup buddy, Amelia. James was participating in a camp fair at the Mall of Georgia. I was very proud of myself, as I had my act together enough to actually arrive at the birthday party early. That is unheard of for this crew. It was at McDonald's in Gainesville...or so I thought until I got everyone out of the car and realized we didn't know anybody there. Turns out it was at the McDonald's in Oakwood, the next town over. The story of my life! It pays to look at the invitation one more time before leaving home, even if you think you know where you're going.

Since we were that much closer to Buford where the Mall of Georgia is, I decided we would blow off afternoon naps and head down to see James. That is also where my childhood best friend Janet works, so I thought it would be fun to see her too. Too bad I had taken the stoller out of the car and had left it at home. I had the front pack carrier for Elizabeth which worked fine, but it didn't take long to feel like I was toting around an anvil! It ended up being a good day to be at the mall, as we left with many freebies. The kids rode the little train that goes around the mall, and on it met a man who was trying to take a train set back to Kaybee Toys...which had closed. So he gave it to the kids. My friend Janet is the manager at Helzberg Diamonds, and a man who works in her store gave us coupons for free Chick-fil-A ice creams. Then Janet gave Amelia a pair of REAL pearl earrings. (I'm saving them for when she gets up the nerve to have her ears pierced so she can actually wear them.) Then Janet gave them some books. Then Amelia got a free T-shirt from one of the other camps at the camp fair. Avery had no nap and Elizabeth slept 30 minutes the entire day, but they were still perky enough to hold up for dinner out with Janet and her family. We enjoyed catching up since it had been awhile.

Sunday the kids and I went to church and James headed off to Town Center Mall in Marietta for another camp fair. That afternoon one of the youth from church came to babysit so I could go riding. It was a balmy 39 degrees with a 25 MPH wind, but I was undeterred! If you wear enough layers you stay warm, even if you can't get on the horse without help. (Like the kid in the Christmas Story movie who was so bundled up he couldn't get up when he fell down in the snow.)

On Monday James picked up a college friend and fellow MK (Missionary Kid- her family served in Tanzania) and her husband who had been at a conference in Savannah. They are missionaries in Canada, working with college students and church planting in a very unchurched area. James hadn't seen her since college days (they reconnected on Facebook), and we had never met her husband. We enjoyed getting to know them and hanging out some through Wednesday morning. Tuesday they were able to talk to our Missions Team from church about what they are doing in Canada. They were cool, and I admire their dedication and willingness to follow God's call.

Lon and Amanda and us

Tuesday I also took the kids to playgroup. I took the camera and got some random shots.

The Pittmans have a great sandbox.

Shannon and Dylan, who lives there.

What's better than burying something and digging it up?

Elliott? Are you in there?

Amelia and Amelia, Queens of Dress Up.

Rebekah, Amelia's little sister with Elizabeth, other Amelia's little sister.

Tozer is good at rolling all over the place now, and ended up in Elizabeth's lap where she worked on giving him a new hair do. And a face lift.

Looks like she's planning to give him a Wet Willy....

"Give me that toy!"

"Hey, I've got a great idea. Let's chew stuff up!"

Wednesday morning I got to ride (as I mentioned earlier), which was a GREAT way to start the day. My friend/boarder/riding lesson instructor Susan has Tuesdays and Wednesdays off work, so I'm trying to get some help with the kids on one of those days so I can go ride with her for an hour or two. She has a super awesome dressage horse, a Lippizaner/Thoroughbred cross, who I enjoy riding. He had an injury that put him on stall rest for 10 weeks, and in the meantime she acquired a REALLY nice Trakhener/Percheron mare who she's training in dressage. (I realize breed names mean nothing to the non-horsey crowd!) She's letting me ride her too. These horses are a considerable step up for me. It's kind of like the difference between a stripped down Chevy S-10 and a Lexus. Needless to say, I'm enjoying myself.

I left the barn in time to head off to gymnastics with the kids...which we got there early for. Again, amazing! Twice in one week! So what happens? Their instructor ran out of gas and got there late. If there's one thing I've learned this week it's don't bother being early for something. Just kidding, James. I know how you love it when we run late. :)

Tonight we had dinner at the Hicks' house, and this weekend we are hosting the CMU (Christian Missions Unlimited) reunion at camp. This is the group our church and James go to Brazil with. A few folks have arrived early, so we got to see some of them this evening. I will be leaving before it ends on Saturday to head to McDonough for a family dinner. Sunday my mom is keeping the kids at her house while my sister-in-law and I go to a cake decorating class at the Viking Cooking School in Buckhead. I had asked for Cake Decorating for Dummies (if it exists) for Christmas, and she and my brother Jonathan outdid themselves and are sending me to a class! I'm looking forward to it. I'll try to remember the camera, so look for pictures in the near future.

Here are a few random shots of life with the Himstedts from this week.

"Mommy, take my picture. Cheese!"

Having all these babies has permanently affected the older kids. Here's Shannon feeding his dog. According to him, Carlo (the dog, named by Shannon) isn't old enough for dog food and doesn't like it. He'll love this picture when he gets older.

Here's how Elizabeth has spent the past few days. She's trying to cut her top teeth. She normally uses her fingers for a pacifier when she's sleepy, but they've been in nonstop for about three days now. I probably would have freaked if our first had done this, wondering if she was messing up her teeth, or if we'd have a high schooler with a finger pacifier. With a fourth it just doesn't matter so much!

See my bottom teeth?

I never could have guessed that one day I'd have a five year old trying to take over my computer. She has several websites she enjoys, and she's very good at navigating her way around them. I wasn't introduced to a computer until I was a 4th grader, and it was about the size of four school desks, had a monitor with a green screen, used giant floppy disks (you couldn't touch the circle part in the middle), and only had one game, Oregon Trail.

She's not crawling yet, but she rolls all over the place and now sleeps on her belly. This has opened up a whole new world of sleep for me, since she snoozes the night through now. Yes!

Speaking of snoozing, I always stay up way too late doing these blog posts. So I'm over and out for now. Or I will be as soon as I hit the pillow.

Have a great weekend!