The Saturday 7

1. Lucy is learning about Noah's ark at church, so we did an ark craft this week. First we built the ark. I cut out the shapes and she assembled them (with my direction). The next day, we put the animals on the ark. (Although as you can see in the picture, a few missed the boat.) A few days later, I cut out a cloud shape and she glued cotton balls to it. Then I cut out rain drops and she taped them up.

Then, finally after a few days we made a rainbow to replace the rain. I cut out lots of little squares of paper and showed her how to put them on the rainbow. She didn't want to do blue, but opted instead to add another row of red. That is hard for me to accept, but I let it slide. ;-)

Grr, not sure what happened to the picture, but you get the idea.

2. Justin took Monday through Thursday off this week to use up some of his vacation days. It was so nice to have him home. And then it worked out that I had Tuesday and Wednesday off. I ordered a hotel and restaurant gift card from my credit cards reward last week, and they came on Monday, so we went on a spontaneous vacation! We're very fortunate to have family who are willing and able to watch Lucy at the drop of a hat. We just went to Muskegon, but really it wasn't about the location for us - it was just a chance to get away. We stayed at the Fairfield and were pleasantly surprised by how modern and updated the rooms were. No floral bedspread! We got there Tuesday afternoon and reveled in the cable TV and fast Internet for a while. Then we went to Red Robin (gift card + free birthday burger) and stuffed ourselves to the brim. Justin spent the rest of the evening watching the Tigers game on cable and I spent it in the whirlpool tub with my laptop set up watching Project Runway. :-) Glorious! We slept in the next morning, and went to the cutest little restaurant in Muskegon: Toast N' Jams. (We actually got there at noon, so it was more like brunch.) I got cinnamon raisin french toast and stuffed hashbrowns. It was amazing. And I had a coupon from the entertainment book! We spent the rest of the day driving down the "shoreline trail" and using some birthday gift cards at the mall. Such a nice getaway!

3. My maternity belt came in the mail yesterday . . . it's too small. I'm pretty sure I ordered the small, but they sent me a petite. Have you seen my belly? I am definitely not petite. So I'm going to have to figure out how to exchange it - the downside of online shopping. Fortunately, though, I've been feeling a little better on the aches and pains front. I think I'm just learning my limits and not pushing myself as hard. Justin wanted to walk down this pretty trail in Muskegon, but I made it about 100 feet before I realized I would never make it back if we kept going. And I was definitely sore after walking the mall. So I guess it's just another excuse to be a couch potato!

4. Last night, I was looking at pictures of Lucy as a newborn and getting so excited for this baby to be born. But then I found the pictures of me 9 months pregnant with PUPPS and had a little panic attack about getting so huge again. Haha. I've always said I wanted 3 or 4 kids, but I'm not so sure my body can handle doing this a couple more times!

5. Does anyone have any good Halloween costume ideas for me? I've already been Juno. I should've saved that for when I was actually pregnant! Our party is a week from today, so I need to start figuring it out!

6. I've been feeling a little depressed lately. I'm overwhelmed by our financial situation - and how it never gets any better. We didn't buy Christmas presents last year because we were so broke, and we're in the exact same situation this year. I'm feeling majorly insecure about my body. I hate my face and my hair and my inability to do anything about it. And I'm completely defeated about my parenting abilities, marriage, housekeeping abilities, and relationship with God. I'm just a barrel of fun, eh?! All I want to do is sleep. I'm realizing it's become my escape. I keep telling myself it's just my hormones and it will get better, but what if it doesn't? What if it's not my hormones? What if I'm just an ungrateful, awful person? Haha. See? Hormonal and depressed.

7. Pastor Chris mentioned Psalm 107 in his sermon on Sunday. I looked it up this week and was amazed at how relevant it is to my life. The theme of the whole passage is how the people were in trouble, they called out to God, and he saved them from their distress. I love this part: (vs. 13-16)
¹³ 

Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.

    And he saved them from their troubles.

¹⁴ 

He brought them out of the deepest darkness.

    He broke their chains off.

¹⁵ 

Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.

    Let them give thanks for the miracles he does for his people.

¹⁶ 

He breaks down gates that are made of bronze.

    He cuts through bars that are made of iron.

I love the reminder that God can break down bronze gates and cut through iron bars - aka he can make a way when there seems to be no way (are you singing yet? ;-) ).