I've been bemoaning my pregnant state lately (I'm at the really uncomfortable, tired and somewhat nauseated -- again point of pregnancy), so I've been avoiding posting, because I really have nothing happy and positive to say. I decided to adjust my attitude today, though, and post what I meant to post over a week ago about Jon's performance.

First, the story of Jon's evolving costume:
We were given rather vague guidelines on costumes, but the one thing they were really adamant about was that the kids have no collars on their shirts. My sister-in-law (who is an excellent costume designer) was adamant that he needed button-up, collared, plaid shirt. I was stuck in the middle. So he went to the dress rehearsal in a long-sleeved t-shirt. He got there and was the best dressed orphan of the bunch, so it was easy to talk me into the other shirt the next day. Kendra also added patches to his pants and we bloused them so that they were knickers. Jon was okay with everything but the patches. He cried and insisted that he wouldn't wear them. Finally I got him to tell me that patches were girl things. There were only two boys in the group and the other boy and he were the only ones without patches at the dress rehearsal. I talked him into keeping the patches until he got to the show and then, if he still didn't like them, we'd take them off. Well, he walked in in his updated costume and immediately received several compliments, to which he replied, "And, I have patches, too!" and all was well.

My second story was his reaction: After the matinee, we went home for dinner. On the way, he said, "Mom, do I get to do that again tonight?" I answered in the affirmative, and he was so excited.

Finally, I asked him what he thought of the whole experience, once it was all over. His response: "I was good!"

Broadway Babies

This was the second number that Jon's group did. He does sing some of the time, but I don't think he was ever really aware that there were actions.

It's a Hard Knock Life

This was the evening performance. He was very excited about doing it after his positive experiences in the afternoon. He loves being on stage! Unfortunately this is a bit small, so you might have trouble seeing Jon well, but I'll put the afternoon performance on later and it shows him up close most of the time. I liked this one, because he sang his solo so well and I love the ending!

Face Painting

Derek's sister, Kendra, was able to come visit us and we've been having a great time with her. She brought her face paint along. She's not only very talented with it, but has lots of education and experience to back her up, so the kids looked fabulous! Here are a few pictures:


We have two clowns and a butterfly.

















A whale (or dolphin...), a woman (to quote Jon), me reading to them all, the three boys.

A tin man and a tiger.

One little girl in a house full of brothers...

There are those who worry that poor little Nina is a girl lost in a boy's world. I thought I'd post a few pictures that we took after DJ came to me and announced, "I a princess," just to reassure all that Nina can take care of herself.

For Kirsten

In response to your post, and your request on my sports blog, here are the pictures of our Sharks table. Not exactly a perma-decoration, but cool none the less. I was trying to find the pictures of Jenn painting it, but they were no where to be found. If I find them I'll post them, but in the meantime, here are some recent photos of our kitchen table turned scrapbook table.

Jenn will kill me for alowing you all to see the clutter,



A little closer.


Not bad, eh?



While we're on the subject of Sharks art, Lil wood burned this piece for me as a Christmas present, pretty cool if I must say so myself.




So that's my response to your perma-decoration. It's not hung on a speaker wire, but it's still cool. I have an awesome wife, that's willing to paint our kitchen table, that is seen by everyone, with the logo of my all time favorite team.
Lil also did an incredible job, guess I married into the right family.

Go Sharks!!!

Camping while Pregnant

Since there were multiple comments regarding sleeping while camping while pregnant, I decided I should tell you all exactly how my night went. You'll feel much better, I'm sure.

Just so you know this is the 3rd or 4th time we've camped while I've been pregnant. (If we waited for me not to be, we'd be pretty hard put to find a good time for it...) So, I know to take an air mattress. Also, we upgraded our tent (and are ready to do it again), so that we have space for all of us. However, an air mattress still has its problems -- like Derek outweighs me (thankfully), so it feels a bit like sleeping on the ground, but without the rocks/sticks issues. Anyway, it wasn't especially comfortable, but I was tired, so I did fall asleep.

Staying asleep was a whole different issue. It was really windy and tents are really loud when the wind is whipping them around, so I kept finding myself jolted awake. It's very disconcerting to awaken in an unfamiliar place, so I would have to come all the way awake, figure out where I was, then try to go back to sleep.

After a few awakenings, I realized that I couldn't breathe very well. I thought it was all in my head, then woke up enough to recognize an asthma attack. I had to go to the car and find an inhaler (lucky for me, Derek is also asthmatic, so he had one stashed in the glove box). Shortly after I was settled back in, DJ decided to wake up and wake me up, of course, so I had to put him back to sleep.

By this time I couldn't stand being in that cramped space with all the breathing, snoring, wiggling, and wind, so I decided to get out. This presented a new problem. I wanted to sleep, but wasn't about to try sleeping on the ground, so I grabbed two camp chairs, filled them with blankets, pillows and sleeping bag, and actually fell into a decent sleep. The wind was only annoying when I would move around enough that it could hit me in the face -- then it was cold. The chairs were not comfortable, but I found them livable, or at least sleepable.

Except for Michael waking and yelling for me (Derek thoughtfully slept soundly through at least 5 minutes of that), I slept pretty well the rest of the night. I will admit that I was not sad to see the night end, and I was very glad that we were only planning on staying one night.

So, now you can all stop thinking that I'm some crazy woodsperson, who endures and even embraces the great outdoors while six months pregnant. (Oh, as far as the bathroom breaks went, I got incredibly lucky and didn't have to go all night -- I don't think that has happened more than that one night in the last several months...) I hope you all feel much better. As I said in the last post -- we do these things for our kids. Their absolute love of the whole event was well worth it and I would (and probably even will) do it again. Then I shall come home with a whole new appreciation for my bed, my shower and my children's room!