Whew, well the b-day party went well... McKenna had a blast and except for some scratches on her feet from the grass, was a VERY happy camper. The next day she complained of a stomachache, which I figure is just from all the cake and candy. I gave her Peptobismol, and today she also complained of a stomachache. Hmm... maybe she just likes the flavor of the medicine? She has no other symptoms, isn't walking hunched over, and is running and playing like normal, so she may think she's found the latest and greatest thing, this being sick! lol I'll keep an eye on it, anyway.

So, nothing much else going on. Garden is looking good, I'm making some money on swatcash... and if you want to try too, go to http://www.swatcash.com/20594 It's my referral link, so you'll help me out by joining under it. Anyway, money aside, we're doing good. I've got a little over a month left until the kiddo is born... we like Madelaine so far as a name, but we need to keep looking. I feel like Noel hasn't put ANY effort into the baby naming! Anyway, nuff for now........... later!

Well, the wind came up and started doing some serious pushing on our newly erected awning. We don't have a couple support posts near the sliding glass door and down a little farther, so it really affected the stability. Noel ended up taking the awning off the frame and we just erected it again today. I'll take a picture and get it posted. I think it's pretty nice. 98% UV resistant and gives a decent amount of shade. Not as much as I'd like, but it will work AND I can probably still grow some plants underneath it in beds or hanging planters.

Later today we'll be going over to Patty's for Christi's b-day. It's a My Little Pony Pool Party. Should be fun! I'm going to dress McKenna in her new dress that my mom made. It's so pretty... I'll have to get a pic of that, too!

Wow, just found this great site on how to save gas by different driving techniques... I'm already trying the method of accelerating slowly and then coasting to a stop. So far, it hasn't affected anyone behind me. I'll keep it up and see if I can't increase my fuel economy on the SUV.


http://ecomodder.com/forum/EM-hypermiling-driving-tips-ecodriving.php

It's been a little bit since I've posted. I was in Cascade last weekend until Wednesday visiting mom and dad at Arrowhead RV park. McKenna got to play on the playground and dip a toe in the river and she had lots of fun. Only downside was the mosquitoes! McKenna got bit (well, all of us did!) and then was really upset whenever she saw one. I used the tennis racquet-type electric zapper and we got tons of them in the RV. Mom and I went into McCall for some groceries and fabric and then went back to Cascade. I took the SUV but they helped me out with gas, so it wasn't too bad. If I can drive the SUV less than 600 miles in the next 3 months, I can also get a break on our insurance since it would be considered an 'occasional use' vehicle.

Noel is putting up the awning today that came from his dad. We've got the supports up and just need a few other things which he just went out to get. McKenna's in the pool having fun and my garden survived quite well under Noel's care while I was gone, so I'm happy about that. Can't remember if I mentioned that the robins eggs and robins are gone from our tree. We found a broken egg shell on the ground under the tree the day of our yard sale. That was two weeks ago and it doesn't appear that they are coming back. I'll have to look and see whether I should knock the nest out in the fall... I'm not sure if robins re-build a nest every time. I they don't, I'll just leave it alone.

I'm now 32 weeks 6 days along, so well into my eighth month... August 9th is my due date and mom doesn't think I'll go that long, but I guess we will see! There's lots of uncomfortable kicking and shoving going on in there, but nothing I can't handle. Although those punches to my cervix tend to make me yell out involuntarily at times. lol Ah well, we had another follow-up on the spina bifida and everything looks good. The tech noticed something weird where the umbilical cord attaches to the placenta. It looked like a couple of filaments waving around. She had a doc come in and look and he said it was probably where a tear occurred early on and then healed up. He also commented on my 'lakes' and told me there would be quite a few interested medical personnel wanting to see my placenta after the baby was born. I guess that's quite an unusual thing to come up on an ultrasound. Anyway, she's healthy and growing (about 4 lbs now) and I can't wait until she's here and we're able to hold her. Noel and I discussed names again and he finally agreed that one of the names I came up with 'wasn't bad'. Madelaine.

Later!

So I am 31 weeks along as of yesterday at my appointment. My uterus is also measuring 31 inches, which is right on. I've gained 13 pounds which is the total amount I gained in my pregnancy with McKenna. I'm happy though, as I feel that I should have more weight on for a healthy sized baby. McKenna was only a couple of ounces away from being considered 'low birth weight'. Anyway, all is well in that area.

My garden is going well except that I have what I think is iron chlorosis in my bean plants and one of my squash plants. I have ammonium sulphate, but I'm not sure that's the best stuff to apply. Probably iron sulphate would be best. But I did get my soaker hoses down in the garden with the help of my mother and some improvised stakes, so now I won't have to water by hand, except for some pattypan squash I planted not long ago.

McKenna appears to be well on her way to being completely potty trained. She did have an 'accident' yesterday, where for some reason she decided not to use the potty, but other than that no poop accidents in the last week or so. She even went while we were at the RV, so I feel comfortable now about taking her to Cascase to visit mom and dad for a weekend here this month without worrying that she'll regress. She's very proud of herself and constantly talks about having 'potty power', which is SO cute.

Well, that's it for now. More later!

So I had come across this info on the internet on running your car on water:

http://offto.net/runyourcarwithwater_06c9/

and after reading so many controversial things about it, namely it being a scam, I mentioned it to Noel who said there's no way it would work. He's been cleaning up an old Geo motor and went to this guys place who is going to regrind some parts on it and clean it up some. So this guy had a Dodge pick-up truck there that he was 'running on water', which is a bit misleading because what he's really doing is extracting the hydrogen from the water and adding it to his fuel in order to boost performance by about 50%. His truck went from 12 miles per gallon to about 19 miles per gallon. Noel came home all excited about it and I said, "that's what I was telling you about!" He said I didn't explain it fully to him. Anyway, you can buy the kits for cheap on the internet, but he says he can build his own and it'll be safe because it will be an enclosed system. So, we'll keep you posted on that development. First he needs to get his rebuilt engine back into the Geo. He's driving his other Geo to work right now, which is getting about 45 miles to the gallon. If he does this water conversion thing and we can get a 50% gain on mpg, that would put us at about 75 miles per gallon! Evidently, you CAN convert a vehicle to run solely on water instead of gas, but it's a LOT more complicated.

So enough on vehicles. The garden in coming along. There's some small tomatoes on my early girl and the rest have blooms. It's going to be chilly in the evenings (high 40's) and I don't have row covers, so I'm crossing my fingers that all will be well. Mom and dad are stuck in Willamucca due to truck issues. They're hoping to be here by Wednesday. They were supposed to be here today, but that's out. I'll have to work on Noel to let me take McKenna up to Cascade to visit them since they're due at Cascade RV park by this friday. He's worried she'll revert and won't poop in the potty anymore after she gets back, but she hasn't had an accident in 4 or 5 days, plus she went at Patty's house, so I think she'll be okay. Anyway, we'll see how that pans out. Nuff for now, I'm craving an egg sandwich! :)