"I am the rose of sharon and the lily of the valleys. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters."

~Song of Solomon 2:1,2

"The church of Christ as far excels all other societies as a bed of roses excels a bush of thorns. The wicked, the daughters of this world, such as have no love to Christ, are as thorns, worthless and useless, good for nothing but to stop a gap; nay, they are noxious and hurtful; they came in with sin and are a fruit of the curse; they choke good seed, and hinder good fruit, and their end is to be burned. God’s people are as lilies among them, scratched and torn, shaded and obscured, by them; they are dear to Christ, and yet exposed to hardships and troubles in the world; they must expect it, for they are planted among thorns (Eze. 2:6), but they are nevertheless dear to him; he does not overlook nor undervalue any of his lilies for their being among thorns. When they are among thorns they must still be as lilies, must maintain their innocency and purity, and, though they are among thorns, must not be turned into thorns, must not render railing for railing, and, if they thus preserve their character, they shall be still owned as conformable to Christ. Grace in the soul is a lily among thorns; corruptions are thorns in the flesh (2 Co. 12:7), are as Canaanites to God’s Israel (Jos. 23:13); but the lily that is now among thorns shall shortly be transplanted out of this wilderness into that paradise where there is no pricking brier nor grieving thorn, Eze. 28:24" ~Matthew Henry

Just a thought that encouraged me as I thought about the beauty of this Rose of Sharon and the meaning of these verses.

Nothing new to speak of...I'm still big and round, ready to have a baby, extremely tired, and all I feel like doing is sitting on the couch. The boys don't mind though; they pile me with books saying "Read! read!" and that's what we do. Sometimes they go outside and play and I get to read grown-up books but mostly it's Dr. Suess.

I'm just waiting for that rush of "nesting" energy so I can get some stuff done. The house needs a good cleaning (but then again, it always does) and there's lots of meals to put away in the freezer for when the baby's born (I've been checking out Once a Month Mom, and am always on the lookout for other good freezable recipes - feel free to share!).

I've had cloth diaper covers nagging me from the top of my "to do" pile in the sewing room. With all the bums I change around here, it's so much wiser to be cloth diapering. I do it about half the time but the vinyl pull-up covers we've used, starting with Ethan (Gerber ones from Wal-mart), have long passed their expiration date, even though the accompanying pre-folds still hold up. So I've been researching covers, settling on Bummis as the best, but hemming and hawing about actually buying them because, well, $10 is a lot of money for one! I'll need quite a few since the twins are not quite ready to potty train, and newborns go through diapers like crazy.

I always have trouble spending money on things that I feel like I could just make myself, and so after moving and being able to organize my fabric stash, I discovered I have quite a few pieces of material that would do really well. The number 1 piece being a shrunken wool sweater of Ed's, which I don't even know why I held onto. Turns out it makes perfect diaper cover material. The best part was that I didn't sew anything, not even a hem! After a few uses I found that they really need elastic or else they fall right off. So I got around to putting something-like-a-waistband in, and, despite it being summer, use the 4 or so that one sweater made quite frequently on the twins, who don't seem to mind them (they're a wool-nylon blend, so very soft). Oh, another perk about wool covers: less washing! It's better for them to be washed less, which means less laundry and sitting around in a diaper pail waiting to be washed, and more uses! Just hang them up to dry and by the time the next diaper change comes around, they're ready for use again. So yes, I'm very excited about those and the fleece ones I made in the same style (using basting pins as closures). You'd think it'd be the boost I need to get the rest of them going.

These ones are going to be different. Somehow I acquired a fabric that feels like a flimsy raincoat, the kind that may or may not be waterproof (I've yet to test it out) . I'm pretty sure it won't do the job as well as wool but it may be a decent barrier, especially when paired with some terrycloth lining from old towels and then a cute flannel print for the outside. I did managed to get one sewed up when I was on my kick that even included velcro closures but it turned out too small to test on the twins. It'll have to wait for the baby. But I want to have atleast a few done up in the various thicknesses and fabric combinations beforehand to see which works best before I make a whole bunch of one kind. (And all in pink when it turns out to be a boy).

So why can't I just. do. it.

Sigh.

Maybe I'll feel like it tomorrow.

:)

One last thing I'll add is this picture of corn that Ethan grew as a school experiment, learning about seeds. Out of 6 plants we got 5 good ears (one had already gone into the pot here); not bad! I just love how unique each one is, with imperfect lines and irregular sized kernels. Home grown's the way to go!

Oh! OK, really, one last thing: Rachel! I finally remembered the name of that non-caffinated coffee-like beverage, it's Inka! And yes, they still don't sell it at Wal-Mart *but* I did find out they sell it at Honest Weight

which doesn't help you at all

but maybe Trader Joe's? Or of course, online. I got a free sample of this other brand, Teecino, which is even better, tastes more like coffee and is brewed, rather than instant. They've got lots of good stuff, especially the Chocolate Mint "Coffee".

Love you! Give that baby a big hug for me! Well, for all of us! The boys still talk about Tully all the time and *loooove* singing Clap Clap Clap Your Hands :)