Journal (3rd edition)

TODAY

Out my window: The sunrise.  Still a little warm and sticky here.  I'm dreading winter, but I really am looking forward to some crisp, fall-like weather.

Clothing myself in: Gray sweats.  T-shirt.  Yadda yadda yadda.

Around the house:  Still trying to get the kids winter/summer clothes all switched out.  Good grief, wow.  

Last Saturday we had a "date" (Aaron and Clem and me) and we redid the big wall in our living room that has the pictures of the kids.  Clem now has a spot on "the wall" and we got a new painting and moved some other stuff around.  It looks much more filled up than it did before, and it makes me smile when I see it.  We also got new phones!  I have finally joined the texting world folks.

 

The baby:  Sitting on my lap just now.  He's so cute and smiley.  I've just recently started putting him to bed in his "baby box" (bassinet by our bed) when he falls asleep at night (then he joins us for the rest of the night the first time he wakes up).  Up until now I'd either held him or he would sit in the bouncy chair beside the couch until Aaron and I went to bed.  I've also started putting him back there to nap now sometimes.  Away from...well, Kolbe.  ;-D  He moved up to the size medium red-edge prefolds this week.  Holy cow, child, slow down on the growing already.

 

The kiddos: Gemma and I have gotten through 10 reading lessons.  It's going well.  She struggles some, but not too much.  It's a good challenge.  We also starting our Handwriting this week.  And have been talking about Angels.  That girl can ask some questions, wow.

Kolbe and his great potty adventure.  It is beginning to exhaust me.  I am about ready to throw his pants and underwear out altogether and just let him go around half naked until he figures it out the rest of the way.  But then I have worries of that backfiring.  I am frustrated. 

In the kitchen:  Pork and Rice, Mexican Chili, Chicken and Spinach Pizza with white-sauce, Baked Salmon with Kale and Quinoa Salad.  Oh, and Angel Cookies on the Feast of the Guardian Angels.

Crafting:  I made a little shoe-box house for the kids to play with the wooden-spoon people they made (thanks for the idea Mary Ellen!).  It was real spur-of-the-moment and pretty sloppy, but Gemma thought it was awesome.  I also took in the waist of a pair of pajamas I got for Gemma at a garage sale.  I was pretty pleased that I attempted and succeeded at this endeavor.  

Bringing me joy: The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the gift of Spiritual Direction in my life.  Ahhhh, grace.

Thinking about: Being charitable and kind.  Making sacrifices.  That maybe "giving until it hurts" isn't just a statement about money but also about how you treat others.  And how to do this whilst remembering to rejoice always and give thanks.  It's so hard sometimes.

Picture to share: 

Our sleeping boys.  Don't worry, I didn't leave them like this.  I always lay with Kolbe while he falls asleep, and usually Clement nurses.  When I got up, I just had to snap a picture.

And pretty Gemma and her "flowers".

Journal (2nd edition)

TODAY

Out my window: The sunrise.  Quiet, cool, nice.  I love morning.

Clothing myself in: Jeans, purple top, new jewelry from my hubby's aunt.  Yes folks, I do wear something other than t-shirts on rare occasion. 

 

The baby: Sleeping now.  Gosh he's so sweet.  If he catches your eye he will talk to you.  Literally, he will talk your ear off with his little coos and gurgles and two-month-old sounds.  It is melt-your-heart cute. He's such a pleasant little guy, I always tell him that I'm so glad God chose him for us, and us for him.  What a blessing.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma and I started reading lessons this week after she very matter-of-factly asked me to teach her how to read while at the lunch table last Sunday.  It's going well so far.  I find the program to be very easy.  It's scripted so there's not a whole lot of prep for me, and the lessons only take 10-15 minutes a day.  I have high hopes that this will be a good fit for us, hopefully Gemma will take to reading!

Kolbe is working on potty-training.  He does well if I set a timer and we go regularly.  He tells me when (not before) he potties in his pants maybe half the time.  This is difficult, I feel like he's past diapers but not quite ready for underpants and I don't know where that leaves us.  Gemma decided to wear underpants one day and never looked back so this is uncharted territory.  Any tips?

In the kitchen:  Homemade pizza (beef, pepperoni, green peppers and mushrooms with a red sauce), Smothered Chicken Breasts, Cajun Boil (corn, potatoes, shrimp, sausage all boiled together with some Zatarans...TASTY!) and Salmon Patties are on the menu this week.  And some salads, as we have some artisan lettuce in the fridge that needs to be used.  Speaking of salad, I tried this Kale Salad with Quinoa salad last week and it was really tasty.  Our neighbor across the street has been bringing us Kale from her garden and this was a great application.   I used about 2 cups of Kale and 3/4 c. of Quinoa, and walnuts instead of macadamias.

Crafting:  I got nothin'.  I thought about making something for my sister-in-law's babe on the way, does that count?  

Bringing me joy: The thought of some time together with my hubby (and the baby) later this weekend while my parents have generously offered to watch our olders.  God is good.

Thinking about: Being a patient, pleasant, loving, non-fire-breathing dragon-like mother to my children.  It's so hard sometimes.

Picture to share: 

Kolbe, the middle child, laughing and having fun at the park.  I love him.

Seashells

My father-in-law, for those of you don't know him, is quite the ornery guy.  I used to really let this get under my skin, but in recent years I have come to peace with his incessant teasing and even learned to dish it back when I'm able.  A couple weeks ago my in-laws were going through a bunch of stuff and found some seashells they had gotten at the ocean at some point.  They scattered them around the lake behind their house and my kids were soooooo excited to find them.  Grandpa Ron made up some story about them washing up with the last rainstorm, and insisted on sending them home, knowing how much I like random crap at my house.  I tried to politely decline but oh no.  Those shells came home with us.  Aaron mentioned that I should find a way to creatively use the shells and return them to him, and I decided what better way than seashell crafts.  Give them back to him as priceless works of art from his grandchildren.  Who wants to get rid of priceless art?!  So with a little help from my good pal Google, we came up with a plethora of cute and clever ideas.  The kids and I had a fun morning doing seashell art, which we gave to my brother-in-law for his birthday under the premise that he must share with his dad.  :-)  Here is a glimpse at our creations.

Journal (1st edition)

Inspired by my friend Erin, I'm going to give this "journal" thing a try in an effort to post regular family updates, plus I can incorporate my meal planning posts with this as well.  :)  Saturday seems to be a good day for blogging, so Saturday it is. 

TODAY

Out my window: Cloudy, drizzly, cool.  I'm enjoying the change in weather, but part of me is honestly really really dreading the winter.

Clothing myself in:  Dark grey sweats and an old River Run t-shirt.  True story: all I ever really wear anymore is t-shirts.  And all my t-shirts were getting dingy and worn out, and this really had me bummed out.  Yes, this is a sad and lame true story.  But then, who goes shopping for t-shirts?  I mean, really, how lame is that?  Yesterday it dawned on me that I had a whole bag of old (hardly worn) race t-shirts in the basement from my running days.  It was like Christmas morning going through that bag, and now I have a handful of fun, "new" t-shirts to wear.  Yes folks, this is my life.  Up next: hoodies!!

 

The baby: He has a bit of a pluggy nose and cough, thanks to his sweet generous big brother I think, but overall he is my sweet, snuggly little guy.  He's had lots of sweet smiles and coos for us lately.  Oh I love him.

The kiddos:  Why is it that that they have a nice selection of toys readily available for playing, but will sit on the floor and wrestle and fight refusing to play with anything?  This has really been driving me crazy lately.  A lot.  They have many sweet moments though.  This morning we went to the bank and Gemma decided the cash envelope was her new wallet.  She then proceeded to make Kolbe his own wallet out of paper and tape (of course) when we got home.  She can be so sweet to him.  In spite of the fighting, I am so glad they have each other.

In the kitchen:  Pizza, Honey Chicken, Stuffed Green Peppers and Fish Crisp are on the menu this coming week.

Crafting:  Hmmmmmm...not really anything going right now.  I go in spurts.  In the "schooling" department, we're getting ready to start our Handwriting Without Tears lessons this week and I'm excited about that.  They are mainly for Gemma, but I've found a way to hopefully incorporate Kolbe as well and that makes me happy.

Bringing me joy: A wonderful husband.

Thinking about:  Winter wardrobes.  Oh. Dear.  Really though, I have everything almost lined out for the three kids but WHEW what a process. 

Picture to share:

Me with my sweet little nursling.  Oh how I savor these moments.

Random things that make me smile

A few random things around the house that are making me smile lately:

A smiley babe.

New tray shelves in the laundry room cabinets to house the kids' craft supplies, etc.  This one makes me insanely thrilled, it was getting really nuts in there.

Homemade blankets on the crib in the baby room.  The one with his name is from a friend, the "Hey Diddle Diddle" one is from my mom.  Take a closer look, it's amazing...and looks so cute with our farm-animal theme.

Gemma's copious "projects".  She's always having 'ideas', it is fun watching her follow through with them.  I am amazed at her sticktoitiveness.  She is quite creative.

• From left to right: homemade boats with paper and straws, a homemade telephone with cord and a "bunny banner" for the park.

•  Baseball helmets

• "Go", "slow" and "stop" signs in green, yellow and red respectively.  They used these for riding their trikes on the patio.

• Working on her homemade boat with a crib in it (seriously, where does she come up with this stuff?) for Clement with some leftover shelf-liner.  Oh, and tape.  Lots and lots and LOTS of tape.

Kids having fun in nice weather on their trikes.  

Sleeping Kolbe.

Life is GOOD.

Mommy and daddy pics

We rarely seem to get good pictures (or any pictures, really) of Aaron and me with the kids, so I was tickled to randomly get a couple good ones recently!  Aaron was watching "funnies" one night with all three kids, so I snapped this one (that's why Gemma isn't looking at the camera...heaven forbid she tear herself away for half a second ;-D).  The one of me and the kids was taken on the Feast of St. Monica.  Gemma and Kolbe were playing in the backyard and asked the neighbor if he'd pick some flowers from his yard for them to give me...so sweet.  I sure love my family!!

Fun at Lowe's

What better way to spend the better part of a hot Saturday afternoon with the family than to go wander around Lowe's for an hour-and-a-half.  Besides having to yell across the aisle, "no Kolbe, you do NOT need a box-cutter," and Gemma almost running a complete stranger over while trying to push the cart without us realizing (for which she apologized), things did go fairly well.  I even have pictorial proof.  I was going to call it cheap entertainment, but then I looked at our receipt.  Oh well, it was a fun afternoon anyways.

CONEHEADS!

Sitting in a fun chair on the "quiet" aisle.  Yes, we were there long enough that we determined which were the busy aisles and which were the "quiet" ones.  We actually made a mental note of this for future reference.

Found a safer spot for Kolbe after Aaron nearly ran him over with the cart.

Clement was quite rambunctious as usual.

Gemma had fun with some keychain tape-measures she found while waiting on daddy to pick out a saw blade.  Kolbe resigned himself to sitting on a stack of tiles.  Safe choice, buddy-bear.

 And that's how we roll.  Happy end of summer, everyone!!