Journal (11th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Feels like late Fall.  A bit chilly but lovely really.  I am mourning the loss of the leaves from the trees until next Spring. Just not a huge fan of winter, for multitudinous reasons.  But alas, it is upon us.

Clothing myself in: Black sweats, one of these cami/tanks that are oh so comfy and great for nursing, and a college sweatshirt.  Comfy.

Around the house:  Thinking about Feast of St. Nicholas and Christmas gifts and have done a bit of shopping (online and in stores).  Keeping things very simple (especially with our children) this year.  Along that vein, anyone have any recommendations for a good wooden block set, preferably colored?  I'm looking at a few but wondered if anyone had a set they liked that they could recommend?

Started decorating for Christmas.  It seems so early, this early Thanksgiving really threw me for a loop.  On the brighter side, this gives us more time to enjoy our decorations.  I figure if I'm going to put forth the effort, then I want to be able to enjoy them for more than a week or two.

 

The baby: Has started sucking his thumb.  I am still unsure how I feel about this.  I had purposely not introduced a binkie with him.  Gemma and Kolbe both took binkies and getting rid of them was definitely a process.  Although probably easier than getting rid of a thumb.  But he will soothe himself with it sometimes which is super cool.  Like I said, I am not sure how to feel about a thumb-sucker.  I am trying not to encourage or discourage it, but have found myself doing both.  Mixed messages much?

 

The kiddos:  Recent conversations with the kids:

Gemma: Kolbe, what's your favorite animal?

Kolbe: BLUUUUUUUUE!!!!!

Gemma: NO! I said, animal!!

Kolbe: (in his typical monotone inflection) Oh. A'mal tatters. (animal crackers)

When we were talking about what we were thankful for I had to explain a little more to Kolbe just exactly what 'being thankful' meant, so I said, "thankful is something we are really glad that we have at our house...so Kolbe, that are you thankful for?"  To which he responded, "Oh. Ha'ween tandy." (Halloween Candy, for those of you who don't speak 'Kolbe')

He's a man of few words, but man does he crack me up sometimes.  ;-D

In the kitchen:  Chicken Alfredo; Meatloaf with Quinoa and Kale Salad; (extended) family birthday dinner.

Crafting:  I finished a HUGE amount of photo organization last weekend, namely getting all our albums caught up, labeled, organized etc., and also made up a book on Shutterfly that I will order in December when I have five years of monthly pictures.

Got some sports-ball print fleece at Joanns on Black Friday for a super good deal and am going to "make" a blanket for Kolbe's bed for him for Christmas.  And by "make", I believe I will wash it, cut it to the right length (I purposely bought too much, not wanting to have not enough) and call it good.  I am a little iffy about sewing on fleece as it stretches funny (in  my experience), and I don't want to do a tied one.  Since fleece doesn't fray I figure I'm good taking the lazy way out.  Any advice?

Working a lot lately on our Advent plans.  Hoping to blog about them soon.

Learning: We had fun with this handprint turkey craft this week.  Lots of cutting, and messy (but washable) paint.  But fun for sure.  Have I mentioned I am a sucker for handprint art?

Bringing me joy: Listening to Handel's "Messiah". Thanksgiving and time with family.  My hubby having some time off work.  The huge kick my kids get out of seeing Christmas lights, especially our neighbor's across the street.  Just the coming holiday season in general...seeing things through the joyous eyes of my children helps me stop and appreciate the simple things.  A working wash machine.  Preparing for Advent...hands-down my favorite liturgical season.  A sweet (professional) picture of our three. 

Thinking about: Christmas gifts.  Advent.  See above.

And our Christmas letter.  Anyone want to write it for me??

Pictures to share: 

My sister took a nice "up and down" photo of us on Thanksgiving, and then I said, "OK let's take one the other way," meaning landscape instead of portrait.  Aaron thought I meant he and I should switch places.  Hence the over-the-top cheesy weirdly posed picture.  Think I should frame it (haha)?  See the side bar for the "real" one.

Journal (10th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: It feels like Fall.  It's nice.  Highs in the 50s or 60s, lows in the 30s or 40s, slanty light, trees are past peak.  The kids played this afternoon at the park with one of the neighbor kids and we all had a nice time outdoors, albeit a bit chilly.

Clothing myself in: jammies

Around the house: I wiped the kitchen cabinets down with Murphy's Oil Soap today.  Good stuff, good stuff.  Takes away all the grime (we don't have cabinet pulls, so the wood gets really grimy) and leaves the house smelling so fresh.

 

The baby:  Is noticing his surroundings so much more.  He is starting to take an interest in toys and rattles and such, and loves sitting in the bouncy chair and "playing" with the big kids.  He is so entertained by them, it's wonderful.  Even though most some days I feel like I am losing my mind, I feel like I've really hit my groove with three. 

 

The kiddos:  Aaron set up the train set for the kids (they got it for Christmas last year and I packed it away because it kind of drove me crazy).  They are much better ages for it now and have been having a lot of fun with it.

Kolbe....I think we have FINALLY turned the corner with this potty process.  I started putting him in regular underwear (not training pants, not pull-ups) this week around the house (no pants, just underwear)....and he GOT it!!!  Several days now he has had no accidents, AND he's been telling me when he has to go, going back to the potty, pulling his undies down and doing his business all on his own.  I'm not calling it yet, but we are soooooo close.  YAY!!!!!!  And while I'm talking about Kolbe, he is so funny, he wakes up at LEAST once during the night hollering for his "tudders" (covers).  He kicks them off and is somehow incapable of re-"tuddering" himself so he just yells "tudders mammy, tudders mammy" until I come in, and after I cover him he says "shanks mommy" in this sleepy little grateful voice.  It would be kind of annoying if it weren't so darn cute.

Gemma has it in her head that a kitten is going to come to our house and knock on or meow at the door and she will rescue it and keep it as her pet in a cage that daddy will bring home from his office (??) and I will give her a milk bowl for it and we'll get the kitty milk from the store for it and she will take care of it and when it grows up to be a cat she will let it go and get a new kitten (kid you not, she said that).  She has been through her plan with me no less than 100 times.  I finally snapped and said (rather crossly), "GEMMA, we are NOT getting a kitten."  It didn't even phase her.  She has big plans, I tell you.

In the kitchen:  Lazy Sunday Casserole; Pizza with red sauce, meat, mushrooms and bell peppers; Thanksgiving feasting

Crafting:  I designed a little photo collage in powerpoint to have printed for our Christmas cards.  If anyone hears about Walgreens doing 4x6 free prints like they did last year around this time, please let me know!!  I am very pleased with how the collage turned out.

Learning: Read a handful of books about pilgrims and Indians this week and made paper plate pilgrims.  We mixed our own "face color" which was fun for the kids.  Also made these paper Indians with watercolors and crayons.

Bringing me joy: The thought of my hubby having some time off this coming week for the holiday.  He rarely has time off work, so when he is home from work on a regular work day it is a real treat!!!!

Thinking about: How far removed we are from the whole "first time parent" scene.  This is neither good nor bad, and I am by no means claiming to be any sort of expert when it comes to parenting.  It has just dawned on us of late that we're not really "newbies" anymore. 

Pictures to share: 

First fire of the year on a cold Sunday last week.  With hot chocolate and some stories, it was quite cozy.

Beef and Noodles

This is a stroganoff-type recipe I have morphed from several others.  I'm not sure what really defines a "stroganoff" per se, so we call it beef and noodles around here.  We really like it, it's definitely "family friendly," and it is a crock-pot meal so it's easy-peasy!

1-1.5 lbs beef (I use either a roast or sirloin tips), cubed to your size preference

1 small onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 carton baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1 can Cream of Mushroom soup, or the homemade equivalent thereof (which is what we use)

pinch of salt

1 tsp of pepper

1-2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp or so flour

Stir items together well and cook on high in crock pot 1-2 hours and then low for another 2-4 hours.  

Stir in 1/2 - 3/4 cup sour cream at end (some cream cheese is tasty too); thicken with more flour or a cornstarch paste if you desire.  

Stir in whole-wheat egg noodles and serve.

Steamed green beans are a great side to go with this dish!

Journal (9th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Warm for November.  Very, very warm.

Clothing myself in: the usual.

Around the house: We turned the air conditioner on last night.  On November 9.  Yes, we had our last 80 degree day of the season yesterday...for like the 10th time.  Seriously.  As we were walking to the park in our short sleeves that I had to tackle the basement tubs to get for the kids, GAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH, it dawned on me that I have gotten this wistful feeling of, "oh, this is the last time I'll take my babies to the park in warm weather until next spring," no less than five times in the past month.  Silly weather.

 

The baby: Had his 4 month well-child visit.  He weighed 13 lbs 14 oz., was 25.5 inches, and peed buckets all over the scale after they weighed him.

I switched him to disposables for nighttime and this has been a convenient good switch.  Still liking our cloth during the day.  A bunch. 

This morning I woke up around 5:30 to Aaron saying, "honey, why is the baby upside down?"  Sure enough, there he was, laying between us laughing and cooing with his feet kicking the headboard.  Still not quite sure how that happened.

 

The kiddos:  Bedtime has been pretty early this week as we adjust to the time-change.  The older two had been on a pretty good 8-8 schedule, but since the time change it's been more like 7:30-7:30 give or take, and I kind of like it and am tempted to keep it this way.  I'm not a huge fan of the earlier mornings, but the early bedtimes have been nice and once we're doing the school thing next year we're really not going to have a choice.  If we're out and about it's tough to get them in bed on time, but since we lead such exciting social lives it's not too much a problem.  I'm sure the coming holidays will throw us for a loop as usual, but alas...  Enough sleep talk.

Kolbe has been really into helping me lately.  Unloading the dishwasher, sorting laundry, putting laundry in/out of washer/dryer, folding laundry, dusting...whatever it is I am doing, he will leave his play and be right by my side like velcro, wanting to help.  It is cute sometimes, frustrating sometimes and helpful sometimes.  Oh that he would always be this eager to do chores. ;-)

In the kitchen:  Stuffed Green Peppers; Chicken Enchiladas; Shepherds Pie, inspired by my MIL and an episode of Symon's Suppers; Chile Rellenos

Crafting:  I have been working on pictures...I like to print about 20 or so a month to keep in albums for the kids to look at.  I was pretty well caught up before Clem was born, and I am ready to get caught back up.  I have everything from July-October printed (except for July), some are written on, they are each in their own envelope, just need to be put in order and in albums.  Hoping to tackle this sometime in November and be caught up, at least temporarily.  Also debating about what to use my free Shutterfly Photobook for. Hmmm.....

Learning: Worked on some turkey crafts from DLTK.  Gemma did especially well with the lowercase alphabet one that's three down from the top.  Both kids have recently gotten into the show Blue's Clues. 

Bringing me joy:  Fall walks wearing the baby and watching the kids on their trikes.  My family.  Time in the evenings with my hubby after the kids are in bed.  Watching the kids play together.  The simple things in life.

Thinking about: My life as a wife and mother.  It is something that brings me so much deep joy in my heart - maybe not always happiness per se - but true joy, that I really can't even put it into words.  The other day my friend Erin wrote this post, and it got me to thinking about my relationship with Aaron and how grateful I am for him, for us, for our family.  Then I read this post and as usual Simcha was spot-on.  There is so much craziness out there (and sometimes in our house!)...whether it's politics, extended-family drama, or any number of things, I am so glad that at the end of the day, each and every day, I am married to my best friend, and that in being married to him I am not only serving and loving him, but serving and loving Him.  Wow.  My life is nothing like what I thought it would be 10 years ago, and if things had gone according to "my plan", well, let's just say it's a good, amazing thing really that God is in control. 

Pictures to share: 

Kolbe picking Clem's nose for him.  Yep, that's how we roll folks.  At least he had the manners to use a tissue!

Mamas and babies...we were all pregnant at roughly the same time, and now four beautiful babes (3 boys and a girl)!  God is so good!!!

Litany of a child

Thanks to the persistent inspiration I've gotten from my friend Kansas Mom, I have finally added a litany to our morning prayers.  I really wasn't looking to add more to our morning prayers, but at this point in our lives morning prayer time is the most "relaxed" prayer time of the day (I am sure this will change next year with the advent of Kindergarten, but I am trying to make the most of it while I still can).  Our before meal prayers are basic, we usually only prayer after meals during Lent and Advent, and I will be completely honest, by the time bedtime prayers roll around I am just ready for everyone to be quiet and go to sleep, so the idea of adding something to them kind of sent me into a cold sweat. 

Anyways, we are reading about a Saint each day during morning prayers for the month of November so I decided to add a litany of saints after our prayers.  We each say our name saints, our parish patron, the saint we read, and any others Gemma (or Kolbe) think of.  Yesterday Gemma asked if she could pray for daddy's saint so I said, "sure go ahead".  In complete and utter prayerful seriousness she proceeded to say, "St. Honey -- pray for us".  I'm still smiling at that one.

Journal (8th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: I'm actually "cheating" and typing this on Friday night.  It's dark and the deck door is open with cool air coming in.  It's nice.  Last night Aaron and I sat out on the deck after the kids were in bed and drank hot tea and visited and it was just positively lovely.  It's so awesome being married to my best friend.

Clothing myself in:  New black yoga pants from Kohl's...I got them a couple weeks ago and realllllly like how they fit.  They are so comfy.  And a t-shirt because it got warm again.  Almost warm enough to dig the kids' warm-weather clothes back out but I refused.  Enough already, I am very tired of all this back and forth, although I really like the warmer weather, in fact I think I'm ready for spring...

Around the house:  Continually de-cluttering and going through things.  After three babies it is becoming apparent the items (clothing, blankets, towels, etc.) we need and the ones that are just extras, so I've been going through things and saving what we really use, or could need for future babies, and have several bags to donate to our favorite pro-life charity.  I've really been thinking about living "simply" lately and tryig to reflect this in what I deem our family "needs".

 

The kiddos:  Had such a fun Halloween!!  More on that HERE.  They (and Aaron and I too) seem to be fighting mild colds.  Bleh.

The baby: OH I love him.  He is so cute.  I could just gush about him, really.  Poor guy seems to have picked up the cold as well.  He is taking it in stride though, bless his heart.

In the kitchen:  Spaghetti, Honey Chicken and Tuna Melts are on the list so far.  Probably steamed veggies for sides, we are so boring and predictable around here when it comes to side dishes it really is pathetic.  But hey, it's healthy and easy.  We also have a bunch of leftover pork shoulder that we'll probably use in wraps and/or pork and noodles.

Crafting: Yes, you are reading this correctly.  I actually have something for this category!!!!  Last weekend I crafted an Advent wreath for our family. We like to light our Advent candles all three meals a day during the season, and in recent years this has caused us to go through an insane amount of taper-candles in a four-week period, not to mention the wax mess from over-zealous toddlers blowing them out.  So I took our old wreath and pulled the wire candle-holder deal in it out, hot-glued the wreath (greenery) and some pretty purple and pink embelishments to a charger plate and am awaiting our candle order to arrive (the candles will sit in the middle of the wreath).  This was the most reasonable place I could find unscented pink and purple candles.  Apparently they are hard to come-by locally (unscented ones anyways, and I did not want scented Advent candles).  The shipping was pretty steep on this website, but I was able to get three purple and one pink 3"x6" pillar candles for around $28 shipped.  Not too bad and I'm hoping they'll last us for several years.  Once the candles are in our wreath will be ready (a month early, but glad to have this ready to go never-the-less)!

Learning:  Did some Halloween worksheets and workbooks this week.  Reading lessons are coming along, we're doing about half a lesson a day now, and interspersing that with some Green Light readers from the library.  Gemma really enjoys those, so it seems we've hit a good groove after our bump in the road.  Handwriting is coming along, I'm anxious to finish the preschool book and get started with the Kdg one as Gemma is already writing lowecase letters on her own, and I want to make sure she is doing her letter formation correctly.  At the rate we're going though we still have several more months (at least) of the Get Set for School book.  Gemma still grips her pencil incorrectly (like mother like daughter I suppose) unless I remind her a million times.  I'm almost to the point of just letting it slide since it doesn't seem to bother her and she writes fairly well...

We had lots of fun talking about the Saints while doing this craft on All Saints Day.  For the month of November we'll read a saint story each morning during prayers from one of our Saint books.

Reading: I checked out The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila from the library but haven't started it yet so the jury is still out.  I am sure it's a wonderful work, we'll see if it's right for me here and now.

Bringing me joy: Seeing the kids (and their daddy) have so much fun on Halloween.  Having the saints to inspire us and intercede for us in Heaven.  Listening to the Daily Readings each day on my phone.  I haven't had much luck being disciplined enough to read them each day even though I get Magnificat, but listening to them seems to be a really good fit, usually as I'm preparing dinner.

Thinking about: Advent...I can't believe it's less than a month away now.  I've traditionally made a paper chain of "Advent actions" for the kids, but this year I am saving the trouble and ordering this one.  The price is good but you have to order 36.  I may will be hitting some of you up...  Let me know if you're interested (if I know you personally)!  I am selling them for $2.50 which is a bit more than retail ($1.60) and donating the extra money to our local Carmelites.  You can find more details on my Facebook page.

Pictures to share: 

Oh my sleeping boys.  I just can't quit taking pictures of them.

Halloween 2012

Gemma the morning of Halloween
with all her "preparations"!

This was the first year that Gemma really got into Halloween.  Other years she has been very hesitant to even dress up...once she is dressed up and going she has typically had fun, but this year the anticipation of the big day was a blast for her as well.  And obviously this enthusiasm spilled over to Kolbe too!  Gemma spent the past week making "Halloween decorations" for our house.  This consisted of coloring Halloween coloring sheets, cutting them out, punching a whole in the top and tying a pink string to them.  She then put them all in a gift bag (there were probably 30-40) and insisted she could not hang them until Halloween night.  I had kind of forgotten about them, but sure enough she hauled them out about 4:30 in the afternoon on Halloween evening and they are how hanging on every doorknob, handle, drawer pull, etc. in the house!  Usually I just let her hang stuff in her room, so she was thrilled that I let her put stuff anywhere. 

She also decided what she wanted to be for Halloween and made her costume all on her own.  Up until this past weekend she/we was planning to wear the Old Navy monkey costume we got her last year.  Then, all on her own this past Saturday, she decided she wanted to be a princess so she got her play "clo" dress (when clothes is a singular, she shortens it to "clo" and I just can't bear to correct her grammar) and made a wand and crown to go with it all on her own.  She was so genuinely enthused about it, it made me smile even if it made daddy a bit sad that his little girl wasn't going to wear the monkey costume he'd helped pick out last year.  Such is life, our baby girl is sure growing up.  She informed me that next year she will be a ballerina and the following year a fairy.  We'll see if she remembers...

Daddy looks forward to Halloween at our house as much as (if not more than) the kids, so he even took off work an hour early to come home and get ready for trick-or-treating.  Gemma also engineered a pirate costume for him out of some play-clothes and more paper creations.  His bandana was a triangular piece of paper she colored black with red polka-dots and tied more pink string on for him to wear.  As Aaron described it, it was a two-dimensional rendering of something that should be three-dimensional.  But it made Gemma so happy to see him wear it.  He and the two biggers made it all the way around the neighborhood while the baby dragon and I manned the post and handed out candy on the front porch.  The weather was gorgeous and everyone had a great time.

And a few  more pictures of our fun evening...

Kolbe was so excited to trick-or-treat he kept going up on the porch and getting in the wagon when
we were trying to take pictures and get everyone ready to go!

THE DRAGON BROTHERS! -- All three kids have worn the red dragon now, and two out of three the green one!

A very excited princess, home from trick-or-treating.  Apparently the princess gig is over though, because when I told her "goodnight princess" at bedtime, she informed me she was no longer a princess, "just Gemma".

The dragon got sleepy.

The whole crew!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!