Journal (14th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny.  The wee bit of snow we got is almost melted, and it is actually pretty mild out.  It is supposed to get colder than cold around Christmas though.

Clothing myself in: Sweats, tank, sweatshirt.  Really that is about the only thing I wear during winter unless we're leaving the house, and then the only thing that changes is jeans instead of sweats.  I am beyond help.  I do dress up for Mass though, I just never happen to blog on Sunday mornings. 

Around the house: Cleaned (vacuumed and dusted) the basement.  Even though I have a regular rotation for cleaning chores, I usually only clean the basement once a month (or more likely every 6 weeks).  I also took some extra time with my kitchen cleaning today, and we cleaned the deck doors, which were quite nasty after wind and not enough moisture.  And fingerprints, and face marks, etc. etc. etc. 

 

The baby: He's sooooo cute.  Have I mentioned that?  Some days I feel like he is my little slice of sanity in our crazy house.  He is quite the napper, some days he will nap for close to a four-hour stretch in the morning.  He's gotten pretty regular with his sleep, with a nap in the morning and one in the afternoon and is fairly predictable about his bedtime (depending on how late his last nap is).  Nights are a little much less predictable.  Some nights he only nurses 2-3 times.  Other most nights I lose count.  Co-sleeping keeps me sane and (mostly) rested though so I can't complain, but boy can he be the milk-monster (that's what I call him on his particularly "nursey" nights).  I really shouldn't knock it though, he is such an easy baby during the day, and honestly I look forward to his nighttime snuggles (for the most part). 

 

The kiddos:  Gemma and Kolbe have started going out to play in the (gated and locked) backyard by themselves in the afternoons and this has been a new-found joy for all of us.  They've actually been doing this since late summer, but I am grateful they will still go out on the colder days, bundled up in coats and such.  It is so nice to be able to send them out...good for the mental health of everyone in the house, especially in that 3:30-5:30 PM time range.

Gemma has developed a recent attachment to "Baby Lamb", a stuffed lamb that Clem got from my aunt when he was born.  She is very affectionate and loving with it, errr "her."  She is constantly putting her down for a nap, doctoring her, or pretending she was just born and I have to come visit them at the hospital (Gemma's bedroom).  She also has to sleep with Baby Lamb every night.  It's cute and sweet.

Kolbe has recently discovered his spit and is quite fascinated by it.  He doesn't actually spit (yet) thankfully, but he likes to blow bubbles and do other gross things that I don't feel like talking about with it.  Ugh.  Boys.  I guess I better get used to it.  ;-D Kolbe is typically pretty indifferent about reading stories, but he has requested this one incessantly this week. 

In the kitchen:  Christmas feasting mainly.  Hubby is making sushi to take to his parents' on Christmas eve.  I'm planning on making some Mexican Chili on Wednesday as our friend Fr. Nick will be joining us for dinner.  Just kind of leaving the rest of the week up in the air.

Crafting:  We finished the salt-dough ornaments and their gift-bags this week (picture below, don't look if you want to be surprised ;-D)!!!

Learning: See "crafting", this has been our main project this week along with our regular Advent chain daily activities.  Still hitting reading lessons here and there with Gemma.  Once the new year rolls around (and we get past birthdays too) we'll get back to more regular reading and handwriting lessons, etc.  I sure have enjoyed our Advent though, it's been good.

Reading: We finished Little House on the Prairie today.  I actually found myself crying as the family packed up and left the little house.  And I don't even have pregnancy hormones to blame that one on.  I also found it rather difficult to explain to Gemma the conflict between the Indians and the white people (she had some questions), and to be completely honest it really gave me a lot to think about myself.  I hadn't remembered that being such a prominent part of the story (and I probably read that series a good 8-10 times as a child), I guess we perceive things differently as kids.  We're going to skip Farmer Boy (I think that will be a good one for my boys here in a few years) and begin On the Banks of Plum Creek next.

Bringing me joy: Texting with my sister.  Reading with the kids.  Advent.  Classical Christmas music all day every day this week on NPR.  The O Antiphons.  Anticipating Christmas.  Taking the kids to visit our friend Bertie in the nursing home.  Classical Christmas music all day every day this week on NPR.  Time with Aaron in the evenings after the kids are in bed.  Oh, and the Christmas music on NPR.

Thinking about: Salvation History.  Looking forward to reading this book in more depth.  There's so much I feel like I don't understand about humanity in general I guess.  "Lord I believe, help my unbelief." 

Pictures to share: 

Snowy day (their awesome daddy took them out to play)!

Gemma and Kolbe after making popcorn ball snowmen with our sweet neighbor Miss Jo.

 
This year's ornaments!!

Clem riding around with Daddy (I love Kolbe peeking out of the bathtub in the background).

CHEESE!

Journal (13th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny and warm (for December).  It rained last night!  But there were only 2/10ths in the rain gauge this morning.  I suppose I should be grateful that we got any, but oh I was wishing for a gully-washer.

Clothing myself in: The usual.

Around the house:  Got lots of gift-wrapping done this past week.  Continually sorting through items and trying to live more simply with what we truly need and not so much extra "stuff".  That being said, I have some bumGenius 4.0 diapers with inserts, some 3.0 size large all-in-ones, some overnight doublers and some Thirsties size medium covers I am looking to sell if anyone is interested. Condition is used but still good.  Plain and simple, I just bought more than we needed.  Price is negotiable, I would just be happy for them to get some use. 

 

The baby: Oh goodness, he's so cute.  He's rolling and squirming all over now and starting to notice and be intrigued by toys.  He finds Gemma and Kolbe to be highly amusing.  I often wonder how Gemma ever got entertained...I don't know what Clem would do without his older siblings' antics, I am amazed (and grateful) at how entertained they can keep him for quite the long stretches at times.  Aaron has commented on how interactive he is getting, and I am glad to see Clem and daddy finally getting some special time together.  Those first 5-6 months are definitely all about mama, and while I treasure that time and am sad to see it go, I can't dwell on or live in the past so it is fun embracing this new phase of his babyhood.   

 

The kiddos: Gemma is sooooo into making pictures (and other homemade craft items...kites, crowns, frames, etc. etc. etc.) for people.  Oh my heavens we have piles and piles of envelopes and other odds and ends to take to people every time we go somewhere.  Seriously, she will spend an entire morning (and I am not exaggerating) making pictures for people, putting them in envelopes, and writing their names on them.  I don't want to hurt her feelings and just throw them away, (although sometimes I do without her seeing...and half the time she finds me out!) but by the same token I'm just not always sure what to do with the massive amount of things she makes for people (namely family and neighbors)...

In the kitchen:  Baked Ziti; Smoked Gouda and Spinach Chikcen (recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook); Mexican Chili; Chile Rellenos; hoping to make some peppermint bark today if I can find some candy canes with natural (or no) color, as Kolbe seems to have a food-dye sensitivity. 

Crafting:  Finished Kolbe's Christmas blanket, it turned out really great!  I have a lot of other ideas in my head, namely they involve the sewing machine.  I hope to tackle them within the decade.  We made these napkin poinsettias (after reading this book) for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.  They were really easy and fun, Gemma could almost do them on her own.  We have started the salt dough ornaments!!  Waiting for them to cure so we can begin painting.  (Oh shudder...children + non-washable paint is sometimes a bit more stress than I can endure.  We don't do any serious cookie baking around here for the holidays though so I figure this is a good enough alternative).

Learning: See above.  Mainly Advent activities.  Spending some time on Scripture/Salvation History with our Jesse tree readings has been good.  Really liking the Advent chain.  

Bringing me joy:  Hearing Gemma sing at Mass.  Stopping by Church this week and hearing Gregorian Chant playing over the sound system in the Church and gathering space...totally totally made my day, maybe my week.  Hearing Clem laugh.  Kolbe talking.  Seeing the kids (especially Kolbe) get sooo excited about seeing Christmas lights.  Colombian coffee.  We had been on a week or two kick of "coffee surprise" (meaning, dump all the random coffees leftover in the cabinet together and muscle through them each morning).  Oh how grateful I was for a cup of straight Colombian when that was over.  The sweet stories in this book.  My family, plain and simple. 

Thinking about: Parenting...this post really got me thinking.

Pictures to share: 

He's getting sooooo big.

Cottage Meat Loaf

This is the meatloaf recipe I mentioned in my last Journal post.  It's so easy and very, very tasty.

In order to give credit where credit is due, the copy of the recipe (I got it from my neighbor Sharon) says "Great American Recipes".  (Italics are my additions.)

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef (you could also use venison/pork)  **
1/2 cup tomato ketchup
1/3 cup tomato juice (I use a small can of tomato sauce)
1/2 tsp. each of salt and black pepper
1/8 tsp. red pepper
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup fresh bread crumbs (I use ground whole organic oats and a bit of ground flaxseed instead of the breadcrumbs)
1/4 cup finely chopped onions (I will shamelessly admit to using the dried, jarred version for this.  If I used real onions I would saute them before putting them in the meatloaf.)
2 tsp. prepared mustard

Topping:
1/4 cup tomato ketchup
1/2 tsp. prepared mushroom mustard (thanks Mary!)
2 tsp. brown sugar.

METHOD

1. In large bowl, combine ketchup, tomato juice, salt, peppers, eggs, bread crumbs (oats, etc.), onions and mustard.  Mix until thoroughly blended.
2. Add ground beef.  Mix gently but thoroughly.
3. Press into a 9x13 pan
4. In a separate bowl combine the topping ingredients, mixing well.  Spread topping over meatloaf.
5. Bake at 400 for 35-45 minutes until done.

We like to serve this with mashed cauliflower and potatoes and green beans or this tasty salad. 

**I typically use closer to 1lb of hamburger, and then scale the rest of the ingredients back accordingly.  Or I forget to scale them back and the whole thing tastes a little funny...

Journal (12th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny.  Cold.  Supposed to be mild(er) today, and then get cold (relatively speaking) tomorrow and into the first part of the week.

Clothing myself in: Aw, do I HAVE to??  Grey sweats, tank and navy sweatshirt that is too big but I wear it because it is comfortable even though I don't particularly like how it looks.  Yes, this is my life.  And I'm getting a cold sore.  Bummer.  It has been a long time since I've had one, I mainly have them under control it seems through diet/supplements, but alas...  Bleh.

Around the house:  Christmas decos are mainly up.  Advent has been nice so far. Trying to just slow things down and focus on what's important.  "People before things," in the wise words of my spiritual director.  As easy as this sounds, it's not always.  Trying though, and Advent has provided a great time and motivation to really focus on this.

In the past few weeks I successfully completed the mail merge and printed envelopes with addresses and return addresses for our Christmas letter (this is always a miracle in and of itself, I only do a mail merge once a year and I never quite remember how...pins and needles until it's actually done).  THEN, I finally decided to buckle down and write the letter.  Starting out is always the hardest part.  Once I did that it took about 10 minutes, a day to sit on it and tweak, printed it.  Got the pictures ordered with a really good deal from Shutterfly.  Got some professionals done of the kids (now I'm out of order on when I did all this, but I'm too lazy to go back and correct myself).  Folded, stuffed, stamped, SENT!!!  Whew.  Don't ask how many.  (115).  Seriously, I have tried to cut our list and I just can't.  Do I have a problem?

Hoping to tackle gift wrapping this coming week.  Done with shopping for the most part.  

Wow, that was all very random.  Sorry.

 

The baby: Is rolling now.  He had been going back to front for a few weeks (although I just actually SAW him do it for the first time earlier this week).  Just this morning he figured out the front to back thing.  Now I have to watch where I leave him!!  And the floor is just such a safe spot with an almost five and almost three year old in the house.  OH dear...

 

The kiddos:  

I'll start with Kolbe...HE DID IT!!!!!  I am ready to call "The Great Potty Adventure of 2012" a SUCCESS!!!  We haven't had any accidents for over a week, and only a few "false starts".  AND, I don't have to remind him to go.  He heads into the bathroom and does his business all on his own without being told.  YAY!!!!!!!!!!  He is still in diapers at night, and I've a feeling he probably will be for awhile, but by golly we've got days down!!  The big success was celebrated with a package of "Thomas" underpants from St. Nicholas.  

Yes, St. Nicholas.  He visited this week bearing adorable chocolate Santas, holiday t-shirts for the kids, some Xylitol gum, hair-things for Gemma, patron saint prayer cards and the aforementioned undies.  As tradition holds we read this book, and the kids watched the CCC St. Nicholas story (I DVRd it from EWTN) several times in the past few days.  Gemma was so excited for his arrival (and Kolbe too by default) that she wanted to put her shoes on the fireplace first thing the morning of the 5th.  I had to remind her she would actually need to WEAR them that day, and she could put them out at night before bed and it would be fine.  It's fun seeing the kids look forward to these traditions in our family.    

In the kitchen:  Chicken Linguine, Meatloaf (I really should blog the recipe, my neighbor brought it to us after Clem was born and it was awesome.  It's my new favorite meatloaf recipe), TACOS for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, maybe Salmon Noodles (from my Betty Crocker cook book), but I may change my mind by Friday on that one.  As of now I'm not feelin' it, but that's what the "menu" says....  I'd also like to make some parsley pesto (loosely following this recipe), a neighbor (different one) brought us some parsley from her garden and I've found this to be a great thing to have in the fridge.  And while I like basil pesto better, the parsley stuff is definitely more versatile.   

Crafting:  My kind neighbor (another one yet...we have the greatest neighbors) is letting me use her serger to finish the edges of a blanket that Kolbe will be getting for Christmas.  I tried it out the other night on some scraps, and plan to take the actual blanket over to finish some night next week.  It is fleece that I got on a SUPER good deal on Black Friday.  So excited about this!!!  I have some other sewing ideas bouncing around in my head, we'll see how soon they come to fruition. 

Learning:  Mainly Advent activities.  We're using this Jesse Tree book as part of our morning prayers, and while we're not actually doing a Jesse Tree, I printed these coloring pages out and Gemma is coloring them to hang on the cabinet as we go.  It has been a really good opportunity to immerse the kids in Scripture a bit more (we're also reading the stories from our Children's Bible) and talk specifically about Salvation History and God's covenants with His people.  Still plugging away with reading lessons.  Gemma is making some great progress.  This week we will start working on our Salt Dough Ornaments.  We will. 

Reading:  I recently finished Unplanned.  The story itself was really remarkable.  I think the thing that resonated with me most though was its testimony to the power of prayer.  Very powerful.  

Bringing me joy: A clean oven, thank you MOM.  Yes, I have the coolest mom ever.  She totally cleaned my nasty-gross-gnarly-I'membarassedthatsheevenlookedinit-oven for me and it looks AMAZING.  It was a complete surprise too.  Long story but I went to put a lasagna in the oven for dinner on Monday and had to do a double-triple take.  I thought I had somehow been crazily transported to a mystical world where they have clean ovens. 

Some time away with the baby and hubby.  Aaron had some continuing ed about 3hrs away from home last Fri./Sat.  And my dear parents (yes, the same ones who cleaned my oven) took care of Gemma and Kolbe while we were gone.  It was their first night away from home (aside from when Clem was born) so it was kind of a big deal.  They had fun, my parents had fun, and the baby and I got some uninterrupted shopping time in the "big city" while daddy was in class.  Plus getting to visit with Aaron uninterrupted in the car was kind of amazing.  AND we went on a date to a restaurant where someone else cooked and cleaned up after the meal, AND they had live jazz music.  Who knew such things existed?! (haha)   It was relaxing, but as cliche as it sounds there really is no place like home.  

Advent.

My squishy baby.

Kids who play well together (no, it's not always this way, but boy when they do it is WONDROUS).

The music on this CD.

Thinking about: How long this post is.  Congrats if you made it to the end!!!  Any thought that I've had of late is probably summed up in the above paragraphs, so I'll spare you any more insights into my wacky head. 

Pictures to share: 

The kids in their St. Nick shirts.

 Clem.  Always amused by his older siblings.

Kolbe drew a person!!!

We did a "photo-shoot" with Max the dog one day when we were playing out at the park. 

Advent 2012

Below you will find a list of our 2012 Advent Picture-Book-a-Day selections (listed in order starting with 12/2...many of them correlate with feasts and such)...some new ones and some favorites!  It is getting more fun (and more difficult at the same time) to narrow these books down each year.

Click HERE for reviews of our 2011 books. 

We will also be reading a selection from Advent Storybook each night before bed.   

We will read a daily meditation from O Radiant Dawn as a family each night at dinnertime (I have very high hopes for this book).  I plan to use selections from Celebrating Christmas and Celebrating Advent with the Jesse Tree (even though we aren't actually doing a Jesse Tree) for morning prayers with the kids, plus some extra resources for the Advent Feasts.

We also have our Advent Chain that I ordered from Autom this year to count down the days to Christmas.  I read through the activities on each link as I was putting it together last night and was very pleased...most of them we will be able to do.  This accidental find totally exceeded my expectations.  I hope they offer these every year.

Looking forward to a peaceful, prayerful Advent.  

B is for Bethlehem
Christmas in the Barn
The Friendly Beasts
Saint Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend
A Special Place for Santa
Great Joy
Mary
Under the Star: A Christmas Counting Story
Cock-a-Doodle Christmas!
The Legend of the Poinsettia
The Lady of Guadalupe
A Christmas Story
Bear Stays Up for Christmas
Usborne The Story of the Nativity
Christmas in the Big Woods
Off to Bethlehem
Silent Night: The Song and its Story
On This Special Night
Saint Francis and the Christmas Donkey
Four Friends at Christmas
Room for a Little One
The Little Drummer Boy
The Christmas Story (Little Golden Book)