Christmas 2013

We had a white Christmas this year...the kids had fun playing in the snow the Sunday before Christmas and it stuck around until the end of the week!

This year's salt-dough ornaments (minus their jewel decorations...)

Christmas morning

Family pic at Church

Ponies and new footie-jammies made for a happy morning for Gemma (and a photo bomb with his new guns in the back!)

Kolbe with his robot, Quiver the Stygimoloch (this is a very cool line of toys, by the way), and Clem with his ramp racer.

The kids were a lot of fun to shop for this year, and I think they are enjoying their gifts.  We have spent some nice time with family and friends and are thoroughly enjoying the holidays!

Journal: Christmas Eve

TODAY

Out my window:  Dark, cold, about 3 inches of snow on the ground.  Pretty.  It should be a white Christmas in these parts.

Clothing myself in:  Grey sweats, turquoise sweatshirt.  Since it's Christmas eve I will change later.

Around the house: Wrapped our last gift last night.  Well, except one I'm still waiting on to arrive...

 

The baby:  Sweet as ever.  He has been napping so much better the past month or so, it's been really nice.  I think he's ready for a big-boy bed, but we really don't want to buy one as the baby room is kind of a dedicated baby room (read: we wouldn't have anywhere else to keep it) and I don't feel like collapsing the crib, etc. etc.  I'd convert the crib to a toddler bed, but I can't lay in it with him and to me that kind of defeats the purpose. 

 

The kiddos:  Gemma got one of those bracelet maker Fun Loom things from her godmother for Christmas.  That girl is going. to. town.  I was kind of surprised she caught on so quickly.  The box says "8yrs and up" and even though she is into that kind of stuff I still thought it might be tricky for her.  I mean, when I was trying it out the night before (after kids were in bed) so I could help her with it the next morning, Aaron suggested I rename it the Dammit Loom.

Kolbe is so full of Christmas cheer, he is adorable.  He is my Christmas carol kid (LOVE hearing him sing) and Frosty the Snowman has hands-down been his favorite show of the season. 

In the kitchen: Spaghetti last night, which is a fave with everyone around here!  Aaron is carving up the Christmas Sushi today, and he'll be running the smoker on Thursday.  The rest of the week will work its way out and there will be no shortage of good things to eat I'm sure.

Crafting: ehhhhhhh, after the above comments about the loom I think I ought not claim anything here.  The salt dough ornaments are complete though, another successful year of ornament  making with the kids.

Learning:  Each day over break I'm having Gemma choose two things (her choices are math, reading and handwriting) to work on during homework time.  I googled "Common Core Kdg Math Worksheets" and was thrilled to come up with a ton (click here) that align with the standards, so I printed all stuff I know they've worked on at school.  (Strangely?) she has really been liking those and has chosen one every day.  I figured we'd just keep our regular routine (which includes hw each afternoon) over the break, and that seems to be working out well.

The little elves wrapped all the salt dough ornaments and got them labeled correctly (I hope!) so we are good to go! 

Reading:  I started A Certain Small Shepherd with Gemma, and hope to finish it sometime soon.

Watching: We started a special on The Vatican last night on H2.  I was a little dubious, because I do not typically trust the History Channel's angle on things that involve the Church and Jesus Christ.  The first part of it was interesting enough, but then I fell asleep.  Lame.  So the jury is still out, indefinitely probably.

Bringing me joy: Advent.  I love this season so much.  Family.  The snow.  Parish Mission.  Playing with the kids.  Coffee with a friend.  NPR Christmas music and my Advent at Ephesus CD.  Cozy fires in the fireplace.  Bedtime, I love the kids but I love when they go to bed too and the house is quiet...and then I pass out of exhaustion before I can really truly enjoy it.

Thinking about: Getting the kids up for the day.  Time to sign off!!

Pictures to share: 

We have some construction going on near our house, the kids thought the dirt piles were awesome!

Anyone need some size large Thirsties diaper covers?  $30 for the lot of six, excellent condition (they have just never fit my kids quite right).

Journal: Christmas is coming

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and cold, but not tooooo coooooold.  The week ahead actually looks pretty moderate.

Clothing myself in:  Grey sweats, yellow tank and a pink hoodie.  Messy bun.  Socks.  Comfy.  I love lazy days around the house with my family.

Around the house: Nice fire burning in the fireplace now.  Kids are playing nicely (enough) and hubby is making a pie.  I GOT THE CHRISTMAS LETTERS WRITTEN!!!!  And stuffed and addressed!!  And SENT!!!!!!!  Hallelujah!  Buying and wrapping is essentially done.  I am really excited about the gifts we Santa got for the kids this year, I am excited for Christmas morning!!  Speaking of Santa, I really liked this article.

 

The baby:  He nods yes or no when you ask him a question.  He doesn't have any words but he sure understands what is going on.  He is just so cute.  LOVE him!!!!

 

The kiddos:  Kolbe fell up the neighbors' front steps yesterday on the way to take them their Christmas card (and they didn't even end up being home!) and got a little gash on his forehead.  I thought it may need a stitch, but decided to wait until Aaron got home for work at lunchtime (minor emergency was open until 6, so I figured we had an out if the butterfly bandage didn't work).  He's had it bandaged up the past day now and it looks like we will be OK without a stitch, which is good.  That would have been very traumatic for him.

Gemma just has four more days of school until Christmas break!  Looking forward to that!!  Last Friday at school they had their "Santa's Workshop" where they did Christmas crafts and built gingerbread houses.  I got to go with her and it was a fun afternoon.

In the kitchen: Honey Chicken and broccoli salad; Beef and Veggie Stew; Baked Salmon and sides; quesadillas

Crafting:  Because I'm pretty sure the honesty police will get me if I count gift-wrapping as a "craft".  We will be working on our annual salt-dough ornaments sometime between now and Christmas, I am thinking that will be a good activity once Gemma is out of school.  It is fun but something I definitely have to gear myself up for.  Lots of (sometimes messy) steps.

Learning:  Oh my goodness, I put out a request on FB for recommendations for handwriting practice, and my former boss linked me to the Zaner-Bloser website.  If you click here and then scroll down and click on "free version" you can make all kinds of handwriting worksheets.  I made a whole binder of Scripture verses for each letter of the alphabet (thank you Catholic Icing), letter and number worksheets, Commandments, Sacraments.  Now Gemma can just flip through and choose something to copy.  SO excited!!  I am hoping to have her do this 3-4 times weekly during homework/learning time.  AAAAAAAND, since I put them in a binder they will be all ready for use with future children. 

Reading: Enjoying our Picture Book a Day selections immensely. 

Watching:  Gold Rush season 4.  Oh my goodness, they have no idea what they are doing in Guyana.  It is like watching a train-wreck.

Bringing me joy: Advent.  Confession.  Gifts for the kids and others.  Looking forward to the parish mission.  Advent.  My family. 

Thinking about:  meh, not much.

Pictures to share: I traveled to my aunt's funeral (with Clement) this week.  This is me with my Uncle Dennis (my aunt's hubby) and "Hank" the Koala.  Hank used to ride in Uncle D's Firebird and when I was a little girl and rode with him I'd always play with Hank.  I later 'inherited' him and he has been a fixture in every vehicle I've driven since.  Please pray for the repose of the soul of my aunt (Gloria) and also for my Uncle Dennis and their daughters.  This will be a tough Christmas for them. 

Kolbe's bonk-bonk

Advent Wreath 2013

I thought I would join in the Catholic Mom Advent Wreath link-up today!  I made our Advent wreath last year after getting plain tired of the taper candles and the messes they caused (and the sheer number we went through).  We like to leave our wreath lit during all three meals, and that turned out to be a lot of candles!!  Plus, as our children have grown and become more, um, eager in blowing out the candles all that hot wax just became a little messy.  I ordered some 3x6 inch pillars from an online store and used an old wreath and some embellishments hot-glued to one of those charger-plate things you can get at the craft store.  I love how it turned out and we are on our second year of the same candles, so even though they were a little pricey to me it was worth it.  We are also using O Radiant Dawn for the second year now as a family prayer/mediation each night.  This book is so simple and wonderful.  The Advent season is my favorite of the year...the newness, the anticipation and preparation.  I love the rhythm the prayers and traditions bring to our days as well.  Some of our other favorite family Advent traditions are:

• Reading a Picture Book a Day for Advent and Christmas 
• The Holy Heroes Jesse Tree DVD
• Lovely music to listen to like Handel's Messiah and Advent at Ephesus
• The children love their nightly story from the Advent Storybook

Blessings to you and yours as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Savior.

Journal: early Advent

TODAY

Out my window:  Dark.  Cold.  Wiiiiiiindy.  Twinkly Christmas lights.  

Clothing myself in: pass

Around the house: Most of the Christmas decorations are up.  The kids actually helped with the ornaments on tree...all three of them (well, Clem played with the purple shatter-proof ornaments that don't match the red and gold on the tree)...and it went really well.  I think they are OCD like me (scary, yes? no?) because I only had to move like three ornaments.  They did a really good job.  Aaron got a bunch of icicle lights and lined the outside of the house with them.  In years previous he has just done our two evergreen trees, but he decided the kids were getting old enough to think that was kind of lame.  ;-)  It looks really nice.

I need to write our Christmas letter.  Sigh.  Starting is always the hardest part.

 

The baby: Cute cute cute.  My parents have this dancing monkey thing that sings Jingle Bells and he started rocking. out. to it on Thanksgiving evening.  Never seen that kid, or ANY kid, dance with the moves he had.  In footie-jammies no less.  I got some video on my phone, but it is horribly awful quality.  Kind of makes me want to cry.  OH well.  Maybe he'll do it again.  I treasure the memory.  He has started shaking his head "yes" when you ask him a question.  When he has to poop he grunts and looks at me and holds my hand while we walk back to his "poop chair".  He doesn't talk much but he definitely communicates.  Oh, and he LOVES the big slide at the park and can climb up to it and go down it all by himself.  I usually guard him because I am paranoid and over-protective but he can do it on his own.  The other kids weren't doing this until they were sneaking up on two.   Oh my.

 

The kiddos:  I enjoyed Gemma's week off school, it really was nice having her around all day and I loved seeing her get to just play.  But it is nice being back in our usual routine this week too.  I am excited for Christmas break and so is she.  Not much else new.  I have been getting more "okays" and less fits when I ask her to do something, or answer something she asks, even if she isn't particularly happy about what I ask or answer, and that has been nice.  She is growing up, have I mentioned that?  

Kolbe's speech is improving so much.  He has been working on initial /k/ and is learning how to say his name!!!!!  I am noticing that he is starting to use sounds that he learns/works on at speech in his everyday conversation and I think that's so cool. 

In the kitchen: This week homemade pizza, chicken picadillo, meatloaf, chicken noodles and baked salmon.  Steamed veggies, some stuffing, tortilla chips, cheesy bread and fried rice for sides.  We have also discovered ground pork at the local meat locker and have been subbing it for beef in some things and it is really tasty! 

Crafting: We made pine cone turkeys for Thanksgiving!

I have been working on Christmas shopping (mainly online, although I did get out on Saturday for a bit...no Black Friday shopping for me this year!) and thinking about wrapping.  Lest anyone think that I think shopping is crafting, I do not.  I just had nowhere else to put that.  Progress is being made.  WHEW, this late Thanksgiving is really throwing me for a loop.  Tomorrow is the 5th?  Of December??  holy crap.

Learning:  Advent is in full swing, and I love our activities.  I was telling a friend the other night, Advent just brings such a nice rhythm to our days.  The kids are watching the Holy Heroes Jesse Tree DVD each morning during breakfast and coloring an ornament for that.  We light our Advent wreath during mealtimes.  Our Picture Book a Day selections are being enjoyed by all and we are using O Radiant Dawn (I really love this book) for family prayertime/meditation/discussion each night.  The kids also have a story each night before bed from The Advent Storybook. It is very sweet.  We are also using our activity chain again this year and I am liking it, as are the kids.  It's a fun visual to count down the days and the activities are simple yet meaningful.

Reading: bleh. nothing.  I really should pick up something.  Should. 

Watching:  This and that some evenings.  Enjoying this season of Gold Rush immensely.  

Bringing me joy: Advent.  I think this is my favorite time of year, liturgically speaking (and maybe otherwise as well).  Shopping for the kids for Christmas.  Listening to Handel's Messiah.  (Buy it.  You will not regret this purchase.)  Kolbe singing Christmas carols.  The beginnings of Christmas traditions in our family...it is really fun that the kids are getting old enough to remember things we've done other years, and I love how excited they get about some things.  Kolbe thinks Christmas lights are THE BEST, and gets so excited when he sees them. 

Thinking about: Life and death.  My aunt passed away today and there is nothing like death to get you thinking about life.  May she rest in peace.  

This article, Choosing to Make the Coffee, was really good and since I don't think I will Food for Thought anytime soon I am just sharing it here.  And speaking of Food for Thought, I liked this one entitled Can Charity Hurt? as well and thought it brought up some really good points.  I am glad to see that those who oversee large charities are asking these challenging questions of themselves and others. 

Pictures to share:  

Happy Feast Day, Clement!

LEAVES!!!

Advent & Christmas Picture-Book-a-Day 2013

This year I have picture books selected for Advent through the Epiphany.  There are so many good books...some new (to us) and some old favorites!  I smile every time I see the big pile of them in my closet.  I am going to post our title list in the order we will read them, for the most part, authors are in parenthesis, and give a brief description/commentary.  All titles can all be found on Amazon (though some are out of print).  Most of them can also be found at the local library, and we own a handful.  Blessed Advent!

1. B is for Bethlehem: A Christmas Alphabet (Wilner) - A beautiful, rhyming alphabet story of the Nativity.
2. The Friendly Beasts (we have two, one by McGinley and one by dePaola) - I really like both versions.
3. Gingerbread Baby (Brett) - So fun!!  We read this every year.
4. Marta and the Manger Straw (Kroll) - New for us this year, a very beautiful story of giving and sharing.
5. St. Nicholas: The Real Story of the Christmas Legend (Stiegmeyer) - Why don't they make this one in hard cover??  I love it.
6. A Special Place for Santa (Pieper) - Great for helping young children realize that St. Nicholas and Santa are one in the same.  Wordy, so not great for toddlers, but I still like it. 
7. The Nutcracker (Jeffers) - Gemma enjoys this story (we have a different version), this particular version is new to us this year.
8.  On This Special Night (Freedman) - A yearly fave, we're doing Nativity stories on the Sundays of Advent.
9. Mary (Wildsmith) - For the Feast of the Immaculate Conception
10. St. Francis and the Christmas Donkey (Byrd) - I think we had this one last year.  Anything about St. Francis is a winner in my books.
11. The Legend of the Poinsettia (dePaola) - LOVE this one!  Read it every year around the feast of OL Guadalupe.
12. The Lady of Guadalupe (dePaola) - Another one (that is sadly out of print) I would love to own.
13. Mortimer's Christmas Manger (Wilson) - Cute and sweet.  We usually read this dozens of times.
14. How the Grinch Stole Christmas (Seuss) - A classic.
15. Room for a Little One (Waddell) - Another yearly Nativity story.
16. The Crippled Lamb (Lucado) - New to us this year, but a beautiful story my MIL introduced me to years ago.
17. Bear Stays Up for Christmas (Wilson) - It's just fun, we love Bear around here.
18. Great Joy (DiCamillo) - I love this story, it is beautiful and the illustrations are gorgeous.  Another that we read every year.
19. Millie in the Snow (Steffensmeier) - Another fun one.
20. Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas (Wick) - We all enjoyed this one so much last year, the pictures are really fun to look at.
21. Snow Bears (Waddell) - For the First Day of Winter
22. This is the Stable (Bettoli) - Fun and rhyming, reminiscent of The House that Jack Built
23. Four Friends at Christmas (dePaola) - Gemma loves the Four Friends and their seasonal adventures.
24. The Christmas Story (Watson/Wilkin) - A beautiful Golden Book for Christmas Eve.
25. The Story of the Nativity (Usborne)
26. The Twelve Days of Christmas (Ray) - New to us this year.
27. Christmas in the Big Woods (Wilder) - We always like Mary and Laura stories. 
28. Snowmen at Christmas (Buehner)
29. Song of the Stars (Lloyd-Jones)
30. Cock-a-Doodle Christmas (Hillenbrand) - Little people (and animals) can do big things, too!
31. Mary's First Christmas (Wangerin)
32. The Last Straw (Thury)
33. Baboushka and the Three Kings (Robbins)
34. The Not So Wise Man (MacDonald)
35. Hurray for Three Kings Day (Carlson)
36. The Story of the Three Wise Kings (dePaola) - A great story for the Epiphany.

Journal: Here come the holidays

TODAY

Out my window:  Grey and cloudy.  Cold cold cold.  It is beginning to feel and look like winter outside, big time.  The fescue is beginning to go dormant, earlier this year than it has years previous.  

Clothing myself in:  New purple sweater from Old Navy, dark skinny jeans, purple and navy striped socks and the Tahitian pearls Aaron got me for Christmas when we were first married.  I have been steadily adding to my wardrobe here and there lately (I ordered a new coat this week!) and it has been nice.  Old Navy seems to have increased their quality in the past year or so (IMHO), maybe to fill the niche that Gap has left (because to me, Gap seems more like what Express used to be, and now Old Navy seems more like what Gap was, and I haven't even been into an Express for years...anyone else seeing this?) But anyways, Old Navy carries talls, which I find very appealing due to the longer torsos and and sleeves so it is nice to have new clothes that fit well.  

I am also debating about boots but just can't decide.  Is it considered stylish (enough) to wear Sperrys with skinny jeans?  (Sarah?)  

Around the house: We have had a couple fires (in the fireplace) recently and that has been sooooo cozy.  There are some nice things about winter.  ;-)

 

The baby/toddler: He is so cute.  Definitely strong-willed and tricky at times, but I am really enjoying his emergence from babyhood to toddlerhood.  A lot.  More so than I remember savoring it with the older two.  Maybe because he's walking earlier than they did?  Because he's the third?  I don't know.  But it is so fun watching him toddling around, playing and discovering things.  Naps have been better lately.

 

The kiddos: Have been playing together lately, like, reallllly well.  With their toys.  And each other.  It is unlike anything I have ever seen from them, and it has been so, so, sososososososo nice.  

Kolbe's speech really seems to be improving, and he continues to progress with his sounds that he works on each week.  I like his speech teacher and am so grateful he is able to receive services.

Gemma has the week off school this week and I'm really looking forward to that.  It should be a nice week, I am definitely looking forward to the mornings being a little more chill (figuratively, not literally). 

In the kitchen: I have a big (5x) batch of Cream of Mushroom Soup cooling in the fridge, needed to restock the freezer.  Making chicken tostadas tomorrow and Beef and Noodles Tuesday.  Aaron is planning to run the smoker later in the week (Friday?).  Rest of the week we will be fooding it Thanksgiving style.  Oh boy...  I am planning to bring Broccoli Salad to my inlaws' get-together.

Crafting: Our new stove has a double oven, and thus two handles on the front so my towels were too long to hang on the top handle (they got int he way of the lower handle/opening the oven).  I looked around, but all the bar towels (which would fit) came in five-packs where at least three of the colors would not have matched.  And I didn't want white.  So one night I decided to just cut some of my old (they were actually pretty new) towels off and hem them to the right length and it worked out really well.  One of those things that I am nerding-out about wayyyyy too much. 

Learning:  I have a stack of Thanksgiving books from the library for this week, and we will make our annual Turkey craft.  We will be taking a hiatus from Letter-of-the-Week until after the holidays so we can focus on Advent and such.  I am looking forward to this immensely. 

Reading: I read Sarah's Key this week.  It was good (I read it in like four days) but very sobering.  I learned a lot about occupied France during WWII that I did not know.  Now I have The Light Between Oceans on hold at the library.  It's been awhile since I've read any fiction, so it's nice to get my nose back in some good books.  

Watching:  The usuals.  We caught just the tail-end of a new Bill Cosby stand-up last night.  Apparently he is coming out with his first stand-up act in three decades.  He is so. stinkin'. funny.

Bringing me joy: The coming holidays, especially Advent.  Watching the kids play.  Cooking. Aaron, he is such a wonderful husband.  My Church (the universal one).  Gemma's school.    

Thinking about: The many things for which I am grateful.  Cliche I know, but grateful I am.  The coming holidays.  They kind of stress me out too.  Blogging more.  Being a more loving parent. 

Pictures to share:  

Playing Pirates.  This is about a month old, I need to dump some more current pictures off my camera soon.

Journal: late November

TODAY

Out my window:  Evening of a very warm/pleasant Fall day (well, it was when I started this post anyways).  Dark early now that the time-change has happened.  We had a big freeze this past week and all my deck plants are dead.  Well, the pansies still have a little life in them but the mums are shot.  Very seasonal.  I like this time of year.  I do not look forward to that stretch between January and March though.  Alas...

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a t-shirt.  And flip-flops.  Exciting.

Around the house: I dusted the blinds and cleaned the windows in the living room today.  Dusting blinds has got to be the. most. tedious household chore ever.  Ever.

 

The baby toddler:  He is so funny, he has very strong feelings about which parent he prefers, it just depends on the time of day.  Typically if it's between about 7pm and 6am it's me.  Once he wakes up in the morning though it's alllllll about daddy.  He is not saying any words, except for pointing and saying something that sounds sort of like "here" only more pathetic.  Naps have been fair.  The kindergarten pickup in the middle of the day just makes it hard.  But I suppose I prefer poor naps to all-day kindergarten.  He has started enjoying being read to, his favorite is Brown Bear.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma has been really pleasant lately for the most part.  And helpful.  She is growing up.  She's getting more confident with her reading.  She is really looking forward to Thanksgiving Break, she gets a whole week off!  Saturdays have taken on a whole new meaning to her (and me) as well with the advent of school, so the weekend is something fun for us to look forward to each week.

Kolbe has still been plenty tricky.  I think it's just a new phase of development in the life of a little boy who is almost four.  Sigh.  He's growing up too, Lord help guide my little boy -- toots and spit and orneriness and all.  Today at Mass I was pointing out things on the altar and asked him if he wanted to be a server and help Father someday.  He answered, "no, I want to be Father."  Of course in my silliness I smiled proudly, and then he said, "and I want Father to be me."  Ooooookay...

In the kitchen:  This week: Mexican Chili; Chicken Pizza, with mushrooms and spinach and some artichokes in my cabinet I need to use; chicken fajitas with lots of veggies (because I FINALLY made a trip to the tortilla store), tuna (actually salmon) melts on whole wheat english muffins.  Good eats.  I need to make a trip to the meat locker (or the meat-candy store as my husband calls it) this week and pick up some things for the freezer. 

Crafting: I made a couple little photo albums to put in my "bag of tricks" for Mass for the boys to look at.  I included pictures from Baptisms, Easter family pictures from Church, pictures of different religious crafts the kids have done, and pictures of them being nice siblings (holding babies, playing nicely together, etc.).  We'll see if they...erm...help.  Mass has been...interesting lately.  My friend had a really good take on Mass with kids here, check it out.

Learning:  We have "Ll" this coming week and then we're taking a break from letters to fully enjoy and celebrate Thanksgiving (I need to find a turkey craft for the kids...), Advent and Christmas.  I am ready for a change in pace with this.  I've been trying to "rough out" a plan for Advent.  We'll do our Activity Chain again and are going to attempt the Jesse Tree with this DVD I ordered from Holy Heroes and the accompanying ornaments (so excited about the simplicity of this, the Jesse Tree has always intimidated me too much to really do).  I have high hopes.  We'll also do our Picture Book a Day again, that is always fun!

Reading:  Still working my way through Deus Caritas Est and The Faith Understood.  Trying to think what I have in our Ll pile...I always enjoy the picture books we check out for Letter of the Week.  Sometimes more than the kids I think.  ;-)  In November is a great one this time of year.

Watching:  Gold Rush.  Pawn Stars.  Alaska: The Last Frontier.  I have yet to find anyone really who watches the same shows we do.  I'm not sure what this says.  

Bringing me joy:  Confession and chatting with my Spiritual Director.  Such a gift.  A completely wonderful Saturday morning with the kids yesterday.  It was seriously unbelievable.  Just one of those days you want to bottle up and remember.  Cute Clem. 

Thinking about:  The Mass.  We (Aaron and I sans kids) attended the Latin Mass (Extraordinary form) last weekend at a local Catholic Church.  It was very beautiful.  It was a very profound reminder that we don't pray at Mass, we pray the Mass.  It also gave me a deeper and different appreciation for the Novus Ordo as well, which I didn't expect.  This was my first experience with the Latin Mass, and while I can't imagine worshipping like that all the time, I found it to be beautiful and prayerful and a good lesson in the history of the Church's liturgy as well.  Thinking about Christmas gifts, and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Christmas is actually less than six weeks away.  Really?  Really???  Six weeks????!!!

Pictures to share:  

I think they're pretty cute.

Him too.

Journal: a rainy afternoon

The big kids are watching Clifford and the baby is napping on the loveseat (don't judge), so I think I will journal.

TODAY

Out my window:  It is rainy and cool outside, very late Fall looking and feeling.  I like it.  But I still dread winter.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans, tank, Old Navy sweatshirt.  Debating about some socks, it's getting chillier as the day goes on.

Around the house: Kitchen renovation is COMPLETE (aside from sealing the travertine backsplash which needs to be done towards the end of the week when the grout is done curing).  It took about 72 hours from start to finish, and while we didn't do any of the work ourselves Aaron did a great job playing contractor.  Everything went off without a hitch until the very end when Aaron and our tile guy were installing the over-mount microwave (those things are tricky) and one of the brackets fell into the inside of the microwave.  Thankfully Lowe's had another microwave in stock and let Aaron come and switch it out.  Other than that, everything went so very smoothly!  We are grateful and enjoying our "new" space immensely.  We are also enjoying homecooked meals again.  72 hours of carry-out left us with some hung.over. guts.  Oh my goodness...

 

The baby: Is sleeping.  By himself.  I don't care if it is on the couch.  He is NAPPING!  Of course, now he probably won't go to bed so easily or early.  He is a busy boy and likes to keep up with the big kids (a little too much probably). 

 

The kiddos:  

GEMMA has recently turned a corner, and many of the things that were huge struggles with her seem to have ironed themselves out more or less.  I'm not saying she doesn't still have her issues, but oh my we have taken many steps forward in the past month or so it seems.  It is refreshing.  She is really growing up.  I cannot believe she will be six in a couple months.

KOLBE has also turned a corner, but he seems to have turned the wrong way down a one-way street.  OH my has he been trying lately.  And by "trying", I do not mean trying to be good.  More like "trying" every ounce of patience that I have, and then borrowing from there.  Spitting, aggressiveness, not listening, throwing toys, not listening.  He keeps me on my toes (understatement of the century).  Guess he feels like he has to step it up now that things are going better with Gemma??  I don't know.  I am grateful that he is at least temporarily quiet and calm on the couch right now.  Thank you, Clifford.  Other than that I am just surviving each day, attempting to be peaceful and patient and loving, and trying to savor the times that he is my lovey, snuggly little guy (usually at bedtime). 

In the kitchen:  REAL FOOD!  WW spaghetti with beef/Italian sausage and lots of spinach and mushrooms last night, flounder tonight with some sort of side dishes TBD.  Not sure what Aaron is cooking on Thursday.  Salmon, fried rice and steamed broccoli.  Family dinner.  I should probably make more muffins now that we're up and running again, the kids love muffins. 

Crafting: Kolbe's space rocket costume last week!  I also performed surgery on a bra to remove the underwire.  That counts, right?  NO comments from the peanut gallery please (yes I'm talking to you U.J.). 

Learning:  Gemma has been practicing her November sight words and color words and I think will test on them soon.  Kolbe also has flashcards to do each day for speech, so I made the kids each sticker charts for the fridge and they put a sticker on each day when they've done their cards.  This seems to help everyone (me included) remember to do these important things each day! 

Reading: Prayer for Beginners (ILL, so I need to hurry) and The Faith Understood.  Trying to read a saint story each morning at breakfast with the kids for the month of November.

Watching:  Finished episodes I and II of Catholicism.  Enjoying the new season of Gold Rush!! and have a number of Pawn Stars on our DVR to catch up on.    

Bringing me joy:  A fun Halloween with the hubby and munchkins.  A new kitchen.  Kind people.  Rainy Tuesdays.  Autumn leaves.  A quiet afternoon with the baby (thanks mom!) when the kids were going nuts (another understatement) with workers in the house.  People who are uplifting and kind when my kids (ahemKOLBEahem) make Mass, um, challenging. 

Thinking about: Prayer.  And Low-flow toilets.  Does it really save water when you have to flush it three times?

Pictures to share: 

Matching brothers.

Halloween 2013

I posted pictures on Facebook but thought I would put them (and some commentary) here as well, more for personal posterity than anything else, but in case you're interested...

Gemma wanted to be a ballerina.  She is very into all things girlie.  She went back and forth between ballerina, princess, butterfly and her sucker playclothes dress the past couple months.  She ended up with ballerina, which was mainly her wearing her playclothes trick or treating.  We went last weekend to Target and got her a crown.  Easy-peasy and she was thrilled with her costume

Kolbe wanted - in the worst way - to be a space rocket.  I tried and tried to talk him out of it.  "Let's be a baseball player!  Want to be a monkey?!  Baseball players are really cool, you can where your baseball shirt from the playclothes."  "Please?!!"   No. Freakin'. Dice.  Finally my mommy guilt got the best of me and after a (very quick) google search I decided I could figure it out myself.  Not the greatest costume ever but he was thrilled and that's all that matters.  And it didn't take too terribly long either!  The only disappointment from Kolbe was that he couldn't really fly.  I guess he didn't account for that.  Stinkin' gravity.

Clem was our only child with no opinion this year (about his Halloween costume anyways), so we had round three of the cute little lion.  (round one HERE, and round two HERE).  Not much more to say about him.  Too much cuteness.  

The plan was for all of us to trick-or-treat the immediate neighbors and then have Aaron take the big kids around the loop while Clem and I passed out treats at our house.  Clem did not want anything to do with me, so he set off with daddy and sis and bro.  According to Aaron he lasted about three houses until he conked out.  Sleepy, opinionated little lion cub.  Daddy is sure a trooper.

Gemma had her Fall party at school which she had been eagerly anticipating all week.  She got some treats and they played pin the eye on the alien.  She was very excited about it.  In the afternoon Aaron carved our big pumpkin with the kids, and Target and their $.70 pumpkin sticker kits saved the day with the Pumpkin Patch pumpkins.  We are also in the midst of kitchen renovations, so it was quite the busy day but we had a fun Halloween.

 

Catholic Company Review: The Queen and the Cross

The Queen and the Cross: The Story of Saint Helen beautifully weaves together fact and legend to tell the story of St. Helen and her quest to find the real Cross of Jesus.  When I saw this book on The Catholic Company's review list I immediately thought of my daughter (who will be six in January) and now that I've read it I can't wait to share it with her.  It is definitely perfect for the K-1-2 group.  The story is told in a simple way without sounding like it is "talking down" to its readers and the illustrations are just beautiful.  I love how St. Helen is portrayed.  I also really appreciated the fact that this book was hardback.  Gemma will be getting her own room here in a year or two and this book will definitely be on her bookshelf to share together or read on her own!  I like the idea of sharing good saint biographies with our children and instilling in them a love for and knowledge of the saints and their place in the Church from an early age, and books like this that focus on the story of one particular saint are a great way to do this.  This review was written as part of the Catholic book reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on The Queen and the Cross-The Story of St. Helen. The Catholic Company is the best resource for all your seasonal needs such as First Communion gifts as well as ideas and gifts for the special papal Year of Faith.

Journal: Pumpkin patch

TODAY

Out my window: Fall is definitely here, it looks and feels like Fall.  And we have pumpkins on the deck!  Everyone is finally well and we made it to the pumpkin patch the other day.  It was a beautiful Fall afternoon and the kids and I had such a wonderful time.  Fun memories, I'm glad Gemma kept nagging me about taking them, we had so much fun and were there for every bit of two hours.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans, tank and an Old Navy sweatshirt.  

Around the house: I have a gal who buys stuff and then consigns it coming over tonight to go thru a big tub of stuff.  I will be glad to have it gone, even better to (hopefully) make a couple bucks!!  I did pretty well last time she came.  Also, we had family pictures taken this past weekend.  OH pictures stress me out ridiculously, but they turned out good and I'm getting excited to get some new pictures in frames around the house.  I have our order all put together and OK'd the final edits from the photog, so now we just wait for pics.  I ordered all our pictures for Christmas cards too so it is nice to have that taken care of and ready before Thanksgiving (and Advent!)  Now to think about a letter.  And presents.  and. and. and.......  holidays.

 

The baby: I'm going to eek a couple more weeks out of "baby" then I should probably change this to "toddler".  When did that happen?  He has definitely started acting more like a toddler...  Naps have been marginally better now that I've just resigned myself to the fact that he naps better on me.  And honestly, when he naps less he goes to bed earlier and that's kind of nice.  You just can't have it all.  ;-)  He is so cute, after I undress him before baths he goes and puts his clothes in the dirty clothes in our room all by himself, and then I love watching his naked little baby butt running to the bathtub. TOO cute! ! !

 

The kiddos:  Gemma's reading is starting to show some improvement, so that is fun for her and me.  Like I said, she was my nagging force when it came to going to the Pumpkin Patch and I'm so glad she nagged, we just had such a great time.  It is fun beginning to see traditions like this develop with the kids.  She is little miss rule follower.  We had an issue with her not wanting to take her coat to school on a cold day when she really needed to wear one, and realized it was because her teacher said they couldn't wear coats in the classroom.  She translated this into she couldn't wear a coat to school and by golly she wasn't going to break that rule.  Once she realized she could wear it and hang it on a hook, we were good!

 

Kolbe has been a little tricky lately.  I'm not sure if it's still just "recovering from being sick funkies" or if he has, erm, turned over a new leaf.  He has always been soooooo stinkin' sweet, and lately he's just been a little bit of a stinker.  But he is always very remorseful for his stinkiness so that helps a bit.  Even so, my can he try my patience sometimes...I find myself failing in the patience department more than I succeed lately though, and I'd like to change that.  Sigh.  He was really looking forward to shooting baskets at the Pumpkin Patch like he did last year (I couldn't believe he remembered, completely unprompted) and we didn't find the basketball goal until we were getting ready to leave.  Needless to say we stayed longer.  Kolbe is currently obsessed with "poppers" (bubble wrap of any shape or form) and every time Aaron comes home he asks, "did you buy any poppers for me?"  One day we found some in the basement and he popped it all.  Now every day we have to go down to the basement and check if there happens to be more.  Haha.  

I love this picture of the two of them

In the kitchen: This week's menu: Park Cutlets with Sweet Potato Fries and Three Bean Salad; Beef and Veggie Stew; leftovers; Honey Chicken and sides TBD; Shrimp Linguine maybe.   We bought a frozen Hawaiian Pizza (we never buy frozen pizzas) and it was pretty tasty, so I think I am going to try my hand at homemade Hawaiian Pizza sometime soon.  Anyone have any tips?  And speaking of in the kitchen, our big renovation is NEXT WEEK !!! !!! !!!!!!!, so it will probably be a couple nights of carry out and chinet while we don't have running water or functional appliances.

Crafting: nothin' nothin' nothin'.  Maybe I should make a YouTube "how to" series about crafting.  Now that would be stellar. 

Learning:  Ii week and activities this week...inchworms, insects, ice cream and iguanas.

Reading: I am currently reading Deus Caritas Est.  YAY for free downloads.  Kolbe enjoyed Isaac the Ice Cream Truck for Ii week and Gemma and I have started Saturday Cousins.

Watching:  Tomorrow, people!  TOMORROW is the season premiere of GOLD RUSH!!  So excited!!!  Oh, and of course the playoffs and World Series has been on in the background many an evening.  Aaron and I have also finally started the Catholicism series.  

Bringing me joy: Pumpkin Patch with the kids.  Pretty Fall leaves.  Mums and pansies.  Footie jammies (on the kids, not me).  Busy fun Saturday.  Family pictures being OVER (and turning out reasonably well). 

Thinking about:  The line between being selfless and putting others first but still taking care of myself.  Does that make sense?  Love.  Trying to be happy with my life the way it is and not getting resentful over things. 

Pictures to share:  

Pumpkin Patch kiddos.

Clem really did have a good time, he was just ready to go.