Journal: Snow

TODAY

Out my window:  Snow on the ground and sunshine.  We're supposed to get hit with another snowstorm tomorrow.  Holy cow, it's either feast or famine around here.  Grateful for the moisture, but um, wow.  We have not had, like, any snow in forever (seriously, it's been several years) and now this?  Just rolling with it.  Spring will come soon.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a (new!) coral colored long-sleeve tee from GAP.  Black socks.  Fresh haircut, ahhhhhhhhh and even a small bit of makeup (we went to Mass this morning).

Around the house: Starting to take stock of spring/summer wardrobes for the kids.  I ordered a bunch of stuff from Kohl's for the kids and almost all of it is going to work, including their summer shoes (Kolbe's and Gemma's...I have purchased these Nike sandals for 3 or 4 summers now and they have staying power.  They cost a little more but it is worth it to me.  I can toss them in the washer, the kids can put them on by themselves, they are pretty much all the kids wear for every day.)  As you can see to the right, Gemma was particularly pleased with her night dress (she's been asking for one for months) and the matching one it came with for Baby Lamb.  I still have some odds and ends I need to pick up, but we're actually sitting pretty good (big sigh of relief).  I even got a few things for myself!

The baby: Has a tooth!  Who knew?!  I kept checking the bottom and nothing doing, and then today I felt his top gums and what do you know there's a big 'ole honkin' tooth there.  I thought they were supposed to get their bottom teeth first??  That's what my other two have done.  Silly babies.  He is starting to sit very well on his own.  And he will eat chunks of banana and avocado from his tray/our fingers and actually open his mouth eagerly for it.  I am all for finger foods, if I can avoid the hassle of processing and pureeing this go-around I will be beyond thrilled.  He really likes watching the big kids play, and I think part of him really wishes he could be up running around with them.  Soon enough, baby, soon enough.

 

The kiddos:  Have totally been loving the snow.  I totally love their daddy who is willing to take them out (twice one day even!) to play in it.  

On a more serious note, I think we are going to have Kolbe assessed for his speech issues through our local school district.  Like I told a friend (whose boys have also had speech problems), "first it was cute, then it was funny, and now, well, not so much."  He is beginning to talk lots and lots more, but is not getting any easier to understand (in fact, probably harder).  Aaron and I sat down and started going through the alphabet, and there are sooooo many sounds he is unable to make.  I know Gemma talked extraordinarily early (and well), so my bar was probably pretty high, but we are definitely wondering if Kolbe could benefit from some help.  We'll see...

Gemma has started narrating her life by song.  It is very cute.

In the kitchen: Baked Ziti with fried zucchini; Quesadillas; Chicken Stuffing Casserole with mixed veggies; Salmon patties with simple (probably canned) sides (a la Lenten Friday)

Crafting: Hmmmmm, nope.

Learning:  Lenten activities mainly.  We have gotten some good books from the library lately.  I always appreciate getting good book recommendations (Kansas Mom has some good recommendations here) so if you've read anything good with your kids lately, sound off! We also pulled out our snow stories and have particularly enjoyed The Snowy Day and Snowmen at Night.  Kolbe has gotten really into cutting lately, so I am trying to be more deliberate about giving him things to work on. 

Reading: Finished Unconditional Parenting.  Glad I read it, it's given me lots about which to think.  I've gotten ahead with my Catechism reading for the Year of Faith and am really enjoying it.  I'm perusing The New Read-Aloud Handbook, and am looking forward to starting Fill These Hearts and looking at a few others I have on hold at the library.  I think we are going to put By the Shores of Silver Lake down.  It's just getting a little too above Gemma (in my opinion), and she has so many questions.  I don't want to shelter her or censor things, but some of the things we're encountering just seem a bit much for her.  I picked up a used copy of Happy Little Family, so I think we will start that this week. 

Bringing me joy: Gemma saying "thanks be to God" from across the house when I'm listening to the daily Mass readings while I cook dinner.  Cocktails.  Chatting with my hubby.  A snuggly baby at night.  A fresh haircut.  Snow.  Longer days.  Pink toenail polish.  Gemma singing "Like a Shepherd" to me at bedtime.  Little things.     

Thinking about: Prayer.

Pictures to share:  

Two more.  Sorry for the picture overload, with only blogging once a week (it seems anymore) or maybe twice, I like to share what I can when I can!

Gemma built a church with their bocks and animals.  See the priest
at the front?

Big snow 2013

It's been so long since we had a big snow (or any snow for that matter) I decided it was worth its own post...or at least pictures with captions anyways.

Kolbe was so proud of his snowflakes...a big circle with a hole cut out of the center!!

Gemma's snowman!

Snowcream!!

Gemma was a little more detailed with the snowflakes...you should have seen the kitchen floor when we were done!

 

Outdoor play, courtesy of daddy!!

This is what Gemma's snowman looked like the next morning, it was half buried with all the snow overnite!

Gemma wanted to practice making a snowman in the house with her "kit".

Happy snow day everyone!!!

Journal: Lent

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny.  Warmish.  As I type this (Sunday) the deck door is open and a nice, fresh breeze is blowing in.  Still February though.

Clothing myself in:  Well, I'm in sweats and a t-shirt now, but EARLIER I was wearing a grey sweater with a turquoise tank underneath, some pinstripe black dress-pants, my black flats and a necklace!!  I also ordered some clothes from GAP and Kohl's so we'll see what I think, and got a new pair of brown flats that I really like from Maurices (they're just a leeeeetle too small but they're so cute I'll take the hit).  I'm even toying with the idea of skinny jeans...  Baby steps.  

Around the house: Made some baby food for the baby (see below).  Need to dust blinds and clean windows (I've started...).  Lent is in full-swing.   I've been noticing our electric bill has been creeping up each month.  My best guess is laundry (namely dryer), as the laundry seems to have increased exponentially between adding a fifth member and the kids getting bigger so I've started to use my drying rack for more than just diapers.  I am wondering if I can rig up some sort of clothesline on the deck this summer...  Oh, and I finally packed our Nativity away (it sits on our fireplace mantle from late November thru February) and spent a whole day rearranging some of our decorative items around the house only to put them ALL -- yes, every last one -- back in their original spots.

 

The baby: Has been dabbling in a bit of solid food, he doesn't seem too impressed though.  Seriously, who makes such a face over bananas and sweet potatoes?!  None of my kids have been quite so, um, expressive of their dislike.  He'll get the hang of it I'm sure.  We got the high chair out this past week, and it has been a nice place to put him while we eat dinner as he is getting too squirmy and grabby for my lap, so we'll just try a few bites each night since he's in there anyways.  I like his new bibs.  They do great with the dribbly goo that goes along with first feedings.

The kiddos:  The fasting we decided to do with the kids is going SO much better than I thought it would.  Gemma is actually really diligent about it.  I should have more faith in them I suppose. The day before Lent I sat down with them and they chose some things they like (food items, toys, etc.) and we assigned one to each day of the week from which to fast, and then I put it on our fridge charts.  Kolbe is doing fine with it, as he seems to take his cues from Gemma on most things.  I never would have attempted this with Gemma when she was three.

Crafting: I made our Alms jar and am pleased with how it turned out. 

In the kitchen: Chicken, garlic and ranch pizza; Tacos with fixings; Minute Steaks with mashed cauliflower and potatoes and steamed veggies as sides; Salmon Pasta Casserole 

Learning: Made Lenten pretzels with the kids (and their cousin) one day last week.  Finished up on birthday thank you notes and the kids made their Valentines.  Enjoying our Forty Clues for Forty Days Lent book and trying to find a small extension activity to do that goes along with each day's clue.  I also picked up We Have a Pope after this week's announcement and the kids (and I) enjoyed it immensely.  Gemma is very curious about all this and has talked about it quite a bit (especially at bedtime, when she traditionally has her deepest thoughts).  She should remember this when she is an adult, so it's neat to experience this time in Church History with her.   Starting to think about what things I'd like to do with Kolbe next year when Gemma is in school.  

Reading: Still finishing up on Unconditional Parenting, I kind of set it aside.  I've actually gotten ahead in my Catechism reading for the Year of Faith, as it dawned on me I can read out of the actual Catechism book instead of just my inbox.  I am so clever.  I requested my first title from The Catholic Company's blogger review program, a children's book of saints, and am looking forward to taking a look at it.  All our saint books still seem a bit above my kids.  From what I've heard I have high hopes for this one.  I'll report back. 

Bringing me joy: A family Valentines date to the zoo.  Surviving Ash Wednesday Mass with all three kids and no daddy along.  Watching Gold Rush with Aaron, bummed this season is almost over.  Gemma telling me, "you tell great stories, mom," after one of my bedtime stories.  Trust me, my stories are not very good.  She was so genuine about her compliment, I really think it's one of the nicest, most heartfelt compliments she's ever given me.  Watching the kids with their "fishing poles" (sticks with ribbon tied to them and a bobber tied to the end).  They practiced casting on the deck for quite some time, and then did some "real" fishing with them in the pond later in the day.

Thinking about: Pope Benedict XVI's resignation and who our new Pope will be.  Chuckling at the media and their skewed fascination with all things Catholic. 

Pictures to share:  

I interspersed them in my post this week.  Nothin' else.

Teethers

In my experience (or lack-thereof) as a parent, I have always thought teethers to be a funny item...meaning, my children have never actually teethed on them, they have just been a random brightly colored item that is fun to throw on the floor.  When I was Christmas shopping I somehow stumbled upon these Sili Paw teethers and thought they looked cool so decided to order them.  They are super-great.  The texture has a lot more give than any other teether I've seen, even the ones that are filled with water.  Clement spends a LOT of time actually teething on this, which is a first around this house.  I'm not sure it does any good helping those teeth through (he still doesn't have any), but it is highly entertaining and in my books that is worth gold.  I didn't get anything in exchange for this review, I simply wanted to share.  If you are looking for a teether that your child will actually use, pick up a couple of these.  I ordered ours from Kohl's, and you can currently search for Kohl's coupon codes for 30% off and free shipping on any order, so that would make these a very good deal.  Definitely worth it in my books.  They are available in boy and girl colors.  And in the interest of full disclosure, yes, my baby is riding in a laundry basket.

Journal: Wardrobe lamentations

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny. Cold. Windy.  I am soooo over winter.

Clothing myself in:  I'll save this one for when I actually publish this post.  Maybe I'll be wearing something nicer.  Probably not though.  Nope.  Definitely not.

Around the house: My sister had a baby girl last week, so I have been going through our girl tubs to find things to share with her.  We have about twice as many girl clothes as we need, as we were given lots of new things and hand-me-downs and had various other opportunities to acquire clothes relatively inexpensively, and I saved everything, so it is nice to pare down a bit.  The more kids we have the more I realize that sometimes (most times) less is more when it comes to "stuff". 

 

The baby:  Has started sitting on his own....well, with a little help, but he's getting steadier every day.  Night sleep has been marginally better.

 

The kiddos:  Might go crazy if spring doesn't come soon. SO much energy, so little space.  Oh my heavens.

Gemma lost a tooth!!!!!!  She mentioned on the way home from Catechesis last Monday that she had a loose tooth and I was a bit dubious, but sure enough she had not one but two loose teeth.  She wiggled it all week and it was so loose on Sunday I told her to try to pull it because I knew she'd do better with that than me trying to.  It got really loose and she kind of freaked out, but mid-freaking-out it fell out and she was pretty excited.  Thankfully there was very little blood, so it must have been ready to come out.  She wrote a card and drew pictures for the tooth fairy, she was so excited!!

Kolbe has started going to sleep on his own at night and that has been a nice developmental progression.  It's just always reassuring that those needy babies who nurse all night and like to snuggle in mommy and daddy's bed do indeed grow up and sleep on their own eventually (in their own time).  I remember being very dubious of that fact when Gemma was a baby.  ;-) 

In the kitchen: Honey Chicken (double batch to share, thanks again for this recipe Elizabeth!); Mexican Chili; Tuna (actually probably salmon) Melts; Chile Rellenos (we have two meatless days this week!!); hubby picked up what he deemed a "really good looking bunch of kale" and requested some Kale Quinoa Salad so I'll likely make a batch of that in there somewhere.

Crafting: Nope.  Nada.  Nothing.  Except the million flowers I am in the middle of cutting out for our Lenten prayer garden. OY!

Learning:  Getting ready for Lent.  I posted our Lenten goals and ideas here.  Making Valentines this week and finishing up on birthday thank-yous.  We have more religious type things planned for learning time during Lent, but will probably try to tackle a handwriting lesson or two a week.  Gemma has been requesting reading lessons lately so we've been tackling those too.

Reading: Getting ready to finish Unconditional Parenting, and let me just say I am so glad that I didn't put it down.  The more I read the more I like.  It very much focuses on love and relationships with your children, looking at your long-term/life goals for them vs. getting [manipulating] short-term "good" behavior and obedience.  It takes a "working with" vs. "doing to" approach, which is definitely in-line with Aaron's and my (continually emerging and evolving) parenting style.  And I get him a bit more on the praise thing now (or lack there-of), in that it's more in the semantics than just plain not praising our kids.  If Gemma is sharing nicely, instead of saying "good job at sharing," say something like, "look how happy Kolbe is."  Basically try to get your kids thinking about how others feel rather than whether they are going to be punished or rewarded/praised for any given action.  I could go on (and on and on) but I'm not in the mood to do a full-blown review.  Lots of food for thought though, and definitely a re-affirmation that parenting is not for the faint of heart.  If you're looking to really examine the way you parent and why you do the things you do I would definitely recommend it.  It isn't really a "method" at all, but a way of looking at things and I liked that (I don't do well with being told what to do).  It has definitely caused me to be more introspective and deliberate in my parenting.  I checked this book out from the library.

We finished On The Banks of Plum Creek and started By the Shores of Silver Lake and I don't know.  Nothing objectionable, but I am wondering if it is just getting a bit "mature" for Gemma... 

I asked for book recommendations on my Facebook and tagged everything that people said either on  my library list or my Amazon wishlist, so I have a lot to choose from in the coming months.  I also signed up for The Catholic Company's blog review program, so we'll see if they accept me. 

Bringing me joy: An afternoon date with  my hubby (and baby) to the home show.  Baby slept on my back most of the time, and we had a nice afternoon ambling around together while the kids played at Mrs. Jo's house.  We have such great neighbors!

Thinking about: The fact that every time I look in my closet I want to cry.  I don't even know where to start with my wardrobe it's so far gone.  Not that I have time.  Shopping with three 5 and under isn't exactly my cup of tea...  But oh, it is scary in there.  I really should start exercising too, but again, the time thing...  Gemma's upcoming kindergarten, she had screening this week and it went well but I'm just, I don't know, apprehensive.  Probably mostly because I don't deal well with change. And balance, oh balance.  Life is so crazy some most days sometimes I just feel like my life has turned into constant treading water.  We knew it would be nuts when we found out #3 was on the way, and that this would likely be one of our craziest years, so I have to keep reminding myself of that.  Now and again I will catch a glimpse of the light at the end of this tunnel so I do have hope.  But wow.  Just, wow.  Ramble over.

Pictures to share:  

The toothless wonder.  Mom, do you have my tooth pillow?  I can't find it.

A (very belated) birthday cupcake.

Clem showing off his new skilz.

Lent 2013

I thought I'd blog our plans for Lent this year, more for my benefit to look back on than anything else, but if you're curious read on, most (all?) of these ideas I've gotten from someone else.  

• The liturgical-themed centerpiece works well for us...I could do what I did last year, but I'm thinking of using a glass candle-holder filled with sand and one of our 3 inch pillar purple Advent candles, and then some other purple embellishments.  I've also started putting monthly liturgical items (prayer cards for Feasts of the month, statues, religious pictures, etc.) on our little corner shelf in the dining room by our daily calendar and weather chart, so I'll probably put some Lenten items there as well.
• I will make charts again for each week with daily prayer, fasting and almsgiving activities (plus a weekly [short] memory verse).
• PRAYER We are doing a prayer garden this year.  I printed (and am still cutting) a bunch of construction paper flowers and we will write our daily intention on the flower and hang it on the cabinet in the kitchen.  We will pray for these intentions specifically during morning prayers and at dinner as a family.
• FASTING We will again choose an item (that I have already shopped for) for the babies in the pro-life outreach each day (a modified idea from this book). Whomever's "day" it is according to The Magnet will get to chose the item.   And we will of course fast from meat on Fridays.  We are also going to try to fast (as a family) from treats on Fridays.  This will be a first for the whole family, and I think it will be difficult for the kids.  I am struggling with fasting and what is appropriate for young children.  I think it is important for them to learn about sacrifices, but don't want to force things too much.  Like I said, struggling with this one.  Any insight or experience would be appreciated.
• ALMSGIVING We will count a specific item in the house and put that many coins in our alms jar to give the pro-life outreach after Easter.
• This year Gemma and Kolbe will each have their own Lenten Path from Catholic Icing to color a square a day.  These will hang "in" our prayer garden.
• During our morning prayers we will read a Psalm or other short Scriptural passage from Magnificat. 
• We are going to learn the Act of Love as a family, and pray it in the morning and evening.  
• On our corner shelf, I will have a "Sacrifice Jar", where the kids can put a purple bead when they make a sacrifice, a red bead when they do something loving, and a yellow bead when they say a special prayer on their own.  We'll see how this goes, it's kind of an evolving idea and I am drawing my inspiration from several sources...
• I was given a neat little booklet called Forty Clues for Forty Days that we'll do each day during Learning Time in the afternoon.  I'll also have some rotating books from home/library/prayer books etc. sitting around and try to focus on reading some of them each afternoon.
• I picked up a couple Stations of the Cross coloring books for the kids.
• We'll pray a Sorrowful Mystery each time we get in the car with this CD.
• We are going to attempt weekly Stations of the Cross in the afternoon at our parish.  
• Aaron and I have a daily meditation book by Henry Nouwen and we are going to try to watch the Catholicism series, we have a handful recorded on the DVR and my sister owns the whole set.

Please share your ideas in the comments, or better yet, do your own blog post!  I love reading about what others are doing and getting new ideas!!

A blessed Lent.

Journal: Oh February

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and mild, a bit of a breeze.  Blah February looking landscape.

Clothing myself in:  Dark grey sweats and oddly the same t-shirt I was wearing last week when I typed my journal post.  I need to go jeans shopping.  I am so sad, I had been doing great with Maurice's "long" jeans, and they seem to have shortened the inseam by an inch which makes them juuuuust a little too short for my comfort.  So now back to square one.  Bleh.

Around the house: Laundry day today.  Thinking I should probably pack the Nativity away from the mantle but not quite ready for my "spring/summer" deco item that goes there and don't really have anything for in-between.  Getting stuff ready for Lent.

 

The baby: He's so cute but boy he doesn't always sleep very well at night.  I don't remember Kolbe or Gemma being quite so needy.  He usually doesn't even make it until Aaron's and my bedtime anymore before awakening in his crib, and I usually just resettle him in our bed at that point.  He nurses at night, a lot.  Co-sleeping makes this easier (I would probably lose my mind if I were getting up with him), but even then some nights just get to be very restless for me.  We'll see what the coming months bring, it just kind of is what it is.  I'm wondering if he's ready to start eating some "people food".  Aaron really wants to share a banana with him, and part of me is ready to start him on solids.  But part of me wants to keep him a baby for longer and not have to deal with the hassle of food and the washing out of poop from diapers and all that.  Because if I don't feed him people food he will stay a baby forever, right?  And then there's teething.  OH teeth.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma must be going through a growth spurt.  She eats all. the. time.  Besides her three meals a day, she usually has 4-5 snacks a day.  Any creative/fun/healthy snack suggestions? We are kind of in a rut of popcorn, fruit/vegetables, oatmeal or whole-grain toast/crackers/cereal.  It would be fun to have something else easy and a bit more exciting to offer.  What are your kids' favorite snacks?  Her latest favorite thing to do is make picnics with her play food.  We often have at least one picnic a day, complete with birthday party cupcakes.  This has been a fun way to teach her the proper way to set a table as well (we sure like this dish set).  For Christmas and birthday she received several items that we had to take back for various reasons, so I let her sit down with me on the computer and choose a new play-food item, since that's something she's really into.  She chose this pizza set and is eagerly awaiting its arrival.

Kolbe has started drawing people (a circle with eyes, nose and mouth).  He had been staying dry at night for a week or two, but since he was sick a couple weeks ago he's been wetting again overnight.  I really thought we were there, but alas no.  Maybe soon...  This morning Gemma had a date with her Grandma Mary so Kolbe and I had a special date (and Clem, but he slept for most of it).  He probably said, "this is fun, mommy," about 15 times (we baked bread, played a matching game and worked on lacing cards), and one time he said, "I sure love you, mommy."  He is such a sweet little boy.  This gave me a little glimpse at what it will be like with Gemma in school next year.  It will really change the dynamics around here a lot and as nuts as we can drive each other I think I am really going to miss Gemma.

In the kitchen: Meatloaf (still deciding on veggie and grain sides); Chicken Enchiladas (I finally tried making my own cream of mushroom soup and am looking forward to using some leftover in the freezer with these); making green beans for a family Spaghetti dinner; baked fish with mixed grains and steamed veggies.  I am not much for freezer-cooking, but I have been stashing a thing or two in the freezer here and there (aforementioned soup, some already-browned ground beef/Italian sausage for future pizza topping, etc.), and it makes me smile to know that it's in there for when needed.

Crafting: My MIL gave me a primose recently.  She does every year around this time even though I can't keep them alive for anything.  But Gemma likes it oh so much.  As I mentioned above, her latest thing is making picnics with our play food and dishes, and she always gets the (dying) primrose and puts it in the middle of the play-table as a decoration.  So for her Valentine, I picked up some inexpensive artificial flowers and am going to make some sort of simple flower-arrangement for her to keep with her playthings.  Also trying to figure out for sure what I want to do for our Lenten centerpiece for the table.

Learning:  Shapes this week.  And birthday thank-yous. 

Reading: Still working on Jesus of Nazareth.  My spiritual director gave me a book of Lenten Reflections by Henry Nouwen that I think Aaron and I will read and reflect on together, and one for the kids as well that looks pretty cool.  I started Unconditional Parenting, but the jury is definitely still out on it.  He makes some very good points, and provides some good food-for-thought -- challenging many of the more "behavior-management-ish" parenting techiques of the day -- but early-on he makes a very strong case against praising children, and while I will agree praise is often over-done I just can't imagine not praising my kids ever.  He also doesn't seem to take into account the various temperaments and love-languages (of children and parents alike) and in my opinion that plays a huge role in parenting.  Overall it just seems to be a bit too much psychoanalyzing for my tastes.  All that aside though, as I continue to page through it he does make some very good points as well.  I just don't know...I haven't put it down yet but I'm not sure I'll finish it.  If you're curious in a more in-depth review, check here.  Upon the recommendation of a friend, I have a Kate Morton on hold from the library.  Looking for something else of the spiritual nature for Lent maybe...  Getting towards the end of On the Banks of Plum Creek and trying to decide whether to continue with Little House or pick up something else with the kids.  I ordered a used copy of Happy Little Family for sometime.

Bringing me joy: February.  Not really February itself, but the fact that I (and my husband and children for that matter) am counting down its days one by one and will jump with joy when March and the hope of Spring is here!  Oh January/February, you are so very cold and brown and blah.  You get me every year.  Confession and meeting with my spiritual director...always a breath of fresh air for my soul, praise God.

Thinking about:   Next season's wardrobes for my kiddos. Which cloth diapering items I really need.  I have a few things I'm trying to sell if you're interested.  Keeping things simple.  Getting an Adoration hour.  Why are my eyes itchy and my nose runny?  It's too early (and cold) for allergies!  Randomness. 

Pictures to share:

More dipes

As I cloth diaper my third child I have a much better idea of what I like and what I don't like (or need).  If you're interested in any of these items I am looking to sell them, price is definitely negotiable (make me an offer).  Please let me know if you or anyone you may know is interested.

• six Thirsties size medium covers, good condition
• eight bumGenius 4.0 one size diapers.  All gender-neutral colors.  I'd say condition is fair to good, they definitely still have some good use in them.  I have a few larges as well that need the aplix and elastic repaired and I'd give you some repair kits with them.
• Green Mountain overnight doublers (scroll about half way down)