Journal: Spring is here?

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny, warm and windy.  It's been gorgeous, but the forecast for the rest of the week makes me want to cry or move to the Caribbean.

Clothing myself in:  Black sweat capris, yellow tank and purple fitted T.  I like warm-weather clothes (even the casual ones) so much better than cool-weather ones.  Although I have noticed on several nice days recently when out in public, cool weather is much better for modesty.  Heavens!

Around the house: The "traveling bookcase" has traveled once again, and this time it's in the big kids' closet, housing some of their non-baby-friendly toys and games, library books, and Gemma's keyboard.  I spent some time this AM while the baby slept overhauling everything in there (it actually wasn't that huge of a project though) and am pleased with the results.  The kids seem happy too.  I am finding the key to toys, and having your children actually use them, really is in rotation and organization.  At least for us.  It's all in the novelty and presentation of any given item.

 

The baby:  Started crawling last Wednesday and oh goodness, watch out mama!!  Life around this house has changed immensely.  He seems a bit more, erm, bold than the other kids were as early crawlers and is quite curious about the world this new-found skill has opened to him.  Fun times lie ahead.  I will say, having a five-year-old does help matters (for the most part) as she is typically quite over-zealous in wanting to help with him so she is learning to redirect, pick-up-and-move, etc.  Even so...

He has also recently decided that he hates having his diaper changed and more often than not yells and writhes when I attempt to perform the despised task.  Lots of singing and distracting (thanks Gemma) is usually what it takes to get this task successfully accomplished.

 

The kiddos:  Have been enjoying playing outdoors.  Thank you Jesus.  Although Gemma threw a BIG fit yesterday because I wouldn't get their kiddie pool out because it was "soooooooo hot, mom."  BAH!

I got a follow-up call from a speech pathologist in our district and she said she'd like to give Kolbe the summer and assess him at the beginning of next school year.  That is kind of what Aaron and I were thinking, so we're glad everyone is on the same page.

In the kitchen: French Dips and steamed green beans; Chicken Picadillo; Breakfast Casserole and steamed asparagus; probably some other stuff... ;-D

Crafting: 

Learning:  One of these days soon we're going to start a mini science unit on water.  I've been working some on Phonics with Gemma and we've (successfully...read: no tears) gotten through several reading lessons the past week as well.  The new charts I made have really given me a bit more vision and motivation to accomplish things.  I sometimes have the issue of over-analyzing things so much that I just don't do them, so I'm trying to work on that.  We're going to make some May Baskets for the neighbors too I think.   

Reading: Almost finished with Navigating the Interior Life, and appreciated the discussion my Spiritual Director and I had about some of the topics presented in the book.  This is a Catholic Company review, so I'll go into a little more depth once I finish.  Still working through the Catechism, and currently reading the book of Joshua from the Bible.  A Father Who Keeps His Promises is still on the end-table, and I finally took the fictions back to the library for now.  I picked up a book on St. Ignatius and his Spiritual Exercises and am looking forward to reading it.  Sometime.  Soon?

Watching:  The Duck Dynasty season finale?  Nothing of particular novelty or excitement.  

Bringing me joy:  Warmer weather (as long as I don't think about the forecast).  Fresh air coming in the back door.  Being outdoors with the kids...I myself am not a super-huge fan of the outdoors.  I am pretty picky, it has to be, like, sunny, mid-seventies and no wind for me to be truly happy outdoors.  But my kids get such a kick out of it no matter the conditions that I can't help but being joyful as well.  Confession and Spiritual Direction.  Such a blessing.  Such a gift.  Clem's smile.     

Thinking about:  Mamas and babies.  For the first time in close to four years, abortions will be performed in our city again and this makes me very, deeply sad.  My feelings about abortion have changed so much over the years.  I mean, don't get me wrong, I have always been nothing but pro-life, but I think age and children of my own have made me more compassionate, and helped me see the issue for what it really is, and not just the big political argument the media seems to have made it into.  Abortion used to invoke an almost self-righteous anger in me, and while it still makes me angry, now it mostly just makes me sad.  Sad for women who for whatever reason feel that abortion is their only choice.  Sad for women who are being forced by parents, husbands or boyfriends to have an abortion against their will and wishes.  Sad for babies.  So, so sad for theses babies.  These tiny little people, little souls, whose lights are being extinguished on this earth well before God intended for them to be.  Sad for the abortionists.  What must cause a person, a doctor, to turn to this?  The money?  The skewed, feminist idea that they are empowering and helping these women?  My heart aches.  And while I will continue to work for, vote for and support pro-life legislation on the local, state and national level; ultimately, the only thing that is going to rid our city, our state, and our nation of this atrocity is a change in people's hearts.  A change in the hearts of mothers and fathers, of doctors and politicians, and all the activists on both sides of the argument.  For this I pray.

Pictures to share:  

My sweet babe after demolishing his avocado the other night.

Journal: Let's see if I can do this quickly...

The kids are watching a show, so I'm going to see if I can be brief (enough) and get this done in under half-an-hour...

TODAY

Out my window:  Poop.  I don't want to talk about it.  

Clothing myself in:  Black long-sleeve shirt, pink tank, dark grey sweats.  That should tell you enough about the weather.  Seriously though, last night we had a thunderstorm watch, a freeze advisory and a pollen warning.  All at the same time.  Blurgh.

Around the house: Just keeping up, nothing terribly exciting or out of the ordinary. 

 

The baby: Oh goodness, he is just Mr. Personality these days.  He is so much fun.  He loves baths.  He is really close to crawling.  He went to bed for Aaron (without nursing) one night last week when I was at a meeting.  He is sooooo close to crawling.  He just got his 6th tooth.  He feeds himself really well and is learning to drink water from a sippy cup.  He's getting so big.  It just amazes me how much change happens in that first year of life outside the womb.  Wow.  What a ride!

The kiddos:  For my birthday Aaron bought me a new purse from Vera Bradley.  I told him yesterday I think we got our money's worth in the sheer entertainment value that the box in which it came has provided.  Gemma spent a good two-hours plus yesterday building and decorating a house with it.  She is so creative.  We have been working on Phonics lately, she really enjoys doing "school work" and will request to do things during the day in addition to our "learning time" each afternoon.  I'm glad she likes to learn, it is fun learning with her!  Gemma really likes to wear dresses lately.  I actually pulled her dresses from last summer out and they still fit her.  That's a first!!

Kolbe is such a cute guy, he is so happy-go-lucky and grateful.  I was telling my dad the other morning that Kolbe seriously thanks me for buying him underwear at least once a day.  Kolbe and I took a date to Target the other day (while daddy and Gemma made my "surprise" birthday pie) and he was so enthusiastic about every single thing we saw.  It was fun to spend some time one-on-one with him.  He got to pick out a Hotwheels car and was pretty excited about that, he has been really into playing cars lately.

In the kitchen: Homemade pizza with red-sauce, meat, spinach, mushrooms and green peppers (my fave)...I have FINALLY perfected the crispy, thin crust and oh YUM!; Chicken Enchiladas; family bday dinner; Calamari Linquine with whole wheat pasta and lots of fresh veggies and steamed asparagus on the side (so glad it's coming into season!!)

Crafting: I go in spurts.  As I'm sure you've deduced I am in a rut recently.

Learning:  As I mentioned above, Gemma has been requesting to work on "school" activities throughout the day, so I made this chart to kind of track progress and make sure we're working on a variety of things throughout the week.  One of those things I wish I'd done at the beginning of the school year.  OH well.  I hung it inside one of the kitchen cabinets and put an X in the corresponding box as we work on any given activity.  It's a nice, concrete way for me to keep track of things on a weekly basis.  

We had Art Class at the local museum today.

Reading: Same as last week.  Really enjoying Navigating the Interior Life and looking forward to discussing with my Spiritual Director. 

Watching: Another new episode of River Monsters this week, otherwise none of our shows are really having new episodes so our watching habits have been kind of random.  It bugs me just to watch for the sake of watching, but Aaron really seems to enjoy doing that to unwind at the end of the day when the kids are in bed, so I don't complain too much.  

Bringing me joy: Eucharistic Adoration, oh my heavens.  Daily Mass (well, once a week anyways).  A nice quiet birthday weekend with the family.  Watching Aaron fish with Kolbe.  Spending time with Kolbe and listening to him talk.  Accompanying one of my piano students for her flute competition and being on campus at my Alma Mater (college).  Watching Clem in the bathtub.  Reading with Gemma, especially the farm animal stories she loves so dearly.  Pretty birthday flowers on the center of my table.  Nerding out about my new purse.  Gemma's songs she makes up while she plays.

Thinking about: Lots of stuff, most especially my children's educations recently, but I'm out of time!!

Pictures to share:  

Gemma on her feast day a couple weeks ago, with her St. Gemma relic.  We made cookies with the letters of her name, and crosses and hands (since St. Gemma had the stigmata).

Journal: I think it is going to be Winter forever

TODAY

Out my window:  Um, Spring?  Where are you?? In case you haven't looked at the calendar, it is now mid-April.  Come on already.  That said, we have enjoyed some time outdoors on the (seemingly few) nicer days we've had.  And oh, regarding the snaggle-toothed furry mis-predictor of Spring of whom I spoke quite deprecatingly last week...there was a bit of confusion on my part regarding the opinions of a certain reader in Denver who shall remain unnamed.  While he is understandably experiencing much angst about their current weather, no "hate" is actually being felt toward the mangy perpetrator.  He did however mention something about a bounty...  OK, inside joke over.  In all seriousness though, this kind of weather in mid-April is ultra-depressing.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a t-shirt.  So original. So classy.  

Around the house:  Packed away a bunch of the kids' clothes.  I toss stuff they've outgrown on closet shelves, and then when there's enough I haul it downstairs and toss it in a laundry basket.  And then when it piles up into a big, scary, unruly pile of randomly-sized sort-of folded clothes, I whine and complain and then sort through them all and put them away in the correct tubs.  I do the same thing with my paper filing.  And as soon as I'm done I vow I will always file things the minute they leave my hands.  And I never. do.  Now you know.

The laptop hunt is on.  A friend's hubby (thank you!) took a look at the Toshiba, and even if he replaced the motherboard there is a good chance the same thing could happen again with the USB's.  Ugh.  I'm  managing OK without the USB's, but I'd really like to get a new laptop with Windows7 (read: not Windows8) and I don't now how much longer that is going to be an option.  Stupid technology. 

 

The baby:  Oh goodness he's not crawling yet but boy can he get around!!  Wowza, life is about to get even more interesting (is that possible?) in this house once he takes off.  He can go from belly to sitting now, and is pulling up on his knees.  He had his 9 month well-child last week, he weighed 17 lbs 6 oz and was 28 inches long.   He really likes to feed himself little chunks of food, so much so that I actually gave away the baby food I had made for him.  I do not miss baby food.  He has tried many various veggies, fruits, meats, beans, fish and whole-oat cereal.  He still nurses a lot too.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma is sounding out words and writing left and right.  Her spellings crack me up.  I got confirmation that we will have half-day kindergarten available at our Catholic school next year, so for that I am grateful.  I think it will make our family's (and Gemma's) transition into school much smoother.  I am beginning to really look forward to next year, it'll be a huge change for our family no doubt, but I think school is going to be a very good thing for our Gemma-girl. 

Kolbe had his speech screening last week.  He was very quiet and nervous but the gal doing the screening was really sweet and got him talking even so.  His language (ability to communicate and understand) tested fine, but she gave him a referral for speech, so the next step is to have him tested in our district and see if he qualifies for services.  And then go from there...  We'll see what that brings.  Everyone seems to think that it is quite odd that I'm not planning to send him to preschool, so that's a little frustrating.  I just want him to have the help he needs (IE speech pathology) while still meeting the needs I am able to meet in our home.  Does that make sense?

In the kitchen: Pork cutlets, mashed potatoes/cauliflower, steamed broccoli; Beef/Italian Sausage and Veggie Lasagna with green beans; crock-pot chicken, still debating on sides; Fish Crisp and maybe a fruit salad.  Hubby made sushi over the weekend.  Yum!

Crafting: ahhhh, nope.

Learning: Nothing terribly exciting or out of the ordinary.  Thinking about this Letter of the Week program for Kolbe next year.  And this.

Reading: Finished Bible Basics for Catholics.  Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice overview of Salvation History never-the-less.  Still working through the Catechism.  Started Navigating the Interior Life and A Father Who Keeps His Promises this week.  Those fictions from the library are still on the end-table, but the thought of reading four books at once seems silly.  Yet I haven't taken them back...  So many good books, so. little. time.

Watching:  We're about 3/4's the way through (TV) Episode 4 of The Bible.  I'll just come right out and say I liked the way they portrayed the Old Testament better.  The New just seems really disjointed, like they took a bunch of the stories of Jesus' ministry and just kind of mashed them together so they could cover all His "most quoted" moments.  I don't know, it's just weird to me.  We have about three hours (really probably closer to two once we zip thru commercials) to go, so we'll see what the final verdict is, but honestly I've liked it less the more I've watched.  The thing I DO like though, is it's got me thinking and kind of lit a fire under my butt to read the Bible more, and that's a really good thing.    

Bringing me joy: A date with Aaron.  We went on a walk around the neighborhood and actually visited instead of having a dog and three kids strung out a block-and-a-half between us.  Then we sat at the dinner table.  At home.  For FIFTY minutes.  Yes, five-zero.  And we had our wine and food ON THE TABLE!!  The whole time.  And nobody spilled anything or threw any food.  It is funny for me to think that this was the norm for us five years ago.  We had no idea how good we had it!!  And don't get me wrong, I love my life, love my kids, wouldn't trade it for the world, all that cliche stuff.  But oh, it was nice to have a couple hours together away from the kids. 

Thinking about: Prayer.  How to live a life of prayer amidst my vocation, rather than in spite of it.  My relationship with Gemma, how to help her through the anger and tantrums that she so struggles with.  And just my relationship with her in general.  We are a lot alike and I feel like we are constantly at each other's throats.  And while I don't want (or need) to be her BFF, I'd still like us to have a happy, healthy, loving relationship, and right now it just rarely feels that way. 

Pictures to share: 

Silly monkeys.  Errrr, monkey and dragon.  (Halloween costumes are fun year-round!!)

Kolbe is my child who will fall asleep (and stay asleep) anywhere.

 Look-alike brothers.

Journal: sigh.

TODAY

Out my window:  Cloudyish.  Warmish.  It's kind of starting to feel (and look) like Spring.  Although there is still some chilliness in the forecast this week.  I am beginning to be quite dubious about that mangy groundhog and his predictions, although I don't quite have the voracious hate for him my uncle (I know you're reading this) in Denver does, dubious I am.  If Spring gets much later we're going to be into Summer and then we will officially have had no Spring.  Poo.  Sigh.

Clothing myself in:  Black capri sweats and a t-shirt.  And - in the interest of full-disclosure - there is a big green, crusty, dried up booger on my shoulder.  Not mine.  Sigh.

Around the house: Trying to make the house a friendly place for my children to play and live and go about their days without driving me to want a beer at 9am.  Lately, they refuse to play in the basement without me.  Which is really handy, considering the laundry, kitchen and pretty much everything else I do is on the main floor.  Which leaves me wonder why exactly we have toys down there?  Many times as they have been politely asked not to, running around the couch and screaming like banshees still reamains a favorite activity.  What, us?  Run around the backyard?  Why on EARTH would we want to do that when we have a perfectly good couch to run around?  Seriously, going outside to play should be viewed as something fun not a punishment, come on kids.  And bedtime.  Oh it ebbs and flows around here, and currently it is not flowing.  Sigh.

 

The baby:  Working on tooth number 6 and may or may not be responsible for aforementioned green booger.  Had his nine-month pics taken this week.  Cutie pie. 

The kiddos:  They have been difficult lately (see "around the house").  Some days I feel like all I do is yell, overreact and lose my temper.  I read something about parenting recently that encouraged parents to put things in three baskets: "non-negotiables", "negotiables" and "things to let go".  I really liked this (in theory) but am having trouble with the practical application.  I tend to be very black and white, and kind of a control-freak and this has a way of turning every little thing into a battle.  Which is not fun for anyone.  Sigh.  Parenting is hard. 

In the kitchen: Meatloaf, zucchini, sweet potatoes and greens salad (artisan lettuce and spinach); Spinach and Gouda Chicken with some sort of veggie side; Pizza (I have FINALLY mastered a crisp, thin-crust!!!) and probably more salad; maybe some sort of soup on the chilly day this week; Fish Tacos with cole-slaw; thinking about sushi this weekend

Crafting: nope.  sigh.

Learning:  This week is our last Catechesis class (sad), so Gemma is working on notes for her teachers.  She is really into writing her own notes to people now, her spellings CRACK. ME. UP.  Kolbe can almost write his name, still needs help with the B.  This really shocks me, as we haven't exactly worked on it very much.  He does hang around with Gemma a lot though, so maybe that's it.  Working on some handwriting this week and more cutting, and Friday Kolbe has his speech/hearing screening.  The kids are going to plant the sunflower seeds they harvested last year this week as well. 

Reading: About half-way through Bible Basics for Catholics, need to finish it as it is ILL and due Saturday.  It's easy reading thankfully.  Sneaking up on paragraph 1400 of Catechism (Mary, where are you?)  Still looking at those fictions on my end-table.  Should finish Heidi with the kids this week. 

Watching:  About 1/3 the way through the first episode of the new season of River Monsters.  The ever-present (lately anyways) Duck Dynasty.  So many reruns, my husband is obsessed.  Watched episode 3 of The Bible and was slightly disappointed at the way a few things were portrayed.  I still like it overall, and the perspective it gives on most things has been very accurate and thought-provoking as well.  Episode 3 was the first time I saw a major discrepancy between it and the actual Bible, so I will be curious to see how the rest of the New Testament goes.  My main issue with it has been the amount of time it spends on some things almost to the exclusion of others.  I know it's hard to sum up thousands of years of salvation history in (less than) 10 hours, but even so, in my opinion they've left out some really integral aspects of the story.  Have been discussing the violence aspect too, and honestly I can see both sides.  Biblical times were very violent, but Hollywood really loves violence too.  So I don't know.  Jury's still out on that one.  Two episodes to go.  

Bringing me joy: The pot of flowers on my deck. 

Thinking about: How to get a handle on myself so I can be a better example and leader for my precious children who deserve so much more than what I give them most days.  Parenting is really, really hard.  Sigh.

Pictures to share:  

Peek-a-boo!

I'm not purposely boycotting my other kids, I just haven't had a chance to upload anything to my computer with the USB issues.  This one was a couple weeks old, he was playing on our floor one morning and rolled under the bed!!

Journal: He is Risen

TODAY

Out my window:  Cloudy and gray and cool.  Grateful for beautiful weather over the Easter weekend, and looking forward to the end of this (hopefully) last cold snap of the season.  Have we ever had a later Spring?  I don't think I can remember a year that we didn't have pear blossoms in March (although I did see a tiny one on Saturday).  I looked back at pictures, and last year trees were blooming on March 10!!

Clothing myself in:  Monday clothes.  Nuff said.

Around the house: Laundry day today.  Sorting through the kids' Easter baskets from grandparents and getting stuff put away.  It no longer looks like Lent around here, I took our prayer garden down, the alms jar is gone and we have our Paschal Candle as our centerpiece.  I really do love this time of year.  Closets are a bit schizophrenic with the crazy weather we've been having.  I will be glad when it's warm for good and I can pack the long sleeve stuff and pants away (especially since they are all starting to look to small on my getting bigger littles).

Oh, and the laptop.  Sigh.  My USB ports quit working a couple weeks ago, which is kind of a huge deal as we don't have a desktop so I use this for printing (and don't have a wireless printer), uploading pictures, getting MP3s on my phone (as I don't have a SmartPhone) and my wireless mouse.  The mouse isn't a huge deal, but the other things are.  It has been hard going with out a printer, and thankfully my parents are letting me upload pics and such on their computer in the meantime, but it's still a pain.  It appears the problem is hardware not software, (something with the motherboard and/or a solder) and fixing it would be just about as expensive as buying new.  Did I mention my laptop is only 2.5 years old?  Blurgh.  We've had two Toshibas but are looking at going Dell this time.  Any recommendations?  Oh technology...

 

The baby: Has started trying to clap his hands.  Will stay on all fours if you put him there instead of immediately flattening out, and likes to creep his hands down into a quasi-crawling position from sitting. LOOOOOOOOVES his daddy when he wakes up in the morning, and often cries when he has to come to me so daddy can get ready for work.  Aaron loves it!!

 

The kiddos:  We went to Art Class last week for the first time in close to a year.  Gemma was soooo excited to go again, and Kolbe was old enough to go this time too.  He had fun, I think he likes the idea of art class more than he actually liked the class itself, but he had a pretty good time and felt like quite the big kid.  Kolbe is currently painting and Gemma is drawing an elaborate rocket that takes up two pieces of paper.  Seriously, sometimes I wonder why we have toys. 

Gemma has just this past week started sounding out words on her own and writing notes.  Today when I came out from nursing Clem down there was a letter for me by his door that said, "Cam se mi pat it is a bane Love Gemma I love u mom."  Translation: Come see my pet, it is a bunny (she got a stuffed bunny for Easter).  Pretty cute.

Kolbe has a big problem with putting his fingers/hands in his nose and mouth.  It is really gross and I am at a loss as to how to, errr, break him of this nasty habit.

In the kitchen: Homemade pizza tonite: beef, sausage, mushrooms and spinach I'm thinking with some leafy green salad; Chicken Stuffing Casserole with mixed veggies; a tasty recipe using link sausage (thanks Vickie!) and butternut squash and some other goodies; Aaron will probably grill on Thursday; breakfast casserole on the menu for Friday but as of now I'm not feeling it.  Too many brunches over the weekend...maybe I'll change my tune by then.

Crafting: I made a Paschal Candle for our Easter centerpiece.  (Read about it here.)

Learning:  Nothing too out of the ordinary this week.  We'll be doing this Divine Mercy craft later in the week.  I recently discovered That Artist Lady and may use some of her Easter ideas with the kids during the Easter season.  Other than that we have some cutting and handwriting work on the lesson plans this week, and a trip to the library.  Between three littles and winter our weekly trips to the library have been, errrr, not always weekly.  Hopefully warmer weather will spur us to be a bit more regular about that.  It is just really hard for me to get motivated to get out of the house with three little kids when it's cold and windy.  And by cold I mean anything below about 55.  Yes, I am a wimp.

Reading:  I'm a ways into section II of the Catechism and am really enjoying my readings.  I received Navigating the Interior Life as my next review from The Catholic Company and am looking forward to starting that.  Review to come.  On chap8 of Heidi with the kids.  I have a couple fictions sitting on my end-table but haven't picked them up yet...  I've also pulled Walking With God back out and been reading/skimming along as we watch The Bible (see below).

Watching:  I thought I'd add this category...We started watching The Bible on History here a couple weeks ago and set the DVR to record the entire miniseries. So far (we are up to David) it is really, really good.  I would highly recommend it.  Aaron has discovered Duck Dynasty and is completely obsessed.  He told me one night, "hon, if it weren't for my job, and if I had a brother to do it with me, I would totally grow my beard out like that."  Then he felt the need to look me straight in the eye and say, "really hon, I'm serious about this."  Oh dear.  All that said, I will sheepishly admit to finding the whole show pretty stinkin' entertaining.  Looking forward to a new season of River Monsters starting next week, we always catch Pawn Stars when it's new and looking forward to Gold Rush's off season, this summer I think??  And if we have nothing better to watch we like to make fun of Finding Bigfoot.  Yes.  We are nerds.  Oh, and Aaron has really gotten into The Men Who Built America as well, and I usually end up watching with him although I'm probably not quite as enthralled with it as he.

Bringing me joy: Easter and the Risen Lord.  

Thinking about: The range of religious emotions (for lack of a more theological way to put it) experienced from Holy Thursday night to Easter morning.  I am always filled with such an overwhelming sense of joy at Easter Mass, but even then the crucifix hangs above the altar, an ever-present reminder that only because of the Cross do we know the true joy of the Resurrection.  This really should strike me every week, but for whatever reason it always gives me great pause on Easter Sunday. 

Pictures to share:  

Clement's first Easter!

At Church on Easter