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.