Journal: preschool for Clem

TODAY

Out my window: nice. nice nice.  The deck door is open at 5PM letting fresh air in!!!  This has me so ready for Spring, but everyone I talk to seems to insinuate I'm crazy for not thinking we have more Winter ahead of us.  People!!  Whatever the case may be, I am very grateful for the outdoor play this little break in the cold weather has afforded us.  Winter (or the children) may not kill me after all.  We shall see...

 

Around the house: I decided it was time for Clem to start Letter of the Week preschool at home with me.  Both other kids started the September they were 3, but Clem is six months behind them with his Summer birthday and just didn't seem ready this past fall.  Lately, though, it has been apparent that he would probably get a lot out of it so I decided (semi on a whim) this past Monday to go for it and he really loves it so far!  I am going a little non-traditional though and we're not doing ABC order.  Gemma was appalled.  I have used this handwriting book (highly recommend) with all three kids, and by he time they started it (in their 4s) I thought they were all just a little too old for it, so I went ahead and started it now with Clem and we'll use it for our LotW guide.  He already loves and is very familiar with the wood pieces, so adding the book is a very natural next step.  It introduces the letters in order of ease in writing them.  Vertical and horizontal lines, then curves, then diagonals, etc.  Our first four weeks are L, F, E and H.  I may or may not have picked up over 30 books from the library this afternoon.  I LOVE any excuse I can find to check out good books, and this is a great one!  Checking out ones for him to enjoy as well as ones geared more towards the older kids.  Good times. Picture books are my favorite.

 

The kiddos:  Well, I'd say I updated on Clem enough above!  He had his 3.5 year old pictures taken (see side-bar), and for whatever reason has (finally!!) decided he is no longer two and has started telling people, "well, you know, I'm three-and-a-half now."  Funny kid.

Gemma is preparing to make her First Reconciliation next week!  So exciting!  Helping her prepare has really helped re-orient my relationship with this Sacrament as well.  It's been good.

Kolbe seems to have leveled out after getting all the bad holiday and birthday food out of his system.  We are back to being fairly careful with his diet and just realizing that occasionally (especially with school-related events. and holidays.) he just takes a hit.  Sigh, it's so frustrating for us and him. Kolbe has been building lots of legos lately. 

In the kitchen: This past week we had grilled meat with green beans and potato casserole, fajitas, tacos and lots of leftovers.  Creamy tomato tortellini and salmon turnovers (store-bought and re-heated) tonight.  Next week: French dips, crispy chicken salads and pesto chicken with boiled potatoes and steamed carrots.  I have gotten into the bad habit of leaving Friday up in the air (you know, in case the dinner fairy decides to come...) so we'll see what we end up doing late-week.

Learning: It is Catholic Schools Week!  We are so, so grateful for the Catholic education available to our children with the Catholic school system we have in our diocese.  I seriously do not know what we would do if we didn't have these Catholic schools as an education option.  There is hardly a day that goes by that I don't have a very deep sense of gratitude that this integral part of our children's formation (religion and education and so much more) is so richly provided for by the generosity of so many.  God is good.  Abundantly good.

We've started using the First Communion Catechism (which is an adaptation of the Baltimore) at the breakfast table, and the kids, all three of them, have really surprised me with how much they are getting into it.  I've always bemoaned the fact that we don't do much memorization, so this helps with that plus it teaches such solid theological concepts!  Win-win!!

Reading: Bible.  Trying to get a "chapter" of The Imitation in before the kids are up on days that I'm able. Not much else currently.  Mr. Popper's Penguins with the kids!  The chapters are the perfect length for the breakfast table.

Watching: the usuals.  I won't bore you with our nerdiness.

Bringing me joy: Grace.  Good people. Fun conversations. Preschool lessons with Clem. A good meeting (who knew such a thing existed?!).  The sacraments.

Thinking about: Confession, sin, grace, forgiveness. etc.  Please say a prayer for Gemma (and all of us) as she prepares for her First Reconciliation.

Pictures to share:  

Baptism anniversaries!

January birthdays 2016 part II

With the kids' birthdays being so close together, and thus always celebrating (with grandparents) together, we try to be sure and do some things to make their individual days special.  For whatever reason, "Birthday Brownies for Breakfast" has become the tradition.  This year Gemma also took brownies as her school treat, so I made THREE pans for her birthday!!!  She requested M&M's on top.  Kolbe had been talking about brownies with frosting and sprinkles since last Summer, so we pulled that one off too, even found some dye-free sprinkles for him to go on the cream-cheese frosting I made!

Kolbe was very kind to let Gemma help him decorate his brownies before breakfast.  He is such an empathetic kid.

Gemma got some hair bows and a water bottle for school (that I later destroyed in the dishwasher...oops) for her birthday.  I had noticed how silly all her bows were looking in her hair lately, and it dawned on me that it was because they were intended for toddlers.  HA! The new bows are great, she likes them a lot!  She also got a coupon for a date with mama to pick out some new tennies, and her own copy of Happy Birthday Jamela. And yes, the kids get to open their presents first thing in the morning!  Gemma wanted me to hide hers around the living room this year because apparently I did that several years ago and she thought that was super cool.

Gemma wanted me to take a picture of her at her "birth  moment". Officially an 8 year old!!

 I had lunch at school with both kids on/near their individual birthdays.

Kolbe has had a "4" shirt and a "5" shirt and he was reallllllly hoping for a "6" one, so he was pretty excited to open that first thing on his birthday morning.  He also got the book "Swimmy".  And, he got a "big kid" bike and we took a shopping trip to Academy (a fun winter-afternoon activity) so he could pick out a new helmet (complete with a spike mohawk across the top).  Pictures of bike and helmet forthcoming, I didn't take any.  :-/  Kolbe has gotten really into legos again (he can now follow the directions by himself with VERY little assistance) and he got a cool submarine set from Gemma's godmother (so sweet) for his birthday and a helicopter set for his Baptism anniversary.

We had burgers and fries and ice cream sundaes out for dinner on Kolbe's birthday, and now we are back to eating clean! Happy Birthday to our BIG kids!!!

2016 "birthday week" part I

Well, another birthday week has successfully come and gone around here.  Whew!  We kicked the week off a week ago Friday when Gemma got to help her Grandma Evelyn decorate the birthday cake for her friend party; and Kolbe and I (and Clem) shopped for and assembled his school treats (Hershey's kisses which ended up breaking his face out :-(, "natural" suckers and bracelets he and Gemma had made).  That was a fun afternoon.

Then on Saturday we had five sweet girls from Gemma's grade over to our home for a couple hours of birthday fun!  They played and made homemade shoe-lace bracelets and ate snacks and cake.  Daddy and the boys went to see The Charlie Brown Movie at the dollar (which is actually $3.50 now) theatre.

Then on Sunday we had my parents and Aaron's dad (his mom was out of town) over for chicken noodles and cheesecake (tried my hand at swirling chocolate!) and the kids did their official "blowing out of birthday candles"!

To be continued...next up, their individual birthdays!

Journal: update, because all my reader are asking for one

 TODAY

Out my window: OH man it's cold.  I think it was 8 this morning, I joked with Gemma (who has a birthday coming up) that the weather was even trying to wish her a happy birthday!  It's sunny but we are definitely in the throes of winter.  Ugh.  Is it Spring yet?  Don't answer that.

Around the house: Yesterday we had five (FIVE!) little girls over.  We decided second grade was a good age to let the kids start having a "friend" birthday party, so Gemma invited some of the little gals from her grade at school.  We kept it very simple and low-key, and it was nice.  They played for awhile, we bought some little beaded bracelet kits at Walmart and they made some shoelace braclets, then Gemma opened her cards and a few little gifts (we had said "no gifts" which translated into cards and small [some homemade] gifts.  It was perfect.)  Then we snacked and sang happy bday and ate cake and played a little more and we were done.  Next year I think 1.5 hours would be plenty time (this year we did 2), especially when everyone is confined indoors (they begged to go and play at the park but it was soooooo cold and windy).  But it was good.  Other than that it is birthday week around here so we are working on getting school treats together, and are celebrating with grandparents and having special meals (chicken noodles, spaghetti, sushi and Freddy's!), making sure I have a few little gifts for each kid to open on their birthdays (whew, it was just Christmas) and then we have Baptism anniversaries next week.  I really shouldn't complain, it is nice to have a busy January, because to me January and February are the loooooongest months of the year.  But wow, all on the heels of Christmas.  Every year.  Oh well.  The kids each get a "big" gift this year, Gemma a mirror for above her dresser, and Kolbe a big-kid bike (he hasn't gotten it yet, so shhhhh :-)

 

The kiddos:  See above.  I will be honest, they have really been trying my patience lately.  I think between recovering from the holidays, getting back to school, surviving horrible ear and sinus infections and just the fact that it is January (shudder), it is just a rough time of year.  Now I am just making excuses. But it's been rough.  Some days have been really rough.  I am soooo ready for spring (did I mention that?) when my kids can spend hours and hours and hours outdoors.  Sigh.  I am grateful for school and the rhythm and structure it brings to our days.

In the kitchen: This week: spaghetti and steamed broccoli, sushi (that's Aaron's gig), chicken and noodles/rice, salmon and simple starch/veggie sides.  Clem and I will be eating lunch at school with each of the kids on their respective birthdays this week.  I still have a few holes to fill in on my menu.  I am hoping the dinner fairy shows up...  Riiiiiiiiight....

Learning:  Working on sight words and addition facts with Kolbe.  Practicing the Rite of Confession with Gemma, who makes her First Reconciliation in less than a month!!  She has had lots of questions and I have been trying to answer them (and am being deeply humbled as I do answer them and realize that maybe I should follow my own advice a little more....)

Reading: Oh I was so happy to get my book corner all put back together when we took the tree down!!  This month we have some great picture books about penguins from the library, and our usual birthday stack that I need to pull out (including favorites like A Birthday for Bear and Otis and Sydney and the Best Birthday Ever), and we have started reading Mr. Popper's Penguins together at the breakfast table! Gemma and I are working our way through (and loving) the Latsch Valley series at bedtime.  I went through this horrible bout of paralysis by analysis when I was trying to choose our next read-aloud, so I sat down and made a whole list of books we'd like to read this year.  Here is my "plan" so far (we may get to more, and it is definitely subject to change):

Mr. Popper's Penguins
Caddie Woodlawn
Rabbit Hill
some James Herriot
Little Britches
The Bears of Hemlock Mountain
Ginger Pye
Pinky Pye
and a friend of mine reminded me that April is the 100th birthday of Beverly Clearly, so I may throw some Mouse and the Motorcycle in there as well (Gemma has started the Ramona books on her own). Any recommendations?  The rest of the read-alouds we've done are listed here.  I  purchased a few more picture books for our collection from Thriftbooks last week.  Four hardcovers for under $16!!

I am still working on Fire Within (and will be for a long time).

Watching: Gold Rush.  The Curse of Oak Island.  A few other "nerd" shows.

Bringing me joy: I had to run a ton of errands on Friday, and after being cooped up with sick kids and all the usual holiday commitments and everything, it was really nice to feel so productive.  Friday was a joyful day.

Thinking about: Sin and confession. Grace.  Mice......

Pictures to share: interspersed above