Journal: Early October

TODAY

Out my window: Warm, muggy. Rain on and off earlier and more possible later today. It's been a warm Fall, but it's supposed to cool off again tomorrow.

Around the house: Aaron is juuuuuuuust about to wrap up his painting. OH man has that been a job. He is so meticulous, and it saved us a lot of money, but wowza. So much time. So. Much. Time. We will all be glad when this project is behind us. I have most of my Fall chores (cabinets, windows, blinds [shudder], etc.) finished and did some Fall planting on the deck yesterday. I was so excited that Lowe's had their big mums 50% off, and I was even able to find one that was just starting to open!! We should be able to enjoy it for a good long while until we have a  hard freeze (which at this rate, will be a good long while from now). We are currently trying to figure out what our best case scenario is for bedrooms in the not so distant future. Currently the boys share an upstairs bedroom, Gemma has her own upstairs bedroom, and the baby naps in the pack-and-play in the basement spare room where the glider is, and sleeps at night in our room. But she is about to grow out of the bassinet in our room, and there is the dilemma of where to put her to bed when she goes down at night. I nurse her to sleep downstairs, but I have this terror of putting her down in the basement at night and having the monitor malfunction and not hearing her when she wakes up the first time. Probably irrational, but the idea just freaks me out. So I put her in our room, but we are in and out, and the shower is in there so it's not exactly quiet. She does a pretty good job sleeping through noise though and now that the days are shorter, bright evenings and mornings aren't an issue. We will probably put the boys in the basement next summer, but then I am not sure where she will nap/go to bed. We were going to turn the extra bedroom upstairs into a homework room, but it may need to be a homework/baby room because I'm not sure if she will be old enough to share a room/bed with Gemma yet. Just trying to make the most of our space. That was quite a tangent....

The kiddos: Got the girls' pictures taken last weekend, and am hoping to take the boys in the next couple weeks. Can you tell the pic stitch app is my latest obsession?

The baby: She seems a little off today. Teething maybe? She had a really restless night and feels a little warm today and is definitely not herself. :-(  She is rolling over so much now and loves when I tip the bouncy chair forward so she can "sit up" in it. She loves interacting with Aaron and me and the kids and will hold a toy and "play" with it for quite a long time. I am trying to decide whether she will be in 6m or 9m clothes this winter. This is stressing me out more than it should. Eye roll.

In the kitchen: This past week's big meals were beef enchiladas (old recipe my cousin made growing up, with a homemade red sauce) with an awesome garlic cilantro lime rice, and honey chicken, mashed potatoes and steamed California blend. I also made veggie tortellini (ahem, Millie) and tuna patties for the priests. Up this week: chicken tetrazzini (with my own personal modifications) and French Dips. Hubby is making breakfast for dinner tonight.

Learning: Everyone has settled into their school years nicely, and conferences last week were a good affirmation that all is going well. We spent over an hour at the library this morning. I make trips to get stuff from the hold shelf around once a week, and will request specific things for them when they ask, but I only take them to browse themselves about once a month (they get to go weekly at school) and our last several trips have been great. I love their inquisitive minds and the things they want to look for. Kolbe has gotten really into graphic novels, which is a genre I had absolutely no appreciation for. I still can't bear to read them but boy they've sure gotten him excited about reading. But really, what seven-year-old boy wouldn't swoon over a book with the word "underpants" in the title, lol.

Reading: One of the priests I work for loaned me God or Nothing. I am enjoying it.

Watching: MLB. October is always exciting, even if our team isn't playing. New season of Gold Rush is gearing up.

Bringing me joy: Slanty Autumn light. November is on the horizon (I love November more than any other month I think, it's just magical). Pretty mums. A sleeping baby snuggling in my arms. Holy Mass. Good books. My kids, they bring out the worst in me sometimes, but they are also some of the most awesome people I know. Fall beer. Tasty food. Family and good friends. Coffee. A really great work schedule this year, and awesome people to work for and with. Life is good..

Pictures to share: This picture of my siblings and me is a couple months old but it cracks me up. We were trying to get a serious pic (which we got), but this one encapsulates the dynamics of our relationship so very well.

Journal: settling in to Fall

TODAY

Out my window: Well, it's not technically Fall, but the light outdoors looks like it almost is. The temperatures, however, do not feel like Fall. Albeit cooler mornings the days are still plenty warm.

Around the house: Need to vacuum the basement. I've gotten a few baby toys and board books out for Little Miss. It's amazing, the more kids you have the less you realize you really need.  I mean, why would I scatter five toys around the floor when she's happy playing with a blanket and her binkie string, lol. I'm such a killjoy, I drive my kids nuts. 

The kiddos: Doing well. It is so nice to be settling into the school year. Everyone really seems to be thriving on the new schedule. That's not to say things have been perfect, but the school year suits us well.

The baby: Talkative. I got her a cheapie little umbrella stroller that's a.) nice for the kids to push her in, and b.) great for errands if she is ready to be awake and I don't want to put her in the front carrier. She takes a bottle really well for Aaron when I'm at work and is getting to know and love Ms. Sherri, her babysitter on days Aaron isn't home, which amounts to anywhere from 1 hour to 3.5 hours a week, depending on the week...so not too long but it's still good to know she is in loving hands. She's been napping really well lately, and still wakes up every 2-3 hours at night. Man, that first two months she was amazing. I kid you not, 6-8 hour stretches on a regular basis. I figured it wouldn't last. Oh well, the more kids we have the lower my nighttime expectations become, so it's all good. And ohhhhh that face.......

In the kitchen: Aaron smoked a brisket on Labor Day so we seriously ate on leftovers from that most of last week, with coleslaw, twice baked potatoes and cilantro lime beans as sides. It was great! Up this week: sausage and salmon on the smoker today with a green bean casserole on the side. Shredded Mexican chicken tacos and Cottage Pie are the two big meals this week, and probably salads, leftovers and maybe some egg burritos on Friday to round things out. I need to make a trip to the tortilla store. I find if we cook a big meal on the weekend (typically something off the smoker), and then I cook 2-3 meals throughout the week, we can pretty much make do on that, with some salads, leftovers and egg dishes to fill in the blanks.

Learning: Trying to keep up with what the kids are doing at school. Clem LOVES school. OH my word. He is the first one that I've kind of wished we did full day K instead of half. But then, he likes his quiet afternoons with me and Maura too so it seems to be working out. The other day he got in the van at pickup and said, "I don't have homework today mom, I just have some stuff to work on." LOL, he's such a hoot. He is so diligent, and hasn't complained at all about homework (it's pretty minimal, usually a math sheet and maybe something to color). Yet. We'll see what the rest of the year brings, because when he decides to put on his pickle pants, WATCH OUT!! Looking forward to conferences here in a few weeks and touching base with the kids' teachers. I love that they have another trustworthy adult in their lives who can help with not only their education but their formation as a person as well. So grateful for our Catholic schools. God is good.

Reading: I am in such a rut, it is pathetic. The kids school has adopted the Accelerated Reader (AR) program this year and I'm really excited about it. My kids have a tough time getting books that are actually their level (they often want stuff from the library that's much more difficult than what they're realistically able to comprehend) so after poking around AR Bookfind a bit I am super stoked (my geekiness is coming out now) and we had a great trip to the library today with age-appropriate books for all. Woot woot! I also put in all our requests for Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving books. Last year I completely missed the boat on Thanksgiving books. :-/

Bringing me joy: Our new schedule. After a long, rough, awful, rotten, no good, fairly painful Summer, I am really relishing being settled into a new routine. 

Thinking about:  Pictures. It's that time of year again to update the kids' individual pictures and family pictures. Aaron laughs at how much this stresses me out, but seriously, finding clothes for everyone, and then clothes that compliment for everyone. And then the whole smiles and looking at the camera thing. Blah. I know it really is small potatoes and in the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter at all. But still......

Pictures to share: 

Speaking of family pictures...all dressed up for the wedding of a family friend.

Journal A-Z

The regular format seemed too boring...

Adorable. Baby girl is so adorable. She smiles with her whole body and just lights up when she catches your eye. Love her. She brings much joy to our family.

Beautiful. The weather. The past few mornings it's been hovering right around 60. Helloooooo Fall. Not really, but it's getting closer. I have always thought I was a Spring person, but I am beginning to wonder if I'm becoming a Fall person. I particularly love November. It is magical. And still several months off, lol.

Cousins. Maura and her two cousins on my hubby's side of the family were all born within about three months of each other. She seems to be the smallest, even though she was the second of the three born. I love this picture.

Deacon. We had our seminarian friend who is now a deacon over for dinner last week. My cooking job has allowed us to meet some wonderful young men.

Eggs. We go through over a dozen at a meal now! Love that we have farm-fresh eggs available.

Fever. The baby had her first fever last week. Think it was tied to her shots, no other symptoms and was gone in less than 24 hrs.

Grapes. Our neighbor about four doors down has a vine of concord grapes that recently ripened and they invited us down to give them a try last Friday. It was a lovely evening and fun food experience.

Hobbes. As in Calvin and Hobbes. My boys (the hubby and 7 year old) have recently gotten really into these (I think Aaron is secretly enjoying reliving this part of his childhood). The comics are eerily similar to a day in the life of a mom with boys...

Inservice. So glad to have survived six days of it. Maura has been named an honorary member of the faculty and we survived, but man it sure is nice to be working my regular schedule now.

Job. I got another one, haha. So the priest I cook for moved from parish X to parish Y, which also happened to be relatively close to where we live, so I have continued to cook for him at his new parish. Well, then as it turns out the new pastor at parish X was actually in residence there a couple years ago when I started cooking there, so he asked if I would consider cooking for him as well. I've cooked for two before (actually, I was cooking for 3 grown men for awhile) and the extra driving around isn't too big a deal since my teaching hours are so minimal this year. I start after Labor Day. We'll see how it goes, but I am optimistic!

Kolbe. After eight long (looooooooooooooong) weeks (I swear it seems like eight years), Kolbe has been completely released to resume all little-boy activity after his broken arm. Praise be Jesus! Four weeks in a long cast, two in a short and two in a brace. Man, that wasn't fun. He was a really good sport about it, but goodness, it's good to see him active again. He is currently making up for lost time with the basketball goal on the driveway

Library. I need to go there. I have an overdue ILL book. Oops.

Middle School Music. I read some of this book on teaching Middle School General Music this summer as a way to get some PD points, but I ended up purchasing it because I found it to be incredibly worthwhile. Middle School General Music is tough, because typically it's the kids who aren't in band or choir, and a required music class is about the last place they prefer to spend several hours a week. And I totally get that. I am under no illusion that the next JS Bach is going to come from my seventh grade general music class. This book has some great lesson plans for making music class an engaging and hopefully worthwhile and fun (enough) experience for those who are only there because they have to be.

Nurse. Aaron is so proud that he can nurse the baby while I am at work. Otherwise known as give her a bottle of breastmilk. Apparently she is always an eager eater. Thank goodness! I am only gone for a 2.5 hour stretch, but it is nice that she can eat if she needs to.

One. The number of four hour painting sessions my hubby has done on the house so far. He thinks he can finish in around six of these four hour sessions. Progress is looking good.

Piano lessons. Gemma gets back at it this week after the summer off.

Quiet time. It has been met with mixed success at our house (it's only on the weekends now that school has started, we were doing it every day). Some days it provides a wonderful respite of relative silence. Other days it makes me want to gouge my eyes out. Or at least take up day-drinking.

Reduce. In the process of ordering new water bottles from Reduce. Our school changed its policy and now water bottles have to be transparent. I think we've narrowed it down to this and this. I am not a fan of straws, but I really like the other Reduce bottles we have so I am willing to give then a try. 

Schedule. I am really thriving on our new Fall schedule, and the kids seem to be too. The rhythm that the school year brings to our days is good for all of us.

Television. MLB is our favorite thing to watch this time of year.

Underwear. One of Clem's most recent favorite books is Froggy Gets a Doggy. Most of the froggy books reference underwear at some point, and I always get a kick out of how that one word, no matter the context, can make a boy in the 5-7 year old range laugh so hard every.single.time.

Van. We paid it off this summer! Can't believe we've had it for five years. Here's to another 10 (or more). It's been a good vehicle.

Watermelon. Have you had the black diamond ones? They are superb.

X-rays. The ones from Kolbe's broken arm looked great! The angulation continues to go down and since his bones are still growing they should completely regenerate in the next few years and you won't even be able to tell he broke it.

Year. I finally found a saint book(s) for every day of the year that I like and is easy to use. There are actually two, one for the first half of the year and one for the second half. You can patronize your local Catholic bookstore to make sure you have the most current editions. Each story is about a page and a half long and always gives some sort of simple real-life application at the end. We read them at breakfast, and more days than not they spawn some sort of faith-related conversation.

Z makes me think of letters, and letters makes me think of my kindergartener Clem who has held his pencil like a caveman forever. So much so that I really considered waiting a year on kindergarten until he had a better pencil grip (I know, right?). First day of kdg and he comes home holding it wayyyy better (not correctly, but huge improvement). Really child? I have told you and showed you HOW many times? And your teacher shows you ONCE?! Bah! 

Well, that's all folks. Until next time, peace out!

Journal: I think I can, I think I can

TODAY

Out my window: Cloudy and dreary.  We got almost 2 inches of rain last night.  And the highest temp in the 15 day is 83 as of now.  If this is all summer has to throw at us this year, I surely can't complain.

Around the house: I am trying to do most of my weekly chores this weekend as I will essentially be working full time this week.  I think I can, I think I can...  my FTE is only 1/6 time this year, but since I am a licensed teacher (almost, LOL) I still have to attend all the building/diocesan inservices.  Thankfully I can take the baby with me (since the whole reason I am working 1/6 time is so I can be home with her) and I have daycare lined out for the big kids for the week.  It will be a long week, but it won't last forever and my schedule once school starts is pretty sweet.  Looking forward to settling into our Fall routine.  I think I've mentioned that on here and Facebook.  Possibly more than once.  

The kiddos: They are giving me a run for my money.  More structure should do them good when school starts.  That said, we've had a really nice weekend.  Sometimes I don't realize how much an effect my mood and reactions have on their behavior though.  Oy vey. Hopefully the change in schedule in the coming weeks hits the reset button for all of us.  

The baby:  Four months! Oh my!!  She is so sweet.  She smiles with her whole body and wiggles and can scoot backwards.  She's got the sweetest laugh and her head control is amazing.  She wants to sit up so bad, she will sit in her bouncy chair and just strain her neck and back up so she doesn't miss out on what's going on.  She's probably ready for the bumbo.  My inlaws loaned us one, I've never used one with any of our other kids, so I suppose I should get that out soon.  Her nights have been more restless the last month. Seriously, she was sleeping 6-8 hour stretches on a regular basis from the time she was born until about 3 months.  Now it's more like 3-4 hour stretches, which is pretty par for what the other kids did.  The other night though after she had been restless and wanting to nurse (and had nursed) Aaron took her out to the couch and she went to sleep and then slept a four hour stretch, and I can't EVER remember a baby that young being comforted by daddy during the night.  But I should probably stop obsessing (yeah right).  I am guessing she weighs around 13 lbs, she has her four month well-child in a couple weeks.  Because when you're the fourth kid sometimes it doesn't happen the day you turn four months (aside from inservice next week, our doctor is also out of town so I feel a little less lame about delaying, haha).

In the kitchen: This week is pretty dicey with my work schedule.  We may grab a Papa Murph some evening and I have some ground beef in the fridge for things like simple spaghetti or tacos. Maybe some pesto chicken? Tuna salad? We have been doing eggs (breakfast for dinner) more often lately. We now go through over a dozen per meal!

Reading: Making my way through Strangers in a Strange Land and I grabbed/have a few on hold for Aaron from the library.  Hahn, Cardinal Sarah (I have no idea how accessible he is...) and something else that's not coming to mind.  He has started taking a book to Adoration (he's typically not a reader) and I love that it gives us something else to discuss! He wishes I'd hurry up and finish the Chaput.

The kids have really loved the library this summer. Kolbe especially really has a knack for finding good books on topics that interest him. I still use the hold shelf enough to make our yearly membership worthwhile, but the kids have really taken an interest in checking out their own stuff, which I love because I think they take more ownership in what they check out and end up reading more.  Gemma likes Magic Treehouse and Nancy Drew for chapter books and loves checking out informational books about crafts and animals.  Kolbe has been super into graphic novels (which I absolutely loathe, but as long as he reads them himself more power to him) and books about Star Wars, animals, chess, science and basketball. Clem loves CD books and usually finds one book that he will obsess over for several weeks at a time before switching to something else.  Most recently has been The Story About Ping. Hoping to start The Tale of Despereaux with Gemma soon. I recently updated my bookshelf tab with other reads.

Watching: MLB and this show about knife making called Forged in Fire. We're so exciting. Gold Rush should be starting up here in the next month or so and it seems like there are a few other shows we watch that run during the fall/winter. The kids are starting to outgrow our perennial faves like Max and Ruby and such, so we've been trying some new things with them.  Hits so far have been Brain Games, Outrageous Acts of Science and How It's Made. They still watch some of the PBS and NickJr stuff, especially Wild Kratts, but they're definitely losing their attention span for things like that. We've been trying to be more intentional about movie nights around here too. Recent faves have been The Little Rascals (this one reminded me of The Sandlot, only for younger kids) Mr. Peabody and Sherman (I really liked this one), and The Good Dinosaur last night (this one had more sad and scary than I expected but they, especially the boys, liked it). I always appreciate Commonsense Media to double check things before we watch.

Bringing me joy: My husband. I'm so glad we're a team. Can't imagine doing life with anyone else.

Thinking about: lots.I should probably just remove this category though, since I never seem to wax too deeply about things on here (which is probably a good thing). 

Pictures to share: 

A little kid comparison of Gemma (left) and Maura at the same age, sleeping. Notice the same pink blanket at the bottom of both pics. 

Seven Quick Takes: I can see the light!!

I figure if I jumped back on the blogging bandwagon I might as well not fall off again.  Seven quick things going on around here this week:

1. We have new kitchen chairs!! I was joking with the gals in the office at the parish where I cook(ed) that we've been married 11 years and now all our stuff is breaking or falling apart, so I was considering registering for things again now that I know what I like and will use. And all the other stuff is broken or worn out.  LOL.  Not really, but it's funny, when you register before your wedding, you (well, at least us), really have no idea what you want, what you like, what you need, what you'll never use, how much you really don't need.  I would argue that the same thing goes for baby registries as well.  But I'm getting sidetracked.  The kitchen chairs were falling apart so we replaced them.  There were two that were still in good condition so we held on to those for the ends, and kept another that was a little rougher to put the booster seat on here in a year or two since that is pretty rough on the padding and the finish.  I like how the new ones look and we got a super good deal on them!

2.  After just finishing A Witness to Joy (the story of Chiara Corbella Petrillo) I am reading Archibishop Chaput's Strangers in a Strange Land. Complete change of gears from Petrillo's story but I am enjoying it as well.  Man, he is a smart guy.  His ability to tie in history and quotes and ideas from so many different people and time periods is commendable.  But it's also not so intellectual that it's difficult to understand.  He has some very valid thoughts and insights into Catholicism in the U S of A today.  Aaron has already read it, so it gives us something interesting to discuss as well, which is always nice.

3. I am so ready for the change of gears when school starts.  This summer has been really. rough. around the house.  Older kids (who fight a lot), a baby who has lots of needs.  Taking care of a baby's needs while the older kids fight.  A lot.  Trying to keep my cool (hello failure) with the older kids who fight.  A lot.  I am not sure what we've done wrong this year but I sure hope we can get our...stuff....together come next summer because this summer has not been fun and I feel like we are just in this repeating cycle of awful. Terrible, horrible, awful.  Enough of that.

4. Kolbe has a short cast and can move his elbow again!!  And in just a little over a week he'll be in a splint!! And then all should be well with his arm.  I can see the light!  But I am soooooo paranoid about broken bones now though.  Ergh.

5. The siding crew finished siding the house on Friday, so Aaron just has a few little chores to finish up... yard-work yesterday, since he couldn't mow or run the sprinklers while all their stuff was in the yard, and putting the deck back together today (he wanted to paint around the parts where he has to reattach the deck before he reattached them, the previous owners had just painted around the deck). Then he'll take a breather (and a class for work) and get the kids back in school and start painting.  Whew, we've got some of this behind us but I'll be so glad when the painting and guttering are done!

6. Speaking of having things behind us...after an incredibly ridiculous amount of drama (I'll spare you the details) I have an addressed envelope to the state that is allllllmost ready to mail in for my teacher-license renewal.  Hallelujah! 

7. After this week the seminarian will go back to school and I'll be back to just cooking for one at the rectory, just in time to work essentially full-time during inservice week at school. But there will be a beautiful light at the end of that tunnel when school starts (I'll only be working 6-8 hours a week) and we all fall into our Fall schedules. It's gonna be good. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Check out others' quick takes here. Until next time!!  Thanks for reading. :)

Journal: well hello there

So I took a little hiatus.  See sidebar for the big little addition to our family.  :-)
TODAY

Out my window: Hot.  Summer.  There is a piece of masking tape across the sliding door to remind people to "mind the gap" when they walk out, as we're having the siding redone and there is a plank out of the deck so they can get to the siding below.  No one in my family knows what "mind the gap" means so they look at me like I'm psychotic when I say it.  I think it's funny.  My potted flowers are staying alive as long as I water them, and I really like how they look on the deck this year.  The purslane has gone crazy.  As has the "tiny" tomato plant that our neighbor gave us.  It is almost as tall as the Japanese Maple (which is admittedly a smaller tree) and has started using the deck as a trellis.

Around the house: New siding is the big thing now.  And then Aaron will be painting. Gulp.  We ordered new chairs for the dining table as ours look like kids have been using them for the last 10 years.  Sigh.  We can't have nice things.  Weighing options for bedrooms once the baby gets older.  Right now she's in a bassinet in our room at night and a pack and play in the basement for naps.  She will grow out of the bassinet soon though so we'll probably bring the pack and play upstairs to our room since we have ample space and set the crib up in the basement for naps.  After that who knows.  The plan is to have a girls' room, a boys' room and a homework room.  Still debating who will use what rooms and which beds.  We have a year or so.  I got a new laptop about a month ago, so that's been pretty great (the other one was going on 7 years and, how shall we say, showing its age) and found a new purse that can fit a small diaper clutch and lightweight blanket (which is all we ever need, amazing how much lighter I travel with four than I did with one) along with my things I need.  I have found TJ Maxx to be a great place for quality purses (even nice label ones if you care about that sort of thing) at a fraction of the price. I also got some shoes for work and updated my Sperrys. 

The kiddos:  Not gonna lie, this summer has been kind of awful.  The fighting.  The loudness. (I think it is amplified and I become hyper-sensitive when there's a sleeping baby in the house.) Kolbe broke his arm so that put an abrupt end to baseball and swimming.  And a lot of other outdoor things that require throwing, catching, running, riding or climbing.  Which is pretty much everything.  The fighting.  Did I mention the fighting?  Holy moly, people.  We need the school year.  The structure brings us order and balance.  Or at least it cuts down somewhat on the insanity. Clem recently celebrated his fifth birthday, he had a great day.  He had been gearing up for his birthday for months and it didn't disappoint.

The baby: She's pretty great.  After 3+ months, guilt or sentimentality or something won out and I decided to order a baby calendar like the one I did for Clem.  Not a baby book, but a nice keepsake for milestones and such.  Hopefully I can fill in the holes in the first three months between my Facebook feed (lol) and a few notes I've kept on my phone.  Maura is an easy baby.  She's had some more restless nights the past week or so, but often only wakes up once or twice, which is unlike any other child I've had.  She naps pretty well, nurses well, burps and spits up a ton, smiles all the time, likes her hands, is growing out of the bouncy chair (she wants to sit up. ACK, slow down girl!!) enjoys the stroller and likes being worn.  She is easy-going with all the coming and going and even does decent with the noise (even so I still tend to get pretty psycho when the kids are loud while she is sleeping).  We love her.

In the kitchen: Sushi night (homemade) tonight and steaks out for our 11th anniversary last night.  Up this week: lasagna, hamburgers, some other sort of grilled food, probably a salad night.  I have some potatoes I need to use for a starchy side with something, for vegetables I am so boring and just steam a bag of something frozen nine times out of ten.  I realized how lazy I was when I was towards the end of my pregnancy and absolutely bemoaning the fact that I had to tip and tail green beans.  Hashtag lame.

Learning:  I downloaded summer packets for all three kids from Teachers Pay Teachers.  And that's as far as I got.  Didn't even get around to printing them.  Sigh.  They really loved them last summer and even worked on them some during the school year so maybe I will get around to it?  They have done lots of reading.  It's really cool having TWO very independent readers, and Clem really likes CD books.

Reading: I've been in a rut.  Currently making my way through Chiara Corbella Petrillo and Middle School General Music: The Best Part of your Day as I will be teaching a section of sixth and a section of seventh this year.

Watching: mainly MLB.

Bringing me joy: I am pretty excited about my work schedule this year.  I am still cooking for Father (even though he moved parishes, it was still neighboring enough to where we live to work out!) and I will still be teaching, albeit a scaled back schedule, as referenced above.  I will teach between 2-3 hours on a rotating schedule of two mornings one week, three mornings the following. I think it will be just right, and it brings me joy to be able to keep a foot in the working world (which I LOVED last year) while still being primarily at home with the baby and a half-day kindergartener, and my other kids after school each day.

Thinking about: Paths to holiness.  Keeping my patience in check.  Priorities.  

Pictures to share: 

The family on  July 4, after the annual parade.

birthday boy with his loot

happy girl

monthly couch pic!