Journal: almost spring. really. maybe.

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny and lovely.  You should see the 15 day forecast.  I know I shouldn't call it yet, but I'm saying early Spring.  Time will tell.  Because obviously I shouldn't count on the groundhog.  But I did move some plants back outdoors to the deck...

Around the house: Let's see, several things.  Gemma had this little shelf in her closet -- which I have dubbed "the traveling bookshelf" because it has spent time in nearly every closet/storage area of our house -- but it was too small to house her books and other items so it was just kind of a disorganized mess and nothing ever got used because it was either lost or too difficult to wedge from the bottom of the pile.  I should have taken a before picture.  I was all set to buy her a nine-cube for her room (which is the smallest bedroom in the house but has an amazing capacity for holding a large amount of furniture, really good door and window placement is all I can figure) when I realized that the kids have grown out of many of the toys on the nine-cube in the basement and it is more storage than we need.  So I hauled it upstairs to her room and we got it all organized (I wasn't too big a control freak about this, maybe, well sort of, um, nevermind...), but we're both really pleased with the results and the traveling bookshelf went to the basement to house the games and toys that actually get played with.  Win win and I didn't spend a thing.  AND the dog's box STILL fits in her room at the foot of her bed.  

I made a little Valentine's bunting for over the fireplace with all the Valentines the kides made us.  I kind of love it and will probably leave it up awhile even though Valentine's Day is over.

Starting to think about Spring wardrobes for kids.  We have most of the stuff we need, just a few holes to fill in.  Speaking of holes, I have thrown away three pair of Clement's pants and one pair of shoes in the past several weeks because they were literally threadbare.  Apparently little boy clothes can make it through exactly 1.75 little boys.

Trying to figure out my negotiating tactics for AT&T because we are paying too.friggin.much. for phone/cable/internet.  #firstworldproblems 

The kiddos:

Gemma started piano lessons last week.  I think it's going to be a really good fit and her teacher lives FIVE MINUTES from our house.

Kolbe started spelling words (as in, taking spelling tests) at school this week!  He is doing so many things I never dreamed he'd be able to accomplish.  That sounds lame and sappy.  I am just so pleased with how far he has come this year.

Letter H this week for Clem.  He has decided he doesn't want to do school, but if I call it "letter H (or whatever) things" he is good and will gladly work on activities.  Just rolling with it, I'm not here to force anything.

Starting to think about Summer activities.  VBS is a sure thing, and swim lessons at some point.  Art Camp maybe? Now that we are members at the Y, I think we will take a little more advantage of some of the things they have to offer...looking at baseball for Kolbe and a tumbling class for Gemma.  I don't want to be insanely busy, or turn myself into a taxi service, but it will be nice to have some things to keep us out of trouble (HA!) while school is not in session.

In the kitchen: This week hamburgers, beef stroganoff, hot dogs (see below) lime chicken tacos, salads (maybe) and veggie and shrimp tortellini. I have chili and Dijon chicken on the menu for next week which is really planning ahead for me.  Now to make a grocery list. And finish meal-planning the week....  I have made a couple batches of pumpkin and banana bread.

Learning:  The school had their annual Read Night this week!  Hot dog dinner, storytime in the library and games and crafts in the classroom.  It's such a good time.  I remember, as a teacher, going back for an evening activity after teaching all day wasn't always the most appealing thing in the world, yet just about every teacher was there last night, and they went out of their way to make it a "groovy" (that was the theme) good time for the kids.  So grateful for our school/Church community (and that they are one in the same).

Working the past week on establishing our Lenten routines and rhythms.  Simple and meaningful.  Doing the Lenten Cross readings (think Jesse Tree for Lent) again which I love, I think we will almost exclusively use the "real" Bible this year (vs. Children's versions).  The  Prayer from Morning Prayer is always a nice daily reminder/refocus for the season.  I was all excited to use this book but then as Ash Wednesday neared I just wasn't feeling it, and we're not doing the prayer garden this year either but have some neat activities for alms that involve helping other school kids and Kolbe has a little daily calendar of kind acts from school.  We are saying a decade of the Rosary at bedtime for a priest friend of ours and his new endeavors and I will tell you...the family rosary has always terrified me.  So much so that I've never even tried it.  We will do decades in the van along with a CD occasionally, but seriously, the kids are STRAPPED INTO ONE SPOT AND LISTENING TO THE PRAYERS ON A CD so how hard is that?  I mean, it's still meaningful, but it doesn't take heroic effort or anything.  Bedtime prayers are a huge source of angst for me so this was a dicey move, but it's going fairly marginally well. We've only broken one Rosary and as long as no one puts his Rosary in the wrong spot in the prayer corner we have mostly avoided knock-down drag-out fights.  Clem even beaded his own Rosary late last week (just a loop of beads, we leave off the anchor part when we make kid rosaries) and he and Kolbe have both been pretty diligent about wanting to follow along with the Hail Mary's.  I will report back post-Easter if I really live through this. 

Reading: Finally (long story) finishing The Moffat Museum with the kids.  I am totally nerding out over checking out great books each week for Clem's Letter of the Week.  This week my fave was Cactus Hotel which I really would like to own some day.  Making good then not good then good progress with Fire Within.  It's so rich.

Watching: usuals.  Aaron has gotten into this show about people who make knives.  It is mildly interesting but sometimes TV just seems like such a waste of time.  Bleh.

Bringing me joy: Prayer and carving out daily time for meditation.  Read Night with the kids.  Watching the kids' play that Gemma wrote (Mary Had a Little Lamb) this weekend, they were so adorable (see picture of the baa-baa lamb).  I love them.  Even when they push me to the edge of my sanity.

Thinking about: Blah.  I should just take this category out because either a.) by the time I get to the bottom I don't feel like hashing out more of my random brain-dumps, or b.) whatever I am thinking about I don't particularly feel like sharing for any random person on the interwebs to peruse.  So yeah.

Pictures to share: See above. I have tried for far too long to figure out how to embed the Mary Had a Little Lamb play and I'm not getting it.  Peace out my friends!!!

Journal: shoes, confession and the letter F

TODAY

Out my window: sunny and cold.  It was dreary and colder the first part of the week.  Come on, Spring.  That is all.

Around the house: Goodness, let's see.  Shoes.  I needed new tennies, I realized the ones I have, have been around since I was pregnant with Clem...four years ago, and are definitely on their last leg, errr, foot.  I decided to just stick with the Adidas I like, I have worn this shoe for around a decade now (for every day wear, I wore something else when I ran, many MANY moons ago).  I deviated once and regretted it.  Well, they don't carry them in store anymore, and Amazon had a pretty good price, although I am amazed how the price has fluctuated from day to day and size to size.  Weirdness.  It's seriously worse than the stock market.  So I ordered a 10, which is what I've always worn in this shoe and got them and they were clown-ishly huge. The customer service rep took pity on me because all the other sizes (aside from 10, because....?) had free returns and generated a free return label for me.  And I ordered a 9.5 that had free returns, thank goodness....because they they were too big as well.  So now I am waiting for a 9 to come in the mail.  I really hope they fit, this is turning into be a little more involved than I intended it to be. #firstworldproblems

My brother signed us on to his GooglePlay subscription (think Spotify) and it's been fun starting to use that and listening to more music (myself and with the kids).  I have a little xBoom speaker now but am thinking of getting something that is bluetooth for the house.  I finally synced my phone with the bluetooth in the van and that's pretty slick. Surprised the kids with Happy when I picked them up from school last Friday.  They were jazzed.

Not much else of note.  I am starting to get an itch to do some Spring cleaning, but I know it's too early and if I do it now it will probably need done again when Spring actually does roll around.

 

The kiddos:  

Gemma had her First Reconciliation last night.  It was a beautiful experience!  It was all the 2nd graders in the parish (school and PSR) and they invited parents and siblings to go as well to show support and example for the kids.  They had five priests (three in addition to our pastor and associate).  It started with a brief ceremony: Bible reading, short homily and prayer and then on to Confession!!  Gemma was pretty nervous, but she was definitely ready and OH did she have a priceless smile on her face when she came out.  It is so wonderful watching her grow up.  God is good.  I got her a little Divine Mercy key chain to put on her backpack so she remembers God's mercy each time she sees it, and we met up with some friends for ice cream afterwards.  It was a memorable evening.

See below for updates on the boys.

In the kitchen: Finally, after over 2.5 years of breakfast causing an absurd amount of angst, I have made a breakfast menu so the kids know what to expect each day.

Monday: egg circles

Tuesday: oatmeal (or Cheerios)

Wednesday: honey-butter bread

Thursday: scrambled eggs and toast

Friday: honey-butter bread 

This has made mornings immensely smoother, and cut out all the whining, arguing, griping and short-ordering if I did remember to ask about breakfast the night before.  Soon, the kids will be old enough to fix their own breakfasts, but for now this seems to work out better than anything else we've tried.

Gemma has started making lunch for herself and the boys on weekends. **Cue heavenly chorus.**

I should be meal-planning for next week but I am blogging instead.  

Learning:  Today was the 100th day of school for Kolbe.  He was so stoked he popped right out of bed this morning when he remembered!  They do some fun things in the kindergarten class to commemorate the 100th day, it was neat seeing him so excited.

Clement continues to really enjoy preschool.  If I have the time and patience for it, he will spend 1-2 hours a day working on little things I find for him to do, often begging me for more when I say we're finished.  I have been using the art line over the fireplace to display his weekly letter stuff.  Letter F this week.

 

Reading: Our stack of F books includes favorite like Bread and Jam for Frances, Hide and Seek Fog, One Frog Sang, Rainbow Fish and Feathers for Lunch.

Watching: Season Finale of The Curse of Oak Island the other night.  We'll see what next season holds.  We are sneaking up on the end of this season of Gold Rush (sniff), but before we know it, it'll be baseball season again!

Bringing me joy: Confession, for myself AND seeing our daughter experience the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God as well. 

Thinking about: Lent.

I've really been enjoying this song by Casting Crowns lately. 

Peace out! 

Read Aloud Thursday: this and that

CHAPTER BOOKS
The Squirrel's Birthday and Other Parties - I grabbed this one to go along with our "birthday" theme.  It was a little odd but fun.  The kids liked the short stories.

The Prairie Thief - Gemma found this one at the library all on her own and we've been reading it aloud together at bedtime.  It has been fun! and fits in nicely with our recent read alouds.  It is a little scary, but I have offered to stop and she always wants me to keep going.  ;-)  

She has also started reading her first chapter book BY HERSELF!!!  She picked up a copy of A Little House Christmas Treasury at the library as well, and has been busy (enough) sticking her nose in it.  She told me, "I'm just reading the words in my head mom, and it's pretty cool that way!"  YAY!  She had never shown any interest in reading chapter books on her own (or anything to herself for that matter), and I didn't want to force it (although I would drop hints here and there), so I am glad to see her picking this up on her own.  She has definitely done a ton of reading aloud to the boys this Summer, and her reading skills are good, so I figure she will reach these milestones when she is good and ready.

The Moffats - almost done with this one, and we'd better hurry!  It's due next week!!

FROM THE BOOKSHELF

Our Nursery Rhyme Books have been popular with Clement recently.

For Clem's recent birthday he got:
Tawny Scrawny Lion
The Monster at the End of this Book
Katy No-Pocket

FROM THE LIBRARY
Pumpkins - This was a cool story about living simply with what you need (always a great message). And the importance of a nice view.  ;-)

Danny, the Angry Lion - Cute.

Beatrice's Goat - Oh my, this book was positively wonderful.  We recently met a priest from Africa and were able to send some clothes and shoes back with him to his village, and between that and our involvement with Unbound, this book just tied in so very nicely.  It is a beautiful story, beautiful message.

Tops and Bottoms - Another one on my wishlist to own someday.  SO fun!  This time Clem grabbed the sound recording.   

Happy reading, friends!

Seven Quick Takes: summer vacation!

1.  School wrapped up for the year after a short half-day on Thursday!!  The boys had dentist appointments that afternoon so Gemma and I went on a celebratory date.  We started with Eucharistic Adoration (I am soooo excited for her second grade year and the Sacraments that it brings), then off to eat ice cream at Braum's and she picked out a book about St. Teresa of Avila at our local Catholic bookstore.  We had such a nice time!!  Isn't she beautiful?  The first picture just captures her so well I think.

2.  That evening my hubby and I had a date (!!!!!!!!).  We went to Vespers at our Diocesan Cathedral and then spent the evening with the (around 70!!!!!!) seminarians of our diocese, various priests and about 300 people.  I am normally not much of a crowd person, in fact as we were walking in I was like, "Aaron!!!  We're going to have to talk!!! To people!!!!!!!"  But it was a positively wonderful evening catching up with people, some of whom we hadn't seen for years, and it made my heart swell with pride for the wonderful things that are happening in our diocese.  The number of seminarians (men studying for the priesthood) that we have here is astounding.  The Bishop even commented in his opening remarks that there isn't a Bishop in the world who wouldn't want to trade places with him. This morning there will be five young men ordained to the priesthood and last evening one to the diaconate.  God is good.  Sadly there is no pictorial evidence of our date.  OH well.

3.  We kicked the first morning of summer vacation off by turning our heater on, and it's running again this morning.  A little chilly for my tastes this time of year (I thought I was done with hoodies and sweats), but I won't complain.  It has been a gorgeous Spring in these parts!  And rain abounds, and looks like it will continue to abound for most of the holiday weekend.

  

4.  We signed up for the Summer Reading Program at the library yesterday...the kids had been looking forward to this for weeks now!!  They revamped the program a bit this year and I'm really happy with the changes.  The kids have to do four reading inspired activities (there is a list to choose from) and then read 20 twenty-minute reading sessions.  This is sooooooo much easier than having to write 120 titles x3 on papers that have room for 50 books.  Even with Gemma writing her own titles last year it was still so tedious.  This is going to be good.

5.  I printed out our "Summer Schedule" a couple weeks ago and hung it on the fridge so the kids (namely Gemma) could start looking at it and know what to expect each day.  It's not incredibly rigid...I am trying to keep waking/eating/sleeping times pretty consistent and see that prayers/breakfast/chores are the first thing to happen upon waking. Everything else is just divided into tasks that need to be accomplished between breakfast and lunch, and tasks/activities between lunch and dinner with lots of free time for play.  We have a few planned activities, mainly Bible School and swim lessons...just enough to keep us out of trouble but not crazy busy.  I have added a few more chores for the kids.  Gemma is getting to be a huge help around the house and out and about!  I was worried about taking three to the grocery store yesterday, but I think it was easier than shopping with just the boys...she helped load and unload stuff, kept an eye on Clement...  She is growing into such a fine young lady.  I am amazed at how she has changed over the past year.

6.  Yesterday evening our neighbors invited us over for homemade pizza.  We have the best neighbors.  Who knew when we bought this house eight years ago, that aside from the house and neighborhood/park/walking paths etc. suiting us so well, we would also end up with the nicest neighbors in the world. 

7.  I know I mentioned this on Facebook, but it bears mentioning again.  I just finished a beautiful book on prayer entitled Prayer Primer and it was a gem.  I have read several of Fr. Dubay's books recently, they are all fantastic.  One of my favorite parts in this book was the section on Family Prayer, specifically the way it explained teaching/encouraging meditation for young children.  I gleaned plenty of good information from it for myself as well, particularly on the subjects of meditative and contemplative prayer. Well worth the read, and it is a quick read, I think I finished it in six days.