Journal: Easter 2016 (and lots of pics)

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and gorgeous.  The kids have the day off school and have been playing outdoors since we got home from our lunch out (see below) and errand eggstravaganza.  Funny though, less than 36 hours ago when I looked out my window we had about 4 inches of snow and the most beautifully (albeit odd) white Easter landscape you could dream of.  Yup folks, after a winter of literally no snow, we woke up to a white Easter. 

Around the house: I have this little space in our dining area, between the cabinetry and the deck door, where we have a rounded corner shelf mounted on the wall, below which is the prefect place to tuck our three drawer cabinet for craft supplies and legos (things used at the dining table).  It is one of my favorite spaces in our whole house (weird, I know) because a.) I am able to get so much bang for my buck space-wise, and b.) because the little shelf-top is the perfect place for our liturgically-themed items.  It is a place we see often (most of our prayers are said at the dining table) yet it is fairly out-of-the-way.  Win-win.  Enough of that.  As I accumulate more items over the years it is fun doing things for specific liturgical seasons and days, and this year I was pretty pleased with what I came up with for the Triduum.  Top L-R is Holy Thursday and Good Friday, bottom L-R is Holy Saturday and Easter Sunday/Easter Season. The white orchid (artificial) has been stored in the basement for several years, I am so glad I found an excuse to pull it back out (and that I didn't KonMari it).

The kiddos: Hmmm, not much.  Here's some pics from their Easter egg hunt at grandma's.  We really don't do much to observe the more secular aspects of Easter around here (don't shoot me, but the kids don't get Easter baskets or hidden Easter eggs or anything, shhhhhh, don't tell them that's a thing...) so it is fun for grandma to put on an egg hunt for them.

They were really excited to get to play in the snow Easter morning, and it was perfect conditions: wet snow, relatively warm outside, sunny.  I mean, the boys went back out in it after lunch barefoot.  BAREFOOT!  They built a few little snowmen in the morning, and then made a snow-blob with the remnants of said snowmen after lunch.  The snow-blob cracked me up.

In the kitchen: Today I took said children with day off on many errands and promised them a pizza date as well.  We went to Pizza Hut, and it was the kids' first buffet experience.  They had a blast!  Kolbe got two plates of pizza, a huge plate of vegetables (I know, right?) and then I think two or three more plates of pizza and dessert.  Clement got his dessert first (and last), and Gemma marveled numerous times that it seemed very wasteful to get a new plate each trip to the buffet. She also said she thought we should just stay there forever (um, is my cooking really that bad?) and asked me why I didn't order any wine.  Whaaaaaaa?????  It was lunch!  Barely noon!!!  Add to that the fact that we rarely eat out and I know for a fact I have never ever ordered wine when out with the family (and also don't make a habit of drinking at lunchtime).  And last time I checked, Pizza Hut's wine-lists wasn't all that stellar.  Where does she get this stuff? Gave me a good chuckle.

Learning:  The big kids both went to Holy Thursday and Good Friday Mass/services with me and Aaron respectively, and all three kids and I went to Stations on Good Friday.  I am hoping maybe we can go to both aforementioned Triduum services as a family next year, it has been years since I went on Good Friday.  The kids asked about the Easter Vigil, but right, wrong or otherwise, I just wasn't feeling it.  So long, so late, so past bedtime after two nights at Church past bedtime already.  Some year.  My point in putting this in the "learning" category: I just love LOVE that our Faith has such beautiful, meaningful rites and rituals that teach us so much about Jesus and our Redemption story.  

During the next few weeks we'll be doing Bible readings from the Via Lucis at the breakfast table.  I was really excited, for our Lenten Cross this year we only used our children's Bible for one of the forty readings, for the rest I just read straight from my RSV.  I love reading to the kids from the actual Bible.

Reading: Still working my way through Fire Within (Dubay).  Gemma and I are reading Caddie Woodlawn together, The Moffat Museum with the whole crew at the breakfast table, and Gemma is reading the Ramona Quimby and Betsy Tacy series' on her own.  No links today.  :)

Watching: Eh, not much.  Opening day is a week from today! But the Royals actually play Sunday evening.  Can't believe it's practically baseball season again.

Bringing me joy: Easter. Grace. Liturgy.  Incense. The Year of Mercy.  I am loving the Divine Mercy Novena this year. A pretty great end to errands today after a rocky start.  I love my kids.

Thinking about: 

Pictures to share: 

Family at Church after Easter Mass. Love all the bells and smells of the Triduum services and the flowers and brand-new Paschal Candle Easter morning. He is risen! He is risen, indeed!!

Journal: moving things around

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny and warm.  Same thing it has been for the past month.  HOWEVER, by the looks of the forecast we have one more day in the eighties and then autumn should arrive for real, complete with a few rainy days and one that doesn't get out of the fifties (so they say).  I am ready for the change.  I have mums and pansies on the deck, and another flowering plant that I got in the summer and it has really taken off these past few weeks.  Wish I kept the tag so I knew what it was...

Around the house: Well, I mentioned last week that after 13 months, Gemma seems to have gotten cold feet about sleeping in the basement.  Maybe it was the puking incident?  Maybe just the length of time not being in close proximity with the rest of us??  Who knows.  I need to quit analyzing it.  She spent a week on the floor in the boys' room, which worked out well enough but it definitely wasn't a good permanent solution, and there was no talking her into going back downstairs.  SOOOOoooooo, we decided to move her (temporarily, with the option of being permanent) back upstairs and into the "baby" room.  We would like to have another baby, but so far nothin' doin', so the room has just been sitting there empty.  For now we have moved some of the baby stuff out (sniff sniff) and all of her stuff up (I told her she could not keep things in both rooms) but she is just sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor.  We don't have an extra twin bed, and the room is too small to move her queen into.  We're not opposed to buying another twin but I want to know for sure that she intends to stay upstairs before I do that, so we're going to give it a month or two. And if we have another baby...well...we'll figure it out.  I am in a little bit of a quandary about the bathroom situation, she had been using the bathroom downstairs, but still needs help with things like doing her hair, turning the shower on, and not showering for 45 minutes.  So it is a lot of up and down (for me and her), especially now that she's not rooming down there.  So I am weighing my options.

 

The kiddos: Meh, the usual.  Nothing standout really besides aforementioned bedroom drama.  They have Thursday and Friday off school this week, so everyone is looking forward to a Friday on a Wednesday!!

In the kitchen: Aaron got a new smoker (his was falling apart, he literally poked a hole through the bottom of the smoke box the other day).  What he got was quite an upgrade (bigger, heavier gauge steel, etc.)  He took it on its inaugural voyage yesterday and mmmmm YUMMY!  I am really excited for him, smoking is something he has come to enjoy and is really good at.  He has his sights set on a brisket this fall.

This week:
goulash and steamed carrots
honey sriracha chicken bites
family dinner
smokey hamburgers for guests
something with cod maybe?
The farther out I get, the vaguer I am this week.

Learning: School is in full swing, so we are just keeping up and reading lots of books at home.  

Reading: With the super-dee-duper-blood-harvest-whatever-else-moon (which my kids did not stay up late enough to see, but they watched it rise and heard about the eclipse), we read Kitten's First Full Moon (LOVE this one), By the Light of the Harvest Moon and Possum's Harvest Moon.  Here are some fall-faves in our book basket this past week.

Watching: MLB.

Bringing me joy:  the papal visit: following it via Facebook, TV and reading articles was pretty cool.  The upcoming cool-down.  Having all my babies sleeping upstairs again. Laughing with Aaron about dumb stuff. 

Thinking about: We bought some fair-trade coffee at Sams the other week.  It is very tasty.  And I will be honest, we bought it more for the fact that it is good coffee than the fact that it is fair trade, but the fair-trade thing has me (Aaron too) thinking.  It would be nice if more stores (clothing comes right to mind) offered fair-trade items and really marketed them as such.  I know the coffee story kind of makes me sound lame, but seriously, I would spend a couple bucks more per item if I knew the clothing (or whatever else) I was buying was made or farmed or whatever by someone who was given a fair living wage for their work.  OK, end rant. 

Pictures to share:  

A couple pics of Gemma's new digs. It is a work in progress (and probably will be for the foreseeable future).

Journal: Autumn, rags and cheetos

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny, on the cool side of maybe barely warm, Fall shadows.  I was marveling on the way home from half-day kindergarten pickup today how long the shadows are at high noon.  Highs in the seventies and lows in the fifties over the weekend, but about 10 degrees warmer on both ends next week.  So says the forecast.

Around the house: Some new (Fall) potted plants on the deck that hubby just finished stain/weather proofing.  We have a couple years left with the current flooring, and something (read: new flooring) is going to need to be done.  It's such a nice space though.  Planning on lighting the chiminea up this weekend.

I got started on my Fall blinds/window cleaning (is there anything worse than cleaning mini-blinds?  I will answer for you: no.) and then became irritated with all the rags and bowls of vinegar water (that I spilled, on carpet, TWICE) and paper towels and spray cleaner, etc. etc. etc. sooooo..... 

I will admit to immense intrigue over all the microfiber cloth hubbub out there, so I purchased some e-cloths.  I think I will like them, and they should eliminate the need for window, stainless steel and countertop cleaner chemicals.  That just leaves the stuff I use for tubs and toilets (and I don't care who says what about chemicals, I like bleach in my bathrooms) and Pledge for dusting, but I may even punt that for microfiber.  Maybe.  I used the rags yesterday in the kitchen and then for some blinds and windows and couldn't believe the ease of use.  The results were pretty good too, particularly on glass and stainless steel.

I have found some new clothes (some long sleeve tees, a hoodie, some jeans and sweats) for myself for Winter and am feeling very content with those purchases.  I would like to find some capri/workout sweats that a.) are not super tight and b.) do not have the little band cuff things around the bottom.  I am beginning to think such a thing does not exist.

Last week I thought I broke the wash machine but it was just a quarter that got wedged in the spinny thing on the bottom.  Aaron fixed it.  And then I vaccumed over the vacuum cord and it took a chunk out of it but I didn't electrocute myself.  And Aaron fixed it too.  And he stained the deck.  And fixed the toilet (I actually didn't break that). And now the smoke detector in our bedroom is randomly chirping so add that to the list.  It has been a productive week, even if some of the productivity has been self-inflicted by my lack of carefulness.

That was all very random.

 

The kiddos:  They are currently playing school, which they spend an immense amount of time doing when they are not...at school.  haha.  Gemma is always the teacher.  She is very bossy and very particular (where does she get this?) and it works until one of the boys decides to have an opinion.  Which luckily (for her) may not happen until an hour plus of this game.  She has them trained where she will say "class class" and they immediately look at her and say "yes yes," and then she gives them their marching orders directions.  Future teachers and army drill sergeants can thank her.

Today Kolbe got very sad at school because the lunch staff wouldn't let him have the Cheetos served with the school lunch due to his food sensitivities.  It was a miscommunication (he has only had one issue with school lunches this year and we're still trying to figure out what caused him to flare up).  I was pleased they were so diligent, even though Kolbe could have had the chips, and we worked out what we'll do in the future so all's well that ends well but boy was he sad when I picked him up.  Absolutely, positively devastated.  Like, he hadn't eaten a bite of his lunch and was bursting into tears devastated.  It just broke my heart.  So anyways, Gemma comes out after school this afternoon and apparently she had gone over to comfort him in the lunchroom (she gets there about the time he is leaving) and found out what happened.  So she hops in the van and what does she do?  Pulls a bunch of Cheetos out that she had shoved IN HER JUMPER POCKET from her own lunch.  My heart nearly burst.  These kids.  I am so glad they have each other.  Like I said, all's well that ends well.

In other Kolbe news, he has recently learned to swing himself so that is pretty exciting.  I should try to post a video...

Clement sure enjoys eing the only kid at home in the mornings.  He plays well by himself and we run lots of errands together and it is just good times all around.

In the kitchen:  

Tonight: Nantucket Baked Cod.  I have never had the real thing from Red Lobster, but I think this version is pretty tasty, I've made it at least a half dozen times for us and/or my job.

Tomorrow: I am making a bunch of German Potato Salad for a family get together this weekend.  For dinner we will eat the Fisherman's Feast box dinner for four that I picked up on a very good deal at Sams a couple months ago.

Sunday: family get together

Monday: spaghetti and meat sauce with roasted broccoli and cauliflower and maybe some focaccia bread

Tuesday: the children will eat hot dogs.  Don't judge.  Aaron and I will eat something else that is yet to be determined.  Leftovers?  Salads?  Who knows.  Trust me, it will be spectacular.

Wednesday: white chicken chili

Thursday: something from the grill?  Or maybe leftovers from our amazing dinner on Tuesday.

Friday: swiss tuna melts on WW English Muffins with canned green beans

Learning:  Ask Gemma.

Reading: I haven't read a bunch this week but I picked up a copy of The Joy of Full Surrender someone had given me and I like it.  Continuing to enjoy Saints of the Roman Calendar as it applies.  Gemma and I finished The Year of Miss Agnes (so great) and will start Ginger Pye tonight.  Still reading Rufus M. at the breakfast table/snacktime/lunch on non-school days with all three kids.  The kids each get to check two books out from the school library (Gemma has read a chapter book a week the past two weeks!!!!! I thought I'd never see the day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and I try to keep a steady diet of true-good-beautiful (and fun!) picture books coming from the hold shelf at the public library as well.

Watching:  MLB.  A little bit of Ken Burns' documentary on the Civil War.  It's interesting enough, but I am not a huge Civil War buff.  Some of his other stuff (the Dust Bowl one comes right to mind) has been just amazing though.

Bringing me joy: A new nephew/godson.  Prayer.  Autumn weather.  My kids, they are so seriously amazing.

Thinking about: My utter dependence on God.  For everything.  Every.Thing.  This has really struck me of late. 

Pictures to share:
I seriously got nothin'.  And I can't figure out how to share that video of Kolbe...
TGIF everyone!!  Enjoy the weekend.

Seven Quick Takes in which I talk about Christmas, night weaning, and mini-blinds

1. Night-weaning.  The baby turned two last week and as I mentioned in aforementioned post, I decided it was time to night-wean.  We went cold turkey (it was time...for him and for me).  It has been superawesomefabulous.  I have reminded him about it every night at bedtime (as he still nurses then), and nights have gone ahhhhhhhmazingly well.  The first two mornings he got pretty upset around 5:30a so I just laid with him and comforted him and talked to him and he worked through it.  Since then he just wants me to sit at the foot of his floor-bed if he wakes up and it takes him like thirty seconds to go back to sleep.  One night he went to bed at 7:30 and didn't wake up until 5:30a, at which point he started screaming that he wanted his shoes.  On his feet.  At a quarter-'til the butt-crack of dawn.  Oooooookay.  Aaron intervened for a bit and, well, we'll just say all's well that ends well (read: I am not always the nicest person in the  middle of the night when little people who should be sleeping are loudly making irrational requests).  When he got up for the day Gemma was like, "why is the baby wearing his shoes?"  Don't ask.  My kids are weird.
2. I found a super-quick way to dust mini-blinds that works so well and saves, like, an immense amount of time.  It works especially well on the wooden ones.  I would describe it but believe me I would bore you to tears.  Mini-blinds.  I am blogging about mini-blinds.  My life is sad.
3. We went and looked at some model homes last week on a "date" and as nice as they were, we both came away from the afternoon grateful for the home we have now.  Sure we'd like somewhere bigger someday, but right now there is happiness in our cozy, simple home.
4. The kids are in a Christmas frenzy.  We have been reading The Long Winter and of course this has Gemma planning and plotting all different kinds of wild ideas.  And then today the kids checked a Barney Christmas special out from the library so that really set things off.  They are busily making Christmas decorations at the table as I type.  And the baby is acting like a dog.  He just licked my leg.  Always entertaining around here.
5. I know lots of people like to knock the big purple dinosaur, but I'm just going to come out and say it.  I like Barney.  His messages are sweet without being over-the-top or proselytizing; and for real.  Those kids can DANCE!
6. Often if Aaron is not around for bedtime Gemma will put Kolbe to bed for me while I lay with the baby.  The other night I came in and she was telling him the epic story of Jesus.  It was epic.  And long.  But surprisingly accurate, and seriously, she was talking about GOD.  I couldn't bear to stop her.  But it went on for like 10+ minutes AFTER I came in the room to tell them goodnight.  She prefaced everything (I overheard her while laying with the baby) by explaining the difference between fiction and non-fiction to Kolbe.  I love that girl.  Best part, hands-down, when she talked about the time leading up to Jesus' arrest and said, "and then the bad guys came and talked to King Herrod about arresting Jesus, and he was like 'hold on guys, talk to me after the Passover'."  I had to stifle a laugh. 
7. I can sadly think of nothing more about which to talk (since mini-blinds and getting licked on the leg were so exciting), but I suppose I can always find a book to talk about.  We checked out Miss Moore Thought Otherwise from the library and it was a wonderful picture book about the history of children's rooms in libraries.  I am reading The Fault in Our Stars and seriously underwhelmed.  Why all the hype about that particular teen-fiction?  I have found nothing spectacular about it.

Check in with Jen over at Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes.

Journal: end of February

TODAY

Out my window:  Cold, windy, sunny.  We've had some warmer nice days lately though, and the kids have been getting some good outdoor play.  This makes me insanely happy.  It is so fun looking out the window to see Kolbe digging in the dirt and Gemma doing who-knows-what and the baby, er, toddler traipsing around after them.  Love.

Clothing myself in:  It's a jeans and hoodie kind of day.

Around the house: Nothing earth-shattering.  Thinking about getting a new shower curtain and rings for the master bath, and I need to try to mend a rip on the reverse side of our bedspread.  Oh and spring/summer wardrobes.  Shudder.

 

The baby/toddler:  Has had some frightful nights.  I blame teeth.  He has three molars through and is working on the fourth, and his top eye teeth are trying to poke through as well.

He has started making the Sign of the Cross (furiously batting his fist back and forth between shoulders) and he will do the actions to our Morning Offering each day.  It's cute seeing him pick up on things the big kids do (for the most part, haha). 

If I give him two cups and some little items (counters for instance) he will spend an absurd amount of time dumping them back and forth.

 

The kiddos:  We found out this past week that Kolbe is color blind.  His is red-green and we're not sure how severe, but I suppose we will see as he gets older and it does or does not become more of a problem for him in school and such.  It is a genetic condition passed on from me (I am not color blind, my dad is though).  It is most frequently passed to boys from their mothers.  Here is a little more info on color-blindness that I found interesting.  And here (this one is kind of cool as you can see a picture of what people with different levels of color-blindess see).

Gemma has been making progress lately in the anger/temper department lately.  Nothing huge, but I have noticed when she is mad sometimes instead of lashing out she will say, "I am so angry now," or lash out in some other (less appropriate) way with her words...calling names, verbal attacks, etc. which isn't ideal but is leaps and bounds better than lashing out physically.  This is a continual challenge for me as well, so I pray that we can help each other through these struggles with temper and both end up better on the flip-side.  As his personality develops I am seeing a lot of the same traits in Clement...God give me grace and patience! 

In the kitchen: I made some really yummy no-bake cookies this past week.  I am not a huge no-bake fan, and am a terrible cookie-maker, but I wanted something quick and fun for the kids for snacktime one day so I found a recipe without peanut butter (none of us really like PB in cookies) and it was tasty and relatively healthy as well!!  I shared the recipe on my FB but holler if you'd like it.  Since we should probably eat more than chocolate and oats though, I have fajitas and a lasagna on the menu this week.  May bake some fish and will probably do some sort of soup as well.  Still deciding...

Crafting: (cue heavenly chorus) I did something!!!  Gemma's bulletin board in her room was too small to hold all her pictures, so I found a bigger one at Hobby Lobby, and the frame was just unfinished wood.  The day we brought it home I mixed up a pretty pink paint AND painted it.  Both coats!  It looks really good (no photographic evidence, lame, I know).  It will move downstairs with her though when she moves into her own room, so if I'd really been on the ball I would have bought another one and painted it blue for the boys when that is their room.  Maybe next week...

Learning:  The kids have been playing school lately.  Gemma loooooves being the teacher (imagine).  The other day when they were done she brought me a blank phonics paper she had made with a note at the top that said, "Clement dusent no haw to do fonix."  Those darn 19-month-olds, such slackers. 

Rr week for Kolbe, with some great R picture books, A Rainbow of My Own and Come on, Rain.  I think we'll do bead rosaries for preschool co-op this week and be sure to watch this Brother Franics DVD.

Reading: Still slowly chugging through The Joy of the Gospel.  It really is wonderful. 

Watching:  May or may not have the season premier of InkMaster set up on the DVR.  I know...

Bringing me joy: Nice weather and time outdoors with the family.  The kids playing well together.  Cheerful Monday mornings (I started this post yesterday and am just finishing it now, the week is off to a good start).  Gratitude for my hubby and kids.  A DATE with my hubby coming up.  It's been almost 4 months!!!  Watching Bob the Builder and Clifford with the kids.  A lot of kids' shows are so annoying to me, I find these two to be very endearing however, for whatever reason.  :-)

Thinking about: "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."  Not gonna mince any words, I suck at this.  And Lent, can't believe it starts next week!!

Pictures to share:  

Crazy baby.  I am still not sure why he made this face, either it was the french fries and ice-cream or he is just getting very goofy around the camera.  May have been a little bit of both, whatever the case I find this picture to be insanely entertaining.

Journal: The New Year

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny, windy and cold, a few remnants of a light snow we got the other night.  Very cold temps in the forecast.  It is Winter, bleh.  Although it is now January so that just means this month and then Feeeebbbbbrrrruuuuuaaaarrrrryyyyyy and then Spring, right?  Right???  Right.......

Clothing myself in:  Jeans, tank, sweatshirt, socks.  Casual Friday around the house.  Haha.

Around the house: Packed a bunch of toys away before/during Christmas.  They are the ones that rarely get played with.  If they stay packed away and no one asks for them by March we will have a chat with the kids about getting rid of them.  I am ready for the Christmas decos to come down, and since we're about to the end of the Twelve Days we will probably take them down this weekend.  I leave my Nativity on the mantel until Candlemas and the other winter things up until Februaryish as well.  Can you tell I am ready for Spring, already thinking ahead for it.  heh.  Trying to think about and plan what needs to be done for our January birthdays as well.  Goodness they always come so quick after the holidays!   The rush of presents and then ensuing present drought (from January to December, haha) for the kids is getting more difficult as they get older.  I suppose they probably don't care, but it just makes shopping for them really hard when it all has to be done in 3wks time.  Sigh.  OH well. 

 

The baby:  Cuteness.  I love how he throws his clothes in the dirty clothes each night before getting in the bath.  He loves the big kids so much and wants so badly to play with.  Most of the time they are pretty good sports about it.  He understands and follows simple directions and really seems to keep up with what is going on around the house.  I suppose it is about time to quit referring to him as "the baby"...

 

The kiddos:  Have had a really nice Christmas break.  I am kind of sad it is over, it has been nice having Gemma around and the more relaxed wake-up time/mornings that brings.  Although I think she is ready to get back to the structure school brings (even though she would never admit it, haha;-).  For the most part they have had some really good playtime together over the break, and our schedule really hasn't been too crazy or out of the ordinary.  For the most part.

GEMMA has learned to tie her shoes!!!  We had worked on tying on and off the past year or so and it has never clicked.  I told Aaron I thought if I bought her a pair of tie shoes that she would figure it out before too long.  She was on the cusp of needing them, and we could demote the velcro ones to "play shoes" so she got to pick out a pair of tie shoes.  I showed her twice how to tie them and she has it down pat!  She is very excited to get a shoe bead when she goes back to school.

I know I mentioned previously that KOLBE had seemed to kind of hit a rough patch, and well he seems to be mellowing back out to his usual self which has been nice.  Still an oh so strong will, but I have resigned myself that's just how my kids are so that aside he really has been much more manageable lately.  He was able to survive the holidays and all the extra food mainly unscathed when it comes to his dye sensitivity (I am particularly glad for this as I want to take him in for four year pics soon and am glad his face is not broken out).  I ordered some natural food coloring for frosting for the upcoming bdays, so we'll see how that works out.

In the kitchen: This week we had Shepherd's Pie; Chinese carry-out (or "Chinese Lemonade" as the kids call it, haha); homemade pizza; smoked salmon with steamed broccoli and tater-puffs; and Loaded Baked Potato and Chicken Casserole is on the menu for tonite.

Crafting: nope, nada.  New Years, shmoo-years, what resolutions??

Learning:  I have M, N and O weeks planned for Kolbe.  I am backing off a little and just planning one thing a day for him to do during "homework time" in the afternoons, and even then I'm going to try to pull out more manipulatives and such.  Mornings will be for reading books or doing other non-paper and crayon related things.  Kolbe is still struggling a lot with his pencil/crayon grip and I just don't want to force too much before he is ready.  Looking forward to starting our co-op back up next week as well!  We will be using Mouse Paint, one of my favorite picture books!  We've all been working on a thank you note a day since Christmas so hopefully those will be hammered out soon.  Just in time to turn around and write more for birthdays.  OH these January birthdays get me very year.  Sorry, tangent.

Reading: Well, Larry's Christmas letter, - at 17 pages - is at the top of the list for this week!  If any of you other readers know Larry from Church (anyone?) you will know how great this is.  Seriously, it was awesome.  My dad got me The Better Part for Christmas and I have been trying to pray with it daily.  I started with the Gospel of Luke.  I really like it.  The best way I would describe it is a loosely structured Lectio Divina.  I will be able to munch on this book for years, probably decades.  It is nice. 

Watching:  We watched all but the last part (don't spoil it, we're finishing it tonite) of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button last night.  I am not a movie person.  Aaron literally has to just start a movie and then ignore all my kicking and screaming and whining.  And whining.  It was really good.  Gold Rush also resumes tonight, and the goats on Alaska: The Last Frontier had babies.  Seriously, the noise that a goat baby makes is very adorable.  

Bringing me joy: Faith and Family.  Prayer and the Mass.  Hubby, kids, parents, siblings, cousins, aunts and uncles....so grateful. 

Thinking about: Life and death.  Between the movie we watched last night, the sudden and rather tragic death of a friend of ours, the death of my aunt last month and visiting Aaron's aging uncle and grandparents last weekend it just really has me thinking about mortality. 

Pictures to share:  

I think I will love this picture forever.

Journal (10th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: It feels like Fall.  It's nice.  Highs in the 50s or 60s, lows in the 30s or 40s, slanty light, trees are past peak.  The kids played this afternoon at the park with one of the neighbor kids and we all had a nice time outdoors, albeit a bit chilly.

Clothing myself in: jammies

Around the house: I wiped the kitchen cabinets down with Murphy's Oil Soap today.  Good stuff, good stuff.  Takes away all the grime (we don't have cabinet pulls, so the wood gets really grimy) and leaves the house smelling so fresh.

 

The baby:  Is noticing his surroundings so much more.  He is starting to take an interest in toys and rattles and such, and loves sitting in the bouncy chair and "playing" with the big kids.  He is so entertained by them, it's wonderful.  Even though most some days I feel like I am losing my mind, I feel like I've really hit my groove with three. 

 

The kiddos:  Aaron set up the train set for the kids (they got it for Christmas last year and I packed it away because it kind of drove me crazy).  They are much better ages for it now and have been having a lot of fun with it.

Kolbe....I think we have FINALLY turned the corner with this potty process.  I started putting him in regular underwear (not training pants, not pull-ups) this week around the house (no pants, just underwear)....and he GOT it!!!  Several days now he has had no accidents, AND he's been telling me when he has to go, going back to the potty, pulling his undies down and doing his business all on his own.  I'm not calling it yet, but we are soooooo close.  YAY!!!!!!  And while I'm talking about Kolbe, he is so funny, he wakes up at LEAST once during the night hollering for his "tudders" (covers).  He kicks them off and is somehow incapable of re-"tuddering" himself so he just yells "tudders mammy, tudders mammy" until I come in, and after I cover him he says "shanks mommy" in this sleepy little grateful voice.  It would be kind of annoying if it weren't so darn cute.

Gemma has it in her head that a kitten is going to come to our house and knock on or meow at the door and she will rescue it and keep it as her pet in a cage that daddy will bring home from his office (??) and I will give her a milk bowl for it and we'll get the kitty milk from the store for it and she will take care of it and when it grows up to be a cat she will let it go and get a new kitten (kid you not, she said that).  She has been through her plan with me no less than 100 times.  I finally snapped and said (rather crossly), "GEMMA, we are NOT getting a kitten."  It didn't even phase her.  She has big plans, I tell you.

In the kitchen:  Lazy Sunday Casserole; Pizza with red sauce, meat, mushrooms and bell peppers; Thanksgiving feasting

Crafting:  I designed a little photo collage in powerpoint to have printed for our Christmas cards.  If anyone hears about Walgreens doing 4x6 free prints like they did last year around this time, please let me know!!  I am very pleased with how the collage turned out.

Learning: Read a handful of books about pilgrims and Indians this week and made paper plate pilgrims.  We mixed our own "face color" which was fun for the kids.  Also made these paper Indians with watercolors and crayons.

Bringing me joy: The thought of my hubby having some time off this coming week for the holiday.  He rarely has time off work, so when he is home from work on a regular work day it is a real treat!!!!

Thinking about: How far removed we are from the whole "first time parent" scene.  This is neither good nor bad, and I am by no means claiming to be any sort of expert when it comes to parenting.  It has just dawned on us of late that we're not really "newbies" anymore. 

Pictures to share: 

First fire of the year on a cold Sunday last week.  With hot chocolate and some stories, it was quite cozy.

Litany of a child

Thanks to the persistent inspiration I've gotten from my friend Kansas Mom, I have finally added a litany to our morning prayers.  I really wasn't looking to add more to our morning prayers, but at this point in our lives morning prayer time is the most "relaxed" prayer time of the day (I am sure this will change next year with the advent of Kindergarten, but I am trying to make the most of it while I still can).  Our before meal prayers are basic, we usually only prayer after meals during Lent and Advent, and I will be completely honest, by the time bedtime prayers roll around I am just ready for everyone to be quiet and go to sleep, so the idea of adding something to them kind of sent me into a cold sweat. 

Anyways, we are reading about a Saint each day during morning prayers for the month of November so I decided to add a litany of saints after our prayers.  We each say our name saints, our parish patron, the saint we read, and any others Gemma (or Kolbe) think of.  Yesterday Gemma asked if she could pray for daddy's saint so I said, "sure go ahead".  In complete and utter prayerful seriousness she proceeded to say, "St. Honey -- pray for us".  I'm still smiling at that one.

Halloween 2012

Gemma the morning of Halloween
with all her "preparations"!

This was the first year that Gemma really got into Halloween.  Other years she has been very hesitant to even dress up...once she is dressed up and going she has typically had fun, but this year the anticipation of the big day was a blast for her as well.  And obviously this enthusiasm spilled over to Kolbe too!  Gemma spent the past week making "Halloween decorations" for our house.  This consisted of coloring Halloween coloring sheets, cutting them out, punching a whole in the top and tying a pink string to them.  She then put them all in a gift bag (there were probably 30-40) and insisted she could not hang them until Halloween night.  I had kind of forgotten about them, but sure enough she hauled them out about 4:30 in the afternoon on Halloween evening and they are how hanging on every doorknob, handle, drawer pull, etc. in the house!  Usually I just let her hang stuff in her room, so she was thrilled that I let her put stuff anywhere. 

She also decided what she wanted to be for Halloween and made her costume all on her own.  Up until this past weekend she/we was planning to wear the Old Navy monkey costume we got her last year.  Then, all on her own this past Saturday, she decided she wanted to be a princess so she got her play "clo" dress (when clothes is a singular, she shortens it to "clo" and I just can't bear to correct her grammar) and made a wand and crown to go with it all on her own.  She was so genuinely enthused about it, it made me smile even if it made daddy a bit sad that his little girl wasn't going to wear the monkey costume he'd helped pick out last year.  Such is life, our baby girl is sure growing up.  She informed me that next year she will be a ballerina and the following year a fairy.  We'll see if she remembers...

Daddy looks forward to Halloween at our house as much as (if not more than) the kids, so he even took off work an hour early to come home and get ready for trick-or-treating.  Gemma also engineered a pirate costume for him out of some play-clothes and more paper creations.  His bandana was a triangular piece of paper she colored black with red polka-dots and tied more pink string on for him to wear.  As Aaron described it, it was a two-dimensional rendering of something that should be three-dimensional.  But it made Gemma so happy to see him wear it.  He and the two biggers made it all the way around the neighborhood while the baby dragon and I manned the post and handed out candy on the front porch.  The weather was gorgeous and everyone had a great time.

And a few  more pictures of our fun evening...

Kolbe was so excited to trick-or-treat he kept going up on the porch and getting in the wagon when
we were trying to take pictures and get everyone ready to go!

THE DRAGON BROTHERS! -- All three kids have worn the red dragon now, and two out of three the green one!

A very excited princess, home from trick-or-treating.  Apparently the princess gig is over though, because when I told her "goodnight princess" at bedtime, she informed me she was no longer a princess, "just Gemma".

The dragon got sleepy.

The whole crew!

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!