Journal: yep, it's been two weeks

TODAY

Out my window: Clear, crisp, cool.  It looks like November.  We've had some pretty picturesque days around here.

 

Around the house: Getting Gemma's upstairs room put together the rest of the way.  She's not moving back downstairs anytime even relatively soon, I am certain of this.  And I'm cool with that.  The basement worked, but it's nice (and convenient) having her back upstairs.  I like it.  A lot.  We have a mattress and box springs in there now (!!!!) with her owl bedding from when she and Kolbe shared a room, and the head/foot board and bed frame should be in next week.  Crazy story on those, we decided to shop and I had a little bit of sticker shock at the price of a twin bed.  Um, holy moly.  Well, we were at a particular store that was having some pretty good sales (especially in comparison to the previous store we'd been at) and the sale price of the twin bed that we liked (we are getting one to match(ish) the baby furniture since that is the dresser she is using) was pretty good.  BUT, the actual non-sale price was considerably LESS than the "HOT DEAL" price.  Odd, but we didn't want to press a lot about the difference and they were willing to give it to us for the insanely low price, so we felt pretty good about that purchase.  (So good that Aaron wouldn't even use the coupon we had.)  Because seriously, after looking at the prices of simple beds, I was ready to just have her sleep on a mattress and box springs.  I mean, she has been happy with a sleeping bag for the past six weeks!!  We moved the desk that our neighbor so generously handed on to us under the window and it can double as a night-stand.  And that will leave room for the dog box (grumble) on the other wall all winter.  And all's well that ends well.  If I would just listen to my husband who tells me to quit sweating things....

I cleared a few bags of donations out this week and have sold a few toys on FB.

 

The kiddos:  Our dear friend from church passed away this past week.  He was an older gentleman who had befriended us (the kids particularly) back when Kolbe was a toddler and we have grown to love him over the past few years.  If we were at the same Mass (he often attended more than one Mass a weekend) he would always be sitting in the pew directly across from us.  When Kolbe was smaller he would go sit with him through most of Mass.  He always gave the kids dollars after Mass and they have done many neat things with their Larry-dollars.  Larry was the first person close to our kids that they have lost, so it has been a process for them.  We attended the Rosary as a family and Gemma requested to attend the funeral so she came with Clement and me.  It was a beautiful tribute to one of the most interesting people I've known, and a good opportunity to say farewell and have some closure.  It has also prompted some really great conversations about this life and the afterlife with the kids.  God is good.  All the time.  Even amidst grief.

In the kitchen: 

This week we've had:

lasagna with steamed veggies and focaccia bread

stuffed green peppers (I used the filling to make super nachos for the kids and they hated them, so that was kind of a bummer)

pesto chicken with lentils and steamed green beans

salads 

smothered cod

Up next week:

a big 'ole November pot of chili

chicken parmesan with spaghetti and steamed carrots and fresh green beans (which were on sale at Aldi for cheaper than the frozen ones!!)

salads

some other stuff     

Learning:  the usual.  I really love keeping up with what the kids are doing at school and supplementing at home as I'm able.  Talking a lot about stewardship and Gemma had a neat Veteran's Day project and a patron saint one as well that we've enjoyed working on this week.  Kolbe's handwriting has improved by leaps and bounds the last few months, despite his continued abysmal grip.  And his reading!  Oh my!!!  It is so exciting watching him learn to read, and he is just loving it.

Reading: Of course the illustrious In November (since I haven't linked it enough times in this post).  Today the boys and I shared two of my fave picture books, May I Bring a Friend and A Sick Day for Amos McGee.  I didn't even think when I grabbed them how nicely they both fit together.  We've had some pumpkin books, and some stewardship books, (and then there was Pumpkins: A Story for a Field that worked for pumpkins AND stewardship) and I have stacks of gratitude and Thanksgiving books from the library ready to go. Getting ready to request our Advent/Christmas books (HOLY MOLY!), although as we grow our home library there are less and less that I find myself needing to request seasonally. For myself I am getting back into Introduction to the Devout Life and Deep Conversion, Deep Prayer and Theology for Beginners.

Watching: The World Series of course (hey, I am less than a week belated).  Those were quite the exciting games and we are pretty jazzed around here!!!  Keeping up with Gold Rush and I think Survivorman starts a new season and there is this new show called Mysteries at the National Parks, and as much as I like Mysteries at the Museum, I really despise the National Parks one.  They go out of their way to make it too creepy and just... I don't know.  It weirds me out and I certainly wouldn't want my kids watching it.  For all the education value in the Museum edition (which I would watch with my kids when they are a bit older), sadly the Nat'l Parks one is completely lacking.

Bringing me joy: The opportunity to reflect on life and death, on my own and with my kids.  Prayer.  The saints.  Beautiful November.  There really is something magical about November I think.  A World Series WIN!

Thinking about: Life and death.

Pictures to share: (picmonkey is cool. yes i am slow)

Professional pictures.

Halloween.

Journal: Halloween 2014 + November

TODAY

Out my window:  Cool, cloudy, dreary.  Autumn.  November.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans.  Tank.  Hoodie.  I call these my "work" clothes.  Sounds more professional that way...  

Around the house: A bit more decluttering.  It is ongoing.  I've said it before, but the more we get rid of, the less I find that we really "need."  I'm also finding that we are finally getting to the point in our declutterization (that's a word, right?) that I am spending far less time organizing our things, and far more time just living.  This is what really draws me to minimalism.  To that note, I really enjoyed reading this short article, The Simple Joy of One. 

 

The baby/toddler:  He had a fun Halloween.  Oh he was SOOOOOOO excited to be Spider-Man and just for Halloween in general.  You'd think he remembered it from last year, although I don't see how that would be possible.  He was probably just taking his cues from sis and bubby.  I didn't think I was going to be able to convince him to dress up, but when we went to Target to get Kolbe's costume they were BOGO, and it seemed silly not to walk away with a free costume we would use, so I let him look around, and drew his attention to the "blue (he loves anything blue) Spider-Man."  And boy did he bite.  It was all he talked about the past few weeks.  He was a very enthusiastic Spider-Man the day of Halloween, and had a blast visiting our friend Bernadine and grandparents before dinner.  By the time we donned our costumes to trick-or-treat he was a bit less enthusiastic, and about halfway around the neighborhood he was just weeping with tiredness.  We actually had to cut it short with him (at which point he wept the entire way home, the entire way through his bath, and the entire time it took to lay with him while he fell asleep, which was pretty short, but still...), and as it turns out he woke up the next day with a fever.  Thankfully that was short-lived, and he still got to enjoy most of the day.  He is still talking about "Ha-ya-YEEN!!!!"

The kiddos:  They both had fun Halloweens as well, Gemma as a pony and Kolbe as a blue robot (Optimus Prime, but he was adamant that he was just a blue robot).  We got a lot less candy this year, probably hit at least 1/3 less houses due to either lights not being on or people just not being home.  Not sure if it was due to Halloween being a Friday, a HS football night, or what.  But honestly I am actually grateful for less candy.  Although it makes it harder to pilfer...  I did toss a lot of the junk stuff after they were in bed Friday (makes it easier with Kolbe's dye allergy), which I felt mildly bad about, but I also feel mildly bad about giving them dye-laden Skittles, so oh well.  Last year I ended up throwing the rest of our Halloween candy away after Easter (we packed it away for Lent and the kids forgot about it).  Don't think that will happen this year.

Oh, oh, OH!!!  And for the first time ever, we -- by some amazing miracle -- actually got the extra hour of sleep that the time change brought.  I don't know how but the kids slept in AND we slept in (until 6ish new time, haha, perspective...).  It was glorious.  Clem has been a pretty early riser since then though.  Oh well.

Clem was just sick for a day (about 24 hrs) with his fever, Kolbe caught it the next day and now seems better as well.  Gemma was a little under the weather last week (although not enough to miss school) so I am not sure if that was a less severe version of what the boys had or if she will be going down soon.  I am betting on the former.

In the kitchen: Lasagna and green beans, Crispy Chicken salads, Fish a la Foil (a new recipe from my neighbor involving white fish, swiss cheese, shredded carrots and green onions, YUM!) and leftovers, as we are still eating on stuff Aaron grilled last weekend.  I spilled an entire cup of hot tea on my recipe binder last week while trying to get a jump-start on dinner one afternoon, so that was mildly stressful.  It dried alright, and I reorganized it, grouping main dishes by meat (chicken, beef, etc.).  I am not a huge recipe person, but I have enough that it is helpful to have them organized in a user-friendly way.

Crafting: uuhhhhhhh, I dyed some pumpkin seeds to use for a craft with our little pre-school co-op.  A couple teaspoons of rubbing alcohol+food coloring of your choice in a jar with the number of seeds you want to dye.  Lid the jar tightly and shake them around, adding color until you get the desired shade you're going for.  I dried them in a very low-heat oven and they turned out really great.

Learning:  The usual.  Kolbe has really taken off with writing and drawing.  Just like Gemma, he is reaching a point where he spends a good portion of his time during the day with his color box and paper.  He has started asking me how to spell words and today he wrote Gemma a letter that said, "Dear Gemma I hope that I really love you so much."  I hope that she likes it, he spent like 45 minutes pouring his heart into it.  Last week I thought I'd see how he did writing on the kindergarten lined paper and was amazed how he took to it (we work specifically on handwriting once a week).  He is making great progress with his letters.

Reading: In November with the kids.  One of my favorite pictures books.

"In November, at winter's gate, the stars are brittle.  The sun is a sometime friend.  And the world has tucked her children in, with a kiss on their heads, till spring."

And The Clown of God, as I think it goes so well with the stewardship renewal this month. 

For myself, still working through The Hidden Power of Kindness, Clutterfree With Kids, Theology and Sanity and a few others.  I am making progress, really, I'm just reading too many things at once.  And it has been too long since I've read any fiction...

Watching:  The World Series.  Well, last week anyways.  The Royals played a good season and an especially good postseason.  I was surprised how emotionally invested I was. in the series.  Anyways...  Hoping to maybe make a game at the K with the hubs next Spring.  Now that baseball is over we have Gold Rush and there have been some new Survivorman episodes and we have a bunch of Alaska: The Last Frontier from last season and this on our DVR.

Bringing me joy: November.  As much as I despise winter, November and Advent bring me so much joy.  This may be my favorite time of year, although November and Spring are probably a tie, for different reasons.

Thinking about: Advent.  I'm doing a presentation with our moms' group at Church this week so it has has me thinking (and planning).  Trying to decide what will work best this year for our family.  Starting to also think a bit about Christmas gifts...

Pictures to share:  

One more from Halloween.

Pumpkin Patch 2014

This was our fifth year to go to the Pumpkin Patch!!  Normally I take the kids on a weekday morning or afternoon (it's a little cheaper that way), but this year between Gemma being in school all day and kind of wanting an extra set of hands and eyes, we decided to go on a Saturday so Aaron could come with us.  It was so much fun!!!

Picking their pumpkins!

Trying to get a group shot was highly amusing.  I thought this one displayed their individual personalities pretty accurately.

Obligatory stick your head through the holes pictures.

Kolbe really liked the big blow-up pumpkin.

Clement liked the dirt...and jumping on the hay-stack maze!

They all got to ride the cow-cars this year!

I thought this one was really sweet.  They can be so sweet with each other (as opposed to being not so sweet with each other, which they certainly can be as well).

 
We came home and enjoyed s'mores together after dinner.  It was a great family day/

Halloween 2013

I posted pictures on Facebook but thought I would put them (and some commentary) here as well, more for personal posterity than anything else, but in case you're interested...

Gemma wanted to be a ballerina.  She is very into all things girlie.  She went back and forth between ballerina, princess, butterfly and her sucker playclothes dress the past couple months.  She ended up with ballerina, which was mainly her wearing her playclothes trick or treating.  We went last weekend to Target and got her a crown.  Easy-peasy and she was thrilled with her costume

Kolbe wanted - in the worst way - to be a space rocket.  I tried and tried to talk him out of it.  "Let's be a baseball player!  Want to be a monkey?!  Baseball players are really cool, you can where your baseball shirt from the playclothes."  "Please?!!"   No. Freakin'. Dice.  Finally my mommy guilt got the best of me and after a (very quick) google search I decided I could figure it out myself.  Not the greatest costume ever but he was thrilled and that's all that matters.  And it didn't take too terribly long either!  The only disappointment from Kolbe was that he couldn't really fly.  I guess he didn't account for that.  Stinkin' gravity.

Clem was our only child with no opinion this year (about his Halloween costume anyways), so we had round three of the cute little lion.  (round one HERE, and round two HERE).  Not much more to say about him.  Too much cuteness.  

The plan was for all of us to trick-or-treat the immediate neighbors and then have Aaron take the big kids around the loop while Clem and I passed out treats at our house.  Clem did not want anything to do with me, so he set off with daddy and sis and bro.  According to Aaron he lasted about three houses until he conked out.  Sleepy, opinionated little lion cub.  Daddy is sure a trooper.

Gemma had her Fall party at school which she had been eagerly anticipating all week.  She got some treats and they played pin the eye on the alien.  She was very excited about it.  In the afternoon Aaron carved our big pumpkin with the kids, and Target and their $.70 pumpkin sticker kits saved the day with the Pumpkin Patch pumpkins.  We are also in the midst of kitchen renovations, so it was quite the busy day but we had a fun Halloween.

 

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!!!!

Journal (7th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: It got coooooooold.  Well, it got cold AFTER it got warm again this past week and I had to actually break some short-sleeve shirts back out for the kids after declaring victory over summer wardrobes last week.  I could hear the rubermaid tubs laughing at me.

Clothing myself in: Pink sweats, college sweatshirt.  I will be changing into something nicer later as we are having a guest for dinner this evening.  Be amazed.

Around the house:  We have accumulated a bunch of nice, educational toys over the years (wooden puzzles, lacing cards, pattern blocks, counting bears, etc. etc. etc.), and I keep them in spots that are put away but easily accessed.  Even so, they don't get used/played with nearly as often as I would like....so this week I started setting a few out on the fireplace each day and switching them out each evening (thanks to the handy-dandy reminder on my phone, see Mary...) and that has worked really well.  The kids have enjoyed it and it has helped encourage me to sit down and spend some time working on things with them.  Win win.  I've also been doing better at rotating toys from the toybox (thanks other Mary!) and that always helps too.  When we play well, we fight less.  All of us.

 

The baby: Oh my goodness, he is getting so big.  Yesterday I dressed him in a size 12 mos. romper.  He's not really thick but boy is he long!  He is very fascinated with his hands.  His legs are getting stronger, he can semi-support himself when I stand him on my lap.  He is so smiley.  OH I love him.

 

The kiddos: Gemma hit a wall with her reading lessons this week.  We're about 25 lessons in and they are getting more difficult.  There was frustration, tears, the works, but she didn't want to set it aside and come back to it.  She reminds me so much of me.  SO we suffered through the rest of that lesson, I had a good chat with a fellow mom friend (thanks Michelle!), we took a day off and then yesterday she successfully read a number of pages from Hop on Pop.  We were both very pleased!  I think I'll start splitting the lessons up over two days, and we will rotate between those and reading from "easy readers".  I'm excited, I think she's really going to start taking off with this reading thing.

Kolbe.  I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to everyone who has dropped by our house this past week to find my half naked son running around in all his glory.  He is just doing so stinking well using the potty when he doesn't wear pants, that, well, he just doesn't wear pants anymore.  Oh when we leave the house (like once a week, HA) I do clothe him properly.  And he is doing a little better about not wetting in his underpants and telling us when he has to go (or more likely when he is going) but he by no means totally "gets it".  SO he just doesn't wear pants.

In the kitchen:  Chicken pizza with white sauce and tomatoes from our neighbor's garden; Italian sausage soup; chicken wraps; baked fish, veggies and either couscous or rice (had to nix that one last week); SUSHI!

Crafting:  

Learning: Our weekly theme was PUMPKINS!  Click here for some of our books and activities.  The kids also had fun with these (or similar, I couldn't find the exact ones) lacing cards.  Gemma colored and cut out a very huge amount of pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns throughout the course of the week.

Gemma also went to her first storytime by herself at the library.  She did so well, I was really proud of her.  No tears and a huge smile on her face as she skipped off with the line of 3-6 year olds, and an equally huge smile upon returning.  She is super excited to go again, YAY!  My little girl is sure growing up recently, and it makes me a bit sentimental.  Happy, but sentimental never-the-less.

Reading: See last week.  Not much new.  And oh my, I think I am enjoying Little House on the Prairie every bit as much as Gemma is (and that's quite a bit)!

Bringing me joy: My spiritual director gave me a first class relic of St. Gemma Galgani (with certificate of authenticity) to give to our Gemma when she gets older.  He had gotten it at some point when he was traveling in Italy and recently came across it.  Aaron and I were so touched that he thought of our Gemma, what a treasure. ::: Lots of good, quality time with the kids. :::  My phone...we got new phones a little over a month ago but we didn't get data (it was twofold, expense and the fact that we --- or I, Aaron would never use it -- don't need to be that connected, more great stuff on that HERE from my friend Sarah).  Well, I figured out how to download some Catholic podcasts, prayers, and the daily readings and put them on the mp3 player on my phone so I can listen to them in the kitchen while I'm cooking dinner, the kids' room while changing sheets, just anywhere around the house when I am working on mundane activities.  Since the laptop is so hard to haul around (lame, I know).  This really has brought me an insane amount of joy. ::: Our wonderful neighbors.  We seriously have the best neighbors ever...and not just next-door. Everyone around us is just, wow.  Good, good people.  Our next-door neighbors in particular love our kids so much though.  They are about our parents' age and she will often text me to send the kids over for a bit to do this or that.  The kids love it and I can tell "Miss Jo" does too.  It is really a blessing. ::: A nice friend who brought us a meal out of the blue. ::: It has been a good week.

Thinking about: I get out and about with the kids so much less now that we have three.  And it really is fine, I enjoy being home.  Now that winter is approaching, I am thinking about just hibernating here.  Seriously, the thought of getting everyone clothed (Kolbe), socks, shoes, jackets zipped, hoods, blankets, diaper bag packed, etc. sends me into a cold sweat just thinking about it.  I am soooooo not looking forward to winter.

Pictures to share: 

Our three beautiful blessings.  Gemma: 4yrs 9 months; Kolbe: 2yrs 9 months; Clement: 3 months.

Pumpkin books

Here are a few pumpkin books we are enjoying this week.

Too Many Pumpkins is the story of Rebecca Estelle and the unruly pumpkin patch that happened upon her and her cat Esmerelda "quite by accident".  Rebecca continually makes the best of unexpected situations throughout the story.  The illustrations are quite cute, the story is cute and well written.  It really was the trifecta of a good picture book!

Patty's Pumpkin Patch is a nice, rhyming story that follows the activities in a pumpkin patch from spring to winter.  While "fiction," it still gave some good, factual information about pumpkins and how they grow.  At the bottom of each page is an alphabet letter that corresponds with an animal, bug or plant in the above illustration, so there are some great options for further discussion/learning on each page.

The kids are also having fun painting/coloring this pumpkin template and painting, cutting and gluing these eyes - noses - mouths.