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. :)

January birthdays 2015

Our oldest two have birthdays five days apart from each other.  Less than three weeks after Christmas.  We have struggled to find a good balance when it comes to birthday celebrating.  We've tried the big birthday parties with cousins and everything and it is just...a lot.  Especially right on the heels of the holidays.  Not that it's my kids' fault for being born in January, but even so...  Then the past two years they were both sick on their birthdays and that kind of torpedoed or at least postponed any plans we had.  This year we sat down with Gemma not long after Christmas and discussed birthday options.  We decided for this year (and probably years to come) we would choose a weekend evening around both birthdays and invite grandparents (both sides) over for dinner and the evening.  Then on their actual birthday, each kid gets to choose what they want for dinner, has a special cake or brownies made for them, and gets to open their presents from mom and dad.  This worked out really well and hopefully we'll settle into a nice birthday routine in years to come.  As the kids get older, birthdays will probably be a good opportunity for them to do something with a small group of friends from school as well.  

So "birthday week" started off with dinner with the grandparents.

We served pulled pork, baked beans, steamed veggies and tater-puffs.  Strawberry shortcake and apple crisp were the birthday desserts of choice.  A good time was had by all.

 

Then we have Gemma's actual birthday.  The kids always get cake or brownies for breakfast on their birthdays.  And then Gemma had a donut after Mass since her birthday fell on a Sunday.  OH sugar!

Opening gifts, she got a Calico Critters bunny family, a Clifford stuffed dog and DVD, the Samantha American Girl books and a perler bead pattern book.

Gemma's godmother and her husband joined us for a sushi dinner (Gemma's request) that evening.  Gemma got more books from her godmother!

 

One down, one to go.

Kolbe's birthday started with birthday brownies that had chocolate chips in the shape of a "5" on top.

Since it was a weekday, he got to open two presents at breakfast and one at each other meal.  That way at least mommy and daddy could be around to watch him (sis had school).  At breakfast he got a "5" shirt, which he requested since he liked his "4" one so much.  He also got a Lego car set and and some Lego wheels to go with his big tub.  Cars are his favorite thing to build.  He also got his "save" "spend" and "give" jars since he will start getting an allowance.

At lunch Koble got a Ninja Turtle night light and toy.  The toy actually ended up kind of being a bust though, and so I told him he could pick something else (and I would return the other one).  He picked this slingshot, stuffed animal thing that had actually been what I originally wanted to get him but couldn't find it locally.  As luck would have it, the Target on the other side of town ended up having ONE, so we made a special trip out there.  He was one happy kid, and I was happy to get to do something special and out of the ordinary that I wouldn't normally do (driving to the other side of town) for him.

He had requested to open his gifts in order from smallest to biggest, which worked out really well because I wanted to wait and give him the hopper ball in the evening.  I was four for four, he was thrilled with it (!!!), which was great, you never know with Kolbe.

And yet another "birthday week" is in the books.  We have a couple Baptism anniversaries this week, and then celebrations should slow down for awhile.  Whew!  Happy #7 and #5 to my beautiful (growing) babies.

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: a rainy afternoon

The big kids are watching Clifford and the baby is napping on the loveseat (don't judge), so I think I will journal.

TODAY

Out my window:  It is rainy and cool outside, very late Fall looking and feeling.  I like it.  But I still dread winter.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans, tank, Old Navy sweatshirt.  Debating about some socks, it's getting chillier as the day goes on.

Around the house: Kitchen renovation is COMPLETE (aside from sealing the travertine backsplash which needs to be done towards the end of the week when the grout is done curing).  It took about 72 hours from start to finish, and while we didn't do any of the work ourselves Aaron did a great job playing contractor.  Everything went off without a hitch until the very end when Aaron and our tile guy were installing the over-mount microwave (those things are tricky) and one of the brackets fell into the inside of the microwave.  Thankfully Lowe's had another microwave in stock and let Aaron come and switch it out.  Other than that, everything went so very smoothly!  We are grateful and enjoying our "new" space immensely.  We are also enjoying homecooked meals again.  72 hours of carry-out left us with some hung.over. guts.  Oh my goodness...

 

The baby: Is sleeping.  By himself.  I don't care if it is on the couch.  He is NAPPING!  Of course, now he probably won't go to bed so easily or early.  He is a busy boy and likes to keep up with the big kids (a little too much probably). 

 

The kiddos:  

GEMMA has recently turned a corner, and many of the things that were huge struggles with her seem to have ironed themselves out more or less.  I'm not saying she doesn't still have her issues, but oh my we have taken many steps forward in the past month or so it seems.  It is refreshing.  She is really growing up.  I cannot believe she will be six in a couple months.

KOLBE has also turned a corner, but he seems to have turned the wrong way down a one-way street.  OH my has he been trying lately.  And by "trying", I do not mean trying to be good.  More like "trying" every ounce of patience that I have, and then borrowing from there.  Spitting, aggressiveness, not listening, throwing toys, not listening.  He keeps me on my toes (understatement of the century).  Guess he feels like he has to step it up now that things are going better with Gemma??  I don't know.  I am grateful that he is at least temporarily quiet and calm on the couch right now.  Thank you, Clifford.  Other than that I am just surviving each day, attempting to be peaceful and patient and loving, and trying to savor the times that he is my lovey, snuggly little guy (usually at bedtime). 

In the kitchen:  REAL FOOD!  WW spaghetti with beef/Italian sausage and lots of spinach and mushrooms last night, flounder tonight with some sort of side dishes TBD.  Not sure what Aaron is cooking on Thursday.  Salmon, fried rice and steamed broccoli.  Family dinner.  I should probably make more muffins now that we're up and running again, the kids love muffins. 

Crafting: Kolbe's space rocket costume last week!  I also performed surgery on a bra to remove the underwire.  That counts, right?  NO comments from the peanut gallery please (yes I'm talking to you U.J.). 

Learning:  Gemma has been practicing her November sight words and color words and I think will test on them soon.  Kolbe also has flashcards to do each day for speech, so I made the kids each sticker charts for the fridge and they put a sticker on each day when they've done their cards.  This seems to help everyone (me included) remember to do these important things each day! 

Reading: Prayer for Beginners (ILL, so I need to hurry) and The Faith Understood.  Trying to read a saint story each morning at breakfast with the kids for the month of November.

Watching:  Finished episodes I and II of Catholicism.  Enjoying the new season of Gold Rush!! and have a number of Pawn Stars on our DVR to catch up on.    

Bringing me joy:  A fun Halloween with the hubby and munchkins.  A new kitchen.  Kind people.  Rainy Tuesdays.  Autumn leaves.  A quiet afternoon with the baby (thanks mom!) when the kids were going nuts (another understatement) with workers in the house.  People who are uplifting and kind when my kids (ahemKOLBEahem) make Mass, um, challenging. 

Thinking about: Prayer.  And Low-flow toilets.  Does it really save water when you have to flush it three times?

Pictures to share: 

Matching brothers.

Kolbe's first week of preschool

This week was Aa week at our house for Kolbe.  I don't think I will document each week of preschool on my blog like I did with Gemma, but I wanted to make sure and commemorate his first week.  This year I purchased downloads for a Letter of the Week program from Confessions of a Homeschooler.  This will be a good fit for us.  There is so. much. good stuff out there it is overwhelming.  This year we will use this (and a few other resources I already have from Gemma's preschool) but I'm not going to look for much more.  There's just too much, and then I go through the whole paralysis by analysis thing and then nothing gets done.  This program has a PDF file for each week (letter) that has anywhere from 30-60 printables (and it's not just worksheets and coloring pages).  Most of them are color (but can be printed black-and-white).  I am trying to plan 3-4 weeks at a time (she already has lesson plans, I just have to print them and hi-lite what we want to do!), and send what I want in color to Office Max or FedEx and print the rest at home.  I request the books we need from the library, pull any other stuff out that I have (I have files for each letter of the alphabet and a stack of books and flashcards as well) and we are good to go!  It's going to be a good year, and Kolbe is very enthusiastic about preschool.  I honestly thought he wouldn't be as into it as Gemma was, but he is every bit as excited about doing school each day as Gemma was, if not a bit more!  It is fun watching him grow and learn, and I can't believe what a big boy he is getting to be.  We are enjoying working on preschool when sissy is at Kindergarten in the morning.  Here are some snapshots of our week (and of some of the regular activities Kolbe will be doing).

Kolbe's first day of preschool, looking grown-up and very proud to be a preschooler!

Matching upper and lowercase A's

Letter "A" puzzle

Find the letter "A" (he's still a little iffy with his pencil grip)

Peek-a-boo!

Doing his "A" do-a-dot page

Counting apple seeds

Some of my favorite alphabet books, that we'll be using weekly are:
Museum ABC
Baby Einstein's ABC's of Art
A is for Altar, B is for Bible
An Alphabet of Catholic Saints
The Baby Signing Book

Next week will hold another big first for Kolbe, as he starts weekly speech therapy with our local school district!  It will be a big, fun year for my sweet little guy.

Journal: settling in

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and hot.  Summer is definitely back.  We've even actually had to run our sprinklers!  Guess the well wasn't such a bad idea after all.

Clothing myself in:  Shorts and a t-shirt.  Glamor personified, let me tell you what.  I do have a fresh haircut though, and that always feels good.  

Around the house: Decluttered some more...this time in the master bedroom, namely clothes and a little costume jewelry.  This minimalism thing, it's good stuff.  I also organized some of our preschool/learning items and culled a few things we just haven't (and probably won't) use(d) now that I have a better idea of Kolbe's needs and Gemma's too.  I spent some time the end of last week getting things together (making plans, printing items, requesting color copies, etc.) for Kolbe's preschool at home.

 

The baby:  He's been a little fussy and clingy.  I'd blame it on teething, but he has all 8 front teeth now and this would be a little early (at least in my experience) for molars.  Hmmm.  He is walking more and more each day.  He likes dancing.  He folds his hands when we pray, all on his own, which I think is so adorable.  I don't remember our other kids doing that at one.

 

The kiddos:

GEMMA is settling into her school routine really well.  We had tears all three days last week, that got progressively worse, so I was pretty worried come Monday morning, and not too hopeful when Aaron left with her for drop-off.  He called about 10 minutes later to tell me he walked her in, she met her teacher at her door and told her she looked beautiful (I thought that was so cute) and happily bounced into the room.  Aaron had to remind her to come give him a kiss!  God is good, hopefully we are past the hardest part and ready to settle in to school.  Half day seems to be a really good fit.  She lost her fourth tooth last night.  She was playing with the boys and absolutely freaked out, thinking she had swallowed it.  Super-mom ended up finding it on the living room carpet.  The tooth fairy brought her five dimes.  

KOLBE and I started our at home preschool this Monday.  I was planning on waiting another week but he just seemed ready so we went for it, and I'm glad.  He tells me multiple times a day that he "loves preschool." His favorite things to do while sissy is at school have been preschool, listening to CD's, reading stories, and he has really been into listening to his Bob the Builder Pilchard Goes Fishing book-on-CD lately.

In the kitchen: Enjoying quiet(er)t lunches since we eat before picking Gemma up (she eats at school).  Don't get me wrong, I miss Gemma when she is gone, but this has been a welcome reprieve.  What's cooking this week?  French Dips, zucchini and green beans last night; Chicken Picadillo tonite; pork cutlets, savory potatoes and steamed broccoli; smoked (wild caught by my uncle in Alaska) salmon; salmon, pasta and veggie casserole.  I need to make some muffins or pancakes or something for breakfasts.

Crafting: Finished our cloth napkins!  All my pictures are stuck on my camera, so I'll post pics on my sewing tab next time I get pictures.

Learning:  It is Aa week for Kolbe.  Since (as aforementioned) my pictures are currently in digital limbo I may do his own post for the first week of "school".  I've snapped some cute ones, but you'll just have to use your imagination for now.  I am enjoying revisiting some of the resources I used with Gemma in addition to the new program I'm using.  We are going to meet one day a week with some friends to do activities together as well.  

Gemma has a math sheet every day for homework and sometimes one other thing, so when she gets home we have a bit of quiet time (IE, the kids watch TV and I catch up and prep for the afternoon) then we have homework time where she does her homework and makes sure her bag is ready for school the next day and Kolbe either works on more Letter of the Week stuff or some of his Kumon books (which he also loves and asks for frequently).  He likes the cutting ones the best.  I have ordered him a few more things like this to work on, as I'm finding it is important that he is engaged in something he can do relatively independently so I can focus on Gemma for a bit.

Reading: My latest Catholic Company review, The New Evangelization and You: Be Not Afraid just arrived, so looking forward to diving in after my, um, entirely-too-long-respite from reading anything.  Still working through Schoolroom in the Parlor with Gemma.  Lots of Aa books for Kolbe, including one of our favorites An Ant's Day Off and lots of books about apples.

Watching: the usuals.  Nothing riveting or worth writing about really.

Bringing me joy: Watching the boys dance.  Our new schedule, it is so nice to be settling in to the "new normal", and a "normal" that I like at that!  Spending some more one-on-one time with Kolbe has been a joy.  I mean, Clem is here too, but it's just different.  It was hard to do a lot with Kolbe without Gemma wanting to answer every question and do everything for him (I think that's just how big sisters are ;-D), so this has been nice.  Gemma seems to really like school, and that brings me joy too, knowing that when she's not here she is somewhere that she feels peaceful and happy.

Thinking about: how I should finish up this post and get off the computer.  Later-gators!!

Pictures to share: 

Watering at the neighbors'.

Boys in hats.

Journal: briefly?

Brevity has never been my strongest suit, but I don't have a ton of time and would really like to journal.  We'll see if I can pound this out before Clifford is over....

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny and hot.  And humid.  We have had so much rain, it's insane.  In a good way, but insane nevertheless.  Sunning diapers this afternoon.

Clothing myself in:  Gray short/capris from maurices...something I had looked at late winter but not bought, and then went back and got a couple months later because I kept thinking about then.  A good purchase, I like them.  And a tank and a T.  See what I mean about brevity?

Around the house: More decluttering.  It feels so good.  Now I need to get the stuff I have sorted OUT of the house.  Maybe a trip to goodwill later??  I have a whole bag of stuffed animals from when I was a kid.  Too many to get out and let the kids play with.  I feel silly storing them.  I mean, I will never use them and seriously no one is going to want them.  But the thought of throwing them away.... well...  Sigh.  OH stuff.

Oh, and I got a new (bigger) basket for the library/other books in the living room and I like it.  :)

 

The baby: Has been taking more steps, and loves walking if you hold his hands.  He gets this adorable, proud smile on his face and his eyes just light up.  He waves at you if you are across the room.  He really liked my lasagna last night.  Tried cow's milk today, was pretty "meh" about it.  LOVES drinking water from Gemma's water bottle.  I bought her a new one so she gave her old one to him.  He is very proud of it.  Twelve months old and already wanting to be like the big kids.  I wish tooth number 8 would hurry up and cut through.  Nights have been...restless.  Lots of nursing.  During the day when he wants to nurse he has started coming over and tugging on my shirt.  It is cute.  Naps are a mess.  I'm just rolling with it (HA) with school starting so soon.  He'll level out sometime.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.

 

The kiddos:

Gemma starts school in a week and a half.  In the meantime I feel like we are just in this huge holding pattern with our routines and pretty much everything.  She is excited, but from some things she has said and done I know she is fairly apprehensive and anxious as well.  Any extra prayers sent her way for a peaceful and happy transition would be appreciated.  She is worried about "missing out on all the fun" and "not having enough time to play."  Valid concerns when you're five.  She saved enough money (it didn't take long, as Larry has been giving her a dollar after Mass every Sunday) to buy Rainbow Dash pony, so that is her latest excitement.  She has been coloring pony pictures today.   

Kolbe has an obsession with robots.  He talks about them all the time.  He also talks a lot about helicopters and how he wants to buy one.  I am not exactly sure what he wants, but I'm afraid his expectations are probably a little high.  He also asks me quite regularly to "play roll" which involves sitting on the kitchen floor and rolling a car back and forth.  He would do this for hours.  I let him take one of his "Larry dollars" to the store and he bought this little spring-loaded "button racecar" from the dollar bin at Target he had seen (and talked about daily and maybe thrown a big fit about) about 2wks ago.  He was beyond ecstatic.  Until he broke it by jamming the key in and trying to pull it out. without pushing the button (those darn curious three-year-old minds).  Then he was beyond sad.  Like, lips-turning-purple, crying in bitter anguish sad. (tell me my kids aren't the only ones who get so upset they forget to breathe and their lips turn blue/purple...)  I surprised him and ran to Target and got another one after he was in bed last night.  He was pretty thrilled to see it on the kitchen table this morning and has been much more careful today. 

In the kitchen: Lasagna with lots of veggies baked in, chicken pizza, meatloaf, baked flounder.  Lots of fresh fruit.  Simple side dishes this week, it is so easy to just pull a bag of veggies out of the freezer and steam them.  

Crafting: I have some uniform material I'd like to use to make some hair-things for Gemma for school.  Maybe I'll use the neighbor's serger and make some bows?  Still mulling it over...  I have never made hairbows before. 

Learning:  Reading books.  Lots of books.  I got an alphabet poster from the dollar bin at Target and hung it in the kitchen at Kolbe level.  He knows some letters (like the ones in his name, and a few others) but I thought this might ignite more daily interest in recognizing his ABC's.  The "K" has a picture of a kid beside it, and I told him it was "K for Kolbe" which he thought was pretty cool.  Been working quite a bit on Gemma's handwriting book with her. My sis saw a good deal on some HWT paper that she ordered for me, so we've been using that in addition to the book lessons.  A few people shared some shoe-tying links with me, so I think we will revisit that together as well, and we've been talking a lot about telling time.  Oh, and Kolbe has been really into puzzles lately too.   

Reading:  I go through spells with reading, and am definitely currently in a dry period. 

Watching:  Gold Rush: South America, the three episode off-season is finally on!  Aaron also got into Inkmaster a couple years ago and it just started a new season (I am hiding my head in shame).  The drama makes me laugh, they are like a bunch of middle-schoolers.  The show itself is actually kind of interesting though.  Have enjoyed watching the Royals WIN lately too!!

Bringing me joy: Confession and chatting with my SD.  Always such a good refresh.  Finding a $13 ring to wear while my wedding ring and band are being re-dipped.  I hate going without a ring sooooo much.  Rainy nights.  Family swim-time at the gym, especially the part where Kolbe told me my swim shorts were, "SOOOOOOOO AWESOME, MOMMY!!!!!!!!"  I love that kid. Daily Mass.  Adoration.  Silence (when I was at Adoration...it's kinda hard to come by around here).  

EEK!  Clifford is over.  Better hurry....

Thinking about: Kindergarten and the big changes in our lives that are coming soon soon soon.  Teaching my children through example and my relationships with them without being overbearing and just plain mean.  OH parenting is soooooooooooooooooo hard. 

Oh, and the Our Father.  Thanks Deb.

Pictures to share:  

Kolbe with the spider he engineered all on his own.  He gave it to grandma and I kindly requested she give it back when she was "finished" with it for his keepsake box.  

CATERPILLAR!

(belated) Birthday celebration with my side of the family

Journal: Snow

TODAY

Out my window:  Snow on the ground and sunshine.  We're supposed to get hit with another snowstorm tomorrow.  Holy cow, it's either feast or famine around here.  Grateful for the moisture, but um, wow.  We have not had, like, any snow in forever (seriously, it's been several years) and now this?  Just rolling with it.  Spring will come soon.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a (new!) coral colored long-sleeve tee from GAP.  Black socks.  Fresh haircut, ahhhhhhhhh and even a small bit of makeup (we went to Mass this morning).

Around the house: Starting to take stock of spring/summer wardrobes for the kids.  I ordered a bunch of stuff from Kohl's for the kids and almost all of it is going to work, including their summer shoes (Kolbe's and Gemma's...I have purchased these Nike sandals for 3 or 4 summers now and they have staying power.  They cost a little more but it is worth it to me.  I can toss them in the washer, the kids can put them on by themselves, they are pretty much all the kids wear for every day.)  As you can see to the right, Gemma was particularly pleased with her night dress (she's been asking for one for months) and the matching one it came with for Baby Lamb.  I still have some odds and ends I need to pick up, but we're actually sitting pretty good (big sigh of relief).  I even got a few things for myself!

The baby: Has a tooth!  Who knew?!  I kept checking the bottom and nothing doing, and then today I felt his top gums and what do you know there's a big 'ole honkin' tooth there.  I thought they were supposed to get their bottom teeth first??  That's what my other two have done.  Silly babies.  He is starting to sit very well on his own.  And he will eat chunks of banana and avocado from his tray/our fingers and actually open his mouth eagerly for it.  I am all for finger foods, if I can avoid the hassle of processing and pureeing this go-around I will be beyond thrilled.  He really likes watching the big kids play, and I think part of him really wishes he could be up running around with them.  Soon enough, baby, soon enough.

 

The kiddos:  Have totally been loving the snow.  I totally love their daddy who is willing to take them out (twice one day even!) to play in it.  

On a more serious note, I think we are going to have Kolbe assessed for his speech issues through our local school district.  Like I told a friend (whose boys have also had speech problems), "first it was cute, then it was funny, and now, well, not so much."  He is beginning to talk lots and lots more, but is not getting any easier to understand (in fact, probably harder).  Aaron and I sat down and started going through the alphabet, and there are sooooo many sounds he is unable to make.  I know Gemma talked extraordinarily early (and well), so my bar was probably pretty high, but we are definitely wondering if Kolbe could benefit from some help.  We'll see...

Gemma has started narrating her life by song.  It is very cute.

In the kitchen: Baked Ziti with fried zucchini; Quesadillas; Chicken Stuffing Casserole with mixed veggies; Salmon patties with simple (probably canned) sides (a la Lenten Friday)

Crafting: Hmmmmm, nope.

Learning:  Lenten activities mainly.  We have gotten some good books from the library lately.  I always appreciate getting good book recommendations (Kansas Mom has some good recommendations here) so if you've read anything good with your kids lately, sound off! We also pulled out our snow stories and have particularly enjoyed The Snowy Day and Snowmen at Night.  Kolbe has gotten really into cutting lately, so I am trying to be more deliberate about giving him things to work on. 

Reading: Finished Unconditional Parenting.  Glad I read it, it's given me lots about which to think.  I've gotten ahead with my Catechism reading for the Year of Faith and am really enjoying it.  I'm perusing The New Read-Aloud Handbook, and am looking forward to starting Fill These Hearts and looking at a few others I have on hold at the library.  I think we are going to put By the Shores of Silver Lake down.  It's just getting a little too above Gemma (in my opinion), and she has so many questions.  I don't want to shelter her or censor things, but some of the things we're encountering just seem a bit much for her.  I picked up a used copy of Happy Little Family, so I think we will start that this week. 

Bringing me joy: Gemma saying "thanks be to God" from across the house when I'm listening to the daily Mass readings while I cook dinner.  Cocktails.  Chatting with my hubby.  A snuggly baby at night.  A fresh haircut.  Snow.  Longer days.  Pink toenail polish.  Gemma singing "Like a Shepherd" to me at bedtime.  Little things.     

Thinking about: Prayer.

Pictures to share:  

Two more.  Sorry for the picture overload, with only blogging once a week (it seems anymore) or maybe twice, I like to share what I can when I can!

Gemma built a church with their bocks and animals.  See the priest
at the front?

Feast of St. Kolbe

Sweet Kolbe celebrated his feast day this past week.  He was so happy to inform everyone that it was "St. Babby".  So cute.  He received a copy of this book (which was great for the feast of the Assumption, and next week's feast of the Coronation), and some religious stickers that our local Catholic store now carries!!  His sweet godmother also brought him a Brother Francis "DDD"  (as he calls it) which both kids are enjoying, although Kolbe was admittedly a bit befuddled at the fact that the whole show didn't revolve around the "ball-ball" on the DVD cover.  ;-D  That's my boy!  Happy Feast Day to my big little guy!  May St. Kolbe always pray for you as you grow in Christ.

A few Kolbe "cutes"

An impromptu, early evening nap on the couch after not much of a nap earlier in the afternoon.

Kolbe with his baby.  He is so very sweet with "beebee" (until he decides he's done and throws her, quite emphatically, back in his bed), it makes me smile watching him.  Gemma was kind enough to loan him her doll-stroller.

Helping me load the wash machine.  And yes, if you're the observant type, our laundry-room walls are two different colors.  One of those projects that is just halfway done (due to the fact that the washer and dryer will need moved to complete it, and I'm not much help in that department).  Hopefully in the next month or so.... 

With Gemma and their "prizes".  Gemma went to the dentist, and came home with a prize for herself and one she had thoughtfully picked for her brother (upon her request).  Another "mama-smile" moment...a silver lining among many moments that are not so smiley.  ;-D

Family update - April 2012

When I said quarterly I wasn't kidding.  The kids are constantly growing and changing, here are a few things they've been up to and into of late:

GEMMA (4yrs 3months)

• She has quite the imagination.  She'll spend hours with her pretend friends (Hen, Duck, Owl, Cat, Schroeder, Hoots and Bee) and a pile of random household items.  She'll play on the deck with a bucket and a tape measure and a bunch of leaves.  Or in the living room with pillows and plastic eggs and buttons.  If I'm lucky and he's acquiescent, Kolbe will often join in and they really have lots of fun together.  As badly as they can fight (and oooohhhhh sometimes it's bad), they can be very good friends as well.  I am so glad they have each other.
• She makes up songs (and dances all over the house to them) about anything and everything. 
• She has recently given up her nap.  For several months she had been "napping" but not sleeping, and one day she was just playing so nicely on her own (while Kolbe napped) that I just didn't bother to put her down for her nap.  And she kind of liked that.  A lot.  So much that she is pretty adamant about not taking a nap now.  Occasionally I'll make her lie down for a bit, but for the most part she just plays on her own, or we work together on workbooks (we like these as well) or other learning activities that require some one-on-one time.  It's been a nice change.
• She likes making picnics with her toy food in the basement, and is quite elaborate with her table setting.
• She's getting pretty good with scissors (we're currently going through this book), and her drawings are growing more and more intricate all the time.  Kid art is so great.  The front of our fridge is never dull.
• Ohhhh the drama.  Every little cut, scrape, hangnail, etc. has become a big deal recently.  A verrrry biiiiig deeeaaallllll.  Her tantrums can be pretty dramatic as well.  Whew!  Heaven help this mama.
• Gemma is in the 99th %ile for her height at 44.5 inches.  She weighs 36.5 lbs.

KOLBE (2yrs 3months)

• His speech has been improving by leaps and bounds.  Still nowhere close to where Gemma was at this age (or probably where most kids are at 2 1/4 yrs) but he's progressing.  He's using more new words every day and starting to form small sentences when communicating.  Some of his "catch phrases"... He is very polite, "peas" is added to almost every request, quickly followed by a "shoont-yoo mammy" (or daddy or whomever) when said request is fulfilled.  It's so cute.  When he wants something it's "ahhshumpeas" (I want some please), which he will repeat over and over very quickly, getting more demanding the more times he says it.  Aaron and I are so amused by this we've started saying it as well.  "Ball hiiiiiiiigh", when he wants to go out on the driveway and play ball with daddy.  He likes it when daddy throws the ball up high in the air.  And when making the Sign of the Cross or blessing himself he says, "Fah-ver, Ahmen."  He pronounces his name "Babby" (short a, as in apple), and will often emphatically state "Babby do, Babby DO," when he wants to do something on his own.  Which is pretty often.
• He seems to be a natural athlete.  He throws and catches well (for a two-year-old), loves to shoot baskets and is trying his darndest to learn how to dribble.
• He has really started to enjoy being read to, and will absolutely pitch a fit if he doesn't get the three stories of his choosing before bed.  Dah-er Seuss and Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb are all-time faves, and he likes to pick a few of his own books out at the library now each week.
• Strong will.  This kid has grown a strong will since turning two.  And mind of his own.  Wow.  I was hoping maybe it would just be Gemma.  Oh well, I'm sure it will serve him well some day, if it doesn't drive me to insanity first.
• He loves doing whatever big sis is doing. 
• He has actually slept through the night, in his own bed, several times in the past month.  Not too regularly, but he's done it nonetheless!  And his nights have really gotten so much better, he often doesn't crawl in bed with us until 5:30 or 6:00 AM.  It works.  We'll see how things go once he starts sharing a room with Gemma (on the "to do"  list here in the near future) and even more so once baby arrives... 
• He recently cut his first 2yr molar.  I'm hoping the others are not too far behind and we can get this teething thing out of the way with him.  Before it's time to do it again with the baby.  Oh teething. 
• Kolbe weighs 29 lbs.

Aaron is doing well.  The nice, early spring has given him a chance to (for the most part) revive the yard after last summer's horribleness, and he has plans to refinish the deck in the coming months.  Next time I do an update there will probably be a third child (outside utero) on whom to update!!  For now, baby is doing well as is mama, although it is beginning to be more and more obvious that I've hit the third trimester.  Time really is flying!!  We are set with cloth diapers and other baby supplies, and I feel like I have enough boy or girl clothes (even though this baby is "off-season") to get us started, so we really are ready.  Just trying to mentally prepare myself for labor and delivery now.  I know it's still several months off, but those thoughts are definitely beginning to creep into my mind.  Like I said, time flies.  I recently did my first sewing project for the baby -- a light-weight receiving blanket -- so I'll end with a picture of that.