Journal: back to Summer! and some pictures

TODAY

Out my window:  Warm, muggy, cloudy-ish.  We didn't get near the rains predicted for this week immediately around us, but less than a dozen miles north of us they had seven inches the other night.  Remarkable.  The kids are going to VBS at a neighboring parish this week and wanted to play at their park one day this week, so we picked Tuesday and had a picnic lunch and they played for two hours.  It was a bit muggy but in the seventies.  We couldn't have picked a better day.

Around the house: QUARANTINE IS OVER!!!  WooHOOOOOO!!!!!!!  Other than that, nothing of note, really.  Our sheets and bedspread in our master bedroom are starting to seriously wear out (like, I have mended them multiple times), so I think we may be in the market for new ones at some point.  Christmas maybe?

 

The kiddos:

Gemma has been fantastic of late.  Oh, she has had her not-so-fantastic moments as well but over all, oh my word.  She is really stepping up in her big sister role with the boys... she will play for hours with them at the park.  She has been putting them to bed.  Reading to them for 20-30 minutes at a time.  It is wonderful to see her blossom, and I am enjoying this more-grown-up version of her more and more every day.  Life is so different around here than it was five years ago.

Kolbe is having a BLAST at VBS this week.  I mean, Gemma is having a great time too, but Kolbe, WOW.  He will come up to me a dozen times a day to tell me a long drawn-out story about something that he got to do or something he learned or saw.  This is very un-Gemma.  I have learned just to be quiet with her and let her tell me what she wants, when she wants, and not press the issue if she doesn't feel like talking.  And she usually doesn't.  But I've made peace with that.  I digress...  If this week is any sort of prelude to how kindergarten will be for Kolbe, I think it will be a great year.   

Clement is getting a taste for what it's like to be the only kid at home in the mornings this week.  He plays incredibly well by himself, which really mystifies me.  Maybe it is because he is so used to playing with his siblings that it is a welcome reprieve?  I don't know.  But it tickles me.  His favorite thing to do of late has been making picnics with our play food.  This is a very intricate process which can sometimes keep him busy for 45 minutes or an hour.

In the kitchen: I made bierocks this week.  I think the last time I made them was when I was pregnant with Clement maybe?  They were super-tasty.  We've been having more salads.  They taste good anytime, but especially during Summer it seems.  Planning on a chicken stir-fry next week, but I still need to hammer out the rest of my menu.  The kids have eaten more meals outdoors than in this week.  My kitchen floor has never stayed so clean (relatively speaking of course) for so long.

Learning:  VBS!  The program that they use at our parish (and it's the same one they are using at the neighboring parish) is such a great boost to their faith lives.  I love it.  We've done a lot of reading.  I was telling a friend the other day, I had the best-laid plans to do some more academic things this summer (handwriting practice, math facts, etc.) and we really haven't done anything.  That said, I feel like thus far we've had an incredibly educational summer, simply taking advantage of the opportunities around us.  The kids have written letters, played with pattern blocks and puzzles and some of our more "educational" toys at their leisure, we've had a huge variety of books, especially with our weekly themes. You can learn so much simply from observing and taking advantage of the world around you.  I have often thought I'd be a fan of year-round school, but I am really appreciating the extended break this go-around.

Reading: I've been trying to have some sort of rhyme and reason for the chapter books I read with Gemma so we've been focusing on the early days of Kansas, and the westward expansion in general.  We're currently reading the Prairie Skies Trilogy and it's fantastic. It's giving us so many things to discuss (general premise: an abolitionist family movies to KS in the 1850s in hopes of making it a free state during the time of the Kansas-Nebraska act) .  As an aside though, it was pretty funny (well, it's funny now) the other day she was really mad at me for something, and she yelled, "YOU ARE TREATING ME LIKE A SLAVE!!!!!"  Oh dear...

I'm keeping up with my usuals, although my main focus now (aside from finishing up with Theology) has been Happy Are You Poor.  Wow.  Just wow.  I am also trying to read/mediate from The Imitation of Christ each day.  Good stuffs.

Crafting: I added this category back in so I could show off Gemma's perler-bead prowess!  These were a great diversion for all three kids when we were stuck in quarantine!

Watching:  MLB.  Oh, and also The Hobbit.  I cannot believe it but I think I am finally getting really hooked on this LOTR business.  I know, right?

Bringing me joy: VBS, listening to the kids sing their songs and dance and be so excited about the faith is energizing.  And reading good books...to myself and my kids.  I am so grateful for books.  :-)

Thinking about: the fact that I have at least three other things I should be doing right now, but I wanted to blog an update before it got too far away from me. 

Pictures to share:  

Just a few more...Some new pics for our collage frame.  Love these kids!

Bedtime snuggles.

Eating mulberries on our nature walk.  Won't be too much longer and he'll be too big for his sweet ride on daddy's back. 

Journal: the great bedroom switch 2014

TODAY

Out my window:  Sunny.  Hot.  Feels like summer.  Albeit late summer, but summer for sure.  We had 6/10's inch of rain last night.

Clothing myself in:  Running shorts.  T-shirt.  My flip-flops are almost busted, I'd say I got my $2.50 out of them this year.

Around the house: We got our basement carpet laid this past Thursday and it looks great!  The house seems so much bigger now that Gemma's bedroom is down there, and she is also using the bathroom down there.  It is great having our play-space/basement living space back as well.  Nothing like going without something to realize how much you appreciate it.  Mornings have been much less stressful, with Gemma doing most of her readying downstairs, it makes the upstairs bedroom/hallway/bathroom much less crowded, with much less potential for all the little spats that seemed to come up over every.little.thing.

 

The baby/toddler:  Is officially moved into his big boy room (with Kolbe) and big boy bed.  He is doing pretty good.  He is still nursing to sleep.  I am kind of ambivalent about it, part of me is ready to be done, part of me knows it is my "secret weapon" to help get him to sleep easily at nights and naps.  He naps about 30 minutes in the late mornings.  Nights have been decent, he wakes up once or twice but resettles easily and now that he has his big boy bed he feels pretty strongly about staying in there vs. coming in our bed.

He is showing some major interest in the potty too.  After weighing my options (cloth diapers, disposable diapers, cloth trainers, pull ups) I have him in disposable pull-ups and a disposable dipe at night.  He is telling me about 1/2 the time he has to potty, and is pretty acquiescent to trying when I ask him to.  He can stay dry for such a long time that we just weren't generating enough diaper laundry to make it worthwhile, but he has enough accidents that cloth trainers aren't super practical either.  We'll see how he does the next few months in the pull-ups and if he's still making forward progress I might try some pants-free days later in the fall and see if we can get the rest of the way there.  Not opposed to going back to dipes if he's not ready though.

The kiddos:  Clement is in Kolbe's old bed, with Kolbe's old bedding, and Kolbe got to move up to Gemma's bed (with new bedding, pink owls weren't quite his thing).  He is pretty proud of his dump-truck bed and he and Gemma's relationship already seems better now that they have some space from each other.  In fact, she spent $6.75 on a Minion t-shirt for Kolbe that she saw at Target and wanted so badly to go back and buy for him.  No reason, just wanted to get it for him because she knew he would like it.  That was the majority of the money in her spend jar too.  And even after seeing a My Little Pony t-shirt and asking if I'd buy it for her (no) she still got a shirt for him.  I need to remember these things when I want to explode at her.

Gemma has her own room, her own space, and can shower herself!  I was hoping we'd have her showering on her own by Christmas, but it took walking her through things like twice (she normally showered with me) and she had the hang of it and has been showering in the basement stall since she moved down.  

School has started and first grade seems to be off to a great start.  No separation-anxiety tears at drop-off, and full day school seems to be suiting Gemma (and us left at home) quite well.  I tell you, give that girl a bit of autonomy and independence and the change in her personality is remarkable (in a good way).  Summer was getting too long in the tooth, we are glad to be back at our Fall schedule.  And speaking of teeth, Kolbe sat on her head and she lost her seventh tooth on Saturday.  She actually really lost it for awhile (in the new basement carpet), and had even written a heart-felt letter to the tooth fairy when we ended up finding it, so the tooth fairy had her first visit to the new bedroom.

In the kitchen: Homemade supreme pizza, BBQ chicken and Black Bean Quinoa Salad, family dinner, grilling out (probably), and baked fish (cod or salmon) on the menu for this week.

Crafting: I consider putting two bedrooms together to be quite crafty enough thank you.

Learning:  I have been thinking about a reasonable preschool schedule for Kolbe for this year.  He just isn't quite as into school-work as Gemma was, which is fine, but I'd still like to have him writing his letters (with a correct pencil grip) by kindergarten.  Here is the tentative schedule I've come up with:
MONDAY: Practical Life (helping with chores, he likes to load the wash  machine and sweep the kitchen) and trip to the library.  I also have the most energy on Mondays, so we will probably do things like play-doh and watercolors when my patience is still abundant (ish). 

TUESDAY: Handwriting work (working with his workbook, the magnadoodle, and the HWT wooden letter forms) and Speech with his speech teacher

WEDNESDAY: Kumon-type work books (cutting/gluing and coloring namely)

THURSDAY: Science experiment (Gemma's godmother gave him this science experiment book that he absolutely adores, and Aaron is off on Thursdays so I told him we'd find special time just him and me to do a science experiment then.  This also helps curb the constant begging to do one.) and Speech with his speech teacher.

FRIDAY: preschool co-op with his friend Levi.  I am going to do a book each week, using the alphabet as a guide (A, B, C, etc.) and some sort of literacy extension activity.  Our first book will be An Ant's Day Off.  It's been a fave around here for years, and I'm excited I found a used ex-library copy on Amazon for around $5.  I love the ex-library books, with their attached mylar dust-jackets.  Book nerd much?

Reading: Haven't read much this past week, but have been flipping through Parenting With Grace some.

Watching: A few shark-week things (have I mentioned how much I hate docu-fiction?) and some MLB, always fun watching the Royals win.

Bringing me joy: Time with family.  Having the basement back.  Upcoming day-trip date with my hubby!!

Thinking about: hmmm, not much really.

Pictures to share:  

Gemma's new room.  Yep, that's a bedrail at the bottom of the bed.  Had to have somewhere for the ponies to lean.

The boys' room.

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.