TODAY
Out my window: Evening of a very warm/pleasant Fall day (well, it was when I started this post anyways). Dark early now that the time-change has happened. We had a big freeze this past week and all my deck plants are dead. Well, the pansies still have a little life in them but the mums are shot. Very seasonal. I like this time of year. I do not look forward to that stretch between January and March though. Alas...
Clothing myself in: Jeans and a t-shirt. And flip-flops. Exciting.
Around the house: I dusted the blinds and cleaned the windows in the living room today. Dusting blinds has got to be the. most. tedious household chore ever. Ever.
The baby toddler: He is so funny, he has very strong feelings about which parent he prefers, it just depends on the time of day. Typically if it's between about 7pm and 6am it's me. Once he wakes up in the morning though it's alllllll about daddy. He is not saying any words, except for pointing and saying something that sounds sort of like "here" only more pathetic. Naps have been fair. The kindergarten pickup in the middle of the day just makes it hard. But I suppose I prefer poor naps to all-day kindergarten. He has started enjoying being read to, his favorite is Brown Bear.
The kiddos: Gemma has been really pleasant lately for the most part. And helpful. She is growing up. She's getting more confident with her reading. She is really looking forward to Thanksgiving Break, she gets a whole week off! Saturdays have taken on a whole new meaning to her (and me) as well with the advent of school, so the weekend is something fun for us to look forward to each week.
Kolbe has still been plenty tricky. I think it's just a new phase of development in the life of a little boy who is almost four. Sigh. He's growing up too, Lord help guide my little boy -- toots and spit and orneriness and all. Today at Mass I was pointing out things on the altar and asked him if he wanted to be a server and help Father someday. He answered, "no, I want to be Father." Of course in my silliness I smiled proudly, and then he said, "and I want Father to be me." Ooooookay...
In the kitchen: This week: Mexican Chili; Chicken Pizza, with mushrooms and spinach and some artichokes in my cabinet I need to use; chicken fajitas with lots of veggies (because I FINALLY made a trip to the tortilla store), tuna (actually salmon) melts on whole wheat english muffins. Good eats. I need to make a trip to the meat locker (or the meat-candy store as my husband calls it) this week and pick up some things for the freezer.
Crafting: I made a couple little photo albums to put in my "bag of tricks" for Mass for the boys to look at. I included pictures from Baptisms, Easter family pictures from Church, pictures of different religious crafts the kids have done, and pictures of them being nice siblings (holding babies, playing nicely together, etc.). We'll see if they...erm...help. Mass has been...interesting lately. My friend had a really good take on Mass with kids here, check it out.
Learning: We have "Ll" this coming week and then we're taking a break from letters to fully enjoy and celebrate Thanksgiving (I need to find a turkey craft for the kids...), Advent and Christmas. I am ready for a change in pace with this. I've been trying to "rough out" a plan for Advent. We'll do our Activity Chain again and are going to attempt the Jesse Tree with this DVD I ordered from Holy Heroes and the accompanying ornaments (so excited about the simplicity of this, the Jesse Tree has always intimidated me too much to really do). I have high hopes. We'll also do our Picture Book a Day again, that is always fun!
Reading: Still working my way through Deus Caritas Est and The Faith Understood. Trying to think what I have in our Ll pile...I always enjoy the picture books we check out for Letter of the Week. Sometimes more than the kids I think. ;-) In November is a great one this time of year.
Watching: Gold Rush. Pawn Stars. Alaska: The Last Frontier. I have yet to find anyone really who watches the same shows we do. I'm not sure what this says.
Bringing me joy: Confession and chatting with my Spiritual Director. Such a gift. A completely wonderful Saturday morning with the kids yesterday. It was seriously unbelievable. Just one of those days you want to bottle up and remember. Cute Clem.
Thinking about: The Mass. We (Aaron and I sans kids) attended the Latin Mass (Extraordinary form) last weekend at a local Catholic Church. It was very beautiful. It was a very profound reminder that we don't pray at Mass, we pray the Mass. It also gave me a deeper and different appreciation for the Novus Ordo as well, which I didn't expect. This was my first experience with the Latin Mass, and while I can't imagine worshipping like that all the time, I found it to be beautiful and prayerful and a good lesson in the history of the Church's liturgy as well. Thinking about Christmas gifts, and trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Christmas is actually less than six weeks away. Really? Really??? Six weeks????!!!
Pictures to share:
I think they're pretty cute.
Him too.
