Seven Quick Takes: November

1. Goodness, here we are at the end of November and the doorstep of Advent.  This Fall has been a whirlwind.  A good one albeit, but a whirlwind nevertheless.  I don't expect Spring to be any different, except maybe more whirlwind-ish.  I just love November.  It's magical.  Don't get me wrong, I love the holidays and the Advent season immensely, but there is something magical about the anticipation that November brings.  The one-of-a-kind sky (have you ever really looked at the November sky? There's just something so November-y about it.), the slanty light, the changing weather, the beautiful trees, the anticipatory waiting for holidays to come.  This book sums it up pretty perfectly for me.  Some day I'll purchase our own copy, but honestly I think I may love it more than the kids do, LOL.
2. Thanksgiving break was nice.  It was different this year, as I had inservice on Monday and Tuesday, but the kids had an awesome time at the sitter's and the rest of the week was a relaxing, enjoyable time with family and just hanging out around the house.  On Saturday, I believe I wore my pajamas until 4pm.  Then I changed into something equally pajama-ish to cut the boys' hair. And then I showered.  And put my pajamas back on.  Now that's the life!  Speaking of clothes (sort of), I ordered some more "maternity" clothes this past week from Old Navy while they were having 50% off.  I put maternity in quotes because none of them were actually specifically maternity items. I finally broke down and ordered some leggings (oh my word, no one told me how warm and comfortable leggings are, holy moly) and some dresses that I wouldn't wear non-pregnant because they'd look like too-short potato sacks on me, but they actually work great on me+baby belly with the leggings, so I think with what I ordered I may have just stretched my professional wardrobe up to baby-time (for the most part).  Hopefully.
3. I've set up a bunch of Christmas specials on the DVR.  All the usuals (Charlie Brown, The Grinch, Rudolph, etc. etc.) Even though some of them have already recorded, I told the kids they need to spread them out and wait until closer to Christmas to watch them.  We did watch Frosty and Frosty Returns yesterday.  Oh my word, Frosty Returns is horrible.  It is the epitome of low-budget, plot-less 1990's sequels.  I deleted it as soon as it was over (and wish I would have deleted it five minutes in).  For something new this year I am recording The Polar Express, which they've never seen.  Actually, I don't think I've ever seen it either.  I can't decide on Elf.  That is one of those movies that I laugh so hard at every year, and could seriously watch it over and over and not tire of it, just not quite sure if I'm ready for the kids to watch it yet (at almost 9, almost 7 and 4.5).  I am curious to hear others' thoughts on this, because IMHO, that one deserves the title "classic" (or at least modern-day classic) in my books, but I'm just having trouble gauging age-appropriateness (and I probably err on the side of caution more often in that department).  Gemma gets to go see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever with her class at a local live theatre, so I have requested the book from the library to read (still debating whether to read to just her or all the kids).  I remember my mom reading this book to us every year (it seems like, maybe it wasn't that often) and just loving it.
4. I am getting wordy.  Here are some pictures from our first day of Thanksgiving break.  It was cold (really the first COLD cold day of the season) so we had hot-chocolate after school, and Kolbe  made us a turkey soup recipe (which interestingly enough had beef, not turkey in it. but it was delish never-the-less).
    
5.  I have hit (and passed) the halfway point of this pregnancy.  See aforementioned whirlwind.
   
6. Much to my dismay, the kids have inherited a ridiculously large collection of bottle caps.  So ridiculously large that they have been ordered to keep them in the garage.  I will say, they do keep them ridiculously entertained....
    
7. And here we are at Advent!  I always love the Advent season.  This year we will be using the book Welcome Baby Jesus at the breakfast table.  I've used this book two or three times before, and it was actually sent home from school to all families this year so it was definitely meant to be.  We will be using the same Jesse Tree as last year (which I loved, using a combo of the regular RSV and our Children's Bible) and while I haven't gone through our books and assigned one for each day like other years, we will definitely be doing a loose version of picture book a day again this year.  With the growing our home library has slowly done each year, and the addition of six more Christmas hardcovers from St. Nicholas here in a week-and-a-half, I only ended up requesting about a dozen-and-a-half Christmas books from the library this year!  So fun!!  Our wreath candles I ordered last year still have another year in them (at least).  No countdown/Advent activity chain this year.  Hopefully the kids don't mutiny...  What does Advent look like at your house?  Richest blessings of the season to all, and as we were reminded in today's Gospel, stay awake!  He is coming!!  For more SQT click here.  PAX!
   

Journal: Malbec! Happy Friday!

I am thankful for: Spring. The kids. Prayer. Good books. My wine re-corker thingy. Theology. My job. Awesome neighbors...they bring us tasty Asian food, love our kids, pick us flowers...  I could go on. We have got some great neighbors for sure. And shot glasses.  I am thankful for shot glasses because they make the best little vases for the flowers the kids bring me.  Couldn't tell you the last time I used a shot glass for its intended purpose (never?), but they make great dandelion vases.
 

I am enjoying: a glass of Malbec.  MMMMMmmmmmm...  Having our bookshelf upstairs and all our books OUT and AVAILABLE to little (and big) readers.  Oh my heavens, why did it take me upwards of 4 years to figure this out??  Previously our picture books had been behind closed doors in the TV stand, and my books had been on the bookshelf in the basement.  I finally decided I needed to do something about this (I am not sure exactly of the straw that broke the camel's back, but something snapped this week) so in a fit of impulsivity I moved the end-table downstairs, the bookshelf upstairs, put the kids' books on the bottom shelf, the ones I read/use all the time on the top shelf, and the rest of my books behind the closed doors of the TV stand.  Our former book basket resides beside the shelf and now we keep the library books there (instead of the fireplace).  I did all this realizing that the setup probably wouldn't be ideal but at least we'd have our books out and that was the important part...and we actually like it better than having the end table over there.  It has really opened up the corner and it looks soooo cozy. I am also enjoying the Benedictines of Mary Easter CD.  Sometimes I close my eyes standing in the middle of my kitchen and honestly it is like a little taste of heaven.  So beautiful.  Track 3 (The Clouds of Night) is one of my favorites. 

I am working: on a glass of Malbec. And a summer routine for the kids. We are planning to make a list of things we would like to do here in a bit.  I have been working on my library lists, and trying to keep us well stocked with good books.  I found a great list of picture books to inspire some library check-outs.  I have a thing for book-lists.  What are your favorites (book lists that is)?  We have read about 1/4 of these so looking forward to some new-to-us titles. Spent entirely too long planning next week's menu but got the grocery shopping done and forgot under 5 items. Yay me? It is a very lucky thing we are only a mile from the store.

I am reading: the usuals.  Theology, Philosophy (I cannot believe how much I love Philosophy, oh my word...), dabbling in a bit more Confessions, (I am just convinced this is one to read slowly) and have been working my way through Mark (almost done with my commentary) and the Acts of the Apostles as well.  Upon the recommendation of my faithful reader, I received a copy of Molly and the Tornado from inter-library loan today to read to the kids. We had a not-very-close-but-close-enough-to-pull-my-"things to take to the basement"-list-out-call the other night with a small storm cell, so the kids should get a kick out of this one. Or it will freak them out.  You never know...  We've been revisiting some of our old favorites as well, now that the picture books are out in the open.  Anyone else out there read And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon?  We love it! For Mother's Day I really did not need (or want) anything, so I told the kids we would pick out several new (well, used on Amazon but new to us) picture books.  So far we have ordered Little Pea and Adele and Simon in America.  I am particularly excited about the latter.  Started the Samantha books with Gemma this past week, we are on book 3. I will be honest, I like American Girl books but do not think they are great.  If I had it to do over again I would just have waited and let Gemma read them on her own rather than using them as read-alouds.

I am cooking: black bean tortilla soup (this is no way an endorsement of Martha Stewart, it just happens to be a good recipe.  I did modify it a bit though...) for tonight, only it is already done!! I made it yesterday for the fathers' Friday meal and made enough for us so all I have to do is reheat!  My kind of dinner!! Next week we've got breakfast casserole, honey sriracha chicken for us and pesto chicken for the fathers, baked salmon for us, Nantucket baked cod for the fathers, some roasted cauliflower and potatoes and sauteed green beans as sides. Still have a few gaps to fill in next week. menu-wise. I made a tasty banana "cake" (quotes because it is pretty healthy for a cake) and we have more bananas in the freezer, so I may make another one in the next week or so.

I am watching: baseball! Catching an episode of Alton Brown here and there. I swear, I learn some sort of new trick or tip from him almost every episode I watch.  Good stuffs those Good Eats. Many evenings I watch the back of my eyelids. 

Pictures to share:

The kids and their grandma Mary (hubby's mom) on May day!  We made some impromptu May baskets and had so much fun!

Silly kids!

Journal: Chicken Pox part deux

TODAY

Out my window:  It. Is. Hot.  The landscape around the neighborhood is kind of depressing, so many big trees were lost in the windstorm.  It looks so different and this won't be remedied anytime soon.  Bleh.  

Clothing myself in:  Meh.  I did get a fresh haircut which feels good!!

Around the house: Our garbage disposal quit working yesterday.  It actually ended up being a short in the switch (which caused the dishwasher to be without power as well).  Thankfully it was a relatively fast fix, the electrician was out this morning and got the power back up and running.  Dishwasher is humming as I type.  Creature comforts...it is odd for me to think that 50 years ago probably no one had dishwashers or garbage disposals.  I should be more grateful.  While the electrician was out, Aaron took the opportunity to have someone help him hang new light fixtures in the kitchen and dining room, and so the kitchen renovation begins!!  We've picked out our counter-tops and backsplash, and have a pretty good idea on appliances, sink and faucet.  Looking very forward to getting started here in a couple months!!

 

The baby: Would be the 'part deux' of the Chicken Pox mentioned in the title.  He took them pretty well up until last night which was incredibly rough.  Like, he would sleep for 5-10 minutes and then be restless for 10-15 minutes.  Back and forth.  All. Night. Long.  It was a long night, and he's pretty clingy today.  Hopefully he will be on the mend soon, he has a BIRTHDAY on Thursday!!  I don't like to see him sick, but part of me is really glad he ended up getting the pox and we can just be done with it for these three.

 

The kiddos:  Are a little stir-crazy, being in quarantine mode again but not having the edge taken off due to being sick themselves.  Lots of basement play, and they've been playing in the backyard some too.  Their latest favorite outdoor activity is Easter Egg hunts.  For real.  They take the parade candy and gum they got from the Fourth of July parade and put it in the eggs and hide them all over the yard.  So funny.  Keeps them entertained though.

Firecrackers made a big impression on Kolbe.  Lately he has been building and lighting pretend firecrackers made from random toys and kitchen items.  It is very cute.  

Gemma seems to have turned a corner lately.  We still have our issues, but she has been doing better in the listening and sass departments, and actually showing some contrition when she does get sassy and angry.  Baby steps.  This makes my heart happy though.

In the kitchen: Pork Cutlets and Quinoa Black Bean Salad; Spaghetti and greens; Cheesy Chicken Tostadas; Baked Salmon, rice pilaf and veggies.  And probably some sort of tasty birthday treat for the big ONE year old. It will definitely be a quiet birthday with him still being contagious.

Crafting: I mended a hole in Gemma's blankie....

Learning:  I have some telling time stuff all ready to go for Gemma, and some watermelon books and a paper plate watermelon craft to do with both kids.  Gemma read most of Hop on Pop last week.  The big kids both reached their reading goals for the library's Summer Reading Program so the two of them and I took a trip to the library together to hand in their charts and get their prizes.  It was fun doing something just the three of us.

Reading: I am getting behind in my Catechism and really should be finished with St. Francis by now.  Sigh.

Watching: My uncle was telling me about a show by the name of Zero Hour that I'd like to check out OnDemand.  Anyone else seen it?  Some Royals baseball.  That's about all.  

Bringing me joy: Reminiscing about the past year with our sweet Clem.  I can not BELIEVE it has been a year since his birth.  Watching the kids play, especially Kolbe and his firecrackers and listening to Gemma with her ponies.  Good friends.  Chatting over the fence with the neighbors in the evening.  Gemma and kindergarten.  I have made peace and I am getting really excited for the school year, I think she is just going to love it, especially getting to learn so many new things.  I am excited for her and excited for this new stage in our family.

Thinking about: How old Gemma seemed at a year.  Clem still seems like such a baby. I think your perspective must change the more kids you have??

Pictures to share:  

The kids went to their first parade on the Fourth of July.  We all had fun!

Journal: Mother's Day

TODAY

Out my window:  Spring.  Finally.  Oh thank you Jesus.  And from the looks of the forecast, it should be summer by the end of the week.

Clothing myself in:  Skinny jeans (Maurices), pink tank and yellow top (Target), grey shrug (Old Navy...juniors dept., haha) and brown flats (Maurices). Actually presentable enough to post a pic for once.

Around the house: I'd like to do something with the toy corner in the living room but I don't know what.  Currently we have a milk-crate size basket of random toys and Clem's play cube.  Then our religion-type books and some library books are usually over on the fireplace.  And there is a basket of baby toys under one end table and books under another.  I'd really like to consolidate all this stuff in the "toy corner", but there's also a lamp and a vent there, so my options are really limited.  It's not a ton of stuff, I just feel it could be better organized (it's the OCD part in me that constantly has to be organizing something...I think it's a coping mechanism).  I'd like to do a nine-cube but there's just not enough space.  Maybe a modified version?  I saw some cool benches at Target too but the space is pretty small, so between that and the pesky vent (I could move the lamp) I just don't know...   Ideas??

 

The baby:  Ten months.  He is proficient at crawling now.  And pulling up.  And apparently climbing stairs.  And getting into things.  The other day he got into something Gemma had painted and before I knew it his face was blue (from the paint).  I'm not ready for this.  He's sooooooo cute though.  He really likes to say "dadada".  Every once in a while he will throw a "mama" in there, but mainly just "dada" and lots of other babbles.  Did I mention he is cute?  And that he eats dirt?  And paper?  Heaven help me.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma has been very trying lately.  Please say a prayer for her (and me).  She is always planning something, last Tuesday or Wednesday I believe Aaron was putting her to bed and she was totally stressing out on him saying, "it's almost Mother's Day and I have SO MUCH I still need to get done!!"  Silly girl.

Kolbe is just cute.  I love the way he talks and his silly little personality.  He is my funny little man.  Did you know he can touch his nose with his tongue?  We are still trying to get to the bottom of his food issues.  Last summer it dawned on us he had a sensitivity to artificial dye (gives him pretty bad eczema around his mouth) and we've cut that out (all except the occasional junk when we're out and about, ugh) but he still has some issues.  Recently we figured out that caramel color has been causing it (even though it is supposedly "natural") and he even flared up after a (very small!) bite of 100% Maple Syrup the other week.  How does that make sense?  I'm glad his only issues are the skin ones, but I'd still like to get to the bottom of this.  Not really wanting to attempt an elimination diet though.  

In the kitchen: Sushi for mother's day (thanks hubby) and pound cake.  Funny story on this (tangent alert).  I will preface by saying that my hubby is a great cook and very proficient in the kitchen.  So Aaron had picked up a bunch of strawberries and mentioned that it would be nice if I made a pound cake to go with them.  I really had intended to do this, but just hadn't gotten around to it so he decided to make me one for mothers day and found a recipe online.  The following conversation ensued:

Aaron: So we only have frozen butter.  Can I use frozen butter for this?

Me:  No.  It has to be softened.

Aaron: Melted?

Me: No, softened.  It's a balance.

Aaron: (puts butter in microwave and measures sugar in bowl).  So how many tablespoons are in a cup?
Me: [quick google search] sixteen.

Aaron: What order am I supposed to put all this stuff in (he had just jotted the ingredients and amounts down), maybe you should print the recipe.

Me: It's a cake hon.  Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, then flour and milk.  By the way, do you need me to get the mixer out for you and show you how to use it?

Aaron: Mixer? Why would I need a mixer? I have muscles!

Me: SERIOUSLY, Aaron?!!!

Aaron: Maybe you should just make the cake.

He was pretty proud of his mad manipulation skilz.  I was amused.  And I made the cake.  True story.

Sesame Chicken; Stuffed Green Peppers; family bday dinner; and Tuna Melts are on the menu this week.  Fresh brussel sprouts, asparagus and lots of fruit in the fridge to use as well.

Crafting: Mended a pair of Aaron's pants and a (brand new) bag from Target that had a rip in the seam.  Does that count?  Also helped the kids make these cute little handprint flowers for their godmamas and grandmamas for Mothers Day.  We wrote prayers on the fingers and turned them into spiritual bouquets.  They were really cute.

Learning: Nothing out of the usual.  I've been giving Gemma more worksheets (mainly math, science and just general kdg readiness stuff) and she really enjoys working on those.  She's getting better at writing with a pencil (vs. crayons) and is even using a correct grip more regularly!  Almost ready to start Letters and Numbers for Me (our next handwriting book).  I need to check if we have this video about Our Lady of Fatima on our DVR.  Thinking about and looking forward to things to do with Kolbe next year.  We are signed up for Bible school (Gemma) and swim lessons (Gemma and Kolbe) this summer, so that should give us some fun things to do. 

Reading: Finished Navigating the Interior Life (see my review HERE).  Still working through the Catechism daily (mostly) for the Year of Faith, and really enjoying it.  Trying to read from the Bible every day.  I am part-way through Beyond Baby Talk, which a friend loaned me.  It's good, but seems (at least so far) to deal with language more than speech, whereas Kolbe's issues are speech not language.  It's still interesting enough though.  Also reading a bit about Ignatian spirituality.  Any recommendations along that vein would be appreciated.

Watching:  Caught a couple episodes of Survivorman that we hadn't seen.  Debi, your boys would like this show.  Still enjoying new episodes of River Monsters each week during its season which I'm sure will end soon (it was really short last year).  Seriously?  How many more river monsters are really out there?  This show just can't go on forever.  Sadly.  Oh, and we also watched a show the other night on cults, it was on History (or H2, I can't remember) and it was really fascinating.    

Bringing me joy: My vocation. 

Thinking about: Mother's Day.  It has really evolved for me.  I'll just come right out and say my first few mother's days were plain miserable.  I cried and had some pretty amazing pity parties for myself, let me tell you.  I thought Mother's Day was supposed to be perfect?!! All about ME!!  But then I readjusted my expectations.  And probably grew up a little bit (it does happen).  Mother's Day is really just another day, contrary to what Hallmark would have you believe.  I mean, don't get me wrong, it is a beautiful day to recognize and celebrate the gift of woman and motherhood (I really like what our priest had to say about this in our bulletin this week); but when it's all said and done, maybe I should spend the day embracing my vocation rather than escaping it.  My kids will tell me happy mother's day a million times but they'll still act, how shall we say, like their usual selves as well. Gemma will melt down over a million random things and Kolbe will decide that he wants to buy a fishing pole instead of going to Mass and obsess and whine and cry about it for 45 minutes.  Clement will pull on my necklace and nurse through all the parts of Mass when I should be standing.  Aaron will make me a nice dinner, but I'll probably still have to clean up the kitchen.  We'll mix a batch of strawberry daiquiris but then we'll have to interrupt our drinking them to clean dog poop off Gemma's bare feet.  But you know what?  That's OK.  Motherhood - in all its "glory" - is my life. Sometimes it's important to just celebrate that.  By being grateful for and embracing the gift of my vocation, with all its blessings and difficulties too.  This year we had a lovely family walk, and a day with very few out-of-the-house obligations.  The kids threw fits and I cleaned up the kitchen (more than once) and the floor could use to be sweeped.  Swept.  Again.  BLAH!  Oh yeah, and I made my own cake.  But this is my life.  And I am content.  Happy.  God is good...all the time.

Pictures to share: 

Wearing their "running hats"

 

Look what I can do!

Family.

Journal (8th edition)

TODAY

Out my window: I'm actually "cheating" and typing this on Friday night.  It's dark and the deck door is open with cool air coming in.  It's nice.  Last night Aaron and I sat out on the deck after the kids were in bed and drank hot tea and visited and it was just positively lovely.  It's so awesome being married to my best friend.

Clothing myself in:  New black yoga pants from Kohl's...I got them a couple weeks ago and realllllly like how they fit.  They are so comfy.  And a t-shirt because it got warm again.  Almost warm enough to dig the kids' warm-weather clothes back out but I refused.  Enough already, I am very tired of all this back and forth, although I really like the warmer weather, in fact I think I'm ready for spring...

Around the house:  Continually de-cluttering and going through things.  After three babies it is becoming apparent the items (clothing, blankets, towels, etc.) we need and the ones that are just extras, so I've been going through things and saving what we really use, or could need for future babies, and have several bags to donate to our favorite pro-life charity.  I've really been thinking about living "simply" lately and tryig to reflect this in what I deem our family "needs".

 

The kiddos:  Had such a fun Halloween!!  More on that HERE.  They (and Aaron and I too) seem to be fighting mild colds.  Bleh.

The baby: OH I love him.  He is so cute.  I could just gush about him, really.  Poor guy seems to have picked up the cold as well.  He is taking it in stride though, bless his heart.

In the kitchen:  Spaghetti, Honey Chicken and Tuna Melts are on the list so far.  Probably steamed veggies for sides, we are so boring and predictable around here when it comes to side dishes it really is pathetic.  But hey, it's healthy and easy.  We also have a bunch of leftover pork shoulder that we'll probably use in wraps and/or pork and noodles.

Crafting: Yes, you are reading this correctly.  I actually have something for this category!!!!  Last weekend I crafted an Advent wreath for our family. We like to light our Advent candles all three meals a day during the season, and in recent years this has caused us to go through an insane amount of taper-candles in a four-week period, not to mention the wax mess from over-zealous toddlers blowing them out.  So I took our old wreath and pulled the wire candle-holder deal in it out, hot-glued the wreath (greenery) and some pretty purple and pink embelishments to a charger plate and am awaiting our candle order to arrive (the candles will sit in the middle of the wreath).  This was the most reasonable place I could find unscented pink and purple candles.  Apparently they are hard to come-by locally (unscented ones anyways, and I did not want scented Advent candles).  The shipping was pretty steep on this website, but I was able to get three purple and one pink 3"x6" pillar candles for around $28 shipped.  Not too bad and I'm hoping they'll last us for several years.  Once the candles are in our wreath will be ready (a month early, but glad to have this ready to go never-the-less)!

Learning:  Did some Halloween worksheets and workbooks this week.  Reading lessons are coming along, we're doing about half a lesson a day now, and interspersing that with some Green Light readers from the library.  Gemma really enjoys those, so it seems we've hit a good groove after our bump in the road.  Handwriting is coming along, I'm anxious to finish the preschool book and get started with the Kdg one as Gemma is already writing lowecase letters on her own, and I want to make sure she is doing her letter formation correctly.  At the rate we're going though we still have several more months (at least) of the Get Set for School book.  Gemma still grips her pencil incorrectly (like mother like daughter I suppose) unless I remind her a million times.  I'm almost to the point of just letting it slide since it doesn't seem to bother her and she writes fairly well...

We had lots of fun talking about the Saints while doing this craft on All Saints Day.  For the month of November we'll read a saint story each morning during prayers from one of our Saint books.

Reading: I checked out The Way of Perfection by St. Teresa of Avila from the library but haven't started it yet so the jury is still out.  I am sure it's a wonderful work, we'll see if it's right for me here and now.

Bringing me joy: Seeing the kids (and their daddy) have so much fun on Halloween.  Having the saints to inspire us and intercede for us in Heaven.  Listening to the Daily Readings each day on my phone.  I haven't had much luck being disciplined enough to read them each day even though I get Magnificat, but listening to them seems to be a really good fit, usually as I'm preparing dinner.

Thinking about: Advent...I can't believe it's less than a month away now.  I've traditionally made a paper chain of "Advent actions" for the kids, but this year I am saving the trouble and ordering this one.  The price is good but you have to order 36.  I may will be hitting some of you up...  Let me know if you're interested (if I know you personally)!  I am selling them for $2.50 which is a bit more than retail ($1.60) and donating the extra money to our local Carmelites.  You can find more details on my Facebook page.

Pictures to share: 

Oh my sleeping boys.  I just can't quit taking pictures of them.

Father's Day

A few recent pics of the people I love most...

Drinking "shakey-nooks"...their morning tradition.

Reading "Bears on Wheels"...this was Aaron's book as a child.

For gifts this Father's day, I wanted to find something the kids could make for their daddy and grandpas.  I stumbled upon this idea on Catholic Icing, and modified it for Father's Day.  Gemma and I worked on this together a couple days while Kolbe napped, so he actually didn't help, but his smiling face certainly looks sweet in the little frames.

Favorite Easter picture books

I checked out a handful of books from the library to add to those we have on-hand at home for Holy Week and Easter Week, and I was very pleased with some of the titles we found and wanted to share here.

The Saving Name of God the Son (board book - ours):  Beautiful artwork by Fra Angelico depicting the Life of Christ from the Annunciation to the Ascension.

The Story of Easter (carry-me-along board book - ours):  Can't beat the St. Joseph's picture books.  Really.

My First Pictures of Easter (board book - ours): Great board book with numerous pictures and few words depicting the last week of Christ's life on earth.

Love One Another: The Last Days of Jesus (library copy):  Story of Jesus public ministry, death and Resurrection.  Good for toddlers and young children.  Artwork is interesting.  Different in a good way.  Very colorful and almost Germanic looking, if that makes sense??

The Road to Easter Day (ours): The last week of Jesus' life on earth through the eyes of "Ben", a young boy in Jerusalem.  Cute and good but nothing special.

The Easter Story (paperback from Scholastic - ours): Definitely nothing special, I'm glad it was cheap.  Glosses completely over the Crucifixion which drives me crazy.  No, kids don't need the Mel Gibson version of the Passion and Death, but I believe it can be dealt with in an honest and age-appropriate way.  I mean heavens, we have crucifixes in most of the rooms of our house!  Maybe I should get rid of it, but the story is simple enough for a very young child which is nice.  Still...

The Legend of the Three Trees (ours): Great allegory about three trees with big dreams that end up playing a bigger part in History than they could ever imagine.  I also have The Proud Tree, which is similar but geared toward an older audience.

The Light of the World (library copy): This book starts with Jesus' birth (which I thought was cool) and then picks up with His public ministry.  It really is very good; detailed and explains things well and at the level of a young child.  As the title implies, it focuses a lot on "light".  My main issue was how the author dealt with the Last Supper, saying, "This bread is like my body," in reference to the Eucharist.  I realize Catholics are the only ones who believe in the Real Presence, but that is taking a lot of liberties with Scripture in my opinion.  It also spends relatively little time on the Passion and Crucifixion, but touched on it enough that it seemed to fit with the rest of the story.

The Story of the Easter Robin (library copy): This one went on my Amazon wishlist the minute I read it.  It is a beautiful legend about spring, new life and how the robin got its red breast.  This one gets five stars for sure...maybe six. ;-D

Mortimer's First Garden (library copy): This was a leftover from "S"/Spring week that I kept for another week because I liked how it talked about miracles, particularly about the seed that was in the ground for three days and then rose.  I thought it fit.  And the kids liked it a lot.

The Easter Story by Brian Wildsmith (library copy):  The story of the last week of Jesus' life on earth as seen through the donkey on whom he rode into Jerusalem. Very nice, great, colorful illustrations.  Does a good job at depicting the Last Supper as well which is always a bonus.  I can see purchasing this at some point.

If Jesus Came to My House (library copy): Another one I would like own.  I reviewed it some time ago HERE.  This book is really, really great.  If you haven't read it to your kids, you should definitely check it out. It might even make you tear-up a bit.  But then, I'm pregnant so maybe it's just me.  ;-D

The Greatest Adventure Stories from the Bible: The Easter Story (DVD - ours):  I got a tip on this from Lacy at Catholic Icing and bought it on a whim (since it was less than $4.00 shipped when I got it).  I watched it with the kids several times and we really like it.  The animation is nothing special, but the story is very well told (it is taken from the Gospel according to St. Mark and stays pretty true to the Bible); the Last Supper is wonderfully done, and the Crucifixion is dealt with in an age-appropriate manner with which I was very pleased.  This was very thought-provoking for Gemma, she asked lots of questions, and I know we will pull it out each Lent.

That's all for now.  Please add your suggestions in the comments, I'd love to come up with more for next year!  And check out other great ideas for celebrating Easter over at Catholic Icing's First Friday Link-up!!

Happy Easter 2012

Happy Easter!

He is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!!

Valentines 2012

The kids had fun painting/stickering/writing their own Valentines for those we love this year (and quite a many for our fridge as well).  We also used some of these (and more here) from Catholic Icing which I just thought were so SUPER-duper cool.  I mean, seriously, how great.  We printed ours black and white on tag-board and painted them (with watercolors) but if you printed them in color they would really look very "professional" I think, and the Scripture verses just make them so wonderful.

Gemma made a Valentine for me that said "H V T" on the front, "for Happy ValenTines," she told me.  I was so proud of her.

Hope everyone had a nice, love-filled Valentines day.

Pumpkin fun

We had some fun pumpkin activities leading up to Halloween.  There is so much cool stuff out there, just a "click and print" away.  

I made this number/counting activity for Gemma to work on.  The pieces of green construction paper were the "pumpkin patches" (and each had a number on it, 1-9) and she used a package of foam pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns I found on sale at the craft store.  The exercise in number recognition was very good for her.

These number/counting cards I printed on orange construction paper.

Life-cycle of a pumpkin sequencing cards.

Some pumpkin books we enjoyed:
Pumpkin Harvest
Pumpkin Fever
I Like Pumpkins
Pumpkin Day, Pumpkin Night
Corduroy's Halloween (As an aside...we've checked out several Corduroy lift-the-flap books and they've all been very sweet.  This one was moving along just fine with your traditional Fall/Halloween storyline, and then we got to the trick-or-treating page and it said "Trick or Treat for UNICEF."  I kid you not.  It was very odd, and I'm still trying to figure out how exactly that fit with the rest of the story...)

I particularly liked this jack-o-lantern coloring sheet.  Apparently you can color it online, but I just printed it out for Gemma.

 We had a really fun trip to the pumpkin patch!!

Gemma wanted to paint a face on her pumpkin, so we set to work only to find out that yellow acrylic paint doesn't work so well on pumpkins.  I was a little bummed but it didn't seem to phase her, I think she said, "Mommy, this is going to be the best pumpkin, EVER," about fifteen times.  It was really sweet.

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Fourth of July 2011

We had a fun, low-key Fourth of July weekend.  I think that the Fourth of July (okay, Independence Day I guess technically) should always be either the first Friday or Monday of July.  Makes for such a nice three-day weekend.  Anyways, Saturday I spent some time with a friend and then Aaron went bull-frogging that evening. We spent Sunday afternoon and evening at my in-law's hanging out, eating good food and enjoying their company as we always do.  Monday we spent some time at my parents' for their annual 4th of July Party.  Good times, good food, good people, some small fireworks.  Fun weekend.  We got some little poppers, smoke bombs and parachutes to do with the kids the morning of the Fourth and they had a lot of fun with those.  Gemma kind of got the concept of chasing after the parachutes, and Kolbe LOVED the poppers.  Laughed hysterically the whole time we were doing them, so cute!!  We live about a half-mile from a country club, so we have a great view (well, it is quickly getting obscured by our trees, but still pretty good) of their fireworks shows.  Between that and the ones our neighbors shot off, Aaron and I enjoyed two nights of great fireworks out on the deck.  The kids slept through the loud noises the 3-4 days leading up to the Fourth very well.  I was pleased.  We had talked to Gemma about how the poppers we did were "small poppers", and the ones people shot off while she was going to bed were "big poppers" and they were nothing to be afraid of.  She seemed to do pretty good with that explanation thankfully.  I still think they kept her awake late, because the Tuesday after the Fourth she was so grumpy and weepy I thought I was going to lose my mind.  But alas, all is well and we had a fun holiday weekend.  Here are some pics of the kids having fun.

showing off her
parachutes

lighting the duck she picked out
it was our "grand finale"

POPPERS!

very proud of her first sparkler

running through the smoke

clapping for the poppers!

Happy Easter

Wishing you a blessed, joy-filled Easter from our family!  He is risen, Alleluia, Alleluia!

Merry Christmas 2010