Journal: moving things around

TODAY

Out my window: Sunny and warm.  Same thing it has been for the past month.  HOWEVER, by the looks of the forecast we have one more day in the eighties and then autumn should arrive for real, complete with a few rainy days and one that doesn't get out of the fifties (so they say).  I am ready for the change.  I have mums and pansies on the deck, and another flowering plant that I got in the summer and it has really taken off these past few weeks.  Wish I kept the tag so I knew what it was...

Around the house: Well, I mentioned last week that after 13 months, Gemma seems to have gotten cold feet about sleeping in the basement.  Maybe it was the puking incident?  Maybe just the length of time not being in close proximity with the rest of us??  Who knows.  I need to quit analyzing it.  She spent a week on the floor in the boys' room, which worked out well enough but it definitely wasn't a good permanent solution, and there was no talking her into going back downstairs.  SOOOOoooooo, we decided to move her (temporarily, with the option of being permanent) back upstairs and into the "baby" room.  We would like to have another baby, but so far nothin' doin', so the room has just been sitting there empty.  For now we have moved some of the baby stuff out (sniff sniff) and all of her stuff up (I told her she could not keep things in both rooms) but she is just sleeping in a sleeping bag on the floor.  We don't have an extra twin bed, and the room is too small to move her queen into.  We're not opposed to buying another twin but I want to know for sure that she intends to stay upstairs before I do that, so we're going to give it a month or two. And if we have another baby...well...we'll figure it out.  I am in a little bit of a quandary about the bathroom situation, she had been using the bathroom downstairs, but still needs help with things like doing her hair, turning the shower on, and not showering for 45 minutes.  So it is a lot of up and down (for me and her), especially now that she's not rooming down there.  So I am weighing my options.

 

The kiddos: Meh, the usual.  Nothing standout really besides aforementioned bedroom drama.  They have Thursday and Friday off school this week, so everyone is looking forward to a Friday on a Wednesday!!

In the kitchen: Aaron got a new smoker (his was falling apart, he literally poked a hole through the bottom of the smoke box the other day).  What he got was quite an upgrade (bigger, heavier gauge steel, etc.)  He took it on its inaugural voyage yesterday and mmmmm YUMMY!  I am really excited for him, smoking is something he has come to enjoy and is really good at.  He has his sights set on a brisket this fall.

This week:
goulash and steamed carrots
honey sriracha chicken bites
family dinner
smokey hamburgers for guests
something with cod maybe?
The farther out I get, the vaguer I am this week.

Learning: School is in full swing, so we are just keeping up and reading lots of books at home.  

Reading: With the super-dee-duper-blood-harvest-whatever-else-moon (which my kids did not stay up late enough to see, but they watched it rise and heard about the eclipse), we read Kitten's First Full Moon (LOVE this one), By the Light of the Harvest Moon and Possum's Harvest Moon.  Here are some fall-faves in our book basket this past week.

Watching: MLB.

Bringing me joy:  the papal visit: following it via Facebook, TV and reading articles was pretty cool.  The upcoming cool-down.  Having all my babies sleeping upstairs again. Laughing with Aaron about dumb stuff. 

Thinking about: We bought some fair-trade coffee at Sams the other week.  It is very tasty.  And I will be honest, we bought it more for the fact that it is good coffee than the fact that it is fair trade, but the fair-trade thing has me (Aaron too) thinking.  It would be nice if more stores (clothing comes right to mind) offered fair-trade items and really marketed them as such.  I know the coffee story kind of makes me sound lame, but seriously, I would spend a couple bucks more per item if I knew the clothing (or whatever else) I was buying was made or farmed or whatever by someone who was given a fair living wage for their work.  OK, end rant. 

Pictures to share:  

A couple pics of Gemma's new digs. It is a work in progress (and probably will be for the foreseeable future).

Seven Quick Takes: summer vacation!

1.  School wrapped up for the year after a short half-day on Thursday!!  The boys had dentist appointments that afternoon so Gemma and I went on a celebratory date.  We started with Eucharistic Adoration (I am soooo excited for her second grade year and the Sacraments that it brings), then off to eat ice cream at Braum's and she picked out a book about St. Teresa of Avila at our local Catholic bookstore.  We had such a nice time!!  Isn't she beautiful?  The first picture just captures her so well I think.

2.  That evening my hubby and I had a date (!!!!!!!!).  We went to Vespers at our Diocesan Cathedral and then spent the evening with the (around 70!!!!!!) seminarians of our diocese, various priests and about 300 people.  I am normally not much of a crowd person, in fact as we were walking in I was like, "Aaron!!!  We're going to have to talk!!! To people!!!!!!!"  But it was a positively wonderful evening catching up with people, some of whom we hadn't seen for years, and it made my heart swell with pride for the wonderful things that are happening in our diocese.  The number of seminarians (men studying for the priesthood) that we have here is astounding.  The Bishop even commented in his opening remarks that there isn't a Bishop in the world who wouldn't want to trade places with him. This morning there will be five young men ordained to the priesthood and last evening one to the diaconate.  God is good.  Sadly there is no pictorial evidence of our date.  OH well.

3.  We kicked the first morning of summer vacation off by turning our heater on, and it's running again this morning.  A little chilly for my tastes this time of year (I thought I was done with hoodies and sweats), but I won't complain.  It has been a gorgeous Spring in these parts!  And rain abounds, and looks like it will continue to abound for most of the holiday weekend.

  

4.  We signed up for the Summer Reading Program at the library yesterday...the kids had been looking forward to this for weeks now!!  They revamped the program a bit this year and I'm really happy with the changes.  The kids have to do four reading inspired activities (there is a list to choose from) and then read 20 twenty-minute reading sessions.  This is sooooooo much easier than having to write 120 titles x3 on papers that have room for 50 books.  Even with Gemma writing her own titles last year it was still so tedious.  This is going to be good.

5.  I printed out our "Summer Schedule" a couple weeks ago and hung it on the fridge so the kids (namely Gemma) could start looking at it and know what to expect each day.  It's not incredibly rigid...I am trying to keep waking/eating/sleeping times pretty consistent and see that prayers/breakfast/chores are the first thing to happen upon waking. Everything else is just divided into tasks that need to be accomplished between breakfast and lunch, and tasks/activities between lunch and dinner with lots of free time for play.  We have a few planned activities, mainly Bible School and swim lessons...just enough to keep us out of trouble but not crazy busy.  I have added a few more chores for the kids.  Gemma is getting to be a huge help around the house and out and about!  I was worried about taking three to the grocery store yesterday, but I think it was easier than shopping with just the boys...she helped load and unload stuff, kept an eye on Clement...  She is growing into such a fine young lady.  I am amazed at how she has changed over the past year.

6.  Yesterday evening our neighbors invited us over for homemade pizza.  We have the best neighbors.  Who knew when we bought this house eight years ago, that aside from the house and neighborhood/park/walking paths etc. suiting us so well, we would also end up with the nicest neighbors in the world. 

7.  I know I mentioned this on Facebook, but it bears mentioning again.  I just finished a beautiful book on prayer entitled Prayer Primer and it was a gem.  I have read several of Fr. Dubay's books recently, they are all fantastic.  One of my favorite parts in this book was the section on Family Prayer, specifically the way it explained teaching/encouraging meditation for young children.  I gleaned plenty of good information from it for myself as well, particularly on the subjects of meditative and contemplative prayer. Well worth the read, and it is a quick read, I think I finished it in six days.

Journal: Pink-eye and chicken pox and windstorms, OH MY!

TODAY

Out my window:  It is nothing short of gorgeous outside currently (aside from the sad looking trees that have been obliterated left and right around the neighborhood due to a recent windstorm...amazing what 89mph winds will do to even the tallest, established trees), but I digress...the forecast for the next 3-4 days is amazing, with highs in the lower 80s and lows in the lower 60s (and even a few upper 50s).  Bring it ON!  

Clothing myself in:  Sweat capris a tank and a fitted T.  Comfy.

Around the house: I cleaned the windows in the big kids' room.  I did not scrub the kitchen floor (if you know me well, this could actually probably be considered progress).

 

The kiddos:  Survived the chicken pox!  They were exposed (on purpose) about mid-June and Kolbe came down with them first, on Saturday the 22nd.  Gemma was about 36 hours behind him, which actually ended up being kind of nice as they each had a really rough night a night apart from each other, and while it made for two rough nights in a row, believe me in retrospect I will take that over the intenseness that one night with both of them would have been.  Does that makes sense?  Kolbe had probably less than 100 and took them like a champ.  Gemma had a little harder time with them but it was still not awful.  I have been more worried over other bugs they've come across.  She probably had 200+ I think.  I've nicknamed her "polka dots".  They are both past the contagious stage, but still have some visible scabs.    

The baby:  Did not come down with the chicken pox even though he was exposed at the same time the big kids were.  He was obviously exposed again this go-around so it will be a waiting game once he is potentially contagious (the incubation period is 14-17 days, and you are contagious a day-ish before you show symptoms).  According to the Merck Manual babies have cross-placental immunity (if the mother had the chicken pox...I did and was titered and am still immune) until about 6 months, which he is way past.  I have also heard from various sources that you can pass antibodies through breastmilk, and he still nurses on demand, so who knows?  In the meantime, once he is potentially contagious we'll be in quarantine mode again.  Fun times! He has been letting go of things and standing independently more often lately.  He is kind of in between needing one and two naps and this has been making his bedtime kind of late most days (when he has two naps) which, well, it is what it is but I'm not a huge fan.  OH sleep.  He really likes to play with toy cars.

All three kids also battled cases of conjunctivitis over the past week and change.  As healthy as they are, for whatever reason they seem to get that with decent enough frequency.

In the kitchen: Homemade Pizza and Enchiladas this week and then I think hubby is running the smoker around the 4th.  And probably Chile Rellenos on Friday as I didn't end up making them this past week after all.  We have had some TAAASTY honey dews lately.  And we've really gotten into brussel sprouts as well.  I chop them in half or thirds and toss them in olive oil and salt and garlic and then drizzle them with agave or maple syrup and bake them at 425 for 15-20 minutes and they are soooo good.  They are also tasty chopped in small pieces on a pizza.  The kids have been requesting french toast for breakfast lately.

Crafting: nope.  nada.

Learning:  We did quite a few learning activities this past week since we were cooped up in the house.  We had a sun/summer theme.  I got a bunch of summer-type books from the library.  We talked about warm colors and color mixing and made hand-print/painted suns, and water-color coffee-filter suns, and we looked at a book of seashell pictures and then glued sea-shells on big letter S's.  After the big storm we took a nature walk and collected various items and then made some solar prints.  We made one for our neighbor from a leaf from the big 30ft maple that she lost from her backyard and she took it home and (immediately) framed it and made this nice little arrangement (see right).  I was touched that it meant so much to her.  This week I have some "America" themed books for the kids and we will probably color a flag and US Map (we've been talking about maps lately).  I am hoping for a trip to the zoo in between quarantines as well.  I also have some watermelon books on hold and will probably do this craft with the kids.  Along with the summer theme, I'd also still like to make sun bread.  I thought we'd get to it this past week and we just didn't.  

Reading: I should finish St. Francis this week.  We finished Charlotte's Web, and are waiting for book 2 from the Fairchild Family series to come in at the library through ILL.

Watching: Not much of interest.  I have been indulging in a bit of HGTV lately when Aaron is putting the big kids to bed.  I roll my eyes at myself, but I still kinda enjoy some of it.  Sort of.  

Bringing me joy: Confession and a great talk with my Spiritual Director.  Always gives me such a fresh and hopeful perspective on life.  My marriage and family.  The kids' excitement for "firecracker time".  Looking forward to taking them to their first parade.  An end to chicken pox.  A busy but fulfilling and enjoyable June.  Chatting with my uncle (yes, you) via the interwebs.  Flowers from our neighbor (different one than mentioned above...we have the greatest neighbors).  He often gives Gemma flowers from his yard, and he has some PRETTY flowers.  The other day Aaron asked me if I'd rather him (Aaron) buy me flowers or a bottle of wine.  Without hesitation I answered, "wine.  Gerry gives me flowers."  haha.

Thinking about: The overturning of DOMA and all the various repercussions.  Paula Deen.  The power of wind.  My lack of control over trees and life in general.  The future.  Priorities.  How's that for stream-of-consciousness?!

Pictures to share:  

Storm damage.

Journal: I think it is going to be Winter forever

TODAY

Out my window:  Um, Spring?  Where are you?? In case you haven't looked at the calendar, it is now mid-April.  Come on already.  That said, we have enjoyed some time outdoors on the (seemingly few) nicer days we've had.  And oh, regarding the snaggle-toothed furry mis-predictor of Spring of whom I spoke quite deprecatingly last week...there was a bit of confusion on my part regarding the opinions of a certain reader in Denver who shall remain unnamed.  While he is understandably experiencing much angst about their current weather, no "hate" is actually being felt toward the mangy perpetrator.  He did however mention something about a bounty...  OK, inside joke over.  In all seriousness though, this kind of weather in mid-April is ultra-depressing.

Clothing myself in:  Jeans and a t-shirt.  So original. So classy.  

Around the house:  Packed away a bunch of the kids' clothes.  I toss stuff they've outgrown on closet shelves, and then when there's enough I haul it downstairs and toss it in a laundry basket.  And then when it piles up into a big, scary, unruly pile of randomly-sized sort-of folded clothes, I whine and complain and then sort through them all and put them away in the correct tubs.  I do the same thing with my paper filing.  And as soon as I'm done I vow I will always file things the minute they leave my hands.  And I never. do.  Now you know.

The laptop hunt is on.  A friend's hubby (thank you!) took a look at the Toshiba, and even if he replaced the motherboard there is a good chance the same thing could happen again with the USB's.  Ugh.  I'm  managing OK without the USB's, but I'd really like to get a new laptop with Windows7 (read: not Windows8) and I don't now how much longer that is going to be an option.  Stupid technology. 

 

The baby:  Oh goodness he's not crawling yet but boy can he get around!!  Wowza, life is about to get even more interesting (is that possible?) in this house once he takes off.  He can go from belly to sitting now, and is pulling up on his knees.  He had his 9 month well-child last week, he weighed 17 lbs 6 oz and was 28 inches long.   He really likes to feed himself little chunks of food, so much so that I actually gave away the baby food I had made for him.  I do not miss baby food.  He has tried many various veggies, fruits, meats, beans, fish and whole-oat cereal.  He still nurses a lot too.

 

The kiddos:  Gemma is sounding out words and writing left and right.  Her spellings crack me up.  I got confirmation that we will have half-day kindergarten available at our Catholic school next year, so for that I am grateful.  I think it will make our family's (and Gemma's) transition into school much smoother.  I am beginning to really look forward to next year, it'll be a huge change for our family no doubt, but I think school is going to be a very good thing for our Gemma-girl. 

Kolbe had his speech screening last week.  He was very quiet and nervous but the gal doing the screening was really sweet and got him talking even so.  His language (ability to communicate and understand) tested fine, but she gave him a referral for speech, so the next step is to have him tested in our district and see if he qualifies for services.  And then go from there...  We'll see what that brings.  Everyone seems to think that it is quite odd that I'm not planning to send him to preschool, so that's a little frustrating.  I just want him to have the help he needs (IE speech pathology) while still meeting the needs I am able to meet in our home.  Does that make sense?

In the kitchen: Pork cutlets, mashed potatoes/cauliflower, steamed broccoli; Beef/Italian Sausage and Veggie Lasagna with green beans; crock-pot chicken, still debating on sides; Fish Crisp and maybe a fruit salad.  Hubby made sushi over the weekend.  Yum!

Crafting: ahhhh, nope.

Learning: Nothing terribly exciting or out of the ordinary.  Thinking about this Letter of the Week program for Kolbe next year.  And this.

Reading: Finished Bible Basics for Catholics.  Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice overview of Salvation History never-the-less.  Still working through the Catechism.  Started Navigating the Interior Life and A Father Who Keeps His Promises this week.  Those fictions from the library are still on the end-table, but the thought of reading four books at once seems silly.  Yet I haven't taken them back...  So many good books, so. little. time.

Watching:  We're about 3/4's the way through (TV) Episode 4 of The Bible.  I'll just come right out and say I liked the way they portrayed the Old Testament better.  The New just seems really disjointed, like they took a bunch of the stories of Jesus' ministry and just kind of mashed them together so they could cover all His "most quoted" moments.  I don't know, it's just weird to me.  We have about three hours (really probably closer to two once we zip thru commercials) to go, so we'll see what the final verdict is, but honestly I've liked it less the more I've watched.  The thing I DO like though, is it's got me thinking and kind of lit a fire under my butt to read the Bible more, and that's a really good thing.    

Bringing me joy: A date with Aaron.  We went on a walk around the neighborhood and actually visited instead of having a dog and three kids strung out a block-and-a-half between us.  Then we sat at the dinner table.  At home.  For FIFTY minutes.  Yes, five-zero.  And we had our wine and food ON THE TABLE!!  The whole time.  And nobody spilled anything or threw any food.  It is funny for me to think that this was the norm for us five years ago.  We had no idea how good we had it!!  And don't get me wrong, I love my life, love my kids, wouldn't trade it for the world, all that cliche stuff.  But oh, it was nice to have a couple hours together away from the kids. 

Thinking about: Prayer.  How to live a life of prayer amidst my vocation, rather than in spite of it.  My relationship with Gemma, how to help her through the anger and tantrums that she so struggles with.  And just my relationship with her in general.  We are a lot alike and I feel like we are constantly at each other's throats.  And while I don't want (or need) to be her BFF, I'd still like us to have a happy, healthy, loving relationship, and right now it just rarely feels that way. 

Pictures to share: 

Silly monkeys.  Errrr, monkey and dragon.  (Halloween costumes are fun year-round!!)

Kolbe is my child who will fall asleep (and stay asleep) anywhere.

 Look-alike brothers.

Snow day

This past Monday we had our first snow day of the season. Gemma was very excited to see the snow, and Kolbe even joined in on the excitement. I'm not sure he knew what he was excited about though!! I was finally able to pull our "snow" books off the shelf to read. And even though I had a list of errands I would have loved to get done, it ended up being a nice day to just stay indoors. It's days like this when I'm really grateful for our basement. We had a lot of fun playing...Kolbe seems to discover and enjoy new (to him) toys each day. This day it was the shape sorter. Of course Gemma had to "help". And some pictures of Gemma-goo, on her LAST day as a two-year-old!! Trampoline fun! Dancing! (She got a new haircut, I LOVE it!!) Playing in her box house And then came the crowning moment of the day...getting to play in the snow with daddy while he shoveled the driveway. She talked about it all. day. And despite being freezing (temps in the 20's or teens) and windy, she was out there for every bit of an hour. She had a blast, I was really happy for her.

So proud of her snow gear! (I was rather amazed we got her to dress in all this in the first place, this is the same girl who rarely will wear a coat.) She loved it (much more than her first time to play in the snow last year)!
The perfect (night before her) birthday snow! She ran all over the yard. Look at those cold, rosy cheeks. With daddy, wiping off doggy kisses.

And to top it all off, there was a new "snow" episode of Little Bear on our OnDemand at the end of the day. Gemma was thrilled.

HAPPY SNOW-DAY, EVERYONE!!!!

Whiney Wednesday I

I decided to join my friend Erika Marie over at Simplemama in Whiney Wednesday. I'm typically not one to complain (in public or on my blog anyways...ask my hubby and you may get another story ;-D) Point is, even though I try to take a positive approach with my blogging I still deal with all kinds of frustrations whether it's the children, relationships or a broken wash machine. So Wednesday will be my day to vent if I feel the need. We're all human, and sometimes it's just nice to be able to identify with another, and know that they too have "been there". If you'd like to participate, click here for the rules and more info. So here you go...

1. I am tired of the way my sweet two-year-old thinks it's funny to let out a shrill, chirping scream as soon as her baby brother falls asleep when I'm wearing him, eliciting a jump or sometimes even a wake-up from him. It's not funny. It drives me crazy.

2. I now have the distinct pleasure of driving around a hailed-out car for the next year or so. We'll see how much attention the roof needs. Bleh.

3. It is hot hot hot outside and I am stinking tired of it. I am ready for Autumn. I am ready for hoodies and jeans. I am ready to quit feeling hot and sweaty and dusty every time I step outside. And in about a month-and-a-half I am going to be griping about the cold. Grrr...

All right. There are my three. And now I shall offer these pebbles up for those who yearn for children (screaming and all) in their lives, for those who don't even have a car, for those exposed to the elements on a 24/7 basis. My life really isn't so bad, and I know it, I am truly, truly blessed. But even so, every once-in-awhile it just feels good to vent.

God bless!