Journal #3

Outside my window:

 

It is BEAUTIFUL!  A little windy, but the weather is so nice - about 70 degrees, almost warm enough for shorts.
 

Clothing myself:

Jeans, MS Bike-a-thon T-shirt, gym shoes.
 

Around the house:

Today Gordie and I did a "walk through" and made some decisions to move things around a little since he is no longer working from home.  We are going to move his computer out of our bedroom and I am looking forward to this as he likes to be on late at night when I'm trying to sleep.  Unfortunately, this means he might be tempted to be on more and later at night (as he has in the past) and that makes me sad, but he is an adult (as much as he pretends not to be).

The Baby:

Rolling a little more, but not that much.  She is quite content to lay on the floor and kick and wiggle around.  She still LOVES to ride in the sling.  I took her to the park in the stroller the other day (thinking it would be easier on myself) but then ended up picking her up and carting her around anyhow - should have just put her in the sling!  Soon she will be too big to carry.  I need to remember this.
 

The Kids:

They are sweet and innocent and I LOVE how they play together - crazy pretend play involving blocks, toys, junk, etc.  They have also been behaving well in Mass and that makes me grateful.
 

In the Kitchen:

It has been a CHALLENGE lately to get the menu going, but I'm trying trying trying.  Bit by bit, day by day, we are getting it going.  Although I am still praying for inspiration and new recipes that work for our family.

Crafting:

I finished knitting my dishcloth.  It was a fail.  I should not have used multi-colored yarn.  That and my stitches still are not that even (at the beginning and end mostly - too loose to begin and too tight to end).  So I am humbled, but not discouraged.  I'm going to try again, but first I'm going to make Miriam's new hat.  I started it last night, but somehow messed up the first row (starting projects is the most difficult part for me) so I'm going to start it again.  I think it will go quickly once I get going.
 

Homeschool:

I have not "planned out our year" as in "we will do this page on this day" kind of a thing.  I think I have not done this because I am afraid we will get behind or something.  It is odd because it is in my nature to over-plan things.  In any case, I finally sat down and figured out how many weeks until "the end of the year" to make sure we would make it through our books, as we took two weeks off, one for being sick and one for a mini-vacation and I was getting a little nervous.  I was happy to discover that two math lessons a week and one set of spelling words will easily get us done with those subjects before the end of the year.  Likewise, Rebekah is only two pages from the end of her English book and is close to the end of her reading book, as well.  Science is also very "do-able." So I have gotten rid of all my guilt of letting the kids do things a bit more "freely" in terms of school-work and daily life. 

 

(Side note: Catechism and Scripture are a daily part of our day that I hope to continue year round without fail, so although they are perhaps our most important subject, I'm not treating them quite the same as our other "school work" if that makes sense.)

Reading:

Still sticking on the Scripture and keeping up (or ahead) in the Catechism.  I have not been in my Theology of the Body much since I have been spending more time on crafting in hopes of finishing things for Christmas.  So maybe during the Christmas holidays I will get to read more again.
 

Entertainment:

We are still enjoying Warehouse 13.  There was a cross-over in our last episode to Eureka, so curiosity had us watch the first episode of that show last night.  It was decent.  Perhaps we will have to watch it next.  We also keep up with Castle, of course.

Bringing me joy:

WE GOT THE GARAGE MOSTLY PAINTED!!  This was a huge weight off my shoulders as I was getting worried it would not get done before winter.  We still need to get the trim up and painted (maybe this weekend?) but the doors are all installed (and garage door openers) so we are almost set for winter.

Also, totally unrelated, but still bringing me joy, is shedding some more weight.  I'm a few pounds below my pre-pregnancy weight with my first baby.  I have been trying to get to my "ideal" weight (another 25lbs or so down) for a while now, but kept getting interrupted to have babies (the nerve :)  Maybe I will make it this time.

Thinking about:

Contraceptives and abortion.  Putting more fasting and prayer in my day.  The future of our country.

Bible verse:

Stay awake and pray that you may not come into the time of trial; the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." (Matthew 26:41)

Pictures to share:

 

Being poked with the gigantic stick that helped me paint the garage without using a ladder.  Yes, we dress our girl in boy clothes sometimes. . . .she has three older brothers, so we have a FEW more boy clothes (and clothes in all the seasons at all the ages).

Here is my dishcloth.  Look hard.  It is supposed to be praying hands.  Like I said, a bit of a fail, but I suppose it will still wash dishes.  My mother-in-law informed me (after I showed it to her and mentioned I thought of using it for a gift, but was probably not going to now) that she would be HONORED to receive it - Yes, I have the world's best mother-in-law :)

Here is where my second hat for Miriam went really wrong.  The funny part is that I did not notice it right away.  I have NO IDEA how I screwed up so bad.  Fortunately this is only about an hour of knitting (yes, I actually sat down and knitted for an hour without interruption - crazy!) so starting again is not the end of the world.

Happy 5-month-Miriam.  Love her! :)

Turkey fun with Paul at our last Homeschool Co-op Group.  I am LOVING this group.  It is great for all the kids and it gives me lots of adult talk, too!