My Body!

We got this book called My Body for science this year.  You trace your child's body and then color and cut out the different body parts.  Way fun!!  We finally got started on it today.  We did the tracings and our first body part, the brain.

Here are some quotes I found humorous, from our work time today.

"While you cut out your brains, listen to these facts. . . " - Mom

"Here's a yellow for your spinach cord, Jacob." - Rebekah

"You are doing a good job cutting, Paul!" - Mom

"Yeah, he almost has it right on the lines! . . . well. . . uh. . almost." - Rebekah

Journal #16

Out My Window:

About 80 degrees (or at least that is how hot I let my house get with the windows open before I shut them and turned on the air for a bit - I'm turning into a wimp in my old age apparently), just a little breezy, overall a beautiful day.

Clothing Myself:

Green gym shorts from college, a Larks baseball t-shirt, sporty sandals.  (I really should plan to journal on days I wear "real clothes" -hehe)

Around the House:

Our portable dishwasher recently broke and rather than fix it, we found another one on the local want-ads for less than fixing our current one (and WAY WAY less than buying another one new).  We are very grateful to God for orchestrating that, by the way.  In addition, we decided to keep the old dishwasher (same brand) for potential parts replacement.  And where did we conclude would be the best place to keep it?  Well in the kitchen, of course!  Now I have more counter space and potentially more storage - all in a nice mobile "island" (aka the old dishwasher).  It is "a little" more snug and mildly difficult to get to some drawers, but having more counter space is well worth the sacrifice.  One day we do hope to remodel the kitchen, but today is not that day.  This "fix" is definitely quite an improvement and it somehow it makes me incredibly happy while simultaneously making me feel incredibly "white-trashy" but I'm rolling with it and trying to embrace the humility.

The Baby:

She is still cute as ever.  Lately I have been really amazed with how much she understands.  She often asks for (and correctly uses) a napkin at meals (don't ask me where she learned that).  At night she gives each of her brothers a hug and kiss after I sing their songs (unprompted by me - she is simply doing what I do).  And often she picks up an item that belongs to someone else (for example a pencil off the floor), looks at me and then follows my command, such as, "take it to Rebekah, Miriam."  Her favorite past-times are nursing and snuggling in my lap reading her board books.  She also gets insanely jealous when Paul is in my lap and I have learned from experience that even though she may seem occupied at Mass with Daddy or a toy or some such, it is still NOT a good idea to let Paul sit in my lap as she will inevitably see him and explode.

The Kids/Homeschool:

Rebekah is showing great initiative in her schoolwork and can work independently quite well.  But she still likes having me work with her on some things (even if all I do is sit in the room with her) and that definitely melts my momma heart.  She has also started going to adoration with me regularly (once a week I try to squeeze an hour in when I can) and she REALLY REALLY likes that.  I love spending time with her and Jesus, too.

I am amazed at how smart Samuel is.  Seriously, when he sits down to do his "schoolwork" he flies right through it all.  He is usually a pretty good sport about it, too, especially as he knows once he is done he can go play.

I have stopped "formally" doing Kindergarten with Jacob.  I was going to do "some stuff." But Jacob basically let me know he was not interested in that so I backed off.  Now I let him do some stuff when he shows interest (or asks) otherwise I just let him play.  Today he sat on the floor playing with blocks while I read Samuel his catechism lesson and Jacob answered all my questions (quietly to himself) before Samuel could tell me (and he even answered some that Samuel did not know!!)  I think Jacob might be soaking in a lot more than I realize.  

Paul likes to do "school" sometimes so I oblige him as best I can with a few work-books or a craft.  His attention span is a bit short but his skills are pretty good.  He really likes cutting and pasting.  I'm also planning to start a letter of the week theme for all interested (aimed for Jacob and Paul, but Rebekah LOVES crafts and Samuel will probably not want to be left out), doing the crafts from Catholic Icing's preschool book, Catholic ABC's.

And a while back I got this amazing book called A-Z Memory Verses for Rebekah.  Even though the worksheets are reproduceable, they are a bit above Samuel and the younger kids, so I adapted the verses some into a homemade craft that I am MOST EXCITED about!  The kids really loved it and they had the scripture verse memorized by the time they were done putting it together.  Plus I put it on the wall so they can read it all week.

Samuel's is the top left, Rebekah's is top right.  Paul's is on the bottom.  He insisted on doing it himself (with no help).

In the Kitchen:

I whipped up a big batch of taco meat that everyone loves (and the hubby appreciates all the beans in it now that his cholesterol issues have been revealed).  We had calzones on Monday, another crowd pleaser.  Tonight I'm going to make some homemade hamburger pockets using Grandma's biscuit recipe.

Crafting:

Still working on Mom's scarf and if I do not find some time to really get cracking on it, she will be cold again this winter, too :(

Reading:

The Bible, the Catechism, and bits and pieces of random other books I have been coming across for free on my kindle.  I'm going to have quite the library on there, soon and most of it has been free!!

Bringing Me Joy:

*My little revelation the other day has really been helpful here.

*Miriam.  She is such an adorable baby age.  Just thinking of her makes me smile.

*Homeschooling.  I really LOVE having my little brood around me all day.  They are such great kids.

Thinking About:

*Lots of prayer intentions: friends with sick kiddos, injuries, sicknesses, struggles.

*How we are in REAL NEED of new chore charts!!  (Top of the "to do" list, seriously :)

Bible Verse:

Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.  (Romans 12:12)

Catechism of the Catholic Church:

The Holy Spirit gives a spiritual understanding of the Word of God to those who read or hear it, according to the disposition of their hearts.  (CCC #1101)

Pictures To Share:

A Recent Revelation

Lately I've noticed that I'm getting a little grumpy about things that did not used to make me "a little grumpy."  And being grumpy is making me grumpy and suddenly I'm VERY grumpy.  In the midst of this grumpiness I've suddenly realized I'm missing out on a lot of joy and a lot of fun that I used to be having. . .a lot of the time.  So what changed?  Well, a lot, or not much at all (depending on how you look at it), but here is my theory:

Somewhere along the way in the midst of getting married, having babies, etc I have gone from "barely surviving" to "figuring things out."  I have opinions on things now that I never imagined I would have opinions on before.  I now know not only that I CAN survive childbirth, but how to do it better.  I can not only live through a fussy baby, I often still manage to get sleep.  I cannot just cook edible food, now I cook food that I PREFER WHEN COMPARED TO MOST RESTAURANTS!  (That one is huge for me if you cannot tell.)  I now have ideas on what to do when I'm upset at my husband (and still treat him respectfully) and I even have some good ideas on what to do to "be especially nice" to him, as well.  I am far from an expert in any of these areas, but I guess I now have a little experience under my belt and a little confidence.  

And what does all this have to do with my personal joy or grumpiness?  Well, suddenly I believe I have started to expect too much from myself and my family.  Now I'm not saying we should not strive for perfection and be disciplined and deliberate in our actions, decisions, etc.  But suddenly I've noticed that my expectations might be a little too optimistic and thus, when I fall short of them I get GRUMPY!  Here is a real-life example for you.  I went to the grocery store yesterday and spent $13 more than I planned to spend.  The entire drive home I was beating myself up for what I had bought and for not paying better attention.  Obviously I am simple HORRIBLE at keeping a budget, even though I got over $20 from coupons, I obviously could have done that better.  And what had I bought this trip that was more in the "stocking up" category - what I could have lived without until my next trip to the store?  And I started to feel a little sick to my stomach and was thinking I might just never shop again.  Time to move out to the farm and raise all our own food.

Ok, time out.  $13 over is really NOT THAT BIG A DEAL!!  (I imagine all my SERIOUS coupon clippers are gasping at that, but in my life that is just how it is.)  I should be grateful it was not $50 or $100!  And for those stock-up items, who really knows when I'm going to get back to the store and if I will remember them when I get there?  I am actually quite sporadic on my store trips, and they often get pushed off for several days.  And having the right items in my cabinet is often the difference from being able to make a meal or spending more money to bring something in from a restaurant (not to mention usually sacrificing nutrition in the process).

Another example of my over-optimism would be in volunteering to take dinner to a friend yesterday.  We had soccer for Samuel and Jacob, followed by Aikido for Rebekah and Samuel and in the middle of the two I planned to drop off a meal for a friend in need.  And not only did I make a giant meal of meatballs, cheesey potatoes, peas, jigglers, and brownies, I ALSO made two calzones for my family (which required advance planning as I do the dough in the breadmaker and it takes 1.5 hrs).  My kitchen was trashed and we were 10 minutes late for soccer practice, but I managed to get it done.  But as I went about my chores of meal preparation I felt a hurriedness that bordered on panic and I lamented not being able to really enjoy these tasks (as I would have, given more time and better circumstances).  I could have even had the kids help and they would have LOVED IT.

In conclusion, what am I doing about all this?  I'm trying to be more realistic.  Somewhere along the way I bought into the idea (probably from pintrest) that EVERYTHING I do can and should be done PERFECTLY and not only that. . . it should have been done that way TWO DAYS AGO.  I can only do so much.  Although I am starting to do some things pretty well (in my humble opinion) taking that for granted it really sacrificing my joy lately.  So here is to being a little more flexible, not expecting perfection, not trying to do too much (haha), looking for the humor, and being thankful.

And if you have made it this far, here is an adorable picture of Miriam for you to enjoy.

Oh and did I mention I finally published a book I wrote about five years ago?  I wrote it on the suggestion of a few friends.  It is nothing earth shattering, or anything and it is knda short, but there are some good points!  I sent it to some "real" publishers back when I wrote it and although many of them sent me nice letters telling me my theology was sound and it was a "nice" book, it was not really "new author" material.  But anyone can publish on Amazon (for free), so. . . five years later, here ya go.  And if you really just cannot justify spending money on it, keep it saved and I think Amazon will let me offer it for free after a bit (during certain promotional periods).

Ok, one more picture of my "super hero" children :)