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: