Journal #25

Out My Window:

It is overcast today and a little chilly (maybe thirty degrees) but not a "bad" day.  Feels a little more like winter I suppose.  The seasons have certainly been crazy lately.

Clothing Myself In:

Black stretch pants, black MS walk t-shirt, camo long-sleeve shirt on top, bare feet.

Around the House:

Nana has been helping out all week because of my little "accident" and that has certainly been a blessing.  She is a great teacher and really gets the kids to stay-on-task and get it done!  It has felt busier than usual, but my nephew (who happens to be Paul's age) has been here most of the week, as well, and we babysat for a friend one day, too.  It has been nice to be out and go to the park a couple times since the weather was so nice, but it is strange how the warm season being "out of place" makes me feel all confused - if that makes any sense.

The Baby:

Zipporah finally made it in for her "six-months-check" but she is already seven-months-old!  (This was not my fault - the doctor rescheduled the visit.)  In any case, she has only gained one pound since her last check (at four-months-old I believe) but she has grown two inches (up to 27 inches long!).   I'm not overly concerned about her lack of weight gain, but I am definitely watching her like a hawk.  Fortunately she has been amazingly healthy and happy, eating well and filling her diapers, so I have no worries at the moment.  She still is not a fan of sitting up or tummy time, but she LOVES to stand and lean against me or be carried around or sit in her bumbo (assuming it is close to the action).  Today she was intently watching me drink so I gave her her first few swigs from my water.  She seemed to enjoy that.

The Kids:

My amazing pitcher that the kids loved has broken already (sad face).  I guess I was cleaning it a little too vigorously as the handle snapped off.  I thought maybe Daddy could fix it, but he looked skeptical and gushed about how it would not look the same and be a lot of work, so it looks like I will be finding another pitcher soon.

Daily Mass (which we try to attend at least once a week) has been going smoother in some ways and more challenging in others.  Paul is quite well-behaved now, as long as I'm ok with him sitting and looking at our religious books we bring with us, but Miriam has trouble with volume control (or really just talking in general) and finds being still for forty to fifty minutes (we go with the school kids, so they have music and Mass is a little longer than the typical daily Mass) quite a challenge!  She often has to go potty (even if she just went at home) but fortunately Rebekah does not mind taking her out for that.  God bless big sisters!!  Jacob is also giving me a little struggle as he is old enough (in my opinion) to be standing correctly and kneeling and generally sitting as he should (at least LOOKING like he is paying attention).  I think we need to do a little more talking about this BEFORE Mass, though (and I keep forgetting) and maybe some practice for all the kids so things keep going as smooth as possible.

In the Kitchen:

I just cooked up some beef for another batch of taco meat (going to cook the beans tomorrow and mix it all together).  I was also brave enough to make homemade pizza!  (Which is crazy here - two breadmakers for the dough, four pizzas for our clan!)  And I made some teething biscuits for the baby, but so far she is not impressed with food in general.

Watching:

We stumbled upon an old tv series (on Netflix) called Chuck and it has been quite entertaining for the hubby and myself.  It was definitely written for the male crowd, but the plot is not too bad and most of the characters are well-done.

Crafting:

Since my hubby rarely reads my blog, I'm going to go ahead and throw this out there.  I have not been crafting in the traditional sense, but I am always looking for ways for the kids to get more movement in their day - especially while inside.  As it is good to go outside and play or to go to the upstairs of the garage (the indoor gym) and play, I feel they need to be moving more than we can get to either of those places.  Thus I finally got a couple more large hooks for our exposed beam in hopes of hanging a set of rings in our living room.  However, I tried to put one of said hooks in yesterday and it did not go so well.  How in the world do you get those big screw eye-hooks in??  I am afraid to ask the hubby for help as he already thinks I'm crazy and has a honey-do list about a mile long - on top of all his other plans and projects.  But stay tuned as I just might figure it out myself.

Thinking About:

Restorative Exercise.  Seriously, it is a lifestyle change I feel I am beginning.  And I think it is for the better.  In a nutshell, restorative exercise is all about moving more throughout the day.  Regular "exercise" is not necessarily bad (although sometimes it might be considered so, but it gets a little confusing), but it is not enough.  We should be moving most of the day, not just for an hour or two.  So I'm trying to put more standing, squatting, sitting on the floor, stretching, and walking into my day - and of course that of the children as well.  I will definitely have more to blog about this soon.  And you can read up some more on a previous post of mine - here.

Bringing Me Joy:

Zipporah.  It is great to see her personality start to show and her smiles are simply amazing.  Well worth the wait for them to show up.

Pictures To Share:

Samuel loves his baby sister, Zipporah.

Pizza and a Kansas sunset.  What could be better?