7 Quick Takes

1) Rebekah made this awesome gift for Daddy for his birthday.

She planned it.  Then I took her to Hobby Lobby to get the letters and heart.  She painted them and I helped her hang them.  Rebekah loves Daddy.  Yep, she sure does.

2) We are planning for the new baby to be in Zipporah's room.

And thank God for nesting.  I cleaned the room up and maybe figured out kind-of where I might put the baby.  I also cleaned out a drawer of Zipporah's dresser for the new baby's clothes.  Zipporah has been super-excited, babbling and pointing at all the changes.  I think she likes it. . . for now.  She might change her tune when she meets her new roommate.  

I have never put a new baby in with a two-year-old before, but Zipporah does not fit in the other bedroom at the moment and she naps so well and sleeps in so well, it seems a shame to make her share a room with the animals her older brothers and sisters.  The past history of introducing the two or three-year-old into the "big kid bedroom" has been lots of LATE nights of repeatedly returning the new dweller to the new bed.  I am not in the mood for that right now, so as far as I'm concerned, Zipporah can keep her own room and her own bed (the playpen/crib) until the new baby is mobile enough to need it.

Sorry I cannot find a before picture.  I know one exists, but alas, I am not sure where.  Anyhow, it looks nice and tidy, right?  Zipporah will probably stay in the playpen/crib.  New baby's bed is pending on what it will consist of.  We scrapped the old crib because it was old and drop-down, but I am not ready to replace it.  Let's be realistic anyhow, new baby will probably sleep in MY bed for the first six months at least.

3) Speaking of the new baby, Rebekah gave me this list of boy names from the bible to help us decide what his name shall be.

She is so thoughtful.

4) Gordie got some bad news from the doctor.

The eating habits (and/or genetics) of my dear husband have caught up to him and he now has "high" cholesterol.  He has been hitting the exercise pretty-hard for the past couple of months and that has helped, but it looks like his diet needs a remake as well.  I am thoroughly impressed at his efforts to switch from eating basically meat and cheese, with everything fried, to vegetables and fish.  It has only been a few days, but he is starting out strong and actually seems to enjoy the fish!  Plus I discovered I REALLY like asparagus - something I might not have tried if it were not for the hubby trying it, too. 

5) The Study is locked and might stay that way for the next month.

One of our upstairs bedrooms is affectionately termed "the study" as it houses many shelves of books, toys, educational games, etc.  It also attempts to contain the legos and kinex (but we all know these toys are really ALIVE and jump out of their proper storage containers when we are not looking).  In any case, Rebekah takes the State Assessment tests for school, but since we would have to drive an hour and a half each way - three days total! - to have them officially proctored, her teacher allows her to do it virtually.  Anyhow, in order to make sure Rebekah is not cheating, her teacher will have her use the webcam to pan the room.  Thus, the reason I had to clean the study, as I had THOUGHT the test was the next day - no time to make the kids do it and it needed to be done well!  In any case, I had the date wrong, she is not taking the test for another month but. . . let's be honest, cleaning never keeps that long and as great as all my children are, they just cannot seem to get the legos and kinex picked up "well-enough" for my tastes, no matter how much commanding, begging, bribing, encouraging, etc I can come up with.  

Since I cannot fix this "cleaning problem" for the moment and do not want to think I just cleaned the study for no reason, I did the very "adult" move of locking the door and not allowing anyone in.  The big kids are mildly annoyed - they do not spend copious amounts of time in there, but it is a nice oasis where they can escape the little kids, or have quiet for their online classes, or in Rebekah's case, avoid doing schoolwork and be crafty (as she has her desk in there where she does various artsy things, as well as her sewing and attempts at knitting and crocheting).  Plus, they all miss the legos quite a bit - I did not realize they played with them so much!  In any case, although I'm being a little mean I think, there is a good chance I will just keep that door locked until after the assessments.  Probably this will provide fuel for my children's future therapy sessions - or maybe just laughs, "remember that time Mom locked the study for a month?!?!"

"The Study."  Look at that beautiful floor!  Normally you cannot see it at all.

6) So somehow I got signed up for updates from the USPS.

You would think this would be great, right?  Well, actually it is just incredibly annoying.  I rarely go to Wal-mart anymore (like maybe once every six months) so anything I would typically buy there, I buy online.  Thus, we often have packages coming.  So every time one of them moves - from one location to another, I get an e-mail about it.  And often packages move 6 to 10 times before reaching me - that's a lot of e-mails!!  And I would probably not mind that so much, but all the USPS includes (understandably since they are just shipping) is a tracking number, so I have no idea what they are updating me on!  

In contrast, I appreciate how Amazon is so clear - they send a confirmation that I made an order and then they tell me when it ships - and they always clarify WHAT IT IS in each e-mail.  Then if I want to track it, I log on to their site and check the tracking.  Why do I not just buy everything from Amazon you ask?  Well, mostly I do, but sometimes they sell stuff that is shipped directly from the seller.

7) A minor embarrassing story for you, since you read this far. . . 

Typically we have a fairly structured day, granted it starts a bit later than a "regular school" but usually we eat breakfast and dig into our studies, take a recess, have lunch, and hit the studying some more, until our afternoon/evening activities.  However, with me getting closer to the end of pregnancy and being more tired (and loopy - I cannot seem to think straight anymore either - I'm blaming that on being pregnant, too) things are getting a little crazy, as follows:

We should have been doing schoolwork but we all got distracted (*we as in the older four children, as the younger two were napping).  So we got to talking about inventions because Jacob had recently read about several inventors and now was supposed to draw a picture of his own idea for an invention.  Anyhow, the kids talked about a robot to clean the floor - which made me inform them about roombas, which led to u-tube videos of roombas and pets, which led to googling toy-pick-up machine (because I pointed out a roomba would not work in our house due to all the toys on the floor).  We concluded the toy-pick-up machine did not exist, but then went to Amazon to see how much roombas cost (out of curiosity) and were still discussing something to pick up legos (found a little contraption to do so, but not motorized) which led to lego organization.  And the next thing you know we are purchasing one of those little drawer organizer cabinets on Amazon for the legos - and each of the big kids is chipping in on the cost.  Technically no schoolwork done, but were learning, right?

*Bonus - if you read this far, you deserve a picture of Zipporah and Miriam

Please pardon Zipporah's messy face.  I love to see them with their "babies" and Zipporah with the purse on her arm.

Journal #31

Out My Window:

Snow, lots of snow.  The local schools were canceled today and already for tomorrow as well!  We did schoolwork in our house, but we had some fun, too.  I really enjoyed walking to daily Mass this morning through the snow (it is only two blocks) and enjoying an intimate celebration of about 10 people.

Clothing Myself In:

A really big hoodie I got from my dad and sweats.  But in my defense, I wore jeans this morning.  I just had to change cause they got wet while I was shoveling snow.

Around the House:

Thank God for nesting.  I have been cleaning out little areas where clutter collects.  Unfortunately it is an endless process and the minute I get one spot clean, another pops up!  But one mess at a time I figure.

The Baby:

She has taken to wearing dress-up clothes pretty regularly and it such a hoot for me to see her tromping around in them, often with a little purse on her arm, acting all fancy.  She still is not speaking many actual words, but she will either bring the clothes to me to help her put on, or point to them so I know what she wants.

Zipporah is also getting more curious about things.  She is still considerably attached to me, but she will occupy herself for large chunks of time on her own and really enjoys playing with her siblings, especially Miriam. . . most of the time.  Sometimes Miriam gets a little TOO lovey on her and Zipporah lets out her goose honk (as someone - I cannot remember who now - called it, but an apt description for sure) to let Miriam know she has had enough!

The Kids:

Rebekah is growing up more and more each day.  Her latest skill is cleaning and cutting up vegetables for salad.  I enjoy keeping a salad ready to eat in the fridge and Rebekah has been so helpful in washing and tearing up the lettuce, as well as cutting up the tomatoes and cucumbers and whatever else I happen to find to put in there.  In addition to gaining skills, I think I'm noticing a bit of moodiness from Rebekah, but I'm not sure if it is just her beginning to turn into a woman, or her picking up some of my crazy-hormone-flux that the last trimester of pregnancy always seems to bring me.

Samuel is also becoming exceedingly helpful and responsible.  He is still a bit sensitive sometimes and rough with his brothers (especially poor Paul) at other times, but he seems to be figuring things out.  I really appreciate Samuel's help in the kitchen and how he is always eager to do what I ask right away.

Jacob is figuring things out - slowly but surely.  His reading is really coming along as he wants to read novels like Rebekah and Samuel do.  But he is still sort-of in a stand-off between acting like a little kid and being able to do what is asked, especially school work, when I ask it of him.  I can tell he is processing things more and more and am hopeful he will soon let go of his stubbornness.

Paul remains too smart for his own good some days.  He catches on to things - almost everything, exceedingly fast.  As predicted he is done with all his coursework in Math and his other subjects are close behind (but in the defense of the schoolwork, he is only in Kindergarten and that is not exactly a heavy load by any means).  But beyond schoolwork, Paul picks up on social situations and physical activities as well.  He is just pure awesome - and he knows it! - hah  I'm just hoping his conscience will start kicking in soon, as I've been feeding it every chance I get, but that is one area that he is still "childish" most days.  I am hopeful he will grow a little virtue soon, though, as him complaining about having to go to Mass is really getting old.  Just zap him, God, ok?

Miriam is showing a little attitude lately as she gets closer to four-years-old.  She is beginning to question more and ignore the directions she used to follow so well!  But alas, that is all part of growing up.  She is still cute as a button and loves playing with her sisters.

In the Kitchen:

I've finally begun making a weekly menu on Sunday and it is helping some.  I often do not stick to it - or at least not exactly, but having some ideas for dinner and lunch lined up is really helpful.  Now, before you all jump on me and tell me how important it is to plan by the month and know it all, let me say that I have tried that and finally realize that is just not how I work best.  I buy general staples for meals I like to make and I buy things on sale and toss them in the freezer.  But thinking things through, a week at a time gives me a few ideas - but I keep it loose and will cancel a dinner if we have unexpected left-overs, or throw out the plan and try something else if I feel like.  I like to keep things pretty loose.  Well, that and I do not know a lot of meals, so trying to plan an entire month is quite intimidating.  In addition sometimes I do not feel up to making a given meal as things like homemade pizza and calzones need to be started considerably early and require quite a bit of hard labor to complete.

Thinking About:

Cleaning, schoolwork, finances, and how we are hoping to spend our tax return money.

Bringing Me Joy:

An understanding husband (pregnancy is hard sometimes) adorable little kids and helpful older ones.

Pictures to Share:

First time in "snow gear" and Zipporah is not so sure about all this!

Miriam and Zipporah for Zipporah's first real time to tromp in the snow.  She enjoyed it once she figured out how it all worked.

Big sister, Rebekah, helping Zipporah navigate the snow.