Journal #33

Out My Window:

Supposedly it is about 90 degrees. . . I might or might not have gone to weather.com to find that out.  I have not really been outside much today yet, other than to hang out diapers.

Clothing Myself In:

Today I am wearing my current favorite shirt - as in I wear it every time it is clean.  I distinctly remember purchasing it a couple years ago to wear for Samuel's first communion, as I was postpartum at the time and needing something to match one of my skirts.  I really enjoy the vibrant color.  I will include a picture for your viewing pleasure.  I'm pairing it with a pair of black cotton shorts that are my recent favorite as well, even though I am becoming an "old lady" insofar as I tend to prefer Capri pants over shorts - for some reason covering my knees makes me more comfortable for social outings.

Around the House:

Totus Tuus, a Catholic summer bible camp, is going on in our town.  Rebekah, Samuel, and Jacob are old enough to attend.  We had the team over for dinner on Monday night and everyone had a good time.  This year they actually have TWO teams, so those eight people plus my nine people (my family) looked a little scary to me.  I decided to go with two pans of lasagna and ended up with quite a bit left-over, but better safe than sorry!!  We also did two pans of brownies and none of the children are complaining about extra dessert on the menu tonight.

The table was set by Rebekah, with care, in hopes that the Totus Tuus team soon would be there.

The Baby:

He is adorable, of course.  He still grunts and fusses when I lay him down for naps and at night, but often he will give me an hour or two this way.  Peter really likes to sleep in my arms in the easy-chair.  I'm at a loss as this is my first baby that is not very comfortable lying beside me in my king-sized bed (which we bought so I could nurse my babies lying down I might add) and that was always my trump card - the secret to me getting sleep after having a baby.  Unfortunately he is immune to this attack so I am having to learn to adapt and it is hard some days.  Especially since I have recently had surgery to remove a varicose vein that was giving me trouble.  Peter was a challenge to deal with during that and after as I try to rest and get better and still fight with him over sleeping positions at night.  I know he will soon be sleeping much better and I will soon recover fully and be better than ever, but it sure feels like time is moving extra slow at the moment!

Peter, 8-weeks-old

The Kids:

They really enjoyed themselves at Dad's yearly work picnic.  The hospital he works for brings in lots of fun stuff for the kids, including several different bounce houses for big and little kids, face painting booths, snow cones, bubble stations, sports games, etc, along with food, of course.  It is always hot, but a good time.  This year they even had a carnival ride (one of those "scrambler"-type rides - my kids had a blast on it and Rebekah had their car spinning like mad, even during loading and unloading).

Grandma also surprised the children by coming to town (she lives 2.5 hrs away) that afternoon and taking them to the pool.  Then she watched all the kiddos, even Peter, so Gordie and I could have a dinner out.  She rounded out the evening by attending Paul and Miriam's Vacation Bible School concert (aka, the kids sang some songs and did actions).  Paul refused to sing or do the actions and Daddy has definitely made him rue the day he would bring so much dishonor on our family.

Education:

We had basketball camp last week, as well as Vacation Bible School for the little kids.  This week is Totus Tuus for the big kids.  Next week we will get our summer learning started.  (and get back to finishing up that school work!!)  And I am actually nerdily excited as I was cleaning out some of my homeschooling supplies and found some Kumon math workbooks that had not been used.  They will be perfect for keeping up our skills this summer.

In the Kitchen:

Why did God create us to require so much food!?!?!?  

We are living off of what I can find in the freezer and lately that has been ok, thanks to my giant roaster meals of a few weeks back.  Unfortunately it means a bit of repetition in meals, though, so I really should add a few more recipes to the mix I suppose.  

I am personally trying to cut out grains and sugar again (eating mostly Whole 30) as I always feel better that way, but it is an especially difficult task at this time when I'm not getting a lot of sleep or feeling the best.  Those two obstacles tend to lead me to poor food choices, but I am consciously trying to stack the deck in my favor by having food on-hand that is desirable and compliant - such as the fixings for a taco salad (one of my favorite dishes) and single-serving jars of my favorite sweet potato-chicken soup (made in my roaster-of-awesome, of course) that I pull from the freezer one at a time.  Plus I recently created a type of egg-bake that I can make ahead and munch for breakfast (just sauteed onions, sausage, eggs, and a bit of coconut oil - simple but still yummy and filling).

On a random by practical note, I was in need of more and larger drinking containers for the children.  I had purchased these glass glasses for them a few years back when I was trying to decrease our use of plastic.  These worked ok and actually none have broken yet, but they only held just over eight ounces of liquid.  We have since upgraded to these metal cups.  And they are awesome, but. . . if you stack them wet (as in right out of the dishwasher), they will stick together!!  However, I discovered today (all on my own, with no help from google) that a short soak in hot dishwater will loosen them enough to pull back apart.  The kids now have explicit instructions to stack them apart until they are completely dry in order to avoid such a struggle (literally) in the future.

Thinking About:

I am proud to report that I did finally recall what I wanted to share for my last journal, the topic was how malleable I feel I am as an adult.  And I wonder if most adults are not similar to me.  The phrase "old and crochety" is one I would have used to describe some stubborn aged people I have dealt with before, but I wonder now if people do not appear stubborn as they grow older simply because they are so able to change, but they fear it!  They fear making the wrong choice because by that point in life, they have probably made a lot of them and had to live with the consequences!  I am not THAT old but still feel this way on many accounts.  Anyhow, what really began this line of thinking was my continued pondering of how many things I initially thought I would never do, I have done - such as get married, have kids, shoot a gun, or even do step aerobics!  (And now my step aerobics tapes are still my favorites to turn to for exercise in my home-gym.)  And suddenly I realize that I am only bound by my fear of change.  But once I let go of that fear and just see things as they are, then as I stumble on simple truths I find myself changing to suite them and loving the heck out of it - such as my newfound love of minimal shoes and sitting on the floor instead of my couch!  Not surprisingly this has made my marriage better as ideas from my husband that I would have dismissed immediately before are suddenly not-such-a-bad-idea and I feel we have had some real fruit from my openness to change and not get so caught-up on silly things.

Bringing Me Joy:

Coffee. . . sad but true, my regular Cup a Joe has really kept me sane the past couple of weeks.

Hope for a fun summer once our crazy activities and commitments slow down a bit.  ---Funny, but I actually MISS my children while sending them to basketball camp and then Totus Tuus.  I can hardly wait for them to be all home again so we can study, eat, play, and pray together like usual.

Pictures to Share:

Rebekah has apparently been watching me use my woven wrap to carry Peter around.  She whipped up these to carriers for her and Miriam.  I love her creativity and I love when these two girls play together.  It warms my heart.

Plastic knives. . . oh my!

Miriam and Zipporah - the two queens of dress-up these days :)  And that is Paul's hand with a lego turtle, just because.

Please pardon Zipporah's crazy hair - I had not gotten her "palm tree" in yet.  That is actually one of my shirts she is using as a cover, while sitting on her brother's blanket.

Smile!