7 Quick Takes

1) Peter is six-weeks-old today!!

He is getting better at transitioning to sleep but he still grunts and groans like an old man.  He loves to be talked to - will quiet down and look you in the face.  I think we are going to keep him :)

2) Laundry

Doing the laundry is probably my favorite chore.  We have a high efficiency washer and dryer that work well and I even enjoy their elaborate end-of-cycle chimes.  When we were selecting this set, about eight years ago, my dear husband was pushing for the larger capacity set, but I wanted to be able to stack them (and honestly, this set was more in our budget anyhow).  I'm glad we go this set, though, and now, eight years and seven children later we have just crossed the point of every two or three days of washing to doing a load a day.  Funny how one little baby can tip the scales, but he has.  In any case, one load a day is really not a big deal and can be helpful when someone wants their favorite piece of clothing two days in a row!!

3) Food

I am slowly but surely coming into my own as far as cooking goes.  I am not a giant fan of cooking.  I like to eat.  And I like to eat food I cook (rather than eating out) but the actual taking raw foods and turning them into meals has always been a bit of a challenge.  I find it especially entertaining since providing food for nine people has now become my calling in life for the next twenty years or so at least.  God certainly has a sense of humor.  Anyhow, I am beginning to realize that simple can be good.  One of my family's favorite meals is my rendition of "hash."  Apparently "hash" is a meal Gordie's dad used to make for him, which included ground beef, potatoes, and various spices.  My interpretation of this dish has evolved into browned hamburger and fried cubed hash browns.  Mix them together, add a little ketchup, and viola! a delicious local crowd-pleaser, often with no left-overs.  Simple, but delicious.  That is definitely my new motto.

4) Paul's latest trick.

Lately Paul has been finding my water jar (I like to drink out of a mason jar), filling it up, and bringing it to me - without my asking.  It is really adorable.  He can certainly be thoughtful.

5) I am reading this book right now and it is AWESOME.

I stumbled up on it at the suggestion of someone in a facebook group - and the suggestion was not even for me!  They were talking about how beautiful it was and I guess the Holy Spirit gave me a push because I ordered it and I have been LOVING it.  It really speaks to my soul as the author uses his experiences in Russia to touch basic spiritual matters that everyone has to work through.  I highly recommend it.

6) A recent funny:

A few days ago the following conversation ensued:

Rebekah: Mom, can we get a pet snake?

Me: No.

Rebekah: Mom, can we get a pet at all?

Me: No.

Rebekah (to Samuel): I think we asked her at a bad time.

7) We have a new AC!!

I am pretty sure that we have been living the last ten years, using the air conditioner that was original to this house - built a really long time ago.  It was still running, but just could not keep up on those really hot (one-hundred-plus temps) days, so we have finally decided to upgrade.  As of right this minute, the old one is gone and the ducting and such is all changed up for the new one that is sitting (still in its box) in our yard.  Tomorrow morning they are planning to finish up the install and we can hardly wait!!

And if you have read this far, you get to enjoy these pictures of Zipporah. . . 

Yes??

Can't be bothered.

7 Quick Takes - A random look in my head/world

1) I rearranged the boys'/Miram's room.

Paul kept telling me it needed to be rearranged (probably because with the current set-up he was stuck back in the corner).  Now, for the four weeks since doing this, EVERY TIME Miriam walks in the room with me she proclaims, "You moved my bed, Mom!!"

The Thomas bed is Miriam's.  I did not bother waiting for it to be "tidy" as it never seems to get that way, or stay there long.

2) I put a bucket of books in the boys'/Miriam's bedroom and it has been a hit!

We are currently SATURATED with books and I am grateful.  Reading is important.  But with three rooms upstairs (the study, the tv room, and the front room) all overflowing with bookshelves full of books I concluded that some of the board books (which I feel get neglected being put on a typical bookshelf anyhow as those young enough to benefit from this type of book have trouble getting them off to look at) needed a new home.  Typically we just have beds and dressers in our bedrooms but I put a tub of board books in there mostly so it would have a place to go.  Now all the kids pull from it and read/look at a book or two once they get their pjs on and are waiting to say prayers and be tucked in.

3) I am changing.

For whatever reason I have recently been able to get rid of things - lots of things, things I have carried around since I was a kid and some things I have acquired more recently and thought I could never live without.  And let me say it feels GOOD to get rid of stuff, and I wish I had a week with no children to care for or other responsibilities so I could go through the whole house and do a great purge.  But as it is, I am trying to do a few bits here and there as I am able.  The funny thing is that I realize as much as I get rid of, I will never be able to STOP getting rid of stuff.  That, my friends, is the wisdom that comes with age, I believe.

4) Zipporah loves to eat!

I thought I was all smart, telling everyone after my third, or maybe fourth kid, that baby food was silly and I figured babies do well to just nurse until they are ready for table food at about a year (maybe 10 or 11 months).  But Zipporah has shown me that she LOVES food - at 8.5 months, nonetheless.  Eat up kid.  Way to remind me that every kid is different.  THAT is the real truth to be learned.

The "sly" look from the camera that takes forever to actually take the picture!!

5) My oldest daughter will probably create her own line of clothes some day.

I think all girls feel the need to "express themselves" in their clothing choices.  A lot of what Rebekah wears are hand-me-downs from friends and I imagine that could crimp a style, but she is clearly unhindered.  The "scarf" she is wearing in the picture below is often found tied around her in this position (she even wore it to church the other day, which I probably would have stopped if I had noticed it before we rushed out the door in our usual chaos).

6) On the topic of clothing, check out my handsome son in his new clothes for his upcoming First Communion!

Please pardon the spots on the camera lens and the red eyes.  I hate this camera, but I recently broke my good one :(

He refused to smile for me.  I guess he is preparing for this SOMBER celebration or something :)

7) Finding 7 things to comment on is a stretch today!

Some days I feel I could talk forever and today. . . I got nothing.  So I'm wrapping this up and moving on with my crazy day here.

Journal #26 - Life is flying by right now!

Out My Window:

There is some snow (just a dusting) and it is cold, but not too cold.  The wind is subtle today (which is saying something for Kansas).  The sun is shining and although the heater is running, I would say it is a "good" day for March.  

(A good day to "march fourth" - hahahaha)

Clothing Myself In:

Black yoga pants and an old MS Walk T-shirt, with bare feet.  (FYI I took Samuel to the doctor earlier and I put on jeans and sneakers for that, but at home I enjoy my yoga pants as they allow me to sneak in some stretching while I'm running after the kids - jeans can be a little restricting for some stretches.)

Around the House:

I finally hung some rings for the kids to hang on in the front room.  The beam has been exposed for years (put in when the hubby knocked out the wall and could not decide if it was weight-bearing, which he has since decided it is not) so I figured what damage would a couple more hooks really do??  I used climbing carabiners to connect the rings to the hooks so I can easily take them off and only the hooks are there, way up high, not attracting any attention.  Everyone loves the rings (including me) and I am MOST IMPRESSED with myself for putting them up!  I had to drill out the hole to for the giant eye hook.  And I had to use a screwdriver through the hook to get enough torque to get it to screw in!  It was the most hands-on of a project I have done and I did it all when my hubby was not home!!  Now every time I catch Miriam trying to hang from the fridge handles I redirect her to the rings.

In other news, I am thinking of getting rid of a couple of our couches (we have three).  I am becoming "one of those crazy alignment people."  Gordie will not let me get rid of all of them, but I figure one is enough - especially since I can sit on the floor and we have some bean bag chairs in the garage we can always bring in for company.  I'm hopeful that less furniture will give more room to play and move during the day.  Here is post by one of my favorite Alignment Gurus about her choice to go more furniture free.

The Baby:

She continues to be happy and healthy.  I started giving her some solid foods and SHE LOVES THEM!!  Unfortunately I gave her a little too much too soon as she had some digestional (which is probably not a word) discomfort for a few days but she seems to have figured it out now and we stick to one "real food meal" a day (or a few snacks in the morning and some in the evening) along with her regularly scheduled nursing and she is doing great.

I have snuck her onto her stomach some and she is holding her head up well and wiggling around some.  If I just flat out put her down on her belly she is OUTRAGED and will wail until she is either picked up or in some other way compensated - if left alone long enough she will flip on her back, but she will continue to cry over the outrage of putting her down on her stomach.  Now, on her back she will reach up to her toys and kick her feet to scoot along the floor - on her back, head-first, which makes me think of her as some floor-fish.  She is definitely going about this locomotion thing in an odd fashion.  

She likes to stand and hang from my fingers for a few minutes, but she does not pull herself up yet.  She is not very fond of sitting, but she can handle that position if you are sly about getting her into it (again - she gets a little grumpy about going straight to sitting - somewhat like being laid on her stomach).

Instead of dragging out the big high chair we have been feeding her in the bumbo, with a tray.  That is a hit.  Plus, having her down on the ground allows the kids to help.  Miriam loves giving her yogurt bites.  I am amazed at how far she can reach and grab things while in the bumbo.  She has got some majorly long arms and giant hands with long fingers!

The Kids:

We purchased a new pitcher (for milk and other drinks at meals) a while back and it is a winner so far.  The mouth is very wide, which scared me at first, but it pours well and so far the kids have done well with it.

We were doing really well health-wise, especially as all the school kids were getting two different strains of the flu and strep, but last week we had some heavy coughers and today I have one with a fever AND cough.  At least they seem to be spacing somewhat so I can focus on one or two at a time.

In the Kitchen:

I am falling in love with onions and green peppers in the crock-pot.  Why did I not try this sooner?  I am putting them in everything from soup to the traditional fajitas.  They are amazing.

Thinking About:

We did away with "date nights" once a month because they were overwhelming and the kids were getting a little too demanding about them (declaring they needed ice cream or other sweets and lots of other things on top).  Instead we tried to do "family night" once a week, but then Daddy started going to darts that evening.  So, I am trying to decide how to go about this "family time" and individual "date time" with the children.  I am leaning toward making "family night" be Friday or Saturday night (which would put our "marriage date night" to a different day) and to have each child get one date night with each parent once a year (so basically a "date night" once every six months) and to step it up a little - a dinner out, or a movie, or something REALLY special, not just staying up late to play some video games and munch popcorn.  But I am still mulling it over and unsure exactly what is best for our family at this time.

Bringing Me Joy:

*Zipporah's smiles - she just lights up the room.

*Jacob's progress in school, especially reading.  He was giving me some trouble, but I decided to "grease the wheels" with some bribery.  Every day he was cooperative he got a star.  After five stars, he gets a prize.  He has two prizes now, is reading like a champ, and RARELY gives me any trouble when it comes to school work.

*An online class I am taking on health and alignment.  It is very informative and I am learning so much!  Plus I am starting to see good results in my health because of the exercises and such.

Pictures to Share:

(I broke my camera by dropping it.  Sad day.  But I managed to find our old camera, which I do not like NEARLY as much, but at least it takes pictures. . . and some times they are not blurry!!)

Daddy and Zipporah (who happens to be wearing the dress my Great Aunt Rosie made for me as a baby).

"The Girls" (Rebekah, Miriam, and Zipporah) before Sunday Mass.

Jacob wanted me to take a picture of his creation.

Daddy with his girls: Rebekah, Miriam, and Zipporah

Journal #24

Out My Window:

Sunny!!  It is January 17th, sunny, and about 50 degrees outside!!  It is a bit breezy, but I went for a walk with "the girls" (Rebekah, Miriam, and Zipporah) and we only needed jackets.

Clothing Myself In:

Yoga pants, a Franciscan Women's AA Basketball Champion T-shirt (let's get specific, ok?) and bare feet.  

Side Note: I realize Yoga pants are "from the devil" and all, but MAN are they comfortable!  Like sweat pants, but more comfy and they don't fall down over my bare feet, casing me to walk on the ends (like my sweats do).  So, yes I still wear them, but generally (except in extreme circumstances) only in the privacy of my own home.  (For the walk mentioned above I was wearing jeans.)

Around the House:

I am really enjoying our new living room set-up.  Moving the half-dresser away from the front window allows it to be used more as there is no window behind it to block now.  So I have started putting the kids school books for the day on it in piles.  We have slowly been moving our school studying from "the study" to the living room because (A) we have poor internet signal in that room - the one room in the house we need internet the most happens to be the furthest from the router, go figure and (B) I am tired of fighting the Legos and K'nex every morning for a space to walk and sit!!  Instead we have been doing school work at the kitchen table (or on the couches or on the floor) and that has been working well for us.

I bought some new Leap Frog videos for Paul and Miriam as I generally let them watch one or two a day when I need them to be "otherwise occupied" when I work with "the big kids."  And let me just say Leap Frog makes some GREAT products that I do not feel guilty giving the kids a little screen time to enjoy.

The Baby:

She is adorable as ever.  She is still not sitting up or really rolling much.  She is doing better with tummy time, but is still not a huge fan.  She will often tolerate it for a little while but then rolls onto her back in short order.  She still sucks her thumb, but not ALL THE TIME - just when she is tired usually.  She is finally starting to get some big smiles and even giggle a little.  Her favorite "zones" are her play mat where she can reach her hanging toys and her bumbo.  She seems to wave her arms more than the other children did as babies - or maybe she just has really long arms.  She is very long (although she has not had her six-month-check yet because the doc rescheduled it) in my humble opinion.

The Kids:

The kids have been draining their kid-sized glass cups at dinner time and begging for more, so I finally bought a small pitcher they can pour additional drinks from to cut down on time I spend going back and forth from the kitchen to supply more drinks.  The kids LOVE it.  They love it so much I often fill the pitcher once and let them fill their own cups and then fill it again so they can fill their own seconds, too.  Why did I not think of this sooner?

In other news, after some tough deliberation, I have decided to cut Swim Team this semester.  The baby has shown me she prefers to go to bed at about 6:30pm, which is not too much of a problem as Swim Team starts at 7pm, but my dear husband has Boy Scouts on Mondays, Aikido on Tuesdays, and darts on Thursdays.  I teach religion class on Wednesdays and they do not have swim team on Fridays.  So. . . in other words, if I cannot take all the kids, I guess it is not going to work right now.  And you know what?  I think I'm ok with that.  We will do swim lessons in the summer and then, when the baby is older, perhaps we will jump back into Swim Team in the Fall.

The one perk of cutting an activity is that we have some more free time one evening to spend as a family and I am looking forward to this.  I know I spend ALL DAY with my kids, but I spend it guiding, directing (often begging and pleading) them to do their school work.  In the evenings, we get to do some serious, no-strings-attached playing.

In the Kitchen:

All the "brilliant" kitchen-savvy-money-saving-types say I should have a monthly menu and STICK TO IT!!  And I have TRIED to do such.  But the following are my reasons for not doing this:

#1) I do not know that many recipes!!

#2) My family often does not take well to new recipes so I am not eager to learn more!

#3) I have difficulty deciding how soon is too soon to have a certain meal again.

#4) I do not like feeling "trapped" in what to cook for dinner.

#5) I often look at my menu for the evening and think "I really do not want to eat and/or prepare this meal this evening!!"

Despite these struggles I have TRIED to do a plan of some sort - and mostly failed horribly at it.  In any case, I think I have FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING I CAN SORT-OF HANDLE!!  Instead of shooting for the whole month, I aim for a week.  And I look at the meal plan as "suggestions," not "requirements," so they are not so intimidating.  This coupled with the fact that I have resigned myself to heading to the grocery store weekly in order to have fresh produce on hand appears to be a winning combination here.

This week we are having roast tomorrow, crockpot pork on Monday, homemade pizza on Tuesday, grilled cheese on Wednesday, hamburger pockets on Thursday, and potato soup on Friday.

I should also note that I have started browning up a bunch of hamburger at a time and then freezing it in meal-sized chunks for future use.  It makes meals like spaghetti super-quick and meals like lasagna much more manageable.  I also make a giant batch of taco meat (read: mostly beans, tomatoes, and spices, but a little meat, too) and freeze it in meal-sized portions to make burritos and tacos into "easy" and quick meals.  I am all about doing more work ahead of time to make it easier around mealtimes. 

Bringing Me Joy:

*My husband.  Tonight he fixed my van door!!!  And he works so hard to keep me happy.

*My children - especially Paul.  I feel like Paul has gotten a bit of a bad wrap because he is so high-spirited, but really Paul is a wonderful son.  He is so smart and funny and a great addition to our family.

*Feeling better.  I know it takes a while to recover from a baby - not just the "getting it out" part, but all the other things that stack up, such as getting my body back to workable condition, getting rest, avoiding sickness, etc, but I ALWAYS FORGET that it takes a while and have very little patience with myself!!  Anyhow, I am finally feeling more up to exercising more intensely (which should help my clothes fit better soon!) and adding more movement to my day (as Katy Says).

Pictures To Share:

Rebekah loves her little sister, Zipporah!

Daddy loves his baby girl.

My sweet, happy, extremely talkative and energetic Paul with his Lego creation.

7 Quick Takes - Daily Grind 2015

1. Putting the Christmas tree away means it is time to rearrange the furniture, right?

The top photo is actually from Christmas 2013, but our set-up this past year (2014) was similar, minus the desk and the chair (instead we had a small half-dresser near the door).  It has been YEARS since I did anything different with our couches.  We shall see if this "sticks."

2. Sight Word Brilliance

My son Jacob's brain works differently than the other children.  The "momma" in me says this is because he is a genius (which he very well might be) but the "reality" in me says that means some things are going to be a struggle.  School work is a struggle for him - not because he cannot do it, but because HE SEES NO POINT IN DOING IT!!  Anyhow, he was fighting me tooth and nail to learn his sight words (which is tremendously slowing down his reading right now) and yesterday it hit me to have him spell them out with letters.  He called it "fun"!!!  We have  winner :)

3. Movement helps the blood flow and that helps the brain work.

This is quite possibly the worst picture ever, but consider it like a "Where's Waldo."  Do you see two ropes (each braided) hanging from a giant climbing-strength carabiner?

I have been wanting to put some rings or a trapeeze bar in my living room for the kids to swing on, but we only have one hook right now and my dear husband already thinks I am crazy (and has a list of "honey do" items a mile long as it is).  So I found a strong clamp and a couple of ropes.  Now the kids pull, swing, and climb.  It has been helpful for me to have them (especially Jacob) answer a question and then swing once on the ropes, only to come back and answer the next question.  

Plus the ropes help keep them in the same room.  Jacob was pacing from room to room as I read him a story yesterday and I broke down at one point exclaiming, "Jacob, would you just STAY IN THIS ROOM, PLEASE!!"  Once I made it clear it was ok for him to pace, but I just wanted him close enough to hear he happily walked in circles around the table and from door to door while listening.

4. Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman is seriously BLOWING MY MIND!!

I know I have already posted about two other books she has written (well, they were really parts of her blog turned into books - this is her first "real" book, written as a book), but this one really takes the cake!!  Katy is a biomechanist that is basically looking at humans from an historical perspective of how we used to behave as hunter-gatherers.  She goes back to this point because she says that time/activity is how our bodies performed optimally and she says a lot (most) of our troubles today are from poor alignment/lack of movement as we do not move as we used to because of modern convenience.  I think my reaction to this book might be its own post soon.

5. Paul says the cutest stuff sometimes.

We had to upgrade our van last year before having Zipporah.  We ended up selling our mini-van to my parents.  When they come visit, Paul always refers to their vehicle as "the money-van."  

6. Samuel spoke up at Mass today.

This picture only kind-of goes with this number.  After Mass this morning there were many poinsettias looking for homes.  This one found its way to ours.  We shall see how long it lasts.

We try to go to daily Mass with our local Catholic school, at least once a week.  The priests regularly ask the kids questions during the homily and I often feel bad as I know Rebekah would LOVE to answer but they never venture further than the main aisle where all the school kids sit.  Today, however, Father Earl came over to our section as a few of the older school kids in front of us answered some questions.  And then, before I knew it, Father had called on Samuel!  Just like his momma, when he feels the need to say something he is not shy.  

Father was asking where we might find synagogues today.  Samuel answered, ITALY!!  Which, in his defense is quite wise of him.  We have been studying a lot about the Roman Empire in history right now and they just recently (in our studies) took over Judea and Jesus was born.  Since the Roman Empire first came from Italy, it makes sense he would say that.  Father got a good chuckle from it and agreed that there probably were some synagogues in Italy.

7. I took my two oldest children to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday.

I only took those two because they are the only ones old enough to receive.  (This was Samuel's second time to receive this sacrament.)  It was a great experience.  I love sharing the faith with my children.

Zipporah (almost seven-months-old here) is very happy I am done blogging so I can play with her again.

7 Quick Takes. . . What is on my mind lately.

1) Lately I feel like time, in general, has simply vanished.  There is NO TIME for ANYTHING!!  Want to read a book?  Sorry, no time.  Want to sew on boy scout patches?  Sorry, no time for that.  Want to clean off the top of the piano?  Want to redo the living room sacred space?  Want to wash the water bottles?  Want to clean up the kitchen?  Want to actually fold the laundry and put it away before the next wash comes through??  Want to get back in the rhythm of daily family prayer and bible study?

Somehow when I was not looking my life has taken off running without me and I cannot seem to catch it again!!  So what am I doing despite all this missing time?

a) I have managed to find time to feed everyone.

b) School work for the older three is going pretty well.

c) We have gotten back in our regular daily Mass once a week routine.

d) I'm getting the kids to Aikido, swim team, and religion class on Wednesday nights (which I am beginning to be convinced is a colossal waste of everyone's time, but that is for another post).

e) I am nursing and caring for a baby.

Hmmm. . . I guess my afterthought "e" there might be taking up some of that missing time. . . but honestly she is a fairly easy baby.  She does like to be held and nurse quite a bit during the day, but she is by no means a seriously "high maintenance" child.

2) My children's books need assistance.  We have quite a few books.  However, I feel they need to be organized in a different manner.  Right now they span about 8 or 9 shelves of four different bookshelves (the upper shelves are for adult books or photo albums and some of the other shelves are for toys).  I read a post recently from Catholic Icing, about how she organized her books by level and that helped.  I have considered doing such.  I even ordered some stickers for it.  But now I am hesitating as I am not sure I have the capacity to separate them by sticker. . . and really even if I did, some of the books are hardback and some are softcover.  And of the softcover books, they vary greatly by size.  They do not stack well on the shelves. . .at all.  So should I put them in bins or buckets??  I have some canvas bins, but my children have destroyed several of those in the past.  Is this because my children are overly destructive?  Or because I am lax in my parenting?  Or simply because we had the bins for several years and they are not necessarily made to stand up to that kind of stress?  Perhaps I need new shelves (like cubby-type-shelves instead of my regular bookshelves), but I have nowhere to put such shelves and no money for making those kinds of changes right now.

I've also considered splitting up my books into twelve groups and then rotating them by month, but. . . where would I put the ones NOT in rotation?!?!  (We do not exactly have an excess of space around here.)

3) My two-year-old, dear sweet Miriam, is driving me BANANAS at bedtime!!  Why she will not just go to sleep like everyone else is so beyond me.  I know that is a rough age.  I know kids around two and three-years-old like to get up and turn on the light and generally cause a stir.  But good gravy, it has been over three months since we moved her from her crib to her toddler bed.  Get it figured out already!!!  She is the last one to sleep and the first one up.  I have tried adjusting her nap (longer, shorter, earlier, later, skipping. . . hah, that does not happen - she will simply deactivate wherever she is) and that is no help.  I KNOW this phase will pass.  I KNOW all the other children (with the exception of "Angel" Rebekah - who is God's gift to us as the best possible child in the history of ever. . . nothing like setting the bar high for her siblings) went through this and they all go to bed with little fuss now and sleep until morning, no problem.

I think what frustrates me most is not being able to "fix" this problem.  I can lay by her for a while, but it is HOURS before she will fall asleep with me by her side.  I can rock her, but again, I can rock her for AN HOUR (honestly, I will watch the clock) and she will still be awake when I lay her in her bed.  She just needs to figure it out, preferably before I go insane.

4) I am growing to REALLY like my husband.  I just thought I'd throw this one out there with all the rest of the "craziness" I have posted so far.  Despite my current sense of ineptitude in some respects, it is nice to feel as though my husband and I are at the least on the same team, and most days, even playing the same sport!  

I know, I married this man however long ago, you would think I liked him "enough" to do that, right?  Well, of course, but we change as we grow and we are really starting to grow more together.  We appreciate each other more these days.  We are slower to anger (mostly) and quicker to forgive and move on.  

There is so much about marriage that I would say one can only learn as you do it.  And honestly, when I got married, I had NO CLUE!!  Sure we took the marriage classes required by the Church and such.  Sure we went on an Engaged Encounter (which was a royal waste of our time, but again that is for another post).  But I cannot tell you how many times, since getting married, that I have HONESTLY THANKED GOD for giving me such a great husband.  Because I had NO IDEA he was going to be such (or what one would even look like) when I married him!

5) I am beginning to see my faults more. . . and I think this is good.  I have been really trying to get to confession more often.  Lately it has been once a month or so.  And I have REALLY been trying to examine my conscience each night.  I feel like God is trying to pour grace on me, but I need to examine my conscience to scrape out a hole for it to fill!  Then, when I got to confession, I get even MORE grace dumped in to help transform me into a saint.

6) I have started exercising at a fairly intense level again (going on about four weeks now) since I had my last baby.  I really felt like I was more fit this past pregnancy, than I have been for any of my others.  Even the last few weeks did not seem that bad physically.  And then the birth went amazingly well and I recovered fairly quickly.  The only frustrating part at the moment is to see where I was (remembering how my clothes were getting very very loose right before I got pregnant - I had just lost about 25lbs) and see how I am NOT THERE now.  I feel like I am fairly strong still and I have "nice curves" but I was much more lean and quick before.  I hope to get there again.  I am trying to be patient and give myself some time.  It is a conscious act of the will to do so.

7) God has blessed us with some amazing neighbors.  Honestly, my kids go play in the next-door neighbors' yard AT LEAST three or four times a week - often for hours on end - and the neighbors even seem to like having them there!!  Plus I can get some "adult conversation" (and chatting with my stay-home-mom neighbor is better than dessert.  She is so skilled at conversation she should be a therapist - seriously, I LOVE to talk with her!!  She is so good at asking questions and reformulating what I am saying to show she really is listening.  I am so in awe of her social skills!) anytime I pop over to join in the fun the kids are having.  Then on the other side we have an older couple with their kids all grown, but they are super-friendly and supportive of our kiddos.  Across the street is a nice "old guy" that often gives us fresh produce from his garden.  And down on the corner is another fun family with kids!!  My husband wants to move out in the country.  While I would not mind this, I cannot help but be SO GRATEFUL for the loving and supportive people he has given us right outside the home we have now.

Well, there you have it.  The top seven subjects rolling around in my brain right now.  I hope you enjoyed them.  Coming soon (hopefully) will be "the case of the missing birthdays" (aka, a recap of Rebekah's 9th birthday, which was in July, and Jacob's 6th birthday, which was in August).  So stay tuned!!

Zipporah approves of this message :)

7 Quick Takes for the last day of January

Without further ado. . . here are seven random facts for this Friday.

1) Planning ahead for our family, I invested in some used hardback math textbooks for next year (Rebekah will be fourth grade and Samuel will be doing third grade math).  Basically, these are the same type of books the schools use (in fact, both of these came complete with the stamp on the inside cover where each child writes his or her name for the year). So what, you say?  Well, first off, I am pretty proud that I got both of these books (that had good reviews) for less than $10 - for both, shipped!  But in my brilliance. . . I did not think about the fact that the answers are not normally put in the back of school textbooks.  And of course, I was too cheap to get the teacher's manuals as well, thus, guess what I am going to spend my summer doing?  Third and fourth grade math, apparently, in order to create an answer key for each.  It makes me laugh just to think of it.

2) We have an old house, with old wiring.  Although we have a breaker box with "the normal" amount of breakers, most of our house is all wired to one.  Seriously, the entire basement, the entire kitchen, about half of the upstairs outlets, and the furnace and air conditioner are on ONE breaker!  Since our bedroom is in the basement, it often loses power when I try to use too many appliances in the kitchen at once, or the heater cooks on as I'm trying to start the coffee, etc.  What does all this have to do with anything you ask?  Well, not long ago we I had to replace my alarm clock, as someone (I honestly cannot remember if it was me or one of the kids) spilled liquid on the last one.  But, I got this cool alarm clock that automatically sets itself!  No more worrying about if it has a back-up battery and what-not.  Just plug this baby in and it is good to go!  The catch?  It is ten minutes fast and I have yet to figure out how to convince it of that! I was SOOO excited to finally have "the correct time" (as I have often set my other clocks a little fast, but then I feel like I had permanently LOST those extra five minutes somehow - it was weird).  And suddenly I not only do not have "the correct time" but I have lost an additional five minutes!!!  It drives me nuts some days and is just minorly annoying on others :)

3) The previous takes do not appear to be very "quick" so I'm commenting on that point as my third "take."  Be grateful for my generosity.

4) Tonight I made split pea soup, for the first time ever.  (I do not think I have ever eaten it before either.)  It was SO GOOD!! Wow, who knew?

5) Miriam update:  She has about six words right now, but, with pointing and body language she sure gets her point across!  Her three favorite words are "baby," kitty," and "bye."  She also makes the most adorable meow and signs more in the context of eating.

FYI: I stole this picture from some website - it is not original to our family.

6) Tonight I was grateful for the generosity of my aunt who let me bake my bread in her oven (because mine was dirty and my hubby did not make it home to clean it as I had hoped - and perhaps because I had forgotten it was dirty anyhow when I started the bread - guess I need to find a preg-friendly oven cleaner. . . ).  I'm also grateful for my cousin (my aunt's daughter) who kindly delivered the bread to my house once it was finished so I did not have to pile the kids in the car for a return trip to Aunt Martha's house.

7) I have SERIOUS pregnancy-brain.  I can still remember the very first time I forgot ONE THING when I was pregnant with Rebekah and it FREAKED ME OUT!!  Now, I can hardly remember anything for more than five minutes.  It is not as freaky, as I've grown to expect it, but rather more. . . entertaining/humbling/often embarrassing. (Like the time I tried to order 6 pizzas for our family and the kids were were babysitting when the babysitting kids' Mom had already put in the order - and had talked with me about it, but I, of course forgot - fortunately Pizza Hut realized two giant orders were going to the same address. . . /sigh yep, that was me.)

7.5) (since I skipped three. . .hehe)
So, tonight I had serious pregnancy brain as I drove home from dropping my doughy bread at Aunt Martha's to bake, I realized my car was making FUNNY noises every time I turned.  (Not, the usual whine of a power steering problem, but an odd squeak.)  I would still guess it was low on power steering fluid, though. Anyhow, I was thinking, "Woah is me, my car is BROKEN and I am now stranded at my house until my dear husband is able to come home and rescue me!!!"  But a couple hours later, it dawned on me that I DO know how to check power steering fluid and how to add more!!  (And I'm pretty sure we have a bottle in our very garage!)  The car I drove in college once got a leak in the power steering pump and I had to check it and refill it several times before I got it fixed.  But I guess I blocked that out or something.  See, what I mean, so weird.

Well, looks like that's all for tonight.  Hope you enjoyed.  Time to fold some laundry and head off to bed.  The way all "cool" adults spend their Friday nights, I'm sure :)