Rebekah's First Holy Communion

Rebekah received her First Holy Communion on Sunday.  We are so happy for her and this milestone in her life.  Everything went well and then we enjoyed many friends and family members, along with BEAUTIFUL weather afterward.  God really blessed us!

This is the dress Great Aunt Rosie made for my first communion.

 

 

 

With Mamma

With Daddy (serious face)

Big Smiles (I think we were in the middle of laughing at Daddy.)

 

As I am sure you are just DYING to hear about my cake-making woes, I will be sure to share the story here.  As you might recall from a past post about Paul's birthday I long ago came to the conclusion that although I can make a yummy tasting cake, I really should probably leave the decorating to the professionals.  Well, I considered having a cake made, but. . . I have been gradually cutting out processed food and other things that are generally not good for us.  Traditional cake is FULL of things that are "not good for us."  So I made my usual "nutri-cake" but as for the decorating. . . well, I used store-bought frosting.  I did read the label.  This one had plain sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. . . as if that one little change makes all the difference, but hey it is something and you have to start somewhere!!  I should have just made my own.  I have all the ingredients, but I have never been very successful at it.  My frosting is usually runny, or the wrong color, or tastes funny, etc, plus I had a LOT of other "irons in the fire" this weekend and I knew my limits.  Making frosting got cut for time reasons - heck, I barely had the cake finished before the reception!  Anyhow, as I was venting my decorating dilemma (not being able to, basically) to my good friend, Kendra, she pumped me full of 10-million (seemingly) complicated ideas.  But this one, baking a cake and cutting it into a cross shape, seemed actually possible, so I tried it.  It really was not so bad, but then I tried to frost it with "whipped" frosting (I missed the "whipped" part when I bought it - read the label on the back, picked it because it had 15% more! than the others - but missed that it was "super fluffy") and it just slopped off and all around.  It really made a royal mess of the cake. (Notice how I am so quick to blame all of the cake's flaws on the frosting?)  Finally, I admitted defeat at about 10pm and ran to the store for more frosting (NOT WHIPPED).  I put on a small quick coat before bed and then tackled another the next morning.  The "whipped" frosting underneath was still doing SOME sagging (I probably should have scraped it off before doing the second coat with the correct frosting - live and learn), but by this point, the saggy, mound-like cake and I had bonded.  So I threw on the candy letters (hey, I finally learned my limits - no free-handing letters) and called it good.

 

 

 

We love you, dear Rebekah, and are so happy that you have taken this step in your life!!  We pray you have MANY MANY more communions with God here on Earth until you may be happy with him in heaven forever!

Journal #11

Out my window:

It is COLD for this time of year!!  I filled gas this morning on our way to Nana's house in jeans and sandals, with a light jacket.  With the wind and rain I was REALLY cold.  The car temp read 39 degrees.  Brrrr.  (And for the record, I am only wearing sandals because I have this GIANT blood blister right on the edge of my big toe - from rubbing while running the other day.)
 

Clothing myself:

Jeans, new sandals, NEW anniversary black t-shirt.  But I would like to add that now I wear A BELT with the jeans.  (Baby-steps :)

Around the house:

We moved the work-out room to the garage.  See post about it here.  This allowed me to move one of the sets of shelves from the school room (that was really just storage) down to the laundry/utility/storage room.  Then we got a new dresser for Miriam so I rearranged the girls' room for it and moved a set of shelves from there up to the tv room. 

 

The Girls' Room - The lime green dresser is Miriam's new dresser.  It is quite an upgrade from those plastic drawers we were using. 

Also, we got another kitchen table.  Grandma moved in with my folks.  She is fine, but at 90-years-old she decided it was time.  We were supposed to get her table, but although it was BEAUTIFUL, it was not so kid-friendly.  So my brother got it and gave us his table.  Unforunately, his table is a little smaller than our current table so I decided to put it in the study and it has been GREAT to have another table for school work and such.

 

New table in "The Study" (or I sometimes call it "the schoolroom")  It is a bit tight, but having a table to work and play at is really great.

 The Baby:

 

She is just wonderful :) She is fully capable of sleeping through the night and often does.  She is getting better at being "calmed" back to sleep (tucked in and hand on the back for a few minutes) rather than nursed.  She is eating like crazy.  With no worries about introducing this or that food I just give her whatever we are eating and she eats a lot for a baby I would say.  Last night she ate an entire, full-size burrito!!  I only feed her real food maybe twice a day (not so consistent about it) so I still nurse her a lot and both she and I enjoy that a lot.  I think maybe what I enjoy most about her right now is that she is the most petite of all my kids for her age.  She has not been to the doc lately, but I can tell that she is not as heavy as the others.  I can easily scoop her up and carry her around for large amounts of time with no undue stress to my arms or body.  So either I am in REALLY good shape (possible I suppose) or she is smaller than my typical 11-month-old babies.

The Kids:

They are keeping me in line.  I cannot get over their creative play.  I'm so glad they enjoy each other.
In the Kitchen:

I am very pleased with my orders from Azure Standard.  Everything from there has been wonderful.  I'm struggling to cook a bit this week as we are running out of meat and I highly dislike buying meat.  We had been getting hamburger from Gordie's folks (they had a cow butchered), but we have not been back to their house lately (and I'm not sure if they were planning on giving us anymore anyhow).  I need to find some more recipes to try but I just cannot find the time or energy.  In any case we are sneaking by.

 

Crafting:

 

I finally picked up my knitting needles and worked some more on my mom's scarf for next Christmas.  I think I'm about a third of the way done.

 

Learning:

 

I started a couple of journals with Rebekah.  She is humoring me well for them and I think actually enjoying them!  It all started when Nana gave her this saints book for Easter (well, I picked it out, but Nana "gave it" to her).  So each day she reads about a saint and then answers the following questions in her journal:
 

1) Today's date

2) Saint's name

3) Saint's feast day

4) What did the saint do?

5) What is something the saint did that you would like to do?  (Basically comment on what you read - applying it to your own life or circumstances.)

6) What is one thing you would ask the saint if you could?

 

Rebekah also started a prayer journal.  She copies down a bible verse and then writes a summary of what it means.  Then she writes a short prayer based off the verse.

 

Samuel is almost done with his math book (the 1st grade book).  Other than reading every day that is pretty-much all he has left for school.

 

I'm planning to have both Rebekah and Samuel do some sort of standardized test that I can send in to be graded, to be sure of where they are at (and to tell people I do so they will not give me "the look" when I tell them I homeschool).  I think we are going to go with the ones from Seton Homeschool.

 

We are still planning to do some school stuff this summer, too.  Rebekah only got through four chapters of Spanish, so we will focus on that.  She also wants to start piano lessons and I still have the books from when I started piano lessons in third grade, so I think that will be fun.  In addition we have some virtues cards I want to work with and of course keep up our bible reading and catechism lessons.  I also signed the kids up for activities at the local Rec Commission.  The older two (as the others are too young) will do Kids' Yoga (really just stretching - no odd chanting, only animal-named positions, so do not judge me by them calling it "yoga"), Zumba, Tumbling, and Akido.  They are also going to do outdoor swim lessons.  I would rather do swim team but it is more expensive and indoors.  Since we do not really go to the outdoor pool as a family (since keeping track of so many is too much for me and it is only open during nap time) and the kids are ALWAYS begging for it, I figured this was a good trade-off.

 

Reading:

I honestly have not had much time for reading.  I'm trying to do the daily readings and meditation from The Word Among us and then read a few chapters from the bible and some of the catechism.  Lately that has just been it! 

 

Bringing me joy:

 

+Excitement over Rebekah's first communion coming up on Sunday!!  She will be wearing the dress my Aunt Rosie made for me to wear on my first communion day.

 

+My husband.  He is so good to me.

 

Thinking about:

All the tragedy's of the world and how the press tells us things are so terrible, but really we need not get caught-up in the fear and worry.  God will take care of us.  I just focus on doing my daily tasks as best I can.  Then I pray about those things that need prayer and let God do the rest!

 

Bible verse:

 

Therefore do not worry, saying, "What will we eat?" or "What will we drink?" or "What will we wear?"  For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 
(Matthew 6:31-33)

Pictures to share:

 

Crazy-haired-Miriam in the tub :)

Miriam enjoying her cereal.

 

Nana and Great Grandma with all the kiddos on Great Grandma's 90th birthday!

 

New Work-out Zone

I must start by saying this was NOT my idea.  We had toyed with the thought of moving the work-out area to the second floor of the garage (which is to be the kids' zone/skating rink/giant theater/awesome-open-area-to-do-amazing-stuff-indoors).  I was not too excited over this idea as many of my work-outs are high impact.  I used to only work-out in the basement simply because I did not like the way the house shook with my jumping on the main floor.  Imagine how I would feel jumping in a second story on the garage - even higher up!!  In any case, as the hubby tried to join me for some work-outs in our basement laundry/utility room, he realized it was just too crowded there.  This, coupled with him getting a GREAT deal on some giant mirrors (from a school auction - about $600 worth of mirrors for $15).  I think it was the mirrors that really cemented the deal because he realized we could not put those upstairs where the kids would play as they would throw stuff at them or run into them, etc.  And then one day he said, "Hey, let's move the work-out room to the garage."  And we did.  It is not quite done (we need to mount the mirrors and the computer screen and build some shelves for my equipment) but it is usable and I am LOVING IT!!  I'm not sure if it is the mirrors so I can see myself (and push harder - "I bet I can jump higher than that - I bet I can push my legs out further or my arms higher") or just having more space to really get into the movements, but whatever it is, my garage work-outs have DEFINITELY upped intensity from those in the basement.

So, without further ado, the before and after pictures, for your viewing pleasure.



BEFORE (laundry/utility/storage room)

BEFORE (other side of laundry/untility/storage room)

AFTER (in garage - main floor)

Yes, I LOVE my husband!!  Thank you so much for offering up a chunk of your garage for our physical health!!

Lenten Reflection

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.”  (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I was recently reflecting over Lent as it is Holy Week and THE END IS NEAR!!  I feel that I put forth a valiant. . . ok, maybe not quite valiant. . . I feel I put forth a decent effort.  Maybe I could have pushed harder. . . but I definitely did really try.  Some days were better than others as far as keeping calm.  I think it did get a little easier.  We did our Lenten Cross and that went better than I expected.  Unfortunately we never got to the Stations of the Cross matching which makes me tremendously sad as I was REALLY looking forward to this.  But I got hung up on coloring the pictures to laminate them.  This was a bigger project than I realized (and coloring 14 stations twice, NICELY, takes more time than I could find).  Likewise, I wanted to pray the Stations of the Cross with my kids, at least on Fridays.  I even bought a special book I was so pumped about and have we done it yet?  No.  It was this final reflection that made me think I should blog about this. 

My initial reaction to it all, FAILURE!!  But within seconds I realized that exempt from Mortal Sin, failure is not a big deal unless I make it one.  Ok, so I did not get the stations matching game made up in Lent.  Should I give up and move on?  NO!!  We can still pray the stations even when it is not Lent!!  Every Friday we are to recall the passion and offer special sacrifice.  So I ate some sweets once or twice after giving up sweets for Lent, does that mean all of my attempts and sacrifices were for nothing?  I would like to think not.  What it does is keep me humble and I can tell you I can definitely use a good dose of humility now and again!!  So if you are in my boat (feeling a bit like a failure), then lets go wake our sleeping Jesus (Mark 4:35-41) and have him calm the storm so we can smooth sail the rest of this amazing season.  And maybe tomorrow I will break out that book and pray the Stations of the Cross with my kiddos.  Get up and keep going.  When we are weak, he is strong.

Journal #10

Out my window:

Nice and sunny, but still a bit cold (around 30 degrees).

Clothing myself:

Jeans and gym shoes, NEW anniversary black t-shirt.

Around the house:

Miriam is crawling and cruising all over so of course all the "little stuff" we own seems to be showing up EVERYWHERE.  But hopefully a good sorting/tidy-up today will help curb this problem.  (I have been focusing on other things a bit much and need to catch up on the housekeeping some this weekend.)

 

The Baby:

 

She is working on her two top teeth.  They are amazingly close to breaking through her poor little gums.  She is taking it fairly well (fussy and sleeping worse, but not the end of the world).  Since the doc basically ok'd all foods (other than honey and eggs) I have been giving her bites of pretty-much everything we eat and she seems to enjoy it.  Her favorites are still cheerios, bread, mashed potatoes, and homemade yogurt.

 

The Kids:

Paul has mastered #1 of potty training, but is still lacking in figuring out #2.  I changed his big brother Jacob's poopy underwear, once a day (at least) for six months.  So far Paul is following in Jacob's footsteps. . .  But I am hopeful he will figure it out sooner.  Paul is quite precocious. 

As far as naps. . . Paul skipped it one day with no melt down so I tried going without for a few days.  It seemed like this was the end to naps, but then he had a melt-down day.  I'm not sure if he needs naps again or is just a little under-the-weather (we had some coughing, sore throat stuff here).  I tried to get him to do "quiet time" - aka stay in his bed until the music stopped.  One day that resulted in a nap, the next he was out of bed within 10 minutes and sneaking upstairs when I was not looking.  Hopefully this issue will resolve itself quickly.  At this point I am ready to hope he is just done napping (and can handle being awake all day) as getting him back on a napping schedule (after such a break) seems like a lot of work.

In the Kitchen:



I do not have much to report about the actual cooking, but I am doing something new for our grocery shopping.  We are giving Azure Standard a try.  I did not order EVERYTHING we could possibly need, but several items were cheaper than at our local grocery stores with the same or better quality.  I am hopeful and will surely let you know how it goes when I actually get my goods.

Crafting:

I have not even picked up my knitting needles in months now.  Mom's scarf sits unfinished and somewhat forgotten. For some reason I just have not had time!!  I guess it will be a gift for next year.

Learning:

I just blogged about this yesterday, but I will include it here.  I made these fun charts to help with Samuel's reading vocabulary.

 

Otherwise it looks like we are fairly on track to complete our homeschool curriculum (aka all the books I planned to work through).  I have already put a lot of things on the list for summer, too, but I think the kids are up for it.

 

 

Our Lenten cross is looking good.  I am surprised how easy this project is this year and how much the children seem to get out of it!  Some of the Scripture verses are over their head but I muscle through the reading of Scripture (often using a my International Children's Version bible) and then try to give good explanations.  We also review the symbols that are already up there.
 

Reading:

I just finished a fictional novel, recommended by a friend, called Wife 22.  Although the ending was cheesy and predictable (unfortunately - I kind of wished it were different, that would have made it deeper), it was an enjoyable read about a troubled marriage.  It also gave me reason to reflect on my own marriage (which I would not classify as "troubled" btw :) and be grateful.

I recently stumbled upon this introduction to Scripture book, Bible Basics for Catholics, and it is proving to be most enjoyable.  A good "big picture of Scripture" book.
 

Bringing me joy:

 

+My husband.  He brought me a rose for no reason the other day.

+The baby.  Her smiles are just the best and her cuddles, too.

+Exercise.  A good work-out is worth so much!

 

Thinking about:

 

How it is difficult to think on little sleep - seriously, I have been going through life in a bit of a fog lately, not able to focus well or remember things!  Ugh, hopefully I can catch up some this weekend.

 

Bible verse:

 

Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.  (Luke 12:32)

Pictures to share:

 

My Latest Inspiration for Reading Assistance

Samuel (my kindergartner) and I were reading his children's bible this morning.  As he learned some new words - just reading them several times, I realized that I could be doing more to improve his reading vocabulary.  A while back I labeled some items around the house (just notecards with words written on them in marker) and that helped some, but some of the labels have worn off and I just feel I should be doing more.  So, as he learned the word "snake" and "fruit" this morning, it dawned on me that I could make up little charts like those below to help him make the connection between these words and the objects they represent.

This is Paul's hand, pointing to our exciting new posters.

 I simply googled each item I wanted and chose the images tab.  Then I copied down these images (saved them to the computer) and put them in a drawing document.  I added the text, printed them in color, threw them in page protectors, and sticky-tacked them to the wall.  Viola!!  Now I can draw attention to them during meals and other times we are at the table.  I hope to make more, but this was all I had time for today.

What do you think?

Happy Birthday Daddy!!

We celebrated Gordie's birthday today.  It was kind of a crazy day.  We have had 17 inches of snow so far (and it is still going) so Daddy was not able to get the car out to go to work - seriously - and he drives a Ford Escape!  He worked from home.  No big deal.  For dinner I chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes and cream gravy.  We are all stuffed now.



Rebekah made the gravy.  She is getting SOOO helpful in the kitchen!

Nice writing, 'eh?  Saying this (rather than "Happy Birthday") seemed easier.  Gordie's response to the cake: "Wow!  Do you or the kids do the writing?"  Yep, he had to ask. 



Fun facts about Daddy:

*This year I put "tech guy" down for his job description on our taxes.  (Jokingly as I planned to go back and fix it later, but forgot to do so).

*His favorite meal (that I cook) is chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes.  (He likes to eat his with cream gravy on top and ketchup.)

*His favorite dessert is a toss-up between homemade brownies (my friend Karen M's recipe) and homemade chocolate chip cookies (his Mamma's recipe).

*He likes to work on cars in his spare time.  Right now he just saves us and his friends money, but one day he hopes to build (or rebuild) an old car (or several).  This is one of the driving factors behind the addition of our "monster" garage.

*Along the same vein as the previous, he recently lamented that our children are homeschooled (which is not set in stone for any pre-determined time, btw) as he wants to work with each of them to build AWESOME cars for them to drive to high school.

*He likes to play games online.  He has dabbled in World of Warcraft (well, we both did that for several years), Star Wars Online, Tabula Rosa, Dungeons and Dragons Online, a few others that I cannot remember, and currently plays League of Legends.

*He equates playing online games with playing real sports.  We argue about this regularly.  He claims he has to "practice" to play online games just like I used to practice to play college basketball.

*His favorite liquor is Grey Goose Vodka.

*This year I got him a remote control helicopter.

*I like him very much.

 

Happy Birthday, Daddy!!



Daddy being Daddy :)