Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Friday, June 25, 2010

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 1)



1.
Tonight is an exciting event for the family:  Open House at the Arena for the NHL draft.  They are going to have free ice skating, street hockey on the arena floor, free t-shirts, autographs and locker room tours.  Now, can I keep the desire to go all the way until 5:00 this evening?

2.
I've been so pleasantly surprised to receive comments on my blog this week from people who are not related to me!  It's so exciting to see that someone has read and enjoyed my writing enough to make a comment.  If you are a blogger, then you know what I'm talking about.  I don't have a lot of time to spend on this blog but I have big dreams!

3.
I've remembered to put an apron on every day this week- before oil splattered on me.  I am so sick of grease stained bellies on my shirts!  So the apron has made me feel very domestic and kept my clothes clean!  If I remember for another 2 weeks, I'm going to order an adorable vintage style from someone on Etsy.  I love aprons.  Is that dorky? I don't care!

 4.

I love Band-Aid Activ-flex bandages.  As anyone who's familiar with me knows, I'm dangerous with a blade.  I shaved off some of my left index finger (again) while cutting down the overgrown cilantro plants outside.    These Band- Aids are waterproof and multi-day use, so one heals the cut.  Love them! (Read about the Butterfinger Adventures here).  This is a photo from attempting to slice off the tip of my index finger and, later in the week, snipping the webbing of my hand with kitchen shears.

 5.

I think I'm going to look into making those wire pokey things that buildings have to keep birds off of the rafters.  I'm going to use them for clutter control on my counter top.  Threat of a puncture wound might deter the offenders (myself included, sadly).

 6.
 Hey, I'm actually reading a book for pleasure!  Laurie Notaro's There's a (Slight) Chance I Might be Going to Hell ( can't find the underline button, so...).  Don't be alarmed.  It's funny.

  7.
We'll be visiting Kevin's parents in Kansas City, MO soon.  Haven't been there since my 4-year-old was baby.  The kids are under the impression that Gramma and Papa live at Disney World as they keep asking if they can ride the Monorail at their house. Mmm. Uh-oh.

Be sure to click over to Jennifer at Conversion Diary to see more and better Quick Takes, or grab your own Mr. Linky for your blog.

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Small Successes (Vol 4)

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1. I survived Vacation Bible School again!  Don't get me wrong, I love it.  I have a great time with all these little guys and I get to dust off my teacher voice.  But it is exhausting!  This year VBS coincided with Safety Town, so the week was tremendously busy.  In the end, it was a wonderful week. My kids had a great time and my students learned a lot about God.

2.   Well, this isn't really a success, but I'll share it anyway.  My birthday was a couple weeks ago and my husband surprised me by arranging a babysitter and inviting a couple of good friends to celebrate my birthday.  This is a huge improvement from last year when he thought it was a great idea to take me and the kids to Chuck E. Cheese on a Saturday afternoon. This year he redeemed himself by taking me to dinner at an Irish Pub (post World Cup USA vs England which made for a lively atmosphere) and then to a comedy club. Maybe it is a success because I married such a good man who tries to please me.

3.  It's been a very busy month! I just realized that I also spent a whole week without Kevin while he went  fly fishing in the Adirondacks.  Why is this a success?  Well, I'll tell you.  He left me home alone with 4 kids on the first week of summer vacation, before I had my summer legs, and not only did we make it, we had a fantastic time.  We had trips to the zoo and the pool.  The kids planned the whole weeks menu, so there was no fussing at dinnertime.  They stayed up late, I got up early to exercise. In the past whenever Kevin has left for whatever reason, I always seemed like I wasn't going to make it and feel so lonely in the evenings I could barely stand it.  This time, I really enjoyed myself while he was gone and was so happy to see him when he got back.

Sunday, June 20, 2010

What I'm Stepping Over Today





















Pictured:  Detective Mitch, Firefighter Jeff and a Damsel in Distress.
 








 It's a rare and happy occasion when I can walk a straight path through my house without stepping over something. Here is evidence that my mom's warning to her friends lives on in me. "You're welcome anytime, as long as you can jump."

Saturday, June 19, 2010

They're Just New Shoes

Today is the day.  We are headed to the mall to buy Annie-Mae her first pair of shoes.  I've been counting her steps for weeks, it seems, in anticipation of this very shopping trip.  No new shoes until she takes at least 10 steps in a row and walks at least as much as she crawls: that's my rule.

Now that the day has finally arrived, I find myself getting a little misty-eyed.  Her first year passed so quickly and my memory seems to be fuzzy.  I don't know if it's just part of what happens when you have older kids, but it seems that I was so busy going from ballet to basketball and doing homework that I feel I missed some of her baby days.  She's growing up right before my eyes.

She hasn't been the easiest baby of the four.  She had problems from the start with breastfeeding and taking a bottle.  She was weak and lazy- her suckle, that is. We must have tried 5 kinds of bottles before we found one that she would take easily.  Turns out, the cheapest bottle with the drippiest nipple was the one she liked best.  We barely made it a month on the breast.

Next we had problems with the formula.  We switched 3 times before we had the Rain Soft people out to test the water.  All the kids were breaking out in severe eczema and she was so fussy we had to walk and bounce her constantly.  After we had the new water treatment installed, she was immediately better.  The kids' skin cleared up also.  Clean water- what a blessing!

She refused to sleep through the night on a consistent basis.  We never knew what we were going to get when we went to sleep.  On top of that, she was not much of a napper either.  She seemed to sleep best when I had to wake her up early to go to ballet or pick up the other kids from preschool.  Oh, the torture of waking a sleeping baby!  She absolutely refused to sleep anywhere but her crib, so there was no hope of extended errand running.  If I could have dropped out of everything this year, I certainly would have!

This past year it seems she was cutting a new tooth every week.  One would break through and then I'd see another one coming in.  This made for an extremely cranky baby and a mom running short on patience.  No, she was not my easiest baby.

But here she is, walking.  Wearing shoes. This year has passed so quickly, I barely remember anything.  But I do remember the day she was born.  How happy I was to see her!  I was instantly in love.  I had a healthy dose of drugs, so there wasn't that, "Thank-God-that's-over-with" feeling.  In fact, I didn't feel a thing.  The doctor directed me to pull her out the rest of the way and that did it.  I was head-over-heels in love with her.

It's bittersweet to watch her grow up.  Every step she takes is a step away from me.  Before I know it...well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

My four are so very precious to me. Will there be another little soul for me to love one day?   My answer, "God's will be done."  In the meantime, all I can do is love the children I've been given, try not to take them for granted, teach them about God and raise them to be saints.

Thursday, June 03, 2010

Small Successes (Vol 3)

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1. I'm officially a smaller size!!!!! Today I bought a new skort and polo shirt both in a smaller size! They fit right off the rack without any creative movement to stretch out the waistband- you know what I'm talking about. How did I get this way....

2. I've been getting up at 6 am and am in the basement working out by 6:20 (that it takes me 20 minutes to get from my bed to the basement should tell you something). I do P90X every day and I’m done by 7:30. The benefit, beside the obvious payoff of exercise itself, is that I have accomplished a major goal of my day before the baby is awake. It’s been 3 weeks and I’m starting to adjust to this new routine, although I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that early hour.

3. Family Rosary (only one decade) every night after dinner has resulted in my children learning all the prayers: Apostles Creed, Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, Fatima prayer, Hail Holy Queen, Rosary prayer and Invocations to the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts. They are learning the St. Gertrude prayer. I set my phone alarm for the Angelus and say a Hail Mary when it rings. Today the kids heard it and, on their own, prayed Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen and the Rosary prayer. When these simple, little things I try to help my kids and myself grow in holiness work, I can't help but to be amazed.