Sweet & Sauer

On the day you would have been born...

2011-09-14T06:35:00.000-07:00

(Picture by Jean Keaton)

Today was my due date for the baby I lost to miscarriage last February.

In a hallway at church, there are framed prints of Jesus with babies and children. I passed these pictures every Sunday as I walked Lucia to her PSR class. The above picture is how I like to think of Emmanuel in Heaven. When I see this picture, I can smile as I imagine him playing with his Savior in Heaven. While I wish I could have experienced this moment with him, I know he is in good hands.

Someday, we will meet face to face. I wish it could have been today, in a delivery room.

Emmanuel Joseph, pray for us!

Pattern Block Fun

2011-09-01T04:17:00.001-07:00

Pattern blocks are one the many educational activities I have around here. I got them out for Clara and Addie to play with the other day while I taught Lucia, but Lucia played with them, too.

Sorting by color:

Making a pretty picture:

I was told that this one is a robot:

Settling Into Our School Rhythm Daybook

2011-08-28T14:23:00.000-07:00

For Today

August 28, 2011

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

Outside my window...sunny and HOT. The weatherman is saying that we could tie or even break an all-time record for most 100-degree days in a year. :-/

I am thinking...about moving my exercise time to the early morning. I usually exercise in the afternoon or evening, when Matt is home, but that is not working as well now that he is in school.

I am thankful...for my husband. He is one hard-working man. Last year, he decided to go back to school and finish his bachelor's degree in philosophy. He started taking classes last spring and made A's in both classes he took. He took a class this summer and made an A in that, too. Now, he is taking 9 hours this fall. He comes home from his high-stress, full-time job and sits down to work on homework almost every night. I am so thankful for his perseverance and dedication!

From the learning rooms...We will begin our 3rd week of school this week! We are settling into a rhythm and our days are going mostly pretty smoothly.

In the kitchen...I created a rotating 2-week menu this weekend and will be trying it out over the next 2 weeks. I plan to repeat the same 2-week menu for the rest of this quarter, then make a new one during our break. I am hoping that this will save me a lot of time, as I won't have to make a new menu every week now.

I am wearing...running shorts and my Race for the Cure t-shirt from last year. Went running at the Y this morning.

I am creating...a grocery list to go along with my 2-week menu plan.

I am reading...An Introduction to Dyslexia for Parents and Professionals. Well, I will be reading it. Just put it on hold at the library. I'm hoping it will answer some nagging questions I have about one of my children's consistent handwriting reversals.

I am hoping...that God will smile on our family one more time and bless us with a new baby.

I am looking forward to...Anna's first viola lesson with her viola! She had a lesson with her teacher 2 weeks ago, but we didn't have a viola yet. Now, we have the viola, so she will actually be playing it a little at the lesson!

I am hearing...the air-conditioner. It is 103 degrees outside; I think it will be running for awhile.

Around the house...splitting up my weekly cleaning worked pretty well this week. This week, I am going to try a new strategy with my laundry. I once read that there are 4 steps to doing laundry: wash, dry, fold, put away. Problems occur when laundry is left at any one of the steps too long. Mine usually makes it through the washing and drying, but then lies in baskets until I just can't stand looking at it anymore. Then, I have to spend over an hour folding and putting away. And I have to tell any child who asks where her underwear is, "Look in one of the baskets." :-/ So, this week, I am going to fold and put away each load of laundry as it comes out of the dryer, instead of just tossing it in a basket for me to take care of later. I think I will have Anna and Lucia help me fold and put away, too.

One of my favorite things...Lucia's pictures.

A few plans for the rest of the week...violin and viola lessons on Tuesday and choir on Wednesday. Nothing too exciting going on this week!

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Addie put her baby in the high chair (which she has refused to sit in for months) and fixed a little meal for her out of play food.

{this moment}

2011-08-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit SouleMama and leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

It's Quiet....Too Quiet

2011-08-23T09:54:00.000-07:00

This morning, I was teaching Lucia and noticed that it was unusually quiet. Most days, I am frequently interrupted by little people who need my attention for one thing or another. So, I went looking for Addie with a feeling of dread in my stomach. I was almost afraid to see what she was getting into. Imagine my surprise when I finally found her like this:

While Addie slept, Lucia and I had an art lesson.

Clara drew some apples, too!

Artist at work!

Back to School Daybook

2011-08-21T06:13:00.000-07:00

FOR TODAY
August 21, 2011
Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

Outside my window...sunny and warm.

I am thankful for...generous grandparents. :-)

From the learning rooms...This week begins our 2nd week of homeschool for Anna, Lucia, and Clara. Mary begins her 2nd week of school at our parish school this week!

From the kitchen...today, I'm making brownies to take to our homeschool support group's Back to School party. There are also some ripe bananas on the counter that I need to deal with. The rest of the week, I'm attempting to learn how to make quick meals. Matt is taking 9 hours at WSU this fall, which means he'll be gone 3 nights and one afternoon a week. He will have homework the other nights. Which means I need to simplify things around here.

I love to cook. Most of the things I know how to cook require a lot of preparation time. But, with Matt going to school and not able to help as much around the house, I am needing to re-think the amount of time I spend preparing meals. I bought a book called Quick Cooking: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook and I've been looking through it, noting recipes I think my family would like. Homemade pizza, sandwiches, snack suppers (like cut-up fruit and veggies, cheese and crackers, hummus), and leftovers are also on my Quick Dinner Ideas list.

Here is the menu for the upcoming week:

Sunday: HFHE Back to School Party

Monday: Meatloaf, baked potatoes, stir-fried broccoli

Tuesday: Leftovers

Wednesday: Caesar Chicken (a one-dish meal from Quick Cooking; it includes orzo pasta and vegetables)

Thursday: Salsa-Rice Burritos (another meal from Quick Cooking). I think I'll just serve some cut up raw vegetables and ranch dressing dip on the side with it.

Friday: Pizza night. I'll mix up the pizza dough after lunch. This only takes about 20 minutes. It will rise during the afternoon, then we'll make a pepperoni pizza for the kids and a BBQ chicken pizza for Matt and I. :-)

Saturday: Chicken Pasta Salad and cut-up fruit on the side

I am wearing...brown yoga pants and one of my husband's t-shirts. In other words, I'm still in my pajamas. ;-)

I am going...to continue working on de-cluttering and organizing my basement. That was supposed to be a summer project, but I felt so exhausted at the end of the school year, I just could not get motivated to jump into any big projects. I have been working on clearing out the clutter and trash and dealing with all the PAPER down here slowly.

I think I need a vision for my basement school room. I want it to be a quiet place to read and write; I also want it to be an inviting, cozy place. I do most of my teaching upstairs at the kitchen table. The basement room is too small to have all the kids down here at once. It starts feeling like a noisy fishbowl before very long. Upstairs, I can work with a child at the kitchen table, and the other children can be in the living room, their bedrooms, or even outside playing without being too disruptive. I love the way Ann Voskamp's learning room looks. Even if I do most of my teaching upstairs, I want the school room to be a pleasant place to be. A place a child or adult can come to study, write, or read, and not be distracted by clutter and disorganization. I have a few ideas, but no vision that really pulls it all together yet:

1. Hang bulletin boards over the children's work spaces, so they have a place to display their artwork.

2. Hang maps on the wall. I think it's important for a child to be able to see how the world fits together. On a large wall map, a child can see where Israel is in relation to the United States. She can't see that in an atlas, flipping through pages to find the part of the world she wants to look at.

3. Hang frames for art prints on the wall. I want to have a place to display beautiful art.

4. Gather all preschool toys and workbooks into one place so that I can hand them out one at a time. One of the biggest problems down here is that lots of preschool-type toys or activity sets get strewn out everywhere all at once. Picking up and sorting all the pieces takes a lot of time. I think I need to be more intentional in this area and make it a priority to train my littles to pick up after themselves.

Around the house...Another area I'm trying to make more manageable is weekly cleaning. I decided to split up the weekly cleaning jobs over the week, so that I wouldn't have to spend all day on Saturday cleaning.

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Kitchen

Tuesday: Violin/Viola Lessons

Wednesday: Choir

Thursday: Living Room and Hallways

Friday: Basement

Saturday: Bedrooms and Bathrooms

One of my favorite things...watching my children play happily outside. It has been so hot this summer, they haven't played outside much. But now, the weather is cooling off a little and they want to be outside more. Earlier this week, Lucia and Clara spent about an hour in the morning decorating the driveway with sidewalk chalk. They even drew a parking place for me!

A few plans for the rest of the week: Homeschool choir starts up this week! I'm excited to see the kids from last year, as well as some new faces in my choir. I have 17 signed up, which is 6 more than last semester. The program is growing and I am very excited about it!

A picture thought I am sharing...

First day of school!!

Hope

2011-08-13T17:07:00.001-07:00

It's been a long time since I wrote here. For a long time, I have felt too sad to write anything. This blog is called "Sweet & Sauer," so it seems strange to write about grief here. While I want my blog to be a record of the sweet moments in my family's life, I want to acknowledge the sad moments as well. They are also a part of my family's history, and so they are a part of me. Before I can write about anything else, I need to acknowledge another loss in our family.

When I last wrote here, I wrote about my pregnancy and miscarriage of Emmanuel. The weeks that followed were very difficult emotionally. My doctor advised us to wait 3 months before trying to conceive again, but just a month after my miscarriage, I became pregnant again. I was carefully charting my waking temperatures and suspected pregnancy when me period did not arrive after 14 days of elevated temperatures. I took a home pregnancy test, which was positive, but the information that came with the test said that if you have had a miscarriage in the past 8 weeks, the test may be falsely positive. I waited another week to see if my temperatures remained high. They did, and now I had 21 days of elevated temperatures, a positive sign of pregnancy according to the NFP course taught by the Couple to Couple League. I called my doctor, who had me come in for a series of blood tests. After almost of week of anxious waiting, the doctor confirmed that I was pregnant. He told me to come back the next week for another blood test, and then he would do a sonogram to check on the baby. Matt and I were happy and scared at the same time. We both dearly wanted another baby, but we knew it was awfully soon after my D & C and that my body might not be healed enough yet to support another pregnancy. We told our children and close friends and family members and asked them to pray for us and the new life growing inside me. We dared to hope that we would get to meet this new baby face to face in late November. Days later, I started spotting. The bleeding was light, and I hoped that it did not mean I was miscarrying. I prayed, telling God that I knew He could heal me and save this little baby. I firmly believed that He could, if it was His will.

"Hope is the virtue by which we firmly trust that God, who is all-powerful and faithful to His promises, will in His mercy give us eternal happiness and the means to obtain it." ~~from the Baltimore Catechism No. 1

I went back to the doctor for more blood tests. The first blood test was inconclusive; my hormone levels had gone up, but not as much as the doctor would expect them to in a healthy pregnancy. He had me come in again the following day for an exam. He did a sonogram, but told me before he started that he did not expect to be able to see a baby yet, because my hormone levels were so low. He wanted to see if the gestational sac was in my uterus or in one of my fallopian tubes. He did not find a baby, but did find what looked like a small gestational sac in my uterus. He said he thought I would probably lose this baby, too. Still, I placed my trust in God. I don't think I have ever in my life asked for anything with as much confidence as I had when I asked God to save my baby. I knew without a doubt that He could do it.

The next day, the bleeding increased, accompanied by cramping. At that point, I knew that God had answered my prayer with "No." Instead of saving my baby for an earthly life with me, He saved her for eternal happiness with Him. Although I was very sad to lose another baby, especially so soon after my last miscarriage, I felt that God had answered my prayer in a more perfect way than I had originally asked Him to. At this point, Psalm 23:4 became very real to me:

Even though I walk through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

I felt like a child. I was scared and sad, but I was also holding onto Someone I trusted. I believed that even in this dark and scary place, He was still with me and that He loved me. I don't think that trusting God means that we won't experience intense negative emotions, like sadness, fear, or anger. I experienced all those emotions and still do, but I also believe and trust in God. There are paths in this life I don't want to go down...miscarriage, infertility, sickness, death, sorrow...but I know that when I go through those valleys, He is there with me and He will still be there when I get to the other side of the valley.

We named our baby Hope. Because we firmly trust that God is faithful to His promises. Because we trust God to be with us through the valleys. Because we trust that God can bring something good out of those valleys. Because even when we do not understand His will, we believe He is a loving Father who would not allow us to be hurt unless He could bring good out of it.

To Tell or Not To Tell?

2011-02-11T07:38:00.001-08:00

My opinion on this question has changed several times over the course of my child-bearing years. I'm talking about whether or not to tell people right away about a positive pregnancy test. We told people almost as soon as we found out we were pregnant with our first 4 children. I knew that some people chose to wait until they were 8, 9, or 12 weeks pregnant to share the news out of fear of miscarriage. My thought was that I wanted to share the joy of being pregnant with my friends and family, that I would tell them about a miscarriage anyway, so why not share the joy, too? I think I also thought that miscarriage was something that happened to other people, not to me, although I would not have said that out loud.

Then, our 5th pregnancy ended at 6 weeks in miscarriage. I had already told a lot of people we were pregnant, so, in the midst of a very difficult emotional time, I had to call or email people and tell them I had miscarried. Many of them had questions, and it was hard to discuss the details so many times. By the end of the day, I was tired of talking about it and delegated the task of telling my sister-in-law about my miscarriage to my mother-in-law. On the plus side, many people were very empathetic and offered prayers and practical help, like babysitting and meals. Most of our friends and family recognized that we had lost a baby and offered condolences for our loss. It was comforting to know that others recognized the life that had been inside me was a real person, not just a clump of cells. Still, it was very hard to tell people that I had miscarried. I thought that I could spare myself some pain if I just didn't tell people I was pregnant right away the next time. So, I waited to tell the general public I was pregnant until I saw our 6th baby alive and healthy on an ultrasound at 9 weeks. I did tell close friends and family members about that pregnancy right away, though.

When I became pregnant for the 7th time, the memory of my last miscarriage almost 3 years ago was still fresh in my mind. I told a few trusted, close friends and some family members our news, but asked them to keep it quiet. I was very anxious those first few weeks, waiting and wondering if I would get to hold this baby. A good friend counseled me to trust in God and to choose to love the baby and let myself connect with him, no matter how short a time I might have him with me. As the weeks went by, I let go of some of my worries, especially when I passed the 6-week mark, which was the point at which my last miscarriage occurred. There was no bleeding, no cramping, so I thought everything must be fine. I began to look forward to seeing the baby's little bean-shaped body and tiny beating heart on an early ultrasound at my first doctor's appointment.

My first doctor's appointment was scheduled for Feb. 4, when I would be 8.5 weeks pregnant. I dropped my children off at my sister-in-laws house that morning and went to the doctor's office. In the exam room, the doctor counseled me on exercise, how I should watch my heart rate and switch to low-impact exercise once I got to 4 months. He started the ultrasound and pointed out my uterus on the screen. He found the gestational sac and pointed it out to me. I waited for him to point out the baby, since I couldn't see it. The sac looked strangely empty. Maybe the baby is still too small to see on an ultrasound...The doctor pointed out a faint gray area in the sac and explained that that was the inner sac, the chorion. I was still wondering where the baby was when the doctor's words interrupted my thoughts..."There should be a baby there...this is not a good pregnancy..."I stared in disbelief at the screen as his words sunk in, then started to cry. "I'm so sorry, kiddo," the doctor said. The rest of the appointment is a blur...he explained there was nothing that could have prevented this, the baby failed to develop, I needed a D & C, come back in 6 weeks, call the office if I started to bleed over the weekend, go to the ER if I started to hemorrhage. I couldn't stop crying.

Once I finally got out of there, I called Matt from the parking lot. He was in a training class that day, and it seemed to take forever to get ahold of him. He took the rest of the day off work and met me at the doctor's office. I called my mother-in-law and asked her to stay with the kids on Monday while I had the D & C. The kids...they were still at my sister-in-law's house...they didn't know I was pregnant, and neither did my sister-in-law. My mother-in-law called my sister-in-law and told her what had happened. Matt and I decided to go ahead and tell the kids about the pregnancy. There was no hiding it from them now. I called or emailed the friends and family I had told about my pregnancy and asked for their prayers.

Sunday came, and we went to Mass. I did not want to go to Mass and pretend that everything was fine. I wanted to stay home and cry. It did not help at all that there were people at Mass who knew we had lost our baby and ignored us. This was very painful to me.

On Monday, I went to a local outpatient surgery center and had the D & C. The procedure went smoothly and I returned home shortly after waking up. I was thankful that at least the physical part of the miscarriage was not as painful as it had been last time.

However, keeping my pregnancy a secret from most people did not make losing my baby any easier. If anything, it was more difficult because I felt that I did not have "permission" to be upset or sad around people who didn't know. In some way, it is comforting to have the freedom to be sad, to know that people understand my loss and that they are praying for me. We didn't tell our children about my pregnancy because we knew that they would tell everyone. When we discovered that the baby had died, and that I would need a D & C, we had to tell them something. They are old enough to notice when things aren't right. Sadly, they only knew about their baby brother when it was time to grieve his loss, and they never got to have the joy of expecting him. I regret that now.

If a pregnancy ends in miscarriage, there will be pain. Whether everyone knows, or only a few people know, or only my husband knows, there is pain. There is the pain of an empty void, of a missing person. Whether or not I tell people I am pregnant only changes whether or not there is support should I miscarry.

I want my baby to be remembered. I don't want to pretend he never existed. He did exist, and we loved him. We still love him, and we hope to see him and his sister in heaven someday.

Emmanuel Joseph, pray for us!

It's That Time of Year Again...

2010-11-23T06:02:00.000-08:00

I really struggle with greed this time of year. There seem to be advertisements and catalogs everywhere, full of things that I can't afford. It is hard sometimes to be content with what I have.

While I was praying the other day, I flipped open The Imitation of Christ and read the chapter entitled "On How We Are to Conduct Ourselves in Our Desires." It seems that whenever I flip that book open, whatever chapter it opens to is just what I needed to read. This little prayer really spoke to my heart:

"Lord, You know what is best for me; let it be done according to Your will Give me what You will, in whatever measure You will and at whatever time You will."

My God is the same God who created the earth out of nothing, the same God who parted the Red Sea, the same God who fed the Israelites in the desert, and the same God who rose from the dead. Could he not give me anything in the world, if it was His will? He knows what is best for me better than I do.

Thanksgiving Daybook

2010-11-21T15:26:00.000-08:00

FOR TODAY
November 21, 2010
Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

Outside my window...sunny and cool right now...it was 76 at noon today. I bet it got up to 80.

I am thankful for...12 years of marriage to Matt!

From the learning rooms...we are on Thanksgiving break this week! Praise the Lord! The next week is all about family, friends, food, and catching up on the laundry!

From the kitchen...well, I didn't get any cookies made last week, but I'm sure I'll mix up quite a few batches over the coming week. I hope to mix up about 10 batches of gingersnap cookie dough. Clara's birthday is on Wednesday, and I'll be baking a strawberry cake for her, in addition to fixing whatever she wants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When I told her she could have anything she wanted, do you know what she requested? Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. For all three meals. I talked her into chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast (this has become a tradition for birthday mornings at my house), peanut butter and jelly for lunch, and chicken tacos for dinner.

I am wearing...blue jeans, a t-shirt and bare feet.

I am creating...a plan to make sure I am prepared for the next 2 weeks!

I am going...to direct a children's choir for the Christmas Eve Mass at our church! I met with the music director on Saturday to go over music and rehearsals start December 8 (which is after my homeschool choir's concert!). I hope lots of kids sign up! Anna said that she told all the kids in her PSR class to sign up for the choir because "my mom is the best director in town." Well, I couldn't ask for a better compliment than that! Hope I can live up to it!

I am hoping...that the family pictures we took today turn out well.

I am hearing...children screaming happily upstairs. I wonder what is going on up there?

Around the house...I still have to fold those same baskets of laundry (plus more!) I mentioned last week. How embarrassing. I am planning to get caught up on the housework this week.

One of my favorite things...Thanksgiving at my in-laws house! My mother-in-law is an awesome cook and an awesome lady. She makes the best apple pie and homemade rolls in the world.

A few plans for the rest of the week: Clara's birthday is on Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday, good friends are coming over for dinner on Friday, and I hope to make it out to the mall to pick up some good deals at The Children's Place on Friday, too. Next Sunday we are having extended family over to celebrate Clara's birthday with cake and ice-cream. Lots of cleaning, cooking, and visiting with friends and family, but NO SCHOOL!

If you're feeling a little crispy...

2010-11-14T19:54:00.000-08:00

go read this:

Sometimes I Feel Like Quitting.

Fall is Here Daybook

2010-11-14T17:57:00.001-08:00

FOR TODAY

November 14, 2010

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

The morns are meeker than they were -
The nuts are getting brown -
The berry's cheek is plumper -
The Rose is out of town -

The maple wears a gayer scarf -
The field - a scarlet gown -
Lest I should seem old fashioned
I'll put a trinket on!

by Emily Dickinson

Outside my window...cool and overcast. Fall is definitely here!

I am thinking about...a re-organizing project in my kitchen and dining room, my upcoming choir concert, choir plans for next semester, and what are we going to wear for our family pictures next Sunday?

I am thankful for...friends who challenge me. It is rare to find a friend who will ask you hard questions, questions that really make you think and evaluate your choices. I am also really glad that Daylight Savings Time is over. It is really hard to get out of bed in the morning when it is still pitch dark outside.

From the learning rooms...ah, the last week before Thanksgiving break! Mary Beth just finished Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt, which was a difficult book for her. She was having trouble understanding it, so I had her read it out loud to me. We have both learned a lot. :-) I am glad to be moving on, though!

I switched to A Beka math this year for Anna and Lucia. I don't like it for a lot of reasons, but I need to just make it work because I can't just go buy a new math program. The Mother of Divine Grace syllabus suggests that Anna's math lessons should take about 25 minutes a day, and I am going to make sure we stick to that. We are going to spend 5 minutes on review problems, 5-10 minutes on fact drill, and the remaining time will be spent learning and practicing new skills. And then we'll put math away for the day. No more math lessons that drag on all day long while Anna struggles through two pages of math problems. 25 minutes, and we're done.

Lucia is reading!! After weeks of building words with magnet letters, she has started sounding out words on her own in beginning readers. She is thrilled and so am I!

From the kitchen...more crock-pot meals this week! And it's time to start mixing up cookie dough for Christmas cookies! I borrowed my mother-in-law's Kitchen Aid stand mixer and will start mixing up gingersnap cookie dough this week. Yum!

I am wearing...blue jeans, a hot pink t-shirt, a black zip-up hoodie, and blue and white striped cozy socks.

I am going...to continue the Couch 2 10K training program this week. I only ran once last week, but there was no knee pain! Hopefully, I'll be able to carve out a bit more time for exercise this week.

Around the house...I have 3 big baskets of laundry to fold and put away tomorrow. And I've been thinking of a better way for me to approach weekly cleaning. Saturday is my usual weekly cleaning day, when I vacuum, clean the bathrooms, and mop the kitchen and dining room. But, a lot of other things, like dusting and more seasonal cleaning jobs don't get accomplished. So, I was thinking about dividing my house up into zones (a la FlyLady) and doing the monthly or seasonal jobs in just one zone each week, in addition to vacuuming, bathroom cleaning, and mopping. I did my bedroom this week. It's very clean in there now. :-)

I've been consistently behind on the laundry ever since we started school again. I think I need to delegate that chore.

One of my favorite things...listening to the funny stories Clara tells me.

A few plans for the rest of the week: the last choir rehearsal before our dress rehearsal, Nature Study Club on Friday, and Matt and I will celebrate our 12 year wedding anniversary this weekend!

2010-11-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

FOR TODAY
November 7, 2010

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

Outside my window...warm and sunny

I am thinking...about the menu plan for the next week and Christmas preparations!

I am thankful for...my consultants at Mother of Divine Grace!

From the learning rooms...Monday is a teacher in-service day. The only school activity planned for tomorrow is an ancient Egypt movie. I will be spending the day in the basement working on tweaking our schedule and the long-awaited chore chart!

From the kitchen...Simple meals and the crock-pot are my friends. I love to cook, but I've had to face reality and recognize that some days, I need to prepare meals that take are ready in an hour or less. This means using more prepared foods, like macaroni and cheese.

I am wearing...black pants and a red sweater. Still in my church clothes.

I am going...to start cantoring at church! I haven't done any singing in church in a long time and I am looking forward to sharing my talents with my parish family. I may also be helping with the Christmas Eve Children's Choir at church. I'm already doing a lot this year, but this would be a short-term commitment and rehearsals probably wouldn't start until after my homeschool children's choir has their concert.

I am hoping...to start running again this week. I was training to run in a half-marathon when I hurt my IT-band in early September. The pain became so bad that I had to quit running altogether for a few weeks to let it heal. I'm going to ease back into running with the Couch 2 10K program I used last winter when I trained to run the River Run 10K.

I am hearing...Clara playing with the LeapPad.

Around the house...just trying to keep up with the laundry, dishes, meals, and basic cleaning. I hope to get some stuff hung up on the basement walls this week. I would also like to thin down my girls' closets and drawers so that they don't have quite as many clothes to strew out everywhere. That's probably a couple of weeks' worth of work, right there.

One of my favorite things...art on Fridays with my girls! I have found some really neat art projects to do with children at Deep Space Sparkle. I did this Line Art Owls project with them a week ago. I plan to make snowmen with them in December, but we'll use Sculpey clay. I also bought this Egyptian Faces lesson plan to do with Mary Beth, since she is studying ancient Egypt this year. This week we will be working on activities from our Hearts and Trees Fall kit.

We have done a homeschool art class the past 3 years, but I don't think we'll do it this year. I think we are busy enough with out-of-the-house activities. There are plenty of free and low-cost ideas at Deep Space Sparkle to keep us busy. :-)

A few plans for the rest of the week: the sewing project from our Fall Craft and Nature Study Kit from Hearts and Trees, choir, Christmas and birthday shopping.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

I couldn't run in the half-marathon because of my IT-band injury, so I had planned to run in the 5K instead. Well, it turned out that I had a stomach bug on the day of the race, so I couldn't run at all. But, Mary Beth has been running, too. She ran her first 5K in September and she wanted to run in the 5K race associated with the half-marathon, too. Here she is, about to cross the finish line! I am so proud of her!

Katelyn the Butterfly

2010-11-07T11:32:00.000-08:00

At last, the long-awaited pictures of the metamorphosis of Katelyn the Caterpillar to Katelyn the Chrysalis to Katelyn the Butterfly...

On Sunday, October 3, I noticed that Katelyn's chrysalis had changed from its jade green color to transparant. I could see the orange and black pattern of her wings through the chrysalis.

We went to Mass, and when we returned home, this is what we saw:

A beautiful Monarch butterfly! We took her to visit my grandmother and released her in the garden. She perched on Mary Beth's finger for a few seconds before flying for the first time. The last we saw of her, she was flying towards a nearby field of flowers. Hopefully, by now she has made it to her winter home in Mexico!

Katelyn the Caterpillar

2010-09-23T19:53:00.000-07:00

From Monarch Caterpillar

Lucia found a Monarch caterpillar in the garden on Wednesday morning. I don't know how it ended up in our yard, since we have no milkweed and that is what Monarch caterpillars feed on. I decided to take the morning off school and head to a local park to gather some milkweed leaves for our new pet. We set up a home for "Katelyn" in a large canister that used to house earthworms. She stayed busy the rest of the day, eating the leaves and pooping. Did you know that caterpillars poop a lot? Yeah, I didn't know that either until Wednesday! We also propped up a few sticks for her to climb on when she was ready to transform into a chrysalis.

Thursday, Katelyn was not nearly as active as she had been the day before. She was still much of the day and didn't touch the fresh milkweed leaves we placed in her canister. I didn't say anything to the kids, but I was afraid that she might die. That afternoon, she climbed up on one of the sticks and made a little silk button.

From Monarch Caterpillar

She then turned around, pooped one last time, and attached her rear end to the silk button. Slowly, over the next couple of hours, she released her legs from the stick until she was hanging upside down in a "J" shape.

From Monarch Caterpillar

Thanks to Matt's brother, Kris, who has a camera that will do time-lapse photography, we were able to take a time-lapse video of Katelyn shedding her skin and becoming a chrysalis! She hung in the "J" for a little over 12 hours; the children and I were fortunate enough to be in the room when she started molting and we watched the whole thing!

Katelyn is now hanging quiet and still in her jade-green chrysalis, where she will stay for about the next two weeks. If all goes well, she will come out as a beautiful Monarch butterfly! Stay tuned for more pictures!

Weird dream

2010-04-21T05:10:00.000-07:00

I had the strangest dream last night...

I dreamt that I was pregnant and full term. I was having a bad day, but I wasn't in labor. I walked into our bedroom and suddenly felt the urge to push. Matt wasn't even home, but his mom was there, so I yelled at her to call 911 and bring me some towels because the baby was coming. She didn't do either of those things. (which is really strange, because she is an awesome lady and if this really happened, she would do whatever needed to be done) Anyway, I pushed the baby out and it was a *boy*. I wrapped him up in a towel that happened to be lying on my bed and sat down to wait for the ambulance. Matt came home and thought that we didn't need to call 911, and decided to just drive me to the hospital himself. Apparantly, he had just come from some kind of social function, because a lot of people came into the bedroom with him wanting to see the baby. I got really mad and told them all to leave. Matt drove me to the hospital, where the people in the ER told me that I needed to go somewhere else; they would not see me. By this time, I had delivered the placenta and was carrying around a brand-new baby still attached to his placenta in a slightly damp bath towel. We then proceeded to wander around the hospital looking for the maternity unit. Matt decided to leave me there and take the kids to an art class. I kept walking around, looking for someone to at least cut the umbilical cord. Finally, I woke up.

Weird.

Ewwwww!

2010-02-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, the girls got into what was left of their Valentine candy during snack time. I saw Clara with chocolate all over her face and asked her if she had some chocolate for a snack. She said, "Yes, AND some BOLOGNA!"

Chocolate and BOLOGNA? Yuck. Just yuck.

Lent Begins

2010-02-18T05:40:00.000-08:00

Joel 2:12-18

Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.

Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”

Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.

In his homily yesterday, the priest said, "The biggest temptation we face during Lent is the temptation not to take it seriously."

Just some food for thought...

Earrings x 3

2010-02-17T05:43:00.000-08:00

We have 3 sets of pierced little-girl ears in our house now!

Lucia got blue flower earrings.

Mary Beth got emerald earrings (her birthstone...I doubt they're real emeralds).

Anna got gold ball earrings.

Anna went first and didn't shed a single tear. She was very brave. Lucia was next and we had some trouble getting her to sit still, but she finally consented to sit still when I offered to let her sit on my lap. She cried a little, but stopped as soon as she was handed a mirror so she could see her pretty new earrings! Mary Beth was also very brave and didn't cry at all!

Afterwards, we enjoyed some ice-cream from Dairy Queen together. When we got home, Clara demanded to be taken back to the mall so she could get her ears pierced, too. I told her next weekend. Earlier that day, she had said that she would get her ears pierced when she was "older." But, she changed her mind when she saw her older sisters.

Snow Day Snacks

2010-01-29T18:45:00.000-08:00

Art Class was cancelled today due to the snow. So, after lunch, we made miniature creme-filled cupcakes!

There were 20 mini-cupcakes, so each girl got to decorate 5 cupcakes.

Clara took care of licking the spoon. (You can see her short haircut very well in this picture.)

Mary Beth and Anna are not in these photos because they were busy watching old MacGyver episodes. Remember MacGyver, from the 80's? The kids love him.

After we had cupcakes and hot cocoa for a late snacktime, the kids went outside to play in the snow. And they all fell asleep rather quickly tonight.

Simple Woman's Daybook

2010-01-28T14:44:00.000-08:00

Week of January 25, 2010

Visit Peggy at The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

I know this is supposed to be posted on Mondays...but Monday is my cleaning day and our school week starts on Tuesday, so I'm just now getting around to this. I think it's a good project for me, so better late than never. :)

Outside my window...overcast and COLD. They are forecasting 4-8 " of snow for us tonight.

I am thinking...about rearranging furniture again. I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to have all our books upstairs with a crawling baby. Matt told me that he would have me sign my name in blood on a written promise that I would never, ever have him move furniture again. What can I say? I learn by trial and error.

I am thankful for...our emergency fund!

From the learning rooms...only math and religion this week as we ease into a full schedule of subjects.

From the kitchen...a very interesting week in the kitchen so far. I had planned to have Venison Stroganoff for dinner last night. It's a meal that cooks for about 3 hours in the oven, so I can pop it in the oven in the afternoon before an out-of-the-house activity and still have a hot dinner ready to be served at 5:00pm. Well, as I was just walking out the door to take the kids to choir practice yesterday, I heard a loud buzzing noise and noticed a strange, flickering light coming from the oven. Upon closer examination, I saw that the heating element was on fire. I called Matt into the kitchen and quickly turned off the oven. I had Matt dump the stroganoff into the crockpot so that it could continue cooking, although I knew that it would need to cook for 5-6 hours in the crockpot before it was done. I went to choir and left Matt home with Clara to figure out what to do about the oven. By the time I came home (only 2 hours later), he had fixed the oven by replacing the heating element. His mom had picked up a new heating element for us on her way home from work. However, the stroganoff wasn't done, so we had Papa Murphey's pizza instead. The cool thing is that I was not worried about how much it would cost to fix the oven. I knew that our emergency fund could cover a brand new oven, if that was needed. The only thing I was worried about was how I was going to cook until the oven was fixed or replaced. I thought it might take a few days. So, I was pleasantly surprised to find it fixed when I got home! So, tonight we're having stroganoff and this weekend I am cooking a big pork roast to make into pulled pork sandwiches! YUM

I am wearing...blue jeans, a black t-shirt, a hot pink zip-up hoodie, and blue and white striped lounge socks.

I am creating...as soon as I'm done typing this daybook entry, I'm going to work on a very flexible daily schedule.

I am going...to start going through the children's warm weather clothes this week. I know that Mary Beth will need warm weather clothes in the next size, and some of the other girls will as well. I love to shop at The Children's Place for my kids and I'm looking forward to their spring sales!

I am reading...Abandonment to Divine Providence

I am hoping...to nudge Addie toward an earlier bedtime

I am hearing...only the furnace right now. I escaped to the basement for a little bit of quiet time to write this!

Around the house...Matt and I need to spend a couple of weekends organizing our storage areas. I hope to send the 4 older kids to Grandma's house overnight soon so that we can work on that.

One of my favorite things...tortilla chips and hummus for snacktime

A few plans for the rest of the week: Pilates class tonight, art class tomorrow

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Matt and Mary Beth went on a photowalk together. Matt took this picture of them together in front of a reflective window. Mary Beth took one, too. She is her father's daughter! She took quite a few very good pictures on that photowalk. I think she has inherited her father's artistic eye.

Simplifying Learning

2010-01-21T06:07:00.000-08:00

I am not good at juggling. If I have too many things going on at one time, I quickly feel overwhelmed. This is why I don't do La Leche League work or teach NFP classes anymore. Those are both great causes, but I had begun to feel like I was juggling volunteer work and my responsibilities at home, and I felt like I always had a deadline looming over my head. This is also why I try to limit our out-of-the house activities, although I haven't done too well with that this year. :-/

Last year, when I was planning our homeschool curriculum, I wanted to create a Charlotte Mason curriculum for my children. Lots of living books, a wide variety of subjects, nature study, hands-on science, handicrafts, and reading aloud. It didn't take long for me to feel like I was juggling. I am not good at juggling. I quickly reached burnout and we took a very long holiday break. And I say "holiday" instead of "Christmas" because that break included 3 different holidays!

At first, I thought that I just had a scheduling problem; that if I could just come up with the "right" way of fitting all the pieces together, I COULD fit everything in (including quality time with little kids, housework, and made-from-scratch dinners). I finally realized that I was simply trying to fit too much into each day. I have five children; one of them is a potty-training 3-year-old, one of them is a nursing infant, three are school-age. During our holiday break, when I wasn't doing ANY formal schooling with the kids, my days were VERY full. And I wasn't doing a whole lot of Christmas-y stuff, either.

I figure that I have two choices: admit defeat and put the kids in school OR change the way I am doing school so that it fits into my life better. My REAL life, not my " theoretical" life on paper. I decided to make some changes, keeping in mind my real limitations. First, I decided to cut down on the number of subjects in our homeschool. A wide variety of subjects is great, but I cannot duplicate the kind of timetable Charlotte Mason had in her school, or the kind of schedule a mom with only big kids has in her home. Really, I am not a schedule kind of person at all...flexible routines work great for me; timetables stress me out. Second, I decided to get into a learning routine gradually. We started with math...just math. The next week, I was supposed to add religion, but I got mastitis, so we had another week-long break. There's real life again. :) So, this week we added religion. I'll continue to add subjects gradually until we are up to what I consider the essential basics: math, phonics, handwriting, religion, and literature for Anna and Lucia...math, literature, copywork, dictation, and religion for Mary Beth. Keeping in mind that I am not good at juggling, I'm going to try something different for studying history, geography, and science. Once we're doing the essential basics, then we'll study history and geography every day for several weeks; then we'll do science every day for several weeks. We may do just geography for several weeks, too. I think history and geography go nicely together, but there are some neat things I could do with just geography, too. I think that will be easier for me than trying to fit them all in every week.

Nature study, art appreciation, music appreciation, drawing, and poetry are not on my to-do list right now. Neither are hands-on projects that require a lot of preparation. I would rather do those things because we want to, not because they're on my to-do list.

I need to remember that we live a very rich life. Mary Beth takes violin lessons and she reads voraciously. Anna is in a monthly craft club for girls. All 3 older girls are involved in homeschool choir and a nature study club. Anna and Mary Beth are also in homeschool art class.

There will be a season for doing more; now is a season for doing less.

Simple Woman's Daybook--Week of January 17

2010-01-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

Week of January 17

Visit The Simple Woman's Daybook for more!

Outside my window...it's only partly cloudy. I can see a little bit of blue sky today! It's a nice change from the fog we've been having lately.

I am thinking...about simplifying in so many areas.

I am thankful for...my husband and everything he does for our family...wonderful children...and a 3 year old who has been easy to potty train. :)

From the learning room...just math and religion this week. This is a busy season in my life and I'm scaling back to the basics for awhile.

From the kitchen...chocolate dipped pretzels for Anna's Lily Club meeting on Friday and meatloaf for dinner.

I am wearing...pink and purple plaid pajama pants and a pink exercise shirt.

I am creating...nothing at the moment.

I am going...to Preschool Storytime at the library this morning and homeschool choir this afternoon.

I am reading...Abandonment to Divine Providence

I am hoping...to get into a relaxed learning routine with the children.

I am hearing...only the gerbil chewing up a cardboard tube downstairs.

Around the house...Matt and I are looking at refrigerators and freezers after he told me last night that we may qualify to receive a voucher for new appliances! You have to meet income requirements and the appliance has to be at least 10 years old. Our refrigerator is exactly 10 years old and our deep freeze is over 20 years old.

One of my favorite things...there are so many little joys in my life...one of them is a little blonde 3 year old saying "Mommy, read to me!"

A few plans for the rest of the week: Preschool Storytime at the library this morning, homeschool choir this afternoon, Pilates on Thursday evening, Nature Study Club and Lily Club on Friday, and a lunch date with Matt on Sunday.

Here is picture for thought I am sharing...

Matt took Clara to the Nifty Nut House as a reward for using the potty. I know all the books say not to use food as a reward...but hey, I say WHATEVER WORKS!!

If You Leave a Five-Year-Old Alone With a Two-Year-Old

2009-11-13T07:36:00.000-08:00

If you leave a five-year-old alone with a two-year-old, the five-year-old will discover that Mommy left her sewing cabinet unlocked.

If the five-year-old discovers that Mommy left her sewing cabinet unlocked, she will look through it and find Mommy's sewing scissors.

If she finds Mommy's sewing scissors, she will use them to give the two-year-old a new haircut.

If she gives the two-year-old a new haircut, Mommy will cry when she sees it.

The basement is now off-limits for unsupervised play, until further notice.

A Few Pictures

2009-09-08T09:21:00.000-07:00

Addie and I on her six-month birthday.

The girls made a playpen for Addie out of one of our laundry baskets. It actually worked pretty well! She was happy playing with her baby toys in there for quite a while.

Addie eating rice cereal! I think she actually swallowed some of it.

Mary Beth's Got a Blog!

2009-09-08T09:17:00.000-07:00

I've created a blog for my little budding author, Mary Beth.

Writing Weathergirl

Please come visit!

Found Things

2009-08-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Things I've found while de-cluttering and organizing our house:

Knot-making tool for making rosaries
Lucia's Tinkerbell pajamas
The remote control to the stereo
Puzzle pieces
Lots of Monopoly money
Clara's Social Security card
Game pieces to lots of different games
Lots of pens and pencils
A library book the Mary Beth was "100% sure" she had already returned to the library

I am happy to report that all of those items and many more are where they belong now. I am now done organizing the children's toy and game closet and am almost finished with our large basement room. It has suffered from CHAOS (can't have anyone over syndrome) and too much STUFF (stuff that undermines family fun) for too long. We will now have the computer armoire, our filing cabinet, our TV/VCR/DVD player, my sewing table and small chest of drawers for sewing projects, and two comfy chairs in the basement. We will be able to watch movies together, do paperwork, sew, and the children will be able to play in the basement. We are moving several small bookshelves and boxes of seldom-used craft items into the big storage room. The filing cabinet, the basement storage room, and the garage will be our next big projects, hopefully to be de-cluttered and organized over the next year.

I am really sick of going through stuff, but I feel really good about what I've accomplished. I could really tell a difference when we did our weekly cleaning yesterday. It was MUCH faster to pick up the upstairs for vacuuming. There wasn't nearly as much stuff laying out to be picked up and put away. And everything had a place to go! It was a good feeling and I wasn't exhausted when I was done. Hopefully, we will be at that point with the basement by the time our next cleaning day rolls around. :)

Well Baby Check-up and a Pregnancy Test

2009-08-27T21:53:00.000-07:00

Ha! Got your attention with the title for this post, didn't I? Well, you'll have to keep reading to find out about the pregnancy test... ;-)

Addie had her 6-month well-baby check-up today. She weighs 18lbs., 9oz, which is 2 lbs. heavier than she was at her 4-month check-up. Apparently, all the weight I have been losing has been going directly to her. And that's fine with me! It looks much cuter on her!

Addie also had several vaccinations, one of which was for the flu. The PA said that he could give me a flu vaccination, too, but I could have the FluMist instead of a shot. I had to answer a few questions before I could receive the FluMist and one of the questions was "Possible pregnancy?" I paused and said to the nurse, "Well, I don't think I'm pregnant, but it's always a possibility, right? I mean, if you have sex, you can get pregnant, right?" I mean, that is how babies are made, right? The nurse's eyes got big and she said, "Well, we can't give you the FluMist if you're pregnant. Are you late?"

"Well, I haven't had a period yet." I responded. "Do you want me to take a test??" I was laughing by this point, because I knew that it was highly unlikely that I was pregnant.

The nurse informed me that I could get pregnant before I had a period after childbirth (which I already knew), and left the room to get a pregnancy test.

The test was negative, as I figured it probably would be, but as I was waiting for the result, I was actually a little hopeful...that maybe it would be positive. I guess Addie will have to wait a little longer to become a big sister!

Addie Jumps Around

2009-08-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

What I've Been Up To

2009-08-24T05:18:00.000-07:00

It's been quiet here lately, I know. Our last day of school was August 7, and I have been crazily trying to get our house organized ever since. Organization is definitely not my strong suit. I've discovered that I have to live in a place for at least a few years before a plan starts coming together for me. We have lived here about 3 1/2 years now. I've lost count of how many times I've had Matt move the furniture around. I'm trying to figure out how to make the best use of our space. We have so much stuff, it's insane. I've been working on the basement for the past week and I am totally overwhelmed. I want to cry everytime I go down there. Seriously. But, I'm trying to take it one step at a time and I do have a plan. I've realized a few things that I think will help our house to run smoother.

1. A high-traffic room with multiple entrances and exits is not a good place for a playroom. Our living room has been the kids' main play area for about the past 6 months or so, and it is almost always strewn with toys. Now, I realize that toy clutter is just part of having young kids, but we often have a hard time walking through the living room. If we're going to have toy clutter, I'd rather it be in a room I didn't have to walk through 20 times a day. So now, the plan is to have our piano, our books (all of them), the couch, recliner, and maybe a desk in the living room. I am going to store almost all the kids' toys in a big closet in our basement. A previous owner had it set up as a darkroom, but Matt has installed shelving in it so that I can box up the toys and have them on shelves. The idea is for the kids to get what they want to play with out of the storage closet, play with it in the basement, and then have a place to put it away when they are done. Or when Mom declares "today the basement is getting cleaned up!!!".

2. I must limit the amount of toys-with-lots-of-small-parts things the kids have access to. Otherwise, the mess gets huge and is overwhelming for them (and me) to pick up. Lucia and Clara have the toy kitchen in their room. Mary Beth and Anna have the wooden stable and horse collection in their room. Little People and a few baby toys in the living room. That's it. All other toys, games, and puzzles are in the basement storage closet. My goal is to be able to pick up any room upstairs in 10 minutes or less.

3. I need to have a place for everything, or else get rid of it or put it in storage. I think we really need a bigger house, but that is not in our near future, so I've got to figure out how to work with the space I have.

I really want to finish the basement this week. The kids can't play down there and I want to finish it so they'll have a nice place to play. I still have to move all of our books upstairs (that's 3 bookshelves full of books!), re-do our filing system, and do lesson planning for our next school year. Oh, and we're going camping with friends in early September!

And if anyone reading this is good at organization and willing to give me some free help, give me a call!

I guess it does look like dirt

2009-08-10T05:55:00.000-07:00

As Matt and I were cleaning up the kitchen a few nights ago, Lucia asked me, "Mom, when are you going to put that dirty stuff in the coffee maker?"

I was confused and asked her, "What dirty stuff?"

Lucia then pointed at the Folger's canister and said, "That dirty stuff."

Sweet and Sauer Kids

2009-07-18T06:59:00.000-07:00

Love Grows Best in Little Places

2009-07-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Last week, Mary Beth and Anna went to Totus Tuus. One afternoon, while Mary Beth and Anna were gone and Clara and Addie were both napping, Lucia said, "I don't like it when it's not crowded! It's too quiet and boring without Mary and Anna!"

Just when I was thinking that our living room is too small for the size of our family. Guess I was wrong!

New Favorite at the Playground

2009-07-10T05:17:00.000-07:00

There's something new at the playground down the street, and my kids love to play on it more than anything else there.

It's not the swings.

It's not the slides.

It's not the monkey bars.

It's....

a pile of dirt.

The kids have even named it: Wichita Peak.

To Read Later...

2009-07-07T06:03:00.000-07:00

I'm out of computer time this morning, but this is going to the top of my list for next time:

I Don't Want to Be a Yelling, Screaming, Crazy Mom

HT: In the Heart of My Home

From Our Garden

2009-07-07T05:51:00.000-07:00

Lost

2009-07-07T05:27:00.000-07:00

The scariest moment of my life occurred when Lucia was 2 1/2 years old and I was 7 months pregnant with Clara. Our family had just returned home from dinner with my in-laws. I was working in the kitchen and the other children were playing when I realized I hadn't seen Lucia in awhile. Knowing that when toddlers are quiet, they are usually making a mess, I went to look for her. When I didn't find Lucia on my first pass through the house, I started to panic, but decided to look again, more carefully this time. I wondered if she had gone out the front door, but the deadbolt was locked when I came to it, so I thought that she couldn't have gone that way. She wasn't on the main floor. She wasn't in the basement. She wasn't in the backyard. Now I was really scared. I thought someone had taken my baby. I was about to call 911 when I flew out the front door in a panic to check the front yard. As I scanned the sidewalks to the east and west of our house, I spotted Lucia, crossing a busy street just west of our home. Two cars were stopped, waiting for her to cross the street. I shouted her name, and ran to get her, but my legs were wobbly and I fell on the driveway right on my big pregnant belly. I got up right away and retrieved my toddler, who was laughing when I scooped her up. I was so happy that I found her, alive and well, that I didn't even think of spanking her for going into the street. I took her back home, and once the adrenaline wore off, I discovered that I had injured my back and scraped up my foot when I fell. I felt the baby kicking, so I thought that she was probably okay.

Lucia had escaped into the front yard because Matt had left the gate to the backyard unlocked when he took our dog out for a walk that evening. Because our yard is fenced in, I let the children go in and out freely. I hadn't noticed Lucia going into the backyard that evening. The next day, Matt installed a chain lock on the front door, out of the reach of little people, and my father-in-law installed a high lock on the backyard sliding door.

Sometime later, I was listening to a talk on EWTN and the speaker said that a woman must search for holiness like she "searches for a lost child." I knew exactly what she meant. When I was searching for my lost Lucia, there was nothing else on my mind but finding her.

Early this morning, I had a bad dream. I dreamt that I couldn't find one of my children. When I woke up, I still felt scared. I went to check on all of them and counted five little heads, peacefully dreaming. And all the doors are locked.

I just realized

2009-07-02T20:46:00.000-07:00

that this is the last year Mary Beth can participate in the Children's Program at the Midwest Catholic Family Conference. Next year, she'll have to go to the Junior High Program. My goodness, is it really only a year until she'll be in junior high school??

My baby is growing up!

The Case of the Missing Flip-Flop

2009-06-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

I spent all day on Monday looking for one of these flip-flops. I cleaned my entire house loooking for it, and guess where I finally found it?

On top of the compost heap outside.

Definitely the strangest place I've every found a missing shoe.

Book Orders--Lucia Edition

2009-06-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

+new purchase
*already own

Lucia

Religion
*The Beginner's Bible
*Little Acts of Grace
*Living the 10 Commandments for Children
*Just Like Mary
*The Mass Book for Children

Language Arts
*Little Stories for Little Folks
*A Home Start in Reading (Part of the 3 R's Series by Ruth Beechick)
+The Writer's Jungle
+Letters and Numbers For Me
*Wood Pieces for Capital Letters
*Laminated Capital Letter Cards
*HWT Slate
Classic children's literature to be listened to during read-aloud time (I haven't picked these yet; we will either borrow books from the library or buy them if they'll take longer than about 6 weeks to read)
+Poetry selections from Favorite Poems Old and New
+The Big Book of Books and Activities

I am also considering the purchase of this Fairy Tale guide from Bravewriter. It is designed to use with ages 4-12 (so I could use it with Mary Beth, Anna, & Lucia) to study fairy tales and offers suggestions for creative writing projects based on fairy tales. All my girls really enjoy fairy tales, and it would be a fun project to work on together.

Math
*MCP Math K
*An Easy Start in Arithmetic

History
Lucia will have the opportunity to listen to living historical fiction which will coincide with Mary Beth's study of early American history

Science
+106 Days of Creation Studies
Nature Study
+Outdoor Secrets
+Hours in the Out-of-Doors

Music
*Wee Sing Bible Songs
*Adoremus Hymnal
*Jubilate Deo

Music Appreciation
Listen to classical music CD's from the library; focus on one composer at a time; listen to music from 4-6 composers over the course of the year

Art
+Draw Write Now Books (I bought book 1 for Lucia)
+Ed Emberley Fingerprint Drawing Book
*Ed Emberley's Drawing Book of Animals

Art Appreciation--Picture Study
Look at art prints and art books from the library; focus on one artist at a time; look at art from 4-6 artists over the course of the year

Mom's Copybook #1

2009-06-30T18:29:00.000-07:00

After a minute's pause she took both my hands in hers, looked inquiringly into my eyes, and said: "Tell me, Maria, which is the most important lesson our old Nonnberg has taught you?"

Without a moment's hesitation I answered, looking fully into the beautiful, dark eyes: "The only important thing on earth for us is to find out what is the Will of God and to do it."

"Even if it is not pleasant, or if it is hard, perhaps very hard?" The hands tightened on mine.

Well now, she means leaving the world and giving up everything and all that, I thought to myself.

"Yes, Reverend Mother, even then, and wholeheartedly, too."

from The Story of the Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp

Book Orders--Anna Edition

2009-06-28T07:03:00.000-07:00

+new purchase
*already own

Anna

Religion
*Faith & Life 2
* CHC Lesson Plans for 2nd Grade--First Communion Supplement
*Patron Saint of First Communicants
*The King of the Golden City
*Bible

Language Arts
*Little Stories for Little Folks
*A Home Start in Reading
+The Writer's Jungle
+Handwriting Without Tears Journal (for copywork)
+Handwriting Without Tears Printing workbook
Classic children's literature to read independently and to be listened to during read-aloud time (I haven't picked these yet; we will either borrow books from the library or buy them if they'll take longer than about 6 weeks to read)
+Poetry selections from Favorite Poems Old and New
* Primary Language Lessons
+The Big Book of Books and Activities

I am also considering the purchase of this Fairy Tale guide from Bravewriter. It is designed to use with ages 4-12 (so I could use it with Mary Beth, Anna, & Lucia) to study fairy tales and offers suggestions for creative writing projects based on fairy tales. All my girls really enjoy fairy tales, and it would be a fun project to work on together.

Math
* Math U See Beta

History
Age-appropriate living historical fiction to coincide with Mary Beth's study of early American history

Science
+106 Days of Creation Studies
Nature Study
+Outdoor Secrets
+Hours in the Out-of-Doors

Music
*Ukulele
*Adoremus Hymnal
*Jubilate Deo

Music Appreciation
Listen to classical music CD's from the library; focus on one composer at a time; listen to music from 4-6 composers over the course of the year

Art
Homeschool Art Class in spring
Draw Write Now Books (I bought books 2, 3, and 5 for Mary Beth; Anna can use these as well to draw pictures to illustrate her history narrations)

Art Appreciation--Picture Study
Look at art prints and art books from the library; focus on one artist at a time; look at art from 4-6 artists over the course of the year

New Look, Same Address

2009-06-26T21:00:00.000-07:00

The colors and layout are different, but the blog address is the same!

I just thought that, since I have 5 girls, it makes sense to have a hot pink blog. :) And I like the play on words in "Sweet and Sauer."

Come back again soon!

Dinosaur!

2009-06-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

Clara loves dinosaurs. I know it's not really typical for little girls to love dinosaurs, but Clara does. We got her a set of play dinosaurs for Christmas and everytime we go to the library, the older girls look for a dinosaur book to check out for her. Clara's favorite books at home are the dinosaur books by Jane Yolen. She amazed us when she was barely 2 years old by saying "dinosaur" and "bucketloader" very clearly. She learned both these words from her beloved dinosaur books by Jane Yolen.

In April, Grandma and Grandpa took the 3 older girls the Kansas City for a Dodge Charger convention (Grandma and Grandpa have a really cool Plum Crazy Dodge Charger with a hemi--all I know is, it's bright purple and it goes fast). While they were in Kansas City, they went out to eat at the T-Rex Cafe, which is a dinosaur themed restaurant. Clara stayed home with me, but they brought a T-Rex Cafe plate back for Clara. Almost all of Clara's meals are served on her dinosaur plate.

This morning, Clara ate her pancakes off the dinosaur plate, then pointed at the dinosaur on the plate and said, "That dinosaur Rex!"

I said, "That's T-Rex!"

Clara: "No, that dinosaur Rex!" Okay. Then she pointed at the letters under the dinosaur picture and said, "Letters!"

I said, "Yes, those are letters!"

Clara (pointing at the R): "That Eeeeee!"

Me: "No, that's R! This is E!"

Clara (pointing at R again): "No, that Eeeee!"

I guess we have some work to do with letter recognition, but hey, she's only 2! I think it's cool that she recognized that the plate had letters on it!

The Joy of Having a 10-Year Old

2009-06-25T20:29:00.000-07:00

With the weather being so hot, the sprinkler has been a pretty popular backyard activity at our house lately. Last night, the 4 older girls all donned their swimsuits and went outside to play in the sprinkler after dinner. I sat down in our comfy recliner to nurse Addie in relative peace and quiet. After awhile, the girls started to get cold and wanted to come inside. As Clara headed towards the door, I saw that her left leg was covered in mud. It looked like she had stepped in mud that went up to her hip! I sighed and went to put Addie down and go outside and hose Clara off so she wouldn't track all that mud inside on my beautiful 20-year-old carpet. I knew that Addie would probably wake up and then cry the whole time I was outside hosing Clara off. But, before I could put Addie down, Mary Beth went and disconnected the hose from the sprinkler and hosed Clara off herself! I was so thankful! I sat back down with Addie and cuddled and nursed her some more.

Mary Beth is such a big help. She is growing into a lovely little lady and I am so proud and thankful for her!

Cute Game

2009-06-17T20:45:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Emily for this game. Here are the rules:

1. Open the fourth picture folder on your computer
2. Select the fourth picture in the folder
3. Post the picture to your blog & explain the picture
4. Tag 4 people to do the same

Here's my pic:

This picture was taken on Mardi Gras (which was in early February) in 2008. I had made a King Cake to celebrate and there was some leftover cake on the plate on the counter. Clara (who was about 15 months old) climbed up on the stepstool and helped herself to some more cake!

Here are the 4 people I'm tagging:

1. Dan & Serena

2. Phoebe

3. Jessica

4. Janet

Book Orders--Mary Beth Edition

2009-05-26T22:43:00.000-07:00

I finally decided to put together my own course of study for each of my children for the next school year instead of buying lesson plans or enrolling with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy again. I have bought lesson plans, in one form or another, every year I've homeschooled and I have always felt burned out 6 weeks into the school year. Every year, I come back to Charlotte Mason's ideas about education and little by little I have implemented some of her ideas in my homeschool. My good friend, Emily asked me to post a run-down of my homeschool book order on my blog. This book order reflects my attempt to create a Charlotte Mason education for my children.

I haven't finished planning the year out yet, so there are some "holes" waiting to be filled in. I'll make a separate post for each of my children, listing the books I've bought this year (or already have and plan to use) for each subject I'll be teaching. Some things will be listed more than once, as there are several resources that I will be using with all my children together.

+new purchase
*already own

Mary Beth

Religion
+Friends, Boys, and Getting Along
+Mirror, Mirror On the Wall
*Faith and Life 4
Read saints' biographies (I haven't picked which ones yet. I will likely need to buy these)
*Bible

Language Arts
+The Writer's Jungle
+Simply Grammar
+Spelling Wisdom, Book 2
+Handwriting Without Tears Journal (for copywork and dictation)
Classic children's literature to read independently and to be listened to during read-aloud time (I haven't picked these yet either; we will either borrow books from the library or buy them if they'll take longer than about 6 weeks to read)
+Poetry selections from Favorite Poems Old and New
+The Big Book of Books and Activities

Math
* Math U See Delta

History
+Mother of Divine Grace 4th Grade Syllabus (I'll be using the American History portion)
+The Catholic Faith Comes to the Americas
+Our Pioneers and Patriots
+Evangelization and the New World
+Turning Back the Pages of Time
Living historical fiction
Book of Centuries

Science
+Considering God's Creation
Nature Study
+Outdoor Secrets
+Hours in the Out-of-Doors

Music
Violin lessons
*Adoremus Hymnal
*Jubilate Deo

Music Appreciation
Listen to classical music CD's from the library; focus on one composer at a time; listen to music from 4-6 composers over the course of the year

Art
Homeschool Art Class in spring
Draw Write Now Books (I bought books 2, 3, and 5 for Mary Beth; she can use these to draw pictures to illustrate her history narrations or her Book of Centuries)

Art Appreciation--Picture Study
Look at art prints and art books from the library; focus on one artist at a time; look at art from 4-6 artists over the course of the year

A New Creation in Christ

2009-03-23T07:39:00.000-07:00

Still a Nervous Mom

2009-03-13T13:08:00.000-07:00

Addie seems to have caught the same runny nose that everyone else in this house has. I've been putting saline drops in her nose to help loosen up the mucus and then sucking it out with a bulb syringe. But, last night, she woke up fussy in the wee hours of the morning, and wouldn't latch on. I suspected an earache. I took her temperature later that morning and it was 100.1! Whoa! I called the doctor's office right away and they told me to bring her right in.

So, I rushed Addie to the doctor's office, and her temperature was normal there! The PA checked her out; her ears weren't infected, her lungs were clear, and she wasn't dehydrated. Her nose was just a little congested. He thought that maybe Addie was just overdressed and that's why her temperature was high. He suggested that next time I got a high temperature reading, to undress her a little, wait a minute, then take her temperature again. He also suggested that I take a rectal temperature (yuck) to get a more accurate reading. I have never subjected any of my children to rectal temperature-taking, but I suppose I might have to now!

I felt really silly for rushing Addie to the doctor for a "fever" that was apparently caused by me putting too many clothes and blankets on her! I guess that even after having 5 babies, I'm still a nervous new mother.

Baby Notes

2009-03-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

Addie had her 2-week check-up today with our family doctor's PA. She's gained 10oz. since last Friday, bringing her weight up to 7lbs., 13oz.!! Grow, baby, grow!

Her umbilical cord fell off a few days ago, so tonight she had her first bath. And she actually liked it! I think she's the first baby I've had who didn't scream during her first bath!

Clara found the scissors I use for snipping yarn while I'm knitting and snipped the border of the blanket I knit for Addie. :( Thankfully, I think I can fix it. I'll have to take out the border on one side and knit it over again.

I bought a new pattern for baby booties and some yarn to knit them with today. I'll be working on those for Addie's baptism, which is a week from Sunday.

In other news, I'm looking at next year and researching curriculum for Mary Beth, Anna, and Lucia, who will be in Kindergarten. Right now, I'm leaning heavily towards designing my own Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum by pulling from various different sources. I've wanted to do this for years, but I've always chickened out and bought lesson plans out of the fear that I might miss something important.

11 Days Old

2009-03-11T16:17:00.001-07:00

Mary Beth's First Written Narration

2009-03-10T19:47:00.000-07:00

We started back to school this week and today, Mary Beth composed her first written narration! Charolotte Mason did not expect written narrations from her students until they were about 10 years old. Up until that time, students were to give oral narrations. I started asking Mary Beth to give oral narrations when she was about 6 years old and she has become very good at it. Today, before I read the girls their catechism lesson, I told them that I would be asking for narrations from each of them. Usually, I read the catechism lesson a section at a time (usually a few paragraphs long) and Mary Beth and Anna take turns narrating. Today, Mary Beth asked if she could write her narration down. I said yes, and read the lesson to the girls, stopping after each section so that Anna could give an oral narration. Here is the written narration Mary Beth turned in. The only editing I did was to fix 2 mispelled words that wouldn't have made sense if I had left them alone.

Joseph Goes to Egypt

Jacob had 12 sons. Josephs mothers name was Rachel. Josephs brothers hated him because Israel loved him more. One day Israel sent Joseph to go and check on others. When he came to them, they stripped off his robe and threw him in a dry well. Sometime later they saw some merchents going to Egypt. So they gave him to them, and they dipped his coat in goat's blood, and took it to Jacob and said "Father Joseph was killed by a wild beast. All what we found was his coat"! But Joseph was safe because God was with him. And he got in to jail for a crime he did not commit. But after 2 long years, he finally got out. Pharoh had a dream and Joseph explained his dreams.

The End
A narraition
M.E.S. = Mary Elizabeth Sauer

Addie on Her Blanket

2009-03-06T12:31:00.000-08:00

I didn't quite finish it before she was born, but all the knitting is done now. All I have to do is weave in the ends!

Nursing Notes

2009-03-06T12:15:00.000-08:00

I took Addie in for a weight check today, just to be sure that she is gaining weight. When she was 24 hours old, she was weighed at the hospital and she was 6lbs., 13oz. The doctor said that the weight loss was about 6% of her birthweight, and that she could lose up to 10% before he got concerned. I anxiously monitored her wet and poopy diapers over the next couple of days. Before my milk came in, on the night following her birth, she wanted to nurse almost non-stop for over 12 hours. I didn't remember my other babies doing this, so I called a good friend who is a La Leche League Leader for reassurance. She reassured me that I was doing all the right things and that everything was probably fine. My milk started to come in later that day (the 2nd day after the birth) and it noticeably increased in volume on the 3rd day. I could hear Addie swallowing during her feedings and she seemed more alert. The next day we saw more wet diapers and the familiar yellow, loose poopy diapers of a breastfed baby.

Addie has continued to nurse very frequently (although not in a non-stop fashion) and is producing at least a dozen poopy diapers a day. At her weight check today, she weighed in at 7lbs., 3oz! She is almost back up to her birthweight already!

Settling In

2009-03-03T19:27:00.000-08:00

We came home from the hospital on Sunday afternoon and have been doing nothing except resting and nursing.

Addie is a great nurser. She caught on right away and nursed for almost an hour after she was born. She continued to nurse very frequently over the next few days and now my milk has come in. :) Today, she has produced many wet and poopy diapers, thus relieving me of my fears that breastfeeding might not work this time. I'm taking her into the doctor for a quick weight check on Friday just to be sure she is gaining weight, but the number of wet and poopy diapers she produced today, combined with the swallowing noises I hear when she nurses tell me that breastfeeding is going just fine.

The other girls came home from Grandma and Grandpa's house today. We were all ready to be reunited. I was really missing the kids and they were homesick. The house is too quiet without them, although it was really nice to get to rest and nurse without any distractions for a couple of days. I was a bit sleep deprived for a few days after the delivery and I really needed a few quiet days. Addie has been passed from sister to sister several times now and they all just adore her. I was a little worried that Clara might not like her, but even Clara wanted to "hold Addie."

The plan for the rest of the week is more resting and nursing, with a doctor's visit on Friday and Mass on Sunday. I'm almost finished with the blanket I've been knitting. I just need to knit the border on one side, then weave in the ends and I'll be finished. I may work on that, too. Next week, we'll ease back into some schoolwork, very, very gently.

Everyone is in bed now and Addie has fallen asleep in the sling, so I'm off to "sleep when the baby sleeps." (which is the best piece of new-baby advice I've EVER received!)

Announcement

2009-02-28T10:16:00.001-08:00

I think I'm ready now

2009-02-16T20:22:00.000-08:00

Today, I went shopping for a few last-minute items for baby and me. I met my mom at Babies R Us and we bought a going-home/hospital pictures outfit and a few other outfits, too, since the Carter's clothes were buy 1, get one 50% off. ;-) We also bought some new baby towels and baby booties. The baby towels I have are 10 years old and are literally threadbare. I think I got my money's worth out of those! I also bought a new Boppy pillow cover. This one matches my living room color scheme. :)

For myself, I bought a new pair of pretty pajamas, some warm, soft socks, a pair of maternity pants, some clothes to wear home from the hospital, and a couple of sleep nursing bras. I like to wear pajama pants and a shirt in the hospital--I feel kind of exposed in a nursing nightgown. The soft warm socks are kind of an indulgence for me. I just like soft socks. I'm down to 2 pairs of maternity pants that still fit comfortably, so I went ahead and bought another pair of pants for these last couple of weeks. They were on clearance for $6. Woot!

I've always found packing for the hospital to be a bit of a challenge because, well, at the end of pregnancy, my wardrobe is getting pretty limited and I NEED all my clothes! I'm down to just a few outfits that still fit me comfortably. I don't really want to buy more maternity clothes because I'm only going to be pregnant for a few more weeks, at the most. This time, I thought I would buy some regular clothes in a bigger size to pack in my bag. That way, I don't feel like I'm wasting money on clothes that will only be worn a few weeks AND I don't have to pack maternity clothes that I still need to have in my closet! :) As a bonus, the regular clothes I bought were on the clearance rack, too! $6 for a pair of stretchy black pants, $6 for a shirt, and $5 for another shirt. Am I a bargain shopper or what?!

As I was walking (or should I say "waddling") through the mall tonight, I passed Victoria's Secret. There was a huge poster in the window of a woman in a bikini swimsuit. I looked at her "perfect" body and thought, "You know, I wouldn't trade places with her for anything in the world." I suddenly felt so very grateful for my very pregnant frame. My body is announcing a new life by the very way it looks right now! I feel so blessed (and yet so unworthy at the same time) to be entrusted with another precious soul.

As I finished my shopping and packed my bag tonight, I thought about the little girl we will bring home in just a few weeks. I wonder what she will look like. Will she have hair? How much will she weigh? And, oh, I'm looking forward to that newborn smell!

Right now, I'm ready to rest and wait with a peaceful heart. My bag is packed, except for the toiletries that I'll throw in once I know I'm in labor. The baby things are washed and put away. All that she needs now is for her mother to be well-rested and at peace. She won't care if all the books are perfectly organized or if the inside shelves of my cabinets have new shelf paper. All that will get done eventually. What matters to her and to the rest of my family is that I spend these last weeks calm and happy, enjoying things the way they are and looking forward to what is to come.

37 Weeks Pregnant

2009-02-15T20:18:00.001-08:00

We're almost there!

I love this blog post

2009-02-12T19:49:00.000-08:00

To The Ladies Still Waiting by Elizabeth Foss at In the Heart of My Home.

Elizabeth's 9th baby, Sarah Anne, was born 6 weeks early by emergency C-section because of placenta previa. In this blog post, she offers some advice on enjoying the last weeks of pregnancy.

Pregnancy Report--37 Weeks

2009-02-12T18:56:00.000-08:00

Things have been kind of quiet here at Water into Wine for the past month. I'm preparing to welcome our new baby, and that has left me with very little time and energy for blogging. I usually have my Internet time in the early morning before the kids are awake or in the evening after they go to bed. I've been needing that time for extra sleep for me, lately. :) So, my computer time has been reduced to mostly a quick daily email check.

I am 37 weeks along now, which is considered full-term. This remains the easiest pregnancy I have every experienced. While I am a little tired, I have still been able to keep up with my daily duties for the most part. Everything is almost ready for the baby. There's no way I'm going to get everything on that nesting list done, but she has a place to sleep, and her clothes and diapers are washed. My bedroom looks nice and all the children's toys are now organized. :) Tomorrow, I plan to wash receiving blankets and burp cloths. I also plan to bring the car seat upstairs and clean it and to set up the Pack and Play this weekend. I still haven't bought a going-home outfit, but the plan is to go shopping with my mom for that on Saturday. I still need to pack my suitcase for the hospital and to make sure my emergency birth kit is stocked. However, I know from past experience that I won't really need anything in my suitcase until AFTER the birth. Everything is ready enough for me to go into labor now. I think maybe I should at least put some towels in the car, so I have something to dry the baby off with if she's born en route to the hospital.

I am looking forward to meeting our new baby, yet growing a little tired of being pregnant. Today, I realized that I would miss being pregnant once our baby is born. I know I'll miss feeling baby roll and kick inside me and the way my belly looks when it's big and round. Since I don't know what the future holds, I'm trying to remember that this could be our last baby and to savor every moment.

At my doctor's appointment today, my blood pressure was good, baby's heart rate was good, and my Group B Strep test was negative. I've been having some contractions and feeling more pelvic pressure, but I know that I'll have lots of "practice runs" before labor really starts. The doctor offered to check my cervix for effacement and dilation, but I declined. Even if I am already dilated and effaced a little, it won't tell me anything about when labor will start.

So, all systems are "go"! Now, I'll just finish up the last of what really needs to be done and continue with life as usual until Delivery Day!

Making Progress...

2009-01-16T05:23:00.000-08:00

Here is what the baby blanket looks like so far. I've knit 3 rows of 7 squares each. Only 6 more to go!

It's Really Hard to Pick Godparents...

2009-01-11T20:03:00.001-08:00

when you have as many good Catholic friends as we do.

Decisions, decisions!

33 Weeks & 4 Kids

2009-01-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

I've been bugging Matt to take a belly shot of me for weeks now. He had a cute idea for a photo that involved all the kids touching my belly. I had to bribe Clara with a cookie to get her to stand in front of me.

Less than 2 months to go now!

New Baby's Blanket

2009-01-08T17:55:00.000-08:00

The first few squares of the Piggy Back Squares baby blanket I'm knitting for our new baby! I actually finished the first row of 7 squares today. The finished size will be 7 squares wide by 9 squares high, so only 8 more rows to go!

When I originally ordered the yarn, I had wanted a different color, but it was on backorder and wasn't available until the end of January. I needed to start knitting sooner, so I picked a different color. I ended up choosing the same color that the sample blanket in this picture was knit with, which is Encore Colorspun 7065. I knit a blanket for Clara out of another color of Encore Colorspun and I just loved working with that yarn. It's 75% acrylic and 25% wool, machine washable and dryable and very soft. The yarn is variegated, but there is a lot of each color before it changes to another color, so you end up with nice stripes, instead of the splotchy look that is common with many other variegated yarns.

I think I will easiliy be able to finish this blanket before my due date. I'm hoping to have time to knit a little pair of booties and maybe a bonnet, too!

Why December Was a Slow Blogging Month, Part 2

2009-01-08T05:14:00.001-08:00

Matt's grandmother, Rose, passed away on December 29, 2008. Her death ended a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. When Matt and I married 10 years ago, she was beginning to show signs of the disease, and I am told that even then, she was not the same grandma that Matt grew up with. At her Rosary, I heard a few stories about her the way she used to be. When my father-in-law, Kenny, was a boy, he and his brother were practicing high jumping in the backyard. Rose came out and high-jumped with them.

One thing that really inspired me was the way Rose's husband, Connie, cared for her throughout her illness. He has cancer himself and has become quite frail, but he continued to take care of her himself in their home up until about a week before her death. Before she died, she was not able to care for herself in any way. She had to be sponge-bathed, taken to the bathroom, and could not be left alone, but she could not easily be taken out of the house, either. She did nothing but lie on the couch and slept most of the day. Connie and Rose were both homebound. Yet, he continued to lovingly take care of her until he physically could not do it anymore. This man has only an 8th grade education, yet he knew what authentic love required of him. He knew that he had promised to love Rose "in sickness and in health" 60 years ago, and he kept that promise. I hope that I can do as well as he did.

Rest in peace, Grandma Rose.

Grandma Rose, with her namesake, Anna Rose

Why December Was a Slow Blogging Month, Part 1

2009-01-06T06:13:00.000-08:00

We have a new nephew!! Anthony James was born to my sister and her husband on December 11. He is super cute and looks just like his daddy. I hope the poor kid likes to be held, because my girls just LOVE to hold babies!

Congratulations, Meghan and Jason!

Time to Nest

2009-01-05T07:13:00.000-08:00

The holidays are over and now it's time to get ready for baby! I have a list as long as my arm of things I'd like to do before baby is born, but when I looked at the calendar and saw that I have less than 10 weeks until my due date, I realized that I would probably not get it all done. I suppose that what I would really like is for my home to look like something out of the pages of Better Homes and Gardens, to finish de-cluttering the basement, closets, and garage, to have a freezer stocked full of frozen meals, a month or more of lesson plans already typed out, to knit several baby items, and to have all the furniture moved around and baby clothes washed.

That's a little over-ambitious of me. Especially considering that I would have to do all that in addition to my regular work of housekeeping, child care, and homeschooling. I'm also starting to feel very big and pregnant. :) In trying to prioritize "the list" so that I can focus on what is most important, here is what I came up with:

1. De-clutter and re-organize master bedroom closet so I can store cloth diapers and bath towels there. (Scheduled to be done this week and next)

2. Finish painting bathroom, replace sinks & faucets, install new light fixture & medicine cabinet, install over-the-toilet cabinet & towel bars. (Matt promises that he'll get this done as a birthday present for me :))

3. Move dressers around in master bedroom and put together crib.

4. Hang pictures (I have pictures that are still in boxes from when we moved here 3 years ago. I at least want to hang up pictures in our living room and master bedroom)

4. Knit a baby blanket (I got the pattern and the yarn, now I'm working on getting the right gauge.)

5. Freeze meals. (I'm planning to double at least one meal a week between now and my due date to put in our freezer. I'm also stashing away money to make 6 meals at Dream Dinners.)

6. Wash baby clothes and cloth diapers.

7. Clean off baby swing, bouncy seat, car seat etc.

8. Shop for a going-home outfit for baby. :) (My mom and I are going shopping some weekend this month for that :))

9. Pack an emergency birth kit. (I tend to have fast labors, so it gives me peace of mind to be prepared to birth at home or even in the car)

10. Prepare daily and weekly chore lists for the children and me. (This is to make it easier for Matt to take over while I recover after the birth. I've done the daily chore list and I'm working on implementing it with the children. Next, the weekly chore list)

11. Do a few deep-cleaning projects: I'd really like to wash down all my wood cabinets with Murphey's Oil Soap, clean out all my cabinets and drawers and re-line them with fresh shelf paper, clean the carpets with the steam cleaner, and give the car a thourough cleaning.

I know that my list is still a little over-ambitious, but I think it's good for me to keep busy and have lots of things to do, especially at the end of pregnancy. It will help me keep my mind off when labor is going to start. Baby will come whether "the list" is done or not. :) Most important is to have the furniture moved around and the baby clothes washed and ready. I am sure that at least that will get done. I am so looking forward to meeting our newest little girl!

Show Me The Yarn!!

2008-12-28T07:29:00.000-08:00

On it's way....

The pattern to knit this baby blanket

And the yarn to knit it with. I ordered 7333 (pink, purple, turquoise, and white)

Oh, I can hardly wait!

Don't Start....

2008-12-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening, as we sat in the drive-thru waiting for our food, I closed my eyes and sighed. It had been kind of a rough day and I was breathing a sigh of relief. Matt looked at me and said, "Are you having a CONTRACTION?? Are you in LABOR??"

Me: Uh, no. I'm only at 30 weeks. Way too early for labor.

Matt: Oh. You looked relaxed, like you were breathing through a contraction.

Me: It's way to early to start asking me if I'm having contractions yet! I've still got 10 weeks to go before I even get to my due date! And I'm usually late!

DO NOT START ASKING ME IF I'VE HAD THE BABY YET! I HAVEN'T! SHE'S GOING TO STAY PUT FOR AT LEAST 10 MORE WEEKS (PROBABLY)!

It makes me crazy when people start acting surprised to see me "still pregnant" before I even get tp my due date. So, if you love me, please, please, please, I'm begging you, don't ask me if I've had the baby yet. Not until about March 15th. If you need to ask a question, ask me if I need you to clean my bathroom or bring a meal over for my freezer. :) Or ask me how I'm feeling. Or ask me what name we have finally picked out for our new baby girl. :) I promise that either Matt or I will post at the first opportunity once baby has safely arrived.

5 Thing Meme

2008-12-08T22:19:00.000-08:00

Emily, over at her Christmas-y blog, tagged me for this game!

The "5 THINGS GAME"

The rules are to write 5 things under each of the 5 headings, and then tag 5 other people.

10 years ago...
1. I was newly married.
2. I was pregnant.
3. I was working part-time and going to school full-time.
4. I was Methodist...
5. But I had started attending Mass with Matt once or twice a week.

5 Things on Today's "To-Do" List...
1. Clean the bathroom (partially done)
2. Clean the kitchen floor (didn't happen)
3. Attend Mass (done)
4. Go to the lab in the morning for a glucose tolerance test and then feel blah for the rest of the day because I didn't get to eat any breakfast until after 10:30am (done)
5. Fold and put away clean laundry (4 out of 5 loads folded and put away)

5 Snacks I Enjoy...
1. Mint chocolate chip ice cream
2. Fried mozzarella sticks
3. Spoonful of peanut butter
4. Chips and salsa
5. Chips and guacamole

5 Things I Would Do if I were a Millionaire

1. Buy some land in the country,
2. Build a house on it
3. And start a small sheep farm. :)
4. Fully fund a 3-6 months living expenses emergency fund
5. Fully fund college funds for our children

5 Places I Have Lived...

1. Lafayette, Louisiana
2. Kansas, with my parents
3. Kansas, with Matt in our 1st apartment
4. Kansas, with Matt in our 1st house
5. Kansas, with Matt in our present house

5 Jobs I've had/Still have...
1. Burger King
2. Sales associate at Camelot Music
3. Student representative at WSU Westside Center
4. Soloist/section leader at Epworth United Methodist Church
5. Waitress at Chili's

Thankfully, I am not still working in any of those jobs. :)

Okay.. now I am tagging 5 friends...
1. Phoebe
2. Serena & Dan
3. Jessica
4. Jaime (I'll have to paste in her web address later--can't find it right now)
5. Lisa

Wahooo!

2008-12-04T21:14:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it...it's finally happened...after over 3 years of waiting....

Matt is going to 1st shift!!!!

Instead of going to work at 2:30pm and getting off at 11pm (or 3am if he's working overtime), he'll go in at 6:30am and get off at 3pm (or 7pm for overtime). We will actually be able to have "couple time" in the evenings again instead of only on the weekends or on scheduled date nights. We'll also be able to be together as a family in the evenings--every evening--without sacrificing "school" time.

He will likely have days off during the week (instead of the weekend off), but he'll be home in the afternoon or evening (if he has to work overtime). The only downside is that he will occasionally have to go in early (3am) for overtime. Sunday Mass is going to be a challenge, too. We'll either have to go on Saturday night (as long as he isn't working overtime), try to go to the 5:30pm or 7pm Mass across town on Sunday evening, or I may have to take the kids by myself some weekends (like if he ends up working 6:30am to 7pm both Saturday and Sunday). Actually, I'd probably just make sure some grandparents or an aunt could sit with us if I had to take the kids by myself. That would work.

I am so relieved. It will be so nice to be on the same schedule again. I'm also looking forward to him being home in the evenings. It can be a bit wild around here at bedtime with only me to clean up after dinner, supervise baths, brush teeth, and read stories.

Thank you, God!!

P.S. If any of you ever have a choice, don't work 2nd shift!

10 Years

2008-11-20T17:11:00.000-08:00

Happy anniversary, dearling.

Christmas and Budgeting

2008-11-18T19:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas is just around the corner. In an effort to really live within our means this year and stay on a budget, Matt and I sat down together a few Saturdays ago and planned out how we would spend the money we set aside for gift-giving. It was a grueling discussion. We have been setting aside money regularly for gifts and I thought that the sum we had saved would give us plenty of buying power. But, when I wrote out a list of all the people I really wanted to give gifts to, and how much the gifts I was thinking of buying cost, well, we didn't have quite as much buying power as we thought. In fact, we had a lot less buying power than we thought.

When we made our list this year, we included all those things that snuck up on us last year:
Postage for mailing Christmas cards
Gifts for stockings
Supplies for making homemade gifts
St. Nicholas Day gifts
Other "wants," like a few new books to read on the many feast days during Advent
Craft supplies for Advent and Christmas crafts
Money to buy a gift for a needy family

We had to make some tough decisions. I will have to put off buying books about St. Lucia Day until next year. The crafts we do will have to be low-cost or no-cost crafts. And I will be making most of the gifts our children's godparents and aunts and uncles receive. I am really thankful that gas is less expensive now. That will make it easier to drive around town for various activities. For us, here is what "living within our means" looks like for Christmas:

1 nice gift for each of our children to open on Christmas day
Portraits of each child and a family portrait for grandparents and great-grandparents
Homemade gifts for godparents, aunts, uncles, and friends (I'm not saying what since I know you guys read this blog!)
A small cash gift for our niece and nephews
Postage for 50 Christmas cards (let's hope I can get them addressed and sent out this year!)
A gift for a needy family
Candy and maybe some inexpensive, small gifts for the children on St. Nicholas Day
Candy for the childrens' stockings
No new books for Advent reading this year (unless I can find them used for a really good price)
A few carefully chosen low-cost or no-cost Advent crafts and activities

I am really glad that Matt and I took the time to plan our Christmas spending this year. Now, I know exactly how much money I have to spend on craft supplies and supplies for homemade gifts. I won't go to the store and toss things into the cart without thinking about how much they cost. I know beforehand that we just don't have the money to buy the books I'm interested in, and that's okay. I'd rather wait a little while to buy them and pay cash for them knowing that it is within our budget. I actually feel really empowered, because this year, we are telling our money what to do before we spend it, rather than just writing a check or swiping a card and then figuring out how to pay for it all afterwards. We won't have a finanical hangover in January. :) I'll be able to turn my attention to preparing for our newest blessing instead of worrying about credit card bills or a depleted savings account.

Pregnancy Report--25 Weeks

2008-11-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

I saw my doctor again on Monday. Baby is growing and the third trimester is just weeks away. My doctor gave me the pre-admission paperwork for the hospital at our visit and mentioned that he'd start seeing me every 2 weeks next month. I can't believe it's already almost time to start going in every 2 weeks! This baby will be here before we know it!

Doctor measured my uterus at 32 cm, so baby is growing well. When it came time to listen to her heartbeat, he could only find it through her umbilical cord. He searched and searched all over my belly, but could not find baby's heart. Finally, he got out the sonogram machine because he just had to see where baby was. She was stretched out from side-to-side across the very top of my uterus. This was no big surprise to me, as I've been feeling her little jabs in my ribs quite often. Doctor also looked at baby's bottom and confirmed the sonogram's verdict of "girl." She is still un-named, though. I guess Matt will have to actually see her before he'll admit that Alice should be her name. I think that baby's hiding from the doctor during a prenatal appointment sounds like something an Alice would do, don't you? I keep thinking of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. That girl was a bit ornery. :)

I'll try to post another belly shot this week. I'm getting quite the baby bump!

Help me pick a middle name?

2008-11-09T20:21:00.001-08:00

Matt and I have a boy's name picked out--just in case the sonogram is wrong.

But, still no girl name.

I like Alice a lot, but I need a middle name to go with it. The middle name must be a Marian name. All our girls have either a first or middle name that somehow refers to Mary.

Mary Elizabeth
Anna Rose (after Mary, the Mystical Rose)
Lucia Grace (after Our Lady of Grace)
Clara Joy (after Our Lady, Cause of Our Joy)

I thought Alice Marie sounded nice, but Matt doesn't like it. He also doesn't like Alice Hope, Alice Faith, or Alice Charity (well, I don't like that one either).

Any ideas?

A Charlotte Mason Quarter

2008-11-09T17:17:00.000-08:00

As we prepare to start our 2nd Quarter this school year, I decided to try to plan my children's lessons using Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy. I have been interested in Miss Mason's ideas for years now, but I have been vascillating back and forth between Miss Mason's ideas and a more traditional school-at-home approach. This quote that I found in Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion describes my struggle perfectly:

We have placed our hopes in what can be seen, measured, graphed, reported, and compared. We want visible signs of an infinitely complex, invisible reality. As educators we have listened to our fears and have sacrificed education to the god of security. Charlotte Mason can inspire us, but cannot give us what we must become ourselves--people of faith.

I implement her ideas for awhile, then become afraid that I'm not doing enough. After all, there are not pages of worksheets and written tests to prove that my children have been learning something. Oral narration, which is the cornerstone of the Charlotte Mason method, produces no tangible evidence of education (unless, of course, Mom types out the young child's narrations on the computer).

So, I pick some program with lesson plans, because it's easier to have someone else plan out my year for me, right? Things go well for awhile, then I start to miss the beauty...the nature walks, the picture study, music lessons, poetry, crafts. The things that get pushed out of the schedule in order to cover everything in those all-important lesson plans. But, having time to experience and share beauty with my children was one of the reasons I was attracted to home-schooling in the first place! When it takes all morning and a good part of the afternoon to get through the professionaly prepared lesson plans, there is no time for nature walks and crafts. By 3:00pm, I feel exhausted and there is still the work that must be done in running my household and taking care of the needs of my small children (without my husband's help, as he is at work by this point in the day and will not be home until after 11:00pm). As it is now, I am going from one thing to the next all day long. I know I won't be able to keep us this pace much longer. I can barely keep it up now. So, it's time to re-evaluate and come up with a new plan. A plan that this pregnant mother of 4 can do.

After delving back into Charlotte Mason's philosophy, here is what I came up with as a starting point. I figure I can add more later, if time and energy permit.

Go back to oral narration for history, religion, literature, and science. No more comprehension questions!

Go back to short lessons. 10-15 minutes long for Anna, no more than 20 minutes long for Mary Beth. Read-aloud times are an exception. My children have pretty long attention spans when it comes to listening to me read out loud.

Use good literature, copywork and dictation for Mary Beth's language arts study (except spelling, which Matt insists that I teach as a separate subject. Okay...I've got a workbook that's working pretty well for that and Mary Beth can do it pretty independently).

Set aside time for poetry reading on Fridays

Set aside Saturday morning for nature walks (yay!) or indoor science experiments if the weather is bad. Begin a nature notebook with the children.

Set aside time on Saturday afternoon for Eucharistic Adoration--because religion is a relationship with the Lord, not just a class.

Add more reading aloud to our official school time and count it as school! I'm going to try reading a play from The Complete Tales From Shakespeare by Charles Lamb.

Plan our school schedule to last from 9am to 12pm. Afternoons free for crafts, music practice, play, and rest (for Mom).

Plan about 45 minutes of work for each hour block of time. This leaves time for transitions and interruptions. If a child finishes her work early, she can use the rest of the hour however she wishes.

Plan our week so that our days off coincide with Matt's days off. This means that our school week will run from Tuesday to Saturday.

Here is the weekly schedule I've sketched out so far.

Tuesday
9-10: Math, Chapter Book (Anna), Independent Reading (Mary Beth), Math Facts practice

10-11: Phonics (Anna), Spelling (Mary Beth), Religion, Penmanship

11-12: Copywork/Dictation, Music, History

Wednesday
9-10: Math, Aesop's Fable (Anna), Independent Reading (Mary Beth), Math Facts practice

10-11: Phonics (Anna), Spelling (Mary Beth), Saint Story, Penmanship

11-12: Copywork/Dictation, Music, History

Thursday
9-10: Math, Chapter Book (Anna), Independent Reading (Mary Beth), Math Facts practice

10-11: Phonics (Anna), Spelling (Mary Beth), Shakespeare, Penmanship

11-12: Copywork/Dictation, Music, History

Friday
9-10: Math, Poetry, Math Facts practice

10-11: Phonics (Anna), Spelling (Mary Beth), Science, Penmanship

11-12: Copywork/Dictation, Art, Map Work or Book of Centuries

Saturday
Morning: Nature walk or science experiment
Afternoon: Eucharistic Adoration

Tomorrow I finish making out weekly assignment sheets for the next two weeks and get our school area back in order, which means clearing out the workbooks we won't be using and gathering up all the stray books and papers from all over the house. On Tuesday, it's back to school with the new plan. :)

Let's be clear, shall we?

2008-11-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

I think this quote stands on its own...

But let's be clear for the record, shall we? Not once, in the history of the human race - NOT ONCE! - has a group of humans separated another group from their rights as persons, and been right. NOT ONCE! In fact, the people who voided other's personhood - the others being Jews, women, Native Americans, blacks - have all been judged by history as being among humanity's most vile and evil of groups. . .

Don't kid yourself. Abortion ain't just one more issue on the horizon anymore than slavery was in the 19th Century, or anti-Semitism in Germany in the 1930's. There were certainly other issues in 1858. There were economic problems and international disputes - but the truth is, today, we remember none of those other issues. Slavery was the DEFINING issue in the same way that abortion is today because the failure of a person to have a gut-wrenching horror over both slavery and abortion, reveals everything about the quality, insight and wisdom of that individual. Myself, I am not going to see my name on the rolls of history's dupes alongside the slavery question's Steven Douglas who found a political rationalization to support keeping black people as slaves. He was wrong then. You and your ridiculous Obama are wrong today.

from Barbara Nicolosi's blog post "An Open Letter About Being a 'One-Issue' Voter" (before you click on the link, be warned, the post contains a graphic image of an aborted baby)

HT: Michele at The Family-Centered Life

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-05T19:42:00.000-08:00

This place was more than "just" a pumpkin patch.

They had a huge slide,

The three little pigs,

a zip line,

a hay fort (my kids seemed to enjoy this the most)

A barrel train ride for the littles,

A tractor-pulled wagon ride for the rest of us,

And, of course, the pumpkin patch! Everyone got to choose her own pumpkin. From the littlest...

to the middle-sized (who thought she could carry a pumpkin that weighed almost as much as she did)...

to the Mommy!

Later that week, I bought a big package of acrylic paints and the kids painted faces on their pumpkins. I'll post some a picture of their painted pumpkins soon...

We had a lot of fun and it was a welcome break from our daily schedule. I took this week off to re-vamp our lesson plans and make some changes. I think my motto should be "revise, revise, revise..."

Food for Thought

2008-11-05T19:32:00.000-08:00

“Compassion, my dear Brothers, is preferable to cleanliness. Reflect that with a little soap I can easily clean my bed covers, but even with a torrent of tears I would never wash from my soul the stain that my harshness toward the unfortunate would create.”

--St. Martin DePorres spoken to his Dominican brothers when admonished for bringing an elderly, dirty beggar off the streets and allowing him to take the saint’s own bed while he cared for the sick man.

Things You Should Not Say to Pregnant Women

2008-10-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

I've talked to a couple of pregnant women lately who have shared some jaw-dropping comments from strangers and co-workers. It's hard to believe how rude some people can be when talking to a pregnant woman. It seems as though some people believe that seeing a round, pregnant belly gives them the license to say things that they really shouldn't. Here are a few things you really should not say to a pregnant woman:

1. "Wow! You're really big!" It would be rude to say this to someone who isn't pregnant. It is just as rude to say it to someone who is. Variations on this comment include: "Have you got twins in there?" "You're going to have a huge baby!" and "You're going to have to have a c-section!" (because the baby is so big) Please try to remember that many women are extra emotional during pregnancy and that comments like this could be very hurtful cause a lot of unneccessary anxiety. Also, remember that how big a woman's belly appears can vary a lot depending on what she is wearing. Some fashions will minimize a pregnant belly and others will accentuate it. Different women carry their babies differently, too. Some women have a compact basketball-type pregnant belly, and other women have a pregnant belly that looks more spread out.

What to say instead: "You look really great!" "Motherhood looks good on you!" "You're beautiful" "You are glowing!"

2. "Haven't you had that baby yet??" Variations on this comment include calling a pregnant woman close to her due date and asking her if she is having contractions yet, asking how long her doctor or midwife is going to let her go, and asking if she's had a vaginal exam to determine if her cervix is dilated yet. Many people do not understand that a due date is just an educated guess about when a baby will arrive. The baby can arrive anywhere from 14 days before to 14 days after a woman's "due date." Most pregnant women have no idea which day will actually be the baby's birthday. Knowing how far a woman is dilated or whether or not the baby has dropped tells you NOTHING about when labor will start.

What to say instead: "Hey, do you need help with anything?" "Can I bring a meal over for your freezer?" "Want to go shopping?" Basically, anything that will keep the mother busy and her mind off of "when is labor going to start?"

3. "My labor was absolutely awful! It was the worst thing I've ever experienced in my entire life!" Variations include any scary story about labor and/or delivery some people feel compelled to share with pregnant women. Especially for first time mothers, these kinds of stories can be very frightening. A first-time mother doesn't know what to expect and she's anxious enough about labor and delivery without hearing horror stories about what might go wrong. When I was pregnant with my first baby, a friend of mine told me about her first birth, but left out the scary parts until after my baby was born. I appreciated her thoughtfulness very much.

What to say instead: "You will do great!"

I'm sure I could think of more, but duty calls!

Born Alive

2008-10-22T05:57:00.000-07:00

Watch this video at Creative Minority Report about infants who have been born alive after an attempted abortion.

*There are no gory pictures, but you might want to have a box of Kleenex ready.*

Just go watch it, then BEG God to have mercy on our nation!

Vote McCain--Palin!

2008-10-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight, the girls listened to a book on CD that Mamma Mil bought for them called Duck for President. The premise of the story is that Duck (a farmyard animal) gets tired of his farmyard chores and decides to run against Farmer Brown as the man-in-charge. Duck wins the election and quickly finds out that being in charge isn't all he thought it would be. So, he decides to run for governor. He wins that election, too, but again finds out that being in charge of running a state is a lot harder than he thought it would be. He then decides to run for President and wins the election...and I'm sure you can guess what happens next. :)

After listening to the story, Mary Beth decided to have everyone vote on who was going to make up everyone's bed in the morning. When she got to Lucia, Lucia said that she was voting for:

John McCain and Sarah Palin!

Another Weird Pregnancy Dream

2008-10-15T18:51:00.000-07:00

So, the night before last, I dreamt that I gave birth to quintuplets.

Last night, I had a follow-up dream to that one.

I dreamt that I had lost all of the babies! Like, I had misplaced them! I found one of them under a chair, and was running around like crazy trying to find the rest. The whole time, I was thinking, "But, I don't really have 5 babies...I just dreamed that I had quintuplets...that was just a dream..." But, during the dream, I wasn't really sure.

I finally woke up and was very relieved that none of my children were lost. ;-)

Whew.

Mildew Update

2008-10-14T05:58:00.001-07:00

I scrubbed the tile and grout in the bathtub yesterday with generic Ajax and a scrubbing brush. It did remove some of the stains, but not all. I have to say, the scrubbing brush worked pretty well--much better than an old toothbrush. I think the bristles on an old toothbrush aren't stiff enough.

Today, I'm going to try soaking the remaining stains in vinegar-soaked paper towels and see what happens.

I'm hoping to be done with the whole thing by Thursday.

7 Things

2008-10-14T05:45:00.000-07:00

I saw this over at Confessions of a CF Husband and thought it would be fun.

Here are 7 Things you may not know about me:

1. I'm a convert to the Catholic Church. I was raised Methodist.

2. I was a valedictorian in high school.

3. I dreamt that I gave birth to quintuplets last night. Crazy! And one of them was a boy!

4. My favorite coffee drink is a Cafe Mocha from Starbucks. I hardly ever get one, though, because I can't stand to spend over $3 on a cup of coffee. But, if someone else buys it for me, that's awesome!

5. I have never been arrested. (Is that really a surprise?)

6. We own a TV, but it has not been hooked up to receive a broadcast signal or cable for several years now. We don't miss it at all.

7. As a kid, I hated cheese. Except on pizza and grilled cheese sandwiches. As an adult, I've become a little more adventerous and will now eat cheese with crackers and grated in casseroles. I still don't like it on hamburgers or sandwiches.

Mission Impossible: Cleaning Mildew From Tile and Grout

2008-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

One of the items on my to-do list today is to tackle the awful mildew and mold stains on my bathtub tile. I just sprayed some Tilex on the stains and then went to look up on the Internet how to clean this stuff off. I've tried the Tilex before, and it didn't get all the mildew off the grout, even with vigorous scrubbing and repeated applications. But hey, the fact that it hasn't worked in the past didn't keep me from trying again!

I found several articles on the Internet about cleaning mildew from tile and grout.

Apparantly, this is going to take all day. Maybe even several days.

The stains and dirt have taken months to accumulate. Don't think you are going to complete this job in 30 minutes or less. The entire process is going to take place over a period of hours and possibly several days.

This article recommends first cleaning the tile and grout with a mild abraisive cleaner and a scrubbing brush, then soaking the mildew stains with vinegar-soaked paper towels to remove hard water deposits. The author says that it could take hours or even days. Once the hard-water deposits are taken care of, he recommends soaking the stains in bleach-soaked paper towels. Again, it could take hours or even days. He says you can use oxygen bleach as an alternative to bleach, which I am going to do because I don't like the idea of leaving bleach-soaked paper towels out with 4 young children going in and out of the bathroom all day. Not to mention the effect the fumes would have on me. Bleh.

That tile is going to be so clean I could eat off it when I'm done. Then, I'm going to make sure this never happens again. Mold and mildew, prepare to be evicted!

Diabetes--What Are the Warning Signs?

2008-10-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Read this post by Michele at The Family-Centered Life to learn more about Type 1 Diabetes and what the warning signs are. Two of Michele's children have Type 1 Diabetes. This could happen to any of us and it's good to know what to look for so we can get help for our children before their condition becomes life-threatening. Before I read Michele's post, I didn't know what the warning signs were, and it's very likely that if one of my girls had diabetes, I wouldn't have known to take her to the doctor until her condition was very bad.

We're Debt Free!!!

2008-10-12T19:34:00.001-07:00

Wahoooo!

Last spring, Matt and I paid off the last of our credit card debt and our car loan. Now, our only debt is our house. I've been wanting to write this post for a long time to share how we did it and how we plan to stay debt-free and financially stable.

Before I was introduced to Dave Ramsey, I thought we were doing pretty well. We didn't have a lot of debt, compared to the average American family, and I thought we were spending our money fairly wisely. But, there is always room for improvement!

About 2 years ago, my in-laws took a Dave Ramsey class. They shared the CDs from the class with us and the book, Financial Peace. Fortunately, Matt and I had managed, by the grace of God, not to get ourselves into major trouble with credit card debt. We did have a credit card, though, and the bad habit of using it to live just slightly above our means. We never let the balance get too high (because if it had been much more than $2000, we would have had trouble making even the minimum payments!) and we always paid it off every year using our tax return. The debt always felt like a huge burden to me and having to make payments on it every month frequently made our budget tighter than I would have liked. After a few years of doing that, I got kind of frustrated with seeing much of our tax return going to the credit card company. We also had bought several pieces of furniture using $0 down, 0% for x months that so many furniture companies offer nowadays. We always paid those loans off, too, before the x months were up and we started being charged outrageous interest rates. In addition to the credit card debt and furniture debt, we had a car loan for a very basic used minivan. Oh, and we had a little bit of money in savings. But not much. We were definitely not prepared for an emergency.

After listening to some of the Dave Ramsey CDs and reading his book, Matt and I were inspired to make some changes. One of the first things we did was to create a $1000 emergency fund. This was easy to do for us; all we had to do was set aside a portion of our tax return that year. Our emergency fund is for emergencies only. Matt and I talked about what an emergency was and agreed not to touch the emergency fund for anything less than an emergency. An emergency is an unexpected, unplanned expense. Like an insurance deductible for a new roof. Or a major car repair (although, since we created the emergency fund, we now have a separate car maintenance fund). Or an unexpected medical expense. It's not a fund for clothes (because we know that we and the kids are going to need new clothes fairly regularly) and it's not a fund for vacation or entertainment or furniture.

I can't tell you what a blessing the emergency fund has been for us. We have had a couple of surprise car repairs since creating the emergency fund and it has been no problem to pay for them. I don't stress out about "how are we going to pay for this??" because I know the money is in the bank, set aside for such a purpose.

Another thing we did right away was to start making a written budget every 2 weeks (because that is how often Matt gets paid) and using cash to pay for groceries, gas, and spending money. These were areas we consistently overspent in and using cash-only for these things helped us to stay within our budget. I found that if I did the budget on paper, but used the checkbook or debit card to pay for groceries, I didn't keep track of how much I was spending and always ended up spending more than I had budgeted. And that meant that something else on our budget didn't get funded. But when we started using cash, it was easy to see how much we had spent and how much was left, and then to adjust accordingly. Also, when you use cash, it hurts a little bit! It's a little harder to let go of cash than to write a check or use a debit card. That makes us think a little ("Do I really want to spend money on this?") before we buy. We don't just go to the grocery store and put whatever we want in the cart anymore! When I go to the store at the end of a pay period, and I only have $20 in my purse for groceries, I'm very careful about what goes in the cart! We still have plenty to eat, but we buy less junk food and eat meatless meals more often. Which is good for us. :)

Gas has been harder to budget for. Last year, I signed the kids up for lots of activities that required lots of driving. I quickly realized that our budget could not support weekly fill ups. This year, I signed the kids up for Little Flowers (once a month) and violin lessons for Mary Beth (once a week). That's it. And some pay periods, it's still a stretch to make a tank of gas last 2 whole weeks. We stay home more, and go to the park that is within walking distance instead of a park I have to drive to. If I need to go to a store that is across town, I try to wait until I'm going to be on that side of town anyway for something else (doctor's appointment, violin lesson, etc.).

Before we went to a cash-only system, I often spent more money on discretionary items than I should have. Now, Matt and I both get $20 of spending money each paycheck. We can spend it however we want, but once it's gone, it's gone. This has really made me pay attention to what I buy. Not long after we started giving ourselves a fixed amount of spending cash, I went to Hobby Lobby to buy some origami paper for craft project. I found the paper and also some neat books. Before the cash-only system, I would have bought the paper and a book and wrote a check for the total, not concerned about the cost (it was under $20, and that's not that much, right?). But, since I only had cash, and it was the beginning of a pay period (which meant that I wouldn't get more spending cash for another 2 weeks!), I added up the cost of the items in my head and decided that I didn't want to spend 3/4 of my spending money at one time. I put the book back (since I already had a book on origami from the library--free!!) and bought only the paper.

Using cash for those budget items that we typically overspent on allowed us to begin setting aside money for regular expenses that had often been overlooked in the past. Things like clothes and gifts. We were always scrambling to come up with money for clothes and birthday and Christmas presents. Why? Because we were spending money we should have been setting aside. We were spending it at the grocery store, at McDonalds, Wal-Mart, the bookstore, amazon.com, you name it. Once we had the written budget, we could see that if we spent money on an impulse buy at Wal-Mart, it would have to come from some other item on the budget, something that we thought was important at the time we wrote the budget.

Now, we set aside money each month for clothes, gifts, car insurance, property taxes, and car maintenance, in addition to our monthly expenses like food, mortgage, utilities, and gas. Matt and I went over our budget and our bank account balances last week and things look really good! We are on track to be ready for Christmas, we have money for clothes (not all name-brand clothes, mind you!), we have money for car repairs, and we are saving what we used to pay for a car payment for a new van (our plan is to pay cash for it in a year or two, or at least put a hefty down payment on it!). Suddenly, all the sacrifices we've made, the things we've missed out on are worth it! I would much rather have the financial stability we have now than more meals out at restaurants or "stuff" from Wal-Mart. We don't have any debt (besides our mortgage) and we are ready for that rainy day. Our house doesn't have the most fashionable furniture or decorating, but we plan to make improvements over time, saving for what we'd like to do and then paying cash for it. The next time we get a tax return, none of it will be going to the credit card company! We will be able to keep all of it and do whatever we want with it!

What we want to do is to continue to build financial stability for our family by creating an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months living expenses. So, we will add to our $1000 emergency fund from our tax return next year. We also set aside money for homeschooling materials and enrollment in St. Thomas Aquinas Academy out of our tax return. Homeschooling materials was another area I typically overpent in. Now, I know I have a certain amount of money each year and I'm more careful about how I spend it. We also hope to set aside a portion of our tax return for a new car and some home improvements. These are all things that Matt and I agree are important and worth saving money for. Most times, we regreted having to send our tax return check to a credit card company. Most of the charges were for things that were really not that important. I'm glad that we will get to decide where our tax return goes next year, instead of being obligated to pay off a debt with it. It's a good feeling!

Demographic Winter

2008-10-10T05:43:00.000-07:00

Watch this trailer!!

I've been aware of the danger of falling fertility rates for awhile due to organizations like Human Life International. Our own nation's Social Security system will not work if there are less younger workers compared to more elderly being supported by Social Security. Without a larger base of younger workers, the only way to keep Social Security alive is by either slashing benefits or raising taxes. No one likes either of those options. But what about encouraging families to have more babies? President Bush's tax breaks and refunds have certainly had that effect for us (although, we probably would have gone ahead and had more babies regardless...we just would have had to do without some things). In 20 years, those babies will be working and paying into Social Security.

If we as a nation continue to severely limit family size, we are going to end up with more elderly than young workers. I am amazed that this isn't pointed out more in the mainstream media. No one ever seriously talks about the possible solution of raising fertility rates. (I mean in the mainstream media...I did see an article in Family Foundations, though :))

Anyway, more people need to be aware that a society that isn't reproducing at least at replacement rate is a dying society. I am anxiously awaiting the release of this documentary film and will be watching it or renting it as soon as possible!

HT: Michele at the Family-Centered Life

Gerbil Update

2008-10-06T09:02:00.003-07:00

Mary Beth's gerbil passed away this morning. :(

This is the second gerbil death in a week!

Belly Shot--19 weeks

2008-10-05T14:45:00.000-07:00

I'm a little miffed at Petsmart right now...

2008-10-05T06:56:00.000-07:00

Mary Beth has recently become the owner of a gerbil, thanks to the generosity of my mom's new boyfriend. (Well, new to us...I think she's been dating him for awhile). She has been saving for a gerbil for awhile, and when she mentioned to M. (my mom's friend) that she was saving her money for a gerbil, he decided to go ahead and get one for her.

So, a few days later, M. and Mama Mil come over with a cage, supplies, and a gerbil from Petsmart. Mary Beth was quite excited and immediately started playing with her new pet. She named him "Trigger," after Roy Rogers famous horse.

Two days later, Trigger died. :( Mary Beth was quite upset. But, Petsmart has a 14-day guarantee on their pets. If your animal dies or becomes ill within the guarantee period, you can get a refund or a new animal. We took poor Trigger back to Petsmart and Mary Beth picked out a new gerbil. She picked out a cute little golden gerbil and named her "Anita."

Anita is not doing so good. She has diarrhea and has become increasingly lethargic over the past few days. This morning, she was in the same position she was in last night and her breathing is noticeably slower. We had considered taking her to a vet, but the vet we called charges $44 for an examination. WHOA! The gerbil only cost $12!!!

I am just dreading another crying episode when Anita dies. I'm sure Petsmart will be glad to either refund the cost of the gerbil or give us a new one, but I really don't want Mary Beth to lose ANOTHER pet next week! After losing 2 gerbils in a row from Petsmart, I am starting to wonder if maybe there is something wrong with Petsmart's gerbils. I think we'll try a new pet store.

The 18-Week Sonogram

2008-09-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

We had our 18-week sonogram today, and according to our poll, most of our readers thought that we should find out the sex of the baby.

I thought it was quite funny that some of our friends who voted "no" in the poll (you know who you are!!) were among the most anxious to know what the sonogram revealed. :)

Matt and I decided that we wanted to find out the sex of the baby, too. We have been discussing baby names for the past few days, and interestingly, we found it much easier to find girl names we both liked than boy names. In fact, there were very few boy names that we both liked. I like Caleb for a boy's name, but Matt says, "No way." Can anyone tell me, what's wrong with Caleb? One of the only names we both really liked was Edmond. But, I think I would call the baby Eddy or Ed instead of Edmond.

This pregnancy has been pretty different from my other pregnancies. First of all, I started this pregnancy much lighter than any of my other pregnancies. I was much less tired and hardly sick at all this time. So, I thought that surely this baby must be a boy, because I felt sick and very tired during the first trimester in all my other pregnancies. My uterus has also been measuring much larger than in my other pregnancies. At my last visit, I measured 8cm ahead of dates! When I Googled "large for gestational age," the only explanations that came up were multiples, fibroids, and polyhydramnios. My doctor wasn't concerned about my large-for-dates uterus and told me that women who have had lots of babies often measure large-for-dates because the uterus is rather stretched out from the previous pregnancies. I think it's too bad that information of this sort isn't more readily available for mothers of many. Somone should write a book called What to Expect When You're Expecting Your 5th (or 6th, 7th, 8th, etc.) Baby. I would really like to have more information on what is normal and what isn't in a 5th or subsequent pregnancy. I would also like to know what complications I am at higher risk for and what I can do to reduce those risks.

But this post is supposed to be about the sonogram, right?

Well, the sonogram showed a healthy baby, and just one baby. (I was starting to suspect twins, regardless of my doctor's reassurances otherwise :)). The technician said that at 18 weeks it's kind of hard to tell whether the baby is a boy or girl because the genitals are still pretty small, BUT, she said that she didn't see any obvious boy parts and that we are probably having another baby girl.

Matt and I are tickled pink. :) We already have everything a little baby girl could possibly want or need and we have lots of experience with girls. Plus, we've got a great list of girl's names already! Names we both really like! I think we'll keep our final choice a secret until the baby is born, but I'll go ahead and share the names we're thinking of:

Catherine
Maya (or we might spell it Maia, but I think that no one would know how to pronounce it then)
Camille
Teresa
Miriam

I probably won't have another sonogram unless something concerning comes up, so we'll have to wait until the baby is born to know for sure. I think the sonogram technician is right, though, and that I am carrying another little girl.

Toothless Grin

2008-09-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

Isn't she cute?

1-2-3

2008-09-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

It's storytime!

Good thing we bought the large size rocker recliner...

The Week in Review

2008-09-19T08:31:00.000-07:00

Matt snapped this picture of Clara "reading" Anna's Little Angel reader.

Lucia was originally dressed in just the short-sleeved shirth and skort she's wearing in this picture. As it was a cool morning, I asked her to put on a long-sleeved shirt and long pants. She really wanted to wear the short-sleeved clothes. I told her she could put the short-sleeved shirt on over the long-sleeved shirt. She decided that she could do the same thing with the skort. She looked kind of funny, but she can get away with it because she's four and cute. :)

Mary Beth and Anna outside the Newman University chapel.

We spied this katydid on the walkway leading up to the Newman University chapel. You just never know when you'll have an opportunity for nature study!

We are leaving this afternoon for a weekend camping trip at Kanopolis Lake. Matt tells me that we should be there for the peak of the Monarch butterfly migration. We are also planning on several hiking excursions. I am looking forward to having a whole weekend with my family to just relax, have fun, and wonder together at God's creation.

Now to start packing!

Around the Kitchen Table This Morning

2008-09-17T14:50:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed a brief, peaceful, ideal homeschool moment this morning. All of my children were happily occupied around the kitchen table. Mary Beth was working on her spelling assignment, Anna was drawing a horse, Lucia was cutting out bits of paper and gluing them back onto another piece of paper, and Clara was trying to figure out how scissors work.

Wouldn't it be great if the whole day could go this nicely?

Pregnancy Report

2008-09-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 16-week point in my pregnancy! Yay!

According to The Pregnancy Book by William Sears, M.D.,

By the end of the sixteenth week she may be around 5 inches long and weigh around 4 ounces.

The book also says that while baby is moving and kicking, I probably won't feel it yet.

But, I am feeling it! I have most definately felt a few strong THUMPS from this little one. It is very exciting to feel this little one making her presence known. It never gets old!

I went out and bought some new maternity clothes last week. My pants were all getting uncomfortably tight. I forgot how comfy maternity jeans are. Why can't all jeans be that comfortable?

My uterus is right at my belly button now--so I'm still measuring ahead of dates. But, I always measure ahead of dates. I see the doctor in a week and I'll get to hear the heartbeat again and probably schedule a sonogram. Which reminds me, there is still time to vote in our poll on whether or not we should find out the sex of the baby!

I'll post another belly shot next week, since it will have been a month since I posted the last one.

Inspiring Post

2008-09-15T05:45:00.000-07:00

Should I continue to have children despite special needs? at Helen's blog, Castle of the Immaculate

Interesting Article on Preschool

2008-09-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

Protect Our Kids From Preschool

I saw a link to this article over at Lisa's blog, Joyful Chaos. The article is about the push for universal preschool and how its supporters are grossly exaggerating the positive effects of preschool. The article even points out that preschool may actually be detrimental to children's long-term education!

Now, I actually like doing preschool with my kids. But our "preschool" is very laid back. I think that's one of the reasons I like it so much. No pressure! I know that whatever my 4-year-old doesn't learn this year will be covered again in Kindergarten and again in 1st grade. Anna is in 1st grade this year and guess what her reading program starts with? Learning the alphabet letters and the sounds they make! Instead of covering the alphabet at the pace of one letter per week (which is what I would do with a preschooler), we are covering 3 letters per week. Anna's math program started with a lesson on place value and the second lesson was on counting to twenty. This is all stuff we covered in Kindergarten. And in preschool. But, it's foundational to the rest of her learning, and so we're covering it again to make sure she's really got it all.

I do like to plan what we're doing for preschool each week, but that plan is very flexible. Last week, one of the items on my preschool list was "draw animals that begin with B." Well, Lucia was not interested in drawing any animals that started with B. So we drew a pig wearing pants and a sweater instead. No big deal. The time together was supposed to be fun time, and drawing a pig together fulfilled that purpose just fine.

Lucia also did not want me to read the Bible story that I had planned to read to her. She wanted me to read the story of creation--again. So, I did. Twice. She's heard the story of creation 3 times in the last two weeks. I'm not concerned because I now we'll cover more of Bible history later in her education. It's fine that she's only interested in one story right now.

Playing with my kids does not come naturally to me. But, if I have a list of things to do with them, it's easier for me to set aside time in my day to give them that focused attention. If they don't want to do what's on my list, that's fine. The point is that I am completely available to them while we're doing whatever we're doing. I think what preschool-aged children need most is one-on-one time with people who love them. So, reading this:

Kids with loving and attentive parents -- the vast majority -- might well be better off spending more time at home than away in their formative years. The last thing that public policy should do is spend vast new sums of taxpayer dollars to incentivize a premature separation between toddlers and parents.
"Protect Our Kids From Preschool"

made me very happy. Like many parents, I often wonder if I'm doing "enough." This article assures me that, for right now, I am doing fine just by allowing Lucia to stay at home with us and being attentive and loving towards her.