Quick Takes: Second Friday of Lent

~1~

I'm doing my best to try avoiding stress, but it seems like stress just flocks to me like I'm a magnet.

~2~

I need to start working on getting announcements and registration forms together for our parish VBS.  I'm now about two weeks behind where I wanted to be.

~3~

I'm looking forward to this Sunday.  Ellie will be singing the responsorial psalm at Mass.  Hopefully we can sit close enough that I can record her singing again.  I always feel a bit self conscious pulling out my phone in the middle of Mass to record her when she sings the responsorial psalm.  Hopefully people just recognize that I'm a proud mom and not someone who just likes to take pictures and record random parts of Mass.

~4~

Madeline is getting a lot of assignments that were a bit delayed in being submitted checked off the list.  I will feel a lot better when she's caught up.

~5~

We're ditching cable very soon.  Between Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hulu and the content we've purchased for our Apple TV we are at the point where we really don't need cable anymore.  For a while I've been telling Bryan that I feel like it's a waste since most of the time I get annoyed that nothing good is on despite the many channels we have.  Bryan brought an antenna recently that also allows us to get the local news so we really aren't missing anything by eliminating cable now.

~6~

I don't know if it's a result of the Prilosec that I recently started taking, but the pain in my side feels like it's happening a bit less the past couple of days.  It's still not gone, but I'm not in a much pain as I had been.  I do think a lot of it is stress related.

~7~

I left Mass in tears today after finding a note written by the woman sitting in the pew ahead of us.  You can read about it here.

Quick Takes: First Friday of Lent

~1~

I got tired of looking at the laundry covered living room floor and forced myself to fold the laundry this morning.  It's amazing how much better I feel when that one particular room is neat, even if I hardly spend any time in it.

~2~

I can't help but think that the idea I had two weeks ago of paying the older girls a dollar per load of laundry is one of my more brilliant mom ideas.  I haven't done laundry in probably three or more weeks because I just haven't felt well enough to do it, and offering a bounty of a dollar per load means that Bryan, the little kids and I will continue to have clean clothes.  

~3~

I'm having a really hard time with this gallbladder issue.  I feel like just about everything I eat is on the list of things not to eat.  My ultrasound isn't until Wednesday morning next week, so I won't know what the issue is until sometime later next week.  I've been trying to eat foods that are gallbladder friendly and some that different places claim work to chip away at gallstones and other gallbladder issues.  When it really starts hurting me I feel like I have something in my rib cage that is exerting a lot of pressure but not getting anywhere.  It's an odd and painful sensation that I think is worse than labor.

~4~

Since I ordered new ornaments for our Jesus Tree I realized that I will need something to hang them on when they get here.  I think I want something like this yarn tree, but I'm guessing I'll have to wrap it in brown yarn or twine.  Does anyone have any experience using one of these kits or doing a do it yourself version of it?  I'm not exactly finding what I want when I google instructions for making one.

~5~

Anthony decided to write across the pantry doors with pencil just minutes before taking his nap.  I'm not sure why, but pencil seems to be the most difficult thing to remove from painted surfaces.  I really wish the older kids would stop leaving pencils out all of the time.  I've never had a child who was so determined to scribble all over the doors and walls anytime he finds a writing implement.

~6~

Now that we're a bit more decorated for Lent, I feel like the nativity and some of Katie's preschool Christmas crafts are a little out of place.  I suppose I'll have to do something about that soon.

~7~

On a more exciting note when I was vacuuming the powder room floor this morning I must have tapped the pipe that feeds water to the toilet a bit harder than I thought.  By the time I finished vacuuming all the goldfish cracker crumbs out of the vanity drawer there was a pretty big puddle.  And yes, you read that right.  One of my kids likes to bring snacks into the powder room and leave crumbs all over the vanity top and now in the drawers, too.  Of course no one knows who did it.  I'm fairly certain Bryan got the leak to stop.  Might be worth checking it out to be sure...

Quick Takes: On My Mind

~1~

I feel like there aren't enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do.  I really wish I could blog a bit more since this space is pretty much where I record milestones the kids hit and things of that nature.  I feel like I'm totally dropping the ball with recording what has been going on with Anthony.  Can you believe he's already five months old?

~2~

We have the first quarter of the school year behind us.  This week we began the second quarter.  I'm waiting on some grades for Madeline but all of Ellie's grades have come back and she's done incredibly well with everything.  Her lowest grade for the marking period was an A- and she's very proud of herself.

~3~

About a month ago we looked into getting Katie evaluated to see if she could benefit from speech therapy since she doesn't talk a lot.  I took a week and a half for the place we called to let me know that there is about a four month wait to get an appointment.  The whole thing has me feeling frustrated.  I am noticing that she's speaking more but it seems like she has some days where she picks up a lot of words and then we hit a dry patch where she seems to prefer not using those words.  I am finding that she's talking more now than she did two months ago, but I still feel like she's behind.  The most frustrating part is knowing that she can talk but pretty much chooses not to.  

~4~

Anthony is an active little guy.  He log rolls when he wants to get to one of us or a toy.  Last Saturday he was in the family room playing on a quilt with some toys and he rolled into the kitchen where Bryan and the girls were doing something.   He will even just roll around the perimeter of a room to play with different toys.  He certainly likes to explore!

~5~

Madeline and Ellie have soccer tournaments this weekend so they'll be busying playing lots of games.  I started feeling a bit under the weather last night so I think the little ones and I will probably stay home.  I'm not sure if it's my allergies that are bothering me or if I'm coming down with a cold or something.

~6~

For the past month we've been trying to get Anthony to eat baby food and he's not the least bit interested.  The first few times we tried giving him food he ate a little bit of it.  We had one night where he ate a decent amount and then about an hour and a half later when I was nursing him he had a very scary spitting up incident where he projectile vomited for what seemed like several seconds with garden hose velocity.  He actually seemed limp towards the end of the episode.  It ranks as one of the scariest parenting moments I've had.  He seemed very shaken up about it and I certainly was, too.  Ever since then he pretty much refuses to even swallow anything I give him on a spoon.  If I put it in his mouth he pushes it out and won't open his mouth.  I'm hoping that he'll be willing to try food sometime in the near future.  I think he might associate baby food with the scary vomiting incident.  Can a five month old make a connection like that?  It's the only thing that seems to make sense.

~7~

Katie will turn three next week.  It's so hard to believe that she's already that old.  It seems like the older I get the faster time seems to fly.

Quick Takes Baby Cuteness and Soccer

~1~

Last week at his 2 month well visit my adorable little fat man weighed in at 12lbs 11oz.  I think most of that weight is situated in those squishy chubby cheeks and his little second chin.

~2~

Seriously, look at how big those cheeks are!  They're so big they wound up taking over another quick take!

~3~

I'm hardly ever in any pictures with any of the kids so I had Bryan take a few of me with Anthony the other day.  Of the ones he took I liked this one the best.  Since my kids like to steal my blog photos all of the time (they don't care when I point out the copyright notice on the sidebar of the blog) this is one they can use when I die and they're putting together one of those photo memory boards.  Got it Madeline?

~4~

Anthony's been exhibiting some pretty good head control lately and is getting a bit tired of his swing, playmat, bouncy seat and boppy pillow.  So we added a little variety and put together the bouncy entertainer thing I got as a review product a while back.  He can't bounce and jump in it yet or even reach the toys but he seems to like just sitting there and taking in the sights.

~5~

My older girls are at a Team First Soccer Academy this week so I had a rare 45 minutes of quiet yesterday while Katie and Anthony napped at the same time (Woot!).  I took advantage of that time and finished up reading a advance copy of Fearless, which I really enjoyed.  With two pages left of the book I heard Anthony stirring and decided that since he wasn't crying I had time to finish reading.  Umm, yeah.  See how he's on his belly in the above picture?  That's not how he was sleeping.  So while I finished reading about St. Katharine Drexel, this little guy decided to roll from back to front and rotate his body 90 degrees when I wasn't watching.  Arrgh!  Little Man, don't you know that you aren't supposed to hit milestones when Mommy isn't watching?!

~6~

Today was picture day at Team First Soccer Academy.  The ladies in the red shirts are soccer legends Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly and Tish Hoch.  The girls are having a great time at the camp and so is Bryan who is one of the volunteer coaches.

~7~

Katie's too little for this soccer camp, but she really wanted to be in a picture.  Who knows, maybe when she's older our soccer club will host this camp again.

Quick Takes: A Blur of a Week

~1~

This week feels like it flew by, even though most of the days felt pretty long.

~2~

The baby is moving around a lot these days.  I think he must be starting to feel a bit cramped in there based on some of the movements.  Let me just say that it's really uncomfortable to have someone playing with the inside of your hip for a good portion of the day.

~3~

Can you believe that Lent is less than a week away?  I haven't the slightest idea what I'm going to give up or take on for Lent.  Last year we gave up all eating out and I took on going to daily Mass 2-3 times a week.  I've thought about giving up FaceBook like I did when I was pregnant with Katie but I'm not sure if I'll do that or not.  And as far as taking something on, I have no idea what to do.

~4~

I'm beginning to think there's no way I'm going to be able to handle a double stroller.  They're all so heavy (even the lightweight ones) and bulky.  I'm really interested in the Joovy Caboose Ultralight but none of the baby stores around here sell them.  It seems like it's something that I'd have to order online. I prefer to test drive strollers before I buy them so I'm not sure what to do.

~5~

After washing and setting up the nursery bedding, I decided to wash some of the blankets I bought for the baby.  I'm really looking forward to using these muslin swaddling blankets.  They seem like they'll be great nursing cover ups as well as nice lightweight blankets for the summer months.  I don't know how I never heard of these blankets when I was pregnant with Katie.

~6~

Madeline and Ellie went over to their friends' house this afternoon.  So Bryan, Katie and I went out to dinner while they were gone.  The girls had such a good time with their friends that they didn't seem too upset that we went out to eat without them.

~7~

I decided to go ahead and buy Easter candy while I was at the store today.  I have a note on my weekly planner to buy the candy two weeks before Easter, but I figured I'd be helping myself out by buying it now instead of waiting until I'm 35 weeks pregnant.  Of course, there's always the possibility that I will eat all of this candy before Easer rolls around.  If I open those bags I know that I'll be down to one bag of candy pretty quickly since I like everything that I picked up except for one bag of candy.

Quick Takes: Oh what a week!

~1~

The baby presently has one godparent.  So the godfather has been picked, was asked and he said yes.  Now we have to decide who the godmother will be.  We have two people in mind and both would be solid choices.  I also started getting everything lined up for the baptism.  It will be sometime in June, possibly on the feast day of St. Anthony of Padua since he's the baby's patron saint.

~2~

I finally went and had the glucose tolerence test done on Tuesday.  I really dread that test because I can't stand having bloodwork done and I fear failing that test and having to go back and do the three hour test.  I pretty much fasted from sugary food the day before I had the bloodwork done to ensure that I didn't have super sugary blood.  I have a massive sweet tooth and pretty much live on sugary foods so I try to be conservative with the sugar for a day or two before doing this test.  I know too many people who have had to do the three hour glucose test because they indulged in cupcakes or some other sugary dessert the night before the test.

~3~

Bryan will be home late tonight.  He had a business trip out in Vegas this week.  Day one of his trip started off badly at home.  Katie decided that she wasn't going to sleep from about 3AM until after Bryan left.  I had to bring her into our bed in order to get her to go to sleep.  But I didn't get more than two hours of sleep total that night (even before she woke up).  I did really well not losing my patience with the kids until late evening when they decided that complaining about dinner followed by them carrying on like crazy people upstairs made me snap.  Thursday was a better day, or should I say started out as a better day.  Things were going well and I had a plan for the day but you know what they say about making plans if you want to make God laugh.  Or more specifically, if you want God to treat you like an ant under a magnifying glass,  go to Mass and tell Him you've had all you can handle for the time being and ask Him to ease up on you for a couple of days.  The response may very well be swift.  Shortly after 11 yesterday I got a call from the school nurse telling me Ellie collided with another student (stop me if this sounds like something that happened last year when Bryan was away on a business trip) and has quite the bump on her head and could possibly have a concussion.  So I did my best to not freak out.  I hauled Madeline and Katie over to the school to get Ellie and picked up my child with the giant purple Easter egg on her forehead.  On our way out the door I asked Madeline to hold Katie so I could breathe a little easier.  Instead of picking her up she let her go running out the door straight into a patch of ice where she promptly slipped, fell and whacked the back of her head.  Two head injuries for the price of one!  Fortunately, neither one of them has shown any signs of concussions thus far.  Ellie stayed home from school today so I could keep an eye on her in case she started to feel funny.  Katie seems perfectly normal and has no bumps or bruises on her head so I think she's fine.

~4~

That last take was big enough to be two so let's move on to the next one. But here's the picture I sent Bryan after I picked Ellie up from school yesterday morning. 

~5~

We moved Katie into her big girl bed on Saturday.  It's been disasterous.  She doesn't want to sleep in the big girl bed.  She acts like it's the worst thing ever.  Wednesday night she slept in the bed but carried on for about an hour and a half before settling down.  She woke at 1:30 that night and thankfully went back to sleep.  Last night she carried on for about the same amount of time and slept in the bed all night long.  She refuses to nap in the bed preferring to sleep on the floor instead.  It breaks my heart that she's so upset about moving to her new big girl bed, but I really need to get her settled in the new room so I can set up the nursery for the new baby.  The OCD planner in me has to have the nursery set up before the baby is born.

So it's after 10PM and she's still awake. She's tired but she's adamant about not sleeping in that bed.  I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to have to paint the pink room (that was blue last month) a boyish color and put Katie back in her old room.  

 I did finally find a good use for the video monitor I reviewed last year.  It's great for keeping an eye on a two year old who won't stay in bed.

~6~

We got more of Madeline's grades back from Seton this week.  I've come to the conclusion that I'm probably expecting too much when it comes to how I grade her writing.  We sent in her book report and I was certain that she was going to wind up having to rewrite it.  I was stunned when we got her grade: 98!  Wow!  She's excited and I think that just really boosted her confidence for the book report she will be working on over the next two weeks.

~7~

I'm 29 weeks pregnant today.  Do you like the "I'm totally exhausted and can't even manage a non-creepy looking smile" look?  Oh and let's not miss that my expression clearly says "I really don't have a clue when it comes to taking a picture of myself with an iPhone. 

In three more weeks we will get another peek at the baby when I go and have the 32 week growth scan ultrasound.  If they tell me the baby is still a boy at this next ultrasound then I will probably cut the tags off of a few of the outfits and run them through the wash.  Bryan tells me the baby is definately a boy and that it's not going to change but I'd like further confirmation before I start taking the tags off of the boy clothes.

Quick Takes on St. Valentine's Day

~1~

I'm really not much of a Valentine's Day person.  It's just one of those holidays I don't get into.  I'm more inclined to go all out for St. Patrick's Day.  Does that make me a Valentine scrooge?  I'm not sure.    The girls really place a lot of importance on St. Valentine's Day so last night Bryan and I went to Target for bread, eggs, and Valentine gifts for the girls.  Apparently the foot of snow we got Wednesday night into Thursday morning meant that eggs and bread were nowhere to be found in the store.  So we ended up with a cart full of junk food, a couple of books and a small chicken.

~2~

I'm 28 weeks pregnant today.  Just twelve more weeks until my due date.  I feel like I still have a lot to do.  Katie still needs to be moved into her new room which has been painted for nearly a month.  I'm still trying to decide if I should paint Madeline's old armoire white (It's presently a honey pine finish.) and use Ellie's white headboard for Katie's bed, or if I should leave the armoire as it is and use Madeline's old four poster bed (which used to be mine).  Both Bryan and my Mother would prefer I not get into a furniture refinishing project right now.  I'm just not sure what I want to do.  Part of me really wants Katie to have all white furniture and part of me just wants to take the option that requires the least amount of work on my part.  After all, I already had to paint a room for her and it took a coat of primer and two coats of pink to cover the blue walls.  What do you think? Paint the armoire white or stick with the present finish.?

~3~

Since I hit the 28 week mark today I am able to pre-register for the delivery and the hospital stay that I would very much like to avoid.  I've had dreams where I've managed to deliver the baby by myself in the laundry room.  Strange, I know.  It's funny, but I really feel like if I can labor without anyone knowing, I could pull off delivering at home.  Bryan isn't amused and insists that I will be at the hospital with plenty of time to spare before the baby is born.  Not if I can help it.  I told him I'm good with delivering the baby in the hospital parking lot if need be.  The less time I can spend in the hospital the better.  He says I'm being selfish, but when it comes to this I'm ok with that.  I'd be more inclined to happily go to the hospital if I knew they'd let me and the baby go home two or three hours after I deliver.

~4~

Snow.  I'm sick of it!  We had twelve inches of the white stuff when we woke up yesterday.  It started to melt when it warmed up a bit (mid-30s) and began to rain.  The rain stopped, the temperatures dropped and we got a couple inches more overnight.  When will it end?  We're supposed to get a bit more tomorrow.  And thanks to all of this snow Ellie's last day of school is now June 30th.  That's just insane.  Imagine spending the whole month of June in school.  I can't think of anything less fun than that.  Madeline on the other hand was complaining that she doesn't get any snow days with homeschooling.  She stopped complaining when Bryan asked her if she'd rather be doing school when it's warm enough to go swimming.

~5~

I'm wondering how minimalist I can go with baby gear this time around.  I really don't want to feel closed in with tons of baby gear and toddler toys on the main level of the house.  I'd like to thin out some of the baby items we have and just use the things we really need.  My adversion to big baby gear has been triggered by a Fisher Price swing I'm presently trying to evaluate for an Amazon Vine review.  I've had to assemble and disassemble this thing multiple times in the past two weeks due to defective swing motors.  Three to be exact.  The third replacement motor was just delivered today.  Here's hoping that the 4th time's a charm.  If not, there's no way I can give this swing a good review when it's time for me to do a write-up on it.  If anything, the swing has convinced me that the older model that a friend gave to us is better and that I should stick with using the travel sized one that we used for Katie.

~6~

Katie is doing really well with the potty training while she's awake.  I had been putting her in pull-ups when we go out but we've had several instances in the past week where we've forgotten about the pull-up and she's been just fine with going to Mass, or the store or even out to eat.  I'm just amazed at how well she's doing.  She's not even the least bit timid about using public rest rooms which was always a stubling block for the older two.   I don't think we'll see any real progress during nap and bedtime until she's in her big girl bed and can actually get up and go to the potty.  

~7~

I decided that since just about everywhere in the house is a mess that I'd break out my camera remote and take a picture in the only room that doesn't look like it was bombed.  There's my big ol'28 weeks along belly.  I keep telling Bryan that I think I'm as big now as I was when I was full term with Katie.  He keep assuring me that I'm not, but I'm not so certain.  I'm hoping that the baby is born early and is 8lbs or smaller.

Quick Takes With 15 Weeks To Go!

~1~

Early this week I decided that I needed to get Katie's big girl room painted before I started to feel too exhausted to even think about doing it.  I think pregnancy is just harder on your body as you get older and even though I'm in my second trimester, I just don't feel like I have the abundance of energy that I recall having with the prior three pregnancies.  So a coat of primer and two coats of pink paint later, we have a perfectly pink bedroom for Katie. 

~2~

That heap in the picture above is nice, isn't it?  I've been looking at different variations of that pile of awesomness for almost a full month now.  A couple days after Christmas Madeline and Ellie moved into the same bedroom and this is the furniture that needs to find a new home.  I'm trying to muster up the energy to refinish Madeline's old armoire so that it matches Ellie's old white headboard.  The armoire is the same color as the four poster bed that you see leaning against Ellie's old bed.  I'm also still working on merging Ellie's closet items into Madeline's closet.  Fun times!

~3~

I've spent a lot of time clearance shopping the past two and a half months.  I've found a lot of great deals but I think I've hit a point where finding the sizes I want is near impossible.  6-9 month and 12 month baby boy clearance items seem to be non-existent.  

~4~

A friend of mine remarked the other day on Facebook that only I would have a Christening outfit picked out for the baby before he arrives and have a date for the baptism in mind, but not have godparents selected.  I have the outfit because I found it on an amazing sale and decided I should just order it.  I originally wanted a smocked Christening gown, but Bryan didn't seem to thrilled with the idea of putting a boy in a gown and neither did most of the other people I talked with.  So I found something that wasn't a gown but still had the look I wanted. 

We're having a hard time with picking godparents so we're taking our time this time around and are mulling over our choices.  We have four people in mind for the job.  Two of the people we have in mind have no idea we're considering them.  Once we decide on the godparents then I'll start working on arranging the baptism which I hope will be on June 13th- St. Anthony of Padua's feast day.

~5~

Between this week and next week we are wrapping up the second marking period of homeschooling.  I can't tell you how happy I am that we are at the mid-way point and to think I was nervous that we woulnd't make it past the first month and here we are half way through 7th grade.  Oh and some of you might find this funny.  I've done my best to stay away from that pesky 7th grade math but lately I've been having to help Madeline with the dividing and multiplying of fractions and have found myself doing a lot of 7th grade math.  I keep looking at it as if it was algebra, which I like, and am finding that it isn't as bad as I imagined.  

~6~

Can you believe I only have 15 weeks until my due date?  I've spent many hours wondering if that means I'll be pregnant for another 16 weeks or if maybe we're looking at 13 more weeks.  After having two kids two weeks early and then little Miss I'm Never Coming Out hanging on for a full 41 weeks, I have no idea when we should expect our little guy to make his appearance.  We've had a lot of back and forth on the baby's name.  We were really torn between naming him John Paul or Anthony. I'm pretty sure Anthony is the name that will win out in the end since it's a family name on both sides and St. Anthony hears from me all of the time.  Isn't it funny how I almost feel like I'm obligated to name the baby after him since I pester him so much?  When I mentioned possibly wanting to rethink names the other week Bryan asked me what St. Anthony was going to think.  He'd probably think that I lost my mind this time around instead of some random item.

~7~

Look at this cute picture of Ellie I just found in my photobucket.  She was probably about a year and a half in this picture.  I miss when she was this small.

Quick Takes with a Dash of {PHFR}

It's been a while since I've done a quick takes post and I think the same is true for {PHFR}.  So I'm going to multi-task a bit.

~1~

Do you ever have moments where you sit back and say to yourself that something is so crazy off the wall that people will think you're making it up?  I don't know what it is about me, but I have so many stranger than fiction moments in my life that are 100% {real} and often very {funny}.  It's stuff I simply file under I can't make this stuff up.  So back in October my aunt passed away.  She lived alone and was a bit of a recluse when it came to interacting with family.   My uncle is handling the estate and is a bit surprised at what he's finding.  Now he lived a few states away from my aunt, but I spent 22 years living a block away from her, so my parents and other relatives who lived near by knew how she lived.  But, even when you know someone, you can still find some surprises.  Can I tell you that I spent quite a while laughing when my mom forwarded me this picture that my uncle sent to her of my aunt's back yard? 

That fine piece of life sized bovine statue was something my aunt picked up at an auction.  If any of you are interested in acquiring this piece for your back yard statue collection drop me an email.  My uncle is looking for a buyer.  I'd like to meet whoever buys it.  

~2~

I've spent who knows how long avoiding the supermarket.  I've gone to Sam's Club and Target but not to the supermarket since October or possibly early November.  I suppose at some point I'm going to have to break down and get to the grocery store.  Anyway, on Monday it was pretty clear that we were sort of running out of food options, so as much as I dislike going to end of season soccer banquets, I was quite happy to fill in for Bryan and go with Ellie so I could have my fill of so-so buffet food that didn't require me to cook or visit the grocery store.  Ellie was  very {happy} to get her soccer trophy.

~3~

I'm 18 weeks along today and I'm feeling {pretty} big even though everyone assures me that I'm not.  Usually I don't have any sort of baby bump until I'm more than half way though a pregnancy.  I already have people coming up to me asking when I'm due.

~4~

I feel so unprepared to have a baby boy.  I've known for nearly a month now that we're expecting a little boy and I just feel like I need to get everything in order NOW.  After three girls I just feel like I have no idea what I'm walking into.  Even selecting a name seems far more difficult.  I am pretty sure we're settled on the baby's name.  

See if you can guess his first name based on the picture above.  I'll be ordering this from Abbey Ceramics for his bedroom soon.

~5~

I'm realizing that my standards for grading Madeline's work for homeschool might be too high.  We submitted her first ever book report to Seton a couple of weeks ago and we got her grade yesterday.  The book report that I told her was probably going to get a C at best came back with a 95 on it!  She's thrilled and I'm starting to realize that perhaps Bryan is right when he says I'm expecting too much.

~6~

I have no idea how the display screen on my camera broke.  I had ordered a replacement screen but I really have no idea if we'll be able to fix it successfully.  Since electronics and small screws are involved I'm just going to leave that to Bryan.  In the meantime I decided to try and reduce my chances of cutting my nose on the broken glass by adding a layer of packing tape.  Yeah, it's about as classy looking as it sounds.  This is the before picture in case you're wondering.

~7~

I think I may have killed our paper shredder this week.  I was working my way through over two years worth of papers that needed to be shredded and this afternoon it made some sounds that make me believe that our shredder has seen the end of it's useable life.  Fighting with the shredder makes me wish we had a fire pit in the back yard or a real fireplace instead of our gas one.

Quick Takes: Volume 78

~1~

I feel oddly motivated to get my Christmas shopping done now but the kids don't seem to have much of anything on their wish lists that I can buy.  I'd love to be done shopping before Thanksgiving.  I'm not sure if that goal is even realistic.

~2~

Katie must have hit a growth spurt with out me really realizing it.  Over the past couple of weeks it's become glaringly evident that most of her 12-18 month clothes don't fit.  The 18-24 month outfits that were huge on her back in July and August seem to fit quite nicely now.  Now I'm starting to wonder how many of these outfits that were too big this spring and summer will be too small when spring rolls around.

~3~

On the bright side, we've had an incredibly warm week here.  Katie's getting some use out of those cute spring/summer dresses that were too big, and I'm getting an idea of what I should pack for her when we head to Disney World in a month.  

~4~

We have our first homeschooling field trip coming up next Wednesday.  We're going to an alpaca farm.  It sounds like it will be a neat trip.  I love that homeschooling means even the pre pre-schoolers get to come along and learn.  Katie will get to interact with some little ones her age and I bet she will enjoy looking at the llamas or alpacas.  I'm going to call them llamas.  And to show that I'm that geeky homeschool mom, I'm dressing Katie in the cute llama tee shirt I recently ordered for her as long as it's not too hot out next week.

~5~

I would love it if someone showed up at my door with a plate of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies.  I want some ooey gooey fresh out of the oven cookies, but I really don't have the energy to whip up a batch for myself.

~6~

My toe seems like it's getting better.  I was finally able to put my favorite sandals on again and I'm able to walk comfortably in them.  I also started taking Katie for walks around the neighborhood.  I'm trying to make sure my foot will be able to handle lots of walking when we go away next month.  I'm up to walking a little over a mile and a half.  

~7~

We have a busy weekend ahead of us.  We've got soccer games, a baby shower to attend for my sister-in-law and a few other things on the schedule.  I'm really looking forward to the end of soccer season when our weekends will be a lot less scheduled.  I feel like we're running all of the time.

Saturday Quick Takes

Yeah, I know it's supposed to be "Quick Takes Friday" but there weren't enough hours in the day yesterday for me to actually blog. 

~1~

Our first full week of homeschooling is behind us.  At this point, we've more than doubled the amount of time we homeschooled for our failed attempt back in January.  Woo hoo!  

~2~

I forced myself to plan out another couple weeks worth of lesson plans this morning.  I had the first three and a half weeks done before we started school, but I hadn't been able to force myself to get more of them done prior to this morning.  I keep telling myself I need to get this done before I find myself with no energy to do it.

~3~

We just finalized our plans the other day for an upcoming surprise for the girls.  They'll find out what it is in a few more weeks.  I'd love to tell you all what it is, but a certain 12 year old reads the blog here and there so I can't spill the beans just yet.  

~4~

I started to write a blog post about my pinkie toe mishap the other day and had to put the laptop down before I could hit publish.  I had one of those afternoons where I started to get very irritated that the kids weren't picking up after themselves again.  I went to kick the kitchen trash can in frustration and missed by a long shot and kicked the door, the door jamb and the wall instead.  OUCH! The top bone of my pinkie toe ended up breaking.  Ugh!  The pain has been a pretty frequent reminder to clam down and not get so upset about the messes kids make.

~5~

I went to confession this morning.  I'm always amazed at how I always seem to hear just what I need to hear when I go there.  I'm thankful that we have such great priests at our parish.  Even when they tell me things I don't necessarily want to hear it's still exactly what I needed.  Today I was told to find the Litany of Humility.  After reading through it a few times I have to say it's absolutely perfect for anyone who worries too much about what others think or say.  It's certainly one of my struggles.  Hopefully this litany will be helpful to me.

~6~

Why is it that when you feel the most exhausted that's when the baby doesn't want to nap?  I think Katie is cutting new teeth and it's disrupting nap time.  I think my hope of sneaking in a nap before Mass tonight isn't going to happen.  Sigh.

~7~

On happier news, Katie is showing an interest in using the potty.  She's had several successes over the past few days!  Who knows, maybe we'll be ditching diapers in a few more months.  That would be awesome!

Quick Takes: Volume 76

~1~

We're getting read for back to school around here.  Ellie's room assignment arrived in the mail yesterday.  She has the same teacher Madeline had for third grade.  We liked her so I have every expectation that this will be a good year for Ellie.

~2~

We're plunging into the world of homeschooling for Madeline.  We registered her with Seton on Monday and all of her materials were here on Tuesday.  I figured it would be at least a few days or a week before we saw her books.

~3~

Since Tuesday afternoon I have been spending a lot of time going over the lesson plans and the books for Madeline.  I have moments where I feel like this is going to great and other moments where I start to feel overwhelmed.  Someone please tell me this is normal.

~4~

Thanks to our decision to homeschool, I don't have to set Madeline up with six or seven binders all equipped with a fully stocked pencil case and other assorted nonsense.  Not having to adhere to the middle school's supply list is definitely one of the perks of homeschooling.  I can't tell you how much I enjoyed being able to go to the store and buy just the supplies we really need.

~5~

I have every expectation that this time around our foray into homeschooling will work.  In fact, I'm determined to make it work.  We tried to homeschool back in January for three whole days and it was a flaming disaster.  We didn't have all of her curriculum, I had less than two days to prepare for the switch, and I think we were simply destined to crash and burn.  This time I'm prepared.  We have all of our materials, I have a plan and we're starting at the beginning of the school year.  I think starting at the beginning is crucial.

~6~

Bryan just let me know of this resource he thought might be helpful for the kids.  It's called Khan Academy.  They have math practice and video explanations of different concepts as well as practice exercises.  They have a whole host of other topics up there, too.

~7~

When I was reading through the English lesson plans for Madeline I discovered that there is more than one way to diagram a sentence. I apparently need to learn how to diagram a sentence differently from the way I learned during my middle school years.  THAT is going to be an adventure.  My strategy as of right now is to diagram them the way I learned and then translate it based off of that.  I was just going to teach Madeline the way that I know until I realized that she has two tests I have to send into Seton for grading where she has to diagram the sentence.  Sigh.  It's going to be so hard to unlearn what my grammar teacher taught.  When she taught us it was for life.  We were all warned that if she encountered us as adults we would be expected to recite certain things to her on command, like the verb to be.  I'm going to looking over my shoulder hoping Mrs. Byrnes isn't frowning at me as I approach teaching grammar from a different viewpoint. 

    

Quick Takes: Volume 75

~1~

We're back in the realm of fall soccer and I have to say that it really sucks.  And what's worse is we aren't even fully immersed in it.  On Saturday, Bryan and Madeline went on the team bike ride that officially kicked off the soccer training.  Then practices began on Tuesday.  So we're now looking at practices every Tuesday and Thursday from now until a week or two before Thanksgiving.  That means about 2 1/2 hours each practice night of Katie being very upset that people are missing.  It's exhausting.  This week has been particularly rough since Bryan has had other soccer obligations since he's a member of the board.  Tonight and most of tomorrow he has a coaches' licensing class that he has to attend so six out of eight days (I'm counting tomorrow) are consumed with soccer.  And we haven't even gotten to the point where Ellie has practices.  I feel like soccer has taken over our lives but Bryan keeps assuring me that it hasn't.  Perhaps it would be more accurate for me to say that soccer has taken over my husband's life.

~2~

At the youth group breakfast after Mass on Wednesday I met another "normal" homeschooling family with a child around Ellie's age and another one close in age to Katie.  It's funny because the person who introduced us told me that she gets that homeschool vibe from me but she figured I just wasn't there yet.  I still firmly believe that homeschooling is the right choice for my girls.  I just need to get Bryan and the girls on board.  Bryan has been talking about it as an option for Madeline for high school.  And our plan is to homeschool Katie.  I suppose technically I will start homeschooling her for pre-school next year when she turns three.

~3~

Have I mentioned how much I like Lysol and Pledge wipes?  I managed to go room by room a few weeks ago and deep clean the house.  Now I'm using the Pledge and Lysol wipes and the house is staying nice and clean.  I can't tell you how happy I am now that I've conquered the dust.  My kitchen counter tops are so nice and clean, too.  I previously thought these items were a huge waste of money for people who were too lazy to use paper towels or dust rags to clean.  Now I see them as amazing inventions that even the kids are willing to use to help with cleaning.  It's worth about $10-15 a month in cleaning wipes to have a nice clean home.  I feel a lot less stressed about cleaning now.  

~4~

Katie seems to be fascinated with trying on Bryan's shoes.  It's funny to watch her grab his shoes and hop up on the couch to put them on.  Actually, that's not all she's been trying on lately.  She's been putting on the girls shirts and bottoms when she's "helping" me fold the laundry.  She's a funny little girl.

~5~

Did any of you watch that Megalodon special on Discovery Channel's Shark Week?  I fell asleep during it and then woke up on the couch at the same place where I fell asleep several hours later.  Then I decided to record it so we could watch it later.  After we watched it we found out a day later that it was a fake documentary.  Bryan thought he saw something flash up on the screen at the end but he figured he saw incorrectly.  I'm annoyed that Discovery Channel wasted two hours of my time.  Bryan really dislikes those fake documentaries like the Walking With Dinosaurs type of shows, so we typically don't watch the fabricated ones.  

~6~

How cute is this child?  So she picked up Madeline's flute and is trying to hold it but her little arms are too short to reach the keys.  And when she does get to the keys her mouth can't reach the mouthpiece.  But that doesn't stop her.  She just pretends to play the flute and make her own flute sounds.  

~7~

Can I call these quick takes when I spent nearly four hours from start to finish?  So many distractions but they were all for good causes so no worries!