Overheard:: Say What?!

"Next year for my birthday, I think I want to get an iPad."


This was said while my six year old was lazing around on the couch playing Angry Birds on my iPod Touch.

My, my, how different things are from when I was a kid. I remember happily sitting in the corner reading a book for hours. Who knew back in the 1980's and 1990's how techy our culture could become?

There, now don't I sound old?

By the way, in case you're wondering...I do have limits and if anyone is getting an iPad around here, it's gonna be mama. IF I really was into wishing for an iPad.

Little did I know back in the 80's and 90's how techy I would become.

Birthdays

We celebrated Jonah's HALF birthday last Friday. Yes, because making sure to remember their actual birthday isn't difficult enough, why not celebrate twice a year?

Actually though, I've been sporadic about remembering to celebrate the half birthdays. A friend of mine always does for her kids and I thought it was a cute idea. Again, when I remember.

We only celebrate with cupcakes and other ways to make the day a little more special. Of course that doesn't keep a boy from dreaming about how super-awesome his half birthday is going to be.

He chose Funfetti cupcakes and frosting and printed pictures of his favorite Thomas engine, Diesel 10. Why is it that boys always pick the meanest/naughty character as their favorite?

The (half) birthday boy was quite pleased with the results:



As for me, I thoroughly enjoyed my chocolate cake with raspberry-cream cheese filling that my husband slaved over. YuMmY! A good man, he is. And excellent live-in baker.



I wish I could've shared a piece with all of you.



Thank you for all of the kind birthday wishes yesterday. They made my day!

Just Letting You Know....

Today's my Birthday!

Most of the celebrating was done on Sunday with family, but I'm sure the kids will be more than happy to help me celebrate again today. We'll top it all off with Lily's fall piano recital this evening.

Feel free to send your birthday wishes my way, especially if you are normally quite shy and don't comment.

In thanks, I'll offer a prayer or two for each of you who encourage and brighten my day.

Autumn Daybook

For Today...10.24.2011

Outside My Window...the trees are mostly bare and the leaves have been mowed and removed. I have a better vantage point of the lake across the county road from my house and enjoy the stillness of it.

I Am Thinking...about Christmas lists and gifts. I was able to get the kids to downsize their lists and hubby and I checked them twice and then set our limits. This will definitely help out the Christmas budget.

I Am Thankful For...a few new (to me) odds and ends maternity clothes that were sent my way. It's nice to add some different tops to the selection since I just wore maternity clothes last year and honestly got kind of sick of them.

I Am Reading...Love & Respect by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs. I'm glad that our Women's group chose this title since it's been collecting dust on my to-read pile for over a year.

I Am Creating...good intentions for repainting my living room one of these days. I just can't seem to decide on a color so that I don't have to change any of the other furnishings/decor in the room. It needs to get accomplished though since I've been on a mission for 2-3 years to get it done.

Around The House...I notice every speck of dirt/debris/bugs on the floor now that Gianna is crawling around 24/7. There's a lot more out there than I thought and if she finds it, she tries it.

From The Schoolroom...keeping on task and following the lesson plans well. Steady on. I'm also working on learning some simple sign language with the kids so we can use it with Gianna. I've found the My Smart Hands app on my iPod to be especially handy.

From The Kitchen...most days flying by the seat of my pants because nothing ever sound REALLY good to me lately. I do have a menu plan, but when we have many days away from home some of those aren't always feasible.

For The Rest Of The Week...Lily's piano lesson today; Lily's piano recital tomorrow evening; gymnastics for Lily and Tae Kwon Do for Jonah on Thursday; All Saints Day party with our homeschool group in the afternoon and then a Norwex party I'm hosting in the evening are on tap for Friday.

One Of My Favorite Things...hearing my baby giggle as the big kids play with her. She laughs at some of the silliest things.

Picture Thought I Am Sharing...this is my contribution to Clan Donaldson's post, Snapshots for a Sunday. What a fun idea! Check out what others were doing yesterday by clicking on my link to her post.

Never Enough Time

Isn't that what it feels like? There never seems to be enough time. An agenda and list is always on the mind and the passing of time is always on the heart.

I've been here before and I'm sure the climatic change from summer to fall nudges me to some degree.

Whether wistful and happily settled or just accepting and resigned, thoughts on time and seasons are never too far away as children grow.

As Baby Gem and my baby belly grow, the weeks of pregnancy seem to zoom by as never before.

Gianna has been crawling now for three weeks and she is moving at such a rapid rate that we cannot believe she ever wasn't mobile. Her stage of exploration just propels her as she's now grown to be our eight month old baby. Again, a reminder that time is fleeting and there never is enough. That newborn babyhood seems like such a distant reality and the corner of walking and her first birthday is within my view.



My boy still surprises me and catches me off-guard when I stop and realize that he is just six (and a half) and not the seven year old I tend to presume. He's taking his own leaps and bounds of change. The biggest one was joining a Tae Kwon Do class just ten minutes away and *loving* it. Surprised as we were, all it took was one time sitting in watching a class to get him committed to it. He looks forward to his Tuesday evenings now and going to class with dad.

The passing of time and season does not go unnoticed by the mother's heart.

Lily turned nine last month and continues to excel and rise to the challenges of a third grader. While cursive writing proves to be a challenge, she has picked up on it amazingly well and continues to improve. She even chose to take on Astronomy this year for Science and is grasping some of those difficult concepts. She is a wonderful helper for me and 'mother hen' to Gianna.



While there doesn't seem to be enough time in each day as the needs of my family grow and change, the priorities and to do lists change as well. It all gets done at some point, although there rarely is time to just sit and rest. I'm trying to adjust and make changes as needed to grow in my vocation and more fully wear that beautiful mantle of motherhood.

These days are passing and making way for a new season to relish and enjoy. They are mine to embrace and build fond memories.


"And when night comes, and you look back over the day and see how fragmentary everything has been, and how much you planned that has gone undone, and all the reasons you have to be embarassed and ashamed: just take everything exactly as it is, put it in God's hands and leave it with him."

-St. Edith Stein

What's In A Name?

Considering I'm currently going through a baby name quandary of sorts, Simcha's post today gave me a good chuckle this morning.

I just had a baby eight months ago for crying out loud, shouldn't I just use the leftover names we didn't use?

Well, that would just be too easy. And, some of those names just don't feel 'right' this time around.

What's a Catholic girl to do?

And what's the Catholic girl's husband to do for the next four months as she hashes and rehashes names in search of the perfect list?

Poor man.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday: Baby Meets Leaves

P.S--Baby liked leaves. So much so, that between the kids and I we could hardly keep her from eating them while shooting these photos. Hence, we had a small choking episode that followed later on. Man, kids can scare their mamas!