Fathers {Late Edition}

Two days later, but I'm still thinking about Father's Day. I thought throwing out a few photos from our day would be a nice little entry. When I looked back at the photos, I again found sufficiency in the simplicity. 

A day to honor dad and husband. A day to just do what they want to do.

Our original plans for a picnic lunch at a park with my dad (my mom had to work over the weekend) had to be changed due to more rain. Instead I served up lovin' in the form of breakfast at my dining room table.

Then we pretty much just hung out and spent time enjoying. Reed went for a bike ride with the big kids in the afternoon and I visited with dad while the girls napped.

Later in the afternoon after dad headed home, we spent time with Reed's dad and mom.

Our Father's Day came to a close with an indoor picnic supper. We figured since we missed out earlier in the day and it was still too wet outdoors, we'd still celebrate indoors.

At the end of the day, dads were honored and loved, our bellies and our hearts were full.

I believe that's the measure of a very good day and Reed felt just the same.

Let's Catch Up, Shall We?

As I breezed through the months worth of photos during my blogging hiatus, I found that there wasn't much to tell.

It was then though that I was reminded of strings of days that came together with seemingly nothing monumental to report. 

These are those days that perhaps get lost most in the shuffle, the days that no photos are taken and little documentation to prove we really did live them.

Maybe those were the days I struggled most or perhaps they were those ordinary days that make the best moments. The ones my children will remember.

Either way, a very brief look at a few of the things that did happen.

Lily turned ELEVEN. Wow. I totally didn't see that coming. Remind me again how these kids keep growing up?  We celebrated with her non-cake choice (it's some type of preteen phase I'm guessing) of rice krispie cake with chocolate glaze.

Lily ended up getting that cow she wanted. Kind of. Her AG doll, Abby, did at least. Perhaps in the spring she'll get a real cow or maybe a few chickens at least.

That following week we headed out of town for a couple days. Reed had a work related conference to attend, so we tagged along and did fun stuff while he worked. It's kind of a win-win. Fun for us all day, some fun as a family in the evenings and no time apart. It's perfect!

Well, when our parish priest found out we were heading to Rochester he mentioned this Catholic coffee shop. He was appauld I hadn't heard of it. So was I! 

Catholic and Coffee, two of my favorite things together?

Oh, but it got better my friends.

The kids and I headed out one morning to find the shop and it was just minutes from our hotel and our side of the city. 

It was like a fun field trip. Keep waiting, it gets better.

The St. James Coffee Shop is ah.maz.ing.

Not only do they have coffee and treats and all the great stuff a coffee shop should....

they also have JESUS there:

You saw that, right? The tabernacle there in the center?

In the back of this coffee shop is a small chapel so that the working person or the average person who stops in for coffee, can also stop in for some Jesus time too.

Sweetness!

It was really the coolest thing I've seen in a long time. I wish I lived closer! I would totally work there. Or be a frequent customer.

Check out their website link above to find more about their mission. We really enjoyed the atmosphere and the classic coffee shop feel, but with Saints photos and bios all over the shop. In the corner they had a treasure of basic Catholic books and other pamphlets, etc to evangelize and share the Catholic faith. Very cool.

We managed to cruise right on through the rest of September and October mainly just schooling. We made a brief stop at the end of the month to celebrate my 35th birthday. 

Somewhere in there our diocese finally received word that Rome had finally named a new bishop for us and he would be on his way.

Our bishop had retired last year and then with the change of Papacy we had to wait even longer for a new bishop to be named.

Bishop Donald Kettler's Installation as our Bishop would be held in early November with only limited seating available. Each parish received three tickets for members to attend the special Installation Mass. 

Thankfully, I've got connections, I work for our parish and it was during the week so a lot of people had to work.

Score three tickets and two very eager kids who thought the event would be awesome to attend. 

And here we are with the new Bishop:

Yeah, it was kind of a big deal and all. We had so much fun and made a great memory that day.

Of course, we celebrated some holidays in there as well.

Thanksgiving was at our house with my family. It was still relatively nice out and the ground still bare and brown without snow. Here's my big kids and my brother's boys, my nephews.

This is about the only time Lily is outnumbered by the male population, otherwise it's always the other way around and Jonah is outnumbered.

Christmas Eve was our tradition of just our family together and then Christmas day was spent with both of our extended families.

We went all out this year and took all four kids to Midnight Mass at our church. Last year I attended alone because we just didn't know how we'd venture out with everyone. This year we bit the bullet and grabbed everyone and went. It was beautiful and the kids all behaved really well. 

This photo was taken AFTER Mass, which meant it was well after 1am and the kids had only about 2 hours of sleep beforehand. Not bad, huh?

Another reason my time away was good/needed was the unexpected things God threw our way. 

Like the off and on colds/coughs that eventually took all of us captive at one time or another. This was a persistent strain that lasted and every time someone had it kicked, it returned. At one point all four kiddos were on meds and then right in there in early January both little girls got the tummy bug. They were troopers and we all survived. I'll just say though that it was the longest.month.of.my.life. And hardest as I've never had all of my kids sick at the same time and for any length.

Mix in that Old Man Winter had dealt us some nasty cold that didn't allow us to go outside for many a day during that time. Not our best days as a family, that much is for sure.

In the midst of much of my time away, something was still stirring and tugging at my heart. In early December I finally found what it was when one evening I received the dreaded phone call I'd know for months was coming.

My dad's voice on the other end told me that my grandpa, Papa, had passed away. My heart broke and months worth of knowing finally became the reality I feared. I cried and I grieved most differently than I ever thought I would. While Papa Eddie and I weren't ever real close in our relationship, or so I thought, I didn't know how much my heart would miss him. I didn't know how deep the loss would impact me. He was a good man who after 94 years is missed by so many. I wasn't ready to let him go, even though many of us knew it was near. He was a man beyond words to explain. I lived most of my life at home with grandpa just across the meadow in the white house I frequented with visits. It's funny how his passing has stirred within me more memories than my heart can hold. Many of his years were on the family farm that he struggled and toiled farming for so long. Many of my memories are of the simple things grandpa said or did that connected him to each of us grandchildren in a unique way. Many of those things have come back as a flood filling my own soul since his passing. 

I am still overwhelmed with love for the man who taught me much, led by so much determination, loved his Catholic faith and whose wit, wisdom and laughter were what he was most known by.

I still find myself some days caught off guard by the simple memories and the quiet moments when the sadness of loss grabs a hold of me. 

Somehow I am easily consoled by the prayer that he taught many of us from our very youngest days:

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give thee my heart and my soul.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, grant that I may die in thy peace and company.

I sure hope they did, Papa. I pray that your prayers were answered.

What's That I Hear?.

Christmas Music!!

Last week began Week One of roughly four more months of hearing my kids practicing their Christmas recital pieces. Uh huh, I will be hearing O Come, O Come Emmanuel in my sleep, people.

And, if history repeats itself, Jonah will still be practicing DAILY his piece well into next April.

I better keep working on my Swagbucks toward Christmas gifts now that I'll be reminded each day how swiftly it's coming. Or not coming.

Maybe I'll even splurge and get a pair of earplugs. Not that their playing is bad, but the repetition of Christmas tunes in the August heat gets old pretty fast.

Hello, Electricity! How I Missed Thee

39 Hours without electricity can teach you a lot.

Like how ill prepared I am for natural disaster.

How often I wash the girls' hands and face with the quick turn of the faucet.

Laundry and dishes seem to stack up faster.

The house becomes a wasteland of desperate dirtiness.

My kids are more resilient to coping without it than I thought.

There are still plenty of other things to be done without electricity, especially when there are branches/sticks to pick up and a garden out of which to clear debris.

Or how grumpy I get when there isn't the convenience of electricity flowing throughout my home.

A reminder that I am human and quite clearly was not designed to live in a different time era. My unwashed hair that was doin' its own thing was a testament to this truth.

Lastly, I take the power and workers that keep it coming to my house every day, for granted.

Stay tuned for photos from our Great Staycation last week, 

aka The Fun Before the Storm.

**By the way, if you live under a rock like I did for a few days, Kim Kardashian had her baby girl last week. We can all rest easy now, can't we? Dare we hope we don't see any more about that woman? That was the longest pregnancy EVER. Of course now she and the Kanye will just monetize on their baby 'North'. Oh joy. 

Happy Thanksgiving From My Turkeys

From Lily:

From Jonah:

From Gianna:

From all of us here at our house, to all of you, wherever you may be...

Happy Thanksgiving!!

The View From Here

Captured moments.

Some by camera and others by heart.

Treasured and priceless memories.

How sweet it is.

Settling In

It's been three weeks since Gianna arrived and blessed our family with her presence. It's hard for me to believe that there was ever a time when our family did not include this little girl. It's difficult to remember a day when things didn't just feel like they were turned completely upside down with diaper changes, feedings and a baby cradled in my arms. And yet, over this child we wept and waited for so long. Here, in the midst of all of these changes and transitions I can still easily forget the struggle. This new time has its own set of hurdles and mountaintops.

Yes, we're settling in and adjusting, day by day, hour by hour. A blessing as wonderful and big as this is bound to do that to you. Life with a newborn tends to do that to anyone.

Time certainly is fleeting and furiously passing by and I don't want to miss a minute of these precious moments with Gianna or with Lily and Jonah either. I'd like to blog more, but don't find the time or the brain energy that is required and that's okay because this season will one day come to pass. I've realized that Gianna's perfect timing is ideal with the coming of the Lenten season and the final weeks of winter (hopefully). We look forward to the springtime for so many reasons, but we are equally embracing these weeks as well.

Thank you for all of your kind comments upon Gianna's arrival and for your continued thoughts and prayers for our family. I know they have helped throughout some of the tougher days postpartum. I hope to be back writing as I can and if nothing else, to be able to post cute pictures along the way. I'm hoping to get posts up soon with Gianna's birth story, her baptism and Lily's First Reconciliation as well.

May your Lent be blessed and fruitful in the meantime!

Until next time, we'll be busy lovin' on this sweet little girl, our baby blessing.

Preparing A Place

We've kicked things into high gear here in the last week or so to make room for baby. All of those final things I've been waiting to finish have finally all come to fruition.

And now we wait.

Fittingly, the kids and I were talking about the virtue of Patience last week at school. The book's definition was simple: Waiting with a happy spirit. We have that reminder on the fridge and we are actively trying to remember patience in all things these days.

The last details of the baby's room are complete

The clothes are washed

And a couple of new ones are waiting (Lily and I couldn't help ourselves)

Stripes and Hearts!!

With a happy spirit we'll wait for the precious baby boy or baby girl that will fill the cozy car seat.

Counting down the days!!

Sprinkling Fun In Your Week

In an effort to ward off the mundane of daily living while staying at home and homeschooling, I frequently look for ways to liven things up. While not any great and wonderful ideas most of the time, I try to link them with a catchy name so that at least the kids get a hoot out of them.

While not always weekly events, I think we SAHM's do whatever we can to make things more fun and perhaps to make our days a bit easier too. Not to mention, if you live in the frozen tundra of winter white January days, you need to become creative when nasty roads and living out of the city limit you.

We try most weeks to brighten the beginning of the week with Muffin Tin Monday. Our family also just reinstated Wii Wednesday for the winter months, which we all enjoyed last year. We've also done Collage Friday in the past at school where the kids can create a collage out of just about anything to wrap up our school week.

Just last week I came up with Fun(lunch)Food Friday, where I actually make a little bit of effort to make something healthy and fun for lunch. Involving perhaps a little more prep time than other lunches, the kids seemed to think that with the catchy name it was 'the best lunch ever'. I had only made cheesy, chicken quesadillas, apple slices with a cream cheese/honey/peanut butter dip and frozen chocolate covered bananas. See? Not super creative. This isn't to say that our lunches are usually boring, but I don't typically plan out our weekly lunches so most often they end up being whatever I think of making when 11:00 rolls around.


How about you? What creative ways do you spice up at-home days with your children?

When Christmas Comes

It's the most wonderful time of the year....

I love that the house is decorated, there are plenty of cookies and treats to eat and family time abounds. A couple extra days when hubby can be home with us and we can relax and just 'be'. This year it seemed especially significant that while we awaited the Christ child, we were also embracing our last Christmas as a family of four and eagerly celebrating the upcoming birth of our newest addition. While still several weeks away, it has not been lost on us that baby will be our most precious gift yet.

I thought I'd toss in photos of ways we've been enjoying our Christmas days.


Gingerbread (pre-baked, pre-packaged) House on Christmas Eve

One of my favorite things, celebrating Christmas at church, amidst the poinsettias

Birthday cake for Baby Jesus

Christmas smiles and sibling love

Christmas morning gift opening

All sorts of goodies for me

Full hearts and a happy, healthy family

Any wonder that this is my favorite time of year?

Hopefully your household is still enjoying the days of Christmas and is happy and healthy too!

Morning At My House

Nestled in the forlorn parts of snow covered MN, an up-too-early child wonders. And an out-of-sorts-too-tired-yet-to-be-awake mom, begins another day.


My boy: "Is the 24th the first day of Christmas?"

Me: "No, Christmas Day is the first day of Christmas. December 25th." (said for about the millionth time in the last week)

My boy: "Oh. On the 25th then Santa comes!!!"

Me: "Well, yes, but more importantly Jesus is born. That's what we celebrate, remember?"

My boy: "What??!! Jesus gets born all over again??!!"



Oh goodness, little boy, can mommy finish her coffee first before we get into a discussion on the true meaning of Christmas? Child of mine, have you really missed the point every time we've discussed this?

I sense a long day ahead.

November Daybook

For Today...11.9.10

Outside My Window...another nice day on tap before the cold air hits again later this week.

I Am Thinking...about Christmas lists and Baby names. What a combination!

I Am Thankful For...family time over the weekend; free movie matinee of Marmaduke at the theatre; lunch with grandpa & grandma at Pizza Hut; numerous odds and ends completed around home. Sweetness!

I Am Praying...for a mom from our homeschool group who is due with triplets (all girls) around the same time I am. I know she'd appreciate any extra prayers we can send her way.

I Am Reading...A Gathering of Angels by Katherine Valentine

Baby This Week...26 weeks and moving around regularly with frequent jabs that catch mommy off guard; enjoys responding to big brother and big sister by kicking back; he/she should weigh around 2 lbs. by now.

Favorite Pregnancy Foods...summer sausage, bagels and any cereal. Nothing fancy.

Around The House...little by little hubby is adding the finishing touches on the family room/playroom in the basement. This should allow for Baby's Room to be rid of the Little People/Polly Pocket World it has become.

From The School Room...steady days starting 2nd quarter and a number of fall/Thanksgiving projects will adorn the bulletin board once again.

From The Kitchen...going day by day lately with the menu plans, but I'm frequently using my Betty Crocker app on the iPod Touch for recipe ideas. I've found quite a few keepers lately.

For The Rest Of The Week...Norwex party tonight; visit to a Poor Clare's convent an hour away tomorrow with our Little Flowers group; Reed is off from work for Veterans Day on Thursday.

One Of My Favorite Things...the way my growing belly has become a bongo drum and source of entertainment for the kids. Not to mention Jonah's growing fascination and love for baby. Too sweet.

Picture Thought I Am Sharing...





Check out more Daybooks at The Simple Woman's Daybook.

Flashback

Last week as I flipped channels on the television late in the afternoon, something caught my eye. The Backstreet Boys were reuniting as part of a surprise on a tv talk show (which shall remain nameless).

This I had to see.

I mean, I liked BSB back in the day and probably was more of a closet BSB fan than most girls at the time. But they were five guys...and they were so dreamy. You know you liked them too, just admit it.

Remember these album covers?




I think we all had our favorite. Mine was Kevin and sometimes even Brian.

So I waited and I watched for them to appear on the show. I had to check out how the guys had aged (and some of them even grown up).

Suddenly an unknown, forgotten giddy feeling came out of the blue while I watched. I could suddenly remember almost every word to their songs. It felt odd to be in my thirties and remember a day prior to my twenties when Boy Bands were all the rage. You couldn't go anywhere without seeing or hearing BSB or N SYNC (yup, you remember them too?).

They still had their harmonic sounds and their boy band ways, but now they're all grown up and we're all a little wiser. But man, it's amazing how a moment like that with all five back together again singing I Want It That Way can bring out the schoolgirl again.

I was smiling as I listened and I think I was even *blushing*.

And yes, when hubby arrived home I told him the whole story and we had a good laugh over it. I reminded him that even back then when I was single it wasn't like I 'even had a shot with one of those guys'. It was more about the mesmerizing ways of those handsome boy bands that caught most girls eyes. It seems so silly now and pretty hysterical that I still blush just by the mere mention of it. Oh boy.

I even half-heartily joked about hitting their concert when they are on tour in the spring with New Kids On The Block! No really, not gonna happen.

I mean maybe IF I were like a big fan or something. Hypothetically speaking.




***This slightly embarassing flashback moment brought to you by the slightly hormonal pregnant woman on the other side of the computer screen. We never need speak of this again.

For The Love Of Piano

A musically inclined family we are not. Especially gifted with an ear for music? Not so much. We do enjoy music, but do not stimulate our senses with Mozart and Bach tastefully dancing out of hidden speakers within our home.

I know, what kind of homeschool family are we any way?

It was with that thought in mind that we began Lily with piano lessons last winter. I do believe that even she was BEGGING for us to let her begin. I think at some point I longingly watched the Duggar children joyfully play their instruments beautifully and gracefully as their parents looked on lovingly, maybe too many times. Because, wouldn't that be blissful? Wouldn't that be music to my ears?

Somehow it hasn't turned out that way. Don't get me wrong, I was in no way expecting a fully perfected pianist in our household in six months. Not at all. I was thinking long-term beauty. Many years from now, hearing Pachelbel Canon (my favorite) being played by my perfectly postured, eager, Bach-in-training.

We started the lessons knowing that it would take both commitment and sacrifice from all of us. We knew it would take determination, practice, patience and tenacity. We wanted to instill those things and also give her the option for the lessons to encourage her abilities and musical expression.

The first months were met with eager displays of learning and satisfaction in accomplishment. In time though, we began going through the ups and downs of daily practice and routine. All of that easily led to daily frustration and constant reminding of the need to 'get to your practicing'. Being that I'm here most every day, I'm mostly the bad guy and play piano cop and it's wearing on me. Those days that practicing is still not accomplished before daddy steps in the door, he gets to join in and we can play the (seemingly) endless game of badgering the little pianist. I know she enjoys playing at least some of the time. I know she is doing well. I'm just not getting where the eagerness is and where the responsibility lies.

How DO you do it in your household? I know so many of you who run numerous children to lessons and recitals, so I know it can be done. Are your children reluctant? How do you schedule practice time each day? I want our children to love music and responsibility and not hate it because we pushed too hard and were drill sergeants about it.

30-60-90....Countdown!

For planners like myself who thrive on numbers:

30 days until my 32nd Birthday!!

60 days until Thanksgiving!!

AND, My Personal Favorite,

90 days until Christmas!!!


What do these numbers mean?

Well, (besides counting down days left for shopping) because after we get through these next 90 days I am only 6-7 weeks out from my due date. Woo-hoo!! Now that is something we're all really looking forward to!


Not that you'd ordinarily catch me counting down the days and weeks leading into winter, but this one is completely different.

What I've Learned

**Otherwise titled: Thoughts From The Couch (and by couch I mean the couch in my living room, not the cushy couch in a doctor's office. Just so you know.)

Life is different here. Days are unique in our home. And that is okay. It's just gotta be for now.

Perhaps no exciting revelations from my little corner of the world, but spending this much time resting and just 'being' allows for more thought than a normal day as a wife and mom might.

Hope and Pray. Of course I knew how much both of these were an important and meaningful part of my daily life, but they've become even more of a source of strength. It took us four years of struggling to begin a new life within me and if I learned anything, I learned hope. Despite many uncertainties during that time, I could not lose hope and trust that God would see us through. Last week as we drove to ER, I faltered and questioned, but I knew that I could not give in and give up hope for this child. In the days that have followed, I have drawn on that hope and faith so that each day seems brighter and more manageable.

Life is Precious. Again, obvious. But with each time that I hear the sweet heartbeat of our little one and feel the little flutters, I realize just how precious that gift is. Oh how we all have fallen in love with this child! My time on the couch resting is for baby as well as for myself. It decreases risks to both of us immensely. I know that it is necessary. From here, I also see differently my growing children. They are able to adapt and move through their day needing me only minimally. I get to just watch them play and converse in their own little world with their toys because I am not rushed in the to-do's of daily life. Almost nothing goes unnoticed or under appreciated. From here, I can see it all. (Well, except for the pantry and refrigerator which seem to be Jonah's go-to places these days since he is ALWAYS hungry)

I am Blessed. There are more things laying on the floor than I normally can tolerate, my dining room table is full of the temporary residents of Little People-ville and the weather outside my window is dreary. But, I am blessed. Although the children don't quite understand the full meaning of my time of bed rest, they are doing their best. Quarreling seems to be at a minimum, restlessness barely evident and whining seems to be in check. We are surviving. My husband is being as devoted as always, sacrificing as necessary and doing his best to care for all of us in addition to returning back to work. Although things around home aren't done perfectly (read: MY way), I'm okay with that since they are done with perfect love. In the end, some of it just doesn't matter, does it? We are blessed to have family who live close enough that have supported us through many small ways and bigger ways too. None of that goes unnoticed when mom is out of commission. Gratefully blessed, we certainly are!

Time marches on: With each day that passes, it has turned into a week and into another week that baby is doing well. Each week will lead us to week 20 when we will have another ultrasound to check if the placenta previa has improved and we'll be half way! My oldest 'baby' will find her seventh year coming to a close and I will quickly have an eight year old in my household. Jonah is not so much my 'baby' any more with our new baby on his/her way. I've spent five wonderful years seeing and treating my little man as my forever baby. He's ready to grow up and finally, with a new arrival on the distant horizon I am ready to let him. Reed and I celebrated our ninth anniversary this past week and in so many ways it is unbelievable that we are nearly to year ten. We are already thinking about next year's anniversary and perhaps a small family trip in-state that will allow our family of five to spend time away together. And time marches on.


Finally, I've also been contemplating a few words that were a part of the prayer that Dr. K prayed with us in the ER: 'if this has happened in order for us to stop and draw us closer to You, then use this time to be reminded of Your presence in our lives' (or something close to that effect). May this time be sent to us as a gift to strengthen our bond with God, as well as in our family.

Things are all but normal around our house for the next couple of weeks at least, but we're adjusting. We are all in some way preparing for a new life in our household and God's just being sure that we keep that in mind.