Running with Perseverance

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, my friends!  We are now in the wonderful season of Christmas - the solemn waiting in Advent has come to an end and the feasting has begun!  We attended a beautiful Sunday Mass this morning at the Cathedral in Orlando.  The music was breathtaking, the Mass was reverent, the children were well behaved, and I had the pleasure of sitting next to a charming 93 year old man.

Our trip in Orlando has been great so far, although we did have a bit of a rough start.  After a nice visit in Texas with both of our families, we left early in the morning on the 22nd for Florida.  We had an uneventful drive, watching movies, listening to podcasts, and playing Disney DVD bingo.

Gab won twice in a row!

Upon arrival at our hotel, things started to quickly go downhill.  As we unloaded children and all of our stuff we noticed that the hotel is right next to a sketchy night club, and there were intoxicated people everywhere!  Safe and sound in our hotel, or so we thought, everyone got to bed and right as I was drifting off to sleep there were three loud bursts of noise.  I sat up, looked at Charlie, and said, surely that isn't what I thought it was?  Well, yes it was 3 rounds of gun shots - right by our hotel.  Next thing we knew, there was a huge ruckus outside including lots of police car lights and a police helicopter flying over.  We also found out that our stupid dog ran away that morning - he's since been found... What a way to start the trip!

The next day we got up and got excited about heading to Epcot for our first day of Disney fun, only to find out that the tickets we had were not going to work as we were told they were.  We were supposed to have 5 day tickets and the would only work for that day.  (I won't bore you with the whole story about that.)  We were feeling disheartened until we worked out a refund but still got that day in Epcot and a very sweet and understanding Disney manager offered us complimentary tickets for the next day.  We had a fun time in Epcot!  The Nemo ride and "Turtle Talk with Crush," an interactive show with Crush the sea turtle were our favorites.  The fireworks at the end of the night were just breathtaking.  When the announcer came over before the show started and said something about Disney World being the place where "Dreams Come True," Felicity looked at me and said, "REALLY!?"  It's been so sweet watching their innocent excitement and true enthusiasm during these experiences.


 

We left Epcot early to get dinner outside the park and then returned for one last ride (Spaceship Earth - the one in the giant ball), one last beer (from "England"), and the fireworks.  While we were inside having a great time, someone else was having a great time breaking into our car and stealing all my cash (our Christmas gift from the inlaws :-( ) and my iPhone...  I was really sad.  I felt so stupid for leaving it all in the car - but I did have it out of sight and we were only going in for about an hour.  I thought it would be ok.  It was also frusturating to have to come home at 1:30 am and have to cancel my phone service, debit card (not stolen, but compromised, you know?), etc. 

Charlie and I both tried really hard to keep a positive attitude throughout all the setbacks and to be sure that the children were none-the-wiser to all the drama going on.  We got up early on Christmas Eve ready to have a super fun day at Magic Kingdom, and we had such a special day.  It was just such a blessing to spend so many great times together as a family.  We were there until midnight and everyone hung in there and really enjoyed themselves.

On the tea cup ride!  One thing I really appreciated about Magic Kingdom was how many rides all of us can go on - baby included!


We met Cinderella, Belle, and Aurora (Sleeping Beauty)and that was a high point for the girls.  Colette wanted nothing to do with the princesses, however, until sweet Sleeping Beauty picked up on her name, called her Colette, and then they were BFFs. It was sweet.

We staked out an excellent spot for the afternoon Christmas parade and while we were waiting, Goofy happened to show up! We were first in line to see him, and had plenty of time to spare to enjoy Mickey ice creams before the parade.

This is just plain cute.

Christmas was excellent: Mass with people from around the world, Texas briscuit for dinner, and fun gifts.  What a joy to celebrate Jesus' birthday with a group of innocent little ones!

Between the slow internet and a slow computer, it's taken me hours to write this post.  So, I'll have to update with pictures of Christmas and the last few days later.  We had some great shopping at the outlets and are going to the beach tomorrow.  After that, FOCUS conference,followed by YAY! another 4 days of Disney (found a SWEET deal that will actually work out properly) and a stay in a beautiful resort/condo thanks to my very generous sister and brother inlaw who are allowing us to use their timeshare. 

All the while, through the scary times, hard times, disappointing times...through the exciting and wonderous times, through the times of family unity and joy, through the fun, and the relief - we keep Christ close in our hearts during this blessed season of Christmas and we thank Him for the desolations and the consolations that draw us closer to eachother and closer to Him.

Florida Bound

What a crazy few weeks it's been! I am currently blogging from the iPhone in the car as we approach louisiana on our drive to Florida! We made plans sort of at the last minute to go to Orlando for some extra time before the FOCUS national conference. We got an amazing deal on Disney tickets and a *steal* on a hotel. We are so blessed to have this opportunity, it's really one of those things I never thought we'd be able to swing. Yet, here we are! We'll obviously be spending Christmas in Florida, but we won't go to Disney world on that day or over the weekend as we celebrate the birth of our Savior!
We've already had wonderful visits with both of our families in Texas, which has been the perfect start to the trip.
And now...i'm going to "read a book" (aka take a nap) while my sweet husband drives!!

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

We had such a lovely St. Nicholas day!  It's very cold tonight, and I want nothing more to snuggle up in my cozy bed right now, so I'm going to keep it short and picture heavy!

We awakened to an abundance of freshly fallen snow and it snowed all day long as well.  This evening, it was like watching glitter fall from the sky.  So beautiful.  Here's Bree the Narnian Goldendoodle out the window at breakfast this morning:

(How does this guy see?  I just don't know...lol)

The little ones left out their shoes last night and they were filled while they slept with some traditional St. Nick's day fare. 

Chocolate coins, clementines, and candy canes. 

Also included were St. Nicholas Chocolates :

I decided to do this at the last minute, so I just used what supplies I had on hand.  I was actually very surprised when the girls were delighted by this, recognized the Bishop's miter and crozier, and seemed to genuinely enjoy the effort.

They also got the first three books in the My First Little House series, which was perfect because they were all winter/Christmas themed.

I always give them Christmas and Advent themed books on St. Nicholas day as their small gifts.  They all seemed to like these books, as we snuggled down to read them on the couch after breakfast.  It was nice for them to get a little bit of a chance to unwrap and get excited as Christmas approaches.  I was pleased with how joyful they were, and grateful for even little things.

While the girls looked at their books and sampled a bit of chocolate, Charlie and I made breakfast together.  He made us a delicious egg dish and I made baking powder drop biscuits (SO delicious!) and spiced apple cider.  We also enjoyed a generous bowl full of clementines.

 

The spiced apple cider has been made for many years in my family and was given to us by a dear friend of my parents.  She used to always make this cider for a special Christmas get-together we would have, so just the smell brings happy memories!

1/2 cup brown sugar
2 quarts apple cider
1 t. whole all spice
1 1/2 t. whole cloves
2 pieces of cinnamon sticks
orange slices

Warm and serve.

(Today I was out of whole cloves, and I usually don't have whole all spice - so I just use reduced amounts of ground spices and it's still delicious!)

The girls enjoyed getting to use their special tea cups for this feast day!

Lastly, we enjoyed reading St. Nicholas day letters to the big girls!    One of my fondest memories as a child was the letter from Santa telling me what I had done well the year preceding.  Since we have decided not to participate in the Santa Clause tradition, I thought St. Nicholas Day would be an excellent time to do something along these lines.

Their letters were placed by their shoes and read out loud to the whole family after we ate.  They included affirmations of the girls' character and a reminder of what a precious daughter of God that they are.  They asked to hear them a few times, and they seemed happy to hear that their sweetness, obedience, good deeds, and enthusiasm are noticed!

I hope you all had a lovely day and are enjoying this blessed season of Advent!

+St. Nicholas, pray for us!+

Daybook December 1

This is my 200th post on TypePad!  How fun!  I hate to do a Daybook, followed by another Daybook, but that's what I've got time for today.  I look forward to some more Advent posting to come! 

Outside my window … it's sort of dreary and cool.  The trees are so bare, except the two little red apples that are hanging on to the apple tree in the front yard. 

I am thinking … about how lovely it smells in here!  It's a very dry day here in Colorado, so I've got a pot of water simmering on the stove to add some moisture in the air.  I tossed in a cinnamon stick and it's delightful!

I am thankful for … my amazing husband.  I love him so dearly and he is so wonderful to me.  Today's an extra long day at work for him, but I have a bouquet of flowers and a sweet note in my inbox from him to sustain me.  <3

I am reading … nothing at this very moment.  I'm too busy to sit and read.  However, I'm hoping to start Dawn of the Messiah by Ted Sri in the next few days.

On my iPod... Josh Groban's Christmas album, Noel.  I love the Little Drummer Boy!  It's my favorite Christmas song, I feel like I can really relate to it.

I am hoping … that I can make Advent meaningful, as we are only home for about 2 weeks before the next adventure starts and we travel all over the US.  I'm thinking we'll just take everything along, Advent wreath and all.  We shall see...

On my mind … there's so much to do.  We're leaving to visit family and mission partners in Texas before we head to Florida for FOCUS National Conference and to Disney World, in only about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks.  I have to pack for such a variety of weather (everything from scarves and gloves to bathing suits) and prepare for Christmas away from home.  We'll be in Orlando for Christmas, so I'm getting together a little tree for the hotel and bringing along most of the gifts.  It's a lot of work, but it's going to be such great fun.

We’re learning … We're focusing on the Jesse Tree and other Advent lessons for the next few weeks here.  The girls also have 2 more weeks of their dinosaur class, Charlie's doing math with them, we're working on handwriting, and I'll probably let myself off the hook a bit by letting Felicity do some phonics on starfall.com.

Noticing that … my 5 year old is getting so big.  I was looking at her earlier stretched acoss the couch looking at a book, and wow.  She's long, and beautiful, and getting so mature.  She's such a blessing to me!

Pondering these words … Rejoice!  Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Isreal!

From the kitchen … Still haven't been to the store after visiting family for Thanksgiving in Texas.  Thankfully Charlie went to the store for provisions and we are good until tomorrow.  Tonight will be our version of Sausage and Peppers Rustica!

Around the house … All the Christmas decor is out!  We decided against a tree since we'll only be in town for a while and won't be back until the Christmas season is over.  Our Christmas decor is gold and red.  I specifically focus on red roses with Christmas greenery.  I just love it.

One of my favorite things … that Gabrielle loves the baby so much.  She spends a lot of time entertaining and holding her.  What joy!

A picture I am sharing …

My beloved and me before the 5K on Thanksgiving Day.

Daybook November 15

Inspired by two of my favorite bloggers, I'm feeling up to a Daybook this evening.  While I get a grip on my life, home, and family I need some "easy" blogging.  I'll probably toss in some Small Successes and Works for Me Wednesdays as well in upcoming weeks.

Without further adieu, today's Daybook:

Outside my window … it is very cold (14 degrees cold), there's wet snow and slippery ice everywhere.  I fell on a patch of ice immediately upon exciting the car yesterday evening at Mass, leaving a few bruises... 

I am thinking … about how to implement a new, good laundry and meal system with all the upcoming traveling and holiday business.  I have great hope that things are going to improve around here, and I will settle into a peaceful routine.

I am thankful for … my sweet baby.  She's such a source of joy to me and I feel so blessed by her presence in our family.

I am reading … A Mother's Rule of Life, finishing up Graced and Gifted, skimming this month's issues of Mothering magazine & Real Simple magazine.

On my iPod... A great running list.  There's nothing like the right song to push through a hard part of the run.  I still could use a few more good songs though.  I'm also loading up on Christmas music for the drive home from Texas

I am hoping … that the beer bread I'm trying out tonight turns out well.  It was so easy. 

On my mind … Going home for Thanksgiving.  I can't wait to see my family, to experience the familiarity of our Thanksgiving meal, and running that 5K!

We’re learning … Working on writing letters and the numbers 3,5,6,7,8 & 9, place value, and reading lots of books.  We've been taking it easy, but things will improve this week!  I'm excited!  Also, the girls took a class about Dinosaurs today at the rec center.

Noticing that … my clothes fit better.  I'm not back to my 20 year old self by any means, but I feel good about noticing a (small) difference with all my hard work.

Pondering these words … I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness. -Mother Theresa

From the kitchen … Grilled chicken (yes..we still grill in the cold!), steamed cauliflower, broccoli & rice, and beer bread.

Around the house … I'm enjoying the last day of Autumn decor.  I just love burnt orange and browns.  Also, I have paper piles everywhere to deal with - almost all full of my thoughts and printouts of plans to get it together here.

One of my favorite things … flowers.  Charlie brought me roses last week and even though they aren't looking so hot, I just can't bare to throw them out just yet.

A picture I am sharing …

All my favorite people building a snowman.  It turned out cute, until the dog ate the carrot nose and knocked off it's head. 

A Glitch in the System

The reality has been that things fell apart.  It is that I am not capable of 3 full time jobs: mothering, keeping house, and teaching.  My pride came to an ugly head when I collapsed into desolation and prepared to send everyone old enough off to Catholic school.  Nobody had clothes to wear, I needed to go grocery shopping, and school was rushed and miserable for me.

So, I've spent the last two weeks picking up the pieces.  I have a tendency to want everything to be perfect at all times, to always appear as if I have it all together, and to spend more time preparing for life than living life.  The vices I struggle with the most all play into this, and I finally met my match when I realized that I couldn't go on doing things the way I was doing them with a destructive (yet mostly sweet) toddler, newborn, and kindergartener in tow.  My sweet Gabrielle has been delightful and uncomplicated.  Everyone else has needed so much from me, and I had been failing them. 

I turned to the ladies on the Real Learning message boards because I knew that their collective wisdom and prayers really would help me, especially since I don't have someone here in real life that I can run to with my questions on how to balance all three jobs.  I was given so much practical advice, and the thing that really hit me was that I need to RELAX.

What I did in turn was to put away the Catholic Heritage Curricula plans, they really were overkill for me and this season of our family life.  I was re-energized and got a boost of enthusiasm for homeschooling back after I was ready to abandon ship and hope for a scholarship at the local Catholic school.  I was reassured that I really am doing a lot of work, giving a lot of myself, and not being a lazy bum!  Sometimes I just try to push myself for more and more perfection, and I realize now that I needed a healthy dose of humility when everything fell apart. 

For school, my plan is to enjoy life with my children and integrate learning into our daily life.  I don't have time to sit down and "DO SCHOOL."  And, I think that will be good enough or better than what they would be getting "at" school.  I am working hard to be 100% present in the moment in our interactions, and no teacher could ever love my children as I do, or care about their success as I do.  We're doing much more reading out loud (something I actually really don't enjoy, but recognize the need for...I have such guilt about not enjoying it!!!), and we can cover SO many subjects in that way.  I'm committed to playing more games with the girls, including educational games.  Counting, adding, and very basic subtracting are all Felicity needs right now, and that can be done in a fun way.  I fount this great website that I got some fun ideas from as well!  Also, as far as math, we're going to continue with Math-U-See Primer, but Charlie is going to take that over.  He's been doing it with her before and after daily Mass, which he takes the two big girls to, regardless if I can attend or not. 
I am opening the door to more art and crafting, which I think is essential for coordination, attention, learning precision, and enjoyment.  This comes more naturally to me, but is an adventure I won't embark upon when I am feeling stressed.  When the house is trashed, the last thing I'm willing to bust out is glitter, glue, paint, etc!  haha 
The Magna-Doodle is great for letter writing practice, as are these alphabet tracers from Jan Brett's activity page.  I printed them, stuck them in plastic sheet covers, and give them to the girls at the kitchen bar while I make dinner or take them along when we have evening events for FOCUS.  They LOVE this!  It was a great idea from one of the ladies on the message board.  Everywhere the girls go, they are sounding out words, so I think they are picking up on phonics.  I'm using Bob Books for now and will probably move on to the CHC reading program in the spring.  Although, they are both (F & G) picking up on reading quickly, as they have known letter sounds for a few years now. 
For Religious Ed, I was NOT impressed with the CHC program at all.  It was so time intensive, and not what I was looking for at all.  I think we're covering the bases with daily Mass, discussions at dinner (it's usually a free-for-all Q&A with Daddy), reading Proverbs and Bible stories at lunch, and prayer at bedtime.  They're also welcome to join me for my Rosary and/or Chaplet if they're around.  But they don't have to.  They also have tons of Saint books, prayer books, etc. that they enjoy.

At home, I'm trying to revamp the way I have done things.  I no longer have all my children napping for 3 hours every afternoon, so I get no time for quiet and uninterrupted housework.  I don't have this all worked out yet, but I'm tossing around some ideas.  There just seems to be so much to do all the time from planning meals and shopping, to mountains of laundry, to vacuuming/mopping/sweeping (all the time), and so on and so forth.  I have no help in this, as my girls aren't old enough to do much just yet.  Although, Felicity is an excellent laundry folder, so I think I'm going to have her start folding kid laundry and have Gabrielle put it away.
Laundry is really my biggest issue, and it can cause me quite a bit of guilt if it's not done.  I feel like at a very basic level, love is shown through clean socks and undergarments!  I have some ideas on how to create an effective laundry system, I'll report back if it works!  ;-)  The main thing I'm going to do, though, is to pare down the girls' clothes significantly.  Six outfits, appropriate undergarments, socks, thermals, ballet clothes, a dress for Mass, and outerwear ought to do it.  We're going to plan our clothes for the week ahead (we meaning, myself and the children - Charlie's in charge of his own stuff and I'll wash as much of his clothing as he'd like!), so hopefully that will help.
Other things I planning on doing include drastically purging toys, teaching the girls to help with age appropriate things (vacuuming? unloading some dishes? cleaning the table after meals? I'm open to suggestions for 4 & 5 year olds), taking a break from cloth diapering (this breaks my little heart!) and making myself a "rule."  I'm considering selling my iPhone for a Roomba (these often come up on woot.com for cheap) and possibly hiring on a female student to help me out with some chores or watching children while I do chores once a week or so.  We'll see on those.

Lastly, I'm trying to allow myself some room to breathe.  I'm a melancholic, an introvert; I need quiet.  I'm taking prayer time seriously, yet being realistic with myself about what I can do.  Charlie's committed to me taking Saturday mornings to myself for Mass, coffee, and anything else I feel like doing (probably lots of time at the library, the park, or sticking around the church for adoration and quiet prayer).  I have to take my sidekick, though, as long as she's a nursling.  I just need space to think.  I need quiet.  It's not a desire or a want, it's a true need - the way that God created me.  I'm a better wife, a better mother, and a better Christian when I have it.  I need Him, even if only for a few undistracted moments a day!  The other great thing is that I'm taking exercise seriously.  Thankfully we have this Thanksgiving 5K as a goal to meet, and I've seen an improvement in my physical and mental health.  Yesterday I was feeling so very stressed, and after doing 3 miles I felt so much better!  I want my daughters to see that physical activity is important; that's hard for me, the non-athlete.  It's fun too because I can run while they hang out with Charlie, while they sleep, or while they play around me since my treadmill is in their play room. :-)

This has been a long post.  But, I've been away for a long time.  I've contemplated shutting down my blog.  I don't always feel like I have time for it, but then I come back and enjoy it so much.  Maybe I'll work that in with other leisure activities as I make my rule...  I don't know.  I love looking back on our history, as much of what I write is really for my own sake, my own memory.  Nonetheless, please keep me in your prayers my friends, as I experience these life-size growing pains.  You all are certainly in mine!

I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.

-Mother Theresa

Autumn

Autumn is hands-down my favorite season.  We are enjoying it to it's fullest - though I have to say it's sort of strange here where instead of a Autumn-Summer collision, there is a Autumn-Winter collision!  Yesterday and the day before we experienced a huge snowfall, in fact, we had about a foot and a half in the back yard!  How's snow sledding for a Fall activity?!  Well, we were doing it!

I was obviously unprepared though, we couldn't find our sleds and Felicity doesn't have snow boots yet!  Thankfully, I had just purchased thermals for all the girls on sale the previous week!

You would never have known that only a few days before, it was in the high 60's and beautiful out!  We went to the pumpkin patch and apparently had perfect timing!  It was a gorgeous day and we had so much fun picking out pumpkins, carving the big one, and eating pumpkin seeds.

 

Now we're getting ready for Halloween tomorrow, which is very exciting for the girls.  Halloween is one of those holidays where we try to carefully balance the appropriate secular traditions with the Christian ones, seeing as that the following day is All Saint's Day!
We steer clear of anything scary or sketchy and are just taking the girls to "Boo at the Zoo" to trick-or-treat.  They are dressing up as Saints, because in the evening we'll go to an All Saint's Party.  I feel like that is a good compromise on the fun of dressing up and getting candy and avoiding what can certainly be quite a diabolical "holiday."  All Saints/All Souls are actually two of my favorite days on the liturgical calendar.  They are so profound and bring to light our mortality and need for Christ, just in time for Advent and Christmas!

This evening we got our traditional "jack-o-lantern" pizza from Papa Murphy's.  We get these every year and the girls think they are such fun!

I've been making Saint costumes too, and am finally (at the last moment!) finished with them all, have them set out with all their accessories, thermals, shoes and socks, and trick-or-treat buckets for the morning when we leave for the zoo.

I can't wait to post pictures of St. Gianna, Blessed Kateri, and St. Elizabeth of Hungary!

Tonight I was planning on making "soul cakes."  They looked easy enough, but of course I ran out of time.  Here it is midnight, I just got the baby to lay down without me holding her, and Charlie's still at work.  It just didn't happen, so thank goodness I have apple pumpkin muffins stashed away in my freezer from the apple crop.  I just got those out and they'll be perfectly thawed and ready to go by morning for a quick breakfast!

Aren't the glitter pumpkins lovely!?  The girls and I enjoy watching Martha Stewart "On Demand" and saw the glitter pumpkin idea.  They got so excited about it that I decided that we had better try it out!  It was messy, and I had to order the glitter quite a while ago (I got mine on ebay for about 1/4 the price of the company Martha suggests), and of course the glitter is everywhere.  But, we had such a fun time and I think they turned out beautifully!  Hopefully the'll last through Thanksgiving!
 

Tomorrow should be a fun day, and we are looking forward to celebrating Serafina's baptism on All Saint's Day, followed by a visit to the cemetery and a Eucharistic Procession on All Soul's Day!  I hope everyone enjoys their day tomorrow as well!

I've lost my mind.

I am your all time NON-athlete.  I'm not competitive - at all (that might be my bit of phlegmatic coming out!).  When I played middle school volleyball on the "B Team," they called me "Andrea the Terrible."  Supposedly that was to inspire me to be more competitive, but I think they were really making fun of me.  I got the bulk of my PE credits in high school via distance learning programs so I could take 2 class periods of choir every day.  I'm known for being slightly clumsy.

Needless to say, after having 4 children, working out is certainly on my radar screen.  However, I tend to resist it because, frankly, I don't have a lot of time.  I'm also clumsy and unathletic.  And I have an admitted issue with going to great distances not to embarrass myself (I need to work on humility).

Well, Charlie and I decided it would be nice to spend Thanksgiving in Texas with my family.  I texted my mom to ask her what they are doing for Thanksgiving and if we could come.  Well, yes, we could come, and they (my mom, dad, and brother) were planning on running a 5K that morning.  ::sigh::  I mustered up all the strength I had and said, hey Charlie and I can do that!

Uh oh.

I just committed to a 5K.  There's 5 of us going, so we're a team! And mom has a jogging stroller, I can take Serafina!  She also already has a babysitter lined up, who can totally handle my other 3 on top of my 4 little sisters. 

Nothing is worth doing that's not worth doing well, right?  So I made the ultimate stupid decision that I would just work on running and my goal would be to just run the whole thing.  I'm not going to worry about time or anything like that, just run the whole thing.

The last time I ran any distance above 5 feet to rescue a small child was half my life ago.  13 years.  I hadn't run even a MILE in 13 years!

So, Charlie, my ever encouraging, wonderful husband did his thing and traded a laptop that we got for free and didn't need on Craig's List for a *sweet* treadmill.  I've been plugging away and I can't believe that I am actually, maybe, capable of doing this.  I know it's no big deal to other people -but seriously.  Non-athlete.  13 years.  Eep.

Interestingly, I am really encouraged and strengthened by my last delivery with Serafina.  Something about that drug-free natural birth was very empowering and the coping tricks that I used to get through my labor really work in running also.

I think today I kind of overdid it though.  Not only did I have my run, but Charlie also talked me into doing an hour and fifteen minutes of extreme P90X yoga with him. 

I'm exhausted, but happy.  I just hope I can do it.  I think I can.

PS - I would really love some song suggestions for my running play list.  I only have an hours worth of music on my playlist, and my work out is just about an hour.  I need more variety!

Welcome to Our School Room

Today I posted a picture of the girls during school time on Facebook via my iphone.  I got several comments about our classroom, so I thought I'd post pictures on here!  I haven't done it  yet, mostly because I have been waiting until I'm "done," but that could be a while so here it is as of today!

When you first walk in, you see the art easel and a wall full of (mostly Gab's) artwork.  Art is something we're going to add into the mix next semester, so more will be done here in the future.  I'm open to hearing suggestions on how to teach "art" to kindergartners and pre-schoolers, including books and other such things. 
Next to that, we have our nature center.  This is also unfinished! haha  Thankfully, when we rented this house, there were 2 bookshelves already in this room and this is one of them.  I have our nature journals, Your Big Backyard magazines, flower press, and nature books on the shelf.  On the top I keep the girls treasures that they find outside.  I'd love to get some of those seasonal fairies from Magic Cabin for this, but they are so expensive!  In the window sill are books on our nature topic of the month.  This month is pumpkins.  Eventually, we'll store nature backpacks here with magnifying glasses, binoculars, note pads, cameras (you can get digital cameras SO cheap on Craig's List!), and collection containers.
Obviously, you can see the table.  It was a steal on Craig's List.  I was going to buy a kid size table, but I decided on a full size table.

I wish I had taken this picture in the daylight, because this window is one of my favorite parts of the room.  It is garden level (so even with the grass) and is literally on the other side of the garden (should be fun in the spring!).  We can watch Bree's antics while we're schooling, and sometimes he makes us laugh by putting his paws up on the window!
As you can see, I have a calendar section going on.  We discuss what month and day of the week it is every day.  I have a CD of songs about such things that has been helpful.  In the future, I'd also like to add weather and time over here.
Notice the baskets?  I've never been a basket person, but how could I pass them up at $1 a piece on Craig's List?  They are very helpful! 
In the window sill there are canning jars with our markers, colored pencils, crayons, writing pencils, glue & scissors.  There are also some math toys for Gab and Colette.

My desk was also already in the house, what a blessing!  I do all my planning here, and as you can see I have acquired a nice collection of homeschooling books thanks to the thrift store, a generous FOCUS donor, and some purchases on Amazon.  I also keep ALL paint and the Base 10 blocks on my desk for safe keeping.
Our maps were free on Craig's List, and at first I didn't think we needed them.  They have proved very useful though!  We know people from all over America (and the world really) and the girls can see where these places are.  Also, it comes in handy if geography comes up in any of our books.
My swiffer sweeper there by the trash can comes in handy if we need any comedic relief.  All I have to do is let Bree in and start sweeping.  There's all sorts of barking and jumping around - not just by the dog!
Up above are Felicity's alphabet cards.  These are great fun and it's always fun to add more to our wall!

If you turn once more to the left, you find rocking chairs for reading, life size prints of the girls (we were learning about being made in the image of God a couple weeks ago), and a bulletin board for our religious studies.  This is obviously unfinished.  Right now I have a Rosary and holy cards of Our Lady of the Rosary, since it's October, and laminated pictures of our Archbishop, Aux. Bishop, and Parish Priest as a reminder of the Year of the Priest.  We are praying for them!  Above the girls I'd love to put either Stations of the Cross or the Mysteries of the Rosary.

SO, that's our school room!  It will change with the seasons, and of course as we go along in the year.  Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Giving Rant

Well...Gabrielle's birthday is coming up and I'm having a very difficult time thinking of what we should get her!  She'll be 4 this year, and it seems like a 4 year old, easy to please girl would be super easy to buy a gift for. 
My problem is myself!  I'm very particular.  I don't want to waste money on junk toys, I try my very hardest to buy the highest quality toys for the best deal possible.  I don't want to buy her clothes or other things she "needs."  Children are only little for so long, and toys are what they want (birthdays and Christmas are the only time they get new toys)!  I don't like noisy toys.  I like toys that encourage imagination.  I like to be thoughtful in my gift giving.
She doesn't know what she wants.  I ask her and she looks around and whatever she sees, she want's a pretend version.  A pretend fan.  A pretend hose that sprays real water.  A pretend computer.  A pretend couch.  Not helpful!

I did find one thing that I thought she would really enjoy, and that I would like for her to have.  But, of course it's about $40 MORE than I want to spend!  So, I must keep looking. 

Gift giving is one of my favorite activities!  It's also my #2 "love language."  I try really hard when it comes to gifts, I spend a lot of time thinking about them and deciding on them and wrapping them.  In fact, I start Christmas shopping in August/September not only because it spreads out the cost, but also because I get so excited about picking them out!  (I'm already 1/3 of the way done shopping - for now!  In about an hour, I'll be over half way done!)

I find it so stressful when I can't think of something that someone would like!  I'm particularly struggling with Gabrielle's birthday and my 9 year old sister for Christmas.  And Charlie, of course.  He's SO hard to shop for!

That's the end of my rant.  It's not eloquently written or insightful or anything, but I do feel better after just writing it!  And I am certainly hoping for some suggestions...;-)