This...

...is how my girls are dressed playing in the backyard right now...brrrr!

Clean blankeys

The girls have not been very happy today. Ellie's diaper leaked onto both her blankeys, so I washed them as well as MC's blankeys. We no longer have a "smelly" blankey in the house and the girls are not happy about it. I'm a mean mommy!

But the best news of the day is that I PASSED the 3 hour glucose test! The level for my one hour test was so high that I thought I most definitely had gestational diabetes. I really tried hard to eat healthy and take out sugar, as well as take lots of walks last week in hopes that maybe it would help my scores. Apparently it did, or else the first level was just really high for a strange reason! I should really keep up with the healthy eating and exercise, but at least I don't have to worry about more doctor appointments and blood testing for the next 8 weeks...only EIGHT WEEKS to go, oh my!

Another happy item in today's events...it's in the mid-50s today! Chilly :)

Super Saturday

The week of craziness has ended! No, for those who are wondering, that is not a typical week for me. Yes, I'm a busy person and love participating in lots of activities and hosting different events. But that week was really exhausting! Although the next few weeks will still hold some big activities with All Saints' Day, First Friday, Halloween, and some other events I'll probably blog about...well, then we're into November and approaching Thanksgiving, Advent, Peter's arrival and Christmas...I'm hoping that was the busiest week for awhile!

Saturday we enjoyed a quiet morning at home and then around lunchtime ventured out to a festival in our area, celebrating a new "village" of our neighboring community. We had a great time!

Who would've thought that Ellie (my scaredy cat) would want to go on a kayak with Steven???




Not much longer till MC gets kicked out of the double stroller! It's getting hard to push!


Sliding!



Beading necklaces


And decorating rocks!


Last night we spent the evening at my parents' house and brought home their male cocker spaniel, Duke, since their female is in heat and he's going a little wild. Well, Duke didn't do much better at our house...howling and barking and crying until midnight when I put him in the garage (he's not fully housebroken). Then he escaped from our backyard this morning as we were getting ready for mass. We couldn't find him, but my dad actually drove over and found him at someone's home in our neighborhood. The dog had already ventured to the main road...I think he was trying to get home to his wife! Needless to say, we don't have Duke here anymore...

Today was also a children's festival at our parish but I didn't get any pictures of it. Tomorrow should be a rather quiet day with maybe just a little trip to the library. I should also get the results of my glucose test to see how these last 8 weeks of pregnancy will be! Everyone is asleep here at 10:00pm so I better enjoy the quiet night and catch some zzzz's myself before another week really begins...

Hope it's a great one for all!

More Friday Fun!

The baby shower was a wonderful evening with other homeschooling moms from our group. Here are 7 of the 8 mamas honored last night!


Me with my basket of goodies!


And the gifts I made...
While walking around the hospital on Thursday in between blood draws, I saw these cute diaper wreaths at the hospital gift store. Many of the moms in the L&D area had them on their doors and they just seemed like such a fun thing to make for way less than the $24 they cost at the gift store (although those ones had many more little gifts...bibs and rattles and other cute things hanging from the wreath). I had to do all but one with yellow ribbon and "It's a Girl" on one side and "It's a Boy" on the other since most of the moms are waiting to find out the gender. I thought they came out pretty cute, and thought I'd share the idea and how to make them...

Started with those thick plastic Hefty Interlocking plates, cut out the center and started tying 10 diapers around the edge.


Tied string in an X across the wreath so the little stuffed duck could be tied on. I did make a little ribbon "hanger" but I think the X portion would work best as the hanger.


One finished product


All of them!

Fantastic Friday!

We had a wonderful time yesterday at the Oil Ranch with our homeschool group!
We started off in the barn and petting zoo area. Mary Clare really enjoyed it!


Ellie, on the other hand, spent the first 45 minutes sitting in the stroller like this...afraid of all the animals!


A quick pet of a turkey!


Ellie starts to sit up and enjoyed watching the kids go on pony rides. Neither of mine were that brave though...


Blue snocones were the perfect dessert after lunch! And great with the white shirts ;)


Mary Clare just looked so tall and old to me!


Girls in a teepee


On the train


Choosing pumpkins



Whoa, what a day! Ready for naptime after a cute punkin pic :)


More on the baby shower and my handmade gifts later...

Thoughts on Thursday

Thankfully, it's over. And I should be in bed. We have an outdoor field trip, a birthday party (added to the agenda today), and a baby shower tomorrow...well, today! But alas, blogging invites...

I survived the 3 hour glucose tolerance test. I somehow managed to get the girls and I to the OB office at 8am and didn't get too nauseated drinking the orange sugar solution. We spent most of the 3 hours between blood draws in the hospital where Peter will arrive, which is right next to the doctor office. We walked around, I pre-registered for the delivery, we watched PBS in the L&D waiting room, visited the cafeteria a few times, and also enjoyed the gift stores! The girls did amazingly well and I'm glad I didn't beg someone else to watch them. They kept my mind off my hunger!

While in the hospital gift shop, I got a nice idea for something to make for the other moms being honored at the baby shower tonight. So after my last blood draw and lunch, we ventured to the 99 Cent store to get a few things (with only 2 trips to the restroom, one for a dirty diaper I had to change on the floor as Mary Clare got her finger stuck in the door!). Then later this evening after a successful tutoring session and Mexican food with my parents, we continued on to Michael's and Wal-Mart to get the rest of the supplies needed to make my gifts. They still have a little more work to go (and need of one other supply, argh), but were mostly finished between 10pm and 1am tonight! I'll post pics after the shower, but for now I better stop blog-browsing and allow my droopy eyelids a rest. The week is almost over!

Wild Wednesday!

Well, I thought it was going to be a nice, calm day. I had such a nice reflection last night and was sure I'd be able to keep myself off the internet and have a productive day with the girls....Well...

It started off okay, but as soon as the time started approaching to leave for my one appointment of the day, chaos broke loose! The girls had been in and out of the house all morning, playing in the backyard. As I dressed myself and started packing up, I realized that Ellie had once again gotten into the Ovaltine chocolate powder...chocolate on her face, fingers, and all over her shirt! She refused to take the shirt off, so I had to do it with her kicking and screaming. Meanwhile, Mary Clare had changed her wet pants (since the backyard was wet after a rainfall that I never noticed), but she still had on a muddy shirt. Then she put on a shirt with a big stain around the neck. It took a few minutes to finally get her to put on another shirt, which would not have been my choice of attire (short skirt and sleeveless shirt hand-me-downs), but they would have to do for today. Ellie, on the other hand, was now screaming up a storm, throwing a fit on the floor about the shirt I took off of her. I thought she would be excited--our meeting was at McDonald's--but instead she retreated to the closet, screaming and crying and refusing to come out.

Also at the same time, I was trying to make myself a somewhat healthy toasted sandwich, since I have my final glucose test in the morning and didn't think McDonald's would be a good choice of lunch. So the girls were also whining and crying for food, watching me eat my own lunch. And finally, the shoes. Well, their shoes of choice (Ellie's beloved turquoise flip flops and Mary Clare's hot pink sequined flip flops) were wet and dirty in the backyard, so I threw the girls into the car and went back into the house to locate some possible shoe options. White glitter flip flops would have to do for Mary Clare (why doesn't she like those again?), and Ellie would wear her sandals. But of course fussing ensued when they saw my chosen shoes. Oh well. Mary Clare refused to wear them into McD's, she would only hold them. Ellie did put on the sandals but insisted on doing it herself. She also at some point allowed me to change her shirt, amazingly!

The meeting was productive and one of my sweet girls did fall asleep on the way home. Mommy got a nice nap too! But the early evening proved to be just as challenging as the girls continued in and out of the yard all evening, got attacked by mosquitoes, were forced into the bathtub, and later escaped again to the backyard with Mary Clare wearing long sleeves, jeans and sandals in the heat ("so the mosquitos won't bite me") and Ellie was totally naked climbing on the swings and fort.

Well, Steven arrived for dinner and did some homeschooling with Mary Clare, one of those things that has been way on the backburner these crazy days...thanks, honey! These last 2 days of the week should prove to be just as exciting, with my 3-hour glucose test in the morning (yeah, WITH the girls), my tutoring job, my husband out of town, a field trip to a farm out of the city, and a big group baby shower for all the moms in the homeschool group (any creative gift ideas for 7 other moms?).

But there was one very productive thing I did today (aside from a short prayer time and my meeting at McDonald's). And that was that I found the item that was smelling up our refrigerator...2 week old raw shrimp! Yum! And it looks like I may have 2 children asleep before 11pm, way to go me!

Aren't you looking forward to Thursday's post???

Terrific Tuesday...

Because it ended with a most wonderful Evening of Reflection...exactly what my soul needed today! We had Adoration and Benediction (that sweet smell of incense was honey to my heart!), I signed up first on the list for Confession, heard a beautiful talk and meditation on God's will, and just enjoyed the evening of quiet time with My Lord.

The topic of the reflection, "Respond to God's Love with Love, Doing His Will" was very appropriate for this time in my life. My mind is spinning with a thousand things, my days are very full, and honestly I'm not sure how many of my daily activities I've actually taken to Christ first...to discern if they are something I should be doing. How can I love him best? It's so hard to discern especially when my prayer life seems full of distraction. Father also reflected on the "rich man" in the Gospel of Matthew and the importance of detachment. Just an evening full of deep spiritual thoughts and motivations for my spiritual life.

As for the rest of the day, we had a fun time this morning with the twins added to the mix! The kids all played well together and we only had a few crazy moments of me getting important phone calls while children got into the wet backyard, etc. We couldn't find Mary Clare's tap shoes when it was time for dance, because they were in the Lost and Found box at the studio! Then after we got home from dance class, the girls let the dog out of the backyard once again, unbeknownst to me until 2 girls showed up at the front door with him! Timber must be up for some real adventure this week...what, 3 escapes so far?

Tomorrow should be a rather quiet day with only one lunchtime meeting. Hopefully I can get some housework done and rest up for the next few days which hold a doctor appointment, field trip, baby shower, and more! Better catch some zzzz's before it's too much later! I'll leave you with a picture of the girls from Sunday morning before mass :)

Manic Monday

Wow. This has been a day! So for your enjoyment and my stress relief, here it is! Times are approximate...I don't have a watch.

5:45am-Wake up to 2 of Steven's alarm clocks. Go in the kitchen to make his lunch. Get out bread, lunchmeat, and mayo. Realize that the bread is starting to smell (I'd noticed some condensation in the bag, but no smell last night). Make him a lunch without a sandwich.

6:05am-Take a few minutes on the internet. Then head back to bed.

6:15am-While trying to fall back asleep I realize that I scheduled my 3-hr glucose test for tomorrow, when I also told a friend I would watch her 2yr old twins for the morning while she goes to a reflection. Plus tomorrow Mary Clare has dance and I'm planning to attend the evening reflection. Realize that it would be better to postpone it for another day. Fall asleep and have a nightmare about scheduling too many things for tomorrow afternoon.

7:27am-Turn off my alarm and go back to sleep.

8:15am-Wake up and happily discover that both girls are still fast asleep in their own room! Have some prayer time. Start breakfast.

8:45am-Girls wake up and eat breakfast in a good mood. So far, so good!

9:15am-Start trying to call OB's office to reschedule glucose test. Number is busy. Allow the girls to watch Barney while I get us all ready for a morning walk. Miraculously Mary Clare allows me to dress her and fix her hair while she watches the movie. Ellie tells me her pants are too big but then refuses to take them off. I roll up the waist which made them look lopsided all morning. I somehow manage to fit myself into a pair of non-maternity workout shorts...woohoo!

9:45am-Call again to reschedule glucose test. They answer and put me on hold for about 10 minutes. Then interrupt me while I explain my situation. Rescheduled for Thursday. Call my mom for a good morning hello. She comments that I'm not talking. Oh, I'm clipping my toenails and can't breathe and do that at the same time!

10:15am-Start trying to convince the girls to go on a walk. Finally get them out the door. One of them screams for the first 5 minutes...I can't remember why. Then she slaps her sister in the face. Somehow the rest of the half-hour walk goes pleasantly, besides the whining about being ready to go to the grocery store, and to go back to the street with the giant blow-up jack-o-lantern where a ghost pops in and out.

10:45am-Load up for grocery store! Re-install carseats which were in hubby's car yesterday. Put them on opposite sides as a consequence for slapping behavior during walk. This child screams for the whole drive to Wal-Mart, first because of the carseat location, then because she wants her blanket, and finally because I mention that her sister's good behavior might allow her to choose something special at the store.

11:15am-Arrive at Wal-Mart Super Center. Turn off car and try to open carlocks with automatic switch. Locks don't open. Car won't turn back on. I try to figure out how we will get out of car. Climb out back seat using door switch, then realize I also had a switch in the front seat I could've used. Oh well. Frantically call hubby who can't make it across town to help me and isn't sure if it's the battery, alternator, or what. Imagine what the next few days of carlessness might be like. Call Dad who will come to my rescue.

11:45am-Quickly do my Wal-Mart shopping while Dad is on his way. Get to checkout in record time. All checkouts have long lines. Realize I forgot a key ingredient for a meal this week. Turn back to get it. Realize I also forgot water jugs. Ask store worker if they are on a particular isle near the front where I remembered finding them recently. She looks at me like I have 2 heads and points to the far back of the store. Go retrieve water and spend 5 minutes trying to find canned mushrooms (which only Steven likes!).

11:50am-Back to checkout. Girls climb out of shopping cart and pick up every item on shelves near checkout. Dad arrives, hooray! Vent to very nice older checker lady about my car that won't start in the parking lot.

11:55am-Walk out to parking lot to load groceries and children in the car. Dad goes to check on my car. Realizes that it WASN'T IN THE RIGHT GEAR and turns it on. Glad it's nothing serious but frustrated to have put my dad on a one-hour wild goose chase. He follows me home as I stop to pay water bill which is due today.

12:10pm-Arrive at home (deep breath), dad helps unload groceries (nice!), and he leaves. Start making lunch. Mary Clare wants to go get her doll out of the car and asks permission (way to go!). She lets dog out of the yard on her way to the car and I find her on her bike in the driveway and not getting her doll from the car. Lecture her for a few seconds. Finish making lunch.

12:30pm-Get a call from a man who found our dog. Mentally note address and tell him I'll try to get over there quickly. Tell the girls we must go get Timber. Ellie tells me she can't sit down because she has poo-poo. Mary Clare goes outside only to come back in with wet clothes she needs to change.

12:40pm-Somehow change diaper, turn off stove, find my keys, and get dry kids in the car. Allow them to sit in backseat while I drive the one block to get the dog. Realize it's a police who is holding the dog in the street. Hope he doesn't notice my non-secured children in the back seat. Feel bad for making him wait in the street for 10 minutes. He comments that I need to register the dog at the city office, bringing along rabies papers (how many years since he's had a rabies shot?..way too many!). Thank him several times and put girls in carseats for the one block drive home.

1pm-Convince girls to finish their lunch. Ellie cries for more strawberries (you don't want to know how much I paid for those). Let the girls watch Barney again to try to get them to go to sleep. Take a much-needed shower. Hope that no one is getting into things while I shower. Lay on the bed to recover for a few minutes.

2pm-Fall asleep watching Barney with the girls. Then Barney is over and one child is still awake. Try to put my Rick Steeves travel movie on but this child screams. Phone rings, no message. Get on the internet to write this post. Wireless keyboard dies and needs new batteries. Child is getting into Ovaltine chocolate powder when I enter the kitchen. Thankfully I take it away from her and convince her to lie down.

3pm-This child finally falls asleep on the floor playing with toys, and I realize that my tutoring student will be over in less than an hour and the schoolroom is filled with Barbie dolls all over the floor. Finish this post so I can clean up and look presentable for my "job". So much for my nap.

Hope your morning was less manic!

"Manic Monday...wish it were Sunday...cuz that's my funday...my I-don't-have-to-run day...it's just another Manic Monday!"

33 People

Fit comfortably in our home for an afternoon of food and fun! It was a great day!

Started with a trip to the grocery store to get some last-minute foods for the potluck. Decided to attempt our first pumpkin pic of the year as we walked in :)


Off to the park. It was a beautiful breezy morning at our nicely shaded park. The kids collected leaves and glued them on paper to make animals or other designs.


The 2 year-olds have fun with glue and leaves!


Then down the street to our house for lunch, play, and a little more on autumn and leaves. Here are some of the kids picnicking in the backyard.


We had our Fine Arts "sharing" time where the kids get up and do some kind of performance, usually poetry. They sat or stood on the fireplace which made for a great stage! A recorder performance:


The audience looks on:


And the littlest performer of the day shows his artwork. So cute:


We're still recovering from our busy day but enjoying the beautiful weekend. I am just more and more thankful each day for our family, wonderful friends, great hometown, and beautiful home that we're able to share with others! I like having a kid-friendly place where I don't mind having groups like this over. We were all surprised at just how little a mess was actually left after the group went home!

Please offer a little prayer for me and baby as it looks like I might be facing a gestational diabetes diagnosis. I'll find out next week after another blood screening. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Pray for Me!

Looks like we're going to have 7 moms and 25+ kids at the Nature/Fine Arts Club in an hour and potluck lunch at my house!!! Should be a fun, crazy time! Off to the grocery store to get last-minute goods...

Hopefully I'll get pics of this ;)

No, I'm not starting a daycare

But the current contents of Peter's room would sure make it look like one! And there's even one swing missing in this picture! I think for Mary Clare all we had was a carseat and a bouncy chair. Now (thanks to our generous sis-in-laws) we have 2 bouncy chairs, 3 swings, an exersaucer, a johnny jump-up, a walker, and probably a few other things I'm forgetting. Most of these items had been previously banned by my sweet hubby; we'll see how many survive until baby's arrival! I've been waiting to pass some of these things along, and hoping that some of our weekly baby guests for my various meetings would get some use out of them, but the only users so far have been the girls' baby dolls and the girls themselves! Mary Clare was "walking" around the house in the walker last night. The issue right now is that the exersaucer has a problem and there is a button that's malfunctioning and playing "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on and off all night long! It's a little freaky because the button actually has a face with blinking red eyes and looks a little possessed as it plays...on...and...on...Hopefully it will break in the next few hours!

Mary Clare's Nursling

Ellie insisted on bringing her pink blankey "my ray ray", and both girls brought a doll into Wal-Mart the other day. After awhile the girls always end up walking and not sitting in the cart. But Ellie was grabbing and smelling her blanket through the side of the cart while walking alongside it (it was naptime, and my girls have a 'thing' about the smell of their blankets). At one point Mary Clare wanted to get back in the cart and hold her doll. Then she grabbed Ellie's blanket, throwing Ellie into absolute hysterics. "But Mommy, I need to nurse my baby and I don't want anyone to see my tummy!", she responded. I tried to convince her that she could discreetly nurse using her little sling, which was also in the cart, but she refused. I don't think her doll got to eat on that outing ;)

Fall is Here!

This was the coolest morning in a long while here in Texas (still warm enough for the girls to wear flip-flops to my OB appt though!). I've been really excited approaching the holiday seasons now having our first house! We can decorate our home and yard like never before :) I'm looking forward to getting our pumpkins on our ranch field trip next week, and really can't wait to put up Christmas lights in a couple months! Yesterday I spent all of $3 at Wal-Mart getting some fall flowers which I added to our mantle arrangement (removing the blue flowers)...


and put together this wreath with my new little scarecrow...

Tomorrow I'm teaching the Nature/Fine Arts club where we'll be collecting leaves, doing some crafts, and talking about fall. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures!

We found a new thrift store the other day which had a ton of dress-up clothes and accessories for Halloween. We bought some butterfly wings (for Ellie, who says she wants to be a butterfly for All Saints'!), angel wings and halo, a crown (for Mary Clare's princes/St. Elizabeth of Hungary costumes), and a wedding veil! MC couldn't wait to put on her wedding dress-up clothes with her new veil! Oh, and she also picked out a $1 stem of white flowers at Wal-Mart for her bouquet when she plays wedding :)


It's beginning to feel a lot like Autumn!

Arboretum

Yesterday we met a friend and her little boy at the nearby Arboretum. We had a nice walk in this new somewhat-cool weather! The kids mostly enjoyed watching the big fish in the little ponds.

Watching the fish


They kept throwing in leaves and getting the fish all excited (thinking they were getting food)!


Checking out the other little pond


A fun morning!

A Much Better Monday!

Even though I still slept in until 9am...I'm really tired these days...we were able to start the day off on a good note! We got a little homeschooling done (math and handwriting, her favorites!), got the playroom and schoolroom cleaned up, and had a fun time playing house most of the day. We had a tea party lunch in the schoolroom (I was too scared to have the porcelain on the hard floor in the kitchen), and a great naptime for all! I was proud of myself because a friend wanted us to go to the zoo today, but I used my wiser judgment (those who know me well know how hard it is for me to say no to a fun outing!) and am glad we have had a restful day at home. Our activities for the week are already filling up, so we better enjoy these quiet days before the end-of-the-week visitors! Hope you've all had a great Monday too :)

Mommy-Daughter Date Night

I had planned for a few weeks to attend a ballet performance last night with the girls and some friends. But after the busy First Friday morning, the afternoon at the park, the lack of naps, the sick husband home from work, and most importantly, the RAIN (the performance was at an outdoor pavillion)...I was convinced that our evening plans would have to change.

Steven offered to watch Ellie while I took Mary Clare, but the rain was still falling at the time we planned to leave. I decided we would drive around, try to get Ellie to sleep, and see what happened with the weather. It was still sprinkling as I dropped the sleeping Ellie off with Steven and thought I would just take Mary Clare to the mall. But as I drove a little farther, I realized that the rain had stopped, and why not try the ballet? It had only started a few minutes before!

We drove around the parking garage for a long while, only finding spots for "small cars only". Finally a place opened up and we got our towel and bag and ran across the street. What a beautiful evening! The ballet was 3 different acts, all with a rather modern slant. I enjoyed the second one which was called "Hush" and the dancers appeared to be in a dream, one song being a version of "Hush Little Baby" and the last being a hoedown song. By the end, Mary Clare was dancing all around the grassy hill where we sat and I wish I could've video taped her precious moves! The third act was about a little boy encountering all sorts of animals at a museum. It was very entertaining!

We visited with some friends during the first intermission and I showed her the orchestra pit during the second one. By the end of the third act, she was nearly asleep on my leg, so we slipped out a little early and she fell asleep almost as soon as we hit the road for our quick five minute drive home. It made me so thankful to live in an area with so many opportunities and activities just minutes away! And so thankful to have a fun evening with my sweet little girl!

A Birthday for Peter? (edit: Steven Joseph!)

This morning (well yesterday, since it's after midnight...I took a 2 hr nap today!) I had my 28 week appointment. It went well, the staff loves the girls and got a big kick out of Mary Clare today because she had her baby doll in her child-sized sling! I got to ask some important questions, one of which was about the date of his arrival. We are going to try for December 20th! It's my mom's birthday, thankfully she's excited about sharing it, and it will allow for Steven to take a couple days off work combined with the Monday and Tuesday he'll have off for Christmas.

Edited to add that I guess I haven't mentioned much on my blog about my deliveries. Both the girls were overdue and I labored for ~38 hours and ~22 hours, including ~3 hours of pushing for Ellie. BUT both of them ended up being cesarean deliveries for a myriad of reasons. Maybe one day I'll write out the birth stories, but for now it's still very emotional for me to relive. Peter's delivery will be a scheduled c-section, unless he puts me into labor beforehand (and then I'd have the c-section at that point). For the most part, I'm very at-peace with it all...I can't believe the relief I have compared to the pregnancy with Ellie and all the unknowns! God knows what I can handle...and I don't think it's another trial of labor ;-/
I'm a little bummed about delivering so close to Christmas without much time to recover. Hopefully there won't be complications and I'll be home before Christmas Eve! But we want to be sure he is full-term and since the dating on my first ultrasound was a little off, we're going to try to wait until he's a full 39 weeks. That is, if he doesn't put me into labor before then. Unlike my pregnancies with the girls, I'm having lots of Braxton-Hicks contractions this time, which are making me think that he may be more likely to arrive a little early. We'll see what happens!

We also plan to have him baptized at around a week old (the girls were both 7 days), so hopefully we can at least get some family over for that! Still trying to figure out the details for the baptism though, since it's a very difficult time for priests with holiday schedules. Hopefully it will all fall into place!

I'll have to start Christmas shopping soon and am really looking forward to decorating a nursery. We have never had a nursery before since we were in small apartments and have always co-slept. But I think it might be nice to have a crib and a dresser at least...for all those clothes I've been given that have no place to be stored at the moment!

So no more than 11 weeks to go...it seems so soon when I look at it that way...now that we are in OCTOBER! We are looking forward to our 2nd First Friday class tomorrow and a weekend full of family fun including a ballet, a birthday, and a picnic! Hope you all have a wonderful weekend too :)

CONGRATULATIONS

To my brother Brice and sister-in-law Allison who just found out that their baby due in February is a little GIRL! We love little girls in this family and I'm sure Mary Clare and Ellie will be glad to have a baby girl cousin to love on...since their other baby cousins and baby brother are boys! Please say a little prayer for Brice and Allison...he just returned from a Naval trip and will be going out early next year, hopefully after little Addison arrives!

We've had a busy week getting ready for our 2nd First Friday class (talking about St. Therese and sacrifice), plus several other meetings, house guests, and other outings going on. Nighttimes have been a little interesting...we've been playing "musical beds" all night long! Hopefully the girls will get used to their new room soon...and I'm about ready to start fixing up their brother's room next-door!

More later...back to First Friday nametags for now. Have a great night, everyone!

Around the House

We finally did some bed-moving this weekend! We'd been hoping to find a trundle or something for the girls' room, but decided to go ahead and move the king mattress my parents gave us into their room. Last night was the first night the girls slept in their room together! They have usually been sleeping on the queen air mattress on the floor of the office, where Ellie rolls all around the floor. I think the king on the floor will be a good transition until we can find something else that will work. We didn't have any bed visitors until 4:30am, yay!

Their "new" room!


We moved the twin bed from the girls' room to the office. I don't quite have bedding that works, but I think we'll be painting this room an "officey" color (maybe tan or forest green) and putting up some of Steven's hunting prints.



Monday morning around here hasn't been the greatest. I slept in (always bad), and finally got up to make MC some toast with jelly. I dropped the glass jelly jar which shattered all over the kitchen floor! So it was time for "mopping". Hands and knees are getting a little hard with my growing belly, so here is my new method of floor-cleaning...flip flops with a wet rag under one foot and a dry one under the other! It worked out fairly well!


And here is what I have yet to do around the house...beware, they are pretty scary! But I need to hold myself accountable since I'm having a homeschool planning meeting here at 3pm! Lots to do!

Here is Peter's room which has become the 2nd playroom for the girls...yikes!


And the playroom...



As far as homeschooling goes...we're going rather slowly. Mary Clare likes to be in control of what's going on and right now I just don't want to make it a battle. There's no rhyme or reason to when we have school and what we do, but hopefully we'll get into a better groove in the coming months (yeah, as a new baby arrives, who am I kidding?). I'm not stressing over it though, she catches on quickly and I know once she decides she wants to do some of the phonics and reading activities she'll get more excited about it all. Right now she's testing me...and I don't have the energy to fight. So their activity of choice these days is dolls...which is why the playroom and nursery look the way they do! But they're playing well together so I can't complain :)

Hope everyone is having a more successful Monday than me ;)