7 Quick Takes Friday (vote for a table!)

— 1 —

Let's start with an iPhoto collage from the last few weeks!

and some explanations for the memory book...
from top left: drawing "donovan's snake," his little foot, the crazy livestock show homemaking project sign-in morning, bedhead, and the line of clean clothes to get in the closet!
2nd row: guitar boy and piano gal, the best doughnuts ever, watching livestock judging, the loudest toy trumpet ever,  and riding on lil bro's skateboard.
3rd row: typical steven face with his head that's "so big he can't wear any hats" (Kindergarten Cop, anyone?), typical crazy dinner, trike boy with koolaid mustache, sewing gal, and mommy/kid yogurt date
4th row: we made oreo bark 3 times this week, we did a fun science experiment!, and lots of guitar going on this week
5th row: letter learning explosion going on for our lil 5yr old, talking to the parrot "what's your name?," sunglass gal at the botanical gardens, sisters and purses at the gardens, and our new porch swing that gave daddy a big headache tonight and is still not hung up!

— 2 —

So if you can't tell from the photos, we've had beautiful weather in Texas!  But the flu is still running rampant in all my circles.  We've pretty much been holed up in the house all week and I've got serious cabin fever!  But our friends with their 5 kids are coming in a week and I'm determined that we won't get sick before then. Which means we probably will.  In May, we had just gotten over a tummy virus when they arrived, so they caught it, and one of their kids even threw up on the pew in front of us during Mass!  Please let us stay well, Lord! 

 

 — 3 —

 credit: Color Me Rad

 

I'm running this 5K in about a week.  And I haven't run more than 2-3 minutes over the past few weeks, although I've taken lots of Zumba classes and "ran" on an elliptical a few times. I think I'll be walking most of the way, and I hope I don't bring down the super-athletic friends who are planning to "run" with me!  There will be 6 ladies with 8 of our daughters, and I just hope the weather is good, no one is sick, and we have a super-fun time!  I wish I had gotten myself motivated to to one of the "Couch to 5K" programs, but it never happened.  And this week I haven't even exercised at all; I feel horrible!  The weather is so warm I put on capris, but even my capris from the summer are not even fitting anymore.  Must get on a better eating and exercise program, pronto!

 — 4—

I'd like to request prayers for my cousin, Ashley.  She's just a few years younger than me but has lived a difficult life dealing with deafness and other disabilities.  We had heard that she was diagnosed with a treatable cancer this past summer, but unfortunately it has now spread throughout her body and she is moving to hospice care.  We're praying hard that she can be moved near her parents and siblings who currently live about 5 hours away from her.  Can you please lift her and her family in prayer as they try to move her to a facility near them and as they prepare to say goodbye?

 — 5—

In honor of the 40th "anniversary" of Roe v. Wade this week, I'll link two absolutely beautiful pro-life articles from two of my favorite bloggers this week...

A Day of Penance and Prayer by Auntie Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter

Four Words I'll Never Forget by Lauren who blogs at The Loveliest Hour and Austin Catholic New Media 

 — 6 —

Our pro-life work has been very much an in-home ministry in the past years.  Instead of praying at abortion clinics and attending fundraisers, rallies, and marches like we did in our "younger" years, we've been raising babies and doing the pro-life work of teaching them our Faith and the values we hold dear.  This is vital work for the pro-life movement, even though it can sometimes feel like we're not doing anything to save babies or end abortion. 

But at some point, I'm confident that this work will bring us out of the home again.  I went to prayer vigils at two abortion clinics last year, and Steven has been thinking about the issue more often.  I'd love to attend a March in Washington DC like so many friends are doing this weekend, or go to the Rally in Austin like we did during our college years.  But most of all, I think maybe we are both starting to feel like we should step out of our comfortable pro-life home in the near future.  Maybe it's not the time, but maybe it is.  Maybe we should play hookey from the ballet rehearsal and jaunt over to Austin this weekend?  We could also get one of these...

 — 7 —

Home decor.  I'm having so much fun decorating the house!  But does anyone else get OCD when you're trying to find a particular item?  I finally hung up the artwork in our bedroom and now I'm antsy to start making curtains and am getting obsessive about finding a table for our dining room/schoolroom.  The main problem is that we want a table that seats 8 (or more), but those are hard to come by, and our local Craigslist just has very slim pickings!  I refuse to pay full price for something new and haven't seen anything I like in the local stores, anyway.  I guess we could have one built, but those usually don't come with chairs.  These Craigslist ones I'm finding are about 2-4 hours away, but it would sure be nice to have a table to fit everyone next weekend! 

What would you choose?

This one is great quality (Pottery Barn chairs) with a bench, 

but has no other pieces with it, and we really need 

storage for homeschooling stuff and my grandmother's china!  

It's the most expensive and a long drive away (but near the Rally)

I don't usually like dark furniture but this might be a good fit.

We love this next set with the beautiful hutch, 

but those other two chairs by the hutch don't really fit 

around the table and would have to squeeze at the ends.  

Not sure it's worth it to buy a set that won't comfortably fit 8?

Also we'd prefer chairs that don't have cushions for our messy eaters!

And this last one is the set I've been looking at for awhile, 

but it's a bit more traditional than we'd like.  

The china hutch and buffet aren't listed in the latest ad, 

so I wonder if they've already sold them?  

I like that the chairs don't have cushions, but this one is really far away!

 So what would you choose: #1, #2, or #3 or keep looking?

County Jr. Livestock Show

We have really enjoyed our involvement in the 4-H program this year.  Our homeschool group has our own club which meets monthly at our church.  Then there are side activities like the Food Challenge and Food Show the girls participated in a few months ago.

Last week was the Jr. Livestock Show.  Starting in 3rd grade, the children are able to enter the Homemaking Categories of sewing, baking, crafting, etc.  Mary Clare entered a small hand quilt, a crafted fairy house, a pipe cleaner fairy, and her rose photograph.

Her quilt one 3rd place in her age category for Small Hand Quilts.  She won a gift certificate to JoAnn's fabrics as well as a small monetary gift if she opens a bank account.  She's looking forward to doing that soon, and starting to save for a car and for college.

Here she is with her quilt

And here is her fairy house, decorated with seashells and sand.  She even made furniture inside with shells!

  

Here's her beautiful rose photo.  The photography category was very competitive with dozens of photos entered.

 

 All the kids in the exhibit hall with the homemaking entries.  I love how Tommy has one boot off and one boot on!

Checking out some of the livestock

Watching some livestock judging.  I think this was the goats.

Chickens!

And Mary Clare's ribbons: 4 blue ribbons for each entry and the white for her 3rd place award.  

We are looking forward to future years of livestock shows!  The girls are already planning next year's entries.  Ellie will be able to join the show next year.  4-H seems like a wonderful program, very low cost, with lots of opportunities for growth in different areas, and many scholarship opportunities, too!

My Superboy

I'm still adjusting to the fact that my sweet boy is now FIVE!  We've started a reading and math program this month (All About Reading and Abeka), and he loves his schooling time.  But even more, he loves playing with his brother, having their backyard "hunts," riding his bike/scooter/skateboard, and shooting Nerf guns all over the house.

So I have been meaning to write a little post to remember some of the funny things he has said recently that I don't want to get lost in the black hole of Facebook posts.

While in Houston over the Christmas holiday....
I was changing the channels on the TV at the cousins' house one morning and asked if the kids wanted to watch (the older version of) Miracle on 34th Street.  Steven responded in disgust, "No way!  We've already seen that movie.  It looks all gray or something!"

Later that morning during Mass, he was playing with a baby wipe and whispered in my ear, "Will this wipe light on fire?" I responded that it probably would. He started glaring at the candles around the church and replied in excitement, "Can I try it?"

Last week:
He asked when his birthday would be.  I said that it's in almost a year, on December 20th.
"No, when is my NEXT birthday?" he continued.
 I repeat that it's on December 20th.
"AGAIN?" he asks!

His latest funny statement is "as a whistle." Something might be as straight as a whistle, as good as a whistle, as funny as a whistle, etc!

And some photos...

Earlier this month, he went on his first real deer hunt with his daddy and a friend.

 Our friend shot a doe.  SJ had a fun time and now the girls are 

itching for their own turkey hunting trip which is in the works.

 

I think this was a Mommy-Son date at Target :)

This was just too funny.  He kept drawing pictures like this a couple weeks ago, 

and he made sure we knew that it was a BOY!  (This is his brother)

He was super cute at the Livestock show in his boots, jeans, and baseball cap!

And this was after the Livestock show, when Ellie was in ballet class 

and I decided we'd wait in the car, instead of going to our usual park outing.  

He was sobbing, saying he'd do anything to go to the park.

 Mean Mommy was taking pictures of him in his misery.  

He was stroking my hair trying to get me to concede.  

I didn't, but we did go to that park today!

Superman in cowboy boots on his new skateboard :)

This boy can be super sweet and super naughty, but I love him so much in all of his 5 year-old glory! I never hesitate to look at his chest scar and remember what he went through with his heart defect, and I thank God for pulling him through such a grueling surgery with flying colors.  He really is my little Superboy!

Monday Motivation

Happy Monday!  We'll take a slow day since most of the country has a holiday today.  Kids are just getting started with schoolwork and we'll lay low until ballet class tonight.  The boys are dressed in camo and ready for some "hunting" in the backyard

Here's a fun video to start your week off with a smile :-)
Not sure what I love most...Tommy in his diaper saying "one more time!," Ellie with her interesting rendition of the "Dashing through the snow" verses, or Steven Joseph walking through holding the phone on speaker with NeNe.

Thanks for your sweet encouraging words in my "What I Wore Sunday" post!  You ladies are so kind, and I'll be sure to join that link up often just for the pick-me-up!  Now I'm ready to post these goals I started last night, so I can go take a shower and start my real work for the day...it's nearing 11:30am!

Goals from last week:
1. Make order for Seton homeschooling materials.
2. Complete some gift purchases.
3. Update bills and addresses (call BofA again, Allstate, Driscoll, and Dentist) STILL MORE FOLLOW UP
4. Decide on workout plan (gym or Zumba?) HAVEN'T DECIDED BUT I DID 2 ZUMBA CLASSES AND 1 JOG DOWN THE STREET
5. Daily readings on Laudate DO MORE OFTEN      !
6. Help MC complete 4H projects and paperwork.
7. Art contest? DECIDED AGAINST
8. One Daily Mass. MAYBE IT'S NOT MY SEASON?
9. Take down the rest of the Xmas decor; hang the rest of the pictures inside. SOME XMAS STUFF STILL NEEDS TO FIND A STORAGE PLACE, AND NEED TO HAND ARTWORK IN MASTER BEDROOM
10. Meals: Baked chicken and rice, Grilled chicken/steak, Pizza, Spaghetti, Pasta bake, Rotisserie chicken HAD TO TOSS THE GROUND BEEF TODAY.  JUST FREEZE IT NEXT TIME!

Goals for this week:
1. Order remainder of homeschooling books.
2. Bills, file, and phone calls (bank, dentist, hospital)
3. Workout 3x
4. Daily readings on Laudate
5. Put away remainder of Christmas decor
6. Start prepping guest room
7. Furniture purchases
8. Meals: Leftover tortilla soup, baked chicken tenders, baked potatoes, breakfast for dinner, pizza
9. Blog posts: Livestock Show, Steven Joseph funnies, Instagram collage, PrettyFunnyHappyReal,  WIWS            

What I Wore Sunday (and Wednesday and Friday)

 At Fine Linen and Purple

So I've always laughed at the idea of joining this link-up.  I am no fashion guru and am pretty uncomfortable with the state of my body right now.  I hardly have any photos of myself!  But after more and more of my blogging "friends" were joining, I figured I'd bow to peer pressure and join the party, too!

Hopefully it'll help me to be more conscious of my clothing choices on Sunday and even on weekdays, too.  This week I "dressed up" twice during the week for our local county livestock show, so I took photos in case I didn't have good ones for Sunday.  But since I did end up having a bit of time to put together a decent outfit today, I'll just share all 3 of them!  Starting off as an overachiever, I guess!

So without further ado, here are my 3 outfits to share.  I did my own photography because I can't bear to have to pose for anyone else!  Also I finally cleaned my mirror before taking the photos today!  Excuse the dirty mirror in the others ;)  And please feel free to share advice on how I could make these work better!

What I wore to Mass today:

 

Shirt: Thrifted (white part is connected) with white cami underneath

Skirt: Old Navy (I think it's maternity)

Brown Clogs: Romika that I've worn for about 15 years!!!

Scarf: Gift from my aunt, I think

Long necklace handed down from mom

Crucifix: dunno

Can't see silver dangle earrings from Kohl's

Wooden Saint bracelet: Catholic bookstore

Charm Bracelet: James Avery...which was a lifesaver in Mass today!  I'd ask the boys to find the angel, the boot, etc. and to find their favorite charm, or to count the charms (I think I have about 24).  The only problem is that it gets caught on things!  I've had it since I was about 8 years old!

What I wore Wednesday:

 Black long sleeved tee: Target

New sweater: Stein Mart

New jeans: Marshall's

Boots: Kohl's

Necklace and earrings handed down from my mom

What I wore Friday:

 Purple Cardigan: Target (Xmas gift from my parents)

Orange Tee: Lands End via Sears

Jeans: Merona via Target

Born Clogs: Thrifted

Colorful necklace: Stein Mart

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

See more at SouleMama

{pretty, happy, funny, real} a little house tour

~Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life~

Every Thursday at Like Mother, Like Daughter

 {pretty and happy}

We finally have some photos and artwork on the walls!  Making progress!  My list is getting shorter...Still looking for backyard and dining furniture, and then I'd like to paint a few rooms.  Master bedroom still needs pictures hung.  Overall, I'm so happy to have a house that doesn't have a huge to-do list.  Oh, but I almost forgot that at top of the list needs to be: HEATER!  Downstairs heat is not working!

We were getting ready for the birthday party...happy kiddos!

We still have to put away most of our Christmas decorations this weekend, but the tree was at least taken out, and replaced by the little altar area.

I love the playroom!

We moved the beds in Ellie's room so that she had more space in the middle of the room.  It's also harder to tell that the mattresses are different heights now :)

Mary Clare really wants to paint her room dark pink.  Not sure about that.  Maybe one wall?  We need to find some hardware to hang the mirror over her dresser.

{funny and real}

Me and the boys in the car during ballet class yesterday.  We didn't make it to our usual park outing and somebody wasn't happy about it (putting it mildly).  They were both in my lap between me and the steering wheel watching YouTube videos on my phone.  Afterwards, I ventured to Luby's Cafeteria with the 3 youngest while Mary Clare and Daddy went to her Livestock Show awards.  Thomas was a maniac, refusing to eat anything but corn-on-the-cob, and yelling wildly about wanting to use the bathroom.

Real homeschooling with little ones around...one shooting her with a Nerf gun and the other wiping her words off with his hand.  She's learning some good coping skills here!

Laughing and Learning (and lots of rambling...)

Lots of laughing and lots of learning going on here recently.  We're also loud, lively, and often lazy.  And here are some photos of lovely learning in the last couple weeks.  These are from the Museum of Science and History, and from our Nature Club at the Botanical Gardens.

I'm pretty happy with how we're progressing in just a few weeks back with homeschooling.  We're making headway with Texas History and Anatomy.  We read about the Texas Revolution today, and I'm learning things I've totally forgotten since middle school!  I'm hoping we can visit some of the sites this spring (definitely Goliad and maybe the Alamo).  I've spent some good time with Ellie working on her religion book and starting to prepare for her First Holy Communion.  Mary Clare is learning so much as she participates in the 4H show this week.

I could write a love letter to the All About Spelling publishers.  This week I realized just how many reading, spelling, and phonics programs we've used over the past several years...100 Easy Lessons, Funnix computer-based Reading, CHC Spelling, Seton Spelling, Phonetic Zoo Spelling, Sound Beginnings (phonics), the Writing Road to Reading Phonics/Spelling (only lasted a couple weeks on that one), and Explode the Code and MCP Phonics workbooks.

(A wonderful older gentleman gave a very infomative talk on Rocks & Minerals while we were at the museum.)

AAS makes me feel like I've finally found a program that works well for us, at least for now.  It's so easy to use, and fun for the kids.  It's colorful and interactive.  And we can learn spelling rules without the dreaded WRTR "Spelling Notebook!"  I switched Mary Clare to it, and she likes it so far.  I think the colorful dry erase markers to use on the magnetic white-board, along with the letter tiles, are helping in that area.  I went ahead and ordered the 2nd book since the girls will be moving to that soon, and I also bought the All About Reading Pre-Reading program to start with Steven Joseph!  I am still in shock that he is 5 and will be in Kindergarten next year.  How can time go by so quickly?

(Tommy was obsessed with this helicopter and the button that spun its propeller).

I am thankful for Auntie Leila at Like Mother, Like Daughter.  Her posts about discipline and about home education have been very inspirational for me.  I was struggling with the thought of teaching writing in the near future, feeling like I am getting behind because of our focus on reading and phonics.  But in her post "A good sentence or: What do do while you are not panicking about teaching your child to write," she encouraged homeschooling moms to wait until middle school to teach writing.  I had initially hoped to do that anyway, innately knowing that my kids would probably be ready for it at that time.  But it's so good to hear from someone who has been there, and done that, successfully.

For now, we keep reading good books, focusing on phonics and spelling and handwriting, and letting them write when they so desire.  How they get discouraged when I force them to write a paragraph!  It's so hard when you are still struggling to spell and to use correct grammar and sentence structure!  They can write on their own when they'd like to.  But read, read, read, needs to be my focus.  Lots of read-alouds and lots of read-alone time.  I need to put together a good reading list for myself, too.  I thought this program "The Well Read Mom" would be a good thing to start in my area.  Maybe I can host this at my home!

I have been watching some videos of some precious singing sisters named Lennon and Maisy.  Have you seen them?  They are so talented!  They exude a raw beauty and confidence.  But I can't help but think about them and mourn their childhoods.  Maybe I'm wrong and they'll stay grounded amidst the publicity and media hype.  I hope I am.  One of them stated in an interview something about how they "grew up on a farm" and how they're "able to have their career together."  And I thought...they haven't grown up yet!  They're 9 and 13 or something.  And how can they know that this is their career?  They're children!

Anyway, I don't like criticizing other families' choices but it does help me reflect on what I want our children to be exposed to, or not be exposed to.  What I want their childhoods to be like.  I guess it's more, what I think God is asking of our family and how he wants us to raise our children.  How and when to slowly expose them to the world around us.  Who am I to judge famous families?  But I think we all know the overwhelming result of that industry.  Sometimes I worry about this issue with ballet, wanting to make sure they're in a good environment, a safe and supportive place with children whose parents have similar values.  Now that they're in another ballet production, they've been having rehearsals lasting several hours.  They are spending lots of time with people I don't know well, and I just have to trust that they are able to handle the slow exposure to the world outside of our little "Catholic homeschooling bubble."

So anyway, back to family life.  We had lots of people over on Friday.  I mean lots.  6 families with a total of 25 kids or so, with Mary Clare as the oldest!  I finally cleaned up the playroom just now ;)  We picked up pizzas for lunch and I made a crockpot Balsamic Chicken with pasta and salad for dinner, and s'mores!  Only 2 families stayed for dinner though, with another coming for the dessert.  That would've been a huge crowd to feed!  I'm really excited about hosting more things at our new house.  We have some visitors planned for the first weekend in February, which is right before my birthday!  I'm putting together a team to do a "Color Run" 5K where they shoot colored powder at you throughout the run.  It'll be about 5 moms and some of our girls, too!

I'm doubtful I'll be able to run the whole 5K.  I haven't done much running.  I did some elliptical last week at the gym, but my free trial ran out and I'm not sure I'll join the gym.  I like Zumba too much, and didn't care for the teachers there.  I should be jogging around the neighborhood with the girls.  Maybe we'll start later this week.  At least my stamina is better, but I've got to do some running, too.  Should be a fun birthday weekend!

I'll leave with these photos from the Botanical Gardens, so I can get to bed!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!  Thanks for listening to my rambling :)

(I think the windmill was a Mary Clare photo)

(SJ was popular that day, since he brought the football.  There was an argument about it being touch or tackle football, and he just walked away with his ball.  Guess who won the argument?)

(pretty watercolor painting)

 

(And gotta add this cute trike pic at the end.  Shoeless, of course.  These kids do not like to wear shoes!  Don't you love the Texas flag curb address in the background?  Not ours, but Texas pride!)