This Past Week's School and Mom Thoughts

Warning this is a rather whiny, I try not to whine on Facebook since some friends and family are teachers. Megan is without internet after her move right now so I'm venting here. Last week was the 1st week since vacation that we really got a full week of school done. We're enrolled with Seton and for 2nd grade especially I'm not rigid about doing everything but it gives us focus and direction which is good with T's ADHD. It really isn't a ton of work and if she sits down and does it it's really 2 hrs tops not including stuff like free reading math fact practice etc.

How we got school work done is we didn't get much else done, which frustrates me so much. The house was so bad that I attacked the downstairs floors today after Mass. And I also did the grocery shopping on a Sunday.  Exercise was neglected too. I think I did 30 minutes this week. I'm barely maintaining the 20 plus lbs I lost last fall and I want to lose more but I have to exercise almost every day to make progress. Basically I'm feeling like I never get balance with time for prayer, exercise, housework, homeschooling, any outside activities, and even time with the older girls and David.

I know part of it is the busyness of Thanksgiving and Christmas prep. We also helped Megan and her family move the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Even though David was off for 5 days we really didn't have more free time since Wednesday we did car maintenance and David's work email and phone were going off quite a bit too. David's car's battery did not like our cold snap of the week before and then when it was in it was noticed that the brakes really needed done too if we wanted to be able to reuse the rotors or something. This past Monday night David went to a required annual meeting for a homeschool group in the big city about an hour away. They have a weekly coop that I've considered so we joined the group this school year. The coop I say consider only because I really don't know how I would do it. 1st of all Matthew isn't one to go quietly along to activities. Then it's Thursdays. If we did that then regular school would have to happen M-W. The main reason I consider it is Teresa really craves more time with other kids. Our neighborhood has none really and all our family lives out of state and our more local homeschool group has several girls her age but it's not super active as in maybe 1 to 2 things a month and if you don't attend everything then she might see someone only every 2-3 months so she really hasn't made more friends within the group since her best buddy moved over a year ago.

Then Friday evening we went to the Epilepsy Foundation holiday party and then Saturday evening was a family outing to  http://thechristmasranch.com/cr.htm organized by David's work so we've been quite a bit busier than normal.

Specific homeschooling things of the week- Teresa started addition with regrouping. It's going OK. She needs reminders about not just putting the one above the 10's column. The 1st few pages only had regrouping problems then the mix of problems so with some without made her have to slow down and really pay attention.

I need to sleep so photos will have to wait. 

Melanie has more homeschooling links.Guilt Free Learning Link Up 13

Learning Notes Week of 11-9-14

I was really trying to get back to school on a daily basis since our vacation time a few weeks ago and I was trying to do it without screeching well not screeching too much. Potty training Matthew needed attention too because he's now the age where he leaks too much from pullups and diapers and if I need to change bedding and clothes he should just be in undies. So I guess those were my goals for the week some school every day, try to limit screeching, and try to have Matthew in undies at least sometime every day.

One link I enjoyed this week-  Amongst Lovely Things

I went back and read most of her old posts. I was in need of some encouraging reading post vacation. I'm also starting to listen to her read aloud pod-casts.


Monday- This week got off to a good start. I rewarded the get your phonics and math done quickly with craft time. Matthew enjoyed the craft time and even did a bit of cutting practice. I watched him like a hawk since in the past he cuts his shirts whenever he had scissors. The rest of schoolwork was electronic time. Math Reflex for fact practice and Brother Francis DVD's. We watched  Forgiven again to help Teresa prepare for 1st Reconciliation this coming week. Teresa watched most of the others we own while Matthew napped and I read old blog posts in the afternoon. We did review prayers that Teresa needs to memorize for PSR. The Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the Sign of the Cross we've said with her for years. She now knows them well. The Act of Contrition is the main one we've worked one lately. They are supposed to know the 10 commandments as well. We also cleaned and made pies after dinner since I hosted our homeschool group's moms night out Tuesday.

Tuesday- I made sure Teresa read to from the Faith and Freedom Reader. We forgot that yesterday. Otherwise we did phonics (Little Angel Book C) and math (MUS Beta) and reflex math practice. And I did a very lame read aloud time of Rainbow Fish. I said to pick something off the shelf. I made sure to reserve a ton of stuff online from the library. I returned almost all of our library stash before vacation. I hosted moms' night out. Only two moms came but we still had fun talking and enjoying pie and tea. David took Teresa and Matthew out to dinner at Culvers and did a bit of shopping at Kroger so the house was quiet.

Wednesday- Math Phonics, Reflex Math,. Read Alouds Amanda Pig. After I pulled the Christmas/winter books off the shelves and put them in a basket we read How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I think it's early for this but our weather has turned cold this week so it seems like winter is here already. PSR tonight the 2nd graders toured the church preparing for next weeks 1st reconciliation. Teresa seemed thrilled and excited. She even told me she isn't nervous anymore. They must have talked about examining their conscience because she told me she knows what to confess and then what it was. She wanted to tell Andrea when she got home from class but she told her that was between her and God and she didn't need to know. They also were told they could read from a paper if they needed to for the prayers/wording and not to worry about that. They also got little Jesus Loves Me bracelets. I hope Teresa doesn't think she will get prizes from the priest at confession like she does from the doctor and dentist.

Thursday- Math, Reflex Math, Reading to me from the Faith and Freedom, Reader Read Alouds Gail Gibbons Thanksgiving and Chicken Little by Ed Emberley. We also went to Family Story Time at the library at 6pm. We had videos and puppets that needed returned and we haven't done story time much since our favorite librarian retired a few years ago. Matthew is old enough to do it now. The kids enjoyed it. I'm not sure if it was the mini cupcake snack that caused that. Mostly I'm sure they enjoyed getting out of the house. It's been too cold wet and windy to get outside much this week. Having done something 4 evenings in a row I was tired. I spent a lot of time working on menus and grocery lists during nap time. 

Friday- We needed groceries so no school this morning. We managed to go to Aldi and Meijer before Teresa's art class at 1230. I went to the library with Matthew while Teresa was in class. I had a ton of reserves in thankfully. I also got a chance to talk to the librarian about a book I paid for over the summer had been found. Basically they took off the fine and I have a credit for what I paid for it. I got to visit with a few other moms who had kids at art too. One I've know for years. She had a new coloring book and crayons for Matthew for his birthday. Teresa was excited about the new books. She read Billy and Blaze to Matthew on the way home in the van. We made it home just after 2. I unloaded the Meijer groceries. It was around freezing so I wasn't worried about my turkey thawing during art class. Matthew finally got a nap just before 3. Read Aloud at bedtime was the 1st story in James Herriot's Treasury for Children.

Saturday- David read some Beezus and Ramona to Teresa and they did lots of yard work. I did laundry 6 loads since Matthew managed to wet his undies on our bed so I had all of our bedding along with the regular laundry. Teresa helped me mix up a triple batch of pumpkin pie filling. Some of it is for Matthew's birthday pumpkin pie and the other we're trying to freeze for Thanksgiving. We have large ceramic pie pans that need 1 1/2 recipes to fill. I hope it works.

I'm trying to link up this week. Visit  Melanie's blog for more Guilt Free Learning Notes.

Butterfly Garden



--- 1 ---
The big event of the week was my 6 week post-op checkup Tuesday. I'm cleared 

for full activity again. So I wanted to do something fun with Teresa 

and Matthew since we had been stuck at home a lot.

We went to park with a butterfly house in the big city.

 

--- 2 ---
Teresa took most of the photos. I thought she did a great job.




--- 3 ---
It's been very nice to be able to pick up Matthew again and hold him.



--- 4 ---
Caterpillars were much smaller than I thought they would be. The park 

volunteers had to help us find them.



--- 5 ---
Can you see the big fish? Teresa made me nervous near the ponds.



--- 6 ---
The ponds had lots of turtles too.



--- 7 ---
Sweet Teresa- I distracted her from climbing the tree by taking her picture.
The park is an arboretum too so you are supposed to not damage the trees.



For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

August Grocery Budget Part #2

This past week I haven't done as well on spending

.

Friday the 9th 
$55 at the farm where we have a herd share for milk.
5 gallons milk
2 lbs ground beef
7 lbs or so of hamburger patties
All of the above is organic grass fed Jersey yumminess.

Sunday the 11th
$6 Kroger
Vinegar and fresh dill for the refrigerator pickles from our garden's pickle cucumbers.
I have never ever made pickles. We are eager to see how they turn out.

Tuesday the 13th
$44 Trader Joe's
4lbs nuts
2 boxes of crispy rice
1 box of O's cereal
2 packages corn dogs
1 box of chocolate cat cookies
I had a doctor appointment in the big city so I did a stop at Trader Joe's. It's about 50 miles away so we rarely make a separate trip there.David is taking cheesecake for a work snack day soon and we use the cat cookies in the crust.

Today the 14th
$6 Walmart
Mac Cheese
Spaghettios

Total for the Month $275 so $25 above where I wanted to be but we have done our very occasional Trader Joe trip and we have hamburger patties which is one of our quick meals so we won't order pizza or something.

The pickles- These are 1/2 gallon jars. They aren't packed tight but it was too much for one.

August Grocery Budget

Mary at Owlhaven is trying this month to rein in her grocery spending. I'm joining her even though our budget is more per person I still find it hard to stick to budget. Several months ago we starting splitting out food and non food in the budget to see better our spending patterns. I'm focusing on the food portion of our budget. The non food seems to be pretty consistent. I must not overspend on toilet paper much. Anyways so my budget is $500 for August.

Last week I only spent $49. I dug deep into the freezer and we ate leftovers but keeping that week under control helped so much. We had scalloped potatoes with ham (leftover from Easter) chicken stir fry and spaghetti for dinners. Since there is only 3 adults eating the meals we can usually get two days from one meal I cook. I didn't save the receipts from last week.

Today we went to Aldi. $59

3 packages chicken breast (about 5lbs total)
2lbs talipia
2 lbs grapes
4 lbs strawberries
1 celery
3lbs baby carrots
1 large bunch bananas
sliced provolone cheese
sliced cheddar cheese
plastic (american) cheese
8oz block cheddar cheese
8 oz block cojack cheese
10 lbs potatoes
2 lbs brown sugar
1 lb pecans
1 gallon milk
2 (not 1/2 gallons) ice cream
stevia packets
can refried beans

So that brings my food total so far to $108 for the month. I need to go to Kroger tonight and I'm picking up milk tomorrow at the farm so I'm not finished for the week. I want to be around $200 tomorrow which would leave me with $50 to spend at Trader Joe's Tuesday while I'm in the big city for a doctor appt.

Here's the dinner menu for the week.
Talapia
Tacos
BBQ chicken
Chicken Alfredo
Pork Chops
Meat Pizza
Leftovers

I'm taking Mac Cheese Sun Chips Hot Dogs and drinks to a family picnic on Saturday. Megan is bringing a dessert and Teresa is trying to talk me into making lemon bars to take too.

Kroger Trip $56
2 pkg hot dogs
2 12oz  pkg bacon
2 lbs sausage
1 sm package pepperoni
1 large turkey lunch meat
5 lemons ( I bought organic since Teresa wanted lemon bars and the recipe uses the zest)
9 vitamin waters
2 2liters pop
1 pkg capri sun
2 bags sun chips
4 pork chops
1 gallon oj
1 miracle whip
1 sour cream
1 cottage cheese
 

Total for Month $164

THIS WAS ACTUALLY  LAST WEEK ON THE 8TH. I FORGOT TO POST IT! :)

Blog Challenge #7 A Few Recipes

The 1st recipe we used for dinner today. I was planning on BBQ for dinner. Then I noticed leftover peppers from the kabobs we made last Sunday for Andrea's birthday. I suggested to David we try to make some kabobs with the chicken breast. I found 3 promising recipes then found out we were missing at least one ingredient for all of them. How were we out of soy sauce Worcestershire sauce and almost out of lemon juice all at once? Probably because I have been recovering for the last several weeks. Anyways David volunteered to go to Kroger with the little ones and get the Worcestershire sauce and whatever else was on the grocery list. I was happy not to have to drive and to have his help so I went along. We only marinaded the chicken breast an hour and it was the most tender grilled chicken. Anyways here's the recipe. I did a 1/3 recipe.

Grilled chicken marinade

The second recipe I've made before a few times. It's a way to have a chocolate craving fulfilled in less than 5 minutes. I was wanting something rich and chocolate probably due to too much ice cream and birthday cake this week. My body is expecting daily chocolate and a lot of it. Anyways I made one and David kept Teresa upstairs so I could eat it in private. I even threw pecans in it tonight. I had to move the bag of nuts to get to the cocoa and thought pecans would be good in the brownie. The brownie already has a zillion calories so I ate a zillion in a half tonight. 

Microwave Mug Brownie

I have no idea why the links are different colors. I am leaving it alone. I've enjoyed participating in the challenge. It's frustrating sometimes when a blog post doesn't seem to look right especially with the Ipad. I need to post regularly so I can learn more about how to blog.

Blog Challenge #6 Craigslist Find

These two desks and chairs are my latest Craigslist find that makes me happy. I was looking more for toddler boy clothes and noticed a listing for school desks. We went to a big old warehouse crammed with lots of "stuff" earlier today and found these two sets. Since then Teresa has been playing school and even better the desk are perfect for making blanket tents. There are reports that Matthew was sat down on one and told to do school/color. I was resting so I didn't get to see this. The office/computer room needs to be rearranged but that is another project.

Blogging Challenge Friday QT Errands

This is the honest I'm tired Friday post. 7 Quick Takes seem like too much work. I guess I could write about the 7 places I went today. I'm 3 weeks and 3 days out from prolapse surgery (vaginal vault if you want to Google it) and I tried to run errands for the 1st time especially since this was our monthly payday. It was too much. Andrea my oldest was along since I can't put Matthew in and out of his car seat yet and otherwise lift anything beyond 10 lbs.

1. Library- We finished the summer reading club folder by the skin of our teeth. Tomorrow was the last day. The new children's librarian gave Matthew a book after I told her I thought the toddler program was too much work and didn't do it for him. The other kids need to read or be read to, the toddler program has stuff like count the windows in the house, what is the child's favorite color show them objects that are that color.

2. Gas for van- 3.25 a gallon here. I also needed to stop for gas so I could get a big diet pepsi.

3. The Y- signed Teresa up for a martial arts clinic (not camp according to the staff member) that is two mornings next week.

4. McDonald's- I met David there for lunch. He picked up cash on his way for me.  We all ate inside at a table. Teresa was impressed. We generally only eat fast food while traveling or running errands. She did not like the new hand dryers in the bathrooms.I told David to pick up the Papa John's special any 2 larges for 20 for dinner. He was able to do a wonderful spinach Alfredo with chicken and bacon as well as a meaty one.

5. Amish Farmer Produce Stand- Indiana Melon (BIG CANTALOUPE) watermelon tomatoes corn on the cob and green beans.

6. Bread Outlet- Powdered baby donuts and everything bagels were on the super deal table so Teresa and Andrea were able to get their favorite. The bread was a bit picked over since it was after 1pm but I got enough.

We then went home. I was an shrew of a mother because I was tired and cranky. I ate ice cream and didn't give the little ones any. Teresa must have known I was in a mood not to be messed with since she didn't ask. Sent them both to their rooms to play for a bit while I took some ibuprofen and crashed for 15 minutes on my bed. My peace was interrupted by Teresa's yelling down the hall that Matthew had pulled out baby wipes ALL OVER HIS ROOM. Gave Teresa her donuts and told her to watch PBS. Tried to get Matthew to play more in his room but then he was shoving blocks down his heating/ac vent. Took him down and offered him a donut that he made a mess with. Had Teresa vacuum the mess up. Then Andrea played with Matthew for awhile and when he wasn't going for that so I decided he needed a bottle and a nap.He had done a strange 8-1030 nap this morning. He went to SLEEP. Thank you Jesus so I let Teresa play outside and I was able to rest until David and the pizzas arrived.

7. Walmart- Andrea had some birthday money she wanted to spend and I had not wanted to enter Walmart with the little ones so I took her out to Walmart right after we ate. I got a few things- yogurt hot dogs allergy meds. Andrea found a double SIMS 3 expansion pack.

I'm going to get this posted and take my RX pain meds and go to bed now. Matthew is still fussing. We even gave him ibuprofen in case some teeth are coming in or something. David my wonderful wonderful husband is taking care of him. Good Night.

For more and I'm sure much more exciting QT see Jen.

Blog Challenge Post 4- County Fair

Teresa loved this "game". It was a everyone wins game. You just pay $3 and get to pick one of the $3 prizes.

Matthew on his 1st pony ride.

Teresa on her last one. She is just under the weight limit.

Matthew really liked it once the pony moved.

The swings!

The owner asked Teresa if she wanted to milk the goat.

Matthew really liked the animals just not the best picture.

Carousel

Blog Challenge Post 3 -1st Grade Curriculum Planning

I'm still trying to get our planning done for next year. The last two months seemed to go by very very quickly. We finished up K and then it was VBS week at church and then we took our trip to Virginia and we were back from that for only a week before I had surgery and spent two nights in the hospital. I'm only 3 weeks into my 6 weeks of recovery with restrictions so planning and organizing for next year is going slowly. We are enrolled with St. Thomas Aquinas Academy (STAA) again this year. I had our annual phone conference last week. We will use quite a bit of their suggestions. I also have a few Seton workbooks I will likely add in as well as using Memoria Press 1st Grade Lesson plans. The MP plans I use mostly for their read aloud list and social studies and science suggestions that are tied to each weekly read aloud. We used the K plans last year and I preferred them to FIAR which is STAA's suggestion. I'm waiting on my Rainbow Resource order for some remaining items so this list could still change before we submit our notification to our school district in August.

Religion-Faith and Life 1, Mass Book for Children, Living the 10 Commandments, Just Like Mary, Little Acts of Grace by Rosemarie Gortler and Donna Piscitelli. I would love to try to get to a daily Mass even just 1st Fridays and we will be working on the basic prayers in the Faith and Life book as well as the rosary following STAA lesson plans on this

Handwriting-Handwriting Without Tears Grade 1 

Math- Math U See Alpha- I love love MUS. Whenever I try anything else I'm like why did I do that. It also seems a good fit for Teresa with it's hands on approach and short lessons.

Phonics- Little Angel Phonics  A and B
We started Book A the last few months of K.

Writing/Language Arts- Writing with Ease Level 1
This has narration and copywork with grammar and reading comprehension too. The sample lesson looks easy to follow. I liked the Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading so hopefully this other Well Trained Mind product will work for us as well. I'm not sure how well Teresa will like it but any grammar and writing is not likely to thrill her.

Social Studies- Memoria Press Lesson Plan ideas, field trips,and the Seton 1st Grade History book.

Science- Memoria Press Lesson Plan suggestions and/or lots of books from the library. We really did a lot of science reading this past year especially the Cat in the Hat Science Series. We will do the raise your own butterfly kit in the spring. We managed to get a garden planted this year which was something Teresa wanted to do but the butterflies didn't. We have a COSI membership and will go there as well as trips to the zoo and other science museums. We might also get a few science kits with simple experiments.

Art
Lots of ideas for this of course we won't do them all. I'm not very artistic so I like lots of ideas to pick and choose from. I plan on Teresa's taking this year some of the weekly homeschool art classes in the neighboring county. You can go as many weeks as you want so we will likely do some but not all. The art lessons are right next to the bigger library that we like to use for reserves so it will make the drive more worth it and I will have a place to wait with Matthew. We also have Seton's Art 1 which is more religious crafts. I've ordered Art Pacs 1 and 2 based on STAA's recommendation. Another reason for some many art ideas is because Teresa likes art and drawing and cutting and gluing but her handwriting is her weakness right now so it's developing her fine motor skills in a sneaky way.

Music- Okay Dad is going to have to take this one. If I'm not artistic I'm definitely not musical. Otherwise we will plan on listening to CD's.

Phys Ed- Besides walks, bike rides, and normal family activities Teresa does quite a bit at our local Y.  She is already signed up for fall soccer at a local park that isn't a Y sponsored. She will at least do swim lessons once soccer is over. She also wants to at least do the Martial Arts summer camp mornings next week. I would like her to do the weekly classes again even though they are at 7pm once she turns 7 just because I really think they help her with self control and concentration.

Blog Challenge Post #2 Williamsburg Family Reunion

We had a family reunion in honor of my mom in law's 80th birthday at Williamsburg last month. Here are some photos from the trip. The pool at the condo complex was a favorite for both Matthew and Teresa. We also went to Jamestown. The Powhatan Village with lots of animal skins and the 3 ships to climb aboard really held Teresa's interest.

Monday Blog Challenge- Homeschool Daily Schedule

This coming year is the first we have to notify and be all official with our state for Teresa. She'll be 7 in October and doing 1st grade. Our state expects you to do 900 hours which averages out to 5 hours a day 180 days a year. So I've been working on a daily schedule/planning idea so I have 5 hours a day on meaningful activities or at least 5 hours that does not involve any angry birds or Phineas and Ferb. I don't want to consider Angry Birds physics.

So this is what I've come up with. I've tried to incorporate physical activity, reading, and playtime each day.

-Basic school time is 9-12 and 1-3. The afternoon is also when I would try to schedule any outside necessary appointments. Friday will likely be the library and home school art lesson day and Mass at least on 1st Fridays.
-I've made the 1st 90 minutes the core academic time hoping we will get that done almost every day.
- After that it's outside time or some physical time inside basically get the wiggles out.
-Then 30 minutes of writing/language arts and 30 minutes of our weekly subjects (one day science, one day social studies/history, etc)
-After lunch reading time I will not read aloud all this time but reading to Teresa and Matthew as well as books on CD for Teresa to do during a quiet time should take up quite a bit of time. I will admit for being home full time I am lousy at reading to my kids every day. Teresa especially isn't one to sit still and listen to long chapter books. We need to work on this.
-Last thing is playtime with Mom. This is when I will play board games, get out the play dough, work puzzles, and also just sit down and play with both the kids. If the weather is nice we will do the park or a longer walk. I'm hoping this will be a great time for Teresa. I'm so bad about making time to sit down and play. I'm hoping that I will be able to answer the "When will you play Candyland?" question with and 2 this afternoon and we do it at least a few times a week. I'm also thinking we will make a list of specific things Teresa wants to do and try to check things off through the year.This Sunday's gospel about Martha and Mary reminds me at least to savor this time with my bonus babies and leave those dishes for some reading and playtime each day.

Blogging Challenge

After ignoring this poor blog for so long posting every day for a week might be too much but I'm going to give it a try.

For more blog challenge posts go to Jen at Conversion Diary

Busy Week Quick Takes

--- 1 ---

Last week Teresa turned 6. For some reason 6 seems older to me not a preschooler anymore but a child.

--- 2 ---

One of her birthday requests was to go to the Newport Aquarium.

--- 3 ---

Our Trick or Treat was last night (the 25th).

--- 4 ---

This morning both Teresa and Matthew had checkups. Teresa is having her 6yr old one and Matthew is having a pre-op before his tear duct surgery next week. The nurse practitioner hadn't seen Matthew since his 4 month checkup and remarked how big he was and how you wouldn't ever think he had been a little preemie. He had grown a lot since 9 months. He's now 21.5 lbs and 31.5 inches.

--- 5 ---

Teresa read these pages yesterday and was so excited. Just looking at the large rat makes me grimace.

--- 6 ---

I just watched 5 children 6 and under. 3 are a friend's, 2 mine. This friend watches Teresa A LOT. It really wasn't all that bad they played together fairly well and all 5 kids liked the pancakes I made for lunch.

--- 7 ---

Last one, a painless way to support Reese's Rainbow. Last I checked they were just behind in second. First place is $50,000. That could mean a big difference for some special needs orphans. Please help them get into 1st place.


Grab This!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Really Fast QT

--- 1 ---

I'm supposed to leave for my mom in law's in 26 minutes. It's a 2 hr drive each way. I'm helping start to pack/declutter/etc before her planned move to my sister in law's next month. Andrea, Megan, Scott, and I are going. David is staying home with Matthew and Teresa.

--- 2 ---

We have a nice brick fireplace/wood stove in the family room. When Matthew started crawling I put the couch in front of it to block access to the little door and to keep him from falling on the hearth. Well he crawled around found a small available spot and starting gnawing on it the other day. The noise this made was awful. Chalk noise is nothing in comparison.I now have the couch, loveseat, and ottoman making an ugly wall of furniture to keep him totally away from it.

--- 3 ---

Other gnawing locations- the pew at church. Yes, I was letting him put his mouth on it and was really surprised he left teeth marks.

--- 4 ---

We're trying to refinance our mortgage. I needed proof of home owner's insurance. My file had last year's statement. I was proud I managed to create an online account and print off a statement. This was much easier than finding it in the needs filed mail stack.

--- 5 ---

Teresa is enjoying swim lessons. She is even remembering what they call the stroke positions. It's monkey, soldier, starfish. I was watching from the bleachers across the pool and when she does the monkey it looks like she's drowning.

--- 6 ---

Andrea, Matthew, and I went to the local Life Chain last Sunday. It's at our local courthouse square. A Lutheran pastor did the opening remarks and I never realized they do the same Sunday readings we have at our parish.
.

--- 7 ---

Adoption Fundraising- This family has a matching grant opportunity. More info on their blog.
http://foxberryfarmalmanac.blogspot.com/2012/10/when.html

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

--- 1 ---

My dear husband David turned 50 last week. We went out for dinner the Saturday before his birthday, had a family dinner and cake on that Sunday, his sister sent him a big plant/flower/balloon arrangement, and work decorated his cubicle with balloons and banners so lots of celebrating .

--- 2 ---

We rejoined the Y last night. Teresa has swim lessons again starting today. We signed her up for the 6 and up class versus preschool class. I hope she does okay. She will be 6 in 2 weeks.

--- 3 ---

Homeschooling is going well. I did a big curriculum switch a few weeks ago. I will wait until at least spring to decide for sure but right now I love it. It's more laid out for me but still uses a ton of real books.

--- 4 ---

Teeth have been a big topic here lately. Teresa has lost 4 in the last few months. Matthew has his 6th one coming in right now. We now can recognize his awful sleep pattern that preceeds each tooth.

--- 5 ---

Finding time for housework with homeschooling an active kindergartener (as in if I turn my back she pops out of her chair) and having a newly mobile baby (he tries to eat everything he can find on the floor but won't open his mouth for baby food) has been a challenge. This morning I had to clean the shower before I could take a shower. It was that bad.

--- 6 ---

Product Review- Do not buy store brand scrubbing bubble bathroom cleaner. Mine came from the store we call Big W. It does not smell the same (gaggy smell) and it doesn't work well either (see QT 5). I am not the most frequent cleaner but it has definitely not been that long for it to get that disgusting.

--- 7 ---

Orphan feature- His birthday is this month. He loves to read and recite poetry and is just going to be five. He sounds like an amazing little boy who is facing transfer. Praying for his family to find him very very soon.
http://reecesrainbow.org/26972/carlton

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Happy Feast of the Assumption!

This post is for all those Catholic moms that well aren't the super crafty type for feast days. Here's our cake. It's a mix with tub frosting and blue sprinkle sugar which was leftover in the pantry.

I also printed off a coloring page for Teresa.
http://familyfeastandferia.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/rosary-color-book-glorious-mysteries.pdf  Try to remember to print just the page you need, I printed off all of them. The page before the coloring page had a nice short paragraph about each mystery so I read that too.

Teresa is currently resting/napping so she can go to Mass this evening with Andrea and me.

--- 1 ---

Teresa is quite funny in ways to delay bedtime or the production she makes going to sleep. The other night she wrapped herself up tight in her quilt and said she was a chrysalis and needed nectar to drink (water bottle). In the morning when she came downstairs she was fluttering her arms and had her fairy/butterfly wings on.

--- 2 ---

Another day right after her bath she feel asleep on her bedroom floor. She was supposed to be putting on her PJs and when she didn't show up for dinner I went to check on her.  She was unclothed except for winter gloves.

--- 3 ---

Last night Teresa became a painting machine right before bed.

--- 4 ---

Matthew had his 1st ear infection last week. It's really the 1st time he's been sick. He really didn't seem sick. In fact I was hesitate to take him to the doctor until he cut way down on his formula. He HATES the pink medicine. David and I have one more day of trying to get him to take it.

--- 5 ---

Besides his ear infection why he's been so fussy the last several weeks is he has two teeth. Teresa lost her 1st tooth in June and the tooth fairy should have the 2nd before this weekend is over.

--- 6 ---

Matthew will be 9 months old next week. It's hard to believe. No we haven't finalized the adoption yet. There is some paperwork that is taking much longer than we expected. Also unbelievable is my oldest daughter turned 25 last month.

--- 7 ---

Another bedtime Teresa story- David was doing prayers with Teresa. She was repeating the Lord's Prayer what seemed like without a lot of interest or reverence. They got to the "deliver us from evil" part. She suddenly asks what it means. David tells her "deliver us from evil" means we want God to keep evil away from us. So she adds something like, please Jesus keep evil away from me, my mommy and daddy, my baby brother, and my sisters. So sweet!!!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

February

Can't believe it's the end of the month already. The post is going to be all over the place. If I wait for a theme I'll never post.

-Adoption-

We had our 2nd post placement visit a few weeks ago. Friday will be 90 days since placement. Yesterday we got a call from the lawyer's staff about petitioning for finalization among other things. We also got a big email with paperwork to complete. I swear we filled this stuff out before.

-Taxes-

We finished our federal and state returns. We're even getting some money back. This year was pretty simple since we won't have any adoption credits until after this year's finalization.

-New Carpet-

The smaller kids' bedrooms, hall, and stairs have new carpet. It was a lot of work getting the rooms cleared out for installation but so worth it. It's soft and cushy and a very boring beige so I won't bother posting a picture. The carpet type is Smart Strand which is supposed to be very stain resistant and durable.

-Matthew-

He's doing great! Over 3 months-Over 11 lbs- Smiling tons now. He's rolled from his tummy to back twice now but it still seems random. He's sleeping pretty regularly 5-6 at a stretch at night, basically his midnight or 3am feeding is gone.

- 4th children/40's mommy-

In general I'm a much more laid back of a mommy. I do miss sleep much more than with Andrea and Megan 20 years ago but I have such a more contentment joy whatever you can call that feeling with motherhood in general. Good example of more laid back is when we didn't have a receiving blanket for his bottle and didn't want to go upstairs to get one we used a dish towel. Teresa is so sweet with Matthew most of the time. She was teaching him word cards the other day. Matthew lights up with smiles for her many times even when I think she should give him more space etc.

-Synagis-

We finished the last of Matthew's series of Synagsis/RSV shots last week. Even though driving to Children's and their schedule was a pain with so many babies have been getting RSV I'm so happy Matthew has not been sick and was able to get the shots. After January's coughy crud the rest of the family has been well this month too. I'm also grateful for the staff member at Children's that gave us the info about a rebate program for the copays.

-Homeschooling-

We're not doing much formal stuff now. Since Teresa isn't old enough even for K in our state yet I'm concentrating on preparing for next year. We've registered with St Thomas Aquinas Academy for the fall. www.staa-homeschool.com We finished the assessment and have some plans for next fall that we'll finalize more after a phone conference in March.

-Me-

I had another ultrasound earlier in the month before rescheduling my surgery that was postponed by Matthew's arrival. The cyst on my left ovary and fibroid are still there and the right ovary now has a cyst too. Surgery is rescheduled for April 13th. I'm praying that it will be able to be done laproscopically like planned.