The weeks before the kids go back to school are super stressful and overwhelming to me with the overload of errands, appointments, paperwork, and more. The house is constantly messy, the kids are bored of the slip n' slide, there's all kinds of fighting, and I am just so tired of feeding them. They want to go back to school and I want them to, too. How did people do it for thousands of years? How do homeschoolers do it?
To me this is not the end of summer. Summer basically ended on August 6th. I will get out my Fall decorations on September 1st -ish and this time in between is a purgatory of stress and heat and exhaustion. (As an aside, some people think I'm a bit dramatic but I just don't see it.)
I made a playlist to get me through these next weeks. You can see how badly I want to get on with my life in that I titled it "September 2018." Some of the songs are pretty new to me and so I cannot vouch for all the lyrics and content, but if you want to discover some new songs right along with me click over and check it out. There's some safe ones, too, like Ben Rector and Mat Kearney. ;)
School starts with a half day on Thursday, so here's a look the last bits of summer, the things that happened at the end of July and the first week of August. That is, the things that I want to remember.
Jofis celebrated his 5th birthday. He wanted a train cake and party and since his favorite color is green I was able to make all his dreams come true super simply. A few of his classmates and cousins came over, everyone played outside, and we ate wacky cake and drank lemonade. He got a bug catcher and water balloons and his life was made.
I celebrated my birthday, too. I turned thirty-seven and to celebrate I got coffee with friends, went shopping at Target with Travis, bought a new dress, asked people to donate to baby Olivia's GoFundMe, found a few new grey hairs, and overall had a good day.
We also celebrated Harry Potter's birthday. The kids listened to several of the audio books this summer and L read the whole series for the first time. They have watched several of the movies, too, so it was a lot of fun to surprise them with a table filled with candles, pretzel rod wands, and this birthday cake. They snacked in the candlelight while watching the first movie before bed. And just so you know, there's a bit of a back story for this cake and you can hear about it if you watch the You're a Bad Mom video here.
In other news, we were given a Days of Creation paper chain (which you can see here) along with a beautiful, giant floor puzzle from WeeBelievers. Both are super sweet but we especially love the floor puzzle because we are just floor puzzle people, people! I mean, look at how happy Tee is with it! The illustrations are so sweet, you guys. I really love it. But the best part is that it's two sided so it's two, two, TWO puzzles in one!
In other news, I caught this super sweet picture of Travis and Tee sleeping one morning a few weeks ago. I mean, be still my heart.
And now I'll tell you all a secret: this summer we attended 7am daily Mass Monday - Friday. The vast majority of the time the whole family went: Travis, me, and all seven kids. We missed a few days, and occasionally some of us had to stay home but usually we were all there.
Now this was even feasible because:
#1 - we did not have a newborn / someone recovering from major surgery (like last summer)
#2 - Travis is a teacher with summers off and this summer his handyman jobs were all local so he was almost always around to attend with us.
The reasons I wanted to do it are:
#1 - For years Travis and I were daily communicants and I was really missing that Gift.
#2 - I knew that if we attended 7am Mass all summer long our days would still end around 8pm which meant we could keep the same bedtime and evening routine. I knew I wanted to have time with Travis every night and I hoped that the return to the school would feel less like a crash and burn this way.
#3 - I'm hoping it will inspire my boys to love the priesthood and I pray that one of them has been given that vocation.
I don't know what will happen next summer but I know that being able to attend daily Mass this summer was such a gift to me. Even when my kids complained. Even when MJ would not be contained to the pew and had to wander. Even when we had to sit in the cry room because we were so late. It was such a gift.
Speaking of Mass, this seems like a good time to show you the preview copy of Ginny Kochis's new Mass Journal for Kids. Ginny sent it to me and I promptly passed on to my 10 year old, L. It's really lovely, you guys, and if you're looking for something you can either gift to your own children, godchildren, students or use as a family to prepare for or review the Sunday Mass readings I really encourage you to try this.
L and I were both really taken by the layout and feel of the book. It's big; has room for doodles, journaling, and note taking; and includes all the readings + reflections, quotes from the saints, and more. I also like that it goes by seasons - this one covers the Autumn months - so it's not too bulky nor too big of a commitment. If you're looking for a nice Back to School gift this would be a great one, I think.
One last note: the winners for the Sheenazing Awards have finally been announced! You can head to the original post to see who earned the top three spots in each category! Thank you to everyone who voted - over 1,100! - and congratulations to the winners! I hope everyone had fun along the way!
Alright, time to get a move on. See you soon, you guys!
Photo by Brooke Lark on Unsplash
Lyrics from JJ Heller's This Year
It's negative one outside with a windchill of negative 17. I'm wearing my slipper boots and cardi and drinking warm tea with honey cause baby, it's cold outside! And this post may be a heavy dose of navel gazing but my fingers want to type and I want to write this out and so I hope you don't mind sitting with me through this.
(Here's hoping my kids will play by themselves long enough to let me do it!)
Thirteen months ago started a really, really rough time for me. Sickness, death, grief, hard parenting, open heart surgery for L, and major surgery for me. Months and months of hard but I remember holding my sweet newborn while recovering from my second c-section and thinking to myself, "It's all done. We're through the thick of it." And especially as the school year started and a routine was established I saw us all thrive and I felt like it was really true. In my prayer I felt this
p e a c e like an exhale and I repeatedly had this image of a clearing in the woods. The woods, dense and dark and scary, were behind me and in the distance there were more woods, though not has thick or scary. But I was standing in an open field with tall green grass and sweet flowers.
In September I attended the Blessed Is She writers' retreat and there the fabulous Beth Davis was praying over me. She said, "Bonnie, I don't know if this will mean anything to you but I just see this huge field of wildflowers for you" and BAM: ugly cry. There it was from someone else - the same Holy Spirit showing the same promise for me to both of us. I will readily admit, I was overwhelmingly relieved.
It was at that same retreat, though, that Travis called me to let me know that he was at the emergency room because he was experiencing loss of balance, numbness, and other signs of a stroke. The ER doctor thought it was actually his body reacting to stress and exhaustion (football season + seven kids + hard work around home) and I wasn't scared. Because that field of wildflowers was as good as Noah's rainbow.
I came home from the retreat and there were more tests for Travis. Our family doctor suspected that Travis had MS which was showing itself because of exhaustion and stress but I held out hope. In the end all the neurological issues went away with allergy medicine and sleep. Seriously. And the words from Isaiah rang so true in my heart, "God indeed is my Savior. I am confident and unafraid."
Halloween and Thanksgiving and Advent came and went. Our family was healthy and happy with the kids growing and learning and things going well. A clearing in the woods, filled with thriving wildflowers.
And as the New Year approached people started talking about adopting a saint and a word of the year. I've never done the word of the year thing before because, well, I thought it was weird, but as the conversations began I remembered that St. John Paul the Great was the saint appointed to me by Jennifer Fulwiler's saint generator last year. Back then I thought, "Oh yeah! He's great! What wonderful, evangilistic things will come my way?" but now I see that he probably wanted to walk with me through all that suffering and I had, for the most part, forgotten about him. Stupid me.
But this year I am paying attention. I have this feeling that God is calling me to do beautiful work for Him in the hidden, quiet, normal of my home and daily life as wife and mom. St. Cecilia was the saint given to me this year and I think she wants to show me how to live so that my heart is always glorifying God.
And this year I decided to try the whole word of the year thing and as I prayed about it, at home and Mass and adoration, I kept coming back to the word "be." It isn't flashy, in fact it seems to reinforce the hidden and quiet that I already mentioned. And then (!) the word that was randomly chosen for me from Jen's word of the year generator was BLOSSOM. It's different than thrive, you know, which seems to have to do with *doing* whereas blossom seems to be about *being.* Just do what you do, be who you are meant to be and you will blossom... in a a field of wildflowers... in a clearing in the woods.
There is a peace in heart and a hope in my Lord and I know that whatever happens God is good.
I owe a very sincere apology to Jane Austen. When Jane Bennet caught cold and had to stay at Netherfield for several days I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, it's a cold. Likewise, when Harriet Smith caught cold and had to stay in bed for days I thought that was also ridiculous.
But then in mid-December I got sick. I got really, really, really sick with a cold of Jane Austen proportions.
The last week of school before Christmas break Ben came down with something. He slept 20 hours a day and barely ate anything. One by one all six of my kids fell ill and when Baby Tee was also sick I took him to the doctor. Strep throat for the baby and so everyone got antibiotics. By the time the kids were starting to feel better my throat was starting to hurt, I had a congested headache and a cough.
And for over four weeks I would cough and sleep and lay around. I would start to feel better and then crash with more coughing, sleeping, and laying around. Often I would wish that *I* was at Netherfield with a household staff to cook, clean, and care for the children while I laid in bed and got better. (Alright, honestly, I often have that wish even when I'm healthy.)
It wasn't strep; it wasn't bronchitis; and while I thought it had turned into walking pneumonia and was even treated for it with some antibiotics I think, in the end, it was just a super duper, really bad cold - just like the prompt care doctor told me. Five weeks later I am still occasionally coughing but I finally feel fairly caught up with life.
There were a lot of really good things that happened in those five weeks, especially in December, and I wanted to share some of the highlights.
St. Nick brought a gingerbread village for the kids to assemble and decorate.
Travis was able to finish and hang my shelves. They are made from the wood of an oak tree that stood in my maternal grandfather's yard. We kept the bark on them and glossed them up. This is pretty much the first and only time where how I imagined a finished project looking is how the finished project actually looks. And I loooooove it!
The little Fiat sign is from JustLovePrints.
So Fresh & So Clean Clean print from Brick House in the City.
On Christmas morning we put on our finest, went to the 7am Mass, and tried to get a good family photo. This is as good as it gets, and yes, there is a hideous mural on the back wall of my parish. I dream of whitewashing it.
My parents, my uncle, and my paternal grandfather came over to watch the kids open their gifts and to eat homemade sausage bread and cinnamon rolls, bacon, and coffee. Behold: the only picture I took:
Five days later we celebrated Baby Tee's first birthday and our tenth anniversary with a party. Our parents, siblings, and friends were invited and so I set out a yummy spread, decorated with fresh greens and items used in our wedding reception, and...
put on my new favorite outfit and (a rare thing these days) make-up.
L, my 8 year old, was pursuing her Cake Making badge in American Heritage Girls and so she spent the day with her aunt, a professional baker, and designed and baked the anniversary cake for us...
And the birthday cupcakes for Tee.
We were married on my paternal grandfather's 80th birthday so along with Tee's 1st, we celebrated Grandpa's 90th. L made him a special cupcake and everyone sang Happy Birthday to him.
Fortunately I was feeling fairly well for Christmas and our anniversary but right after each I crashed again. Instead of doing an Advent Calendar I like to celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas but this year the only thing I was able to do was make and decorate Christmas cookies and that was only because my mom came over to help. Oh well.
If you're looking for a good gingerbread cookie recipe Mary's from Better Than Eden is the best I've ever had. Follow her tip and save them for the next day. I don't know why, but they are so much better Day Two. And that St. Nick cookie cutter came from Catholic Curio, in case you were wondering.
And if you're looking for a good something to watch, well I have been busy with all my laying around.
Amazon Prime: Mr. Holmes, the BBC's Emma, Grantchester, Endevour, and the Matt Smith Doctor Who episodes all kept me company.
Netflix: Spotlight, Sherlock, The Crown, A Royal Night Out, Death Comes to Pemberly, Madame Secretary, The Imitation Game, The Returned, and E.T. have also been good distractions.
Gosh, I look like such a bum, don't I?
I'll leave you with my current favorite song, a reward of sorts for making to the end of this post.
At the end of October Baby Tee will be ten months old. He is crawling, pulling himself to standing, cruising, and saying "mama." He laughs at his older siblings' silliness and they love to perform for him. He likes cheerios, sweet potatoes, graham crackers, and his mama's milk. He has seven teeth and sometimes I think he looks like an elf.
Can I just tell you that I am completely smitten with him? Some things are tough, of course, like teething and night nursing and all the food he drops on the floor, but he is so sweet and so lovely and my heart bursts with love of him.
I've never had an experience like this before. All my other children's infancies were shadowed by postpartum depression and now that I see what life with a newborn is like without PPD touching it I am incredibly sad that we were all robbed of happier days and a lighter, more peaceful, more loving home. But I am also so incredibly grateful that this time I have not suffered from PPD.
There were moments I was afraid it was coming. One night in particular I was so tired and so anxious. My anxiety kept me awake after a night feeding and I paced the house, I sobbed in the family room, I shook with fear, and I kept seeing this picture of a spiraling, Wonderland-like fall of which I was standing on the cusp.
When exhaustion or stress crept up on me, as they did a couple of times, they showed themselves through anger and an inability to tolerate anything. In the past I would have succumbed - I would have gone crazy. I had...
... but this time was different. We were proactive and we had plans in place. We knew that exhaustion and stress triggered my spiraling into PPD and so my husband, my mom, and I decided what we would do. In the end I would say three things really helped me get through this postpartum period without succumbing to postpartum depression.
First, and probably most importantly: sleep. My mom basically moved in with us for the first few weeks, waking up with Tee's cries, tending to him until she had to get me to nurse him, sending me back to bed immediately after he finished eating, and putting him back to bed. She and Travis made the meals and with he and me sleeping well at night Mom was able to nap during the days. My mother-in-law also helped by relieving my mom and occasionally keeping the older kids at her home. I sat with the kids, rested, and nursed the baby - and for months that was pretty much all I did. In the months that followed those first six weeks I did not hesitate to put on a movie for the kids and nap, ask my mom or husband to watch the kids so I could sleep, and / or go to bed at 8pm.
Second, I allowed for a lot of quiet and introspection. I spent a lot of time observing how I felt physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I prayed, I read my Bible and Beautiful Mercy, I asked for other people to pray for me, and I used Jenna Hines' book 30 Days to Calm.
Finally, I took pills, but not medication like before. My midwife prescribed for me to take Omega-3 supplements (EPA-DHA 720, 1-2 at a time, four times a day) and Magnesium Glycinate (300mg, 4 at a time, 4 times a day). They were amazing. They helped me relax and just... feel good. I know that seems like a vague statement but it's true. If I started to feel overwhelmed I would take my pills and within thirty minutes I was calm and relaxed. I felt little to no anxiety and I slept better with them. I don't think these pills alone would have worked for bringing me out of my former PPD, but they were wonderfully helpful for keeping it bay this time.
In the end, this has possibly been the best year of my life. I have six amazing children, a husband who loves me immensely, and a devoted mom (and mother-in-law). As a family we have hit our stride and we are thriving, happy, and full of love. That might sound cheesy but I don't care. I've always like nachos.
PS - Speaking of babies, I was invited to be a contributor to the Waiting in His Word: A Couple's Journey Scripture Study on fertility. Nell, Nancy, and Laura have done a fabulous job of bringing together women and men with a wide variety of experiences: loss, adoption, infertility, hyper-fertility, foster care, and more. You can learn more and buy your copy here.
PPS - Not to sound silly, but I would love it if you'd vote for A Knotted Life over at the Fisher's Net Awards. I mean, who else gives you blog posts about food allergies, miracle babies, parochial school, parties, and fashion for barrel-shaped bellies? I mean, when it comes to that combination you know that I am the BEST.
PPS - I am definitely not saying that these three things are all you need to do to beat PPD, and please, please, please know that there is no shame in getting help - be it a therapist, medication, a nanny, etc - to overcome postpartum depression or any mental illness. If you think you have PPD please talk to your doctor or midwife. If you are still pregnant and worried about suffering through another bout of PPD, as I was while pregnant with Baby Tee, then perhaps this post will inspire you to think about your own triggers and create a plan with your loved ones so you can get the best care.
Here's a good ole fashioned Day in the Life post, complete with photos, some unedited to really throw it back to old school blogging. This is from yesterday and I did a mix of typing in chunks - so some of the time is 'ish' (like 9:15-ish) - and typing as I went - so some of the time is accurate. Some of it is summary and some of it is commentary but please note that this was both an ordinary day and a not so ordinary day. Usually I stay in bed until 6:30 and my kids do not get fresh, warm coffee cake for breakfast. Also, Mondays - Wednesdays we have morning activities but I'm thinking of keeping Thursdays to myself. It is so nice to have a long day at home (even if that means the mid-day transfer).
Okay, here goes!
4:23 - Thomas wakes up. Nurse him in the living room, like always. Listen to the downpour and feel bad for the garbage man who will have stinky, soggy trash to deal with.
4:37 - Lay back down in bed, super thirsty but don't drink anything and try to will myself back to sleep so I can sorta take a sorta accurate temp at 5am for my nfp charting. Dose off at some point.
5:00 - Alarm goes off, I take temp and wonder if I should go back to sleep or stay up.
5:30 - Stay up. I head to the kitchen and immediately start mixing up a double batch of coffee cake.
5:35 - Remember to turn on Mother Assumpta praying the rosary. (This is a tip I just learned on Instagram - a woman named Becky shared it on one of my pictures and I LOVED it! I pray along with the nuns when I can but I let them pray for me when the kids or life interrupt. Plus, as Becky stated, it creates an incredibly calm and beautiful atmosphere in our home and hopefully for the rest of their lives the rosary will remind my kids of peaceful times at home. Hopefully.)
5:38 - Travis comes out, ready for work. I stop the coffee cake and turn on the coffee for him. We discuss his work day, a bill, what time he'll be home, and dinner plans (pizza party for Mary's birthday!)
5:40 - Travis leaves, travel cup filled with coffee. (Because it's the little things, right? And in our marriage, me making him hot coffee for his morning commute is a way I can communicate my love to him... when he's not communicating his love to me by letting me sleep in.)
5:50 - Coffee cake goes in the oven. I check Facebook and then turn off the kitchen light, but leave the light on over the sink, and then walk around the house lighting candles, knowing the kids will love it as much as I do. Tidy up a bit as I go.
6:00 - I pour myself some coffee, put on a classical music playlist, and sit down with my Bible, opening it to the end of Mark, which I finished yesterday. Think about if I should read Mark again, choose another Gospel, or do an epistle. Say a quick prayer to the Holy Spirit and then...
6:10 - James calls out for his dad; I see him at the end of the hall so I turn on the light and invite him to come to me. We sit on the sofa together, snuggling in the dark, candlelit room.
6:15 - I wonder about getting up Bennet and Lydia, whose bus will come in 45 minutes but just then Ben comes into the living room, fully dressed and checking out the candles.
6:18 - L comes out and sits on the sofa, commenting on the candles. Ben asks if he can light up the jack-o-lantern which I currently have displayed as just a pumpkin because it's only September 8th. I tell him yes, because why not?, and then we go to the basement to find another votive candle, me carrying a folding chair and laundry basket with me.
6:20 - I put the chair away, fill the laundry basket with the kids' whites from the dryer, and walk back upstairs with Ben, who grabs and the matches and happily sets up his jack-o-lantern. I pull the coffee cake out of the oven.
6:25 - I begin to pack the kids' lunches and discuss which fruit option they all want. (Applesauce, apple slices, or grapes? And you better eat it, too!) Jofis comes down the hall and into the kitchen with his blankie over his head "wooooooo"ing and for the one thousandth time we all cry out, "There's a ghost in the house!" He pulls the blankie off, showing a huge grin and we all say, "Oh it's just Jofis!"
6:35 - I slice up and serve the coffee cake to JF, Ben, Jofish, and L. We pray the Morning Offering and Grace. I pick up a few things in the living room and grab a brush, ponytail holder, and bow. While L eats I do her hair.
6:45 - I go back to making the kids' lunches. Fill the water bottles, put everything in the bookbags, ask Ben if his homework is in his bag, thank the kids for bringing their plates to the sink and then send them to the bathroom to wash their hands and brush their teeth.
6:55 - Step outside to check how hard it's raining. Hear the kids' bus and call them out. Watch them run down the drive as I yell, like every day, "I love you. Have fun and make good choices." Watch the bus drive away and feel really content because they love school and I love our life. That sounds really cheesy and chipper but it's true and I'm grateful.
7:00 - Take a picture of the cake mix box and blue frosting to share on social media as a reminder that today's the Blessed Mother's birthday. PBS Kids gets turned on.
7:05 - Make breakfast for myself - eggs + bacon, wrapped in a tortilla. Freshen my coffee and sit down with my breakfast, planner, and Bible. Look over the day, my prayer intentions, my to-do's. Decide to go with an epistle and open my Bible to Titus. See that it's super short and dive in, reading the intro and first chapter. Sit with a couple of verses, thinking them over and praying about them, looking at my own life in comparison.
7:38 - Get Thomas out of his crib. Take him to the living room to nurse. Resa wakes up and comes out in the meantime.
7:40 - Change diapers, wash hands, get breakfast for Resa.
7:55 - Wash breakfast dishes. Decide to start this blog post, despite the fact that it has so far been an unusual and not at all typical day.
8:20 - JF gets on bus. I turn on PBS Kids.
8:25 - Play with Tee on the floor, watch the rain, freshen coffee.
8:45 - Put Tee in highchair for breakfast. Work on blog post while he eats.
8:50 - Draw bath for Jofis and Resa, divvy out bath toys and make a firm warning of "no shampoo or conditioner!"
9:15 - Tee is done with breakfast. Wipe him off and dump all crumbs on floor. Vacuum floor. Decide to cut his super long hair. Cut too much, giving him a "Caesar" haircut straight outta 1996.
9:30 - Kids are done with bath. While Tee plays in living room, go to bathroom to wash Jofis and Resa's hair. Tidy bathroom, note ring in tub that needs to be cleaned, turn off light.
9:40 - Put lotion and clothes on kids; brush their hair. Tell them to play while I work on blogging.
10:00 - Pull Tee out from under the table and lay him down for a nap. Try putting a pretty Cinderella dress on Resa only to have her take it off because it's itchy. Put on Halloween music at Jofis' request, pass out bananas, refill water, work on editing pictures for a blog post.
10:23 - Realize that I have to pick James up in 50 minutes and dash off to the shower, updating this blog post first - of course.
10:25 - Plug in computer to recharge, make bed, attend to personal hygene, try blow-drying hair to control frizz and fail.
10:55 - Exit room looking absolutely fabulous! (in yoga pants and a shirt I've already worn once this week.) Round up the kids and send them to the van. Wake a sleeping baby and notice how bad his hair looks. Shoot.
11:02 - Everyone is buckled in. I put Sara Groves in the cd player and we are rolling.
11:05 - Arrive at the public school. Sign JF out, chat with his aid, allow JF to carry the huge rainbow umbrella which means I walk in the rain. Whatevs.
11:15 - JF is buckled in and eating his lunch, we head over to the parochial school.
11:23 - Arrive at parochial school. JF and Resa need to use the bathroom. Jofis requests "Train Song" so I put in Johnny Cash cd and play "Orange Blossom Special." Take the two in for the bathroom and check in at the office. Go back to van so JF can finish his lunch. Just as I'm about to record a *brilliant* Instagram Story JF tells me he's done with his lunch and ready to go in.
11:40 - Take JF down to his classroom. (As an aside, JF *really* likes routine and he really likes me. He dislikes change and being on his own. We had just gotten to a point where he was comfortable doing drop off when there was outdoor recess. I would park by the sidewalk to the playground, his friends and siblings would help him out of the van, and I could drive away with him happy. But indoor recess is different and we're working on what to do. If you could say a prayer for us that would be great. I don't feel bad for him - I feel bad for the staff having to deal with my crying kid.)
11:50 - Chat with the principal and Spanish teacher about how I should best get James in school on indoor recess days.
11:55 - Back in the van, driving home.
12:05 - Put Tee in the high chair, cut up a banana and give him some Ritz crackers. Make salami and butter sandwiches for Resa, Jofis, and me while I watch the latest season of Once Upon a Time on Netflix. Call kids to the table, catch up this blog post, eat sandwich.
12:25 - Wipe down Tee, dump crackers on floor. Nurse Tee in family room and try to ignore the curtains that Jofis has arranged. Put him down so he can play, watch him do the worm across the floor. (Seriously, that's how he crawls. It's amazing.) Scroll through FB and IG.
12:40 - Begin to work on scouting stuff. Almost cry. Want to quit. Record an Instagram Story about it. Literally put head on counter. Sigh a bunch. Send a bunch of texts to Travis. Put Tee down for a nap. Email people. Continue to want to cry. Wonder how in the world other people do it. Resist the urge to drink or eat a bunch of chocolate.
1:24 - Bake Mary's birthday cake while watching Once Upon a Time so I can forget how dumb I feel for not understanding what the hell I'm supposed to be doing so my kids can have a wonderful time in Scouts. Okay, bake the cake.
1:41 - Cake in oven. Update calendar with all sorts of stuff. Text Travis about a sitter and camp and all kinds of stuff.
2:05 - Decorate family altar (aka the buffet) with all things Mary for her birthday. Tell kids it's time to turn off My Little Ponies and play.
2:27 - Tidy kitchen. Again. Get distracted and tidy living room. While taking dirty bib to laundry shoot remember ring in tub. Clean tub, sink, and toilet - praying for Steve Husband as I always do. Refill handsoap, clean master bath. Use term "master" loosely. Daydream of having more money so we can re-do the bathroom - at least the vanity!- and then the carpets... and then the windows... and then tell Jofis that he shouldn't play with the light saber in the bathroom. On the way back to kitchen notice the curtains in the family room and tidy family room, like 50%.
2:53 - Get back to kitchen. Unload and load dishwasher.
3:05 - Get Tee out of the crib. Nurse him and miss a phone call. Tell kids to get their shoes on. Change a poopy diaper. Tell kids to get their shoes on. Put Tee in carseat. Yell at kids for not having their shoes on; send shoeless kids to van.
3:15 - Head to parochial school to get kids, forgetting that we're done with the heat schedule so *errbody* (read: all public and private schools) is getting out at the same time and the drive is a bit slower.
3:30 - Arrive at school, unload three kids, walk over to where the kids are let out, count to six over and over and over again as I keep track of my kids. Load six kids (all mine) into van and head home. Tear up a little bit listening to this Sara Groves song:
3:55 - Daddy's home!!!!!! Unload. Yell at one kid who is pouting. Remind two kids to bring in their bookbags. Carry in baby Tee, noticing his haircut. geesh. Tell the kids they can only watch PBS Kids - no Netflix. Chat with Travis. Look through mail. Ask Trav to make pizza dough so it can rise while he runs to bank.
4:10 - Begin frosting cake. Drop the knife repeatedly. Clean up blue frosting from floor, kitchen cabinets, and my clothes. Praise Ben for his A+ spelling test. Praise L for seeing her brother in need and helping him without asking.
4:23 - Finish icing cake. Check out FB and IG. Yell at kids about after-school stuff. Look over L's homework. Put Tee in crib for nap. Take multiple phone calls reminding me about stuff.
4:38 - Go outside to pick oregano and begin sauce for pizza. Travis comes home and we have talk, argue, talk, hug, laugh, talk. He goes to living room with kids and I stay in kitchen a l o n e !
The rest of the evening went something like this: make dairy free pizza, burn my finger on the pizza pan, eat dinner with my finger in a glass of ice water, listen to four kids praise the pizza - one kid state she does not like the dairy free cheese - and Travis say nothing which means he also does not like the DF cheese but is kind enough to eat it for the sake of the rest of us, clear the table, quiz kids on spelling words, work on sight words, sing happy birthday to Mary, eat white cake with blue frosting, clean kitchen while slopping water all over the place (my finger is still in ice water) sorta oversee pj's and brushed teeth and clean diapers (were applicable), nurse baby Tee and put him down for bed - all still with my finger in the glass of ice water. Kids in bed by 8. Kitchen clean by 8:25. Finger still throbbing at 8:30 so some pain meds and then off to bed.
Have I ever told you how much I hated football in high school and therefore most of my early - mid twenties?
Think of the show Friday Night Lights and that just about sums up my high school and town's love of teenage boys throwing a ball around. More people attended games than voted in local elections. I didn't know anything about the game or its rules, I just knew those boys got a lot of slack because they wore jerseys. Hashtag: Lame.
But then I married Travis and every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday was special because of the NFL, and extra special if the Chicago Bears were playing.
Over the years I have come to enjoy football. Travis has patiently taught me the rules, refreshing my memory when needed. The kids and I went through a phase where we listened to the ESPN Tim Tebow song way too much. I started to listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning.
But I have especially grown to love Sundays during football season. The family always gathers, sometimes with friends, and we eat pizza and chips and dip and drink root beer or beer beer. I watch, I cheer, I eat, and sometimes I nap. It's fabulous.
Last Sunday the Bears were playing the Packers. Honestly, I was a little nervous about how it would turn out for my Chicago team (read: I thought it was going to be an embarrassing defeat) but we still invited some friends over to watch the game.
We watched the pre-game show. Please note Travis, in his recliner, with the iPad following his Fantasy Football and his hand holding an entire box of Football Chocolate Strawberries. He did share, but they were that good.
In the end, the Bears lost but they held their own and it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. The first Sunday football event was fun and relaxing. The strawberries lasted to the end of the game but not the end of the day. We scraped every little bit of that Rotel dip out of the crock pot.
Don't know that recipe? It's easy and so good:
1 can Rotel (or any tomatoes with green chilis)
1 block of cream cheese
1 pound of sausage (we like the hot / spicy kind for this recipe)
Cook the sausage; drain the extra grease.
Add the ingredients to a crockpot and let the melting happen.
Mix well and serve with chips.
Easy peasy!
Come noon Sunday we will be watching the Bears play the Cardinals. Here's hoping! Who will you be watching? And what does your football menu consist of?
You can order your own for a game or a Fall themed party (!) or just for the heck of it because they're delicious by visiting their website. They've even got some suh-weet deals going on. They come in cooled packages and pretty boxes.
A big Welcome! to everyone looking for this week's Seven Quick Takes link-up and many thanks to Kelly from This Ain't the Lyceumfor letting me host this week. I hope you all feel at home here.
I usually start things off with a song, so let's jump right in.
1 - It's been more than two years since I've featured this song, but now is the time to bring it back. Long time readers and friends will hopefully remember what this means.
2 - If you're new-ish around here, well I don't want to leave you in the dark so I'll just tell you: 15 weeks today = due date of January 1, the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.
3 - This just may be why I was thinking about Marian names and asked Facebook for more ideas. There were some pretty good ones, too!
4 - It may also be why I've been drinking lots of Dr. Pepper and eating lots of McD's french fries, salads with Kraft Caesar vinaigrette dressing, and Jimmy John's Italian Nightclub sandwiches. It's also why just the thought of eggs, milk, lunchmeat, pickles, olives, salsa, tomatoes, and cheese slices made me gag for the last 3+ months.
God bless Travis for stepping up his game and being okay with cold cereal for dinner.
5 - It's also why I spent the last few months napping and sleeping in and laying around and not really blogging much at all. Morning sickness, it's a bummer.
6 - Badly stained, collapsing, expired, or just doesn't work any more - so it was with a lot of our infant items. Since most of our baby stuff was seven years old and had been well used by five kids we got rid of it. The following Amazon links are affiliates.
So now I'd like to get some feedback from you guys. We have an extra crib and crib mattress but I'm hoping for a Moses basket to keep near the bed for the first few months (while we figure out just where in the world we can fit a crib in our 3 bedroom home with 8 people). I was looking at this one by Badger, but if anyone has any reasonably priced suggestions please let me know.
We also need a new highchair and (eventually) a booster seat so I was thinking of going with Summer Infant Delux Infant Booster. Thoughts?
Infant car seats are super expensive! Geesh. I want something light and would prefer something small (lots of carseats!), but maybe we'll go with this Cosco one. I know we're talking about my baby's safety, but I really don't want to spend $100+ on something that will be used for a few months, although these are affiliate links so maybe I'll get enough Amazon credit that I can buy whatever I want. ;)
And finally, every time I see one of my friends with a muslin blanket I feel even more affirmed in my judgement that swaddle blankets of 7 years ago were a joke, especially for my 9, 10, and 11lb babies. These new blankets are so big and lightweight and lovely. I'd like three.
7 - We have had some traumatic birth experiences in the past and so I would really appreciate prayers for a healthy, 8lb baby and an easy labor.
Thank you everyone for joining me today! If you're new here please feel to join the gang. You can get the posts via email, with Feedly, or with Bloglovin'. I'm most active on Facebook, but I also like to hang out on Instagram, and I always do Twitter chats when the latest episode of The Visitation Project airs Sunday nights.
Summer is in full swing in these parts. Of course it's raining almost every day but there's still time for swimming lessons, playing in the sprinkler, and checking in on our small garden and pumpkin patch.
Today we tried something new: handwriting and math worksheets for the older three while Resa and I worked on shapes, colors, and numbers. L read aloud to us all and then I sent them to play - I have some very important blogging to do!
Important blogging, like posting the last day of school pics for the sake of my adult children who will read this blog when I am dead and shed tears over how embarrassing I was.
Onward!
Ben finished his school year first.
At the beginning of the year Ben wanted to learn how to make boats. Sadly that didn't happen for him this year but he did learn his ABCs, as in how to write, identify, sign, and say their sounds. I had at least taught him the song. He also wanted to be a farmer when he grew up and he said he likes trains.
JF's last day came next.
I didn't do the survey with JF at the beginning of the year, probably because I didn't have my act together. Sorry future JF! But how cute is it that he wants to be a pirate when he grows up? arrrrgh
L finished up third and here's what she had to say for herself:
Math was what L was excited to learn at the beginning of the year and I'm so glad she takes after her daddy and enjoys the thrill of numbers. (That actually wasn't sarcastic.) In August she wanted to be a veterinarian when she grew up, which was heavily influenced by a visit from Resa's godmother who is a vet, and she liked flowers. Now she likes playing on the slip-n-slide.
Travis finished up his school year last, spent a week working at his parents, and then started an intensive masters' class. So here we are now. The baby is sleeping, Travis assignment for the day has been submitted, JF just got tossed on the sofa, and Ben is calling someone a Tickle Turd.
And on that note, may I introduce you to
This week (and it's only Wednesday!) has been a fabulous one for blog posts. Here's some of my faves.
Monday was a bit of a rough day but the weekend? The weekend was great.
For starters, I got a new laptop. My old one works well but a hinge had broken and it was just a matter of time before the other one went, too. With my upcoming travels we knew I needed a new one and with our tax refund in our bank account that's what we did. During set up the computer wanted to be named. I chose Matt Damon. Travis raised his eyebrows until I explained all the fun things I could say.
"I'm going to the coffee shop with Matt Damon."
"I'm taking Matt Damon with me to Portland."
"Travis, have you seen Matt Damon? I thought he was in the kitchen."
"Kids! Do not touch Matt Damon! He's mine!"
See?! Brilliant!
Then Travis told me he should name his computer Jennifer, for Aniston, Garner, and Lawrence. I didn't think that was funny at all.
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Do you remember my friend Laura? She wrote a fabulous guest post on being a creative mom (and if you haven't read it you really, really should!). Well, she won the "People's Choice" at QuiltCon over the weekend. It has nothing to do with me but I am really proud of my friend. I have admired her creativity since the first day I met her almost 20 years ago. I hope you'll forgive me for bragging on her.
But now that you've seen the quilt surely you understand, right? She designed and sewed that! Amazing. You can read about her quilt and see more of her craftiness at her site.
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Also, I started watching Doctor Who again a little while ago and this weekend I made it through the Donna Noble episodes. I always cry when the Doctor explains to her mom and granddad how important she is. I'm to Amelia Pond now. Oh I love this show!
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Then, there was the competitive potluck we held Saturday night. I am feeling so restless from all the cold of this Midwestern winter. So Thursday I invited some friends over and a good handful of them came. There were so many kids and so much delicious food. Travis' pizza ended up winning for best in the Savory category and my friend's daughter's brownies won in the Sweet category. There was online voting and and jokes about the Illinois political machine.
Oh and when it was past bedtime and I couldn't take the kids anymore... there was Frozen.
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I also had a crazy dream about an upcoming, regional Catholic women's blogging conference I'm helping organize. I dreamed that I hadn't done all the work I was supposed to do so in the end, because of my ball dropping, the group of 30 women were sitting on wooden bleachers in my high school's old gym. A woman with crazy, red, Effie-like hair was doing a horrible introduction; I hadn't arranged for the photographer to do headshots; my college philosophy professor (not a woman, a Catholic, or a blogger) arrived in footie pajamas with a sweater pulled over - ready for his presentation. So today I dotted some 'i's and crossed some 't's. But that dream!
There's about 5 spots left in you will be near the University of Notre Dame on March 7th.
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I loooooove Abbey's #HolyLens photo series she does every Lent. If you use the hashtag and prompts let me know so I can follow you!
Mine are sometimes hard to do since Travis takes the ipad to school to use with his coaching, but I really do love that she does this.
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Also!
After so much searching I came to believe that someone had thrown away 2/3 of my record collection on moving day. It made me sick to my stomach every time I thought about it and I was so sad.
But then:
Billy Joel, Simon and Garfunkel, INXS, soundtracks, Christmas albums from my childhood, The Specials, and Springsteen's iconic Born in the USA. I am so, so, so, so happy!
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Finally, today, to fight a good case of the Mondays, Mary from Sometimes Martha Always Mary is having a couple of giveaways in honor of her blog relaunch. After working with me through my blog consulting business Mary hired a graphic artist and a tech guy to help her get her blog to exactly what she wants. The transformation is amazing.
I am really honored to be part of her Giveaway - head on over, tell her how great the site looks, subscribe to follow along, and enter to win a free blog consultation. I would love to work with you! Good luck!
Now it's the dining room, which is what it was actually supposed to be. But we were using the (I guess you'd call it a) family room off the kitchen as the dining room because they were open to each other. There was a big pesky wall between the kitchen and the real dining room.
Let me show you.
We we bought the house it looked like this:
Ugly, orange curtains and an ugly old light fixture that I ran into every single time I walked through the room. The wall on the left is the wall that blocks off the kitchen.
And here's the kitchen, as seen when standing in the family room.
And here's looking into the family room from the kitchen.
Now, for awhile things looked like this:
Home office in the kitchen. The desk is against that darn dining room / kitchen wall.
The kitchen. Which isn't that bad but is pretty dated.
Like these glass-paned cupboards, which face the family room. The glass is yellowish; it's pretty ugly, just like the brown paneled soffit above it.
Yet if you peek inside you can clearly see that I'm ready to entertain. Come for cocktails or tea! I'm ready!
Where I spend soooooo much of my time:
The dishwasher was original to the house so we got a new one right away.
If you look at the top half of the window, the darker, wing-shaped part is where hail or debris hit it during the tornado. We do have a replacement in now but really the whole house needs new ones.
I'm not a big fan of the black stove and microwave and the beige fridge. Also, I really, really miss my gas stove.
On top of the fridge is a little filing box, appropriately labeled.
And this is what the room usually looks like. Dishes, dishes everywhere and no one remembers which cup is theirs.
Now on to the supposed-to-be-a-family-room, which looked like this:
The built-in bookshelves (swoon!) that flank the fireplace (swoon again!) were painted white and the walls were painted a bright blue color that Travis picked out. I picked out the Target curtains which seemed so bold (coral!) at the time but when you compare them to the paint Trav chose they're pretty tame.
Our custom-built, hand-made with wood from the cherry tree that stood in my parents' yard buffet was put against the wall and doubles as a liquor cabinet and a family home altar.
On the wall above are some of the prayer prints that Kendra makes. My kids and I learned the Morning Offering by reading that prayer every morning before breakfast. (Thanks, Kendra!)
So that's how things were.
But then Travis had two weeks off of work over Christmas and he decided to take down a wall.
So he did.
Holy smokes! Look at all that room!
I loved having the map, white board, and other prints in the kitchen so I just moved them. I love them there.
But please excuse the mess. Travis is obviously not done with the mudding.
The old suitcase and white basket container I use for miscellaneous storage used to sit next to the computer desk. I have them tucked in a corner of the dining room now and I really like them there.
Here's the view of the updated dining room from the living room. I kept the antique alphabet chalkboard where I had it when the room was a playroom. Underneath I put the buffet, which still doubles as a liquor bar and home altar.
Back to the other side of the kitchen. The family room now looks like this. I call it the Sitting Room and we love it.
My grandparents gave us a sofa they wanted to get rid of.
This rocking chair was salvaged and reupholstered by my mom. She did it years ago and it's been sitting in her basement just waiting for me to finally have a spot to put it. I love it. (And I loooove that fabric!)
Above the chair are Kendra's prints.
Under the huge window, with a beautiful view of the backyard, sits this desk that my parents have had for ages. The kids, especially L, love to sit there and color.
And one more picture of the fireplace and bookshelves, this time with all the Christmas decorations cleared away and a nice fire lit.
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