Back to School for 2016

This year we've got kids at the public school, parochial school, and a little homeschool.

While my kids in the brick and mortar schools went back in August, Resa Rie didn't begin her PreK4 Homeschool until just last week.

L, Ben, and JF love their school(s). Resa was not impressed. Oh well. Here's the First Day of School pictures.

L is a third grader and still wants to be a mom when she grows up. She loves coloring, being outside, and spaghetti. Ben is in first grade and wants to be a train driver, pilot, taxi driver, and farmer when he grows up.  He'll be busy.

And yes, he's taller than L, but don't talk about it with her.

JF is in Kindergarten and is dual-enrolled at the public and parochial schools. So far it is working really well for him. As you can see he wants to be a pirate when he grows up.

Resa was excited about "all the things" associated with school, which perhaps explains her disappointment. She wants to be a mom when she grows up and she loves coloring, jumping, sliding, and writing her name. :)

Wishing all of you a happy back to school time of year, too.

Hollie Hobbie and cute things the kids said

I suppose it's because we've been home together a lot more, but it seems that the kiddos have been saying lots of super cute things lately and I wanted to share.


Resa, uniting the world of diapers and trains: Last night, my diaper came uncoupled.


Me: Who was our first president?
L: Lincoln?
Me: No. That was a good guess, though.
Ben: Jesus?


Resa: I didn't knock it over, I just wobbled it a bit.


Resa: I want to watch the movie Mom's a Bear. You know that movie, where you're a bear? I want to watch that movie. Mom's a Bear.
Me: You mean Brave? You want to watch Brave?
Resa: Yeah! Mom's a Bear!


Resa, talking about a dvd with a scratch in it: This movie is itchy.


L, who has recently her bottom two teeth: Do you think the Tooth Fairy is nocturnal and is up during the day?


JF, who is kicking apraxia's butt a little more every day: Ready! Steady! GOOOOO!

My June mantel featured flowers from the yard and two embroideries my mom did years ago. 

7QT - geesh, I'm done with today.

1 - Falshed Junk Mind by Milky Chance. I like their stuff.


2 - Today I got out of bed a little after 5am so I could get a head start on the day. Within fifteen minutes two of my kids were walking down the hall. Fifteen minutes later four of them were up. The day pretty much went downhill from there. Not that anything really went wrong, well, until L's thumb got smashed by a landscaping rock and we had to take her to a prompt care (not broken). But all day it just felt like I was losing; I was actually looking forward to the "Game Over."


3 - When L's thumb got smashed she was in intense pain - the worst of her life she kept telling me. However, in the midst of her really incredible pain she kept saying really sweet, cute things.

Talking to her thumb she sobbed, "I love you but why do you have to hurt so badly?"
After I asked her if she'd rather Daddy or I stay with her at the prompt care she replied, "I'd like Daddy to stay with me. If that's okay with you."
And my favorite: Trying to get her mind of the pain so she could calm down she said, "I'm going to think about rainbows."

4 - Today closes out Catholic Schools Week. I had every intention of writing a post about how much we love our school as I listed off all the reasons why, but it just kept sounding like some stupid "let's add to the mommy wars" post about how much better my parenting decision is than yours. That's not at all what I was going for, but I was in a funk (see above) and so, in the end, I edited it all away and just want you to know this:

Seven years ago I did not have a favorable opinion of Catholic schools. In my experience, the vast majority of Catholic school families were rich snobs who cared more about a hoity-toity private education than vibrantly living out an orthodox faith. My experience with several Catholic schools in my area has changed that perception, though, especially my experience with the parish school my children now attend.

Is our Catholic school perfect? No. There's a few things I'd like to change about it (like a new building, grass and a swing set for the older kids to play on, air conditioning, and there's a few excellent Catholic books I'd like to sneak into the curriculum / teacher book baskets.)

But our school is amazing and we are very, very fortunate to belong to the parish and school community.

If, for any reason, you want to hear more about why we send our kids to Catholic school please feel free to ask. Or you can read all of Kathryn's good posts on it.


5 - JP is 18 months and he is really, incredibly trying. Exhausting. Future JP, if you are reading this, I love you buddy, but oi vey!

If you follow me on Instagram on Facebook then you know that he climbs onto the counters and gets into the cookie jar. He climbs into his booster seat and buckles himself in and then cries because he can't get out. He opens the garage door and wanders around, in his bare feet, sometimes pushing the swivel sweeper. I've caught him swivel sweeping the driveway when it was 36 degrees outside. He reaches up to the counter and pulls down raw chicken, milk, knives, eggs, dirty dishes... AND he's still waking up at night!


6 - I know there are a lot of worthy people and places to tithe to, but if you have an extra $5, or $250, to give away please consider giving to my friend Emily who is hoping to be trained as a Creighton instructor. Thank you!


7 - When you watch the Super Bowl commercials this weekend pay attention to the pretty blonde playing the wife and mother in the Nissan commercial. She's my friend, Jolene.

Rome. I brought her on a pilgrimage with me even though she was a non practicing Presbyterian. It was the best. 

Thank you, Kelly, for hosting!

Seven Quick Takes

1 - As I was making the Google Doc for the Sheenazing Awards Nominations I couldn't help but sing this song. I know the song is about a broken heart (country music and all) but some of the lyrics still fit, right? ;)

Anyways, nominations will close later today (probably around 9pm) for the Sheenazing Awards. Originally voting was supposed to begin on Monday but I'm going to move that to Wednesday. That will give me more time to focus on taking care of JF, contact all the nominees, and make up the ballot.

Since the whole thing is just for a bunch of fun I'm not gonna stress about it.


2 - On to an update on JF. As of 10pm Thursday JF was doing great. THANK YOU for your prayers! Really, really, truly, completely. At some point Friday we will get results from the MRI (which should show a normal brain) but it may take a little bit longer to get the results from the spinal tap thingy. So it'll be another day and night and maybe day of the hospital for JF.

But power of prayer, guys, power of prayer. Shortly after I posted my prayer request yesterday I headed out to the hospital to find my poor little man flipping out. For over 2 hours he cried and screamed and fought and begged for food, water, and to leave. And then he just fell asleep on my lap and napped for most of the rest of the afternoon. When he woke up after his MRI he looked at Travis, pointed at some blocks, and started building and crashing them down.


3 - Some awesome links you should check out:
Kelly wrote the most hilarious post about the past winners of the Sheenazing Awards.
Kendra was featured on the Today Show website. How cool is that?!
Jenna did a short series of vlogs on how to begin embroidering and then a follow up post on how to transfer patterns. Maybe that's how I'll spend my February, learning to embroider.


4 - How's this for cute:
Ben: (sweetly) How about a kiss?
L: (cheerfully) Um, no thanks.

L: Ben, I folded these [towels] all by myself.
Ben: L! I'm so proud of you!


5 - I have finally gotten Travis to watch (and love!) Doctor Who with me. Right now we're on the Pompeii episode. In one little room you've got Mosley from Downton Abbey, the cabbie from Sherlock, and Doctors number 10 and 12. What a wonderful British tv moment.
Do you think it's because the island country is so small?
That's not supposed to be insulting.


6 - I am not yet tired of hearing the song Roar by Katy Perry. This slightly surprises me every time it comes on the radio.

7 - My mom got all the girls in my family boots for Christmas. I don't know where they came from since she ordered them all online but I love them. I am especially in love with my galoshes. Check out those bling buttons on the top! As I would say, "Too cute to boot!" which I say because I'm a dork. But a dork with fantastic boots.

Seven Quick Takes

1 - If I had money I would actually buy this album when it drops next week. I love me some The Head and the Heart.

2 - For those of you who watched and enjoyed The Lizzie Bennet Diaries you'll be happy to know the same team has done a series called Emma Approved. I'll be saving them up so I can plow through them all at once.

3 - Since it's October I was craving fallish things. The weather hasn't been cooperating so I had to take matters into my own hands and make something pumpkin-y. Pinterest came to my aid and I made Joyful Momma's Kitchen's pumpkin scones with a maple glaze. They were delicious! Make some right now.

4 - So.... The Walking Dead... I just buzzed my way through the whole of season 3 so that I can... I don't know, wait another year until season 4 is on Netflix. I know what you're thinking. "Hey Bonnie, do you really think you should be watching that show any more? Remember how you couldn't concentrate enough to even pump gas because you became so preoccupied by the zombie apocalypse? You could barely even sleep at night you were so scared and worried about what you would do and how you would save your children in a world full of walkers. What are you doing?"

And my answer:
Yes, it is true that I do keep a pair of knitting needles in my car so I can stab a zombie in the eye should the world ever come to that. However! The show The Walking Dead has become much more about the survivors than the zombies and I'm interested in those characters. Especially Herschel and Darryl - I love those two men. Plus, Woodbury and the prison are not locations similar to my life so it seems more like pretend. (What?! It is pretend you say?! Well I say I will be prepared because I am taking all kinds of mental notes, friends!) When Rick, Glenn, Carol and the rest were on the run, holed up in homes and the farm, driving through the country or city and passing all kinds of walkers, well, that was just a little too close to my imagined reality and it freaked me out a bit.

And then there's this:

5 - It's funny the things you celebrate when you're a parent. For example: JP had become a little backed up. A week and a half ago he had a poopy diaper and then nothing but a couple of sharts for the next week. He was super fussy and I was super confused because he's only getting breastmilk - what is there to constipate him? Anyways, the doctor said to give him 1-2 teaspoons of prune juice a day until he had a BM. Three teaspoons later and JP pooped! It was at dinner and we all cheered. The next morning he pooped again and I called my husband to tell him. The next day he pooped again and my mom and I applauded.

And now I think he has allergies like his brothers so boo to constricted diets but yay to pooping, happy babies!

6 - Speaking of pooping, happy babies.: A HUGE congrats to my friend Kathryn! She's pregnant with her 6th baby and I'm so happy for her. If you haven't yet, head on over and read all about her exciting news. And then, even though she hasn't said it, please say a prayer for her, her husband Scott, and their new baby. Their baby #5 was a NICU baby and I know that once you experience the NICU you are forever afraid of it.

Kathryn, I'm praying for peace in your and Scott's hearts and for a healthy baby. Also, I'm hoping for a girl.

7 - Yesterday the kids and I were driving to the grocery store in a neighboring town called Washington. L, who is learning Spanish at school, asked me how one says "Washington" in espanol. I explained that you would just say "Washington" because it doesn't translate. Ben then said, "Washington. HEY!!! I just spoke SPANISH!!" He was so proud and excited -it was awesome.


Many thanks to Jen for hosting! You're the best, Mrs. Fulwiler!

Happy Easter

What a weekend!

It was decided just a bit ago that we would host my family for the Easter celebration.

Friday was spent working in the yard - it was finally warm and dry enough for me to cut the dead out of the flowerbeds and let the kids play outside.

Saturday I baked and cleaned and decorated.

Fresh tulips from my husband were put to good use.

Okay, technically I just got this bunny today. It's been at the grocery store all of Lent and I've been waiting for the after Easter sale so I could afford to buy it.

Resa and Mommy got some new sandals.

I volunteered to make dinner rolls for the meal. I used my mom's cinnamon roll recipe,  making one dozen cinnamon rolls for Easter morning's breakfast and 2 dozen dinner rolls.

On Holy Saturday Travis had a track meet (he's a coach) but as soon as he got home he lined up the kids and tickled them.  It's what happens almost every night - they beg for it.

Then we dyed eggs. I don't have the virtue to do it on my own so we wait for Daddy to do such things.

We like to use white crayons to make designs...

...and we tried a Pinterest trick of adding water to the dye so the color's intensity changed.

Final results.

After Mass we tried to get a good picture of the kids.

We did alright.

Then we tried to get a nice family photo.

We sorta succeeded.

Then it was home for Easter baskets.

We don't do the whole Easter Bunny thing.

Instead I assemble the baskets Holy Saturday night (I did that and painted my nails before I fell asleep watching The Passion. Do I fail as a Catholic? I probably should, because while I was watching it all I could think of was this. Thanks a lot, Mary is My Homegirl.)

Then I hide the baskets for the kids to find.

Ben's was in the bathtub.

JF's was in the credenza, with the DVDs.

L's was tucked into the exersaucer in the kitchen.

Resa got nothing but joy.

After naps and more cleaning the family came over for dinner.

Instead of having people write their names on cups I decorated each one with some Easter-y expression or picture. My mom was the only one who said she liked it, but I thought it was neat.

Dessert included a strawberry pretzel salad pie.

There was really enough of the cream and jello fillings for two pies and next time I'll double the pretzel crust and make two. It was so good, I may have eaten most of it.

After dinner was the egg hunt outside. The kids loved it but

Resa and Travis were happy to wait inside.

Also: A big WELCOME! and a YAY! goes out to my friends Beth and Emily (and her hubby Ben and two kiddos) who joined the Catholic Church this Easter Vigil.

I thought of you both all day on Holy Saturday and have been praying for you for a long time.

Please know that you will continue to be in my prayers and I hope this is a joyful time for you. If things get hard or you're struggling with your faith or the Church's teachings I encourage you to go back and re-read this post and the wonderful comments that follow it. And don't be afraid to share your struggles with your priest, sponsor, and Catholic friends. We want to walk with Christ with you and if we're doing it right we'll all be learning new things about God and our faith for the rest of our lives.  In the end, the most important thing to remember is this: God loves you and because He loves you He came to earth, died for your sins, rose from the dead, and established a Church so that you would be able to be with Him for eternity.

Jesus Christ is risen! Alleluia! Alleluia! 

He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Funny ending: while looking for a picture of an empty tomb this image came up:

Resurrection rolls.

And I found this:

Seriously? This is funny... and sad.

PS - Here's the post I wrote for Ignitum Today: Living Liturgically.

7 quick takes

1 - Matt Costa.  This guy is so good.  Way back in the day I bought his album Songs We Sing and it was literally an album that I could listen to every single song.  Unlike James Blunt's album. Only good song on that  one was "You're Beautiful" and the rest was un-listenable for me.  But not Matt's stuff, or at least not the stuff I've heard.  I like his sound... and the fact that he releases his albums on vinyl.  Gosh I love how music sounds on vinyl.

 2 - Oh my gosh!  Did you hear the news?!  Joy Behar is leaving The View!  Thank You, Jesus!  That woman is so anti-catholic and full of hate - wow.  I barely watch that show because of how horrible they are towards Christians, conservatives, traditionalists but I'm pretty sure every time I have watched it Joy has said something incredibly insulting.

3 - On a related note, I was at my parish's moms' group this morning and made a very helpful declaration.  NBC, ABC, CBS - listen up!  What you need is a show like The Talk or The View except the panel of women need to be Christians - maybe even a Jew.  And I mean orthodox, devout, faithful, Bible believing Christians.  Get someone from a non-denom church, a Roman Catholic, I know an Apostolic Christian who would be perfect.  There would still be disagreements and discussion - about contraception, married clergymen, politics, movies, celebrities, holidays, etc.  These women would have to be good. Funny, intelligent, approachable, talented, good.  I know there's The Catholic View for Women and The Gist but I'm talking about network tv and something that is not first and foremost Christian but primarily entertaining.

(I'm coming back to clarify this last statement.  I think The Gist is entertaining - I never watch The Catholic View for Women so I can't comment on that one.  What I meant to say was that the show's goal should be to be interesting and funny and intelligent and only be Christian in that the women presenting the information are Christian. I don't think it's primary goal should be to present a Christian message on tv that is also interesting, funny, and intelligent.  I hope you understand the difference.)

4 - Did you enter the Giveaway?  I don't want to tempt you on a Friday in Lent or anything, but let me give you one good reason why you should:

5 - I made pancakes for breakfast the other day.  The boys left the table to play Mass and as L finished she eyed the one leftover pancake.  "Mommy, can we use that for the Holy Eucharist?"  When I told her yes she ran off, waving the pancake and yelling, "Ben!  Mommy gave me a pancake for the Holy Eucharist!" When I was a kid we tore up bread, smooshed it flat, and used our thumbnail to make a cross on it.

6 - JF had two and a half hot dogs for breakfast.  You should feel better about your mothering now.
Oh you don't?  Well, Resa, my nine month old baby was just found eating the other half. That should make things better.

7 - We've started cloth diapering again.  Resa wears them during the day (when they're clean) and Ben wears one at night.  I'm hoping this will make a good dent in our grocery bill. We go through so many diapers with JF because he sharts all day long so I need a break in the diaper area of the budget.

Happy weekend, all!  And Thanks, Jen!

7 quick takes

1- I haven't seen this movie so this song is not an endorsement, just in case it's super raunchy or something.  But I did do the cups game all the time when I was younger.  My friend Kim sent me a lovely Valentine mix tape, er cd,  and this was the first song on it.  As soon as I heard the tapping I knew what it was and BOOM I was back in middle school.

2 - This Mardi Gras I made my first ever King Cake.  I had to swing it a little bit because I ran out of yeast and found the dough to be too wet to knead.  I've never had King Cake before so I don't know how authentic it was but it tasted great and looked really pretty. 

 If you want to see my altered recipe you can find it on my recipe box blog, or by clicking here.

 3 - For Valentine's Day we made some super simple Valentines to pass out to friends at our church's moms' group.  My kids love crafts and I pretty much barely tolerate them.  I've found that if I do the prep work and just let them color, assemble, and glue that it's a pretty good compromise.  So we did these and they were super easy.  I cut some rectangles, printed a little rhyme, cut some more rectangles, and opened a $1 package of doily hearts.  Then they assembled and glued and were happy.

The rhyme says, "Love is patient, love is kind.  Happy Feast of St. Valentine."  I think I got that from Catholic Icing.

4 - On Ash Wednesday I took down all the Valentine's Day and winter decorations.  I did some simple decorating around the house and I confess, it feels really good to have things looking almost bare.  After all the decorations of Advent, Christmas, and winter it's really nice to just have a few little things to remind us of the liturgical season. 

Our Lenten calendars from Catholic Icing.  They definitely help the kids understand how long Lent is and when we'll be celebrating Easter.  I love these things.

The treasure box holds our kid-friendly Stations of the Cross kit.  It's basically what most people use for Resurrection Eggs.

Our Holy Father, hanging out with books, because he loves books.  Especially How Green Was My Valley, The Bourne Identity, and David Sedaris' Naked.

Sitting on our buffet.  A grape-vine wreath is thorny enough, right?

I'd love to know how others decorate for Lent.  If anyone else posts pictures on their blog please leave the link in the combox - I'd love to check out what you've done and maybe use one or two of your ideas.

5 -   Resa, who is adorable!, now has 4 teeth.  She's also cruising like crazy.  And though my pregnant body is not producing much milk she isn't really sold on this whole bottle thing. 

6 - Random blurry but cute picture of my kids:

7 - I need to bake some biscuits and make some potato soup.  Eek!  Have a good weekend and many thanks to Jen for hosting!

I needed a pep talk

... and I got one.



Have you seen this video?  If you haven't, watch it before you finish reading. 

I watched and laughed and cried and felt like Kid President was talking to me.  Just to me.  (Even though he is clearly talking to Gabbi, who likes pancakes and is fighting cancer - like a boss!)

In my post How November Shook Me up for January I shared how discouraged I feel and how worried I am that despite my best efforts I'm not doing much to make the world a better place.  In fact, I've shared that sentiment a lot lately.

And then this video came out.
Kid President's cuteness, humor, use of Journey lyrics, and fantastic dancing made me realize a few things.

"We were made to be awesome."

If anything, what I've been through with JF should validate that there is beauty and goodness even in the darkest of times.  We were made to be awesome and it really is within our reach. 

 "We can cry about it or we can dance about it."
Life is good. I have periods of time where I feel discouraged/disappointed/downtrodden but for the most part I am happy. In fact, I would say that I live a joyful life.  I should be dancing.

"Create something that will make the world awesome."
My Space Jam really is my kids, my family, my home.  With Travis and God I have already made something that does make the world awesome.  I just need to foster those kiddos, tickle them, read to them, dance with them, tell them I love them... tell them that they make the world awesome.

I think it's okay to have bad days and to upset about things.  I don't regret that I felt or wrote those things.  In fact writing about them and being supported by you all helped me dust myself off, get myself to confession, and appreciate the fact that I am living my dream - of being happily married to an awesome man and being a stay at home mom.  It's not a stupid dream; I don't have to change it.  I just needed to get back to a place where I could appreciate it.

So - you- yeah you!  What's your Space Jam?

boys and their trains...

Many thanks to Brandon for pointing me in this direction.

Watching these videos warmed my heart and made my eyes swell up a little bit.  I remembered my childhood, and they so beautifully portray a universal love between a child and his best friend.

Enjoy!

7 quick takes

1 - Ben Lee.  I bought his cd back in college and loved it.  Every time I hear him sing I think of a road trip my friend Beth and I took to visit Sr MN in Nashville.  I also played her "Jesus Walks" by Kanye; she did not approve.  But she liked this song.

2 - My friend Nancy sent me this great little Snapfish album of pictures she took at the Mass of Thanksgiving for Fulton Sheen being named Venerable.  Then, today I got on her blog, Reading Catholic, and saw some very kind words she had written about the talk I gave at the Catholic Press Association Midwest Regional Conference.  Lots of love from Nancy today!  Thanks, friend!

3 - PS to #2 - if you love books you should definitely follow Nancy's blog.

4 - Look what my friend Sarah sent me to celebrate my new baby girl!

Sarah has an Etsy shop called The Makers Make and it's filled with all kinds of beautiful, handmade things.  She didn't ask me to promote her stuff but it's so good I had to pass it along!

5 - Marie has a thoughtful post here about the crosses we carry.

6 - The grown ups at my house are super excited that Person of Interest is back on for season 2.  Looking for an awesome show to watch on a Thursday night?  Person of Interest should be it.

7 - Obligatory pictures of my cute kids.

so fresh and so clean, clean

No, L is not too engrossed with Martha Speaks to even look at the camera.  Just look at the cute baby!

Muscles!

Cutie patootie.

Thanks to Jen for hosting!  Have a beautiful weekend, friends!