Post Thanksgiving Daybook

For Today:
November 27, 2010

Outside my window...Winter has arrived! The snow on the ground now will be the last snow that melts in the spring. I love the snow. I don't think I will ever get sick of the snow. Truly. It's so beautiful and calming, and I have a son and husband who shovel for me.

I am thinking...It's impossible that I will have a nine-year-old son tomorrow! Nine! I'm not old enough to have a nine-year-old. Okay, truth be told, I am, and he will be, and we will celebrate with the best of them tomorrow!

I am thankful...for this wonderful weekend with my husband and kids. I'm thankful for a healthy in utero babe, for the warmth of our home, for the delicious Thanksgiving feast, for a respite from the craziness of "this time of year".

In the schoolroom...I'm afraid to walk in our school room because the kids have been crafting in there all morning. I'm sure it will all get cleaned up when they are finished so I'm not going to bother getting stressed about it now. We've taken a lot of school off lately between my birthday, a snow day, and Thanksgiving. I'm fine with that. One of the beauties of homeschooling is that we can take time off from the books and learn about life in different ways.

From the kitchen...The kitchen is calling me today. I have nothing on the agenda, we're not going anywhere, and I plan to spend a lot of time in my kitchen baking yummy goodness. Caramel rolls and birthday cake are on the top of the list. Some bread might appear too depending on when I get going.

I am wearing...Some non-maternity "comfy" pants, my Newman Center long sleeved t-shirt, and red slippers. Comfort is a necessity today, and I'm doing just fine in that department.

I am creating...menus, budgets, and a long list of liturgical activities for Advent. I love Advent!

I am going...to focus on a handful of small tasks each week this Advent season. The shopping is finished, and now I want to focus on preparing for our celebration of Our Lord's birth!

I am reading..."Little Men" by Louisa May Alcott on my Nook. Too fun! I'm also reading "Mere Christianity" by none other than C.S. Lewis. I'm ashamed to say I haven't read anything of his except the Narnia series to my children. I am thoroughly enjoying it.

I am hoping...that my hunting husband either gets his deer or calls it quits after the "morning stand" today. Truth be told, I can't stand hunting season. Brett has been great this week about staying home so I can hardly complain about him being gone all day today. I just love having him home and I know that the next 2-3 weeks are going to be extremely busy.

I am hearing...the dehumidifier going in the bathroom, the two youngest girls playing with balloons, and the four-year-old.....talking.

Around the house...The house is not suffering too much from the festivities of this past week. I will throw a couple loads of laundry in the wash and straighten up a bit, but mainly it will be a chill day today. Tomorrow's another story. The tree comes out and our celebration of Advent begins.

One of my favorite things...toddlers. Especially red-headed, blue-eyed ones. We are thoroughly enjoying this phase with Veronica. She is the most challenging toddler we've had to date, but she is so much fun!

A few plans for the rest of the week...I don't really want to think about the rest of this week. The kids and I don't have much planned, but Brett will be gone every evening. This week begins our "coping" weeks of the semester. The weeks where we keep plugging along here at home and try to include the sweet man who lives here whenever he can pop in for a minute or two. It's a rhythm that we're used to, but not one I look forward to.