The Edmund Fitzgerald

I've been trying to keep a monthly library box well stocked these days, per the recommendations found in Cay Gibson's "Picture Perfect Childhood" (which I had linked on Amazon, but the link brought you to my account). On November 10th we remembered the day the Edmund Fitzgerald sunk off the shore of Lake Superior.

The museum curator posing with some original artwork.

The Edmund Fitzgerald replica made entirely out of Megablocks. Aidan is the only person I know that can make such elaborate creations out of Megablocks.

The Edmund Fitzgerald at the bottom of the lake.



The kids watching Gordon Lightfoot's song about the shipwreck on YouTube.

It's Tough

"Kids! Come downstairs, it's time to read 'Redwall'!"

Gigi- "Oh, good. I need a break."

She was playing.

First Tournament

Aidan got 3rd place in BO form.

He got 2nd place in Traditional Form and 1st in Sparring. I'm not going to upload that video though because it's long.

Good work Aidan.

I'm up!

This is probably not a big deal for most people out there, but for the past 5 1/2 years or so I've been extremely spoiled and allowed to sleep in with whatever baby(ies) we have in our bed at the time. My lovely husband is an early riser and would hang out with the older kids while I snoozed and snuggled with the current nurser.

This arrangement would still be great if I did have three children who need to have their mom available in the morning while their father gets ready for work. More important than that is the fact that I need to be up to enjoy these kids and my husband before the morning rush begins. I'm not taking kids to school in the school, but we still have our own "morning rush" in a way. Once the kids take their time waking up they get their morning chores done, practice piano, eat breakfast and we're start our day with "Ora Time" (Prayer Time).

It's been a goal of mine for quite some time to get up in the mornings to be with my family. Doing this while keeping the snoozing baby safe in our bed has proven difficult, and then sometimes I don't sleep great, sometimes I go to bed too late, sometimes it's too cold outside... See how easy it is to convince yourself you don't need to get up?

I'm not sure if it's the time change or a change of heart, but for the past two mornings I've gotten up to be with this little family in the morning hours. Wow, our days go so much more smoothly.

Today promises to be a great day! We will get our seatwork-schooling done this morning before heading off to our homeschool group. I will have in tow St.Michael the Archangel, St.Lucy, and St.Augustine. Quite a nice crowd if you ask me.

Caught

Big Sisters

I don't get these precious moments on camera very often so I thought I'd share. These moments happen several times a day in our home. The love our children have for one another is such an example of how we are all called to love.

Happy Halloween

Hope you all have had a great All Hallow's Eve (the Eve before All Saints Day!) We tend to sway with the secular side of things and dress up and go door to door to get free candy. Tomorrow we'll celebrate the Big Feast.


This morning Brett was at a rehearsal so the kids had cereal with orange milk. For lunch we had Jack 'O Lantern pancakes. They were a big hit, and fully cooked I might add.

Here's the captain of the bunch.

The First Mate

A Super Scary Pirate

Here's the whole crew.

We had a great time trick-or-treating, and now the kids are coming off of their sugar and trying to go to sleep. We will let them eat on their candy through tomorrow and then they will have an opportunity to trade their candy in for an "offer they can't refuse".