Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Monday, May 7, 2012
My super-talented Husband
Update: A little "backstory", if you will. This is the performance of the premiere of the piece that Brett wrote for the UWS choir, dedicated to our dear friend Archbishop Charles Chaput in celebration of his appointment as Archbishop of Philadelphia. I'm not sure if "piece" is a proper title, definitely not "song", maybe "work". It was a labor of love and intended to glorify God!
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Up North
Last weekend Brett had a gig up the "North Shore", about an hour away from Canada! What a beautiful world we live in.
In other news, we had a storm a couple of nights ago and when our neighbors woke up the next morning they had a visitor in their pond, a beaver. They've named him "Amik", which is "Beaver" in Ojibwe. I love living here.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Favorite Quote of the Day
As Gianna was about to say something, "Gianna! I was in the middle of speaking!". This said by the 3-year-old redhead who is always in the "middle of speaking."
Monday, April 23, 2012
My "Littles"
I took the two youngest to the grocery store this evening. Now that we live "out of town" I have to make good use of my trips "to town" (don't I sound so country? I love it!). Tonight the older three were at karate and with my in-laws in route (Wednesday!) we had some grocery gettin' to do. I dropped the older three off and we headed to the grocery store. What was I thinking?
When I had only two small children I would never, but NEVER even dream about a grocery shopping expedition at 5:00pm. My whole day would revolve around my errands. Is everybody pottied/freshly changed, fed, and watered? Is the rest of my day cleared? Okay good, groceries here I come.
As we added to our family, it remained the same. I would do our errands in the morning, right after breakfast, before lunch, but not too close to lunch, and never close to naptime.
Again, what was I thinking? I stuck my sweet baby in the cart, after detoxing the handles and anything else I imagined might come into contact with my little 13-month-old, told the 3-year-old no she may not "ride" on the cart until she could show me that she could walk like a big girl next to me, and we were off!
It took me an hour! An hour! I can do a large, "there's nothing in the house at all, we're desperate" grocery run in less than an hour with all five kids. Why did it take me so long? I imagine it was partly because my list-holder kept eating my list and then throwing it on the ground. However, I think the biggest reason was because I had two small children out in the evening by myself. It's not easy having small children. Those of us who have some "bigs" or at least "middles" mixed in with our "littles" easily forget what the dynamics of having those small ones is like. Man, it's hard work. I'm often asked how I do it with five kids. Honestly? I can honestly say that it's easier now than it's ever been. My older kids help out more than I ever thought possible, and my younger ones love being with their older siblings so I have more time to do things like fold the laundry without a babe in arms and even *gasp* take a shower without a little one playing with Q-tips on the other side of the curtain.
I smiled at the cashier when she commented on my "helpers". I didn't want to hurt Nica's feelings so I just said, "Yes, they are good helpers", but I really wanted to tell the lady that my real help wasn't with me.
P.S. I want to thank the lady in front of me at the checkout. I contemplated saying something to her, and then asking to borrow her 12ish-year-old son to help me unload groceries, but I didn't. However, I did appreciate her putting a different magazine in front of this week's "Glamor" with the nude woman on the front. I tried turning that one around just the day before, but surprise, surprise, the picture on the back wasn't much better. I never thought of just covering it with a "cake decorating" magazine! Thank you!!!!
When I had only two small children I would never, but NEVER even dream about a grocery shopping expedition at 5:00pm. My whole day would revolve around my errands. Is everybody pottied/freshly changed, fed, and watered? Is the rest of my day cleared? Okay good, groceries here I come.
As we added to our family, it remained the same. I would do our errands in the morning, right after breakfast, before lunch, but not too close to lunch, and never close to naptime.
Again, what was I thinking? I stuck my sweet baby in the cart, after detoxing the handles and anything else I imagined might come into contact with my little 13-month-old, told the 3-year-old no she may not "ride" on the cart until she could show me that she could walk like a big girl next to me, and we were off!
It took me an hour! An hour! I can do a large, "there's nothing in the house at all, we're desperate" grocery run in less than an hour with all five kids. Why did it take me so long? I imagine it was partly because my list-holder kept eating my list and then throwing it on the ground. However, I think the biggest reason was because I had two small children out in the evening by myself. It's not easy having small children. Those of us who have some "bigs" or at least "middles" mixed in with our "littles" easily forget what the dynamics of having those small ones is like. Man, it's hard work. I'm often asked how I do it with five kids. Honestly? I can honestly say that it's easier now than it's ever been. My older kids help out more than I ever thought possible, and my younger ones love being with their older siblings so I have more time to do things like fold the laundry without a babe in arms and even *gasp* take a shower without a little one playing with Q-tips on the other side of the curtain.
I smiled at the cashier when she commented on my "helpers". I didn't want to hurt Nica's feelings so I just said, "Yes, they are good helpers", but I really wanted to tell the lady that my real help wasn't with me.
P.S. I want to thank the lady in front of me at the checkout. I contemplated saying something to her, and then asking to borrow her 12ish-year-old son to help me unload groceries, but I didn't. However, I did appreciate her putting a different magazine in front of this week's "Glamor" with the nude woman on the front. I tried turning that one around just the day before, but surprise, surprise, the picture on the back wasn't much better. I never thought of just covering it with a "cake decorating" magazine! Thank you!!!!
More Organizing
Still on my crazy organization spree. This is how I handle the end of the school year. There's something fun to me about finishing up one year and getting ready for the next. We won't entirely quit "schooling" this summer (I say that every year).
We just moved into this schoolroom a handful of months ago, but as is the case with any space, unless I am 100% sure of the way I want to use it, it doesn't take too long to get messy. Even Brett was amazed at how quickly our space got "destroyed" as our kids would say.
We just moved into this schoolroom a handful of months ago, but as is the case with any space, unless I am 100% sure of the way I want to use it, it doesn't take too long to get messy. Even Brett was amazed at how quickly our space got "destroyed" as our kids would say.
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| Can't imagine why it takes so long to get things organized. |
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