Misc. Monday

Monday, Monday.

Confession: I actually kind of like Mondays. Back to routine. Back to real life. ("Back" from what, I don't know exactly. I do know that Sundays are kind of wearying to a church staff family.)

Bits of Monday for you:

1. Our power was out last night. We're thankful it wasn't worse for us and praying for anyone who had a harder time in the storms that swept through. We were blissfully ignorant of how serious the storms were in certain places.

2. A candlelit house is a pretty nice way to relax on a Sunday evening, when it's not too cold outside. Not being able to feed hungry children who have been at church for the past two hours is not as nice. (Hooray for kids eat free coupons!) If I could have just checked my email and Facebook, I wouldn't have missed power at all. (Unlike Miss Lili who was dismayed at how capricious a power outage can be. No CD player? No nightlight? Oh, the humanity!)

3. You probably want to read this interesting article about Chanukah and Thanksgiving. Kind of makes me wish we observed both.

4. iBoy is, as ever, adorable. And incredibly patient with his sisters who do things like, make him paper crowns to wear (above) or stuff him into baby doll strollers (below). Those of you inclined to worry, fear not. I removed him from this contraption before anyone could push him anywhere (but not, obviously, before I got the camera out).

5. Reflecting on how cute her brother was also led to this conversation between Polly and me:
Her: "He's just so cute. I hate to think about how many girls are going to be hanging around him when he's older."
Me: "That's how I felt about my baby brother too."
Her: "I guess you're not worried about that any more, huh?"
(Now, The Bear is quite grown up and I am not probably supposed to talk about him here any more but let's just say, yes, I am still concerned about this, though he does not, to my knowledge, currently have a Significant Other.)
Me: "I guess I'm not too worried about it, but why would you say that?"
Her: "Well, he's not much of a conversationalist."
Me: "Do you think that's important?"
Her: "It's what I'm looking for: I'm a talker and the guy I marry will have to talk too. Looks aren't enough."

Good to know. I need only watch out for those handsome boys that seem chatty, I guess. That should narrow it down considerably.

What's going on in your world this lovely Monday?
This post is linked to Miscellany Monday hosted by Carissa at lowercase letters.

Random Monday

July around here means: camp. Which means Philip is working on the plans for our church camp for juniors (ages 7-12).

It means talking about saying things like, "Well, how many bandannas would we need exactly?" And, "Do I really have to come with a craft again?" And, "Did you like the game with soap or with ice better?"

It also involves a complicated metric of what children need to be where and when and there are birthdays and family reunions and multiple trips out of state and we ran out of milk and when exactly can we buy more and just how much should we get without it going bad?

I am tired just thinking about it. I need a nap. Or Baby Boy needs to sleep longer at night. He must be going through a growth spurt because he eats all. the. time. (Please, none of you older mom smartypants types tell me anything about how that never ends or only gets worse as they get older.)

We are also in the middle of one of my least favorite aspects of parenting: training the toddler to no longer require diapers. I very much dislike this process. However, I also very much dislike changing toddler diapers (little baby diapers are not a big deal to me), so here we are once again. So far she's not doing very well. The bribe that has worked best so far: I paint her toenails while we wait for something to happen. I, however, cannot always wait with her that long and I get tired of the polish fumes so it's not a long term solution.

In happier parenting news: we've started introducing our girls to The Andy Griffith Show because we realized that they had no idea who Andy, Opie, Barney, & Aunt Bea actually were.

That's just un-American, right?

Now we're thinking up other shows they need to watch. Here's my list so far: Star Trek, Green Acres, I Love Lucy, Get Smart, Ducktales, Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, and The Muppet Show.

Here's Philip's list so far: Star Trek (we agreed on this one) and GI Joe.

Perfectly reasonable. 

House news as of now: we put an offer, it was countered. We counter-countered, it was rejected. Now we're waiting and if they don't have any other offers, we may give them a new offer. It's a five bedroom, two full bath house so if you feel inclined to pray that this guy's business partner will have a change of heart and accept our offer, please do.

We were supposed to look at two more houses today but one was removed from the market due to a death which sent the house into probate and the one we actually looked at was a nice size in a great neighborhood but it has significant foundation and structural problems and we wouldn't be able to get a mortgage on it in its current condition.

Selling a house and buying a house is definitely not for the faint of heart.

So as not to end on a negative note, here's a blog post about the outdoors that made me laugh. (And wish I would have written it, because my feelings about the outdoors are perfectly aligned with that post.)

So, what's up on your Monday this week?
This post is linked here:

Random Monday

Friends, this rental house is trying to kill me. (The picture of The Boy above has nothing to do with that sentence. I just threw that in for fun. Baby Boy! In golf shorts!)

Not only is the house slowly sliding off the hill (I mean, I assume that's what is going on since there is no straight angle in this house and our landlord started on foundation work - which means he dug a big hole and the basement is exposed to the weather - a few weeks ago and then HE HASN'T COME BACK TO FINISH IT and I am feeling very CAPSY about that) but then there are these evidences:

• snakeskins left on my steps. Meaning some snake is feeling comfortable enough around here to take off his clothes. Yuck.
• mice. 'Cause those snakes are apparently good for NOTHING. And I'm sure having the basement completely open to the outside is not helping.
• bug bites. Possibly from chiggers in the extremely long grass around our house (which the house owner originally told Philip we wouldn't have to worry about but it turns out "not worrying about it" means that Philip will have to cut it himself or pay some shady character $40 a week to do or put it off so long that the homeowner's possibly estranged wife will call and bug Philip about cutting it. CAPSY, people. CAPSY.) Or it could be mites from the birds in the rafters or maybe the mice. Or some other unknown agent. I am covered in bug bites and that is not exaggerating. I got up last night, after a 2:30 AM feeding of The Boy, to take an oatmeal bath. A bath in the middle of the night is not normal behavior for me, in case you're wondering.

So I am kind of grouchy, in addition to being itchy.

But then there's this:

I can't stay grouchy long with this little guy around.

And, despite the fact that I shot a staple into my right thumb yesterday (and pulled it out myself & bandaged it without fainting - there was blood, folks. Spurting blood.), I also have this little creature to make me laugh:

Now, just in case your life has been as deluged with snakes, mice, bugs, and staples as mine has, here are some links to make you smile:

• Hilarious pin board by Tiffany Beveridge: My Imaginary Well-Dressed Toddler. I'm guessing you'll need to be familiar with some of the more pretentious mommy bloggers to think this is as funny as I did. It made me laugh out loud. (Seriously. Not just a fake "lol".)
• Top 16 Worship Music Typos from Stuff Christians Like. Think my favorite was probably "Our God's a greeter".

So, what's up on your Monday? (And please, please be praying and sending good thoughts our way that we'll find our Real Home soon. Before the snakes, mice, bugs, and crazy people get me.)

This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

We have now, officially, spent an entire week in our new digs, The Rental House. Also known as: The Fun House or The Crooked House because there is no flat surface in this place. The ceiling slopes. The floors slope (different directions).

When we first moved in I asked Philip if this place is going to slide right off the hill on which it is perched. "It hasn't yet," was his less than reassuring answer. Okey-dokey.

My brother-in-law and Philip moved my beloved Expedit shelving unit from one wall to another so I didn't have to look it as it seemed to slide into a hole. (It wasn't sliding. It just looked like it.) As my brother-in-law said, "That wall wasn't made for a grid." I haven't found a wall in this house yet that could be said to be made for a grid. But at least I don't have to look at the Expedit straight on any more.

Other quirky things about this house: the ceiling in our bedroom is lower than in the other rooms. So Philip has repeatedly scraped his hand against the textured ceiling when he gets dressed. Ouch. Not fun for him, I'm sure. That's a perk of being short, I guess: never scrape your hand against a textured ceiling.

The driveway is treacherous. See: house, perched on hillside, for the reason why. My midwife told me not to drive for two weeks but I'm considering telling Philip that she suggested I never drive again if it means having to drive that driveway. OK, I wouldn't really lie about it, but still... I guess I'll be parking at the bottom of the driveway and hauling a baby in a carseat, a toddler, three girls and the multiple baskets of laundry or multiple poorly packed bags of groceries up the hill on my own. Which hardly seems better.

Did I mention no washing machine and dryer? That's pretty crazy with seven of us, let me tell you.

So, what's good about the house? Well, many things, actually. And the best is probably this:

That's the Ohio river. As seen from the balcony on the front of our house. It's amazing. And no, the train tracks don't bother us. We love the trains. (One thing I really love: Miss Lili stopping whatever 2 year old naughtiness she's gotten into and running to the front to look out at whatever train is passing by. "Train, Mama!" It hasn't gotten old yet.)

Our closing is supposed to be tomorrow. We actually have a time and location, which is more than we've had before. But since Philip rearranged his whole schedule (tutoring students and such) to accommodate it, I'm kind of thinking it will get rescheduled again. And did I mention that someone broke into our now vacant house last week? Twice?

Lovely times. But at least Philip got to watch three detectives fingerprint our house. There was talk of warrants and such. CSI: Karen and Philip's House. Watch for it.

OK, enough talk about houses. Now for Baby Boy in Frog pajamas (can we agree that it doesn't get much more "Random" than bright yellow pj's with frogs on them? And you can't even see the little frogs on his tiny feet):

And making grouchy faces that just make me want to kiss him and laugh:

We've had some good times thinking of captions for that one. Let's just say things are a lot funnier when you're ever so slightly sleep deprived.

And then there's the thumb sucking:

He's only managed to get that thumb into his mouth a couple of times. But it's adorable and he's determined to figure this whole "hands & fingers" thing out just so he can do this whenever he wants.

Life is good.

How's your Monday going?
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Got some randomness to share this week? Consider linking up!

Random Monday

1. This morning I was sad to hear about the death of Baroness Thatcher. Yes, my politics are showing: I admire the Iron Lady. Might as well share the National Review tribute as well. (In for a Conservative penny, in for a Conservative pound.)

2. Things are holding steady here re: house selling. Our realtor thinks that the appraisal / inspection went well although we haven't had official word. Seems like the closing is probably going to be pushed back (by the buyer), so our realtor is going to push it to the end of May (instead of the end of April as originally agreed). This would allow us time to get ready to move and {drumroll} give birth to the next member of the family. Also it works better with paying the next mortgage payment. But really: BABY.

3. As for those of you who ask how the house hunt is going: it's not. We have a rental lined up so we won't be homeless. And looking at the houses available for sale right now is an exercise in futility. There aren't many for sale and the ones we get remotely interested in are snapped up quickly. So we'll just have to wait. And then snap one up quickly ourselves when we can.

4. Today we sorted some Baby Boy things loaned to us buy friends. I pulled out this tiny little ball cap and I think the girls and I all made an identical "awww" type of sound. We showed it to Philip but he didn't make the sound. Must be a girl thing. So strange to see all that pile of blue in my laundry.

5. Speaking of clothes sorting, we also managed to get into our shed (since the rain held off) and get out the tubs of clothes holding what the girls need for the warmer weather. (And we also got out some things to pass on to my niece.)

This is how that happened: the girls have been on me for days to do this chore. "It's hot, Mom." "We're cooking in these clothes." "It's been hot for daaaaayyys! When will we get our summer clothes? When??????" (Pretty much direct quotes right there.)

So when today was warm enough and dry enough and since Philip would be home for most of the day, I asked him to help us get out the boxes.

Which he agreed to do.

And after a morning of other work, he was finally heading out the door to the backyard. But then he got a game related call. And he was on the phone for like, a lot of minutes.

So I went out to the shed to do the job myself. (OK, in my defense: not by myself. Our 11 year old was helping.)

This was apparently not what I was supposed to do.

I'm almost 36 weeks pregnant. Call it nesting. (That is not, ahem, what my husband called it.)

But he showed up to finish the job and now the washing machine is running non-stop and the girls will be able to bug me about something else. (Something else like this: "When are we going to the park? It's so warm!")

And I am sitting (and blogging, obviously) because 36 week pregnant women shouldn't be lifting totes that weigh a metric ton (slight exaggeration) out of a crowded little storage shed by their ownselves. (Or so I've heard.)

I agree. I'm tired just from sorting the clothes out of the totes and listening to Frank Sinatra. Good thing supper is in the crock-pot. I think my domestic urges have all been fulfilled for today. But you never know what I might come up with for tomorrow...(My husband shudders at the thought.)

How's your Monday treating you?
This post is linked to Random Monday hosted by Deb at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

* Philip and I did our taxes this morning. OK, actually a guy at H&R Block did our taxes and we went in to finish them up with the rest of the info and to sign our names and the date 37 times (or something like that).

Our taxes are complicated because Philip is a licensed minister and we have multiple income streams (small business things that we do ourselves).

I'd love to go on a rant here about how taxes shouldn't be this complicated, but instead I shall use my allotted rant time to say:

There is no reason in the world why the nice little tax guy in his little cubicle should be warning us we need to have health insurance or we'll have to pay a fee. NO REASON. No reason, except it's the law of the land now. Thank you, stupid voters, stupid congress and stupid Supreme Court for increasing the government's reach into my life. (Yes, "stupid" is about as strong of language I will allow myself to use.)

*We left the girls home while we did the tax thing. The baby, OK, 2 yr old, was in bed. Sweet Pea was doing educational type things on the computer. I told the oldest two to do math and history.

When we came back they'd dressed the baby, read books to the baby, sorted the laundry, read the history chapter, set up Barbie World in my living room, and one girl had finished Math. One girl had, so far, written her name on the paper.

But the baby was dressed and the laundry was sorted, so who can complain?

*Speaking of taxes: this might be a helpful post if your blog made money last year. (Mine did not. Which is just as well because I think our tax guy's head might have exploded if we had added One More Thing.) Tax Questions: Blogging Income and Deductions by Sarah Tucker.

* Made Me Laugh: A REAL house tour. Oh, decorating blogs, if only you were this honest.

*And, because it is warming up in some parts of the country (including our part yesterday, although today is cool and rainy again), I shall post this, in honor of the fact that I will soon not be dressing to cover every square inch of exposed skin:

Source: someecards.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

No, I do not "need some sun". Yes, I know I'm probably the palest person you've ever met. I'm good with that.

* Pregnancy update: Braxton Hicks. A lot. Active baby boy. Very. Comments, annoying, about "ready to pop" or "So when you going to get that baby out": multiple at church yesterday. Thanks, everyone, I know I'm huge. But there are 8 weeks to go and it's already old. So: stop. (On the other hand, two different people told me my top was cute and that I look great. Let's aim for those kinds of comments, mmmkay?)

*I've started replacing my jewelry collection. Some people have generously given me some things (which I need to blog about properly, later). I re-ordered my Isaiah necklace which came in the mail Friday. (I love it so much. I feel 50% better just having it in my possession.) I won an eBay auction for one of my favorite necklaces Saturday afternoon. Obviously, I can't afford to replace everything that was lost and many of my favorite things are irreplaceable (things people had made for me, things I'd had since I was young). But it's a start, right?

So, questions for you: what's your favorite piece of jewelry, your favorite place to shop for jewelry, and what things do you think should make my list of "must own jewelry"? Feel free to provide links. My birthday is only 2 months away and I want to be prepared.

What's going on with you this Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

I didn't do a Random Monday post last week because life itself felt a little too random.

There hasn't been any further news on my jewelry. I'm thinking it's not really Priority #1 for our over-worked and poorly managed (yes, I think it's very poorly managed and has been for years) local police force.

So, anyway, my jewelry is gone forever. I'm starting to accept that. I don't like it, but it's reality.

Meanwhile, I've re-ordered my Isaiah necklace from the same Etsy shop where I bought it last year.

And my Grandma has re-started my jewelry collection with, among other things: a new to me cameo and couple nice pairs of earrings. Unless you happen to be a 13-16 year old punk reading this. In which case: I have nothing. Nothing. Certainly not worth your time.

In not un-related news: we've ordered a security system. Philip didn't go for the "dig a moat, fill it with alligators" idea, but he did agree that a security system recommended by a church friend was a good idea. I hereby predict that Philip sets it off the most since it comes with a device that attaches to your keychain where you can deactivate it without entering your house & using the code. Philip is constantly setting off his car alarm so I can't imagine this will be very different.

Does anyone actually respond to car alarms any more? I'm pretty sure I don't. (And, anyway, at our house the kids are likely to announce, "Daddy's home!" when they hear a car alarm.)

In homeschooling news, we're focusing on the weather for Science this week. The girls are having fun reading about the weather. Dealing with REAL weather, not so much. The sun shines, and then it hides. One day gets up to 50, the next is snow and ice with a vengeance. And, as my dad and husband were talking about yesterday, is there ANY other profession with less accountability for their predictions than those "weather forecasters"? Seriously. They can be 100% wrong and not lose an ounce of credibility.

I should have pursued that job. My kids are all over me if I'm even 5% wrong on a prediction about what will happen.

Our history chapter this week is about The Plague. Black Death. My children seem disturbingly unaffected by these grim subjects. "Ooh, Mom, listen to this!" My 11 year old will say, carrying a book into my room and reading me some gruesome factoid without looking up.

All in the interest of gaining knowledge, I suppose.

So, what's up in your world this Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random...Tuesday

I do not have my act together these days. I'm guessing you already figured that out.

Anyway, here's my randomness. On Tuesday instead of Monday. ('Cause Deb's link up is forgiving like that.)

* I promise not to turn this blog into "all prayer requests, all the time", but please pray for the niece of a friend. This baby was born today because of complications in her Mama's pregnancy. Her gestational age is 24 weeks so she has a lot of challenges ahead but we praise God for His gift of life and pray that she will live a long, healthy life despite her early entry into this world.

* We took the girls to Children's Theatre today. We met up with several sets of friends. Philip invited some of these friends to eat with us after the play (some other friends were already meeting us there). They agreed. Turns out, they didn't know where the agreed upon restaurant was. So, yeah, such awesome friends we are. "Come do this thing with us" in one breath and "Run, kids, don't let them follow you!" in another. OK, we didn't actually do that but I feel badly about it. Note to ourselves: always make sure everyone knows the meeting place.

* For Science this week, we're studying Earthquakes. We're using some of these resources, too. And can I just say that I love it when I don't have to search all over THE WHOLE INTERNET for activities and such for a homeschool unit?

* This was going to be in my Saturday links post but I think I'd rather share it now: For When We Ache by Aubrie Drayer.

* Philip and I really laughed over this anecdote in the most recent Reader's Digest:

After downing half a glass of milk, my ten-year-old son declared, "I am an optimist: The glass is half empty!"
"Looking at the glass as half empty is a sign of pessimism," I said.
He corrected me: "Not if you don't like what's in it."

That, my friends, is what you call perspective.

This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate, even though it's Tuesday. Don't let that throw off your whole week.

Random Monday

First my husband shared this link with me: BBC News - Richard III dig: DNA Confirms Bones are King's.

Then I read this book:
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey. Wherein a bedridden Inspector Grant takes on the historical mystery of whether Richard III was villain or victim of a terrible propaganda campaign after his battlefield death.

Then I found out that there is an entire society dedicated to Richard III.

I've sent in my dues.

OK, no, I'm kidding about that part. But I'm convinced. Common history and Shakespeare himself have misled us. (Shocker!)

I highly recommend the mystery, by the way. It's well written and funny. And considering how often the "news" misleads us on things THAT JUST HAPPENED, still relevant.

*
Did you know there's a contest about the Top 10 Blogs for Book Lovers Contest? I haven't decided which of my favorite book blogs I should nominate. (Leaning toward Semicolon or Ordo Amoris, based on the number of books I've added to my stack because of their suggestions.)

Please do not consider this a passive-aggressive way of asking you to nominate me. My blog is far too small for such things. I'll let you know more about it later though, so we can all vote for the right person. (Reading all this historical fiction may have activated my latent, likely unnecessary Kingmaking tendencies.)

*
Things are progressing fine on the Baby Boy front. My glucose test is Wednesday morning (oh, joy). I've had so few negative side effects (aside from the worrisome signs in the first trimester that have all gone away now) that I feel bad for complaining about anything...but I'm going to anyway:

This baby is causing me the worst heartburn I've ever had in my entire life. Foods that normally don't bother me (and I can usually eat anything) are bothering me. How bad it is: I had heartburn this morning after drinking a cup of tea and eating cold cereal. How ridiculous is that?!

I don't think Philip believed me when I told him the other day that I was miserable. Until he found me in the kitchen practically bolting down the entire jar of Tums. (Side note: I'm exaggerating. I took 2. Which is two more than I usually have to take after eating. But I could have easily taken a few more.)

Guess I'll have a chance to find out if heartburn and babies arriving with full heads of hair is true or not. (My guess: Not. My babies don't come out that way.) There you go. Sorry for the complaining. I love this baby and he's worth a little (A WHOLE HUGE LOT) of heartburn. And I will remind him of it for the rest of his life (along with whatever birth story tidbits I deem necessary. "I pushed for three hours!" Although I'm really hoping that won't happen.)

So, what's going on in your world this lovely Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday hosted at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

It's Monday again! Somehow this morning I woke up with adequate energy. Notice I do not say, "abundant" or "extra". I just say "adequate". Which is still an improvement of how I usually wake up on Monday morning.

In consequence, we had a very productive morning of school. And I started supper in the crock pot and things were generally swell.

Which means I had time to go to the thrift store in the afternoon, after Quiet Time. (Because the youngest two - minus the unborn child - were asleep and Philip was still home with the older two.)

This was nice, as it turned out to be 50% off all clothing, 50% off board games, and several other specials I can't remember right now.

In the event, I only ended up buying two board games and two wool sweaters and a beret. (A beret? Because why not?)

However, when I came out of the thrift store it was snowing a bit. (A bit more than it had been when I went in.) I decided that, since we were quite low on milk, I'd stop at the store for some milk, eggs, & broccoli for supper tonight. (The broccoli is for supper. The eggs and milk are Just Because.)

By the time I came out of the grocery store it was a blizzard.

I am not kidding. It looks like Narnia under the White Witch's reign out there.

Not good.

So I carefully drove home. And it took forever. And Philip was already gone when I got back but fortunately the baby was still down (the 2 yr old, not the As Yet Unborn Baby. He was helpfully kicking me as I drove oh so slowly. My Unborn Son comes from a long line of backseat drivers. Although in this case, he was in the front seat so...) which means nothing too terrible had happened at home.

I expected the girls to be relieved at my arrival (I was!) but they managed to control their emotions. (Beyond the cursory, "Did you get me anything at the thrift store? Why did you buy milk, eggs, and broccoli?")

That abundance of energy is now gone, I can tell you.

Oh, and my team won the Super Bowl. (See this post and scroll down to point #2, Team #4).

So, go us, I guess. You may notice that I couldn't exactly lose considering Team #5 on that list was The Other Team. Oh, the other team, how I...suppose I would have been happy if you had won, too.

Most memorable moment of the Super Bowl for me: the power goes out. Seriously? This is the biggest sporting event of the year (so the Fans tell us) and THE POWER GOES OUT?!

Ridiculous. (Almost as ridiculous as actually caring about football. cough)

So, what's up in your world this Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday hosted by Deb at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

*Today is Pride and Prejudice's 200th birthday. We shall be watching part 1 of the fabulous BBC adaptation this evening. (Part 2 to be shown tomorrow) My girls are quite excited about this. (Only my oldest has actually read the book, but we're making an exception to our "You must read the book before you watch the movie" rule on this occasion.)

How will you observe the day?

With a movie night you have three main choices:


Or

(Choose this one!)

Or you could re-read it:


And maybe you need to introduce your baby to it:


Or you could watch one of the many adaptations, read one of the many sequels, or, you know, all of the above. (all above images are Amazon Affiliate links)

* Sweet Pea went to the dentist today. Sweet Pea has no cavities, although her teeth are slightly crowded. (Tell us something we didn't know.) Sweet Pea informed me that the best part was "Mr. Squiggles". I had no idea what she was talking about until she said (with a "Just exactly how dumb is Mom?!" look), "You know, he squirts water in your mouth."

Ah.

Second favorite part: getting a new toothbrush and her very own toothpaste tube. Doesn't take much to make Sweet Pea happy, I guess.

*Tigger woke up extra energetic this morning - and trust me, there's a reason why I first nicknamed her Tigger for this blog. One positive consequence of this energy: she finished last week's cursive assignment (that she just couldn't do because, oh my, it was so hard and am I trying to torture her to death with cursive?) AND this week's page in about fifteen minutes flat, without me asking her or telling her she had to. And it looks good, too.

If only she could always channel that energy in such constructive ways.

So, what's up on your Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday hosted by Deb at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

* This Monday went a lot better compared to last Monday. One way it was better: no crying over {figuratively} millions of math problems that had to be corrected.

*Our oldest girls got Bible covers from their great-grandparents for Christmas (among other things). So we told them it's time to start taking notes during the sermon since they have this handy-dandy space to carry their Bibles, a notebook and a pen. (Because I do not loan out my precious pen. I know how that goes: child borrows pen to draw comics take notes and I never get it back again.)

Anyway, last Sunday was their first attempt. Last night the two oldest were sitting next to each other, slightly out of my arm reach. Things are rolling right along until I see a sharp elbow from Oldest Daughter fly into Second Oldest daughter's side.

What grievous offense had Second Daughter committed? (And trust me, she's capable of grievous offenses.)

She tried to copy some of older sister's notes.

The horror.

Now, you understand, it wasn't because she wasn't listening. It wasn't because she was trying to be annoying. It was because she didn't know "How to spell all the big words". Well.

We moved second daughter between the two adults to better help her with her note taking (copying Polly's notes is probably not the best spelling strategy anyway) and also to protect her from prickly big sister and any more elbow jabs.

We'll have the "you need to extend more grace to your younger sisters" conversation, again, another time.

*I have ham in the oven and homemade yeast rolls rising in the kitchen. I'll take my Homemaker of the Year award now, thanks.

But I'm not wearing a dress, heels and pearls, so that might ruin my chances. I'm more like this:

Source: someecards.com via Karen (Candid Diversions) on Pinterest

Not only do I have on my stretchiest {comfiest} non-maternity black pants, I'm also wearing a Black & grey flannel shirt handed down to me by my baby brother. Yes, I accept hand-me-downs from my teenage brother, especially when they're in the form of pre-washed, already comfortable and broken in flannel shirts.

The homemaking, homeschooling, homebody life is a comfortable one, friends. I see no reason to apologize for that.

* I have no idea what movies were released last year and I know pretty much nothing about the Oscar nominees but this made me laugh anyway: More Accurate Titles for 2013's Oscar Nominated Movies.

How's your Monday going?
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

* Back to Reality Day. This went better for some in our family. One child had a complete Math Meltdown, complete with raised voice, flushed face, tears, and stomping off to her bed.

It was a thing of beauty, really.

And yes, we did get some of the Math tangles out. I have revised my expectations as to what will get done this week (as concerns Math) accordingly.

*It was also back to the grocery day. I managed to avoid going last week (although I ended up sending Philip with a small list and $20 so he wouldn't blow my budget this week). I made it to Aldis and Kroger. If you're wondering, "Why Aldis?"

$1.99 gallons of hormone free milk, that's why. I bought three gallons. I wanted to buy 10 (the limit per customer). Dairy cliff? Not here, not yet. (Praise God! And yes, I really do praise God for this and not the yahoos in D.C.)

*Another thing I picked up at Kroger's: a flu shot. My midwife told me to get one a few months ago. I just kept putting it off. But then I read a news story about how flu season hasn't peaked yet and I decided not to play around with my already compromised lungs. Breathing = good thing. Kroger has flu shots for $25. They actually asked me if I wanted to submit it to my insurance. First of all, my insurance is high deductible and wouldn't "cover" the cost. Second of all, if I can pay $25 NOT to have to deal with my insurance company, I'll consider that money (and time) well spent.

*Supper tonight: Sausage - Mushroom Risotto. And guess what? The minions children liked it. And Philip liked it. That makes it a keeper. Usually we settle for 4 out of 6. Miss Lili ate, per her request, at her little table with her 3 favorite baby dolls around her. It was extremely cute, but the rest of us were so busy enjoying our own suppers that no one took a picture. My first reaction was, as I've already shared, just how cute she was being. My second thought: maybe she really does like her baby dolls more than she likes us?

*Now it's time for an impromptu Family Movie Night. On our screen tonight: The Princess Bride.

*Before I forget: Downton Abbey started in the US last night. Did you watch? I'll try not to spoil it all for you but let me give you this warning: enjoy what you can while you can.

How was your Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday hosted by Deb at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

My first and by far my most important bit of Random Monday news: Philip and I have a new nephew! Yes, Lili's cousin Jo-Jo now has a baby brother. We are, as one of my girls used to say, "So es-sited!" about this. We're also completely bummed that we can't get down South to see him until Thursday evening at the earliest. Real life and adult responsibilities really get in the way sometimes, you know?

2nd Most Important Random Monday news: Polly and I went to the eye doctor this morning. (That's not exciting, you say?) My eyes and my contact prescription haven't changed in 3 years. (Woo-hoo, go me! But I sense you're still not excited...) So I signed over a massive amount of cash to keep me in contacts for the next year (or, let's be honest, longer) but we also had our suspicions confirmed that (drum roll please, exciting news to follow): Miss Polly will now bear a closer resemblance to Margo from Despicable Me! (Following picture to remind you of Polly's Margo costume from a year ago)

Yes, Polly could no longer fight the bad genetics ("I love your family," our eye doctor told me this morning. I'm sure there's more than one reason.) and will now be a full time glasses wearing girl, once the glasses come in (7-10 days).

I will, of course, share a picture once we have one.

Further randomness: we now have a Christmas tree. It is huge. It is so huge, in fact, the only place it really fits is in our kitchen. So we will have a Christmas tree in our kitchen this year. (Bonus: easier to sweep up pine needles from kitchen floor than from carpet.)

Tonight is Tree Decorating night. I have been informed that some time this afternoon or evening I must make Gingerbread Men because, "We always have gingerbread and egg-nog when we decorate the tree." I am not convinced that we always do so, but my children are The Tradition Police.

We have actually been fulfilling the girls' Christmas to-do wish list quite efficiently these last few days. We have several more movies to watch but we started our Christmas movie nights with a movie they hadn't seen before:

Our children did enjoy the movie but they had some pretty funny reactions to it while it was on. (Polly: "So that Potter guy is pretty much the meanest, nastiest guy ever, right?" Tigger: "Why do people think this is a happy movie?!")

I hadn't seen it in a few years and this viewing reminded me why. First: watching this movie is a different experience as an adult as compared to a child. Children still have their lives and dreams in front of them. Second: The bad guy is bad just because he's rich. He never has a change of heart (a la Ebeneezer Scrooge). The good guy is the guy who wants to lend people money with no strings attached. (Sub-prime mortgage fiasco, anyone?) Third: the theology is weird, but I guess that's a rant for another day. Fourth: Mary Hatch's dark life without George? "She's about to close up the library!" Horrors. A librarian!

All that aside, I do love George and Mary Bailey. I think George's real crisis comes earlier in the film, when he's at Mary Hatch's house and acting like a total jerk. Then he has his "I want to do what I want to do!" speech / tantrum and yet, manages to realize in the next three seconds that Mary is the best thing that has ever happened to him and he knows he doesn't deserve it.

I can so relate to that person who wants to stamp his foot and declare, "I want to do what I want to do!" and yet, somehow, makes the adult (hard) choices, at least part of the time. (The other part I'm probably still stamping my foot and sulking a bit.)

I guess that's why the movie is painful to watch. (Philip thinks every five years ought to do it.)

My dad sent me a link to this only today: The Fountainhead of Bedford Falls. Well, it must be a good movie if we can spend so much time thinking about it and analyzing it, right? (But my favorite Christmas movie is now, and shall always be, White Christmas, and no, Philip, listening to the soundtrack will not count as watching it.)

I hope you're having a fantastic Monday!
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

Happy Monday! Today was December Budget Day (which is completely different from Christmas Budget Day, by the way) and Karen Goes to the Grocery Day, and also Try to Get the House Back in Shape After Sunday Day (which is a common occurrence but makes absolutely no sense to me as we spend so little time in our home on Sundays. How does it get so messy?!), so, you know, Normal Monday, in other words.

December is in full swing now. Our calendar is quickly filling. I am, surprisingly, OK with this. We have it under control. Except for that whole Christmas Shopping / Christmas Decorating thing. My children have informed me that it's been AGES since Thanksgiving and we do not have a single Christmas decoration out. Not one Snowman mug. Not one ornament. And anyway, how long is Dad going to make them wait before we get a tree?

Soon, we say. Just so you know: "soon" has completely different meanings for kids and adults. Adult = somewhere in the near future as in days or weeks. Kid = somewhere in the next 7 seconds.

If you need some more Christmas music to listen to my friend Julie suggested this album by Andrew Peterson which you can listen to for - here's the best part - free. Everyone can use some "Free" in December, right?

Philip and I already have our first gift: a new camera. Thanks to some Christmas money from his grandpa, we have our first non-point and shoot camera.

I am afraid of this camera, naturally, being afraid of most new and (to us) expensive things, but that's not stopping me from using it. I took this picture, for instance, which is already my favorite picture of Miss Lili ever in the history of Lili (my apologies to those of you who have already been forced to admire this picture on Facebook):

That is one of her looks that has never been captured by a camera before and I am quite proud of it.

Lili also looked like this in several pictures. I can only think that she's forgotten what it's like for Mom and Dad to take pictures because - and I found this out when I was trying to make Christmas cards and gifts - we took almost NO pictures this year. What can I say? It's been a rough year.

We also took pictures of the other girls which I think turned out well despite being taken in our currently not-so photogenic yard but I'll have to share those another time.

And, just because this is Random Monday after all, and I am an Anglophile and Royal Watcher and, now that I think about it, lover of all things Baby related: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a baby.

That's definitely enough randomness for one Monday. How's your Monday treating you?
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

How was your Thanksgiving? Full of good stuff, I hope. My favorite thing on Thursday was a nice long talk (via cell phone - but I sure wish it had been in person!) with my sister Lulu.

Then on Friday we had a family get together with much of my husband's family. Lots of food, lots of laughing, and lots of picture taking. My sister-in-law's sister (did you catch that?) came to take pictures of the family. I hope these turn out well. Miss Lili wasn't feeling well so her mouth is open, her nose is running and she really didn't feel like smiling for most of them. Let's just say Philip's Photoshop skills are going to be put to the test in this case.

Saturday was the drive home and the annual "Start the Christmas music" extravaganza. We restrained ourselves and only listened to four or five of our many CDs. First play honors went to:

Sara Groves, O Holy Night


Today is Back to Reality Day. The grocery, the library, and SCHOOL, glorious School, are on our agenda.

Speaking of Back to Reality Day, Philip and I did our Christmas budget today. Yikes. That's all I want to say about that.

And I need to share this story about Lili with you before I forget. We don't eat at McDonald's that often (I know some of you are shocked that we eat there at all) but lately, when we pass a McDonald's Lili calls out, "Time to eat!"

Which is often since we have to pass one to get home from our church. Lili catches sight of the Golden Arches = "Time to eat!"

No other fast food establishment affects her this way.

I should probably turn in my "Semi-crunchy Homeschool Mom" card now, right?

Happy Monday, everyone! It's a beautiful day out there (and no, I am not being sarcastic)!
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.

Random Monday

1st - Happy Veteran's Day. I'm not sure if "Happy" is the right way to say it, but "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Veterans" might be. Amazon is giving this album away for free today:

You probably need to get it. Just be ready to choke up a time or two. (Or maybe I'm the only one who tears up any time I hear "Taps". Seriously. Any movie with a military funeral and I'll be a gulping, eye swiping mess.)

And speaking of choking up, you probably need to check out this post from Ashleigh Baker: This Is To You, The Military Wife. 

2nd - Happy Anniversary to my grandparents, even though they do not read my blog. Actually, they don't even have a computer. (!) You know what they do have? 61 years of marriage. Sixty-one! I'd like to know where they should collect their medal because, seriously, 61 years of staying married deserves a medal.

3rd - My cousin's little girl said this the other night: un-defeatable. At first I though maybe she invented it (as a mash-up of "undefeated" and "unbeatable", obviously) but it turns out it is a real word. I love it. So there you go, my new favorite word. (I'm sure you were wondering)

4th - people are starting to ask what the girls want for Christmas. Nothing. They want for nothing, therefore they need nothing. Not what you wanted to hear? I have no idea. I'm guessing anything with 57 million pieces would please them. Their favorite toys appear to be (based on how often I pick them up): random Legos, Barbie shoes, Polly Pocket skirts, the odd playing card, one or two single pick-up-sticks, baby dresses, crayons, and snips of notebook paper. Does that help you with your shopping list? If you really want to make Sweet Pea's (5) day, give her paper, rolls of scotch tape, and colored pencils. Or just the scotch tape. That would probably do it.

5th - After several beautiful, unseasonably warm days we are back to dreary, rainy weather. Which means I need to make a cup of hot chocolate & curl up on the couch with the novel I'm currently reading.

Or, you know, start school work with my children. That needs to happen too.

What's up in your world this Monday?
This post is linked to Random Monday at Not Inadequate.