Summer at Grandmom and Granddad’s

 

Thank you, grandparents for the place to stay,
For the quiet, cool out of Texas hideaway.
Thank you for endless hours of T.V., and movies galore,
And not being too mad when we left messes on the floor.
Thank you for all the fun shopping trips
And for giving Daddy mowing tips ($$).
Thank you for being so kind when we had lice in our hair.
Thank you for supporting our Mommy through Tupperware. 
Thank you for Cheetos, hot dogs and pop tarts. 
Thank you for opening your home and your hearts. 
We love our Grandmom and Granddad, 
We appreciate all the fun times we had. 
Summer only comes once a year. 
We will come again. Don’t you fear.

 

Consecutive Steps

All my other babies walked early--9 months, 10 months and 10 1/2 months, respectively.  Lucy seems to have taken longer to do everything, including walking.  Physically, she is smaller than the others were.  Also, mentally she has seemed months younger that she is.  Of course, she all within the range of normal.  She is 14 1/2 months old and just began to walk.  This is within the range of normal for walking, except for the fact this is later than anyone in generations of our family history.  This is not to say she is not an intelligent little girl.  It is just to say, we have been waiting with bated anticipation for this event.

Everyone says that as soon as they take off walking we will regret wanting her to walk, because then we have to chase after a toddler.  This may be true.  But, Lucy has been so content walking around this week that it has been a very pleasant week.  Contentment is also my theory as to why she took so long to walk.  Mostly, she is very content. Her siblings keep her very entertained.  Perhaps it is simply not her personality to desire more of the world. 

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by four children huddling around me seeking and fighting for my love and attention.  A lot of the time, I revel in their cuddles.    Let me qualify that, I revel in individual cuddles.  All four fighting in my lap is not exactly fun.  But, once we establish taking turns, it's awesome.  It's my job to be devoted to my family's health, well-being and happiness.  I wouldn't have it any other way. 

"Just don't get in the way, Baby, or you will become a part of the morning workout." 

Claytonopolis Trek 2013

We did it AGAIN.  We drove 1,980 miles and it went relatively smoothly.  Our kids were sick just before we left.  Annie had an ear infection.  Both Kristiana and Annie had a stomach bug.  Lucy had pinkeye on our trip and was teething.  But, all that did not touch us.  We made it through pretty well.

We did a couple of things new and different this year.  On our first day of driving, we drove starting early in the morning and drove 13 hours straight to Colorado Springs.  We only had a couple stops for bathroom breaks.  I packed all our food for the day.  Then we stayed a day in Colorado with my sister.  We replenished the food supply a bit and continued on up through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and finally Washington.  We all loved bringing our own food.  We saved money, saved time and saved our waste lines.  We ALL felt great at the end.

Alex was a great helper on the trip as he tended to his sisters needs.  Kristiana was also a big helper.  Although, she unbuckled herself and moved about the car a little too often.  Kristiana was also our comic relief.  She had lots to say about our journey.  Her observations were so mature yet fresh.  I know you are thinking you want to hear some of the hilarious things she said, but it was all things that you had to have been there.  Her timing was perfect.  It kept us laughing the whole way.  

By the time we reached Washington Annie had decided to give up on being potty trained and went back to diapers.  She was too stressed. I can't push it.  When she makes up her mind, there's no other way but hers.  She'll be fully potty trained someday. 

Alas, our one travail of the trip was that Andrew had our van re-aligned before the trip.  He thought that it was pulling to the right.  So he took it in and had it down for a good price.  Apparently, the mechanic did not set it right.  By the time we had completed the journey our tires were bald.  This is exactly what we had intended to avoid.  We called the mechanic and he said he would pay for half of replacing the tires because our tire were already used.  But, we don't want to put used tires on our vehicle, and we would not be in this mess if they had done the work right.  This has caused my husband much stress.  It's annoying for sure, but this is life.  Sometimes you receive some hard knocks; and sometimes the hard knocks are life knocking. 

Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Road Lunch - half-eaten

Baby Lunch - jelly sandwiches and bananas are good!

Sisters - Part One

Colorado! We made it all in one day!

Colorado Springs Zoo

Notice peacock at the bottom left

Pony ride - Memories to make a childhood

Sisters - Part Two

"Sister, I would like to get a workout in, today."

"Okay, let's go climb up the mountain.  Don't worry, my enlisted men made it up with some breaks."

I looked it up.  It's a 2,100 ft elevation climb, 3.25 miles long.  It was great exercise.  I just wanted a light jog and a little weightlifting, but this was way better.  It was like being in an airplane looking down at the ground.  It's a very vigorous climb, not for the faint of heart.  Within 30 steps your heart is pumping pretty hard.  Here's another blogger who explains it better (Manitou Hike).  It's worth a quick look, because there are better pictures.  Although, I do not know how he was able to take pictures because everyone on the trail look shaky and exhausted.  It would be very difficult to turn around on the steep incline and take a picture without falling over. 

Wyoming - looking unusually green

Montana - The Great Continental Divide

That's it.  We're looking forward to a great Washington summer.

My Little, Smushy, Lucy

7 Quick Takes - The Spring Has Come

1. We have lived in our house two and half years and I think we have done very well with our garden.  Here is my beautiful spring garden with herbs and flowers and the sweetest smelling climbing Jasmine in the back.  I am also hoping to grow bell pepper this year.  We'll see.  Peppers tend to be a late summer and fall crop around here. 

2. Garden Helper - I caught Lucy standing on her own, but I did not get the camera quick enough.  This is the picture after the moment.

3. Lucy has been our latest walker.  I blame her tiny feet.  Her feet are so small they aren't enough to balance her body.  Kristiana and Annie walked at ten and half months and Alex walked at nine months.  Despite not being able to walk yet, she knows how to climb up the slide by herself.

4. "Mommy, I am going to make you an anniversary present."  This week we celebrated eight years since our marriage crowning.  The kids were happy to celebrate with us.  Alex made us a Lego heart.  I told him I would take a picture so that he could keep his Legos.  He was adamant that we should keep the heart.  That day my husband started to feel ill.  He has been sick with the flu ever since.  Boo.

5. Oh, Annie! "How do you solve a problem like Annie?" (The Sound of Music)  She's just full of two year old.  Sometimes we think she has gone totally mad.  But, there is always a simple explanation behind it--not enough to eat, not enough sleep, not enough words to express her needs, curiosity, her demands are not sensible (no, you can't eat candy for breakfast, lunch and dinner).

6. This is exactly what I tell my kids not to do.  The kids were watching me too.  I totally poked myself in the eye while taking this picture.  Now mommy has bangs.  I have not had a haircut since Lucy was born a year ago.  My hair was no behaving anymore.  At some point here I really should see a professional.

7. And one year after Lucy was born, I am 48 pounds lighter.  Finally I look on the outside what I have always felt like I was on the inside--just a normal girl--not a big girl not a small girl--just normal.  I think I'd like to lose another ten pounds.  I have quite a bit of fat still in the mommy section that I would like to see go.  But, it was tough to make the last ten pounds go, so I might just have to stay happy right where I am.  

Happy 1st Birthday to Lucy

You light up our lives--our happy go lucky baby.

Cake is good!

We had a little party for Lucy.  The party was really more about the grown-ups as any one year's party should be.  We played games with friends.

Dye-Free jelly beans were a smash hit.

Lucy received a water table for her birthday.  She loved it.

Until Annie doused her and made her so cold she had to take a nap.  But, it was a good day over all.

Healthy Habits - My Experiment

A week ago I began the Les Mills 21 Day Nutrition Challenge.  It's a painfully simple regime.  It is all explained in a ten minute video.  It's a low carb diet.  Only meat, low-starch vegetables and good fats are allowed.  No dairy either. 

I thought it would be difficult to follow this diet because it eliminates a lot of the foods I eat regularly.  But, I have found it easy to follow because of the simple method used to explain portion size and because I get to eat more regularly.  It also requires a lot of protein.   I have long complained of high protein diets, because of the expense.  However, I have relied a lot on egg whites during this diet and that has helped the expense a great deal.  I consume egg whites for 50% of my daily protein intake.  I thought egg whites would not be nice to eat without the yolk, but I have enjoyed them. 

I have been surprised that after the first couple days I stopped craving sweets after meals.  I have not longed for dairy or bread either.  I used to live on cheese.  I still crave cheese, but I can give it up for a little while.  

I had a snafu at the beginning.  The diet requires one meal to be a protein shake immediately after working out.  I have long been against protein powders because I believe one should get nutrition from food not from something engineered, i.e., supplements.  I discovered that my gut feeling about this was correct.  After my first protein shake (ever) I had a violent reaction.  I had a severe headache and nausea.  I could not do anything.  It turns out protein powders are loaded with MSG from the processing.  I have always had violent reactions to MSG.  I am surprised other people do not have the same problem I did.

I was a little disheartened about this development, because the protein shake is an essential element to the diet.  But, I got back on the horse and decided to use raw 3 egg whites 1/4 cup yogurt and 1/2 a banana in a smoothie as my recovery shake.  This has worked out beautifully.

Last year, I joined a gym that uses the Les Mills program classes.  After Lucy was born, I decided to try the classes.  I discovered that Les Mills Pump helped me to lose weight faster.  There is an at home version available for purchase, which I may save for, because my children are sometimes sick and I cannot make it to the gym.  If you click the picture below, it will take you to the Amazon purchase page.

For the last couple months I had plateaued in weight loss.  Even though I weigh less than I weighed in high school I longed to be leaner.  I am still one of the heavier gals at the gym.   When one of the instructors offered this challenge diet, I decided to try it.  When I began the diet one week ago, my waist was 80 cm and now it is 75 cm and I have lost 6 pounds.  I am starting to see a little more definition in my muscles.  So far, so good.  At the end of the 21 days, maybe I will post a before and after picture.  

I am sharing this little story with you, because I am sure most people desire improved health and this is a program that might help you too.  

Home School Journal - The Rear View Mirror

Well, we are almost looking at home school in the rear view mirror.  Alex has two subjects to complete and he will be done with first grade.  Ever since I made home school the first activity of our day and started paying the neighbor to watch Annie three days a week, school has been great.  There are still moments of defiance or struggle and when I say moments, I mean really small ones.  

In the last month, I have begun to think about next year.  Every so often, I look into other programs and so forth just to see if there were perhaps a better program.  Every time I do, I find myself coming back to Seton Home Study School with confidence.  No program is perfect and not all aspects fit every child. But, I have found that with a little supplementation to fit my child, Seton is very well-rounded.  

Next year, we will be adding Classically Catholic Memory to our work.  I was interested in doing it and then it turned out many of the other Catholic home schoolers in our area were also interested.  So we are getting together and doing it in a co-op setting.  I am very excited about this.  We will have a much better home schooling community and our children will benefit from the classical education.  I did not think about it before this moment, but I guess I need to start praying about our new endeavor.  

Kristiana has only been working on preschool material two days a week.  I think she is a little intimidated.  In the beginning learning seems hard, but with a few small successes she will be on her way.  Now that Alex is done for the school year, I am going to enlist him to help teach Kristiana over the summer, which has been my plan all year.  He will like this because he will finally get to do all the easy stuff that looks like fun to him, but is learning for Kristiana.

Here are Alex and Kristiana working away at school.  Kristiana needs the tactile preschool activities, which makes Alex jealous.  Here she has her number puzzle, alphabet puzzle and her pattern block set.  She did great work. 

Here are my little troublemakers.  Annie is laying in the chill-out spot.  Whenever she starts to get into too much stuff, I ask her to lay down and get cozy.  She likes this activity.  I took this picture, because little Lucy crawled up onto her motorbike, sat down and was reaching down and teasing Annie.  It was pretty clever.

This week we focused on systems in the human body.  I made up experiments to help Alex and Kristiana discover how the systems work. Here we are checking out the nervous system with pin pricks.  We did double pin pricks and single pin pricks to see how the nerves send messages to the brain.  In this picture I am being pricked, but the kids had to be blindfolded and pricked as well.

Despite some of our struggles during the year I have remained confident in this choice to teach our kids ourselves.  I am hopeful for the future.  What a life.

Helper

Kristiana has been a bit defiant lately.  But she is so funny and loving.  While defiant, I think it stems from her need to define herself and independence…

The other day I let the kids outside to play.  The baby crawled on out with all the other kids.  She likes being outside in the sun.  Baby Lucy was happily playing and I had to run back in to change a load of laundry.  After a few minutes, I heard the baby crying.  Annie had upset her.  Annie bopped her.  So I quickly finished what I was doing.  As I crossed the room she fell silent abruptly.  Sometimes she gets over whatever is bothering her.  But, this silence was a little unnerving.  When I peered out the back door, I found Kristiana had picked up Lucy and brought her to the chair and was talking to her and patting her.  Lucy was sitting there happy and comfortable.  It was a sweet moment.  I ran to get my camera and Lucy began to cry again, because I had walked away.  

What a sweet sister moment.  Thank you, Kristiana. 

Pentecost Activity

"When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.  Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.  They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" (Acts 2:1-4).

I know what you're thinking, "You are a bit early for the celebration of Pentecost."  The pentecost readings coincide with our home school lessons on Confirmation and the Gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I thought this was a good opportunity to make some Pentecost related crafts.

Here I drew a dove, a tongue of fire and beams of light from Heaven to show Alex symbols of the Holy Spirit.  Alex then colored the picture.  Of course, an image of the Holy Spirit needs to be made special by glitter glue decorations.

Annie painted this very fiery painting the next day.  So we hung it alongside our Holy Spirit image.

Then we made tongues of fire hats.  I drew the flame pieces and the kids cut them out and glued them onto the headbands.  Alex traded me hats.  He thought mine looked nicer.

Here is Kristiana working very hard on cutting out her flame pieces.  It was a challenge for her, especially since she is left-handed.  She very much wanted to succeed.

Pentecost Troparion

 Blessed art Thou, O Christ our God, /
Who hast shown forth the fishermen as supremely wise, /
by sending down upon them the Holy Spirit, /
and through them didst draw the world into Thy net. /
O Lover of mankind, glory be to Thee.

Check out this beautifully sung Troparion. It's too lovely not to click.