Outside my window…
It has been cold, rainy, and cloudy, but the kids have been enjoying playing inside with all their new toys, including the little set of stacking sun blocks that they received as an O Antiphon gift this year!
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| “Hi Dada!” |
I am thinking…
about how quickly the past year flew by… How did our baby turn one already?! He continues to bring so much joy to our family!
I am thankful…
that my sister JoAnn was willing to babysit so we could take the oldest two on an “Unexpected Journey” to see The Hobbit!
I was also very thankful that David (my youngest brother) and I were able to get in to the movie too!
David and I were going to meet Sean and the boys at the theatre, since they (JoAnn & David) were running a little late getting to our house, and when we got to the theater the line was so long and the last tickets sold to the people in line a couple groups in front of us… They told us sorry and I got out of line and called home – to give my sister a hard time! 😉 Anyways, I went back to the ticket booth to ask if I could at least go inside to tell my husband (who was going to try and save seats for us) that we wouldn’t be joining them. She asked how many there were of us and when I told her “just us two” she said that there were only two seats in the whole theater left and they probably weren’t together, or anywhere near my husband. She said we could go in and see, and come back and purchase the tickets. The theater was PACKED, but an usher walked over to us and directed us to the two seats, which were right next to my family!!!
Note: Had Sean and I previewed the movie we probably wouldn’t have taken the boys, but thankfully they had finished listening to the book and knew what to expect. They absolutely LOVED the movie and are still telling us that it wasn’t “too scary” for them!
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| Kevin (18), David (16), Mary (20), Jessica (old), and JoAnn (20) |
After the movie I went on another unexpected journey (after coming back home to nurse the baby and get him to bed) – this time to the bowling alley with my four youngest siblings and some of their friends. It was so much fun, even if it made me feel really old! 😉
Learning all the time…
As much as I am enjoying our Christmas break, I am starting to look forward to getting back to our school work and normal routines next week. We still have quite a few things that I would like to complete before the end of our 2nd quarter on January 25th!
Celebrating the liturgical year…
I meant to share about this lovely set of Ornaments for the 12 Days of Christmas before Christmas, but just never had a chance. I love that they focus on the faith filled meaning behind each of the gifts in “The 12 Days of Christmas” song. Perhaps consider ordering a set now, to have ready for next Christmas! They tie in nicely to our 12 Days of Christmas Lap Book.
From the kitchen…
Chiquita, (my sister) Julianna, and I all worked on this Gingerbread Nativity on Christmas Eve, while Rascal made his own Gingerbread creation.
Snuggles, Twinkle Toes, and Rose also assembled houses, but they are still waiting to be decorated. With all of our company and getting ready for Midnight Mass, finishing the gingerbread houses wasn’t hight on the list of things to do this year! Maybe we will get back to them, maybe not…
I am working on…
sorting through my pictures from Christmas Day, rather slowly! I haven’t wanted to “waste” any of this glorious Christmas break in front of the computer. I will have plenty of time to catch up on emails and blogging next week, when my husband is away on training…
I am creating…
not much at the moment, but I do have plans for the new Knit and Weave Loom Kit that Sean gave me for Christmas! Just as soon as I can pick up some yarn from the craft store.
I am going…
to miss having the twins in town! Mary left today and is headed back to Texas, and JoAnn left a couple days ago to get back to work and college. I think I need to plan a couple trips to visit them!
I am hoping…
that I am not allergic to our cat… Our kids love him so and (as much as he drives me crazy) I would hate to have to get rid of him. I am still waiting for my referral to the allergist, but I had another allergic reaction late last night (for no apparent reason, after brushing my teeth and drinking a glass of water). Thankfully I had some Zyrtec on hand this time.
I am praying…
with the help of my beautiful new prayerbook – Mother Love! Originally published in 1888, it was just republished by Angelus Press.
I am reading…
A Darcy Christmas and the various books by Karen Witemeyer. I’ve also been flipping through my new 2013 Day Planner! My dear Mother-in-Law sends me a new copy every year and it is my favorite. I use it for planning out all of our feast day celebrations and it sits next to my computer for easy reference!
Pondering these words…
spoken by Bishop Cramer which I read in my copy of Mother Love:
I am listening…
The boys have been having so much fun assembling all their new lego sets while listening to hours and hours of The Hobbit and Fellowship of the Ring! (The unabridged versions narrated by Rob Inglis are excellent! Thank you for the recommendations!)
By the end of Christmas Day the boys had finished listening to The Hobbit and building The Hobbit Home (we decided not to save it and switched it out with a different set to save for February) and Barrel Escape among other things!
Around the house…
lots of kiddos in new Christmas Pajamas… Christmas morning just gets better every year!
This gorgeous St. Francis Tenner, which I gave to my mom for Christmas, was made by Barbara. My mom loved it so much that she said she’d like to order Tenners for each of her children for their birthdays this year. That’s a lot of Tenners! 😉
Monday :: New Year’s Eve Party
Wednesday – Thursday :: Enjoy the rest of our Christmas Break
Friday :: Mass and Brunch with Father C.
Saturday :: Attend the Vigil Mass and take down our Christmas tree… (Unless I want to figure out how to do it myself this year!) Our Nativity Sets will remain out until February 2nd – Candlemas Day.
Sunday :: Celebrate Epiphany; Sean leaves in the early morning for another training session… He will be gone for three weeks. Please keep us in your prayers!
Great photos! My husband gave me a copy of Mother Love for Christmas. It's such a great book. I've been dividing my free time between reading that and a few other books he gave me for Christmas.
Sigh, I miss you guys! It has been too long since I have seen you guys. Looks like you had a great Christmas!
The Rob Inglis unabridged Hobbit and Lord of the Rings are indeed wonderful! We have listened to them over and over! (The movies are great, but I don't think anything can match the books!) Have a wonderful new year!
Great pics! I was just wondering, how to you store your Legos? Our oldest boys have reached Lego age and now we are wondering how to keep the pieces together & organized (and away from the wee ones!)
Thanks & Merry Christmas!
Katherine 🙂
Hello Katherine,
I'm still working on a system for storing our legos. I haven't purchased any for our girls, so they all stay in the boys room. Some are on a wall shelf (I want to get a few more), others are displayed on their bookcase and dresser, and the rest are in boxes in the closet. When the legos are out and on the floor I use a baby gate for the bedroom doorway to keep the baby out.
I love Charlotte's Lego Trays, but my boys have under bed drawers, otherwise I would have made some by now!
I'm glad you could use the neck warmer =) Merry Christmas and May God continue to bless you in this New Year!
What a wonderful time at the movies with your sons and brother. and I think it so lovely that you got to hang out with your siblings bowling:) Love your Christmas morning photo:)
We also loved The Hobbit and enjoyed going with a few of our sons! I can't believe my older boys never got into Lego's but my younger 2 are VERY into them. We need a system for storage as well, for now we have a basket on the fireplace holding them. It only works because the baby is 5.
Looks like a great time bowling, we love to do that as a family. Since moving we've not found a local lane that is not over priced. We do miss the dollar nights from Front Royal, VA.
Where do you find all of the matching pajamas? You have such a beautiful family!!!
Thanks! Great link–I think that (& the babygate) could work in our home!
I've tried googling Lego storage ideas, but most of the ideas I've found don't take into consideration a big family with little children 🙂 Thanks again & God Bless!
Thank you! The pajamas are all from Gymboree. 🙂 I buy them every year as soon as they are on sale, and before they sell out! This year I almost missed them, but our local store happened to have one of each of the sizes I needed, even though they were sold out online. Whew!!
Glad you got to enjoy the Hobbit! Are you familiar with http://www.pluggedin.com? They have very useful, detailed Christian movie reviews for families and could possible save parents time from having to pre-screen certain movies.
No I am not. Thanks for the link! I'll have to check that out.