Weight on Wednesday
It’s back! Regina finally decided to start Weight on Wednesday once again. WoW sure helped me lose some weight last year when I was participating, but after being pregnant, and all the sweets I somehow justified during Thanksgiving and Christmas I gained it all back. So, I will be joining you Regina, and have my weight jotted down, all ready for next week… Anyone else what to join the Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany
Today was the 12th day of Christmas and the Traditional Feast of the Epiphany, also known as Little Christmas!!
Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Epiphany. “The Lord and ruler is coming; kingship is his, and government and power.” With these words the Church proclaims that today’s feast brings to a perfect fulfillment all the purposes of Advent. Epiphany, therefore, marks the liturgical zenith of the Advent-Christmas season. — Pius Parsch From Catholic Culture
This morning, in honor of the Epiphany, I had the hutch set up with books, coloring pages, treats, and some Christmas Morning Bread. (I loved how the Little People Wise Men were added right away by one of my little people!!)
This year our children received another new book that I had purchased a few months ago, We Three Kings
We also blessed our home and read The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaola. (This one is out-of-print, but I was so excited when I was able to find an inexpensive used copy on Amazon last year, since it is one of our favorites!)
We didn’t have a chance to read The Last Straw
After everyone’s school work was done, we baked cookies. I had given them the option of making either a crown cake or cookies, but they choose star shaped cookies, since that is what we made last year. (It amazes me how they can remember these things… but then again, I am glad they DO!!)
The girls had so much fun rolling out the dough and cutting out the cookies by themselves! They are growing up TOO fast!
We had leftover lemon frosting in the fridge from the Feast of St. John, so we frosted the cookies and then added yellow sprinkles to finish them off.
Flapper Hat Girls
Marie Antoinette Award
I’ve been nominated for the Marie Antoinette Award by Totus Tuus Family! Merci! (BOY do I have her fooled!! 😉
The rules for this award are to display the icon and send it on to 7 other bloggers I feel are real in who they are. (and that I would LOVE to meet someday!)
I’m sure my list could go on and on, but I am going to tag:
Thank you ladies for keeping it real and being such an inspiration to me at the same time!
Oh and before I go, I also want to thank Jenn for the Premio Dardos award. Thank you Jenn, what an honor!! If you haven’t read Jenn’s blog, be sure to click over and check it out. She is amazing!!
The Octamom Award
Before I post the rules, for The Octamom Award, grab your chocolates!
1) You must eat a piece of chocolate in honor of accepting The Octamom Award.
2) You must eat yet another piece of chocolate when you put the award on your blog.
3) Try to go by and see the other good folks I’m going to put a link up for.
4) Feel free to add or subtract from the rules as suits your fancy…except that chocolate one…I must insist on that.
With that I am sending this on to the following bloggers:
Regina
Amy
Aubrey
Jamie
Michelle and Michele
Erin
Eileen
Jen
Aimee
Lori
Kristyn
Christie, Christine and Christine
Angela
Shelly
and to Sara, Sarah and Sarah
Oh, I could just keep going and going, so since it says I can, and since I don’t want anyone to feel left out— if you also want the award, leave your name and link in the comments and consider yourself awarded! Don’t forget to eat the chocolate, it’s a rule!!
My Daybook ~ January 6, 2009
The Traditional Feast of the Epiphany
I am thinking… and praying for one of our Godsons who is having some testing done to day.
I am thankful… that my children are all healthy (other than common colds/flu), and that my hubby has a (fairly) secure job. There are so many others out there that are dealing with crosses in these areas.
From the kitchen… I promised the kids that (after their school work is done) we will make a batch of star shaped cookies like we did last year for the feast of the Epiphany. I also picked up a loaf of Harry & David’s Christmas Morning Bread that we are going to have for a mid-morning snack.
From the school room… Ahhh! The school room! It is so nice to be getting back into a bit of a routine! The boys have been sick, but even still, I think they are happy to be back to school too. I haven’t planned any extra projects this week… We are just concentrating on getting the basics done, including Math and History. (Though History was begginning to feel like an “extra“, and the boys have been begging for it!) I reworked our schedule for the year, and to finish Math by mid June, we need to do one lesson a day including Fridays and we will still be able to finish. Whew! I finally feel like I have a plan and that we can accomplish it!
I am creating… new lesson plans in Edu-Tract for the boys and a new schedule for myself.
I am going… to start posting my weight-loss/gain each week once again. I use to do this each Wednesday, and it was really helping. I think starting next week I will add it to my daybooks. I weighed and measured this morning, and boy do I have my work cut out for me.
I am wearing… my new “hearthside” slippers all the time. They are so comfy!
I am reading… We Three Kings
I am hoping… that everyone gets over this cold/flu quickly.
I am hearing… Tales from the Old Testament
Around the house… let’s see. Hubby painted trim during our Christmas break, and I just *love* going into our living room and looking at the painted trim above our front door. It has needed to be painted since we added on, umm, 4 years ago. I had gotten use to it, and now every time I walk into the living room it catches my eye and makes me smile! (Same with the cabinets in the hallway… They look so pretty white!)
I am also loving our new VCR/DVD COMBO player that my auntie gave us for Christmas! She and Julio (her exchange student) babysat for us when I was in the hospital, and they couldn’t figure out how to hook the DVD player up. You see, to use the DVD you would need to unhook the VCR and visa versa, and they couldn’t figure it out. It is so nice not to have to do this anymore! I feel so spoiled!!
One of my favorite things… is this beautiful new picture that was given to us for Christmas from a friend of ours!! I am still trying to decide where to hang it up, there are so many places I’d like to put it! =)
We won’t be going anywhere this week, just Mass next Sunday! We will be staying home, cleaning up from Christmas, and working on fine tuning our daily schedule. Next week is going to be super busy, so I’m going to enjoy this quiet week at home and hopefully everyone will be well again soon!
A picture thought I am sharing:
Epiphany gifts from Grandma and Grandpa in Arizona! Here’s the link…
..to the program our tutor has used to correct Captain’s Auditory Processing Challenge:
We have a number of sick children in our home right now, plus it was a busy day being our first day back to school, but quite a few of you emailed me asking about what we’ve been using so I figured a post would be the quickest way to get back to you all. (I hope you don’t mind!) ☺
I spoke with Sue (our tutor) earlier this evening, and she said that they have 40 Learning Centers across the country offering trainings, so for those of you looking for help in this area, there just might be one near you, or someone that has been trained and is offering services.
I can’t say enough good things about this program. Before starting with Sue I had tried everything, or so it seemed: Play-N-Talk, Kindergarten Phonics For Young Catholics, Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons, Sound Beginnings, Little Angel Readers, MCP Phonics, Phonics Pathways, and Alpha Phonics. We made progress with Alpha Phonics, but hit another brick wall when we got to the long vowels at lesson 72. (Turns out it was the vowels that had been causing most of the problems.) I’m not saying that these programs aren’t good programs, they are! They just didn’t work for Captain.
Well, time for me to sign off… God Bless!
Looking Back at 2008
The other night I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up (way too late) and was looking back through my old posts of 2008! WOW!! What a busy year… No wonder I am exhausted!
In January I said Goodbye to my 20’s and turned 30. Our family also participated in our local March for Life.
In February we celebrated Rascal’s birthday and Valentine’s Day. I also made ornaments for our Jesus Tree, embarked on a mission to reduce the clutter, and cut Chiquita’s hair for the first time.
In March I reflected on peace (which I should do more often!), was surprised by snow and made a Butterfly Lap Book with Twinkle Toes. I also attempted an extensive Spring Cleaning of our home. OH, and I can’t forget our Easter plans, hubby’s birthday, or that I was amazed at the generosity of others, when we were able to raise $3250 and countless prayers for our dear friends, the Hadley’s! (Please continue to pray for them!)
Even after the crazy weather, March did indeed go out like a lamb, and with lamb cupcakes to boot!
In April we celebrated Chiquita’s birthday.
I took lots of photos for the April Shower of Photos and launched Catholic Cuisine (hubby came up with the name!). Of all the photos I took, the ones for the 3rd and 4th were my favorites:
May was a BUSY month… CRAZY busy!!!
In May I found out that I am intolerant to just about everything… I also learned that if I stay away from those foods my energy goes up, my weight goes down, and I am such a happier person. I haven’t been staying away from those foods. Need I say more?
I also traveled to Washington for the totally awesome Northwest Catholic Homeschooling Conference! While there I learned a number of things. First of all, never leave anything in your car. Second, my insurance company ROCKS! Third, I found out that I set unachievable goals. And finally, Fourth, I am married to am man with superpowers.
I had my First Blogoversary!!
I also made Trip Journals for my kids and packed for our 3 week road trip to Nebraska and Arizona, for my Brother-in-laws Ordination and First Mass at which our oldest received his First Holy Communion from the newly ordained Father who is also his Godfather!
Speaking of this First Communion, one of my favorite blog posts from this past year was “Almost Excommunicated“.
From Nebraska we drove down to Arizona and that drive was the worst EVER. By the grace of God, hubby and I survived it with out going completley nuts.
Our trip continued through mid June and we had a great time once we arrived in Arizona, and got to visit my in-law’s and then to California to see my Grandparents. I never did get around to posting pictures from those visits… I’m starting to wonder if I ever will?
Despite coming down with that awful bug, we had a wonderful trip… However, you didn’t hear me complaining when we started seeing mountains once again and arrived home!
In June we also celebrated Snuggles first birthday! Here is the slide show of pictures from his first year.
In July I nearly killed myself trying to put on a birthday party for Captain, with 31 children/adults, while hubby was away fighting fires. Thankfully my Aunt and Brother helped out, but it still took me a week to recover! I felt like I went through Boot Camp!
During July, we were also worried about Snuggles (who is just fine) and deeply saddened by the sudden infant death of my nephew.
In July and August we were so blessed to be able to attend Marci’s weekly Summer with the Saints.
In August Twinkle Toes turned 5, six weeks of daily swimming lessons came to an end, and I was super busy preparing for the 200-2009 school year.
On September 1st we were blessed with our 7th Godchild! We have always had the same number of children as godchildren, and so I knew it was just a matter of time till I would be expecting…
In September we also had our first day of school. I started a new Little Flowers Group for my girls and 9 others. And hubby was dispatched to another fire and gone most of the month. (Thankfully he was close enough that we were able to visit him a couple times.)
In October, hubby got home just in time to celebrate the feast of St. Therese and our anniversary on October 2nd. I really enjoyed looking back at our wedding day. Shortly after, sure enough, we found out that we were expecting another little one in June.
A few of our activities this month included a trip to the Pumpkin Patch, Learning to Sew, and our All Saint’s Party.
November was a very hard month. It started as usual with the Annual All Souls Mass at a local cemetery. Little did we know that we would be heading back to the cemetery later that month to bury our little Gabriel.
Amidst our sadness, we were blessed to spend Thanksgiving with my family and visit with my sister and her family who live on the opposite side of the country (and will be moving even father away–to Japan–this coming summer after she delivers her little one), which meant that Snuggles got to meet his Godparents and we got to meet a godson/nephew of ours as well! This also meant that my parents got to have all their grandchildren over at the same time!
December couldn’t come soon enough and I was happy to distract myself with St. Nicholas Day and getting ready for Christmas! I loved seeing my girls dressed for Santa Lucia Day! We all enjoyed it when my brother took us all on a trip to the Farm. And before the end of the year, Snuggles finally started walking, even with SHOES on!! We were even able to get a family picture taken for our Christmas card. (Here’s my other favorite, but it was a bit blurry.)
This year we were also blessed with Mrs K., Captain’s tutor, who has made a world of difference for me this year. Captain has gone from not being able to read to being 10 lessons away from finishing his Auditory Processing Program!! He will have finished the program with only 67 lessons (it should have taken at least 120!) and his tutor says this is due to the foundation he has been given at home! She has also been squeezing in short lessons with Rascal and Twinkle Toes, and will continue with them until summer. It has been hard financially, but I can’t tell you how much of a relief it has been to know that I wasn’t a complete failure at homeschooling, and that his learning challenge could be fixed!!
Somewhere, amidst all of our busyness, we celebrated feast days and fell behind in Math and History (which are now a high priorities for 2009!). Speaking of school, our Christmas break is now over and tomorrow we must get back to some sort of routine, which means its time for me to get to bed! Goodnight and God Bless!
Advent Lap Book
I mentioned that during Advent my boys were each making an Advent Lap Book.
To prepare I purchased the wonderful Advent Faith Folder from Holy Learning (previously Faith Folders for Catholics) and printed out all the pages that the boys would need. I also picked up Purple File Folders from Staples.
The boys worked on their books a little bit each week during Advent.
Here are a few pictures of Rascal’s finished lapbook, starting with the front cover. Images were provided to paste onto the cover, but Rascal decided to draw his own.
Here is a picture of the inside. In the middle, on the green extension page, there is an Advent calendar for keeping track of good deeds throughout Advent. I loved this, and so did the boys! They stayed busy doing many good deeds and then coloring in the boxes during Advent. On each side are mini-books shaped like candles, one for each week of Advent. These books include information about Advent, the Advent Wreath Prayers, Gospel Readings, and reflection questions for each week, as well as a couple blank pages for the boys to answer the questions.
On the back of the extension page is an Advent Reflections book. Each page has a question for the children to reflect on and answer. I loved that the download included different options for these pages. Rascal choose the blank pages and drew pictures of his answers.
Behind the extension, in the middle of the lap book are four more mini-books: Preparing for Christ, Saints and Feast Days for the Advent Season, Gifts for Jesus, and the Signs and Symbols of the Advent Season.
On the back cover is the Jesse Tree. I didn’t get a picture of it, but there was also a scripture booklet to go along with the Jesse Tree! The cover also works as an envelope (see the green paper? it is only glued down on the sides), so the booklet can be stored inside!
This was such a great project, perfect for Advent!
Chiquita’s First Time…
Yesterday we took all of our children Ice Skating with our homeschool group. They all had so much fun!
At first we were just going to let the 3 oldest skate, but Chiquita kept telling hubby, “I want to skate too!!” Hubby asked her if she just wanted a ride in the stroller or if she wanted to put skates on and actually skate. Being the adventurous 3 year old that she is, she opted for the skates. All the walkers had already been rented, but since 5 and under are free and my sisters were skating and willing to help her, we let her anyway.
Chiquita skated the whole session and had a blast!
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