{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

It's a busy season in our house! I haven't had much time to sit down and write, but here's a little view of what we've been doing:

{pretty}

Eco-dyed eggs for Easter.

Easter bread ready to the Feast!


{happy}

After two weeks of rain and storms, sun!


{real}

Hail one evening at suppertime.

Strong winds brought down this tree branch Thursday afternoon. Thank goodness it wasn't any closer to the house!

A Photo Review...

Not sure we have a box big enough to pack the cabinet children...

Pretty sure this isn't what a colonial silversmith had in mind for this candle-snuffer...

New shirts and books from a dear friend (so grown up!)...

Lots of cooking baking (and licking the beater) will get us through this winter!

This little guy is shattering the Amazing Baby records in our house left and right! Intentional smiles at three weeks, rolling at 2.5 months...just stay little!

September Recap!

We have an an unusually busy September! We've been on the go almost every day, and have found ourselves double-booked a few times! Here's a quick look at what we've been up to the last few weeks:

Nature walk at Rice Creek...

M. had the camera for most of the morning taking pictures for his nature journal...

Making playdough...

Visiting the orchard on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon. We had some apple fritters, took a wagon ride, did the maze, and of course came home with apples...

Experimented with making green smoothies (our new favorite snack)...

Reading about chimpanzees...

The "baby" turned 14 months old!

We celebrated Michaelmas this week with a co-op field trip to another farm for a tour and to play (no pictures!). Later that same day we attended the Upshernish of a friend. This family has three sons very close in age to ours and it was very touching to be included.

The next day our namesday celebration continued with a playgroup featuring apples...

A namesday gift for the boys...

We played outside in our new hazmat rain suits...

There you go! Our month in a nutshell. October does not look nearly as busy and I hope we can get back on track with our school schedule. We've been working on a mural on our at-home days I'm eager to share!

My Week in Review

Wednesday Afternoon: M. falls out of swing and cuts lip.

Friday Afternoon: N. gets finger stuck in vacuum and rips skin off. Call 911 and discover that they "don't do anything for broken fingers so just watch it." It's not broken but bleeds intermittently for two days.

Sunday Lunchtime: N. falls out of booster chair, fortunately to the side and not forward into table.

Sunday Bedtime: N. attempts to dive off of changing table. Fortunately, I have a hand on him and catch him as he is hanging upside down. Reflexes like a cat.

I think I lost five years off my life (at least). I need a cookie. And a hug.

It is June...

...and I am wearing wool socks.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

Early Morning Art

After reading SouleMama's post about art in the morning, I decided to give it a try! I think it will help create a more peaceful, serene setting during the morning rush. Too often, Big Brother is running around underfoot begging for books, getting in Dad's work bag, spilling syrup, etc. while my husband is trying to get his things together and I'm making breakfast.

I can't believe creating a focused early morning activity (whether it be a puzzle, art, or a practical life exercise) didn't occur to me before!

Today he worked on watercolors (easily our favorite media!) and after the kitchen was cleaned up, I joined in. I love playing with colors and today I also felt a little Beatrix Potter-esque. Wishful thinking for spring with my trees and bushes in bloom!

Checkerboard Cake

My sister gave my mother a checkerboard cake pan set for her birthday this year, and my mother lent it to me to test out this week. This morning the boys and I gave it a shot. I used one my own recipes and made a two-layer, rather than three-layer cake.

The pans weren't hard to use, but did take a little time to fill since the batter must be spooned instead of poured. It was a little messy, but that's half the fun, right?

Here's what one layer looked like after I finished adding the batter to the pan, but before I removed the divider:

Ready for the oven!

(I experimented with pink and white layers since we're considering using these for a baby shower we're hosting this month!)

Yum!

Daily Rhythm and Weekly Household Routines

I've been working on a tweaking our daily activities and household management tasks this week. During my pregnancy, most things fell by the wayside and we only stuck to the essentials. Now that the new baby is a month old, it's time to really refocus and get back in the swing of things!

Daily Rhythm

Morning:

Wake-up Routine
Prepare Breakfast/Eat/Clean-up
Circle Time
Daily Chore/Laundry
Outside Play/Gardening and/or Nature Walk
Snack & Bible Story/Saint of the Day/Other Religious Instruction
AM Activity (Little Acorn, Seasons of Joy, Catholic Mosaic or Other)

Afternoon:

Prepare Lunch/Eat/Clean-up
Art
Read/Play/Quiet time
Playroom Cleanup
Snack
PM Activity (Mommy Teach Me, Little Acorn, Seasons of Joy, Catholic Mosaic or Other) and/or Outside Playtime
Tidy Playroom/Misc. Household Tasks

Evening:

Make Supper/Eat/Clean-up
Evening Prayer
Play/Read/Misc. Household
Bedtime Routine (Bath, Snack, Story, Bed)


Daily Household Routines

Wash Diapers
Make Beds, Straighten Bedrooms
Wipe-down Bathrooms
Sweep/Vacuum Kitchen
Dishes/Dishwasher
Counters and Table, Clean Sink (as needed)
General Pick-up
Garbage/Recycling
Cats

Weekly Cleaning Routines

Monday: Clean Bathrooms, Wash Towels and Cleaning Cloths

Tuesday: Vacuum Upstairs, Clean/Declutter Bedrooms, Change & Wash Bedding

Wednesday: Baking Day, Laundry Catch-up (if needed)

Thursday: Clean/Declutter Playroom and Music Room, Boys’ Laundry

Friday: Clean Kitchen and Pantry/Laundry Room, Meal Planning and Grocery List, Parents’ Laundry

Saturday: Homeschool Planning, Prep for Sunday (including meals), Seasonal Outdoor Tasks, Laundry Catch-up (if needed)

I'm planning a post to go into more detail about our homeschool "preschool" program.

Also, my household tasks outline doesn't include monthly, seasonal or yearly tasks, but I roughly follow this chart. I recommend it for everybody. It makes things so simple!

Life in Our House

Last night while DH and I were sitting in the playroom discussing DS's birthday gift (we've had our eye on this, but due to the cost DH is going to make it instead), that same little boy proclaimed he wanted to play with playdough. Since it was so close to bedtime, DH and I said no, wait until tomorrow. He seemed to take it in stride, and wandered back to the kitchen.

A few moments later, we came to collect him to go upstairs. Upon entering the kitchen, however, we discovered that while DS had taken our "no" to playdough seriously, the dictum didn't apply to his paint. Take heart: the situation is not nearly as serious as it could have been! While he was in his paint basket and had opened a bottle of green paint, he had poured the paint from the plastic bottle into an old baby food jar that was also in the basket. He then replaced the cap on the original plastic bottle.

There was only one drop of paint in the cupboard, a small smear on the floor, and a little bit on two of his fingertips. Thanks to the magic of Crayola and their chemical-loaded washable paint all was cleaned up in a minute. I put a cap on the baby food jar and we went off to bed.

Here's a photo of DS's handywork. Not too bad for a not-quite 23 month old, is it? I promise I did not clean up these jars one bit.

So add pouring and squeezing paint jars to the list of things he's accomplished in the past month, along with the lock and doorknob on every door in the house (so far he's escaped once and locked me out twice), climbing to the top of his dresser to play with his CD player (he can climb down too), and potty learning.

I feel like I've aged.

Our Daily Routine

We have fallen into a new routine around here over the past month or so, in part because DS is getting up quite early in the morning. It's been working well despite my bleary eyes, and I think we're actually getting more accomplished every day.

I don't go by the clock too much, other than getting supper on the table and plotting bedtime!

• Awake and breakfast (anytime between 4:15-6:30). EARLY!
• Make supper and/or bake
• Read with DS while food cooks/bakes
• Exercise
• Shower and dressed
• Snack time
• Computer time
• Depending on moods and the time, we either will have a nap or start work on daily chores/projects/laundry. If he doesn't nap before hand, it's definitely naptime once our housework is done.
• Lunch
• Finish household tasks/laundry
• Playtime/school/outside/art
• Snack, if necessary, or supper
• Family time/prayers (if DH is home, but he usually works late or has choir and other church obligations)
• Evening routine: bath, books, bed. DS is asleep no later than eight o'clock, and I usually follow before long.

This isn’t everything, of course. Lots of little jobs and distractions pop up, but the main highlights are there. Other than our morning routine (waking through snack time), the day is pretty fluid. I frequently stop what I'm doing to read or play with DS. Sometimes we don't do any housework and just have a "down" day (especially if DS doesn't nap).

My mom comes to visit once a week, and those days I'm usually able to have a longer rest or spend a little more time working on a project or cleaning. Once a week, we go to playgroup or out to run errands and those days we don't usually follow our plan other than the first and last parts of the day. Since we live so far off the beaten track in an area prone to very changeable weather conditions and gas is so expensive, we really limit our time away from the house and I try to combine errands and activities. It can make for long days away from home, but it’s worth it in the long run.

One thing I’d like to add for Lent, is attending daily Mass at least once a week (Friday).

Hot Soup...

...on a rainy, dreary Sunday!

A Day in the Life

I had a suggestion to write a post (including pictures!) of a day in our household. Yesterday I tried to make note and photograph most of what I did during the day. I hope I can remember everything! I know I forgot to take pictures a few times.

Upon waking yesterday morning, I aired the beds, dressed in my walking attire, then dressed and cleaned up my Sidekick. Once we got downstairs, DS headed for his toys and I hopped online to check my e-mail for a few minutes. The Little Guy and I had breakfast and I had a phone call from a friend.

I fell behind on laundry over the weekend. I blame the weatherman because he had predicted thunderstorms for Saturday, so I was afraid to hang out the laundry. Wouldn't you know it, Saturday was fine and Sunday was foul, and as a result by Monday morning I was facing Mt. Laundry!

I sorted and started the first load and while DS ran around I straightened up the table and washed the dishes.

The kitchen was a disaster too after a busy weekend. Somehow the Sunday paper, half read, always manages to take over the table. I reshelved some books while I waited for the washer to finish its cycle.

We hung out the first load of laundry and DS ran around picking flowers and playing in his climbing cube. I started the second load and while the wash was washing, we went for our walk!

Once we returned home, I hung the second load of wash outside. Once we came back in the house, I nursed the Little Guy and read a few blogs and updated mine. After that, we headed upstairs so I could take a shower and make the beds.

We came back downstairs for lunch. After lunch, I made the hummingbird nectar and set it in the fridge to cool. While it was cooling, I started the diapers in the washer. DS and I had some playtime, and I tried unsuccessfully to get him down for a nap. After hanging the diapers to dry in the sun, we came inside to test the new breadmaker (Honey Wheat)!

Once the breadmaker was started, the nectar was cool enough to hang back outside. It seemed like my Sidekick had decided against a nap, I did a quick clean of the downstairs bathroom then we hauled ourselves upstairs to do a deep-clean of the upstairs bathroom.

By the time I had finished that (DS watched from his swing), it was 4:00 and I was pooped! We settled on the couch to read Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel and then Moo, Baa, La La La. I can't remember exactly what we did after that, but I know I eventually wandered in to the kitchen to start thinking about supper.

Around 5:00, DH came home very excited because the new ignitor we had ordered for the oven came in! He decided to fix it while I made supper (French Toast, ham, and fruit). I had scrambled around earlier in the day for something that didn't require the use of my oven since it hasn't been heating for the past week or so.

He was victorious in no time at all! Yay! After supper, I cleaned up the kitchen and DH and DS played the organ for a little while. I retrieved the wash from outside to fold.

By that time, the bread was done and we just had to sample it! Not bad for the first attempt with a new breadmaker!

We relaxed on the couch for a little while and had some ice cream then I checked my e-mail one more time then took the Little Guy upstairs to get him ready for bed. I folded the laundry and put it away in between nursing DS down for bed (several times).

After that it was time for my bedtime routine and sleep-- at least until the next time DS woke to nurse!