Site Title

recent posts

about

  • Military Meme

    Here’s a military meme my IRL friend, Jennifer, tagged me for:

    Which moving box is your favorite to reuse: dish pack or books box? Books box.  We always have a bunch of them and the movers are always grumbling about how we have so many heavy book boxes.

    Ship the car overseas way ahead or at the last minute? I’d ship ahead, but I’ve never had to decide.

    Stay where you are for state homeschooling laws or roll the dice and deal? Stay but that’s because this is where my family lives.

    Stay planted during deployment or move back with family? I’ve done both, but I think having our own home is preferable.

    Prefer to live on post or off? This is really tough.  Living on post can be a hassle and the homes can be SOOOOO old (allergy causing), but you save a ton of money.  However, with the health of my girls in mind, I’d have to say off post (Army people call base, a post–as in a posting).

    Moving is a nauseating headache or a grand adventure? Have I mentioned I just hate dislike moving?

    Have nice furniture now or wait until retirement when all the moving’s done? It’s not about moving or retirement–it’s all about the kids.  Wait until I’m through with toddlers and preschoolers.

    Total combined years of tdy/deployment time can be counted on one hand or two? I can’t even being to calculate all the times we’ve been apart.  I’d say it’s 2 hands.

    When you hear from your deployed soldier, what touches your heart more: email or a phone call? Phone calls.  Nothing like the give and take of a conversation even if it’s about mundane things such as purchasing shoes for the children.

    Your favorite combat boots: shiny black or desert suede? Desert suede!!!  No more black shoe polish on my floors!!

    This was way fun.  I’ll see if I can think of any military bloggers I can tag.  One comes to mind Kim of Starry Sky Ranch.  If I missed you, please forgive me.  So many of you have prayed for me during my husband’s deployment, but I am at a loss.  If you are or were military, please consider yourself tagged!!

  • Cozy Comforts

    There’s nothing like an ice storm and Daddy being home to make for a fun day.  The older three went outside to play with the ice this morning.  They played in the gutters "slushy stream", broke icicles off the pickup, ran around the backyard among other things.  Then they came in looking quite adorable.

    Img_3831_1 

    Red noses!

    Img_3832

    Img_3833

    And, ears!

    Img_3829

    They brought this back for me.  You can’t really tell, but it was ice on a weed leaf.  Honey called it a leaf icicle.  You could see the imprint of the leaf in it, but I don’t think you can in the picture.

    Then the kids had hot chocolate although I was later told that Papa told them they could put ice in it.  They loved that idea immensely.  One of them said, "We put ice in it so that it wouldn’t be hot." 

    Img_3834

    Img_3835

    Img_3836

    Img_3837

  • Icy Cold

    Today was another one of those cold, icy days.  I can still hear the freezing rain pelting our windows.  My family who live one hour south of here had snow.  It’s a light dusting, but when it only snows about every 4 years, it’s a big deal.  Here are some shots from around my yard.

    Img_3805

    This was earlier in the day.  My husband had to work even though it took forever to get to work.  They were released early so the children had some good quality time with Daddy.  Also, it gave me about an hour to unpack some boxes before starting dinner.

    Img_3808

    I took this in the afternoon after my husband came home.  That’s just the frozen rain that has accumulated.  And, here’s my final picture of the icicles that are much longer than yesterday.

    Img_3809

  • Too Cute

    Pumpkin was being just too cute today.  Take a look for yourself.

    Img_3818

    Amen.

    Img_3819

    Img_3820

    Bowing before communion.  She really pays attention during mass!!

    Img_3822

    Who’s that?

    Img_3821

    She just prays everywhere!!  Oh, and she’s wearing fresh jammies in the last two pictures.  She has a bad cold so I kept her in her jammies since they keep her footsies so nice and toasty (she refuses to wear socks in the house).  Normally, I wouldn’t worry too much about it, but it’s freezing here and we’re not used to it.

  • Honey’s Art

    Honey was quite busy today.  She loves to draw people.  For the longest time she would draw those potato-head type people–big heads with arms and feet attached to their heads.  Now, she draws bodies, but she demands they have clothes.  Here’s her rendition of me:

    Img_3811

    Then she drew her self portrait:

    Img_3816

    But wait!!!  She forgot the purse.

    Img_3817

    Here she is in action.

    Img_3815

  • Loveliness of New Year’s Resolutions

    Leonie has our newest Loveliness Fair up on her blog.  It’s all about New Year’s Resolutions.  Grab a mug of tea and see what we are all resolving to do this year.  Isn’t it great to start a new year with some fresh goals?

  • Icy Day

    Well, this is more like my nature study, but I went out this morning and took these pictures.  The weather has been cold.  I mean, we had 70 degree weather on Friday and now, look:

    Img_3800

    That’s ice on my windshield.  Img_3801 And, these are icicles!!  Okay, they’re only about an inch and half long, but, hey, I live in central Texas. 

    Img_3802

    Here’s my last one.  Ice in my grass.  We had quite a bit of rain last night and some of it froze.  By the afternoon, the ice pretty much melted in most spots except where it’s really shady.  We’re expected to have more rain and colder overnight temperatures.  I’m loving it.  I feel like we’re back in Liberty, Missouri.

  • New Years’ Resolutions

    I hadn’t planned on participating in this particular fair, but I thought if I did, maybe I would have some accountability.  Not that y’all would check on me, but at least it’s out there in written form instead of in my mind where I could change pretend I didn’t make not own up to having made these resolutions.  So, here goes:

    • Exercise.  I plan to get some.  I have this grand plan, but know that I won’t be able to really do that every week.  So, a reasonable one for me is to take in at least 3 days a week of exercise.  The days may be different, but I will follow the schedule I have set.
    • Organize my financial life.  I take care of the finances, but for the past year I’ve been very unorganized.  I’m still unpacking so my office is a mess, but I need to get my act together.  I’ve lost 2 bills that I’ve missed the deadline on.  It’s not a good way to start the new year.  So, my goal is to keep on top of my bills and not be late.  Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know where the water bill is either.  Yikes!!
    • Be more diligent about read alouds.  I need to set chunks of time aside to read all the wonderful books I’ve accumulated over the past year from the recommendations of the 4 Real Learning messageboards, Real Learning book list, Mater Amabilis curriculum and many other places.  Our days tend to just flow not based on time but on what is next on the list.  I need to schedule read alouds in to our day.  This flows then right into the next one.
    • Have a more structured day.  We do not do well with having our day scheduled too rigidly because if we happen to miss the time for, say, school to start, my autistic son would not be able to recover easily.  So, I like to have our day structured by task.  For instance, when we return from therapy, we have lunch, then naptime for baby, then school once she’s asleep.  This helps all the children know how the day will run and they usually don’t have a meltdown when we transition.  Having said that, I will admit to not always following a schedule after school is done.  That makes for a free form day which does not work too well (meaning nothing ever gets done because we’re all just playing).  Also, I need to make a schedule for everyone with pictures so that everyone will know what’s coming next. 
    • Have more fun with the kids.  I want our days to include more fun things.  It could even be just a fun thing we do each week.  I don’t know I just know I need to be more fun.  I’m too much of a work, work, work person and let the kids just go play on their own.  So, I need to set aside some time to have fun with them.
    • Nature.  I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m just not an outdoorsy type of person.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love nature–from afar.  However, my children love the outdoors as most children do.  So, this is one of my biggest ones and the one I am most apt to fail at.  Nature study.  Nature walks.  Learning more about our surroundings. 
    • Spiritual growth.  I have so many books to read that I’ve purchased this past year.  It’s a compulsion I’m trying to overcome.  I’ll see a book recommended, fall in love with it, purchase it, and it sits on my shelves because I don’t have the time to read it.  It takes me a long time to read books that require a lot of thinking because I have to concentrate so hard.  So, I want to get through all the books, and try not to purchase any more.
    • Prayer growth.  Pray the rosary more often.  Try to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet every day.  We already pray the chaplet often so I want to get it in every day.

    Well, that’s quite a hefty list now that I’ve put it on paper (so to speak). 

  • Joy

    Every other Monday, we participate in Little Flowers and Blue Knights.  Brother and Sister enjoy their time.  This past Monday, I was the leader for the Little Flowers group.  The saint and virtue were Saint Clare and joy. 

    Img_3748

    Luckily for me, I had the book Clare and Francis to read to the girls.  After reading the book and discussing it, we went on to praying the rosary.  We prayed the Mother Angelica version of the Joyful Mysteries.  Our craft project was a rosary hanger.  I stole borrowed this idea from Alice’s post about her Mary altars.  Everything sort of tied together somehow.  We prayed the Joyful Mysteries by the Poor Clares of Mother Angelica and then made a hanger for each of the girls’ rosaries.

    Img_3756

    Here’s my sweet girl painting her rosary hanger.  She helped pick all the colors for the project.  She was just so excited to have me there as her teacher.  I felt awkward and thought maybe the pace didn’t flow very well, but Sister did not notice.

    Img_3754

    I had told Honey that she could participate in the craft project this time around.  She usually spends this time in the siblings room.  However, we miscalculated the number of Little Flowers and did not have enough wooden pieces.  Honey felt very disappointed, but recovered very well.  The above picture is Honey with Gramma (who was visiting from Massachusetts) reciting the rosary.  I plan on getting another rosary hanger for her to paint soon.

    Img_3753

    This is Pumpkin just being cute.

    While the girls were being Little Flowers, my Blue Knight was doing well in his room.  I don’t have a good picture of him, but I teach the next time so I will have many pictures of Brother.  Now, if only I could think of a craft project for the boys.  We will be doing the topic of the Spear of the Fear of God with Saint Barnabas and Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.  Any ideas?

  • Ten Things I Love that Begin with the Letter “J”

    Dawn started this meme and it has exploded.  My assigned letter is "J".  Boy, it was hard, but with a bit of brainstorming (and some help from hubby), I did it.  Sorry it’s so late.

    1. Jesus.  Need I say more?
    2. My Pumpkin whose real name begins with J.  I couldn’t love you more, my sassy child!!
    3. January.  Oh, to start a new year.  We always have such promise when the new year rolls around.  And, in Texas, January is such a tolerable weather month that we spend many hours outside.  Not like June or July where we are stuck indoors due to the awful heat.
    4. Jet Blue.  For having a nonstop flight from Boston to Austin so that my mother-in-law can easily make a trip to visit her grandchildren. 
    5. Jewelry.  What woman does not like jewelry?
    6. My nephew and godson whose name begins with a J. 
    7. Jane Austen.  I love all her books.  My favorite is Pride and Prejudice and the BBC/A&E movie version is my favorite.  You can’t beat Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy.
    8. John Bosco, as in the saint.  He’s our homeschool’s patron saint.  My middle daughter has loved him since she first saw him in the saint book we have.  Then we read about his life and fell in love with his story.  The name of my blog came from the Vision book about him.
    9. June.  My second daughter, Honey, was born in this month as was my husband.  Two of the some of the most important people in my life came into this world in June.
    10. And, finally.  JOY.  Unadulterated joy/mirthfulness.  The joy of children laughing and playing.  The joy of watching babies.  The joy of learning with your children.  The beauty of "Joy to the World" on Christmas day.