At Home Journal vol. 4

Outside my window:  foggy, chilly and wet...though I do notice more daylight hanging on in the afternoons since we've passed solstice.

Around the house: things are in need of some cleaning.  After the bustle of the holidays passed cleaning was the last thing on my list.  Now, the kitchen floor is hollering for a good wash and the bathrooms would like a scrubbing, especially the toilet.  Julia is not the neatest potty trainer.  Makes me cringe to think about Erik giving it a go!  We've also started cloth diapering again.  So the laundry is once more on schedule...guess that's good.

The baby: is sleeping on my chest as I type this in the Ergo- that both of us love.  He continues on schedule of eat, sleep, poop and is quite content most days unless he has a bubble from one end or the other.  And a content baby means BIG smiles and gooing come our way quite a bit!

The kiddos:  have been at eachother the past few days.  And that leaves me at them...leaving none of us very happy about things.  They have come to new levels of arguing and I am trying not to play referee but things continue to come back to me.  Ugh.  I feel like  I need to renegociate my contract. :)
Katie enjoys bringing Julia to tears and tantrum and Julia enjoys rubbing Katie the wrong way and so the endless cycle.  Currently, Julia is in tears again as Kate has hidden her doll..."Katie make me mad!"  While Katie is harping, "Go check behind the couch...it's not scary."  Argh!

In the kitchen:  We enjoyed a Herb Roast Chicken yesterday.  If you're a fan of easy whole chicken recipes I highly recommend this one!  Kurt also dazzled us with Brie en Croute  that he used to make with Ken and Pat at the Wisconsin House many moons ago.  Delicious!  We also had a friend gift us a freezer casserole that I used this week Wednesday.  A nightmare ensued with Katie 'no casserole'.  That is one thing I don't like about being the one to chose the menu...you can't please all tastes all the time.  We'll see what the weekend holds.  I think Gooch's Pizza Saturday as we don't get FOX and want to watch the Packers in the playoffs at least for a bit.

Bringing me joy:  My mommy friends who keep it real.  We got together yesterday for an Epiphany party.  They are the best!  Baby smiles and snuggles.  A new author, Kate Morton, who's books I've been enjoying.  I got to read The Forgotten Garden over the holidays and loved it and all the fairy tale, Secret Garden references.  Now I am in the middle of reading The Distant Hours. 

Thinking about:  balancing time with my spouse and children...sharing love.  Struggling to work on the plank in my own eye before seeing something in some else's.  Staying healthy and away from the flu without going into hibernation which just the thought of makes me crazy.  My extended family up north, I miss them.  Our Christmas was canceled due to flu.

Picture to share:  Well, I can't seeme to get Blogger to upload right now so it looks like we're pictureless.  But if you're on Facebook check out the video I posted this week!

Halloween and the Holy Ones!

Tinkerbell and Captain Hook on Halloween- it was also Green day at the library so we got to wear our costumes.

Both Kurt and I took the girls trick or treating around one of our blocks here.  It was a great night for a walk and we got to visit with some of our neigbors and limit the houses we hit.

St. Bernadette of Lourdes and St. George ready for our All Saints' Party hosted at our home Thursday.

Here, Katie got one of me- St. Felicity.  Hopefully my labor will not be under such dramatic circumstances as hers.

Crafting up some puppets with our Moms' group for All Saints. Recognize any? 

St. George and St. George

The bigger kids at the party with their puppets- we're missing 4 kiddos from this shot but that's the best we could do.
St. Bernadette, St. Lawerence, St. Elizabeth, St. George, St. Kateri, Angel, St. Therese, St. Rose

Some of my favorite saints all in on spot for a picture!

If you haven't placed your Baby Bets you'd best do that soon! It's November!!!   ;-)

Yes, Lord! VBS 2012

This year our parish didn't host a Vacation Bible School (we'd gone every summer since Katie's birth!) and I was totally bummed.  It didn't work out on our calendar to go elsewhere and the closest parish ended up not doing theirs either. :-(  So, my dear friend Rachael and I decided to do our own.  We took inspiration from other mothers who've done the same and from our years in Totus Tuus and thus VBS 2012 Yes, Lord!

Our week having preschool age children in mind was three mornings of Vacation Bible School rather than the whole week/day long.  We decided to focus on three Old Testament Bible Stories (Noah, Moses, David) and three coinciding mysteries of the Rosary (the first three Joyful Mysteries).  The day consisted of songs, prayer, lessons about each story and mystery, craft, snack and game.  It was enough for our crowd (5 yr. old, 4 yr. old, and two 2 yr. olds, plus a newborn and mom and a pregnant mom) who had occasional meltdowns or moments of being uncooperative (no, I didn't have the meltdown!).  The kids however had a BLAST!  And there were moments of great joy for us moms, too in seeing cooperation, learning and excitement about our faith!

We didn't take many pictures but here are a few off of my phone to share.  I wish we could have had video of the game station- what a hoot!  Especially the Crossing of the Red Sea!  I think we crossed it at least a dozen times before it got old and they wanted to play it again the next day!  If you're interested in our outline or anything like that I'd be happy to share.  Nothing too time consuming!

The stage was set!  Day one- Noah

Snack Time!

The big girls showing off their work!

Crafts!

Our smallest and cutest helper!

The attendees sporting their VBS 2012 T-shirts and smiles.

T Party! Tea Party!

Well, I neglected to take any pictures of the 12 of us (plus babies) sitting around the table this morning drinking tea and munching on tarts, tangerines and Treasures cereal.  I am really disappointed I didn't think to take any till too late.  This and a full dishwasher are all that remain. 

It was quite a treat of a T party to mark T week.  Kate was the utmost party planner and helper, together we dug out a full tea service from the basement, trays, teapots, and tablecloth, too.  We even went out and picked some of our lilacs for centerpieces.  This morning she polished the chairs, vacuumed the floor, helped set the table (cups, saucers, napkins) while I made some 'tarts' (glorified pie dough- dairy and egg free!)  Our friends came dressed in their best (one young gentleman even sported a tie!) and the scene was temporarily idyllic as the manners came out and tea and treats were enjoyed.  Of course, in due time there were tears and tantrums, too.  (But we had to have them, as they begin with T!)  This we moms decided was a party to be repeated as it was such fun!  Perhaps with the kids a bit older next time the tantrums and tears would be less and we might endeavor to try a treasure hunt!

Ta-ta and Tootle-loo!

'C' is for Creek (My 200th post!)

For 'C' week we invited our friends to join us for a field trip with the intention of going to a nearby creek.  The creek we planned on really wasn't child or mud boot friendly so we continued up  the road with a plan B.  My dear husband suggested the night before that if the creek was a washout try heading to a place on the river.  And so our creek was the Mississippi!  Kinda big for creek status but the outcome was just what I was hoping when it came to exploring.    

As you can see from this last shot we were right below the Lock & Dam.  It was one of the last BEAUTIFUL Indian summer days that we had and the picnic following our exploration filled the kiddos and settled them down a bit.  We enjoyed the story Let's Explore a River a great choice with many of the things our kids got to do the children in the book did, too! This thus far was one of my favorite days on the Alphabet Path with Kate (and friends).

7 quick takes (not on Friday)

I haven't done one of these in awhile and it seemingly will fit my needs at the moment as a bit of catch-up here in Kieler.  Since I'm ready before Friday I'll post it now and if I remember link it to Jen's at Conversion Diary on Friday.

1- We've had some company here in Kieler.  My aunt Katie and cousin Heidi paid us a visit in September.  It was fun to have them for the weekend.  We hit Galena to do some window shopping and just enjoyed a visit.  Heidi even stayed to watch the Packers that afternoon! 

2- As you may or may not have been wondering.  I made it to Norway and back.  I returned with some special treats for our Moms Group.  Here are the pictures recording our celebration.  I can't imagine life in Kieler without these ladies from the environs.  They are such blessings to me as friends, sounding boards, support, and comic relief.

3- We harvested our pumpkins a few weeks back.  There were some dandys!  I haven't decided if I am going to process them for pie or just enjoy them for seasonal decoration.  Kurt says according to his favorite t.v. show that pumpkin is the one thing you need not make from scratch for the best taste/most effort. Hmmm.

Isn't she a posing pumpkin?

4- We've been enjoying the fall sports season here in Wisconsin.  The reigning Super Bowl Champs aren't doing so bad, the Badgers had a great win this past weekend and the Brewers- we're not the only ones rooting for them!

Notice Katie's hat?

Root, root, root!!

5- We've as mentioned started our way down the Alphabet Path here at home.  It has been a work in progress for me but that'll have to be a whole post in itself.  Beyond Elizabeth Foss' Serendipity site with all its Alphabet Path links and book recommendations I have been reading her book, Real Learning- Education In the Heart of the Home.   I also must mention that I have found these sites and the work of these folks very helpful and insightful--

On Montessori, Homeschooling, Reading/Literacy, and More-- Heidi's blogs at Work And Play, Day By Day and Work, Play, Read are gems that I continue to return to over and over.

Here's Julia having some sensory play with cornmeal.  She LOVED it!

On all the extras, crafts and fun stuff Catholic as well as great links for Religious Ed--Lacy at Catholic Icing is worth reading.

On trying things out for the first time, Monica and I have found ourselves in similar experiences.  She is full of ideas and as always is keeping it real.

6- We spent some time up north the end of September.  This is the only picture I took. It is my littlest nephew snitching some waffle, that Julia snitched from her cousin Kaylee.  He can't walk yet but was totally cruising on her so he could have a taste or two. 

We came home on Wednesday and brought Kaylee with us!  It was such a treat for the three girls to play together for an extended stay.  They were really well behaved.  We had so much fun!  My folks and family came down for the annual Kieler Parade (have you read about it the past three years?).  The weekend weather was pleasant.  The kiddos just wanted to play and for the most part that was fine by us.  The parade was the best yet in our opinion.  I enjoyed it to the fullest not taking one picture the whole weekend (shame).  Perhaps, this will entice others to come check out this one of Kieler's main events- you'll have to see it for yourself!

7- I found this at The Badger Catholic's blog.  I had to repost it here because nearly half of the people in it are from Kieler (or environs) and/or I know them!  Very fun! 

St. Pauls promo video from Backflip Films on Vimeo.

May Crowning in June

So, I know we're a month behind but it just didn't work out for us to gather for our May crowning this May.  Seemed like with the skipping of spring the winter sickness just hung around longer and so week after week we postponed our festivities so that all of our little mom's group could join in the fun. 

What you don't see in this post procession and crowning picture of the kids is my

 3 yr old's epic meltdown during the whole thing.  I think Rachael got some of it on video.  Its worth watching if it gets posted- epic. 

 We ended up crowning Mary on the feast of the Sacred Heart so we included that statue, too.

The Mom's from Mom's Group.  I'm looking tall in this self portrait.

Carolyn and I matched- we had to take a picture of that cuteness.