7 Quick Takes

1. You know you're chunky when the bumbo seat stays stuck to your bum when Mommy tries to pick you up.



2. I've been finding that this quote from St. John Vianney is so true. It was in our bulletin this week:

Never forget that it is at the beginning of each day that God has the necessary grace for the day ready for us. He knows exactly what opportunities we shall have to sin...and will give us everything we need if we ask him then. That is why the devil does all he can to prevent us from saying our morning prayers or to make us say them badly.

I find that if I don't get up early enough to have my morning prayers well done before the babies *might* start waking up, I have a much harder time dealing with an infant and sometimes high-maintenance toddler. However, if I do have my morning offering and meditation done, I feel like I have a store of grace upon which I can draw when I need it most during the course of the day.

3. Here are a couple of Clare quotes Tom or I have posted on Facebook, but they are so funny that I have to repeat them here:

To Tom who was putting her to bed one night: "Daddy, I have a rough day."

To me one night when James was getting fussy: "That monkey's hungry, Mommy."

Saying grace before lunch all by herself yesterday: "God bless you. Hail Mary, full of grace. Jesus. Father, Son, Spirit. Amen."

4. Lent is going really well. I have decided that if one of my chosen sacrifices becomes comfortable, I need to figure something else out. So far, so good.

5. Mary and the boys arrive this weekend!!! I'm so excited to see them, and Clare has a pair of PJ's all picked out and set aside for Dom Dom when he comes here. Don't ask me why she thinks that Dom needs to wear a pair of her PJ's...

6. Tom gave a talk on the Theology of the Body last night to our parish RCIA participants. While he was preparing, I went through a ton of my old TOB study materials and remembered how much I love them. I think I should spend some time going through them again.

7. I gave up talk radio during the day as part of my lenten sacrifices. Being kind of a talk radio nerd, this is really hard for me. I've contented myself with watching the news only when the babies are napping (I am really beginning to love Glenn Beck) or during the night-time news run. Strangely enough, I don't feel that out of touch with the world.

Clare's flowers

Happy Spring? It was so nice here the past few days that I thought our front door needed a little color to greet us. We got a bunch of yard work done on Saturday - cleaning up the winter's dead leaves, trimming back our lithadora (how does that stuff just take over everything???), weed-eating,mowing the lawn, and cleaning out the garage. Just in time for it to start raining again.



Clare helped pick these out and plant them. She's pretty proud of them.



Where DOES she come up with these outfits? She looks like no one cares about her...

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. James discovered his toes. Whether he's sitting in his bumbo or lying down, he's always grabbing at them and gets an excited look of triumph on his little face when he succeeds.

2. Speaking of James...holy drool! He's sure biting on things, drooling, and fussy. Seems like he might be starting to work on some teeth.

3. Tom ordered a bed frame for us while he was in Japan and it arrived last night! Now we just have to put it together...

4. My new favorite tea: Tazo Vanilla Rooibos from Starbucks. I have a cup of it almost every night after the babies are in bed and it's time for me to relax. It sure is nice having a sister who works there - we never run out of great coffee and tea.

5. Earlier today Clare told me that she was making a picture. I said, "Great, sweetie! Do you want to show me when you're done?" I should have looked right then, because her "picture" was a painting. Chosen medium: vaseline. What a mess!

6. Check 1 thing off of my Spring-Cleaning to do list: steam clean the carpets. Man, I thought that we were pretty clean people until I emptied that used water basin from the cleaner. Gross! And I feel so much better knowing that all THAT is no longer trapped in our bedrooms.

7. I put James in his exersaucer for a little bit while I mopped the floors today. He started fussing a little, and Clare (without my prompting) jumped off of the couch and went over to play with him. I love seeing how much they love each other!

7 Quick Takes...Saturday

Well at least I'm only a day late.

1. My new favorite place to buy baby clothes: Craigslist. Seriously awesome. We just got James all set for the next 6 months of his life for $30. The best is when you can find a "lot" of baby clothes being sold by one person.

2. With the mild February weather I'm getting the itch to start working in our yard again. Primroses are on sale at Fred Meyer!

3. We love Dave Ramsey. Because of him we've been able to set and meet some great financial goals for our family.

4. Had a great day with a friend of mine from college this week - hard to believe that we've known each other for almost 10 years. Becky came over on Friday and we watched all 4 episodes of BBC's North and South. Aaaahh..perfect rainy WA day for a fantastic chick flick. Never mind that we were interrupted the whole time by babies, lunch, naps, and diaper changes - it was fun!

5. Along with the itch to work in the yard, I want to spring clean. My first project? Steam cleaning our carpets.

6. I've been burning lavender oil, and I LOVE the smell.

7. I need a new vacuum. Mine is driving me nuts.

Being a bibliophile

I just updated our "What We're Reading" section to reflect what we're actually reading. I wish there were more hours in the day so that I could sit down and read more often than I can. I'm naturally a morning person, but lately I've found myself reading until late in the night because I can't seem to find the time otherwise. I realized today that I'm in the middle of reading no less than 4 books. Each of them has a unique purpose, and I've categorized them to try to "round out" my reading list.

1. Spiritual books - for meditation and reflection. I am using The Better Part for my meditations, but also reading I Believe in Love for the 3rd time (one of my favorites) for part of my Holy Hour.

2. Entertainment - those wonderful books that are purely for entertainment. Tom got me hooked on the Wheel of Time series, and now I'm on the 11th book. Wonderful, quick reads for those who are interested in the genre of "high fantasy" (a la Lord of the Rings).

3. Family/Marriage/Parenting - Believing that my state in life as a wife and a mother is truly a vocation from God, I have the duty to be the best wife and mother that I can. I'm trying to make sure that I incorporate books/blogs in to my day that help me along that path.

4. Informative/Politics - I'm kind of a talk radio and news nerd. I love the intellectual stimulation that looking in to the arenas of history and politics gives me. Especially as a stay-at-home mom, I thrive on trying to stay up-to-date on the news and politics of the day.

Like I said above, I wish that there were more hours in the day. I could probably fill them all with plunging through books that cover all of these different categories. *Sigh* But with a seemingly endless laundry pile, dishes to be done, babies to be played with and cared for, and a house to be taken care of, I find that I'm lucky if I can manage a little bit of non-essential (non-meditation) reading during my day. One thing I'm thankful for is that Clare is turing in to quite the little reader herself. I look forward to the days when we can snuggle up on the couch and do some independent reading. For now, I'm content with reading Go, Dog. Go! ten times a day.

7 Quick Takes Friday

1. Does 1 AM on Saturday still count as Friday night? I fell asleep nursing James in bed. Now I'm awake at 1 AM.

2. The other night after praying our Rosary, I turned the light off and started to leave the room so Clare could go to sleep. She started crying and wanted the light on because she couldn't "see Jesus Heart." We have an image of the Sacred Heart on the wall that she apparently wanted to be able to look at. That about made me cry it was so sweet.

3. James had his 4-month checkup today. He's 27 inches (96%) and 17 lbs. 14 oz. (92%). Pretty much just a chunker.

4. Don't you hate those days where you're so tired that you just feel literally like you're walking around in a fog? Even your eyes won't seem to focus.

5. I've decided to cut myself a little slack (not become a slacker...) in my prayer life. Yesterday I was so proud of myself - I got out of bed nice and early despite a shorter night of sleep than I'd have liked, got coffee going, and was relishing the fact that I could get some quiet time of meditation in. Not so. Both babies took turns waking up needing me, and by the time I got done taking care of both of them it was time for Clare to be up for the day. Argh. Moral of the story? I think that me responding lovingly and with patience to my children is more pleasing to Our Lord than if I'd allowed myself to become annoyed and dealt with them brusquely just because I wanted to get back to my time with Him.

6. I have an ingrown toenail. It hurts. And Clare keeps finding ways to step on me or run over me with her bike.

7. Six years ago this week, Tom and I went on our first date. Well, as Tim Herring always says, "Time flies when you're having kids!" So true...and I love Tom more now than I ever have.