One Last One for the Year

It's been a busy, busy year - full of big events and a lot of everyday nose-grinding.  Do you have New Year's resolutions set?  I have some ideas, but nothing concrete.  Hubby keeps reminding me, "Just decide to do something.  You don't have to re-work your personality."  Ah yes, but we melancholics are better at making grand resolutions and then feeling depressed when of course we can't achieve them.

It's a joy to still be in the octave of Christmas.  The Feast of the Holy Family Sunday yesterday (and every year) touches me and gives me a lot of hope.  Father talked about how being successful in family life (i.e. letting God be at the center of your family and seeking His help to love each other) is much more difficult than anything we think of in terms of human success.  It doesn't seem this way since family life is ordinary and familiar, yet reining in one's tongue is harder than writing a paper, somedays. 

Here's a little of how we've celebrated our Christmas season so far...

 Mass - Church was so pretty, all decorated.

 We spent Christmas Eve evening with my family.  Grandma K was able to come and it was lovely to visit with her.  Everyone was home except for Fr. Matt, but we were able to visit with him over the phone, which was great.  The Boy helped everyone unwrap and examine their presents.  

 Playing Legos with the uncles.  Pbpbpbpbpbptttt.

 The Boy taught Aunt M how to play Chess.  She beat him.

 The Boy was really excited about Santa this year.  Hubby took him to see Santa this year, and he had to make sure there were some cookies for Santa to eat.  Santa obliged and left only a few crumbs behind.  He was pretty tickled by that.

 Santa left him Star Wars pajamas!  Mrs. Claus thought they would be too big, but apparently she didn't realize how much he has grown in the past month or two.  He was so happy this Christmas.

 New Legos.  He built them 100% by himself.  We spent Christmas day with my Mother-in-Law and had a lovely time.  We played games, visited, and just enjoyed each others company on a cold, sunny Christmas.

In between the holy days, we celebrated our 9th anniversary - hard to believe next year is the big ten.  It doesn't seem like it's been nearly that long - just a few years of wedded bliss.  Sure, we've had to work at it harder than not some days, but that's part of the joy.  The fact is that we're stuck with each other, so we might as well make it for better than for worse (smile).  We got to go out on a date to celebrate - The Hobbit in 3D and yummy pasta to follow.

 The HS group had their Christmas pageant this weekend.  It was great fun to be part of the Mass, Rosary, potluck, and pageant.  The Boy was able to be a Magi and loved it.  All the children did marvelously and it was lovely to sing Christmas carols along with their pageant.

Today we went to Church to help the college kids get set for their big trip to FOCUS conference.  The Boy helped lay out bread for sandwich making and sort all the snacks.  Some family and friends are coming tonight for some food and games, although am certain we won't be partying late into the night!  

Best wishes for a blessed New Year full of hope and joy. 

Advent

Advent is well under way and the farthest we've made it is lighting the candles on our wreath most nights.  I've never been good at incorporating seasonal aspects into our family life, and the liturgical seasons are no exception.  So today is our day to reset, try to get back on track (story of my life...  story of the Christian life...).  I found a few simple resources that I think we can use, so decided to share them.

I'm sure everyone else is having a lovely Advent season, but enjoy the links if you fall into the same boat as us (smile). 

Jesse Tree ornaments and readings

Simple Advent traditions

USCCB Advent Calendar

Christmas Tree Blessing

O Antiphons (starting 12/17)

New Things to Make

 For school - a volcano (different types of lava, with hardening lava rocks at the base).

 The Boy's stuffed frog then moved in to the volcano, where he was a dragon and breathed fire at the knights in the neighboring castle, until he died an ignominious death at the hands of one particularly brave cardboard knight.

 Lego sheep.  

A friend sent us a tutorial for a Lego nativity scene, complete with magi, shepherd, and animal instructions.  Hubby has been helping The Boy with some of the pieces, but The Boy has been doing most of it on his own, making modifications as needed for pieces he doesn't have.

Pretending

The Boy has been pretending anything and everything lately.  He gets embarrassed if I notice what he is playing, but I just love watching and listening to his amazing imagination. 

 The Long Arm of the Law.  Don't mess with this guy.

 Darth Maul's eye-liner face.

 Darth Maul and his double light-saber.

 Mining for gold in the basement.

 Boba Fett.

 (Boba Fett, in case you were wondering).

New Photo Display

We got new family photos taken this summer by friends turned professional photographers.  The photos turned out great, especially of The Boy (to commemorate Kindergarten).  I made prints with Sam's Club online, and also pleased with quality and pricing.  We haven't had a new, official family photo since The Boy was a baby.  One more casualty of waiting for a baby ("maybe next year we'll have a baby, so we'd better wait to get a new picture). 

All our frames were different and just kind of scattered on the wall, so I found an idea for putting together our pictures in crafty (OK, crafty for me...) way.  This idea was from Pinterest - finally figured it out :-)  Found 4 identical frames for 50% off today at the fabric store, then took some not-too-expensive ribbon and an old curtain rod - and many thanks to my hubby for putting up the rod -

What We Do at Work

These are some leftovers from our adoption profile book pictures.  Have to add a little humor to the serious things of life.

 Da, da, I vill save him vitt my soviet-era medical eqvuipment.  Den de KGB vill deal vitt him.

A refund?!?

Fall Fun

Here goes one giant catch-up post.  When not doing school or working we've had many fun visits and events keeping us busy. 

 The tree in our backyard was gorgeous this year - all the colors in the area were so bright, partly because it was so dry.  We enjoyed the leaves on the trees and The Boy and neighbor kids had a blast jumping in the leaves over AND over again.

 One of The Boy's school projects - Kitchen Angels.  We found drawings online from Tomie de Paola's book, "Pascuale and the Kitchen Angels", which we had read from the library and enjoyed immensely.  The story is of a simple man who becomes a monk in order to pray but he is sent to the kitchen to cook instead.  He doesn't know how to cook, but prays that God would help him so he can stay.  While he prays, angels come to cook the meal, and Pascuale gets to pray the whole time.  Better yet, the monks love the cooking, so he gets to stay on as the cook, meaning, the angels keep on preparing the meals while Pascuale gets to pray.  I love having these angels on my cupboards - unfortunately they don't do the cooking, but it is a pretty sweet reminder of my guardian angel's constant presence, and The Boy had a great time coloring them and putting them up.

 Old Man Beside Me!  Someone had another birthday!  Happy belated birthday to my WONDERFUL man.  May you be blessed with many, many more happy years.

 We had a nice visit from Grandpa and Grammy last month.  They braved the rainy weather on the long drive and spoiled The Boy with attention and fun times.  We went to a corn maze, where Grandpa (who hails from the middle of corn country) provided a brief education to The Boy.

 Mudding through the corn maze.  It was in the shape of a giant pumpkin - we made sure to visit the eyes and walk through its mouth.

 Pumpkin bowling.

 The two happy fools - the jack o' lanterns, that is.  The small pumpkin was painted the next day, but for the time being felt left out.  The Boy helped with artistic direction, Hubby did most of the carving, and I did most of the scooping.  Yumm, pumpkin seeds!  The boys love them toasted with butter and Worcestershire sauce.

 We celebrated All Hallow's Eve with the homeschool group's All Saints Party.  The Boy was St. Raphael the Archangel.  It was his idea to stick with the Archangel theme, and we still had wings from last year. 

 What a bunch of holy saints!  The party was great fun.  Each family brings a carnival game for all the children to play and earn tickets toward treats.  We brought "Pin the Tail on the Papal Bull".  MJYK drew a large bull for me and the kids had to answer a question about current and past popes in order to get a tail to pin onto the bull.  Whoever got closest got an extra ticket.  

Are you smarter than a homeschooler?: Name two twentieth-century popes who are "Blessed".

What is a papal bull?  A type of official document written by the Holy Father.  It takes its name from the "bulla", or metal seal (usually lead) affixed to authenticate the document.  A bull includes the phrase "episcopus servus servorum Dei", or Bishop, servant of the servants of God".  My understanding is the difference between a bull and a brief is largely formatting (most encyclicals are released as briefs).

The Boy had a great time and came home with a large bag of candy which was quickly dispatched.  Some of my favorite costumes from the party - Mary, Queen of All Saints (congrats, RZMK) and Juan Diego (complete with the tilma).

 We visited Grandma K last weekend.  She taught The Boy how to play dominoes for points and we were able to visit Aunt C and Uncle D, too.  Grandma is probably enjoying the peace and quiet now that we are gone!  It was very good to see her.

All criminals, beware!  You will not escape the long arm of The Boy's law.  He refused to smile for the picture: "Police men do NOT smile".  I am under strict orders to sew a holster tonight.  We'll see.

Stealth Pregnancy

"Stealth Pregnancy" is what my Dear Hubby called it last week, after we had been with friends, some of whom were expecting.  After so many months of "no", it's been a hard mindset to realize we are actually waiting for a baby.

Not waiting for the labwork to improve.  Not waiting for a medication adjustment to show some evidence of help.  Not waiting for surgery or tests or the next step.  Waiting for a baby.

We have no due date.  We have no doctors appointments or trimesters to mark time.  The call could come tomorrow - or in months down the road.  All I know for sure is that somewhere out there, two people's lives are changing in ways they didn't expect, and it's not good news.  It's hard to accept that our happiness is dependent on sorrow in their lives.  Maybe the pain of waiting for these years has been God's way of showing us how much something can hurt, so we can just sort-of begin to understand what it means to hurt like our baby's birth parents will... or are.  I feel a sense of urgency to PRAY for this baby and for his/her birth parents, RIGHT NOW.  It's been in my dreams and in my waking, even when I'm not thinking about the future.  I'm probably just emotional about finally being on the waiting list, but regardless, I will pray.  And hope everyone all around us will pray for the birth parents and baby along with us.

We chose names this weekend.  Again, it feels surreal.  Even thinking about baby names in the past wasn't much fun - just a reminder of something we couldn't have.  Now we have names - beautiful names - chosen, for the little one for whom we are waiting.  We'll probably reveal the names at some point, but for now, I'm savoring them in my heart.  It was an easy decision, and reinforced by some beautiful little signs.  I'll share later - for now, we continue to wait in prayer, and with hope. 

Pinterest

So I was trying to find some resources for teaching elections with a kindergartner and a few things popped up as being available on Pinterest.  I decided to sign up for an account, but I am so confused by it!  I guess it's a sign of my impending birthday marking a transition to a new decade (and no, it's not 50, but I kind of feel like it).  Is anyone else on Pinterest?  Or know how to use it effectively to find and do fun things?  I found a couple knitting things which I'm excited about, and some gardening stuff, but the whole how to use it thing is boggling me. 

Hurts

Sitting up in our rocking chair at 1:00 AM is not a wise sort of thing to do.  I am old enough to know better and recognize the near 100% likelihood of my being a zombie when The Boy hops on my head early in this morning.  But I can't sleep and my stomach is still churning from the remnants of the day (the day before, Good Lord) so here I am, in my rocking chair, at 1 o'crazy AM.

Sometimes hurts pile on us when we least expect or even when we were anticipating joy instead.  Things that shouldn't even be hurts somehow penetrate deeper than we thought they could.  Once a hurt digs in, it opens the door for other things to hurt more than they would on their own, or for us to perceive things as hurts that we wouldn't on an ordinary day.

This is where being an Eeyore sort of individual makes life just a little more sucky.  The Poohs don't really get it so just keep on looking for the hunny pots, the Rabbits are bothered but find a type-A way of handling the situation, and the Piglets forgive and forget.  Kanga makes cookies which Roo eats with a glass of milk and a smile, but Eeyore just keeps eating his thistles and sighing.  I've spent the majority of this week (which has seemed like a month, not just half the week that it's been) in the thistle-field, obsessing over my inability to stop worrying - how to turn that switch off and just accept things for what they are without replaying and reviewing ad nauseam.  I lectured on oncology nursing on Monday and sagely advised the attentive pupils (meaning - those who weren't busy sleeping, texting, or whispering to each other) to "fix what you can" and "don't try to fix what you can't".  Yeah.  What is the point of dishing advice one can't take herself?

I've heard that our faults and quirks are one of the ways God loves us and the path He has put us on to perfect us.  That in our weakness we are strong, and when we feel most alone, God is closest.  These things are true - yes, I know they are true - but I find hard to make sense of on days like today.  If God wants me to be a holy wife, a holy mother, a teacher who sprinkles a tiny bit of salt, a daughter of the Father who rests in His arms and trusts Him - why are there roadblocks in the way?  Fighting the daily struggle is a noble thing, especially when we entrust our cause to God and let Him take the lead - but then I find myself failing day after day, and with each passing day, it gets harder and harder to fight, to get up and go again.  If God wants me to be at peace and trust Him, why did He let me have such a fretful disposition?  If God wanted me to hang with the tough kids, why is my skin so thin?  If God wants me to be a mother, why have we been waiting for four years?  If God wants me to pray, why is it so hard to talk to Him?  If He wants to help carry our burdens, why is it so hard to lay them down?   

I should also know better than to blog at 1 o'mentally fogged AM, but it's a release valve.  Perhaps this late night worrying is practice for late night feedings and floor-pacings hopefully not too many months in the distance.  One thing I know is true - and know in my heart and not just my brain - that our Father loves us, and even though His love looks awfully strange some days, it's still love, and it's still for us.  

Approved!

It's official - we are approved for adoption in our state!  I've been bad about posting on what steps we've been completing as they go by, but we persevered and all the paperwork is wrapped up.  Our profile books are printed (they look GREAT - thank goodness for an alternative to scrapbooks - I always put things in crooked or mess up the writing as I use marking pens) and are now available for birth parents to see.  I felt so blue after our third and final home study visit.  It signified an end to something TO DO and the start of waiting again.  We are no strangers to waiting, but my patience level with waiting is at times not where it should be.  Over the past week, though, God has been so gracious in granting peace to my heart again.  It could be a long wait or a short wait (the latter, please!), but in the meantime I have set my heart to peaceful preparation.  This is the time to get those things done I've been wanting to do.  I pulled out the dozen rows of knitting on a sweater that had me stumped and started over.  I bought more yarn for baby knitting - a kimono, mittens, hats - who knows all what, but my needles are going to be a-clickin'.  We're going to visit Grandma K this weekend, get ready for the All Saints party, got a movie from the library to watch.  This time won't be wasted, and hopefully the call will find us peacefully prepared. 

Tired.

I am so tired.  

My cycles are much improved since starting on the PPVI treatment, but I still hit a point every cycle when every ounce of energy leaves my body immediately, not to return for a good week.  I so very much envy those lucky people who have so much vigor and drive (and real, live hormones).

We've been keeping a tight schedule since school started.  The Boy loves doing his lessons every day, and the funny thing has been that I am usually ready to be done for the day before he is.  He has bunches of questions about everything.  We took a nature walk for science last week and discovered different kinds of pine trees, seed pods, ant hills, a few kinds of bark, and clouds.  He borrowed a relative's copy of Prince Caspian, which we've been reading (along with plenty of "C is for Caspian" and "M is for Miraz" and "T is for Trumpkin"). 

Getting all the students rolling for their classes.  Clinical is going fairly well.  Now into my fifth year of clinical I'm finally getting tired of explaining how anemia is NOT the cause of low hemoglobin, but rather a synonym for it.  They'll get it.  And then we'll start over again next semester (smile).  It's fun teaching a new class and learning alongside a different class of students.  We're doing injections tomorrow - should be exciting.  I do find it frustrating that I'm receiving a 10% workload for lab (10% of a 40 hour workweek)- essentially I'm being paid for 4 hours a week, to teach a 3 hour lab, 45 minute course planning meeting (disorganized, of course), and that doesn't even take into account grading and prep work/lesson planning.  I shouldn't complain, but wouldn't it make sense to have a folder put together of weekly objectives and content which could be given to each instructor for a four-section lab which has been taught since eternity, instead of having new instructors invent their own lab?  But we're using our Outlook calendars, so we are efficient and using technology, yes.  Oh, academia. 

No more rants.  No more complaining.

Had our second home study meeting today and are about 90% done with our profile book (photos and explanations of who we are - shared with birth parents who are considering making an adoption plan).  Sounds like the home study will be finalized somewhere around the end of next month, and then we start waiting from there.  Feelings mixed - combination of hopeful, fearful, all that good stuff.

Garden is doing well - the peas and beans had a second round after we had some rain last month.  The tomatoes are lovely (and the slugs love them).  So far I've frozen 7 quarts and canned 7 quarts, but we're just getting started.  And we've had beautiful eggplant - yum!  We've been giving away cucumbers to everyone we know.  The Boy loves cucumbers and he prohibited me from thinning out the several plants which sprouted this spring, so we've been picking 10-20 at a time.  Nice to have some to share, and we haven't grown tired of them yet. 

And we started dismantling the bathroom (goodbye wallpaper, goodbye yucky grout, goodbye peel-and-stick tile) per hubby's request.  Think I figured out why I'm tired.

First Day (and Week) of School!

Our first official week of homeschooling is in the books (pun intended)!  We had a great first week.  We eased into the first day with some of the fun treats I remember from my own school days - first day present of new school supplies (and something fun - for us - new paints), ice cream on the first day, and learning games to get going. 

Am focusing on the core subjects - English, math, religion, science, and some art and music thrown in for flavor.  The Boy starts piano lessons this week and I just put together three entire books of his Star War drawings and coloring pages (each about 40-50 pages each).  I LOVE the Right Start Math program I got at the used book sale this spring.  He is learning many things we touched on in preschool but didn't click, and they are going in painlessly with all the math games. 

It's refreshing for both of us to realize we can do this.  Not every week will go smoothly, I'm sure, but we got off on the right foot.  Whatever form they may take, here's to 12 more years of learning bliss!

Dancing in the Minefields

Thanks to Hubby for showing me this...  I was crying already by the first verse.  Watch it and love it - dedicated to all my married family and friends, especially those of us who were married as young'uns. 

"Well, This Happens to be the Dark Side"...

... is what The Boy was saying as he was playing with his Legos the other day.  The newest craze at our house ----

I'm not sure where it came from, but it's a significant craze.  We haven't let him see any of the movies, except some Lego Star Wars clips on YouTube.  But thanks to some library books, Legos, and a lot of imagination, he plays Star Wars from dawn 'til dusk almost every day. 

One morning he asked for Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Stormtrooper costumes.  Thanks to Google, this is what we have been able to come up with so far.

 Stormtrooper helmet made out of two milk jugs, electrical tape, and Sharpie.

 Darth Vader mask courtesy of Dad and an exacto knife, and an old halloween cape.  Have I mentioned we have more lightsabers than people in our house right now?

Family Trip for 2012

We took a trip to Wisconsin to visit Hubby's side of the family.  The last time we were there, it was a quick visit on our way through, and that was seven years ago - B.T.B (Before The Boy).  My parents-in-law met us there and we had a great time seeing the sites of a lot of family history, visiting with relatives, and catching up on life. 

 We spent three days in my father-in-law's hometown.  We visited the town square, went to the Farmer's Market, and saw some of the places where my FIL went when he was growing up.  The Boy found some cannonballs to sit on.

 Nearby his hometown, a man who works for the railroad converted his dairy barn into a model train museum.  What is in the picture is just a tiny part of everything that was in there.  It was amazingly creative - he had set up hundreds of tiny moving parts, almost all run from household items (record players, answering machines, etc.).  We tried to complete a scavenger hunt, but there was so much to see we couldn't finish it!

 The trains run off microwave timers.  His wife was in charge of giving the tours and running the museum - she seemed pretty open to having her house ransacked for items on a regular basis.

 The barn - all full of trains - amazing!

 We took a drive to all the small area towns where a lot of my husband's extended family still lives.  This house is where his grandmother was born and lived as a child.  We ate at a nearby cafe where his grandma and uncles used to visit.

 One-room schoolhouse where my FIL first attended school.  They walked about 1 1/2 miles to school and back every day.  

 House and farm where my FIL was born and where his family lived for several years.  

 Best of buds - The Boy and Grandpa.

 We spent an afternoon with my FIL's brother, Hubby's Uncle P.  He has a dairy farm with about 100 head of Holstein and Brown Swiss cattle.  He was kind enough to show us around his farm.  The Boy got to feed calves and inspect the herd.

 

 We were able to see milking and show The Boy where milk comes from.  I loved seeing his dairy barn and the milking - brought me back in an instant to Grandma and Grandpa S.'s milking room.

 WI is the land of milk and honey!  Uncle P also has bees on his farm.  It was really neat to watch them buzzing back and forth to the hives.

 Sadly, WI is having a bad drought this summer, so all the corn and crops were doing badly.  It was really sad to see how hard it is on the farmers. 

 Uncle P's farm from over the hill.  We had a great time visiting his farm and seeing what he does.  We also visited with hubby's Aunt C., and she was kind enough to help The Boy find some toys to play with while we were there.  He was the only little one most of the trip, so he very much appreciated her kindness.

 Driving the 4-wheeler!  He asked, "Can we get a 4-wheeler of our own?  I know how to drive one now!"

 We toured a brewery and a cheese factory in my FIL's hometown.  Both were so interesting to see - the process is simple for both foods, but very precise.  There is a lot of Swiss, Norwegian, and German heritage in the area that is still strong.  We brought home beer and cheese from WI - yum!

 There was almost three million dollars worth of cheese inventory curing in the warehouse - impressive.

 After spending time in my FIL's hometown, we drove to the Wisconsin Dells to spend some time there.  Along the way we visited a cave and were able to tour it.  Stalactites, stalagmites, and geodes - very neat.  I even got a "cave kiss" (water dripped on my head) - supposedly I'm supposed to be all lucky now.

 Hubby's other uncle, Uncle L., has a place on a lake near the Dells, and we were able to visit them there.  The Boy was able to play with a second cousin and Uncle L took us on a pontoon ride.  It was lovely and peaceful.

 The Dells was super touristy, but we managed to find some things to do that weren't too crazy packed or expensive.  We played 36 holes of mini-golf.  None of us are competitive, but for the record, I won the first round, Hubby won the second, and The Boy had the highest scores for both.  The Boy did quite well the whole time, actually - sometimes he was closer to par on the holes than I was!

 Having a fun family time.

 The boys - Hubby, The Boy, and Grandpa - took a boat ride on the Dells.  They had a great time and were able to see some of the beautiful nature in the area.  My MIL and I decided to go shopping at the outlets - a different type of nature :-)  We didn't break the bank, but I did find some good deals, including a bigger swimsuit for The Boy for next year and a pair of good dress pants for work.

We went to the science museum - this is The Boy lifting a car - what a strong boy!  Hubby remembered loving the science museum when he went there as a boy, and we all had a good afternoon there.  

The Boy did really well with the long days in the car.  We had safe travels and a wonderful time with family.  We don't get to see my parents-in-law very often, so it's always good to see them.  Maybe it won't be another 7 years before we get to WI again.  Thanks for the great time, Family!