Last Day of Party of 7 !

No way!!

Yes, it's true. This blog was all about a homeschooling family, after all, and now the kids are going to school. Also, this month is the 1 year anniversary of this blogging experiment. My assessment? Way too time consuming. I should be organizing my closets, of course. Time to turn this blog into a scrapbook and sign off.


BUT... as you know, the party never stops around here. A new school year calls for a new blog, I say! (At least in this case.) Organize my closets instead of blogging? Never!

Come and join me over at Love Letter to my Kids !
It's my new and improved, forever, homeschooling-or-not, family blog. Sign up as a follower so you won't miss a minute of our edge-of-your-seat action around here!

See you there!
Love, Kim

Last Day of School!

Well, here it is. The last day of school, which was on June 5. I'm a bit behind on posting because my back problem has gotten everything all mixed up around here for the past couple of weeks. I actually missed their last day of school altogether, and the last-day-picnic, and everything. I couldn't believe it. But...I'm "back"! Get it? Get it? I'm back!! HAHAHahahahahhaha...
Ahem.

I always like comparing the pictures from the first day of school, which naturally makes me marvel about how fast the year has gone and how much they have grown.
I, of course, never seem to change a bit.

Girl Scout Graduation

Recently our Daisy and Brownie Scouts graduated from their years in Scouting. What fun they have had with their friends, doing so many cool things! For next year, we are hoping to start a Little Flowers Girls Club with friends at our new school. We are excited about this new club--stay tuned! :)

Please Pray

for the O'Connell family from my church. Both parents were killed in a tragic auto accident on Sunday, leaving Sarah 15, Colman 13, and dear little Maeve 10, who is also in intensive care but expected to recover.

Sweet Maeve was in my CCD class of first graders four years ago, and she knew the "Angel of God" prayer better than anyone, because she said she prayed it every night with her Nana. Now her grandparents and her Guardian Angel will be taking extra special care of her, I know.

There are no words for something like this. Of course it's just a reminder to all of us that we can never take tomorrow for granted, and we should hug our precious babies tight. Thy Will Be Done!

Piano Recital

I am so proud of my pianists! Their recital was a couple of weekends ago, and they all worked so hard on their pieces. I am so impressed at the music I'm hearing around our house these days, too...it is hard to believe that WWD and MRD have now been taking piano for almost 4 years, and KLD almost 3--she hardly even knew her letters when she first started!

(In this picture MRD really wanted to SHOW you her piece--can you tell what a hard one it is?!?)
During these years there have been times when I have wondered if we should let them branch out and try a different instrument, or even quit when they encountered a rough patch. No, and no. I think of music as a language that is too important for them not to learn. Also, I love that they're getting to experience the process of working hard to master something that really takes time, effort, and practice. Letting them quit seems almost like letting them quit brushing their teeth, as in "You'll thank me for this someday, I promise!" :) Not that any of them really wants to quit, especially after recital time when they are so proud of their accomplishments.

Did I mention that I'm so proud of you guys?!

Small Success Thursday

If there were ever going to be a week when my successes were quite SMALL, this one has been it. 

So, without further ado, here are my miniscule successes for the week...

 

1)  I got up!!  No, really.  Last Wednesday I hurt my back.  Really, really, badly.  No, I don't know how.  I was planting some impatiens in the back yard and then I couldn't stand up.  (A split second later, JPD's attempt at a flip from the swingset trapeze bar culminated in a wood-chip face-plant, but that's a story for a different post.) 

It was actually a recurrence of sacroilitis, which I originally had during my pregnancy with JPD (and neither of the 2 subsequent pregnancies), but I don't remember anything ever hurting as bad as this.  In fact, I actually passed out cold just trying to crawl out of bed on Thursday morning!  So, after a few days of near paralysis, and another couple of days of major detox from the prescription painkillers that I took to get my back better, I got up. 

Everything after that was all uphill, right? :)

2)  I made it through an excruciatingly--and totally needlessly--LONG trip to Target today with all 5 kids, while maintaining absolute patience and a sense of humor the entire time.  No kidding.  Wait a second...maybe those pain meds are still doing their thing after all...

3)  I registered everyone for every last extracurricular activity for the rest of summer and next fall.  (At least I think I've got them all.)  Yes, I know, that's not really such a very small success. But it didn't really require me to move much at all.

Check out everyone else's small successes from the week over at Faith & Family Live! 

Lots to Tell

...but no time to blog it all.  So once again, I'm joining Jen at Conversion Diary for "7 Quick Takes Friday."

Here are a few of the headlines around here!

                            --- 1 ---

After taking a major detour as we did our quickie kitchen remodel in order to maybe put our house on the market, my Lenten home organization extravaganza (remember that?) is still going along.  Baby steps, man, baby steps!!  I read the Flylady's book and I am ON BOARD!  And after 12 years of marriage and counting, thanks to my dear husband for patiently waiting all these years for the orderly house of his dreams!  (Baby steps, dear, baby steps...)

                             --- 2 ---

Speaking of putting our house on the market--now that the kitchen is done, I must complete a few more medium-sized decluttering projects, then we're good to go.  But we're in a bit of a holding pattern due to those pesky employment uncertainties.  I do so love that would-be new house (still on the market, fortunately), but I am also so happy in this one!  The new one is almost 25% bigger, a much better investment, and has lots of features we've always wished for.  Our current one is, well, the site of the happiest days of my life. 

Got any advice for us??

                             --- 3 ---

I am reading these books by Kathleen DesMaisons:

     

and I think I am about to embark on a life-changing journey into sugar detox, for myself and my kids.  Stay tuned!

                             --- 4 ---

WWD and MRD are registered for this fun summer literature course.  I'm reading the book--Redwall by Brian Jacques--along with them, and it is fantastic. ( "Better than Harry Potter,"  according to WWD, who is right next to me, already diving into the sequel as I write this!)  The best thing is that there are 20 or so books in the series, so it will keep us busy for a long time.

                             --- 5 ---

How cool is the Catholic Company reviewer program?!  Thanks so much, Rebecca, for the great tip!!  Now I get to read and write about Catholic books which they'll send me for free!  Can I put this on my resume, like a real job?  "Will work for books," right? 

And don't say, "what resume," or I might have to hit you with my dishtowel.

                             --- 6 ---

MPD is still nursing like a madman.  I am really not one to nurse until my kids are in kindergarten, I promise.  I know many people nurse for years, but I like to just go for a year or so.  JPD went for 14 months, which I thought was long, and now MPD has broken his record with no sign of stopping.  I'm not sure how I feel about this.  I do love nursing, but I also hate nursing.  You know? :)

                              --- 7 ---

Today is the kids' last day of school!!!  Hooray hooray hooray!!  We're off to a picnic at the lake with everyone else from school, then it's SUMMER SUMMER SUMMER!  My favorite!  (Except for spring of course.)  And now we can finish all the homeschool books we put on hold 12 weeks ago when they went off to school.  (Wait and see how much of THAT idea comes true!)     :)

                              

                              --- 8 ---

P.S. Shhhhh...don't tell Jen, I have an extra quick take today...ya'll go check out my dear friend Jamie's brand new blog and tell her I said hello!!

Wordless Wednesday

Zoo Pals

Last week my two little boys and I went to our wonderful zoo. I am having so much fun with the two of them!

Riding the train

MPD loved the carousel--until it started moving!

Rock climbing

Exploring the dinosaur bones

MPD, are you sure you want to go in there with that big snake?

Watching the turtles--and trying to catch them


You know, when WWD was tiny and I was expecting MRD, I was really just so sure that she was going to be a boy. Having the two of them so close together, I just had the whole "boy" thing in my head, and I couldn't imagine anything different. Plus I thought it would be so cool to have two little boys in a row, doing boy stuff, growing up together. What a perfect example of God's plan being so much better than our own!! MRD was a girly girl from the beginning, and she is PERFECT. The two of them are thick as thieves--almost like twins--and what's more, I'm sure that it would have been hard for WWD's firstborn ego to have a brother coming up right behind him, competing in everything!! Being the oldest is hard enough, right? :)

Anyway, now, a decade later, I have my two little-boys-in-a-row. I think all the time about how they will be the two teenage boys at home when the others have gone off to college (along with their baby sister, according to JPD). Oh my goodness--I can't imagine those teenage days yet! I'm so not ready! (Or for the baby sister, but that's a whole other thing--ha ha!)

All You Need is Love

"It is better to advance towards God and virtue by the sentiments of the heart than by the thoughts of the mind, and it is important to feed the heart and starve the mind:  i.e., to desire God, to sigh after him and aspire to his holy love, to an intimate union with him without the diversion of so many thoughts and mental reflections which often dry up the heart and become a sort of dissipation, a pure amusement of the intelligence, a series of vain complacencies in our own thoughts and speculations.  It is far better to be occupied with the care to belong to God without reserve, with the desire of interior life, of a profound humility, of fervor, of the gift of prayer, of the love of God, of the true spirit of Jesus Christ, and of the practice of the virtues that he taught by his virtues and his divine example, etc., than to make a thousand useless reflections on these very subjects."

 

~ Fr. Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J.  (1751)

"Mommy, my whole life is going to change!"

That was JPD's comment when we started remodeling the kitchen, prompted by the first test swatches of paint on the walls, and the new oven. He said that a lot when the first few things started changing, and we cracked up, of course.

But talk about "out of the mouths of babes!" That JPD is wise way beyond his years, because the kitchen remodel has changed things around here more than I imagined. We didn't even change things all that much--the cabinets and the location of everything are still the same. We got new appliances, new countertops, a new sink and faucet, and a new floor. Bill planned and organized everything himself, and did an impressive chunk of the work himself too--all in well under a month.

It's hard to put my finger on it--the whole house just has a different "feel" now. And I kinda feel like a whole different person in my new kitchen. I LOVE it, obviously. And of course, the kitchen is where I spend, like, 90% of my waking hours. Having it be pretty instead of kinda yucky makes a gigantic difference in how I feel about the work I'm doing there, and how my day goes. Hmmmm...interesting, no?

Anyway, without further ado, here are the before and after pictures.

BEFORE:




AFTER!:

May Crowning

A couple of weeks ago, the kids got out of school early and we took a mini-road trip for a hike at a beautiful park where there is a trail up to a tiny, 150-year-old Marian chapel. It's a perfect May crowning spot, and an easy-but-not-too-easy hike, with a great view from the top. What a picture-perfect day, and we had fun exploring the trails and breaking out WWD's awesome new glider plane. JPD was beside himself with excitement about that one--it was great!

Goodbye Spring!

As most months seem to be doing these days, April and May flew by. I must say that I'm not too sad to see May go this year--total chaos and upheaval around here, in so many ways. But in the midst of it all, I got a few nice pictures of some of my favorite spring blooms. This time of year truly makes our long winters worth it--okay, well, almost!

Feathery light green baby leaves, just coming out


Bluebells in our back yard--my favorite!

Pink flowering fruit trees

I love our beautiful Wisconsin dairy farms in the rolling hills.

My "bleeding heart" plant

Pink peeking through the green

Lilacs--can't you just smell them?

Love those redbuds!

White flowering fruit tree

Tulips--my other favorite!

Another perfect white tree

All of these are finished blooming now that June is here, and the trees are full and all the way green. Some of my other very favorites--forsythia and daffodils--bloom even earlier in April, and they're long gone for this year already.
Hello Summer!

A Soldier's Prayer

This beautiful prayer was found on British Lieutenant Andre Zirnheld's body after he was killed in action in Libya during WWII.

I bring this prayer to You, Lord
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what no one ever asks You for.
I don't ask You for rest,
Or quiet,
Whether of soul or body;
I don't ask You for wealth,
Nor for success, nor even health perhaps.
That sort of thing You get asked for so much
That You can't have any of it left.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what no one wants from You.
I want insecurity, strife,
And I want You to give me these
Once and for all.
So that I can be sure of having them always,
Since I shall not always have the courage
To ask You for them.
Give me, Lord, what You have left over,
Give me what others want nothing to do with.
But give me courage too,
And strength and faith;
For You alone can give
What one cannot demand from oneself.

Fun at the Gym

MPD and I have signed up for a little toddler class at the gym. We try to sneak away early on Saturdays for a bit of mommy-and-me time. So far we haven't had much luck getting away alone, since MPD's adoring fans always want to come along! It is so much fun to see him try new things and get braver each week.




It's funny--I think some of the other moms in the class aren't sure what to make of me and my ever-changing parade of big-kid helpers, since I bring a different one almost every week. I've also started feeling like an old mom!! I guess not a lot of these women have been going to mommy-and-me classes for a decade and counting!

Seriously, I've been noticing lately that on one hand, I'm the only one nursing a babe in the bleachers at WWD's basketball tournaments, and on the other hand, I'm also the only one bringing along a bunch of big kids to pick up JPD at preschool or, now, MPD's gym class. I'm so used to hanging out with my homeschool friends, where we're really just a regular, medium-sized family, that I usually don't think much of walking around with my five little ducklings following along. But every once in a while I realize that maybe it's not so "normal." Even at our new Catholic school, I'm not aware of many, if any other families with 5 or more kids.

I love this, of course. It's a good motivator for me to be "good" when we're out (you know, cheerful and patient with the kids, etc. as if I were a good mommy), because I guess we are kind of noticeable. People occasionally make comments about the older ones being so good with the younger ones, etc. (Ha! Except when they're trying to kill each other in the back of the van!) We often get comments about good behavior in restaurants--probably a sad testimony on how frequently we eat out--way too much! Fortunately, we almost never get negative comments. My twin blogger says she often gets rude comments about having too many kids, which is incredible to me. Maybe people in the midwest are just more accepting? Higher percentage of Catholics? Just thinking that they can't possibly all be mine--I'm running an in-home day care? Seriously, I'm just waiting for someone to ask me if I'm MPD's grandma. That will be a sad day, and in the meantime I'm just fervently keeping my eyes slathered in anti-wrinkle serum, believe me.