Life Lately

I have finally caught up with my life and it feels really good. ~whew~ I needed a breather after the back-to-school rush of it all. Our family has hit a stride and as long as I can keep my act together and continue to fold and put away the kids laundry we should be okay.

So tons of wonderful things have been happening. Birthdays, the Blessed Is She team retreat (which deserves its own post, really), cooler weather in my neck of the woods, and all the little things that make life so great. So this is a bit of a highlight reel type post, but first let's start with a song. Catchy with depressing lyrics:



Second:
Ben lost his first tooth, right at bed time last week. He was so excited and we were so exhausted that we went to bed at the same time as the kids. In the morning Ben was disappointed because the Tooth Fairy hadn't come but Daddy saved the day. As Ben was eating breakfast Travis passed the kids room, still dark at 6:15am, and caught something out of the corner of his eye. He told Ben and L this and they immediately *knew* it *was* the Tooth Fairy and she *hadn't* forgotten him, she just didn't know that we'd be up already and he was her very last stop. So all's well that ends well.

He lost his second tooth after much wiggling, pushing, pulling, and apple eating at breakfast on Wednesday of this week. Big sister L was an active participant in getting it out (and I think caused him some pain, too. : /  )


Third:
Funny story: Last week the new Hatch Prints tote came in the mail. When I pulled it out of its USPS packaging it looked like this:

 And Ben asked, "Is it garlic bread?!" This kid looooooves garlic bread so he was pretty sure it was the best mail day ever.

He was unimpressed and uninterested when he saw that it was actually this awesome bag, but I was incredibly happy.

Currently it is holding: library books, LuLaRoe leggings, wallet, diapers, wet wipes, baby toys, and a pouch filled with rosary, kleenexes, pens, chapstick, and lipstick. It's gotta work hard at this house.


Fourth:
Baby Tee started pulling himself up to kneeling. And then he figured out crawling, abandoning The Worm to master the official crawl. He has great confidence and found his way to the bathroom for his first time to play with the toilet paper. Within two days of that he was pulling himself to standing and within a week he took his first "cruising" steps.

With all these accomplishments comes the need to constantly yell at people for leaving the bathroom and basement doors open and a little (or a lot) of sentimentality and mourning as my baby gets older.


Fifth:
Jofis is wearing big boy undies all through the day. I waited until he was well past three and interested, making potty training super easy. I bribed him with candy for pee and sorbet for poop and in no time he was good to go. I am down to one in diapers again and it is awesome.

Jofis is also becoming a master story teller. He will passionately tell you "ooooky" stories about ghosts and ditches (witches) and big, big, big scary monsters. He acts things out and illustrates size with his arms and hands. His face is incredibly animated and he gleefully smiles when he gets to the really juicy parts. In short, it is adorable.


Sixth:
Last week was a lot of fun for liturgical feasting. Michaelmas (the feast of St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael - the archangels) was celebrated wholeheartedly. The kids and I read about St. Raphael in the Book of Tobit at breakfast becuase I couldn't quite remember what was up with the fish. Inspired by Molly's clever post about St. Michael's leggings, the girls and I wore our own leggings.  

Inspired by Haley's blog name and book Feast! we dined on roasted chicken and carrots for dinner with cake topped with blackberry compote for dessert. As Ben ate he asked, "Am I making the devil mad by eating blackberries?" eager to bring a bit of consternation to the guy.

When I was in college my chaplain was Fr. Gary Caster - a wonderful priest, preacher, and friend of St. Therese. He instilled in my friends and I a deep love of St. Therese and so October 1st cannot pass without some roses and something to honor my friends - Therese in Heaven and those on earth. I didn't get the chance to make something French for dinner or decorate rose cupcakes (like Tracy's - hers were gorgeous!)  but while all but the baby were with friends or family Travis and I ate Five Guys burgers and fries for dinner so I still call that a win.

Seventh:

St. Francis' feast day was this week of course and to celebrate our water heater broke and we had to buy a new one. We are following Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps so fortunately we had the money in savings to pay for it, but it's a big purchase. It seemed like a fitting day for it to happen.

In what I would describe as a parenting win, though, my school aged kids climbed in the car at pick-up and asked what we were going to do to celebrate St. Francis' feast. I had not even thought about it but it seems that I have established a precedent in our home: feast days = a special dinner, dessert, or activity. This has been my goal the whole time - for my kids to love living out their faith - and so we brainstormed on the way home. In the end spaghetti in honor of Francis' Italian heritage and cut out cookies shaped like animals were the winners. 

We used dogs, dinosaurs, butterflies, Easter bunnies, and Halloween bats and cats. Afterwards I found our Thanksgiving turkey; I'll have to remember that one for next year. 

So that's it. A pretty good couple of weeks. And now I'm off to link up with the wonderful Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum. Have a fun weekend, you guys! :)