Lest I Forget

Today is a drizzly, gray, cozy up in front of the fireplace, extra splash of cream in the coffee, snuggle with the kids kind of day. Tomie dePaola's nursery tales are the perfect snuggling with the kids book. I've always enjoyed his illustrations. His telling of familiar and not so familiar stories are just lovely to read. I bought Anna and Therese matching Easter dresses this year. This is not like me, but I was browsing the Zulily website and they had the cutest dresses by Laura Ashley for less than half price. I got both dresses for what I was prepared to spend on one dress. Anna already has a sweater to wear over her dress in case the weather on Easter Sunday is like it is today. Therese does not. This little shrug is knitting up quickly. The fire is warm, and so is my coffee. Have a wonderful day and don't forget to stop by Ginny's , the gracious host of the Wednesday Yarn Along.

52 weeks of daily life in pictures: trials and celebrations, the extraordinary and mundane -- whatever is unique to the week. Join me ( Barbara ) if you like. Look who is sitting on her own! Mostly. Our monthly delivery of specialized medical food. Yum-yum. I am thankful that there IS food my child can eat. Runny noses and still smiling. Ok. You might have to click to enlarge this one. Jack drew a moving van filled with furniture. Sophie picked the wrong week to have Spring Break. We were all so sick. Therese was happy to see her anyway! (Me too.) My project that made me happy. I painted the light fixture. It was brass. It went with nothing. I think it looks much better. Our first hint of Spring arrived. Can't you just feel that sunshine? Another sign of spring! More father and son time. I'm not sure why the bike helmet was necessary. Helmets and hats. We like putting things on our heads! My baby washcloths that never got posted this week. She's part of the...

Jack has been a source of much amusement (mine) this week. Maybe he seems funnier since I haven't been getting much sleep with all the sickly children around here. -at the breakfast table, Jack looked up from his breakfast to inform me that "when I get fur like dad, I'm razoring it off." -After Anna told Jack that she did not want to play chess with him, Jack yelled down the stairs "Mom, Anna hurt my feelings." I asked him to come down so we could talk about it. His reply? "I can't. My heart is broken." -I was inspecting kid's teeth to see if they had indeed been brushed. When I asked to see Jack's, he told me "I gave up brushing teeth."

You know that feeling that you've done this before? I've never liked that feeling. Sometimes it makes me think that I must be on the road I am supposed to be travelling, else I wouldn't have this feeling. Other times, it seems like an omen. This is the superstitious part of my brain, for I KNOW that only God knows the path He has laid before me, should I choose to follow Him. Knowing that doesn't make it especially appealing to set out on that journey. Just look at the lives of those who have. Yes, they are in Heaven, but the road was not easy or pretty in most cases. I admit to being a bit of a wimp. Really, who wants to take the hard way to do something? This past week has been spiritually, mentally, and physically challenging. I guess honestly I should add that it has been religiously challenging too. It all started with a cold. We all got one, even my husband who swears he never gets sick. On Thursday night, things took a more serious turn and my anxious side reared...

I am participating in Ginny's yarn along again this week... The bridge book is lots of fun! We are in the middle of constructing and testing a truss bridge made of craft sticks. The Rooster Grows is a book of nursery rhymes. Jack and I were playing with some quiz cards when I made the discovery that he had no idea who Old Mother Hubbard might be. The other two books I am currently reading to the kids are about earthquakes and volcanoes.We actually checked them out of the library before the tragedy in Japan happened. We had some neighbor kids over earlier this week. Anna asked me to read to them all and she wanted to hear about volcanoes. About halfway through, the neighbor's 3 year old looked up at me and said, "This is pretty scary stuff!" I hope they will still want to come play again. I am about to start my book tonight, after seeing a positive recommendation from another blog I read. I just finished this book , and, as hard as some of it was to read, being so m...

What do we do when noses are snuffly, temperatures are above normal, and we all feel rather sklonklish*? We give ourselves temporary tattoes, of course! We also play duck, duck, goose. And Yahtzee. And baseball with special dice. So what if they are Valentine's tattoes. They made us laugh. Even though we feel lousy, we still had a beautiful today. *If you don't know what sklonklish is, watch "The Bachelor and the Bobbysoxer" with Cary Grant and Shirley Temple. You won't regret it.

52 weeks of daily life in pictures: trials and celebrations, the extraordinary and mundane -- whatever is unique to the week. I am joining Barbara this week. Preparing for a day out of the house. A nutritious breakfast: peanut butter oatmeal and banana muffins. It appears the new couch is comfortable and cozy. Father and son time. I think there were only 5 pieces of track not used. My budding repairman. He changed the battery in Therese's seat from start to finish without any help whatsoever. He amazes me. Learning how to get the flax ready to weave into cloth. Feeling the soft flax. Yorktown was just as fun and interesting as Jamestown! I'm not sure what Therese thinks of her new spring hat. And that is our last 2 weeks in pictures.

months, that is! Therese is so excited to be 6 months old. She babbles and gives raspberries and rolls. She arches her back and pushes with her feet to get herself closer to objects out of reach. She is all smiles, as long as you don't try to give her solid food. Can you see her first "hair-do"? That hair is in her eyes now, so we pull it back! It is also down her back! Our sweet little Therese!

how a grieving mother feels, please read this post by my dear friend Karen, who has also lost a child to SUDEP. She expresses so beautifully and accurately what is in my heart. I am in awe of her ability to write these feelings down.

I'm joining Ginny once again this week to share what I am knitting and reading. On the needles, I am starting a hat for Therese. I bought her a new spring outfit that is not pink. I was actually able to find a cute yellow and white little cotton dress with navy trim. I am making this hat to go with the dress. The largest size the pattern makes is 3/6 months. She will be 6 months old next week. I don't even want to think about that. Add to that the fact that we grow our babies with big brains. I'm talking 95th percentile for the head. All this to say, I am trying to knit this with larger needles to get a larger hat. My reading material reflects my hope that spring is near. I am trying to grow a better garden, start a compost pile or bin, and maybe even a rain barrel to make watering the garden cheaper. We will see how much of this can be accomplished this growing season. My apologies on the bad photography this week. It is dark outside, but this is the first chance I have ...

It has been a great few days. First of all, my parents came for a visit. Second, Jamestown and Yorktown are having their homeschool week right now. We originally planned to go on Saturday, but the weather forecast looked much better for Sunday, so off we went to the Vigil Mass Saturday evening after a fun time at the bowling alley. (Because everyone goes bowling before Mass, right? Also, bowling is free on post every Saturday afternoon!) Sunday morning dawned with warm temperatures and high hopes, and we were not disappointed. It was such a perfect day. Here you can see the masts of the ships in the distance. They are full scale replicas of the original ships and are fully functioning to boot. In fact, they actually sailed one of them from England to Jamestown following the route of the actual voyage. Reproduction of a Powhatan dwelling. Inside, listening to the guide explain the uses of the building. Oh, how Jack loved the ships! He had to try everything, and that was OK because t...