Things Kids Say – Page 2 – Susanna Spencer

Seven Quick Takes: Friday, February 27–Around the House

The quiet beauty of the morning before the kids were up. I love tulips.

1) This week I have resolved myself to February and a lingering winter. We have been mostly at home because we have not really had any place we had to go. I have been tackling projects that I meant to do last February, like put curtain ties on the bedroom windows (instead of clothes pins) and getting some extra wall decor up. I have also been taking on some chores that I usually neglect because of the effort and time they take. And my nesting has led me to do things like order baby diaper covers and make a registry of things this baby is going to need. So, these quick takes are mostly about the house.

2) I had a little date with my double oven and Norwex cleaning products. I could not get every spot, but it is much better and shiny:

I then took on the rest of the kitchen deep cleaning. I think I need to work this into my weekly schedule, like doing one kitchen chore a week so that I don’t put it off for six months and then wear myself out in a week trying to get it all done.

3) My father’s father was a photographer, and last winter I spent an evening with two of my aunts going through photographs and taking my favorites home. I have been meaning to hang them for awhile. We don’t have a lot of common area wall space (that is not in the play room), so we only put two things up for now.

The first is a picture of an old man reading in a really nice room. If you want to see the photograph well, you are going to have to come over and see it yourself.

The second is a series of photographs of a house that seemed inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is probably near Los Angelos somewhere since that is where my grandfather got his art degree. We are really enjoying having some original and good art on our walls, and I like that it is done by my grandfather.

4) L asked for a painting of her name patron saint for Christmas to hang in her room with her name cross stitch (made by her aunt). G was given a Romanian style painted glass icon of her name patron saint at birth, and it has been hanging with her cross stitch for years. For L, we found a poster print of a painting, and finally hung in her room the other week. With the plan for the bunk bed, we decided to put all four framed items on one wall. I think it turned out really well, but you will have to come see it for yourself.

5) To add to Lent for the children (in addition to our Lent wreath and stational churches) we decided to do a bean jar for charitable deeds and a crown of thorns for sacrificial deeds. Since they are all below the age of reason, we have to remind them of it and tell them when they have done something worthy of it. They also look nice.

A certain girl likes to have her saint statue “talking” to Jesus or Our Lady.

6) The girls and I planted some basil seeds this week. It is supposed to be ready to harvest in 60-90 days which will put us in April. My thought is that we could transplant the basil to the garden after the last frost, and then start another set indoors to have for next fall and winter. Gardeners, does it matter how old basil is when you plant it outside?

The basil pots are covered in plastic until the seeds sprout.

Our mini rose bush and parsley are thriving. We have been using the parsley on various dishes, and it is acting the same as our parsley did last summer. The more you use it, the thicker it grows.

7) I will leave you with a few gems from the girls:

G (almost 6) at the end of quiet time the other day: “I was just finishing up my prayer time. It took me longer than normal today. I said a Hail Mary, an Our Father, a St. Michael, and then made up some prayers to Jesus.”

L (4), when I brought her toys into her quiet time (after her “sleeping time”): “I was singing about when I should get my toys. I was also singing Jesus songs. I sang a song to the monsters about how Jesus died on the cross so that we could go to Heaven.”
Me: “What did the monsters think of that?”
L: “I don’t know. They did not say.”

F (2) all the time: “I have to go potty. No, I don’t have to go.”

http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-applying-for-the-job-of-the-future-today-and-smore/

Linking up with Kelly at This Ain’t the Lyceum.

This Season in Girls: Winter 2015

I realize that I should do these more often, but I guess that is part of the season of life. I also am neglecting to photograph my children. I should get the camera out once a week, probably, even if we are just at home.

My only photo of all three since the New Year… L, G, and F

G: You are turning six next month, and are thrilled to tell everyone about the Ides of March. You are more and more capable everyday and can even put a pair of tights on alone (trust me, this is an impressive feat). You are finally happy to do reading with me now that we have finished our 100 “EASY” lessons, and have moved on to library readers. We finished a rag doll together that we made with our Little Flowers group, and I think that you really like having a doll that you made. You ask probing questions, like “What happens to someone’s guardian angel who goes to Hell?” and what song lyrics mean. You try so hard to be helpful, even if your impatience to play instead sometimes gets the best of you. I felt like a real grown up when you lost your first tooth, and you have been waiting so patiently for the current loose one to fall out. You are growing into a sweet and intelligent girl, and I look forward to seeing you grow more!

L: Let’s just say that four years of age is interesting. Mood swings seem to be a key part of it, but generally you are happy and playing nicely. You and G like to play Legos in your room for long stretches of time (without your little sister), but then other times you and F play happily together doing who knows what while G and I work on school. I think that you are content to be the middle child, taking joy in and loving both of your sisters. You are by far the most interested in the new baby, happy to talk to my belly and sing little songs. Pre-school “work” is not your thing these days, but you are full of imaginative pre-school play. You opted to write out all of your valentines rather than trace letters like you used to. You ask to wear a bun most days and look very cute in it. You would rather not take out toys at all then have to clean them up at the end of the day.

F: Oh, age two. Your potty training seems to have taken, though accidents are not a thing of the past. So, we use two diapers a day (nap and bedtime), and that is about it. You love your baby dolls these days and just about anything you can push around in your stroller as you fluctuate between screaming to be with me and playing happily without me. You surprise me with such grown up sounding phrases like, “Oh, I see!” And strongly dislike when we cannot understand what you are trying to say. You still love your crib and have not attempted to get out of it during nap time or bedtime, which means the transition to the toddler bed will wait. You love listening to music and request your favorite songs whenever you think of it, and then you sing along. You draw a lot of phrases from lyrics like when you said that G was wearing her “stars in the sky” shirt. It has been nice to discover that a lot of two year old traits are actually just “two year old things” and not “being supplanted by the new baby things.” I wonder what the new baby things will be…

Seven Quick Takes, Friday, November 21

1. This week my mind has been largely elsewhere, thinking and praying for peace in St. Louis where I grew up, and praying for all of those in Buffalo, NY where we lived for four years. Both the places and the people in those places have my affection. It is hard to see suffering and to only be able to stay here in Minnesota and pray for them.

2. You know my first snow storm in Buffalo was a pretty big one. We maybe got 12 inches in the North towns, but the South towns got close to 24″. It happened about 5 days before Christmas, and I-90 (our route to visit relatives) was closed for a day due to the snowfall. I ended up going into work the day of the storm and being ignorant of snow driving decided to drive on the right side of the road rather than the less deep left side of the road. I got stuck. I was six months pregnant, barely ever had driven in deep snow conditions, and stuck. I saw a man shoveling his driveway a few houses down, and being the good neighbor Buffalonian that he was, he got my car unstuck. He showed me how to put on the gas and rock the car back and forth until you get it out. And I know that is the kind of stuff going on in Buffalo this week. People are helping each other.

Our yard before the spring thaw last year. These poor snowmen were frozen all winter and then went the way of Frosty.

3. I also know what it is like to have 4+ feet of snow melt from your yard in a short amount of time. That happened to us last spring, and we had a minor basement flood. It turns out that it is a good idea to shovel snow away from all around the level surfaces, especially patios that go right up to your foundation. This is much more easily done when you get your snow in 2-8″ layers over the course of a winter than in 48 hours. So, I will continue to pray as the snow in Buffalo melts this weekend.

A snow angel the size of a five year old girl. 🙂

4. Speaking of snow, we have a little ourselves. But could someone please explain to me why we are down in the single digits already? Yesterday when I was out with G, it was 9°F. It is only November. We are supposed to hit the 30s this weekend, but then look at Thanksgiving:

iPad screenshot, woot!

I am pretty sure that people should not have settled here. I might need to squeeze in a rereading of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s The Long Winter along with my Jane Austen, so I can realize that we have it a lot better than they did.

5. Another snow question, do you think we can convince our elderly neighbors to let us build a snowman on their rock? Wouldn’t that be awesome?

6. Do you think it is time to potty train when the two year old hears me mention the word and then tries to drag me to the bathroom yelling, “POTTY TRAIN! POTTY TRAIN!”? I am not sure if it is worth it five weeks before a long visit with family. Maybe it is. Maybe I should just let her do it before she loses the desire. I have never potty trained without a younger baby around, so maybe it will be a breeze. Plus, she takes a good long afternoon nap, so it would just be in the mornings that I would be doing it alone. hmmm…

7. Last of all, for some reason, my giveaway only has two entrants right now… Don’t be shy, enter the giveaway, even if you don’t have a girl of your own, I bet you know a girl who would love Christmas with Bernadette, and I bet you would enjoy the Advent features of the Magnificat Advent Companion App. 🙂

Linking up with Kelly who is filling in for Jen at Conversion Diary.

http://thisaintthelyceum.org/sqt-takes-edel/

It Was Like Christmas Morning Over Here…

I managed to wake up before the kids this morning. I willed myself out of bed to wish M off to an early start for the day and see if the snow forecast had been accurate. After looking out the window, it was clear that the weather man had been right. A white layer of powder covered everything, and it was still coming down.

I sighed, trying to brace myself once again for six months of cold, snowy weather (please, let that be an exaggeration), and got dressed. I shuffled in my slippers to the kitchen, and started to get my coffee brewing. M and I greeted each other, and he hurried to get out the door.

I had about 30 minutes of blissful morning quiet over my coffee and breakfast before the first little feet came plodding from the bedrooms. “Mommy,” a sweet little girl voice said, “May L and I get up and play?” I told her that they might, and that they would need to get dressed soon. “I looked out the window and saw white!” she exclaimed before running back to her room. I could here them both standing at the window, giddy about the fresh snow, making plans for playing.

Once G and L were dressed and eating breakfast, anticipating snow play after our morning school time, I went to get up two year old F. She first asked about her grandfather who had left just two mornings before after a visit. I got her dressed and as soon as she walked into the living room, she saw the snow out the front window. She went to the window and stood there for about five minutes, staring and saying to herself, “Snow….snow….snow…”

School was more of a struggle than I had planned, but we managed anyway. And they were all excited to bundle up in their snow gear and head outside. Their mother, on the other hand, has been a bit of a wimp about the cold, and decided to stay inside and do a few chores.

As I peaked from time to time out the window to make sure everything was okay, I discovered that my children are perfectly okay with cold weather. They also taught me that the slide on our swing set is good for winter use as well. There is nothing like a snow suit to pad the landing after flying down a wet, snowy slide. They threw themselves on the ground in glee making snow angels. They ate handfuls of snow. They slid down the little hill that ends at the neighbor’s garage. They had a good 20 minutes before it started to sleet, and that was too cold and wet for them.

Maybe if we stay get above 10°F most days this Winter, the kids can actually play outside everyday. I don’t think they will tire of the snow anytime soon. Further, once we get their super warm water proof mitten in the mail, I would guess that they will stay out even longer.

Seven Quick Takes, Friday, October 24

1. I am mentally planning a post on our favorite Mass books for different ages, but today I just have a funny story to tell about one of them. F (23 months) has an illustrated Mass book that goes through the parts of the Mass. She really likes the page at the consecration of the Precious Blood where you can see the consecrated hosts in the ciborium, and always points to them saying, “Cookies!” I told this to M, and he suggested that maybe I should redirect her to understand that the hosts are not cookies. So, last Saturday at morning Mass I explained to her that the hosts were Jesus. During her second flipping through the book, she paused on that page, pointed to the hosts and proclaimed, “Jesus cookies!”

Jesus Cookies. From We Go to Mass.

2. Also, last Saturday, when I was busy in the morning, M winterized the vegetable garden. I am eternally grateful to him for doing this chore. I really am. It makes me really happy, thankful, and loved. He dug up all the dead plants and turned over all the soil, and trimmed back the lilac bush which tries to shade the garden. We plan on throwing some mulched leaves into the beds to add to the soil, and I am still planning on getting a compost bin for the garden stuff. We really should compost, I know, but the garbage disposal is soooooo nice.

The Empty Garden. Here you also see our crazy oregano plant and the hearty parsley.

3. My friend, Jacqui, mentioned to me that she loves my food/canning posts, but due to pregnancy I have been having a really hard time eating things that are not either made out of beef, are junk food, or are extremely bland. Maybe I should share my favorite whole wheat pancake recipe, which always works to settle a pregnant stomach. I can’t really think of anything else worth sharing…

4. Speaking of food, I discovered that my yogurt recipe works even if you let the crock-pot go on low for an extra hour (solo bedtimes will do that to you). It went all the way up to 195°F, which seems to be the limit on other yogurt recipes. But I cooled it to 115°F and added my room temperature starter, and it worked. I was pretty nervous that I had wasted 8 cups of milk plus a brand new yogurt, but instead I ended up with super creamy yogurt. I think I might have to let it go to a higher temperature every time. Maybe after a little experimenting I will update my yogurt recipe.

5. We pray a litany of our family patron saints every night during family prayer time. Tonight, L (almost 4) decided to throw out a few suggestions, wanting to repeat her patron saint as well as her sister’s. I explained to her that we do not need to do saints more than once because they are always listening when we pray to them. Her response, “I don’t always listen.” At least she is honest, right?

6. And now it is G’s (5) turn. M has been doing some home school with her twice a week in the afternoon, and one of the topics they have been covering is geography. Lately, they have been working on states. However, M, as a native of Michigan seems to favor Michigan above all other states. You can take the man out of Michigan, but you can’t take Michigan out of the man. The other morning at breakfast, G held up her hands to represent the Upper and Lower Peninsulas and said, “Mommy, this is Michigan. It is like two hands!”

7. In case you missed it, I am running a giveaway of a beautiful rosary book. The giveaway ends at Midnight at the end of the day Monday/beginning of Tuesday. Click on over to see the review and enter the giveaway!

And as always, I am linking up with the lovely hostess of Quick Takes, Jen at Conversion Diary.

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2014/10/7-quick-takes-about-south-dakota-rap-battles.html

Seven Quick Takes, Friday, September 4

1. In the garden, Blue Hubbard Watch:

I also picked this albino cucumber:

I think it stayed this color due to being entirely sheltered from sunlight by the plants leaves and sitting on wet ground. Any gardener thoughts?

2. While discussing a Biblical text and how I interpret it, M said to me: “You realize that all of the tradition interprets it differently.”
Me: “Well, that has been my intuition about this my whole life.”
M: “That is because you are a modern traditionalist. I am going to start telling people that I am a modern traditionalist because my wife wears a brown veil.” We are pretty modern trads, aren’t we?

3.We finally got to going through our closeted basement stuff last Saturday and did the kind of giving away/throwing out that we have done with every move. We finally parted with a couple of things we have been holding onto for our entire marriage. I managed to hold onto a few especially memorable things, and few good laughs reading my “jrnlo” that my first grade teacher had us write in every day. My ode to “chiccin pocs” is my favorite:

I seem to have dedicated it to my brother. See how having chicken pox is bonding?

4. Last Sunday we canned the last of our jam. We took those strawberries that we froze back in June and mashed them up with blackberries and raspberries and made 2 gallons of triple berry jam. Yum, yum! I canned 14.5 pints and stuck the rest (from three batches) in a jar in the fridge.

A friend asked me a couple of weeks ago why we bother to make our own jam. I just think it tastes better, and I know all the ingredients in it. However, it is also because, G (5) has decided that she only likes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with jam that M or I have made. If I ever start making my own peanut butter, I wonder what she will decided then.

5. The first week of teaching kindergarten went well. I had to work the first day for a bit of discipline, and G said to me in a surprised tone, “You sound just like a teacher, Mommy!” Yes, my child, I am your teacher, so please listen to me and do what I ask. Okay? Thanks.

6. While we were going through stuff, M came across my senior thesis entitled, “St. Augustine and Free Will.” After reading the first paragraph allowed he announced to me, “This is not too bad!” It actually was better than I remembered it. My husband might have even given me a decent grade! I bring this up because I have been rediscovering my appreciation of St. Augustine through an album by Sam Rocha, Late to Love (click the link to listen). It is described as “original concept album that performs a reading of Augustine’s Confessions through soul music”. M is the one who discovered it back when it was a Kick Starter project. He is into soul music, and I am normally not, but this one is pretty catchy (Simcha Fischer even gave it a good review!). I am pretty picky about the content of my music, but I can’t be too picky when it is St. Augustine. The kids really like it also, especially “In the Self’s Place” and what they call “The Alien Song.” Yesterday when M was working downstairs, L declared that he was “in the self’s place” because he was alone.

7. We had a great food week. Saturday we made grilled steak with Bearnaise sauce. The sauce was amazing, and I did not get super stressed making it, like I normally do with a Hollandaise. I neglected to take a picture of my plate of steak, sauce, fingerling potatoes, grilled vegetables, and red cabbage salad. It was all soooo good. We made our first attempt at grilled pizza yesterday and ended up having to just grill the crust and broil the toppings. It was yummy and grilled tasting, but I think we should have been able to do the whole thing on the grill. We have decided that we need to up grade from our camping grill to a normal sized charcoal.

That’s all, folks!

I am linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary!

http://www.conversiondiary.com/2014/09/7-quick-takes-about-dog-whispering-fails-a-hilarious-interview-moment.html

Seven Quick Takes: Friday, June 20

1. It was 97% humidity here when we woke up this morning. It was like breathing water. I am not sure how the weather manages to do that without us all being in a cloud. M said it felt like he had spiderwebs all over his skin. Things dried up as it warmed up, but at least it wasn’t that humid and 90 out like a certain city is all summer long. Tomorrow is the first day of summer…woohoo! It is time to soak in summer while we can, and get a good dose of heat and humidity before the six months of dry and cold.

2. I took G(5) and L(3) for haircuts today, and the stylists could not get over how cute L was. I mean all the kids are really cute, but L just has that extra cute personality that get to you and then you can’t stand how cute she is. It must be something like the charm that the Flyte family has in Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited. You simply cannot resist it. Her teenage swimming instructor kept on shooting me “your daughter is so cute” glances at the pool this morning. We are lucky that no one has thought she was so cute that they had to eat her up, you know.

3. M has decided that it is really important to make sure that our children do not fit into society at all, even when they grow up. The thing is, I never really felt like I fit into mainstream society, nor do I think I ever could. When I venture places like the hair salon, I can manage small talk about kids, but, nope, I am not really normal. When the stylist asked L about what she wanted her hair cut to be like L responded,

“I want to grow my hair all the way down to my feet!”
The stylist smiled and replied, “Oh, like the girl in Tangled.”
L gave her a blank stare.
I chimed in, “How about like Rapunzel. Do you want hair like hers?”
L then smiled and said, “Yeah! Like her! We read about her in a book!”
Yep, we are a little different, aren’t we?

4. M has been doing ~~a little~~ a lot more child watching since his break began, and F (19 months) is getting pretty used to him working while watching her. He came up from his study just before dinner the other night, and she had been whining at my feet in the kitchen. When he offered to help, I asked if he could watch F. He asked her what she wanted to do, and she led him down the stairs and into his study. She pointed at his chair and demanded, “Sit down!” Then she pointed at his books on his desks and said, “Do that!”

5. We are starting to get a harvest from our garden this week! I made our first pesto pasta of the season, and am so glad that I planted two basil plants this year. It is nice to be able to make pesto this early in the summer without using the whole plant! We also have been harvesting our lettuces. I read on some random website that you can do a later summer planting and Fall harvest of lettuce. Is this true for Minnesota?

6. I have been working through a couple of things parenting-wise this week. The first is how to deal with screaming children who want to argue whenever I say ‘no.’ I am learning to be more firm in my ‘no’ and not debate out the issue. I really do not want to be having arguments with a five year old about things she has no authority over. The second is gently encouraging less daytime nursing with F. She often asks when she is just hungry or thirsty. I have been offering foods and then informing her of when the next time she will nurse (which is usually naptime or bedtime).

7. And there was something I was going to write that I even told M yesterday about, and neither of us can remember. So, if we remember I will update this… if not… here is a really quick take. Take it or leave it…

Linking up to Seven Quick Takes Friday hosted this week by Kathryn.

http://teamwhitaker.org/2014/06/7-quick-takes-the-best-read-the-weirdest-city-the-mom-i-never-thought-i-would-be/

This Season in Girls: Spring is Here!

The nice Spring days we are having on occasion make me want to move somewhere where the weather is always nice. But we in the North like to think we would not appreciate such beautiful weather as much if we were not confined to the indoors with our small children for six months of the year. Am I right?

Anyway, I realize that I am really bad at doing the monthly update of the kiddos, so I am going to do a Spring one. The girls have been so sweet and my consolation these past few weeks. I am pretty sure I am never going to get over all of their big brown eyes and gorgeous eye lashes. I married M for these eyes, and they just make your heart melt on the face of a little girl.

So, here we go:

G on a walk in the woods two years ago.

G, my big helper and five year old:

You are so inquisitive these days, wondering about everything: “What kind of bird is that that bobs its neck back and forth when it walks?” You correct L whenever she is not precise; maybe our future philosopher? You are also fascinated by anything medical, and were devastated when you did not get your shots a couple of weeks ago. And did not even cry when you finally got them. Maybe a doctor? Or maybe you will “just be” a mom, like you always pretend with your dolls. You have figured out how to match clothes, and dress yourself pretty cutely most days. I also realize how you want to imitate my daily cardigan wearing, which will hopefully stop happening since Summer is coming. You are learning to pump on the new swing set, and have been so patient for your promised “big girl” bicycle. While you forget that mom is tired these days, you are willing to help when you remember. You have been trying to dress F in her pjs, but think that she is “not like a doll because she is so squirmy.” You really dislike being alone (“I want to be with a parent!” “If I go outside without L, I will be lonely!”), but are a good sport most days about taking your quiet time. You are still allergic to bananas as we found out the other night, but seem to be like me in your suffering, cheerful and making jokes half the time. You know how to write all of your letters and numbers, and are getting so good at sounding out words, even though we have taken a hiatus in our reading lessons. You even sounded out verbally C-H-I-P the other day! You are a sweet, wonderful, and capable big girl, and I am so thankful that I have you in my life.

L, my affectionate three year old:

You are the sweetest, cutest middle child there ever was. You were created to be a middle child. You love to play with your big sister, imitating her, laughing with her, imagining with her. You also get frustrated with her, but that is part of being a sister. You are a wonderful big sister as well. Whenever, F, gets her you stop what you are doing, come to her, and give her one of your sweet juicy kisses and say, “Are you okay?” You play so nicely with F, and whenever you two play together, I smile at the continual giggling. You come over to me, give me hugs, and tell me that you are my “comfort.” You impulsively will hug and kiss me and say, “I love you, Mommy!” and did the same thing for your Grandma D when she was visiting last week. At nighttime prayer you always remember to pray for our sick neighbor, Mr. E, and the other night you prayed that we would have another new baby soon. You are not always very good at falling asleep at nap and bedtime, but when you finally do, you sleep like a rock. I can sneak into my room (where you nap) and get things I need. You need time to wake up, sometimes sobbing before you realize that you just want to rest longer. You love to look at books, like both of your sisters, and are working on writing your capital letters. You are still as dramatic as ever; sometimes when you cry I think you must have broken a bone, only to discover that someone took a toy from you. You are so full of emotion, but it is mostly affection, and the affection of a sweet girl is so important in a family.

F, my one and a half year old sponge:

You are absorbing everything these days, and so perceptive. Everyday you are saying new words, learning new things, trying to be so big. I can hardly believe you are halfway between one and two. I am pretty sure you were just born, but here we are one and a half years later. You are on track to be my longest nurser, just a month away from passing your sister. But you night weaned so beautifully and easily, that you are actually sleeping through the night for reals. You are currently really into looking at books, especially your collection of board books (well, the ones we have been collecting for five years). You love pictures and toy ducks, though I am not sure you would know a real one if you saw it, having spent the last six months of your life mostly in doors. (That is actually really sad: for 12 months of your 18 month life it has been Winter.) Now that you can, you are so eager to go outside. You get your socks, shoes, and jacket together and stand by the door saying, “Side! Side! Side!” I cannot always take you out, but when I do, you say, “Slide! Weeeeee! Swing! Weeeee!” and clap your little hands. You really like to clap your hands actually. You clap when people do something for you, or when Mommy or Daddy throw your laundry down the shoot. You clapped for the doctor during your well visit. Every kiss you give is followed by a “Date doo.” (Thank you.) And you know what a dinosaur is; you call them, “Saur!” I am savoring your baby-ness, but enjoying your independence. Don’t grow up too fast!

Seven Quick Takes: Friday, May 2

1. I spent most of Monday in a little panic about silverfish bugs in our basement. I found a couple in our basement school cupboard, and then discovered that they nest in and eat paper and cardboard. I imagined a whole colony of them just destroying everything in the cupboard and moving onto the rest of the basement. I really do not like bugs in my house. I really don’t. Especially creepy looking ones that destroy things. So, I called M and asked him to spray the whole basement for bugs, because who knows what else might have come out since it stopped being freezing cold in the world. Do they have brown recluse spiders in Minnesota? They have them in Missouri and I always was afraid of being bit by one of those. I also discovered that bugs don’t like the smell of cedar. We have a large cedar closet that came with the house in the basement, which I am super thankful for since I am storing things in there like my wedding dress.

2. The kids have their new swing set. M and our friend, T, built it all last Saturday, just in time for it to rain from Saturday night through Wednesday afternoon. I managed to get a picture of it finally this morning. The big girls have been going out and playing in the cold between rain showers. F has been begging to go outside all week, but I really did not feel up for going outside and standing in the cold while helping F slide down the slide. Maybe it will be sunny this weekend. We could all go for that around here.

3. F (18 months) is thinking about potty training already. The other day, G (5) announced that she had to use the bathroom. Whenever she does this, L (3) screams, “No, I have to go potty!” They then race to the bathroom. F, observing them, pulled up her shirt saying, “I po-yee. Pee.” And then waddles after them. Maybe we will go for it this summer. No pants in the backyard. Why not?

4. We decided to night wean F last week. It was a breeze. This kid is so chill most of the time. I kind of wish all babies could be just like her. I still nurse her before bed, but if she wakes up M goes to her with water and tells her to go back to sleep. The first night, he did this three times. The second night once, and now, for now, she is sleeping all night without waking. That is much better that her sisters who wake up multiple times to go to the bathroom, get a drink, fuss about whatever, monsters… How do you parent night wean 5 and 3 year olds?

5. I ended up making the thickest Greek yogurt the other day. You see, I did it overnight in the crockpot on Monday night. (8 cups whole milk for 2.5 hours on low, cool for 3 hours, add 6 oz plain yogurt starter and wrap in blankets overnight). I usually “strain” the yogurt by putting a bunch of paper towels on top to soak the excess liquid off for about an hour. Well, Tuesday, when we were hurrying to get me to the ER for my miscarriage “complications” I stuck it in the fridge with paper towels on top. Wednesday morning I remembered it and, voila, yogurt as thick as you could want!

6. I am guessing that wondering minds want to know about Tuesday. I would like to write a longer post devoted to my experience of miscarriage, but a few initial thoughts are that passing a 6 week old baby at 8 weeks is like a less strenuous labor. But I feel a lot now like I did after having each of the other babies. I lost a lot of blood, and wears one out. What makes it a little easier, but also sad, is that I can sleep all night, without infant care. It is not what I expected. And the baby had a sense of liturgical time, since he/she stopped growing on the Feast of St. Gemma (my confirmation saint), we found out about the death on Good Friday, I started bleeding on Divine Mercy Sunday, and the baby passed on the (new) Feast of St. Catherine of Sienna (who we have started a devotion to since F was born…her biography by Sigrid Undset is amazing).

7. And, I was not going to buy Jen’s new book, since I do not normally randomly buy books (a certain husband of mine would buy a new book everyday if he could). I was thinking library. But as a treat, to help with recovery, I ordered it on Wednesday, plus a new Von Balthasar for M. It is scheduled to arrive next Tuesday. I previewed the first chapters on Amazon, which let me since I purchased the hardcover. I am eager to read the rest. Jen has a beautiful and interesting way of explaining her childhood in the first couple of chapters. Who knows, maybe I will have time to enter a contest.

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary!

Seven Quick Takes: Friday, April 25

1. First of all, thank you all for your prayers during our time of loss of our tiny baby. It was hard for me to share what was going on; it almost seemed easier to keep it private. But since I asked for prayers, I have felt an abundance of grace helping us through this time. I am even finding myself quite happy and hopeful a lot of the time, and remembering our loss is less painful.

2. Today, in addition to being Easter Friday, is also the Feast of St. Mark, which happens to be M’s name day. To celebrate, since we are having dinner with our parish home school community, I had the girls make cards for M. I gave them a quick example of a lion drawing, and realized my poor drawing skills:

The girls did a fairly good imitation of mine:

L (3) drew a mouse-like lion, drew M, and traced capital letters.


G (5) did a lion, her father, lots of hearts, and her name, which is edited out… She also tried to write the date and gave up.

Drawing, check. Writing practice, check. Religion, check. Pre-school for the day, done.

3. When I picked out earrings today, G insisted on me wearing my lions. I think I last wore these to the zoo.

Earring selfie! (Sorry, M, I had to use that word; I know you hate it.)

I am pretty sure I got these from my awesome friend, C, in college, but I do not remember. I had a little thing about lions back before I knew M. Maybe it was a premonition? I am working up the gusto to wear them to evening Mass today. Maybe my veil will hide their ridiculousness.

4. I spent yesterday morning distracting myself by doing a little editing of my blog formatting. Do you see what I did? Any suggestions for other pages/tabs? I could collect things like recipes or posts in certain topics into other pages. Maybe I can delve into home organization next week, as opposed to virtual, while the weather is crummy and rainy. My intentions of organizing during the Winter months vanished with a busy schedule and visiting St. Louis a few times to see my dad.

5. Saturday, during our Easter preparations, M went out to the garden to plant a blueberry bush he bought on an impulse from Aldi. While digging, he found the den of Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail and Peter Rabbit. Flopsy and Peter got away immediately, but the other two sat cowering in corners of the garden until M placed them back in their den. The girls thought it was great fun and wanted to keep them, but everything we Googled recommended against it. F (17 months) could not get enough of them and stood by the garden fence saying, “Buh-ee! Buh-ee!” And when I made her bid them farewell her voice became mournful and sad, “Buh-ee… buh-ee…”

Cottontail scared and cold.

When we checked the den on Tuesday, they were gone. The thing is, we thought our garden was rabbit-proof, and now we find that a pregnant rabbit found a way in to give birth and has been returning twice a day to feed her babies. We might have to get the anti-rabbit spray after all to protect our garden from Peter and his cousin Benjamin.

6. If you are my friend on Facebook, you have already heard about F stealing L’s jelly beans. This toddler is quite into her candy. I was keeping the baskets on the table, and she was climbing right up, finding foil-wrapped candies, declaring them to be, “Choc!” and biting right through the foil with her sharp front teeth. She is a little obsessed with chocolate; I wonder where she gets that? I cannot reliably get her to eat foods besides scrambled eggs, meat, processed cheeses, and candy. I guess we have another picky one on our hands, which is too bad because she was really into fruit and vegetables back when they were her only foods. Well, M can get her to eat anything, so as long as he is at a meal, she eats.

7. Last of all, the gracious hostess of Seven Quick Takes, Jen is releasing her book Something Other Than God next week. It is about her conversion to Catholicism from atheism, and should be a good read. I was not cool enough to pre-order it, but I promise I will read it once I get a hold of a copy. 🙂