My Daybook :: April 8, 2011

by | Apr 8, 2011 | Daybook, Fencing | 7 comments

Outside my window… The weather has been crazy lately.  Last week it got up to a nice and warm 70 degrees and yesterday we woke up to snow on the ground!  It melted pretty quickly, but continued to snow and hail throughout the day.   It cracked me up when I heard the hail start coming down once again and the boys laughing and running out the front door.   I looked out the window to find them wearing their swimming goggles and trying to catch the hail with their mouths!

I am listening to… the Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible with my children.   We love it!   I do wish that I had the actual set of CD’s (versus the Audible Download that I have) since I would really love to be able to skip around to the various readings, for our Jesus Tree Bible Study.   Hopefully next year.   In the meantime we are just enjoying listening to it from start to finish whenever possible.

I am thinking… about the potential government shutdown.  Will my husband be going in to work on Monday or will he be one of the “non-essential” employees forced to take unpaid leave while Congress tries to come to an agreement on the budget?  We are still praying that this doesn’t happen, but if it takes a government shutdown to defund Planned Parenthood it would be worth it!

I am thankful… that I was able to find my old boss’s daughter through a Google Search (using only her first and maiden name) this past weekend, after getting a phone call from him asking for help since he had been evicted from his apartment.  He is 94 years old and currently in a retirement home with Dementia. (He was able to remember my maiden name and contacted my parents.)  She flew up on Monday and stayed with our family while we helped her move his belongings out of his old apartment on Monday and Tuesday.

From the kitchen… Lollipops leftover from my niece’s birthday party!

My girls decided that they wanted to save their Lollipop for Easter and I keep hearing them singing this song:

All of our children were singing this song the day after the party: 

From the learning rooms… My three oldest completed their first (of two) botany lapbooks for this school year last week.   They turned out great and I am hoping to post some detailed pictures soon.

Living the Liturgical Year at Home… We just started praying a novena for our Holy Father, whose birthday is coming up on April 16th.   We are still observing Lent and getting ready for Easter… Checking the day’s off of our Lenten Calendars, reading bible stories and adding to our Jesus Tree, offering sacrifices and removing thorns from our Crown of Thorns or adding beans to the jar, and working on our Last Supper Puzzle which is almost finished!

I am creating… a plan for Chiquita’s 6th Birthday on the 20th…  So many ideas and so little time!

I am reading…
 an excerpt from our local paper (which I ran into town this morning to pick up!) about my little brothers Kevin (16) and David (15 – who is also my Godson!) ::

(Kevin’s) 82 at the District 6 Golf Invitational on April 1 was no April Fool’s joke as the Chieftains’ golf team placed second in the tournament, four shots behind St. Mary’s.    Chieftain golf fans have become so accustomed to (Kevin’s) consistently superb play that shooting an 82 had to be some kind of joke, but it wasn’t.   (Kevin’s) little brother David, fired a 76 to place second on the individual scoring card…

Pondering these words… from a quote found in the spring issue of Soul Gardening, an inspiring little journal that was just sent to me as a gift from Rose’s Godmother.   I LOVE it, and it was just what I have been needing this week!

God’s presence or absence is known by the effect of suffering on us, especially by the effect of the small sufferings of every day, such as the “slights” which literally corrode those who try to endure them in their own strength.  But in those whom Christ abides, it is Christ who suffers every humiliation.  For them there are no psychological scars:  the humility of Christ clothes them in His majesty and crowns them.  Crowns them with thorns, it is true, but what other crown could any thinking person wish to wear today?  And what other would not be ludicrous?   ~ Caryll Houslander

Noticing that… I really love Twinkle Toes’ hair short.   We had it cut this past Saturday, right before her cousins birthday party, and it turned out so cute!

Towards personal care (and exercise!)… We had planned on putting the boys in baseball this Spring (and they did try out and attend the first practice), but due to some drama and problems with our local Little League we ended up changing plans.  After searching for an alternative, I found a Fencing class that had just started last week.    I thought this would be perfect, especially since the boys have been studying the Middle Ages this year!

Captain was very excited, but Rascal was a little nervous.  After hearing a little encouragement from The Professor, he started looking forward to the lesson.    When we arrived, the instructor took one look at my boys (who are small for their ages) and thought they might want to just observe to see if they were still interested in participating, or perhaps join an earlier afternoon class with younger children.   I convinced him to let them give it a shot and he said they could try out the first part of the class, which was on foot work.  “Don’t worry about filling out the forms… They won’t be using any weapons today.”   Or would they?!?  😉   He was quite surprised at their coordination (they were in Hockey after all) and at how quickly my boys learn.

Around the house… I hired a woman to paint our old oak dining room hutch and the little electric fireplace which we were just given by a friend.  They were picked up on Wednesday and should be done this next week. She just emailed me to ask if I would like to have the mirrors taken out, or not.   Oh, I don’t know!!  I am kind of thinking it might look better without…   What do you think… Mirrors or no mirrors?

On keeping home…  I don’t think I am going to get anywhere near 40 bags this Lent (I’m only up to 10 right now).  However, after a little inspiration from Charlotte, I did tackle one of the racks in my closet.    Taking everything out, really does make a difference!  I boxed up the skirts and dresses that I hope to fit back into someday, bagged up a bunch more to donate, and hung the rest back up in the closet.   I probably should go through them again and get rid of a few more, but at least it’s a start and I actually do have some clothes that fit!

Before:

After:

One of my favorite things…  clean de-cluttered spaces, even if we only have a few of them in our home!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

We are looking forward to tomorrow.  The girls have their very first Ballet class, followed by lunch with the other women that live on our street!

A Picture thought I am sharing:

Rose with her Daddy, taken at the coast a couple weeks ago

7 Comments

  1. Mom2Seven

    Jessica, I love your daybooks! Hoping you and your family have a lovely weekend.

    +JMJ+

    Reply
  2. Erin

    Amen on defunding Planned Parenthood! Hope your husband doesn't have to take unpaid leave… so sad that some people would rather force people across the country to not be able to do their jobs and not get paid because they'd rather have PP get taxpayer money (and spend it on various other things as well, probably).

    I like your hutch with the mirrors, but then again, it might look nice without! Tough decision! Mirrors make things seem bigger on the one hand, but they can sometimes make things look more cluttered… I go back and forth about whether to keep the half-wall sized mirror in our schoolroom.

    Gotta love Little League drama… I remember some parents in a county in our state were "banned for life" from games because they behaved so badly at games! Glad you found an alternative for your boys… fencing sounds neat! And my 6 yr old is going to start ballet in the fall, too!

    Reply
  3. Anonymous

    Thankyou again for sharing your life and thoughts with us.
    I would never paint beautiful natural wood, myself! and do keep the mirrors. That's a lovely piece of furniture as it is. – from Valerie in NZ.

    Reply
  4. Jessica Gordon

    Well, it is good news that my husband will be working on Monday and that a government shutdown was avoided, but just awful that PP will still be receiving funding.. 🙁

    Valerie ~ I, too, love wood furniture! At least usually… I don't really care for oak, and it doesn't go with the tan walls and dark wood floors/cabinets in our remodel. I started looking at selling it, but it was going to cost so much to purchase what I wanted that I thought we could improvise and paint what we already have (this hutch was given to us). We ended up deciding to remove the mirrors and have the option of adding them back if we changed our mind. I just got another email from the painter and she said that the bottom mirror will need to stay after all, so only the top mirrors are going to be removed. I really hope it turns out!!

    Reply
  5. Lori N from MN

    Hi Jessica,
    I was going to suggest you remove the mirrors, but it sounds like you're forced to compromise with both.

    My husband was to report to work if the shut-down took place, but we weren't sure whether he'd be paid or not! 🙁 Thank goodness it was avoided, but like you – we were praying that PP would be defunded, whatever the cost.

    Twinkle Toes looks adorable with her inverted bob, and your two oldest boys crack me up with their "hail-catching garb" – how fun!

    Blessings~

    Reply
  6. Erin

    Like the goggles, my boys have been known to run around with goggles on when shooting 'paper wasps' at each other. (Paper 'darts' fired from rubber bands, painful and only allowed with goggles to protect eyesight)

    Reply
  7. mel

    haha! Those photos of the boys at the beginning are hysterical! They look like a couple of fish, hehe…

    Reply

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