My Daybook :: July 18, 2011

Outside my window... It has been rainy lately, and we keep hoping that summer will return.  In the meantime we have been enjoying the baby deer that have been visiting each day.  They are so cute!!

I am thinking... about our curriculum for next year.   So many decisions... However, I think I have it almost finalized.  I spent most of the weekend working on creating plans and book lists for an American History course next year.   It's all starting to come together and looks like it will be a fun year!

I am thankful... that God always provides, even through the most random places!  Thank you to all of you that ordered books from my recent used book sale.   I still have two more packages to mail tomorrow morning, and then I will be caught up.   I've been slowly filling another box with books we are no longer using and thought, if anyone else is interested,  I'd host a "Book Sale Blog Hop" link-up here at Shower of Roses.   I'm thinking the 1st of August might work out well, giving us all about 2 weeks to go through our bookshelves and put the posts together. . . Is anyone interested?

From the kitchen... The smell of homemade Spaghetti Sauce is starting to take over the house as it simmers on the stove.  I also have some Rolls ready to go in the over and a Green Salad in the fridge.   Dinner will be ready soon!

Learning all the time... Last night I heard my husband tell the big kids to all get a book and sit down and read for a little while.   They weren't the only ones that listened to their Daddy!

Living the Liturgical Year at Home... We celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel this past weekend, and this week my children are attending VBS each day, for the first time locally.   I am looking forward to using the few hours each morning to organize and finish planning for the upcoming school year - that is, if I can get use to having just the babies at home! ;)

I am creating... a plan for Captain's 11th birthday this Wednesday!  Between Vacation Bible School, followed immediately by a funeral at which the boys will be serving, it is going to be a very busy day!  I am hoping to be able to get most of the preparations done by tomorrow, which means I had better get started!

I am wearing... some black knit fold over maternity pants and a long sleeve Reebok Maternity T Shirt.   I'm hoping to find a little time to exercise this evening. Once again it has been way too long...

I am reading... The Brides of Montclair...  Again.   I remember saving up to purchase these books (along with the Love Comes Softly Series) from a Christian bookstore, one at a time, as a teenager and I still enjoy reading them.

Pondering these words... written by Louisa May Alcott:

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Noticing that... I have once again fallen dreadfully behind with answering emails.

Towards personal care... It's hard to believe that I am already 16 weeks pregnant!   I've just recently started feeling the little one moving around, and I am not feeling nearly as sick as I was.  Heartburn seems to have replaced the morning sickness, but at least it is a little easier to control.  :)

Around the house... I came home today with a box filled with beautiful treasures from a dear friend from Church.  I am enjoying finding places to display them in our home!  Here are pictures of a few of them:

Aren't they just gorgeous?

This lovely statue of St. Agnes was hand cast from a Classic Catholic Mould and hand painted in the Italian Renaissance style by a local artist!  

I am hoping... that I have a chance to spend a little more time with my sister JoAnn while she is in town.  The summer is going by way too quickly, and pretty soon she will be flying off to Rome for the next semester!

I am praying... for the soul of my Great Uncle Philip (my Dad's uncle) who passed away on Friday.  May he rest in peace!

One of my favorite things... My iSi Easy Whip, 1-Pint, White, Cream Whipper!  How did I live so long without knowing this amazing little gadget exists?!?  My friend Jamie (our contractor's wife) introduced me to it, and I knew I just had to have one.   All you do is fill it with a pint of heavy whipping cream, add some sweetener (we have been having fun trying out some of the flavored Stevia drops - my kids LOVED the chocolate!), attach a cream charger for a minute, and then shake 4-5 times.   It's so quick and easy, and you just can't beat the wonderful fresh whip cream it makes!

A few plans for the rest of the week:

• Vacation Bible School Every Mon-Fri
• Funeral Mass on Wednesday
• Celebrate Captain's 11th Birthday
• Continue sorting through clothing and bookshelves/organizing bedrooms

A Picture thought I am sharing:

A precious moment with my baby babies!  

*just ignore Rose's mouthful of food! ;) 

The Junior World Golf Championships

My little brother Kevin has been competing against other 15-17 year old boys from all over the world this week, at the 2011 Callaway Junior World Golf Championships!

We are so excited for him and have been watching the Leaderboard for updates.  Yesterday afternoon, following Round 3, cuts were made allowing only the top 50 players to continue on to the final round.    (At that time Kevin was tied for 13th place!)  It looks like he struggled a little bit today, but still finished with a tie for 21st place out of all 211 boys!

Congratulations Kevin! 

Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ Fortitude

I didn't intend to take nearly a week off of blogging, but the days weeks are just flying by!  Despite my lack of pre-planning, everything fell into place last Friday for our final Little Flowers Girls' Club meeting for Wreath III.  Following the meeting we went out to dinner with friends, I spent Saturday packing books to mail, Sunday after Mass we had another family over for dinner, Monday we made a trip to the Post Office, Park and Library, and yesterday I had my monthly OB appointment in town where I was finally able to hear our little one's heart beating on the fetal doppler - 140 precious beats per minute!  :)   We have even more plans this evening, but I do have a few minutes this afternoon, while the little ones nap, to share a few pictures from our meeting:

~ Coloring Pages ~

St. Julie Billiart from Curmudgeonry

Hyacinth Coloring Page (created using an image found online - if you'd like to use my document, send me an email and I will forward it to you)

~ Notebook Pages ~

For this month's Virtue Notebook/Scrapbook Page, I used the memory verse for Fortitude,  an image of St. Julie Billiart, the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling (which also helps complete one of the assignments in the Member's guide), some images of pink hyacinths, and an inspiring quote from St. Julie Billiart:

"We must have courage in the times we live in.  Great souls are needed, souls having the interests of God at Heart."

You can download my document here.

Here is a picture of the sample page I created:

Here are the girls' completed pages for "Fortitude":

~ Lesson on Fortitude ~

Amy gave the lesson for this virtue, and apparently I missed some wonderful photo opportunities while I was inside setting up the craft.  I hear that she set up a fun obstacle course for the girls to complete outside.  Maybe she can tell us a little more about it in the comments! :)

~ Craft :: "Stand Firm in the Faith" Sandals ~

I have been wanting to decorate Flip Flops with my girls ever since seeing the idea included in Sunshine's Hawaiian Birthday Party! When I saw that the memory verse for this virtue said "stand firm in the faith" I thought this would be the perfect time.

I had each girl bring a pair of flip flops to the meeting, and I picked up some Fabric Fusion, various Ribbon, and some embellishments for all the girls.  It was one of the more challenging and time consuming crafts, but thankfully I had three of the moms around to help.

The girls were all very happy with how their new sandals turned out! 

~ Wreath III Flower Cupcakes ~

Pink Hyacinth Cupcakes

When I was looking for ideas, Charlotte mentioned that Pink Popcorn came to mind.  I thought that was a perfect idea, but since I didn't have all the ingredients I opted to make the pink hyacinths using some pink Smooth & Melty Petite Mints (I had purchased a few bags at 75% off in January from Hickory Farms and had one left) along with a little green frosting for the leaves.  I also sprayed the white base frosting with a little green, before adding the candies.  I thought they turned out cute, and they were very yummy despite the fact that my six year old pointed out that "the chocolate cake even looks like dirt!"

~ Group Photo ~ 

St. Julie Billiart help us stand strong with fortitude!
St. Therese, the Little Flower, pray for us!

Little Flowers Girls' Club ~ Patience

A couple weeks ago I hosted our 8th Little Flowers Girls' Club meeting for Wreath III. I thought I published this post that weekend but, in the midst of wrapping up the baby shower  and golf camp, followed by a camping trip for my boys and our local parade the next day, I never did and I just ran across it in my drafts folder...  Oops!

Since we went a little out of order in May, skipping ahead so we could focus on Mary Mother of God during her month, we went back to the virtue of Patience for this meeting, learning about St. Bathildis and St. Elizabeth the mother of St. John the Baptist.   (I loved that our meeting happened to fall on June 24th, the feast of the Birth of St. John the Baptist. So appropriate!)

Here is the overview of our meeting:  

~ Coloring Pages ~

The Visitation from Family in Feast and Feria

St. Bathildis from Curmudgeonry

~ Notebook Pages ~

For this month's Virtue Notebook/Scrapbook Page, I used the memory verse for Patience,  a beautiful prayer for patience, an image of St. Bathildis, and a Lily of the Valley (the flower for this virtue). You can download my document here.

Here is a picture of the sample page I created:

Here are the girls' completed pages for "Patience":

~ Craft :: Painting Flower Pots ~

Since it takes patience to paint and to grow flowers, I chose to have the girls paint flower pots and then take the seeds home to plant and patiently wait for them to grow!  

They always enjoy painting at Little Flowers, and they painted the cutest little pots! 

~ Lesson on Patience ~

One of the other moms gave the lesson this month, while I set out all of the painting supplies.   She ended the lesson with a short activity, taking turns to put together a puzzle, encouraging the girls to practice the virtue of patience as they wait their turn, even if they see where a certain piece of the puzzle went.  I thought it was a great idea, and the girls had fun putting the puzzle together.  

~ Wreath III Flower Cupcakes ~

Lily of the Valley Cupcakes

As I was trying to come up with a way to create Lily of the Valley cupcakes, using the supplies I could find in my pantry, I decided to try out some white chocolate chips along with a little green frosting.   What do you think?  Do those look like Lily of the Valley Cupcakes to you?  I thought they turned out cute.

~ Group Photo ~ 

I will be hosting our last meeting tomorrow afternoon, and still need to start preparing...  Perhaps you can say a little prayer that I am able to pull it all together and still get a little sleep! ;) 

St. Bathildis help us practice our patience in all that we do to bring glory to our Lord !

St. Therese, the Little Flower, pray for us!