Christmas Cards – I Have a New Source

Posted on December 7, 2013December 7, 2013 by Amy

A few days ago, I got an email from someone at Minted. As soon as I saw the subject line, I figured it was about asking me to do some sort of post about some sort of product (I didn’t know what Minted was until I opened the email). My initial thought was “No. No more reviews right now.”

I just did a book review and I have another one coming up next week. Though I have enjoyed reading these books and writing the reviews, I don’t want to make this blog all about reviews. That’s not why I write it. So my gut reaction to the email was “no.”

Then I opened it. And I clicked on the link that Matt from Minted sent to me. And I changed my mind right smartly.

Minted is an online stationery store. Forget about the fact that as soon as I read that in Matt’s email I started imagining lovely, thick paper and envelopes just waiting to have a note hand written on them and sent through the real mail (have I ever mentioned that I have a little bit of a stationery thing?). Nevermind that I pictured myself buying some personalized stationery again (I used to have some when I was a little girl).

When I opened the link Matt sent, I found myself looking at some beautiful Christmas card designs, and I immediately changed my mind from “No” to “Oh, I love this stuff. Absolutely!”

I have found so many card designs that I like, I’m having a hard time choosing. There’s this one and this one and this one. The upload and edit process is extremely easy. I have five different saved cards that I made quickly last night, just waiting for me to make up my mind. And though my first impression was that the cards were more expensive than Shutterfly, which is what I’ve used in the past, when I checked it out I found that they actually are comparable or less expensive. And I just like the card designs better than other online photo or card companies I’ve looked at this year.

So. There you have it. I have a new online stationery store. Christmas cards coming soon. Now excuse me while I go shop for some glorious items in their paperie.

P.S. I am receiving a credit from Minted in exchange for writing about my opinion.

P.P.S. I’ll return to regular programing after my next book review coming up this week.

How Christmas is Different Around Here This Year (And How It’s the Same)

Posted on December 6, 2013 by Amy

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary again.

Today I’m going to write 7 Quick Takes about celebrating Christmas as the birth of Jesus rather than just a fun magical time to take the kids to do fun things and look forward to Santa. Things are a little different around here this year. I am trying to figure out how to combine old traditions with new ones without going overboard and doing too much stuff. I think I’m doing a fairly decent job so far.

1. We still put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. I refuse to have any Christmas-ing (music, decorations, etc.) in our house until Thanksgiving has been properly celebrated (in our house this year that involved lots of meat processing)

But once Thanksgiving is done, I’m all about getting the Christmas stuff going. Music, decor, wrapping, the works. And of course, the biggie is the Christmas tree. The big girls helped a lot this year.

Okay, they pulled lots of ornaments out of the box.

And Sis enjoyed the end result.

We used to keep the tree in the family room, but we moved it into the office this year. Sis is such a climber and a stinker that I knew I wouldn’t have a moment of peace for the next month if I didn’t. Now I get to enjoy it every morning while I have my coffee and every evening while I visit with my husband.

I love our tree. I could go on and on about how much I love it, but I have done that for the past two years (at least). If you care to read all about it again, you can look at the 2011 and 2012 posts about it.

2. I have added some true Advent activities this year. Last year, I didn’t even know what Advent really is. This year, we have our very own Advent wreath.

I’m ridiculously proud of the fact that I put it together for less than $15 with stuff from Hobby Lobby and the Dollar Tree (surprise, surprise, two of my favorite places to shop).

I also got some new Christmas books, added them to most of our old Christmas books, and wrapped them up for the girls to open, one each day of Advent.

I got the idea to wrap them in purple and pink from Shower of Roses (I got some book ideas there too, she has great book lists).

3. I am still doing our Advent calendar that we used last year, but this year it’s also our Jesse tree. I just put new ornaments in the pockets and the felt tree works just fine.

4. I debated putting the cards in the pockets with different fun things to do each day. I was afraid that would be overwhelming. But we really enjoyed it last year, so I’m doing it again. It hasn’t seemed like too much so far. I figured some of the things I put in the pockets will be activities on our Winter Fun List, so I’ll kill two birds and all that.

One thing has changed though, in that I’m adding the cards to the pockets only the night before or the morning that we pull them out. I don’t have it in me to plan too far ahead at this point. In this first week already on most days I’ve just written on the card something we were going to do that day anyway, like today’s, “Drop off presents for families at church and shop for Daddy’s birthday.” Not thrilling stuff, but having it written down and pulling it out of a little pocket with a flourish and a gasp makes it so much more exciting.

5. It’s working well to do it one day at a time. I knew I wanted to take the girls to Nutcracker in the Castle some time this week, but wasn’t sure which day. On Wednesday morning, I decided we’d do it. I put the card in the pocket while the girls were playing. They didn’t even notice me putting it in there. I didn’t even have to plan ahead. Win-win.

I’m so disappointed with the quality of my photos from our outing. This event was in a local art museum, housed in an old mansion. They decorate every room as part of the Nutcracker story (they have Clara’s bedroom, a Sugarplum Fairy room, Drosselmeyer’s workshop, etc.). On the website it said photography is not allowed in the museum, so I didn’t even bring my camera. Then I got there and they said you could take pictures in the first big drawing room, which was decked out like the family’s main room with their big Christmas tree and toys underneath that they were allowed to play with.

It was so amazing, and my photos stink. The room was pretty dim, and the flash on my phone is crummy.

They had beautiful trees and decorations all through the museum, but the girls loved this room the best. They played with the toys and danced to the Sugarplum Fairy music.

I practically had to drag them out of there.

6. Last night we had another first:

Saint Nicholas came to our house and put small goodies in the girls’ shoes. They are loving reading about him.

7. I actually know the Christmas story now. I used to know that it was about Baby Jesus being born in a barn, and Mary and Joseph were there of course, and then there was something about a shepherd and a few wise men and a drummer boy…

This year, for the first time that I can remember, I actually know the story for real, from the Annunciation to the Epiphany (I can’t believe I just wrote “Annunciation” and “Epiphany” and that I know what they mean).

My kids even have a couple of nativities to play with and they act out the whole story too.

This year things are different and yet the same. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. I hope you’re enjoying it as much as we are!

Book Review and Giveaway – Everything I Needed to Know I Learned from My Six-Month-Old

Posted on December 4, 2013December 4, 2013 by Amy

Everything I Needed to Know I Learned From My Six-Month-Old: Awakening to Unconditional Self-Love in Motherhood by Kuwana Haulsey, is part memoir, part self-help book, part inspirational journey. It’s a story about a mother. A mother who is going through the trials of all new mothers and sharing them in a way we can all learn something from.

Kuwana Haulsey writes beautifully about the process of becoming a new mother, getting to know your baby, losing yourself, and then finding yourself again. This is, to my knowledge, a universal experience of new mothers.

New motherhood is something new and exhilarating and overwhelming. Beautiful and crushing. Kuwana Haulsey delves into this new stage of life with lovely insights into the process of becoming a mom.

It’s not the same for every mom, but I think the inevitable transformation after having a first baby often involves similar stages, such as Losing Self in Precious Baby, Losing Self in Deprivation (sleep, time, self-care), Losing Self in What? The? Hell? (i.e. how do I get dressed each day?, how do I stay an individual person when there is constantly a sweet yet oh-so-needy little person hanging from me?, how the heck does this carseat work?), then Finding Self in Purpose, Finding Self in Balance, Finding Self in Managing to Shower Every Day. And so on.

Kuwana Haulsey describes this process in a much more eloquent and in-depth way in her new book. She describes the Every-Mom process of losing-and-then-finding-self by documenting lessons she learned from her son. Each of the 15 chapters in her book consists of a lesson the author learned about herself and life from observing her newborn son through the first several months of his life. Lessons like:

“If You Are Irritated by Every Rub, How Will You Ever Be Polished?”: Choosing Harmony Over Resentment,

When It All Falls Apart: The Art of Joyous Failure, and

Love Is Like Musk – It Attracts Attention

Some of the observations she makes are just so “how-did-I-never-think-of-it-that-way?” wonderful. She writes with a beautiful mix of simplicity and complexity that leaves you pondering the lessons that our children have to teach us.

And that is the real point of this book. Over and over, Kuwana points out how her newborn son’s perspective on the world is an opportunity to learn to embrace life more fully, find the beauty in the hard moments, become open to change, and learn to love oneself for real.

A few of my favorite lines:

“A newborn baby is a living, breathing, screaming, pooping meditation.”

“This is how we evolve: by rubbing the sticks of truth and meaning together until something inside sparks.”

“In the adult world, thinking ahead makes us rational and responsible. You’re congratulated when you relinquish the art of being lost in the moment.”

This is a wonderfully written book. Although there are some parts where the dialogue gets a bit stilted, and I found myself feeling kind of jarred by it, the majority of the writing and the message of the book more than make up for these awkward passages.

The book provides many reminders of ways in which changing your perspective can change your heart. In the case of this book, the perspective taken is that of an infant. The journey is in realizing that so much of our world can be simplified and embraced by looking at it through the eyes of someone who hasn’t yet been burdened by the expectations and judgements of adulthood.

As a mom, I try to remember to look at things through my kids’ eyes and experience levels. I often fail in these attempts, but I do try. This book provided me with even more ways to do this and ways to think about bettering myself and appreciating myself more in the process. As the author says,

To embrace fear and anger and misgivings right along with my child allowed me to embrace myself too. Placing tender, nonjudgemental attention on the situation and staying in the moment . . . allowed something fresh and relevant to spring forth, what the old folks use to call mother’s intuition.

This is a recommended read for other moms or moms-to-be. It’s a highly enjoyable and even inspirational read.

Now, the best part of this post is that I get to tell you that I am able to give away one of these books to one of you. If you want a chance to win the book, simply leave a comment on this post and make sure you include a way to contact you. I will close the giveaway on Sunday night (12/8) at 9pm Central time. Good luck!

** I was given a free copy of this book (plus a copy to give to a reader) in exchange for my honest review**

The Top 101 Fictional Picture Books

Posted on December 3, 2013December 1, 2013 by Amy

I’ve mentioned before my enjoyment of the blog 101 Books. It’s written by a guy named Robert who is reading and blogging his way through Time Magazine’s 100 Greatest Novels (since 1923, plus Ulysses).

I was thinking it would be great to have a list of the top 100 picture books. So I made one. Plus one. Just in time for the holidays. I wrote this originally as a guest post for 101 Books. The whole post, including how I came up with the list and my top 15, will be on Robert’s blog tomorrow. Make sure you check it out. For today, here’s the full 101:

The Top 101 Fictional Picture Books

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day – Viorst
Are You a Horse? – Rash
Are You My Mother? – Eastman
Baby Danced the Polka – Beaumont
A Bad Case of Stripes – Shannon
Black Beauty – Lerner
Bread and Jam for Frances – Hoban
Can I Play Too? – Willems 
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – Martin
Click, Clack, Moo – Cronin
Clorinda – Kinerk
Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs – Barrett
Corduroy – Freeman
The Day Jimmy’s Boa Ate the Wash – Noble
Dear Zoo – Campbell
Diary of a Fly – Cronin
Do Like a Duck Does – Hindley
The Duckling Gets a Cookie?! – Willems
Dumpy La Rue – Winthrop
Edwina, The Dinosaur Who Didn’t Know She Was Extinct – Willems
A Fish Out of Water – Palmer
Fox in Socks – Seuss
Frog and Toad Are Friends – Lobel
Gingerbread Baby – Brett
Giraffes Can’t Dance – Andreae
The Giving Tree – Silverstein
Glasswings – A Butterfly’s Story – Kleven
Go Away Big Green Monster – Emberley
Gossie – Dunrea
Green Eggs and Ham – Seuss
The Gruffalo – Donaldson
Harold and the Purple Crayon – Johnson
Hazel’s Amazing Mother – Wells
Hedgie’s Surprise – Brett
The Hello, Goodbye Window – Juster
Hey Al – Yorinks
Horton Hears a Who – Seuss
Horton Hatches the Egg – Seuss
I Ain’t Gonna Paint No More – Beaumont
I Love Monkey – Kaufman
I Love You No Matter What: A Prince Chirpio Story – Rutland
I Love You Stinky Face – McCourt
I Love You the Purplest – Joose
Imogene’s Antlers – Small
Interrupting Chicken – Stein (my all-time favorite)
Is Your Mama a Llama? – Guarino
Jamberry – Degan
Julius, the Baby of the World – Henkes
Jumanji – Van Allsburg
Kipper – Inkpen
Kitten’s First Full Moon – Henkes
Knuffle Bunny – Willems
The Library Lion – Knudsen
The Little Engine that Could – Piper
The Little House – Burton
The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear – Wood
Llama, Llama Red Pajama – Dewdney
Madeline – Bemelmans
Max’s Words – Banks
Meet Me at the Moon – Marino
Mike Mulligan and His Steamshovel – Burton
Millions of Cats – Gag
Mister Seahorse – Carle
Mouse Was Mad – Urban
Mossy – Brett
Mud Puddle – Munsch
My Friend is Sad – Willems
The Napping House – Wood
No, David! – Shannon
Not a Box – Portis
Officer Buckle and Gloria – Rathman
One Fine Day – Hogrogian
One Smile – McKinley
Owen – Henkes
Owl Babies – Waddell
The Paper Bag Princess – Munsch
The Pigeon Wants a Puppy – Willems
The Pout Pout Fish – Diesen
Room On the Broom – Donaldson
Seven Blind Mice – Young
Sheila Rae, the Brave – Henkes
Should I Share My Ice Cream? – Willems
A Sick Day for Amos McGee – Stead
The Snowy Day – Keats
Spoon – Rosenthal
A Squash and a Squeeze – Donaldson
Stellaluna – Cannon
Stephanie’s Ponytail – Munsch
The Story of Ferdinand – Leaf
A Story, a Story – Haley
Stuck – Jeffers
Swimmy – Lionni
Sylvester and the Magic Pebble – Steig
There’s a Nightmare in My Closet – Mayer
The Three Pigs – Wiesner
The Very Hungry Python – Carle
Time For Bed – Fox
We’re Going on a Bear Hunt – Oxenbury
When Sophie Gets Angry – Really, Really Angry – Bang
Where the Wild Things Are – Sendak
Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears – Aardema

What’s on your list?

What I’ve Learned About Waking Up Early – 7 Quick Takes

Posted on November 29, 2013 by Amy

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary again.

I’ve become a morning person. Amazingly. Incredibly. I’m sort of addicted to waking up at six every morning. I wrote about my plan to try getting up earlier than my kids every morning here. I wasn’t sure how it would work out when I started. I am happy to report it’s working out quite nicely.

Here are seven quick takes on what I’ve learned about waking up early:

1. Coffee tastes really awesome when it’s hot! How did I not know of this little luxury before? I always thought I didn’t care if my coffee got cold, as long as I was getting caffeine. Wrong, wrong, wrong. So much yummier when hot. And I usually only drink one cup now, because I enjoy that one so much more. Win/Win!

2. Getting up early makes me more likely to exercise during nap time. I really thought I would start exercising during my early mornings, and I do sometimes. But I don’t really have time for both a workout and a cup of coffee before the kids get up. And, well, see #1? Right. So working out is not happening much in the early hours. But, if I get up and have coffee and do some other things that I used to do during nap time, then I am much more likely to make the time to exercise when my kids are napping.

3. It works better to be in stealth mode when I’m downstairs. Sometimes Miss will get up really early to go to the bathroom. If she doesn’t see any lights on, she’ll often go back to bed. If she sees the lights, she comes downstairs, sometimes before I’ve even had a sip of my nice warm coffee. So I go stealth for at least the first 30-45 minutes. That means laptop open with screen brightness turned way down and no other lights on. And tiptoeing too. Sometimes I read by the light of my Kindle only. Yes, I am a grown woman who sneaks around my house in the mornings to enjoy a little quiet time and hot coffee.

4. Speaking of which, I really appreciate how quiet and still it is in the mornings. I never realized how much I crave quiet until embarking on this little experiment. Loud is wonderful, and kids, and family, and joy, and laughter. I love loud because it reminds me how full and festive my life is on a daily basis. But quiet is good too. Quiet reminds me to breathe and pray and cherish. Maybe not everyone needs quiet. But I now know that I do.

5. I know that I do because I am so much more cranky in the mornings if I don’t get it. I rarely sleep past six anymore, but when I do, I just feel kind of off all day. I also feel that way on the days when I do get up at six but so do my kids.

6. I like being awake when my girls get up. I used to sleep as long as possible, not waking until the first of my kids got up, sometimes ignoring little voices playing in beds for a bit so I could grab a few more minutes of sleep. Sometimes Miss would come in my room to wake me up and I’d tell her it wasn’t time to get up yet so she needed to go back to bed for a little while. I usually wasn’t much fun during the process of waking up for the day.

Now, when Miss comes down stairs or I go up to get one of the younger girls, I spend time savoring the moments of seeing them again after 10 or 11 hours apart. I say, “I’m so happy to see you this morning!” and I mean it. We have special morning snuggles and tickles and I am so much more ready to be present with them when I’ve had just a little time to be present with myself already.

7. So, you might be wondering what the heck do I do for 30-45 minutes every morning in the dark? Sometimes I write. Sometimes I just surf around the web and read interesting things. Sometimes I prepare homeschool lessons (but I don’t use the printer or laminator – too loud). Sometimes I read with my little Kindle light. I have even used this light to illuminate a paper book (it works just fine if you’re wondering). Often I pray. I have found that praying the rosary in the quiet and dark is very peaceful and centering. It’s a perfect way to begin my day.

I’m becoming a Catholic and a morning person. Wow.

Work, Eat, Play – Happy Thanksgiving

Posted on November 28, 2013 by Amy

We just had one of the best Thanksgivings ever.

It started bright and early in our kitchen this morning. We started baking pies right after breakfast. The girls helped me sort the contents of some old change jars to get pennies for weights on the crusts.

Then they sorted much of the rest of the change into their piggy banks while I made the fillings. They thought this was pretty neat. Miss even said, “This is the most funnest thing ever!”

Phase one completed:

I always want pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving, and my husband’s favorite is pecan pie, so we did both. They’re not pretty. I can never seem to create an aesthetically pleasing crust, but they were delicious.

My husband also started his sausage making venture today, so for most of the rest of the morning the big girls helped him prepare the ingredients to mix with the meat. Before the weekend is over he will be making 90 pounds of pork sausage, including the following varieties: breakfast, sweet Italian, chorizo, garlic, andouille, and brats.

The girls are so excited about helping him with this.

He also has a ton of venison to grind into burger. Last night we had a date night while we trimmed it.

Wine for me. Beer for him. Raw meat and big knives.

It was romantic.

Okay. Anyway. I’m writing about today. Thanksgiving. We were all busy in the kitchen all morning, except for poor Sis. She become a little frustrated a couple of times about not being able to join the crowd in the kitchen.

But most of the time she played perfectly well by herself. She is so chill. I walked into the playroom to check on her and found her playing pretend in the castle with Prince Phillip and a baby doll.

And my favorite part of the food prep:

Breaking bread.

We made savory bread pudding instead of stuffing, so we were actually cutting it, but I like to say we were “breaking bread.”

There’s something very holiday-ish and family-ish and together-ish about that phrase.

^^ That’s a Thanksgiving photo I can’t wait to show my girls when they get older.

And the big item for the big meal? Well, we aren’t real fans of turkey. For Thanksgivings past I have made prime rib, cornish game hens, etc. I have never cooked a turkey. And last week my husband went and butchered an enormous pig for us to eat. So the only natural thing for us to have for our Thanksgiving feast is… Ham!!

Ham smoked in our Big Green Egg. For 21 hours.

This is the first time using the Big Green Egg and the first time smoking a 20+ pound ham. First time smoking anything, actually.

My hubby is giddy about his new trick. The ham turned out wonderfully.

After our meal, the best way to finish the evening was with a family dance party.

The girls loved the Peanut’s Theme Song for dancing. We played it over and over and over.

Today was a day of giving thanks.

We gathered in the kitchen and worked together. We ate together. We played together. In my mind that’s what families do.

Every day I think about how fortunate I am. Every day I thank God for my life and its joys.

Happy Thanksgiving.

The La-La Factor

Posted on November 25, 2013November 25, 2013 by Amy

My middle child is a dreamer. You might say she’s flighty. A bit of a ding dong.

Trying to get her to focus long enough to complete a task is difficult to say the least. She’s easily distracted. She wants to sing and twirl and play. She is constantly imagining herself somewhere else. The drudgery of this world, things like putting on shoes, cleaning up toys, changing from pajamas into clothes, is just too uninteresting for her. She has no time to stop for such petty nuisances. Picture it:

Me: “Girls, please get your shoes on” (calling to them while packing some things in my bag as we’re getting ready to leave)

Miss: “Okay” (starts to put shoes on)

Lass: “La la lalalala laaaaa” (dancing, twirling, singing, swooping an animal or princess figure through the air, maybe sort of drifting in the direction of her shoes)

Me: “Okay, coats on please!” (handing them coats, realizing Lass is nowhere near getting her shoes on)

Me: “Lass, please get your shoes on!” (while putting Sis’s shoes on her)

Lass: “Laaaaa” (drifting, drifting, close to shoes, still twirling)

Me: “Honey! Put! Your! Shoes! On!”

Lass: “I AM!!!”

Me: “No you’re not. You’re dancing and twirling. That’s not putting on shoes.”

Lass: “MOM I AM! Stop talking.” (more dancing and singing) “I can’t find my shoes!” (They are right next to her)

Me: Head explodes.

The La-La Factor. That’s what this is. It’s taken me a while, but I finally have a name for it. It must be considered in all things. Cleaning up toys? Yes. Getting dressed? Yes. Making sure she doesn’t drown during swimming lessons? Yes.

It requires very precise, very specific instructions, given while making piercing eye contact. Like this exchange before leaving the locker room to go to the pool every single week:

Me: (on eye level with her) “Okay, what is our rule during swimming lessons?”

Lass: “Stay on the side of the pool unless my teacher says.”

Me: “Yes. Do not get in the water unless your teacher tells you to. If you get cold and if your teacher says you can, you can wait your turn in the water, but you always keep one hand on the side of the pool at. all. times. Do you understand?”

Lass: “Yes.”

Me: “Look at my eyes. One hand on the side all the time. Okay?”

Lass: “Okay.”

Excessive you think? Paranoid? Helicopter-ish? Well, even after going through that with her every week, even given the fact that her toes can touch the bottom in the area where they do lessons, I have still nearly had to jump in for a save more than once when she has “forgotten” my instructions, bobbled her little self out and away from the side, and gone under the water (while her teacher is instructing someone else clear across the pool). Even after all that, I still drenched myself while lunging for her in the zero entry area while she was playing before class, and her dancing and flopping around led her to lose her footing and go under (no preplanned instructions for that, I guess).

It’s okay really. Of course. The sweet girl is pretending and dreaming. It’s my job to think about the serious things in life, like potential drownings and keeping the house tidy and getting us where we need to be on time, not hers. But man, the La-La Factor throws a monkey wrench in my plans on a daily basis.

Getting dressed? I give clear instructions for her to get clean underwear, long pants and a long-sleeved shirt and put them on. I leave her to it while I get Sis dressed. I come back a while later and she is lying on her floor, pajamas off, no clothes on, singing a song while twirling her pants over her head. Or she’s pulling her pants up with no underwear on underneath. Or she’s sitting in her closet, pajamas still on, trying to put a dress on a doll. Every. day. She meanders. She flits. She dilly dallies. It’s utterly endearing. And utterly maddening.

In all fairness, Miss is not immune to dilly dallying. I’m sure no child is at this age. Though I think with her it’s less of a La-La Factor and more of a I’m-Pretending-I-Don’t-Hear-You-And-Intentionally-Moving-Very-Slowly-Because-I-Don’t-Like-To-Be-Told-What-To-Do Factor.

Oh well, what can I do? Besides giving specific instructions, periodically ~~losing my mind~~ redirecting gently, and incorporating the La-La Factor into planning for all things? I don’t like to hover. I adore that she’s so imaginative and playful. I guess I just enjoy that she’s dreaming. And leave lots of time to get ready for all things.

First Snow

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Amy

We had our first snow yesterday. The girls started begging to go out and play in it as soon as they woke up. I wasn’t able to take them out in the morning, but I told them we could go after nap time.

The snow wasn’t even enough to cover the grass, and it was mostly melted by midday, but if there is ever snow anywhere in our town, it will be in our backyard. So we still had a snow in the afternoon and they were thrilled.

^First time in snow.

I forget how much kids love snow. I was standing out there huddled and cold, because by the time I got them all dressed to go out, they were running excitedly to the door, and I didn’t take the time to get myself properly geared up. And I was thinking about how I am not ready for our looong winter to start yet.

But as I watched them I couldn’t help but feel a little excited about this winter. There are so many things they want to do (notice in pictures above they are really excited about making snow angels). Miss kept mentioning ice skating, which was a bit of a surprise since we’ve never talked about that, but we can go there I guess.

They enjoy the snow so much. They didn’t seem cold at all.

I just couldn’t help but appreciate the joy of my kids in snow. I even thought a bit about how much I loved it when I was little. I reminisced a little about how my Dad used to make the best snowmen/snow sculptures. One year he made a bust of Abraham Lincoln! And I couldn’t help but remember the time I found a “treasure” and ran to show it to my Dad. “Look Daddy! I found an acorn!” He laughed and told me to drop it. It was frozen squirrel poop.

And speaking of animals in the snow, the older girls started playing a game outside yesterday in which I heard them talking about helping the “hurt deer.” They were “warming” it up to make it get better. They seemed to be pretending that a big rock was the deer and they were brushing the snow off. Then I did a double take and noticed they weren’t playing with a rock:

For about a second I forgot that my husband’s deer target was out in the backyard, and I slightly started to freak out about them tending to an actual dead deer. Duh.

Another joy this year is that Miss can get her own snow pants, boots, and coat on now, and Lass can do some of it herself. I cannot tell you how happy this makes me. Mittens are still my enemy, but that makes me very happy.

It’s going to be a long winter. It always is here. So we (I) might as well embrace it.

On Bread and Wine. Bear With Me Please.

Posted on November 19, 2013June 16, 2017 by Amy

Yesterday I started attending a Bible study with a group of moms who have been meeting for over a year now. I was excited but also very nervous about attending.

In the group there are three (maybe four?) moms who are “cradle Catholics,” a term I have learned to mean those who were born and raised Catholic. There are two women who converted to Catholicism as adults. And then there’s me, in the process of converting.

So, yesterday was my first day.

Please forgive me for what I’m about to write. I’m no apologist. I know I won’t say all the things quite right. Bear with me.

Anyway, this study is focused on the Mass. We started by watching a video in which the author of the book we’re using discussed the Eucharist, including the fact that Catholics believe that through the process of consecration during Mass, the priest actually transforms the bread and water into the body and blood of Christ. While other religions typically see the bread and wine as symbolic of Christ’s body and blood, Catholics say they actually are these things.

This is a tough thing to understand and, for many, hard to believe. And yesterday we talked about how, of course, the Catholic Church does not say that the bread and wine actually undergo a chemical change of any kind. Under a microscope, for example, they still look like bread and wine, obviously. But through transubstantiation Jesus becomes present in them, and then present in us through the Eucharist. I think that’s right, anyway.

So as I was watching the video, a thought occurred to me that seemed so important. It was like a little “Aha!” moment for me. I wanted to share it with the other ladies. Then I had a little conversation with myself that went something like this:

Me: “When the video is over, I should share this interesting thought that I just had.”

Me: “Don’t do it.”

Me: “But I just had an epiphany of sorts!”

Me: “Don’t do it.”

Me: “But I should say something so I don’t just sit here like a lump the whole time.”

Me: “Don’t do it. It’s your first day. You don’t know what the heck you’re talking about. Just keep your mouth shut.”

Me: “Okay.”

Then the video ended and we started discussing. Guess what? I impulsively blurted out my “Aha!” thought. It really did sound intelligent and interesting in my head. Naturally, it didn’t come out that way at. all.

I said something to the effect of “So, while I was watching just now I had this thought, and I guess this probably isn’t such news to you guys, but it occurred to me that when they’re talking about eating the body of Christ, well, you know, I mean, He was both God and man, He always has been, I mean, He was, and um… uh… well, so it’s not like eating His body is meant to mean chewing on His leg or something…”

Dear Lord, what???? No, that’s not AT ALL how it sounded in my head.

What I meant to convey was basically that I had been contemplating how some people (myself included at times, if I’m honest) think that the idea of eating the body of Christ is kind of weird. I suspect this is because, well, it is not really a cool thing to eat a person. So that’s where my “Aha!” moment came in yesterday, because of course Jesus wasn’t just a person. Obviously, I already knew that. But my connecting the understanding of He was God and man with His presence in the Eucharist, while it may seem inanely simple to anyone else who knows about this stuff, was a cool moment for me (And of course I always feel the need to share such things… Why, oh why can’t I listen when I talk to myself?)

Anyway, in spite of the stupidity of my big share during the Bible study, it was fun, and I’m looking forward to the rest of it. The passages in the Bible that describe the Last Supper and the words Jesus said are really beautiful (i.e. Mark 14:22-25, Luke 22:14-20), and I love learning about the sacrament of the Eucharist as a reenactment of the Last Supper. There is so much to learn. I’m learning so much.

Sharing Dessert, Pig Slaughter, and Advent

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Amy

Linking up with Conversion Diary

1. This is something I have never really thought about before, but apparently sharing a dessert at a restaurant is an intimate act. I went out for dinner with Super Friend the other night. The waitress misunderstood our dessert order and brought us two decaf coffees but only one chocolate lava cake with ice cream on the side. Only one. Super had to get home, and the lava cake takes a bit to bake, so we couldn’t just order a second one. We had to share the one we got.

Unfortunately, the waitress also didn’t bring us extra plates for splitting the cake (I guess she never thought that sharing a dessert is an intimate thing either). The two of us sat there for a few beats, spoons hovering above the single dessert, just looking at it. We are very close friends, but it was kind of an awkward moment.

Finally Super Friend echoed my own thoughts as she said, “I can’t do this,” pulled her saucer out from under her coffee cup, and scooped half of the cake and ice cream onto her own little plate. Whew! I was relieved. And I was very bummed to only have half of a dessert to eat.

2. My hubby is going to get our pig this weekend (meaning slaughter and butcher it while telling dirty jokes with his cousin and friends). We have eaten almost all of the one we got last year, minus a couple of pork chops, a few brats, and a roast or two. Is it just me, or are pork chops the worst thing in the world to try to cook? I have almost never eaten one that wasn’t like eating leather, and I can’t seem to cook one properly to save my life. This year I asked my hubby to just grind the chops up into sausage or something. I love sausage. I’d be happy if I never had to look at another pork chop again.

3. I love fall crafting. Have I mentioned this before?

4. We will be using glitter tonight. Lord help me.

5. I have recently discovered Advent. How odd that I didn’t really even know what Advent meant until the past week or two as I’ve been looking into it. I mean, last year we had an “Advent” calendar. But it was purely for the purpose of counting down the days until Christmas and doing a little something fun each day.

A couple of weeks ago Super Friend mentioned something about an Advent wreath, and I just gave her the deer-in-the-headlights look. I didn’t know what that was. Well, now I do. And I have plans this year to make a paper-plate-and-toilet-paper-roll Advent wreath with the girls (idea courtesy of Super Friend), along with doing several other Advent activities like filling the girls’ shoes to celebrate St. Nicholas’s feast day and maybe having a Jesse tree too (last year at this time I had never even heard of a “feast day” or a Jesse tree). I’m in the process of figuring out how to integrate our traditions from years past with some new fun things to actually celebrate the true meaning of Christmas. It’s going to be good.

6. I want to share our solution to Sis learning to climb out of the Pack’n’Play. I had heard of tents for cribs, and thought I might be able to find something like that, but all of those have been recalled. I was panicking, until I found this:

It’s a tent bed! I had thought of getting one of these for travel a few years ago, but the old model had thin air mattress inside it, and that made me kind of nervous about suffocation. This model has a little mattress attached to the outside of the bed, so no worries.

I was afraid Sis would freak out about being put in this thing to go to bed, but I was not about to spend a week at the Farm with her climbing out of her Pack’n’Play repeatedly throughout every nap and bedtime. So, I just let her play in it with her sisters beforehand.

When it came time for her to go to bed in it, she rolled right over and did it with no fuss. Mom win.

7. I think I might watch a movie tonight. I never watch movies. Any suggestions?

See more quick takes here!

Motherhood and Miscellany

Author: Amy