Someone's Ten!

Remember this beauty?  Galadriel frosted it with her BFF cousin last year.  She wanted to decorate it all by herself and she had specifics in mind in terms of colors and sprinkles.  Lots of sprinkles wanted.  And a big "9".  That was...awesome.  

So, how do you top that?!

Well, when you're ten, and you are clearly a candy lover with a fun imagination...you simply think candy AND cake!  Especially colorful candy!  ..."Nerds" perhaps?  Perfect!

are you overstimulated yet?

 

Happy Birthday Galadriel!

                                           
                                             

                                                        You are a Perfect 10!!

First Day!

This is the time of year for me to share deep thoughts on my philosophy of education.  Perhaps luckily for you, between my 8 week old baby in arms and the other 8 children I'm responsible for, there is little time for creating lengthy and deep posts.

Can I simply wish you all "good luck" as you begin your new school years?!

Quick glimpse at my first day:
Aragorn got his glasses today.
Arwen starts high school--home schooled!--this year.
Rosie starts grade school this year.
Galadriel turns "10" tomorrow!  I have to make a "nerds" cake (as in, the candy) by special request.  
Legolas threw his coloring book across the room and demanded "a hard one" (workbook), so I found some "cut and paste".
Eowyn wants to play with her cousin.  I bribed her to go play outside by handing her a cookie.
Gimli is timing himself and keeps updating me on how many hours vs. how many subjects he has completed so far.
Bilbo's lesson plans exploded on him, so he got off to a rough start until I could organize them and secure them in his 3-ring binder.  Then he rocked a spelling lesson once he was reminded what a syllable was!

Awesome.

Here's Smiling at You!

 You weren't having a bad day, were you?  I've got something to cheer you up!

It's been so hard to find time for real blog posts.  I haven't had the chance to comment on the color of Sam's hair!  It's red!! Very hard to capture on my phone camera.  Arwen's been too busy to oblige me with "real" pictures.

 Speaking of Arwen, there's another broken bone in the family: her finger.  (I've got better, or worse I guess, pictures of the finger...somewhere.  Maybe Arwen will find those when she has time for those pictures I keep waiting for!:)).

I got a last-minute phone call from a friend at our local park.  I loaded up the littles and sped over.
So glad it's still summer!

 Back to some smiles--post time is up!
7 weeks old.  Fifteen pounds!!  Oh yes.

 Now go have an awesome day!

On the Queenship of Mary

One year ago today, I miscarried my little "Philomena Mary".  (If the baby was a boy, he can go by "Philo" up in heaven.) :)  And I love our little one still. 

 That fleeting little life, that powerful  immortal soul.  I know I have an intercessor in heaven, helping us on, the family still here on earth.  I can't wait until we are ALL together in heaven some day!

Hail, Holy Queen!

 Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope.  To thee do we cry,

poor banished children of Eve.  To thee do we send up our sighs, 

mourning and weeping in this valley of tears.

Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy towards us

and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus!  

O Clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, o holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.  Amen.

Sam is spitting up on me and fussing as I try to get this post up.  He wouldn't be here if Philomena wasn't called to heaven.

God knows the plans He has for us.

I trust in Him.

"For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."  Jer 29:11

Dog Days of August

I hope you aren't sick of my pre-post caveats.  This time I need to tell you that I've been working on this post for...a week??  It's all random stuff that should have been a week's worth of posts.  I'm throwing it all at ya.  This or nothing.;)  (and yes, my baby's crying so I'm stopping!)

;

(photo credit: Arwen)

If I ever had two hands, I'd be deadly.  Moms with newborns know what I'm talking about: one-handing it constantly, baby in one arm, up on one shoulder, working with the other arm.  Now throw a broken elbow on top of that. 

I've got all kinds of exciting stories to share...but hands to type?  I have a grunting baby on my lap and a two-year-old with wet polish on her fingernails leaning on Sam's head to kiss him.

               

-------

Shall we (re)commence?

This summer will be remembered as "the Summer of the Littlest Pet Shop".

I told you before the girls were gifted my sister's old "Littlest Pet Shop" collection.  The neighborhood girlies added what they had, and the hours of play that have ensued over the course of the summer has been staggering!   Staggering I say!

All of the little animals have names. Rosie is my #1 "player", but Galadriel joins in with the neighbors, and Bilbo, Legolas and Eowyn sneak out to play whenever the troupe of neighbor-girls are gone.

It's hard for me to capture the size and scope of the combined collection: they added a basket as an extra house and brought out some doll house furniture and a few Little Critter animals. The above table is about 5''x3''.

Sadly, the fun they are having with the "LPS" took the place of the fun they used to have with our little bunny friends.

Where are the bunnies?  Back with the wonderful woman who bred them.  Why?  Well, in all honesty, I was the primary care taker of the bunnies.  For the last month or so of my pregnancy my family tried to care for them.  My husband dutifully shoveled their mess from under the cages and wheelbarrowed it to the forrest.  Do you know that I actually enjoy that type of work?

 I'm 30 weeks prego here--when we came back from out trip last march we moved the bunnies out of the garage--this is probably the last time I shoveled their mess.

"Alfalfa" all packed up, "Pip" on the seat behind him: yes, I took pictures of them before they left.

 Arwen was very good at feeding and watering them.  Well, she got really good at it after my husband and I saved the bunnies from a death of thirst and starvation once or twice ;).

"Zorro" in the cage on the floor, "Coconut" in the bin (sniff, sniff)

The truth is, it was more work than anyone (other than me) wanted to commit to, and I had a new baby on the way.   We actually had them for a month after Sam was born, during which time it became ever more apparent that we were over-loaded with "chores", i.e. just keeping our family afloat,  so I contacted the breeder and we packed up our pets, and returned them, thankful for the joy they gave for the time we had them.

Truth?  I miss them!  Wish we had kept just one, maybe?  (I guess not.)  Coconut was my hands-down favorite.  Pip was everyone else's favorite.  Zorro was my nieces favorite.  Alfalfa was Arwen's.

We sure had fun with them!

I wonder if the breeder will breed them?!!

That's all I'm going to cover in this random post--LPS and bunnies.  Wow.  If I ever had a reading audience before, I lost it now!

One Month : another old post

Once again, I have this half-post with some pictures that I thought I'd toss out at you, since apparently my days of regular blogging are over.  I don't think I can find time for a decent conclusion, so just take it for what it's worth! 

There is this phenomenon that is true in my life: the more weighty/momentous the occasion, the more words fail me. 

I am not sure how to comment upon this past month.  

My baby...mmmmm.  The gift.  The glory.  Words to explain?  I'm really just trying to absorb what has been created by God in this new child.  Immortal souls are hard for my finite mind to wrap around.  I sort of stare, hold, and try to absorb...as love grows.

Along those lines, there are things the Lord leads us through to draw us nearer to Him.  I am realizing that the Sacraments (the Eucharist, Confession, and (even) the Anointing of the Sick, in particular) are so necessary for the daily survival of an overwhelmed postpartum mom--I am so glad I don't have to try to do this alone!

Overheard: 4-year-old Logic

Our dog stole almost an entire loaf of bread off of our kitchen table last night.  Then she got some chicken bones.  My husband was reading to Legolas and Eowyn while the older kids were watching the Olympics.  He stopped to comment on the nuisance that our dog could be.

Legolas:  "We could get a cat and not have a dog."


-------

I was telling Legolas that we have two Gospel writers as names for our boys and my sister has a third.

Me: "But we have no Mark."

Legolas: "Well, we could just say Mark."


The simple reasoning of this 4 year old, gotta love it!

Blog Hop Curriculum Sale

                                 

Thank you for stopping by my blog!  I don't have nearly as much to sell this year, but  I hope you find something you like!

I'm going to follow Jessica and set the same flat shipping rates: $5 for up to 3 books, $7 for 4 or more, which will cover shipping and packaging.

  I do not have paypal set up, so I'm accepting checks via mail.  If you e-mail me at megross01 (at) yahoo (dot) com we can trade contact information.

Happy Shopping!

A Child's Geography (cd included) like new/shelf wear: asking $25

Catholic Heritage Curricula (chcweb.com)

Sea to Shining Sea Teacher's Manual: asking $25 (like new)
Light to the Nations Teacher's Manual: asking $25 (like new)

Singapore Math

(like new) asking: $5

TAN books:

(used/good condition) asking: $15

Reading Comprehension Vol. 3

(like new) asking $10

(like new) Catholic National Readers
asking: $80

I may be adding books throughout the sale, so feel free to check back again!

I am flexible on pricing and didn't get a chance to double check all of the prices at Amazon or the curricula providers, so feel free to make an offer! :)

Thank you for visiting and have a great day!

Old-Posting: "How it's going"

Obviously, I'm having a hard time blogging these days...I thought I'd toss this half-post up for what it's worth.  I'm not really sure how I was planning to end it, so I'm just going to share it as is.  There are some cute pictures and it captures my life from a couple of weeks ago:

One of the very most frequent questions a new mom gets as she ventures out for the first times to circulate among friends and family and local community is: "how's it going?"  I thought I'd say a few things here, just for fun. 

 #1: Sam is an incredible sleeper (and I'm finding wood to go knock on).  He's only three weeks old, so he might hit a colicky stage yet (it happened with Aragorn after his first month), but I have also been blessed with some champion sleepers.  My boys, actually, have tended to do better than my girls at night.  So, my first response is: I'm sleeping pretty darn well!  

I'll make my two-year-old #2:

Sibling rivalry is taking a bit of an odd twist with this baby.  Eowyn is 100% in-love with Sam.  We do "this little piggy" on his toes just about every time we change his diaper.  Eowyn gets diapers and wipes, gives kisses, and rubs his head.  On the other hand, I am seeing a side of Eowyn that never existed before.  A side that can't handle...anything...without shrieks and tears, classic two-year-old tantrums because a new baby is hard on a two-year-old.  Even if she loves him.  Her little world is a little rocked.  The truth is, I spoiled her for 2.5 years because she was my "baby."  Honestly, I don't regret all of the "holding time" she received.  But now she has to share (me!), and that's where the difficulty lies.  So, I've been trying to spend more time holding her, reading to her, and reminding her that she's still my baby girl.  **update: we're doing MUCH better on that front!

I wish all parenting struggles could be resolved by more snuggle time.

I followed a link from elizabeth's blog to Sally Clarkson's blog to this post, which I found quite edifying and worth sharing.  Motherhood...I'm telling you--did any of us realize what we were getting into?!!