checklist

Santa visited: þ

Christmas movies watched: haven’t seen A CHRISTMAS CAROL or IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE yet and really those are the best ones.

Christmas presents purchased: þ

Advent Calendar: þ

Christmas cards: þ

Missing addresses found: þ

Late Christmas cards: þ

Presents for party attendees: þ

Menu for party: þ

Food purchased: þ

Guests invited: þ

Last minute invitations: þ

Presents wrapped: only about ¼ done, boo!

House cleaned: NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!

Vacuum cleaner picked up: þ

Porch cleaned: nope

Food cooked: eggs boiled for deviled eggs, but that’s it

 

You know what I’m noticing about this list?  There is very little to do with prayer or Jesus Christ on it.  I think that while I am busy being Martha, I should contemplate Mary and try to get my heart into the right frame of prayer and anticipation for the coming of the Christ child.  I vow to spend at least 15 minutes for 4 hours tonight in mediation upon my statue of Mary holding the Christ child.  I seem to have become lost in the material world and need to get myself back to the true meaning of Christmas.

 

funny little man

My little guy just makes me laugh.  

Friday night was “Bro and Sis” Night at our house.  N and Gman were working on building a castle out of a cardboard box on Wednesday but she had to leave before it was finished much to Gman’s disappointment.  As a palliative, she told him they’d have “Bro and Sis” night Friday night and work on the castle, he could take a bath in her tub [the only one in the house], and watch movies.  He was ecstatic.  I was a bit worried that she’d forget about it, but instead I did.  Hard to do because he kept bringing it up Thursday and Friday.  Friday when I picked him up we went to the vacuum repair shop to pick up the school vacuum that was being repaired but it wasn’t ready.  I called Gman’s grandma [Gma] and we were discussing coming over to her house for dinner when Gman perked up in the back seat and said, “But we can’t go to Gma’s house!  Tonight is Bro Night!!!!” [it quickly turned from “Bro and Sis Night” to “Bro” night – amazing how that works for 5 year olds].  So all plans were cancelled and we went home.  To the cuddly spot.  We turned on VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER [audio CD] and snuggled down with pillows and various blankeys under the blanket tent with the little light shining in the darkness.  Needless to say, I was out before the first track had completely played.  Gman was awake the whole time, listened and could tell me what was happening when I occasionally woke up and asked where we were in the story.  But then N got home and I was abandoned to sleep peacefully on the floor …. for about 5 minutes.  Every 5 seconds minutes he was upstairs telling me what they were doing and asking me to come and see.  It is with great shame that I admit that I told him to go away and let me rest.  But eventually I got up and made him dinner.  While I was “making dinner” – read heating up his hot dog – they were sword-fighting with kitchen utensils.  They had completed the castle by this time and Gman asked what they were going to do next.  N told him whatever he wanted and he turned to me to ask what they were allowed to do.  You should have seen his face light up when I told him they could do whatever they wanted … it was like I told him he’d won the lottery.  Needless to say, my little TV addict opted for a movie.  But he got N’s whole attention for the entire thing.  All weekend long he talked about how I said they could do anything they wanted.  It was magic to him.

Saturday was a wasted day.  Gman listened to almost the entirety of DAWN TREADER while Dad and I hung pictures [getting the house ready for Christmas].  He laid around in his underwear [until I made him put clothes on – I got cold looking at him], snuggling his blankey and sucking his finger.  In the afternoon we went to Target and bought N and J their birthday presents and a birthday ice cream cake for N.  Then we got Bernadette.  She’s the babysitter and he LOVES her.  We went out to dinner for N’s birthday [her choice – Mexican] while he played at home.  He hates having to behave in restaurants especially when they don’t serve hot dogs so he gets to stay home with Bernadette.  When we got home Bernadette stayed and we all had ice cream cake after singing and blowing out candles [with help from Gman].  Presents were opened and N got a HUGE, and I’m talking GINORMOUS purple ring – it went from hand knuckle to first finger knuckle, a tasteful purple pendant, and a multi-strand silver necklace with red and green jingle bells on it all from Gman.  Then J got dressed in her Christmas outfit – Santa turtleneck, Santa tights, bright green Santa vest, Christmas light necklace that actually blinked and could have the frequency of the blinking changed, and of course she borrowed Natalie’s new jingle bell necklace.  Gman thought she looked beooootiful.  J’s friends stopped by and were amazed at how big Gman is now.  Bernadette seemed to enjoy the company of the older girls and thanked Dad for letting her stay for cake, although, I think we enjoyed having her there more.

Sunday was the big day.  We went and saw Santa [and Mom finished the Christmas cards and got them mailed]!  Since Gman can’t read yet, Dad drew pictures of everything on his Christmas list for him.  He’s at a great age.  He still believes and was so relieved that he got to talk to “the man himself”.  He held his list [wouldn’t wander off with Dad like in years past because he was afraid he was going to miss his turn] in his little hand and couldn’t wait to get up there.  This year he trotted up there so excitedly, all on his own.  Didn’t need any encouragement to go sit on Santa’s lap from me, sob.  He smiled very nicely for his picture and got to tell Santa everything on his list [although Santa had to help him with Microscope].  He was beaming when he got done.  What a relief to tell Santa what he wanted.  We’d written a letter earlier in the season, but he just told Santa that he was being good and that he loved him.  He didn’t want to write out everything he wanted and so as the day started drawing closer he was worried that we wouldn’t make it to see Santa in time and then what would he get for Christmas?  Still, Santa plans to write him a letter and tell him that he needs to work on listening to mom a bit better but that all in all he’s been a very good boy this year.

So we had a good weekend.  The house is shaping up for the Christmas Eve party.  We’ve got the shopping list started and I’ll get to that tomorrow.  Christmas cards are finally out including a cute picture of Gman.  Presents are purchased and most have arrived via UPS or FedEx, although we are awaiting a few.  Some of the presents are even wrapped.  Not even close to being finished with that but I’ll work on that tonight.  Or tomorrow.  Okay, probably Thursday at midnight I’ll finally finish wrapping the girls presents because they open them Christmas Eve.  I won’t finish Gman’s until the last minute.  Do you let your kids open presents before or after Church?  I think we’re going with after Church and holding them hostage to good behavior.  Shouldn’t be a problem as we’re going to early Mass [8 A.M.] and he’s been really good in Church lately.  

sort-of failure

We watched TV last night.  We had an ice-day and were home from work and school all day.  We played Mouse-Mart [Wal-Mart for mice run by Gman as Mr. Jenkins and staffed by Tutter Mouse, Kerchemal Mouse, Harry the hunter mouse, Ollie the Opera Mouse, Charlie the Church mouse, Dr. Conio, Coonie, and a whole cast of others who show up to buy things – Mr. Jenkins always knows what aisle they are in].  We talked to N before she left for work, when she returned because she forgot something, and when she returned again because she had fallen on the ice and her hair needed to be refixed before she could go to work.  We talked to J who called to tell us that she too had fallen on the ice – glasses and coffee flying – thankfully no broken bones in either case, just a few sore tailbones.  We went Shark hunting.  We figured out which pictures we wanted to hang downstairs and carried them down and cleaned them.  Mom and Dad hung pictures [bare walls since we returned from the 2009 flood] while Gman listened to audio CDs in the cuddle spot.  We ate soup [mom], stew [Dad], and peanut butter and crackers [Gman].  We wrapped presents.  We cuddled in the cuddle spot [walk-in hall closet, behind some boxes we made a tent with a blanket, pillows, a cuddle blankey, a pillow pet, mom and boy, turned out all the lights – except the Christmas nightlight] while listening to audio CDs.  We listened to several kids books on CD [PETER PAN, SAMSON AND DELILAH – which includes lots of 1960s sing-along hymns – thankfully I fell asleep during it].  We baked homemade bread to go with the homemade soup we made on Wednesday [Gman made his own soup – picked out all the ingredients – I advised or said no depending on what he wanted to put in.  He ended up with chicken, potatoes, onions, parsley, tomatoes and onions – and then put the whole thing through a blender.  I put in too much water – should have used chicken stock - so it was bland, but once I surreptitiously put in some spices and barley, it was quite yummy.  My French Onion was AWESOME].  Gman played with the flour on the counter making castles and rubbing the bread with flour.  Gman played in the sink, pretending to wash dishes and asking for “ingredients” to add to his “sink soup” – since I generally have to take a bite, I didn’t give him any ingredients – ick!  Gman continued to play in the water, went upstairs, retrieved his shampoo and proceeded to wash his hair in the sink [this counted for his bath/shower this evening as we hadn’t done anything strenuous and therefore didn’t require the full deal – I would have let him go without anything, but he was enjoying dunking his head into the full sink so much, how could I say no?  We ate dinner – salami [Gman] and soup [homemade French Onion topped with homemade bread and Mozzarella cheese, MMMmmm].  Mom worked on writing out Christmas cards.  By 7PM I was exhausted, despite the nap.  So I caved and let him watch a movie [HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON – which is the superdy-duperest movie ever] while I continued to work on Christmas cards.  Then we got the bad news about our friend’s son right before bedtime.  Teeth were brushed, prayers were said, a book was read, cuddling ensued – more cuddling than usual as Mom was reminded of how fragile life is.  So all in all, I don’t think it was a complete failure.  I could have caved earlier in the day and let him sit there and rot his brain the whole day.  One movie after a long day of fun and productivity doesn’t seem out of line.  Or am I just trying to justify myself?

May his soul rest in peace

Please pray for the family of hubby's best friend, especially his son. The young man was killed in a burglary this afternoon. We are all reeling in shock. Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Success!

No TV Monday and no TV Tuesday!  Monday was soccer practice and then straight to bed as the little monkey was exhausted [not from soccer as he mostly walks around despite the manic energy of his fellow athletes].  Tuesday was the library where we borrowed many Christmas and winter books.  Also The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and Wind in the Willows on Audio CD.  Mama got several books she’d been waiting for as well, The Help, Still Missing, and an artisan bread baking book, something like Artisan Baking in 5 minutes a Day. 

But honestly, G wouldn’t have gotten to watch TV anyway, even if Mama were being lazy.  He’s having trouble at school with the “keep your hands to yourself” rule.  He and his little buddy play kind of rough together and can’t seem to stand near one another without giving each other noogies, etc.  The fact that said little buddy is a girl is what makes it difficult.  I’m not overly worried about it.  Little Buddy is several inches taller than Gman and is the youngest of 4 kids.  I’m sure that she’s used to some rough play.  Still, it is a rule at school so we’re enforcing it at home.  If I get a note home [sent an index card with all the days left in this month written on it, if it comes home with an X through the day, he couldn’t control his hands] there’s no TV.  Both nights there was an X on the card.  I’m not always good at staying the course when it comes to self-control [i.e. not watching TV], but I am excellent at enforcing rules I set up as consequences.  Sometimes I rethink the consequences and decide I’ve been too harsh, but even then, the consequences stay for that instance and then get changed for future incidents.  If I’ve said if you do there is no TV, and he does it anyway, then there’s no TV.  If I said, you have to take the icky medicine if you cough again, then it’s icky medicine time when the coughing starts.  But if I’ve said, let’s don’t watch TV tonight and I’m tired and he’s persistent, I may give in.  Can someone be “semi-consistent”?

Bad Mama!

I let the boy watch too much TV last night.  3 movies in fact.  I was a slug and I feel asleep in the easy chair and let him watch PETER PAN and when that was over I let him watch ALADDIN.  And then after dinner I let him watch HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON.  In my defense he did spend about 45 minutes outside shoveling snow [for fun] – not much of defense is it?  It was miserable here, snowing and blowing all day with steadily dropping temperatures.  I think I could have come up with a better way for him to spend the afternoon, however.  It was pure laziness on my part.  I know he enjoyed it, but he probably would have enjoyed painting his letters [wooden block], playing Candyland [but only if he won], or reading books [me or an audioCD, whichever].  I have to stop relying on the TV so much.  That is my resolution today:  no TV watching this week.  Tonight we have soccer [not really practice, more learning the skills to eventually play], tomorrow we have a quick stop at the library which I just decided to let be a long stop at the library and getting our Christmas pictures reprinted [they had the “s” in pray for us cut off so now it looks like a weird text message “Pray for u”].  Wednesday I’ll see if my mom’s interested in having dinner with us [preferably my house so that I can control the TV], Thursday I’ll have to think of something, and I am so tempted to make Friday night after dinner Movie night.  I think I will.  Not due to laziness, but if I can accomplish 4 days without TV – pure torture for my TV addict, the boy deserves a treat after going to school all week.  He tells me it’s “challenging” – Preschool mind you.  Saturday night is N’s birthday dinner so Gman will be home with the babysitter [he prefers it to going to a grown up restaurant].  By the time we get home, sing our rendition of “Happy Birthday”, and blow out the candles, it will be bedtime.  Sunday is Gram’s house so we can play in the basement and watch football in the afternoon.  The following week is Dad’s week, so I will let him decide if he wants to use the animated babysitter, but I’m guessing he won’t.  If he’s hunting I don’t know if I’ll be drop off or pick up.  I’m off work from just before Christmas until after the new year begins so we’ll see how much fun stuff we can do with cousins, aunt and uncles, and maybe fit in a hunting trip with dad.

My Heart's at Home Daybook, December 10, 2010

Outside My Window ...
still City Hall Parking Lot.

***

Towards a daily rhythm ...
I don’t know that I am attempting anything big, just little things.  Getting ready for Christmas, but not stressing about getting everything done for Advent.  I figure that things will pick up as Gman gets older.  Now if we do the Jesse Tree a few times, light the Advent candles at least once a week, and let Gman put a figure on our Nativity Advent calendar, that’s enough.  I try and do some little thing around the house … sweep floors, wipe up counters, make the coffee, empty dishwasher, make favorite meals, etc.  Not all at once, but one or two a day.

***

I am thankful for ...
My husband.  He loves me so much.  He puts up with my neuroses and tries his very best to be a good father and husband.  I am so blessed.

***

From the kitchen ...
Nada.  We’re going to the movies so I see popcorn for dinner….which will probably cost more than getting into the movies.  Oh well, a holiday celebration.

***

To live the liturgy...
I bought a bunch of saint biographies….St. Rita, St. Monica, St. Dominic, St. Benedict, St. Gertrude, etc.  My goal for the new year is to read more theological non-fiction and not rot my brain with junk.

***

I am wearing ...
a light blue polo, brown pants, brown knee-high boots, and a red lanyard with my nametag, security ID, and 3 keys on it.

***

I am creating ...
nothing.  I am avoiding my job.  Need to get back to work.

***
Towards a real education ...
Sending my boy to a traditional Catholic school.  I think that is the best thing I can do for him.  Still working on my faith myself.
***

Bringing beauty to my home ...
with my joyful personality and bright smile.

***

I am reading  ...
books advertised in “BAS BLEU” and online book company.  I read their descriptions and if it sounds good, I get the book from the library.  So far, they’ve been okay, but I haven’t been overwhelmingly impressed

***

I am hoping ...
for a pleasant weekend with the boys.  No yelling, whining, or tantrums would be nice.

***

Around the house ...
Christmas is coming.  We will make Gman’s stone handprint for Gram this weekend, maybe make a huge batch of chocolate covered pretzels for home, school, and work, and maybe wrap some presents.  Gman loves to wrap.  He is Captain Tape.
***
One of my favorite things ...
the internet.  I get to connect with people.  I seem to have trouble doing that in person.

***

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
a movie tonight with DH, Gman, N, school cleaning, a Christmas party, and dinner with Gram and Aunt K on Sunday.

***

Here is a picture thought I am sharing~

This never shows up, but I thought I’d try it anyway.