February 5, 2015

A February Daybook

Outside my window....
Black. Still early morn. Longing for the days when the sun greets me good morning.


I am thinking about...
my so crazy long ever-growing TO DO list. Praise the good Jesus that ultra-running taught me how to lower my heart rate in stressful situations because it would be beating outta my chest otherwise. Breathe. Take it slow. It'll all get done. Maybe. Maybe not. Oh, who am I kidding, screw it all. Never mind the rant....more coffee??


I am hoping for...
that Lola is done with her nighttime shenanigans now that her tooth broke through. My girls must be on the same (hormonal) cycle already because Avila lost a tooth (her 8th one?!) and Lola cut one on the same day. So much girlness involved in all that drama...


I am praying for...
as I said yesterday, Wisdom. I'm also praying God gives me patience with Levi and helps me to put aside my battles with him and just love him. When I step back he really is the cutest thing in the world but when I'm dealing with him I want to rip his head off.


I am thankful for...
my blender. 3,000 uses in less than 3 years.







I am reading...
I actually finished up my previous book and need some good suggestions. It can be anything really: fiction, non-fiction, faith related or not. What do you all have for me?!


We are learning...
Avila is rocking her multiplication. After taking a hiatus from reading lessons (it was too early) Max is back at it and M&M's are pure motivation for a boy to learn his letter sounds. I'm also making it a point to read aloud consistently - our chapter book at lunch (reading aloud and feeding Lola peas at the same time...) and individually with each kid. Trying to remind myself this is the most important thing I can do in our day.


From the kitchen...
meal prep moved to Sundays - especially for Michael's lunches. That way I can shove it in his lunch bag at night and not have to worry about it. (Although now I'm super sad I don't have football to watch while I'm doing it.)


I am working on...
Choosing JOY in all things. In January we started a "Virtue of the Month" and this month is JOY. Last month was Love (charity). I made a list of the fruits of the Holy Spirit and am applying one to each month so that hopefully, by the end of the year, the Holy Spirit has done his work on me. The kids love it, too. Everyday they have to tell me the act of Joy they did and it totally helps with any fighting. Boom. Love it.


I am struggling with...
getting back to people in a timely fashion: emails, texts, phone calls. Aaaaahhhhh. Lo siento if you are waiting on me. I'm trying so hard to be OFF MY PHONE AND COMPUTER during the day but I also can't get everything answered/returned at 5AM. I'll get to it cross my heart.


Around the house...
redoing the playroom. Well, just the walls. Need to find some space for our maps/memorization work/other crap. I'm thinking this weekend will be the time to start since, once I get a project in my head, I can't stop thinking about it 'till it's done.


Towards health and fitness...
Discerning, mulling over, thinking about all the stupid races I want to do this spring/summer. My current fitness goals nix a lot of long distance running (only doing sprints currently) as I'm currently trying to build muscle and lose body fat and longer distance running doesn't fit in with that (sniffle sniffle). But I just can't get running out of my head. More specifically ONE RACE in particular. A race that my dear husband actually didn't roll his eyes over when I casually mentioned it in convo the other day. Hashtag more on that later.


Towards faith...
Going to bring all 4 kids to Adoration tomorrow. (Adoration is prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament. The Blessed Sacrament is the host that we as Catholics believe is transformed into the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ during Mass. Yup just call me cookooo, but dude Adoration is like Holy Spirit central. I mean the air is thick with Him.) And I'm only posting it here to keep myself accountable. We may last 5 minutes or 15 but I know all the fruits and graces from just showing up are awesome in and of themselves, so there you go.


A few plans for the week...
Ballet, workouts, Adoration, SCHOOL, the market, family visiting this weekend, catching up on calling everyone back, and hopefully some doing nothing thrown in for good measure.


One of my favorite things...
a hot cup of green tea every morning. Mostly because I freeze my booty off after my smoothie. Hashtag annoying.


A picture to share...
she graduated from the Bumbo to the high chair. AND we are days away from 7 months old. Oh my.





























8 comments:

The Gaunts said...

I have a book suggestion! I just finished this book, called "The Way of Trust and Love," By Fr. Jacques Phillipe. SOOO good. In fact he is such a good writer. He has another one called Searching for and maintain peace that is excellent too :). http://www.amazon.com/The-Way-Trust-Love-Retreat-ebook/dp/B0089YQVGG

I too love Adoration. We go on Wednesdays for 5-10 minutes. So worth it.

Kathleen said...

What chapter books do you read with your kids? Looking for recommendations for my kids (identical twin boys who will be 4 in a week).

Unknown said...

Athena, thanks! And Kathleen I, too, struggle with finding Read Alouds for boys! We have had success with the Ramona Books, Mouse and the Motorcycle, My Father's Dragon Trilogy and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Little House Series. Check out Amongst Lovely Things blog for more great suggesstions!

Kelly said...

I want to hear more about how you do the virtue of the month thing.

Kathleen said...

Thanks! We've read some Roald Dahl (Fantastic Mr Fox) & they liked it but it was riddled with words like "stupid," "nasty," and "disgusting," to talk about some farmers that the fox outwits....and you can imagine these are now the only words coming out of my kids' mouths! Always at the wrong time, too. Like church ("this is a disgusting church.") ughhhh. So I put the chapter books down, but need to retry & be more on my toes & edit out the questionable language :)

Unknown said...

Kelly, sure! It's new for us and super simple but so awesome!

Unknown said...

Kathleen, I know what you mean haha. And other good books are anything by EB White, also Wind in the Willows.

Lauren @ Here We Geaux said...

There's a blender that counts uses?! Whaaat - I need to get one of those!

As for book recommendations - do you read Jodi Picoult? Or, Karen Kingsbury?