I'm thinking an apron revival is in order - are you with me?

Ah! I finally understand why June Cleaver wore an apron all day.

I bet she didn't ruin her clothes with little bleach spots....I do dress down when I am planning to clean. But I frequently grab the little bottle of bleach water I keep in my kitchen for small clean-ups. I ruined ANOTHER shirt by getting a few small spots of bleach on it!

If only I wore an apron throughout the day - I wouldn't ruin my clothes.

I'd also have more pockets!

Tell me, when you get to the end of your day, what's in your pocket? A tiny Lego helmet.......a scrap piece of paper........a plastic frog? ME?..... All of the above and more....


We could start a trend! Are you with me? No? Maybe I should just buy color safe bleach and continue loading my pockets.....

Small Successes

Anyone remember me? Life has been challenging around here.

First, the successes... (Oh, and Real posted hers already so keep reading to the next post.)

1. Went 4 miles on the treadmill on Tuesday. And have kept up with my New Year's Resolution to put 300 miles on my exercise shoes by the end of the year.

2. Tried a new recipes this past week - Jambalaya.

3. Made an effort to be more loving to someone who is driving me crazy. (Not one of the kiddos.)

Now for the not so great news...

A friend has been told her breast cancer has returned and has spread. She has young children and is in her mid-thirties. If you are the praying type, please whisper Lynne's name to Heaven. Thank you.

Small Successes

We mothers need to recall our small successes throughout the week. Sometimes, particularly on busy chaotic weeks it feels like nothing got accomplished. Actually, something did!

1. "Helped" the boys clean their room. Bonus: I'm that much closer to my 40 bags in 40 days! Does an entire bag of smashed empty cereal boxes count? :)

2. Started helping my 8 year old with his piano practice for just 10 minutes per day.

3. Planned a project for the wonderful group of seven 6-8 year old boys who are here every week from 3-5 (they have science class and after it lets out they have to wait for their older sisters' class). They needed some direction.

We simply made cardstock castles but it entertained them the ENTIRE time. Now for something for next week, any ideas? They need to be inside, not running, and not too loud. It also needs to require little parental involvement since we've also got some younger ones running around. We've already played marbles (we'll do that again) and 2 treasure hunts. I'm not asking too much am I?

Logan SWIMMED

A couple weeks ago Logan was in the swimming pool during his siblings' lessons. When he got home he told everyone, "I SWIMMED". Logan just turned 2 in January.

I always find it really cute when a little one LEARNS the language rather than just repeats what he's heard. No one here says SWIMMED! He figured out for himself that -ed gets added to something you already did. I love how the little motors work in their brains! No, it's not the first time he's done this - it's just that his mamma's brain is a little slower and I cannot remember the other words :)

For more small success stories click on the link above.

1. On Tuesday I wore very frumpy clothes (it was all I could comfortably wear after surgery other than PJ's) and my house was a mess (kids picked up but I couldn't help or pick up my piles) but I still let 8 families (20 kids) come over for science class and play time (10 kids in the first class, 7 in the 2nd, the rest of the kids play) (I don't teach it - I just provide the space for it). Both of those were very hard for me but ha! No one cared. Or they lied. And that's O.K. too.

2. Accepted help: MIL folded laundry (kids been busy doing other things I normally do). Friend brought a meal. Sister picked things up at Target, brought my older kids to Mass on Ash Wednesday, helped clean up the house, etc. I'm very fortunate! And now we don't need anymore help!

3. Ordered groceries online.

Our school room is completely moved!

We finally moved ALL of our school stuff down to our unfinished basement. This big cabinet was the final thing to move. It holds nearly ALL of our school stuff (The other two cabinets in the room are full of other things).


We brought our lovely map down! The toyroom is in the background.

Set up for science classes that meet at our house once a week. One class has 10 kids, the other has 7. They all fit.

Books the kids are enjoying

The following book is our current FIAR book. Terese read it to Henry, Wyatt, and Elizabeth today.
The following two books are the ones I will be reading in the near future. This looks like a great book!

It's rather tough keeping up helping Anna find good books to read. She devours them. I think this book will be helpful to both of us.

The following book is the one my husband is reading to the kids at night. They love it!

The following book is the one I am reading at night to the kids. It's called The Happy Hollisters and the Haunted House Mystery. We don't really take turns reading. We read when it works out and when all the kids ages 4-12 are available.

Nathan enjoyed the following. I have just started reading it and cannot put it down. It's a great book! Wish I had read it sooner. He has more from the same author.

Anna is reading the following book for her Apologetics class. Or shall I say, she found this in her book pile, read it three times, then learned she will be reading it and working on the accompanying study guide. I figured since I correct her study guide answers it would be helpful for me to read the book. Again, I couldn't put this one down.