Some Updates

So what has been happening in the Wood household?  Mostly just our everyday life - nothing too momentous.  I've gotten rather disorganized in the month of December with more errands and additional duties to do, so our school/reading time has been a little hit-or-miss.  When I have a day when I need to go out, even if it's just for the morning, this usually affects the entire day, in that I feel rushed to get so many things done like preparing dinner, some minimal chores around the house, plus feeding everyone including a nursing baby, trying to get kids to nap, etc.  I often find that it is more than an hour after we've walked in the door from being out on errands before I even get to "breathe!" and do something for myself (like eat) because everyone so urgently needs to potty/sleep/eat etc, I run around trying to get to take care of everyone's most important needs first.

I haven't been using the Five In A Row curriculum for the past couple of weeks because I've checked out several books recommended for Advent and Christmas reading and we've been trying to get through those.  I have another resource called "Catholic Mosaic" which is a curriculum of sorts of picture books for the liturgical year.

Clara finally cut her first two teeth a couple of weeks ago, right at the beginning of December.  It was a rough few nights leading up to that.  She isn't crawling yet, but getting closer all the time.  She does scootch across the floor though. If I set her down sitting in one place and walk away, I will find her a foot or more from where I left her, but she's still sitting up (and probably getting into mischief!).  She is still winning everyone's hearts with her bright smiles an joyous demeanor.  The boys still dote on her and love making her laugh.

I recently made a quinoa dish for dinner that included almonds and raisins.  The boys did not care too much for the almonds and pushed them aside.  Michael asked Joseph why didn't he like them and Joseph said he didn't like the way they tasted.  When Michael asked him, "What do they taste like?"  Joseph replied, "Like high fructose corn syrup!"

As for Simon, last night he led us in a decade of the rosary all by himself!  The kids received "sacrifice beads" for the Feast of St. Nicholas, and last night it seemed like the whole process of how one moves the beads along all of a sudden clicked for Simon.  So he said a Hail Mary, moved a bead - beaming with pride, said another Hail Mary, moved another bead until he had said a whole decade (and a few more because he wanted to move them back the other way!) He skipped the Our Father, but we didn't mind!  We were very proud of him and he was very proud of himself too.

We've been watching Holy Heroes Advent Adventures all Advent and the boys (and I) really like them.  (Totally free and Catholic!)  We've done the Advent Adventure in years past, but I think Joseph is even more engaged this year (and that in turn helps Simon).  I am very thankful that I think the message of Advent and Christmas is incrementally sinking in better than last year.  We have been doing many things differently this year to try and really prepare ourselves for Christmas such as making sacrifices and delaying our decorating of the tree and house. 

There are only a few more days until the "Christmas Bonanza"  - a trifecta of gifts, gifts and more gifts... so I will be waiting to see how the boys act after receiving all their new things.  Michael and I have decided this year to let them open their gifts from us over the days following The Bonanza to help spread out the joy of the Christmas season.  We've modified many of our traditions this year, trying to figure out what suits our family the best.  I feel like I have grown a lot!  It's been such a journey for me... I treasure and cherish the memories of my childhood Christmases so much.  They were very joyful.   However, now being a parent myself, for a variety of reasons, I am departing from many of the things we did growing up.  It has only been happening little by little each year, but I've made some big leaps this year!   Hopefully we'll get everything settled one of these years!

Last week I acheived an important culinary accomplishment.  I made a sourdough rye bread recipe that I had been interested probably for at least a year.  I never got around to doing it because it has this particular time table for preparing the starter and it's not something that I can accomplish during my regular waking hours.  I must have been in La La Land as I was planning to make the bread because I thought I had it all figured out and it was going to be great!  Except that after I started the process, I realized what I had miscalculated and I ended up having to set my alarm for 3 am to finish it!  (and again at 5:30 and again at 6.)  The recipe is very clear: "Do not put the starter in the refrigerator or hold it over.  Schedule it so that you can work straight through!"  So I did what I had to do.  The good news it that it tasted delicious and won the Michael Seal of Approval.  I will make it again, even thoughI have to set my alarm at least once.  But next time I will get up early for the first feeding which should take about five minutes to do and then go back to bed and finish the rest of it during the day. 

Wow.  I go so long without posting because I think the details of our lives are too mundane to write about, and then I end up writing a book!  I'll try to not go so long between updates - but you know - no promises!! :)