Sixteen

My oldest celebrates his sixteenth birthday today.  SIXTEEN.  The years have gone incredibly fast when I take the time to pause and remember.

Happy 16th Birthday!

Dash…who is Greg (short for Gregory) in real life..is pretty much man-sized.  Over six foot tall and wearing size 13 shoes, Dash doesn’t really fit anymore.  It was super cute when I started blogging, but he’s old enough to go by his own name.

A favorite picture of Greg when he was about 9 months old:

And here he is on the ski trip earlier this year…it’s hard to find perspective when he’s all covered up.

This is his ‘first day of school in 2012’ photo.

To celebrate his birthday, we are headed to town to take family photos.  We’ll have treats at the ice cream shop afterwards (it’s called bribery!), then head home for pizza and ice cream and cake.  It may just be an ice cream cake…certainly don’t have to worry about it melting on the way home, we’ll just strap it to the roof and it’ll keep better than if we carry it home in the car.  Thanks to our fine frigid ND weather.

** I am reminded that I was so very thankful to be a NE resident in the year of his birth because ND experienced the a very memorable major flood in the Spring of 1997.  Many homes were flooded throughout the southeastern and northeastern parts of the state due to overland flooding.  Then an icy snowstorm hit the southeastern part of the state and brought power outages. Recovery took months.

Staying Strong Despite…

This question was posed on the CCM (Confraternity of Christian Mothers) group on which I occasionally find time to post.  If you like the title/topic, I encourage you to post your own list. 

While the post was written long ago (last fall), I kept it in my drafts.  Every time I came to blogger, I’d look at it and re-read it and wonder if I should post it.  Everyone has tough times…my tough doesn’t seem so tough compared to others’ tough! 

For quite a while, I didn’t post anything because (in my opinion) there wasn’t anything positive or nice to write by the time I sat in front of the computer.  When I sit down, it’s usually to correct schoolwork, and it had become very frustrating to correct.  Truly it left me in a bad mood, whether in the morning or in the evening, so it was just better NOT to write.

I’m not saying the schoolwork correcting is better, but it is less because the younger kids have finished a few subjects, leaving me more free time.  Marcus is older, too, which also gives more time for free thought.  I have a better handle on my other responsibilities… for the moment!

So, here’s my list of things I try to remember when life gets tough:

1. Pray without ceasing.  Just short little prayers…sometimes long, extended prayer just takes too much out of me, so I keep it short and sweet.

2. Adore Christ in the Eucharist and just pour it all out.

3. Read a ‘light’ book to take your mind off ‘it’.

4. Do not compare yourself or your family to others.  Only God is omniscient.

5. Keep asking for help from the saints.  Find the saint who can best help with your prayer of intercession.

6. Ask someone else to pray for your intention because sometimes you just need to ‘not think about the situation’.

7. Sometimes you just have to find somewhere you can holler at the top of your lungs and let the emotions go.  That may not sound very dignified, but believe me it’s better than keeping it all bottled up inside.

8. If at all possible find someone to talk to about the trial.  Preferably someone who is content to listen and only give advice if you are open and willing to hear advice.

9. Set a goal, no matter how small, that you know you can achieve.  Maybe it’s cleaning the counter OR getting your sink clean OR writing that Thank You you’ve been meaning to write and send for the last 6 mos. OR clearing one pile of stuff OR doing one load of laundry OR just getting dressed in the morning.  Whatever it is, do it and ALLOW yourself to feel good about accomplishing the goal.

10. De-clutter.  I know that may sound odd, but it’s what’s kept me going for the last couple months.  De-cluttering is a form of cleaning; it gets the un-needed materials into the hands of someone who needs them; it leaves less for me (and the kids) to pick up and therefore creates a more calm and clean home.

11. Get outside.  Sit on the porch and have a cup..chai in my case…or get moving by walking down the driveway to pick up the mail.

12. Make sure to take your vitamins.  When I’m stressed, I tend to get worn down easier and have a harder time sleeping.  Both contribute to illness – take extra D, C, B’s and Zinc if needed to compensate.

Around and Into

 

Marcus is definitely mobile.  Not the same mobile as other kids at this age, but definitely able to get where he wants and ‘into’ what he wants!

Growin’

The chicks are growing so fast!  I believe all of them had a few feathers when they arrived, but were slower and didn’t have that leggy, steady look.  Now they look taller, thinner, and more alert.  They are however, still cute as the dickens!!  I sure hope they like this tank because they’ll be in it for a while.  The wahoo will not be warm enough for them to live there; I’m guessing, for at least another three weeks, maybe four.  Oh, well.

By the way, last week we also brought the first of the pigs to the farm.  We have 18 in the pens thus far, and Eric figures we need another four or five to fill all of our requests.  Then, we need to get the sheep.  I had hoped to have one of our rabbits bred by now, but am so thankful!  It’s just too cold for a batch of little hairless babies. 

I haven’t been out to see any of these new additions…there might be pictures when it thaws!!

Science

Zeke, 4th grade, and Graham, 1st grade, are studying science together.  They both finished their other books early and were still wanting to do something science related…and they love when their older siblings do experiments.  So, they’ve been doing Exploring Creation with Zoology 1: Flying Creatures by Apologia. 

It’s been a lot of fun.  In addition, I found a science lab kit that brought all the supplies they’d need for the experiments in one box.  Yes, the things aren’t hard to find and most are common, but it’s the time I saved looking for everything that makes the kit worthwhile.  The supplies are labeled by chapter, which makes it even easier. 

We start out with me reading a section or two and then I have each boy write something interesting that they learned.  I let Graham copy sentences from the book…he often chooses a picture caption.  I allow 10 days per chapter, but we’ve usually been completing the chapters faster.

Fun and easy for the teacher…fun, interesting and entertaining for my boys.  The pictures below are baby pterodactyl fossils made by each boy.  The fossils were painted with tea to create an ‘aged’ look.

More snow…

 

Regardless of the cold and snow, Bella loves to get outside and run in the morning when Eric goes out early to do the chores.  This mat outside our back porch door is her favorite resting spot during the day…she can see all the kids and everything that goes on in the house.  Spring will eventually come, Bella, and then they’ll come out to play!

Pics from our yard after the weekend blizzard and additional snow today.  Crazy weather.  Means I won’t have to water much in the Spring, right?