Markie (3 1/2 yrs)

Ahh, Markie... where to begin?  ...Your grin! It is huge and devilish and handsome with irresistible dimples.  That describes your personality, too: huge, somewhat devilish yet irresistible.  You are quite dramatic: from the "tough look" you give from under your eyebrows; to the mournful: "It's all my fault. I'm soo sorry.";  to your "That's SO cool!" we are never at a loss as to what you are thinking.  Your mop of curls has always fit you.  Daddy liked it a lot when your hair was long because you reminded him of strong Samson from the Old Testament-  That strength of spirit has to come from somewhere!

You have big appetites for food and everything life has to offer.  Speaking of food, you are (surprisingly, from one so ornery) a healthy eater- lots of fruits and veggies and yogurt, like John Paul.  You are very smart, too smart, easily bored, seemingly immune to the expectations of adults but still adept at playing very well when you want to with all the "neighborhood" big boys.  You would much rather stir things up to keep them interesting and get in trouble, than allow things to be quiet and well, in your opinion, boring.  You have no interest in potty-training despite that you are totally. capable. and have already earned several short and long term rewards in the process, only to go back to pull-ups as soon as the reward is won.  So, now we're just patiently waiting for you to decide you are ready.  Waiting...and waiting...and... 

What follows are some classic Markie stories I don't want to forget:

• Recently we had one of our parish priests over for dinner.  In the middle of eating Mark disappeared, only to come back to the table with the bowl from his little potty full of pee-pee and without his pants on, proudly displaying his work (that he never wants to do any other time)!  Luckily this priest is from a larger family himself wand was quite comfortable surrounded by our children.  At the end of that visit, Fr. was blessing a space in our home (where we've enthroned an image of the Saced Heart).  Fr. splashed the holy water in Mark's direction only to hear Mark start throwning a mini-fit:  "I don't like the water! Oh, NO, not on my PACK-PACK !"  Then, he dramatically rescued and clutched his backpack. 
• Mark has Christmas and Easter confused.  Every night last Advent, instead of singing "O Come Emmanuel" with us over the lit Advent wreath he sang, "God is not dead. He is alive, He is alive...".  I have no idea where that song came from.  He still sings it whenever we pray a prayer or sing a song he does not know.  (Which is really not all that often, despite that all these stories are Catholic or church-related.  I guess I just remember these more than some of the day-to-day ones.) 
• We try to get to daily Mass once a week with Jesse at the tiny Eucharistic chapel on base, it is a pretty little chapel and always special b/c the kids get to be so close to the altar, basically right next to it.  This means we can see everything but everyone else can also hear us...  One time the priest was distributing communion, Body and Blood, by coming around to us b/c that is simpler in such a small space. After being passed over twice, Mark looked up at me full of self-pity: "I got nothing!"
• Finally, I've always sang a little song to the kids when they are litttle and need extra cuddling.  It goes to the tune of "Frere jacques" (Yes, I had to look that french spelling up!  Did the internet get it right?) and I list all the people in their life who love them.  Only Mark has ever added an extra verse..."And Markie loves himself!"

These are photos of Mark's most recent birthday, his 3rd birthday, which he calls his "Blue Birthday," b/c he wanted everything to be blue : blue cupcakes (Don't laugh at my homemade icing-it was runny!), blue juiceboxes, blue plates & napkins, and bikes & trikes painted blue as his gift, Thomas blue to be exact, by Daddy.

 At home.

At our chuurch's pre-school.

And, last but certainly not least- This has been your favorite costume for a long time now: Super Mark.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

(We cut your hair shortly after your 3rd b-day but you can't tell in the most recent photos we have b/c your hood was always up.) 

Holidays 2011 & Our 10th Anniversary!

*Just found this in my draft posts list.  Update on my back pain: It is finally feeling significantly better b/c I am going to PT weekly.  I have a bulging disc.  Still lots of progress to be made b/f I will be back to normal...Since spring is almost officially here & this is becoming the only family album/journal that I am keeping up w/, I am putting these memories here...Our Holidays 2011.

We had Thanksgiving at our house. My grandparents even came, which is a special treat b/c they do not travel nearly as much as they used to and I teasure the time we get with them. My mom, our "Mimi" was here, too, which is always so fun and then good friends joined us for dessert. We're hoping to host again in future years, maybe trading out w/ my mom when some of the Ft. Worth family has other plans and the remainder wants a (semi-) "country" Thanksgiving.

Mary's beautiful dress from CM in San Antonio.  Pic doesn't do the beautiful fabric justice.

Table still in progress.



Archery lessons w/ Big D.



Mary w/ the first Mary Constance in the family.

Let's see...Advent was a good one but I think I wrote about that in my last Daybook.  A couple of weeks before Christmas, we finally got our first chickens from our neighbor who was thinning out her flock. We each named one, except for Mary. Five hens so far: Christmas Tree (Mark's), Frosty (John Paul's), Nutmeg (Jude), Josephine (mine), and Chick-ON! (Jesse's).  We got the idea to celebrate "Christmas for the Animals" from Small Things last year and the kids and Jesse, actually, love it so we did it again.  I bought small cans of food for the cats which is a treat from their normal dry food, the dog got a meat bone, the wild birds got their first seed suet of the winter, and the chickens got the finishing touches put on their coop- bedding, etc.

Then, Christmas.  It was frought with injuries and sickness this year so we ended up not traveling to Lubbock the day after Christmas as we had planned.  Jaul Paul fell out of a tree in our yard about two weeks before Christmas and broke both bones in his right arm.  We did not take him to the ER until the next day b/c although he was in pain, he could move the arm and the pain diminished.  But the next morning at Sunday Mass, it started swelling and giving him a lot of pain so Jesse took him in .  Splint on that day.  Casted about a week later.  ER visit #1 for Jesse.  The week or so before Christmas, I started having lower back pain and especially on the right side.  I ran and worked out at some point thinking I was just getting out of shape and needed to strengthen my core, which probably made it worse.  Over the course of five days it continued getting worse, so painful in the mornings I could barely move.  Jesse would half carry me to the shower where the heat would help me be able to move.  The morning I was scheduled to get into the dr., it was excruciatingly painful- worse than childbirth.  Jesse carried me to the shower and helped me in, went to start our coffee, and a few minutes later I blacked out from the pain.  He came back to me still on the floor of the shower, helped me up, and we decided I needed to go to the ER to get the pain under control.  His immediate commander, who is a very kind and gentle man, offered to come to the house to help get me to the car.  It was all I could to move enough to get some clothes on before he got there!  ER visit #2 for Jesse.  Still don't know what has caused the pain, which is lingering but is under control with a lot of medicine at the ER and the week thereafter.  Needless to say, Jesse took off work a couple days early and held down the fort while I was mostly off my feet and I never finished getting ready for Christmas- did not finish our decorations outside or do any baking.  And Jesse eventually finished our shopping for extended family.  I had two follow-up dr appointments and still have two more left.  The back pain is under control w/ daily medicine.  Mary got a bad ear infection after Christmas which really knocked her out for a week and was another dr appointment.  John Paul got his cast off the Fri before Epiphany.  Can we be done with dr appointments for a while?  But thank you, Lord, for modern medicine.

So, our Christmas Day was quiet but nice.  We had gone to the Christmas Eve Children's Mass at our parish, which was actually especially nice b/c so many friends' families were involved in the Mass and not the crazy scene I remember from the big parishes we attended in San Antonio.  I did manage to make a simple dinner for everyone which was the most I had done in days.  It was a quiet day with the kids playing happily together with their new toys, Jesse reading a new book, and me working in the kitchen alone (or w/ Mary happily watching and playing at cooking in her highchair) to try to give him the gift of a break form that since he had been doing so much of it.

We went to Ft. Worth for New Year's Eve Day to finally see my mom and sister's family and celebrate Christmas and the New Year with them.  My brother lives and works in Thailand this year.  It was a great day of fun and good food, including my Mom's famous crab cakes and lots of sweet breads.

We had a brother-in-law and his wife here on New Year's Day for the night with their sweet son as they made their way home from holiday travels.   It is always fun to see them and we opened gifts and just relaxed at our house together.

The highlight of this year was our 10th Anniversary on December 29, 2011!  It was a Thursday and Jesse was still off work.  I mentioned some of this on Facebook but not all the details.  We started the day off with our coffee and wedding album, which was actually Jesse's idea and he brought it back to me with my coffee while I was still in bed.  (I probably wouldn't have thought of this as I had looked at the album recently when he was deployed.)  It was so special to remember the day together, our excitement and joy, and all the special friends and family who were a part of it.  They are why I have finally made some time or maybe I should say treated myself to the time to get on Facebook this holiday season.  I am not great at keeping in touch and some of my closest friends from high school and college are on regularly, as well as some other special friends I want to reconnect with.  It has been fun to take the time to virtual-visit them via it.  Anyway, back to our Anniversary...we went to noon Mass and renewed our vows there.  We had just asked for a blessing but instead got to renew our vows in front of everyone so that was very special.  And they had been prepared by our Pastor who was sick and unable to be there but was present in those vows he had prepared.  The priest who blessed us was our new associate pastor, whom we got to know that day.  We talked to him after Mass about enthroning the Sacred Heart and consecrating our family to the Sacred Heart and, instead of doing it on our own as we had planned, we ended up inviting him to dinner later that day so he could help us "do it right."  After Mass, we went on a lunch date to our favorite restaurant here (the only really nice one in town) and then went home to have dessert with the kids and include them.  We made a simple but nice dinner for our new priest-friend/guest later that day and had a beautiful little enthroning ceremony.  The big boys did so well!  They read & basically did the whole thing b/c Jesse & I were very busy with the little ones the whole time, both of whom injured themselves by falling or getting burned by the candles we were holding!  All in all, it was a beautiful day in a simple way.  Other friends have taken big trips for their 10th and my sister had told me I should have asked for a diamond anniversary band but we were just happy to be together for a simple day.  We had already gone away twice this last year with just the baby and without the boys before his deployment (to a fancy, artsy hotel in Dallas) and after he got back (to a precious, ranch cottage) so we really weren't needing or wanting to do that again.  Not that I won't push for that at another anniversary soon!:)  But I don't plan to ask for any more diamonds after seeing Blood Diamond and I'm more of a Geek Mom anyway who woudl prefer another iProduct to jewels, if I had my choice... which I don't!  :)

St. Valentine's Day

This year, we celebrated by making valentines and then having a cookie feast.  Everyone had valentines at their place from Mom & dad, as well as other family & friends.  A couple people gave us cookies, including delicious red velvet-white chocolate ones from our best-babysitter/nanny-in-the-world, and we made our own which altogether made for a cookie feast.

We also read this truly beautiful book: St. Valentine.  I highly recommend it for both the text and the mosaic art.  We were all enchanted by it, even Jesse.

The Dress

Here she is, in the gorgeous dress w/ the matching coat and hat.  And proof of her love to talk on my (not smart!) phone, although she is no longer allowed to do this b/c I just had to have the touch screen replaced.

Sugar and Spice: Mary Constance (18 mos.)

Mary and I are enjoying some girl time the last 24 hours.  (My mom/Mimi has some rare time off and took all the boys for a few days.  They are at the Ft. Worth Stock Show today.  John Paul must think he's in heaven.)  We haven't done anything special- I've just enjoyed getting to slow down and focus on her.  She is such a joy and always has been.  Jude was also an easy baby, as in content, but he was also quite serious, while Mary is both content and infectiously happy most of the time. 

She also manages, somehow, to be both sweet & spunky.  She loves to be in the thick of things w/ her brothers- she always climbs up on the couch w/ them to watch a movie or "read" (usually she holds the book upside down and babbles a story to herself) and she plants herself in the middle of piles of LEGOS when they are building.  She plays cars and knights w/ Mark, who is not known for his patience- she just rolls w/ his punches, literally. Unless he really hurts her somehow, she persists in doing what she wants to do w/out appearing to get mad at his... tough love.

At the same time, she is so sweet- sweet to all of us, sweet to her dolls, sweet to animals.  She has to get kisses from everyone b/f bed or she gets upset.  She loves to push her dolls around in the wooden stroller she got for Christmas and she could not pass Baby "Jeez" (Jesus) in the outdoor manger this past Christmas without picking him up and adding him to the stroller crew.  She has been known, though, to literally toss a doll to the side in order to grab a car and join in with the brothers' play.

She is often quiet, just taking everything in from her perch in the high chair.  She loves to sit and snack and watch me (& all the craziness) in the kitchen for long periods of time.  But she also talks more than I remember the boys doing at the same age- a new few words at a time, "that" has been the only consistent one for a while now.  She absolutely LOVES to play w/ my cell phone and pretend to talk to people.

She has crazy hair that is darker at the ends b/c it is growing in much lighter, blond even.  It is wispy and always in her face right now b/c she pulls out clips and headbands and I really am not good at getting little ponytails into a moving subject.

She likes to color and she loves to scribble w/ a pen on a pad of paper, which she is doing right now (and alternately fussing at me for ignoring her as I try to type this- so, actually, she has started getting more fussy and willful lately, now that I think about it).

She likes to sits on Mark's little potty and has asked to be changed ("peeze" w/ a bag in her hand for the dirty diaper).  She tries to wipe her own bottom & that of anyone else she catches mid-potty or mid-diaper change.  I'm thinking she may potty-train before Mark finally does.  (Please God...soon.)  She uses a fork somewhat successfully and loves to brush her teeth & hair.  It seems to me that she is more interested in these personal care/hygiene things than the boys were at the same age.  Hmmm...

She loves animals, even our hyper dog Livy who has knocked her over more than once.  She is not afraid of horses.

I have a lot of fun dressing her up in the beautiful clothes friends and family have given or passed on to us although, I am not always good at remembering what safe place I've put special holiday accessories in.  Some holiday, I called my mom crying b/c I could not find a hat I had bought for her: "I just have to get better at these girl things, Mom,"  I remember sniffing.  Below is one of my favorite dresses, from her 1st birthday in August (6 mos ago, but she is still tiny).  I have not downloaded the pics of her in a gorgeous black & white dress w/ matching COAT and hat that she wore on New Year's, for lack of another occassion!  (I really did not buy either of them.)

I love you, precious girl, and am so excited for the days ahead!  I cannot wait to see the special girl you grow up to be and cannot wait for all the special times we will share, especially the beautiful books we will read together.  I named your first doll Laura, from the Little House series, but I gave my all-time-favorite-girl-from-literature-name to "our" chicken- dainty little Josephine.  You will not have a choice about being exposed to all things Louisa May Alcott.  Maybe you will even be interested enough in crafting that we will learn to sew together.  Or maybe you will teach me!  I'm pretty sure we will cook together since you already seem interested in food (like mother, like daughter) and everyone in this family likes to eat and cook.  I was thinking of trying you in ballet b/c I always wish I myself had taken it so as to be more graceful, but I'm thinking you're more of a gymnastics or soccer girl from what I've seen so far.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying your cuddles and our tea parties and I'm probably more excited than you over finally owning one day soon...a dollhouse.

Epiphany epiphany

From Helena, by Evelyn Waugh, a historical fiction about St. Helena the mother of Emperor Constantine and finder of the true Cross:

"This is my day," [Helena] thought, and these [Magi] are my kind."

Perhaps she apprehended that her fame, like theirs, would live in one historic act of devotion; that she too had emerged from a kind of... nameless realm and would vanish like them in the sinking nursery firelight among picture books and the day's toys.

"Like me," she said to them, "you were late in coming.  The shepherds were here long before; even the cattle.  They had joined the chorus of angels before you were on your way.  For you the primordial discipline of the heavens was relaxed and a new defiant light blazed amid the disconcerted stars.

"How laboriously you came, taking sights and calculating, where the shepherds had run barefoot!  How odd you looked on the road, attended by what outlandish liveries, laden with such preposterous gifts!...

..."Yet you came, and were not turned away.  You, too, found room before the manger.  Your gifts were not needed, but they were accepted and put carefully by, for they were brought with love.  In that new order of charity that had just come to life, there was room for you, too.  You were not lower in the eyes of the holy family than the ox or the ass.

"You are my especial patrons," said Helena, "and patrons of all latecomers, of all who have a tedious journey to make to the truth, of all who are confused with knowledge and speculation, of all who through politeness make themselves partners in guilt, of all who stand in danger by reason of their talents....

"For his sake who did not reject your curious gifts, pray always for the learned, the oblique, the delicate.  Let them not be quite forgotten at the throne of God when the simple come into their kingdom."  

A Books! and Chickens!! Daybook

Outside my window it is…nighttime, dark.  Winter in north central TX is here- cold, gray, often wet & windy lately, and below freezing at night regularly now.  Too little, too late as far as the rain goes.  So much of our yard is dead-beyond-recovery from the drought.
I am thankful for #…688: "Time to recover, organize, plan."  I started my own list of "1000 Gifts" after reading the book over a year ago.  It was a way for me to focus on the good and all I had to be grateful for as we were preparing for Jesse to leave for his deployment this time last year.  It still helps me in those ways and I use it in my prayer the many mornings I am crabby or hormonal.  I should post an excerpt of my list again...

I am hoping and praying for…my brother this Christmas as he continues to work as an English-language teacher in Thailand; for a friend in the process of adopting from Poland!; for Jesse as he prepares for Oral Boards the week after and we travel w/ him to San Antonio; for my MOMS group as we begin an ENDOW study next week.  I hope and pray that last one is a part of my life for years to come, like CCL and teaching RE.  Not necessarily all at once but each for long seasons.

On my mind…lots of friends and family I haven't heard from this year!?  Is everyone like me and did less this year?  As in few cards for the Gorleys?  :(  I managed to get a photo card out but did not finish decorating or mail any gifts or do any baking.  I started out behind and then had severe & paralyzing back pain that put me in the ER less than a week ago.  It also kept us home this week.  We are not traveling to see my in-laws b/c I am just recovering now, as in able to walk around without serious painkillers.

Noticing that the kids… are growing up so fast.  And it doesn't get any easier or more simple.  I've got to write an update on each of them here soon.  This is becoming my only family scrapbook/journal.

A few plans for the month…family visits for the New Year (hopefully pending full recovery), the trip to San Antonio for Jesse's test, then back into our regular, albeit relaxed, school schedule.  I cannot do an intense one and be a peaceful momma so this must be what is the right fit for us.  I need to do some spring school planning, too.  Goal setting with the big boys.  

From the bookshelves…I have a lot of books on my mind lately...A Little Way of Homeschooling which I have been slowly reading on my iPad this school year.  We do a mix of everything here including a minimal amount of formal lessons for big chunks of the year and I like to do a little reading on unschooling as we head into those times b/c it reminds me how much they are always learning on their own and so, alleviates my guilt.  :)  This is how I do a lot of my reading- several things at once, on-going as I need them.  I often don't finish them before going on to something else but I usually cycle back to them again, too.  Then, other books apply to and are finished in a season.  I read Made From Scratch this past week while I was laid up b/c of my back, after giving a copy to a friend.  She gave me The Joy of Keeping Chickens which I have not read yet but will soon I'm sure b/c we have chickens of our own!  (Finally.  Thank you, dear Jesse, for your work on the coop and pen and making that 2 year dream for myself and the kids come true.  On to horses for you and John Paul, God-willing.)  I gave Jesse a few books to give me for Christmas, which I look forward to reading: A Charlotte Mason Companion, Render Unto Caesar, Charity in Truth.  Best read of 2011: The Reed of God, which I finally finished.  Now my spiritual reading is Interior Castle by Teresa of Avila, mostly b/c of her influence on my beloved Edith Stein/Teresa Benedicta of the Cross.
In the kitchen…we just finished a lot of leftovers, including a variation of 7-Can Soup that Jesse had made.  We eat a lot of soup in the winter.  Potato is our favorite.  Thankfully, several friends have shared Christmas cookies with us as gifts, etc b/c I was going to go into depression w/out them.  I did bake a cake.  We bought pies.

On the Church calendar…it is now the Octave of Christmas and today is the Feast of St. Stephen.  Really, Christmas has just begun and the season does not end until the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord.  We had a good and simple Advent this year, by the grace of God: nightly day's Gospel after dinner w/ wreath lighting & singing of "O Come, Emmanuel" and a decade of the Rosary at bedtime prayers.  We also read from our Advent Storybook each night and the boys each had a traditional chocolate calendar.  We made "O Antiphon" paper ornaments and sent them to god-siblings but did not get them hung on our own tree that last week before Christmas.  We always wait to put our tree and other decorations up until at least Gaudete Sunday, only empty nativities out before that.  We put Jesus into our indoor and outdoor nativites on Christmas morning which I really liked this year b/c it is harder to keep the gift-hype down as the kids get older and more of them know what to expect.  We still do St. Nick and their stockings on his feast day, Dec. 6th, which is also Mark's Baptism Day.  But since we go to Mass the night before now (when they were little, we would go Christmas morning!), I like the pause to put Jesus into the mangers b/f the dive into and focus on the gifts on Christmas morning.

Pictures I’m sharing…from our big trip to beautiful Oregon in November to see close family friends, including one of our godsons.  I used these on our Christmas card in black & white.  More pics soon now that I have my own camera again.

Long time, no post- more from Houselander

It's been a long time since I posted anything thoughtful here.  Constant full days and I think the Chaput quote at the top is partly responsible, as well: I may be thinking about on-line reading and a post but then as I open my blog page and scroll past that quote, I always know there is something else more important I should or could be doing!

Still slowly reading The Reed of God, by Caryll Houselander.  So good, especially for Advent.  She reflects on the life of the Blessed Mother with Christ, her on the "Finding in the Temple:"

...Why must we be always seeking for the lost Child?

Why must we be always feeling the pain of loss?

If we did not, we should not realise that our idols are not God, are not Christ.

Bad as they are, they match our limitations; and if they should content us, we should never know the real beauty of Christ: we should not become whole.

It is one of God's great mercies that, although our vanity and our fear and our other mean passions crave for satisfaction, when they are satisfied, we are not.  There is an essential  you, an essential me, who cannot be satisfied excepting by God: that is why the sense of loss saves us from complacency in our idols and drives us to go on seeking for the lost Child....

We know Him only by continually learning Him anew; we get away from false gods only by continually seeking Him; we hold Him only by losing Him....

...[A]fter all: "Seek and ye shall find."

His meaning is Love.

Not so ordinary Ordinary

From Caryll Houselander's The Reed of God, which is helping me to know & love the Blessed Virgin Mary better than ever before (among other things!):

To put aside suddenly every motive except this single one, the forming of Christ in our life, is not so easy for ordinary people who are to remain ordinary.

Thanks, SP for the copy!  :)

Fruits of Summer

• One watermelon! & three squash!!! are growing in one of our front beds.
• Mary can stand for several seconds & loves to practice walking w/ help.
• She also just cut her second top tooth, making a total of four up front.
• And she "prays" w/ us whenever we pray together.
• Mark taught himself to swim.
• And is pottying more than before and wearing pull-ups.  These did not make a difference to the other two boys.  They do to him.
• Best of all, he & Mary play some together now- his toys, of course, & at his discretion, of course.  She doesn't care.  She adores him.
• Several friendships for the older pair have budded or grown.
• Piano tunes are heard in the house again, now from both of the older set. 
• Science experiments were conducted, including slime & explosions.
• We've finally begun the long-awaited Indian/Native American unit and have a field trip planned.  Maybe three.
• The momma is training for a race w/ a neighbor-friend, often w/ several children along.  This is, perhaps, actually good training for staying focused & light on the feet amidst the obstacles of a trail run.  At least this is what she is telling herself.
• A new sewing machine lives in the house, one that has been the secret to completing an old project & starting anew (& a new...several things).
• The momma also learned to crochet, taught by a patient mother-in-law.
• Many good books read including the Redwall series for the only other readers in the house and Simplicity Parenting, Keeping a Nature Journal, Holiness for Housewives for the momma.  All recommended, especially the last.
• We are living a new rhythm that is more little set-inclusive & creative, that I hope to carry into the official school year of English and math lessons.
• Plans are made for that next school year & many supplies are ordered.
• We have survived the heat and Jesse's deployment and are eagerly anticipating his return in the next couple of weeks.  Still no date...

A Long Summer's Daybook

Outside my window...  a hot wind is whipping all the bushes and trees back and forth, as if it is coming from a couple directions.  The surface of the pool water has peaks and waves, making it look more like a lake than a placid pool.  Fire danger has been extremely high here.  I even dreamed about one last night and woke up at 4am worried and checked windows and the radio.


I am thankful for...  our parish and my MOMS Group there.  We moms see each other a lot and have been crafting at our meetings this summer.  The community at our parish is such a source of strength for me right now in the last leg of this deployment.  Everyone really cares for each other and takes care of each other and it reminds me of how I think the early Church must have lived.  I cannot feel too alone, which is a struggle right now with my husband gone, no family here, and living out in the country.  (Although, I remember city life feeling lonely at times when I was home w/ young children w/out my husband, even in the midst of all those people- which to me is somehow worse than the peaceful solitude of the country.)

And I am thankful for a surprise package from Jesse, my birthday gift early b/c he thought "maybe I needed it."

A handmade journal of camel leather w/ sunflower pages and a bead & shell bracelet.  Both Kuwaiti items.

I am hoping...  that my husband leaves Kuwait on time and arrives home just before Mary's 1st b-day on August 18th.  I really would love to celebrate it quietly with him home on her "real" day.  We will have a dinner/party with my family when we go to see them the first time after he gets back but I would love for her best b-day gift to be a lot of good quiet time w/ her Daddy.  She really seems to still know him b/c she gets excited seeing him over Skype and babbles at him but, being the Momma's girl that she is, I'm afraid real real-time is going to be a little scary for her at first.


On my mind...  travel plans!  Plans for two trips to Ft. Worth to see my family these last six weeks of the deployment, including a Rangers game over the 4th and the RB&BB circus! for the kids for the first time in August, a treat from their Mimi.  Also, plans for when my RHL (consider that my opinion on the recent conversation at Testosterhome!) is finally home, including another weekend in Ft. Worth w/ a trip to the Dallas LEGO store (b/c I know HE will love that as much as the boys) and a short real family vacation! to the OK mountains.  No holiday to celebrate or party to plan while we are there.

We are also making fall plans for some animals to join our brood here- about 6 chickens and 2 horses, I hope.  To go with the 4 children, 1 slowly-calming dog & 1(no longer Tom!)cat.  And his most recent family (Momma & 3 kittens!) that we are now sometimes feeding, too.  Another one of those things I never expected from myself, the former cat-hater.

And I am (always) working on plans for curriculm for next year, including Montessori pre-school materials for Mark here at home.  He's very ready.  Yay!  He may also go to some pre-school at our awesome parish.  He. is. Mark.  Hear. him. roar.



Noticing that...Said toddler is getting the good nap he needs after our late movie night Fri.  We had a mom's movie and a kid's movie going.  He went back and forth between both before he finally fell asleep here..

The effort to reach this tempatation must have exhausted him b/c the box was still closed!

A few plans for the week... swim lessons for a MOMS-friend's kids, a meal to another MOMS-friend with a beautiful new baby boy, Summer Family Week at our parish, aka VBS w/ tracks for parents, including one on Theology of the Body & talking to your kids about sexuality.  Did I already say I love my parish?  It is my prayer they will hear it from us first in a positive and meaning-filled way & so know the beautiful gift that our bodies are.


From the bookshelf...The Well-Trained Mind, Hainstock's books on Montessori at home, curriculum catalogs.  On the way from an amazon.com spree- Growing Up Sew Liberated, this & this for the fall hobby-farming plans.  Big boys are reading the Redwall series this summer and loving it!


In the kitchen...a good recipe for Gazpacho and a fun one for baby jello jigglers.  Ingredients purchased, just need to get to work!  Thanks, Mom.  For everything lately, especially for forgiving my weaknesses (like my tendency to hold things in until I explode) and listening to my view of things.


On the Church calendar...big Sundays these last four: Ascension, Pentecost, Holy Trinity, and today Corpus Christi.  Haven't done anything (except the most important- Sun Mass!) to celebrate.  Lacking creative inspiration in that department right now...


Some recent photos...

First more of Mark Ignatius:

His current obsession includes going shirt-less with sunglasses.

  

This was a "Mark & Mommy date" when the Dallas Zoo came to our nature center, which will forever go down in Mark History as the-day-Mark-bolted-to-the-stage-to-try-to-hold-the-9-ft-boa-constrictor-when-Mom-turned-to-put-her-camera-away.

 Could this pensive boy be the same little guy?

Remember the one of Mark playing his instruments for Mary?  Now she plays...well, mostly chews.. on them w/ him.

And Miss Mary Constance at 9-10 months:

She's another water-bug.  Her first time in the water here.  Those 2 bottom teeth are completely in already.

 She's cruising along the couch now but she still loves to crawl into fun spaces.

And she's eating some table food, mostly Cheerios.  She LOVES them.  Also, some feta cheese, egg white, banana. 

(Those details are for Daddy.)

Finally, the big baseball players at their team party at our house:

John Paul was grumping b/c they shortened his name to John.  Already long-forgotten, proving how unnecessary the trophy even is.