Shoveling Out

December 20, 2009:

February 7, 2010:

Not the Maryland most people think of. Still have a ways until Spring though. 3rd times a charm?

So, what do you do with small children and 3 feet of snow at a townhouse? Build a snow slide!

You can see just how deep the snow is. It is almost as tall as Felicity.

I cannot let the girls out on the deck unsupervised though. The snow is so deep there is the concern of anyone climbing high enough on it to fall off the deck but there is also this….

Deadly! You see the darker gray area between the snow and the icicles? Ice. Solid ice.

Tomorrow there is one car parked in the street we will shovel out. Otherwise, we did pretty well today.

Blizzard 2010

Friday, February 5, 10AM, Deck:

Friday, February 5, 7:30PM, Deck:

Saturday, February 6, 6:30AM, Deck:

December 19, Front Door: (notice the tree out front)

February 6, 2010, Front Door:

I’ve stacked two rulers together. You can see the tip of the top one here. One of the rulers has about a half inch border without measurement. So, while I look for my 3rd ruler I lost in the snow last night, I estimate the deck at 27 – 28 inches. And it is still snowing with 6 – 10 more inches forecast for today. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow. Isn’t it Awesome!?!

All I can say is WOW. I’ll put up more pictures later. It is still pretty dark out.

UPDATE:

This is our neighbors behind us. You can see the snow stuck to the screens and siding.

Another neighbor.

The tree behind our house. Dare someone to stand under it and shake!

You can see the snow stuck on the siding on our house and our neighbor’s house. That is the grill buried. We had a snowman over there (visible in the first picture) but he is buried now.

The backyard. The gate is half buried. Will be fun once it stops snowing.

I found this morning’s Morning Prayer especially fitting: “Your deeds, O Lord, have made me glad; for the work of your hands I shout with joy. O Lord, how great are your works! How deep are your designs!” No kidding!

Hmm. Church on Sunday? I’m doubting it.

I think it wants to be friends.

Amazing isn’t it? I’ve never seen so much snow at once in my whole life.

The branches have so much snow they look more like coral.

The other tree’s branches are touching the bushes and are almost to the driveway.

Seven Quick Takes

~~~~~~~1~~~~~~~

Since I finished reading Palin’s book, I’ve picked up a fiction book. I began reading E. L. Doctorow’s Ragtime. I’m a big fan of the musical but I’ve never read the book. I find it interesting that the musical took some sentences word for word from the book but I’m likewise happy that the musical left out some of the explicit sexual references. I was not expecting some of the language I’ve seen so far and I’m only on chapter 3!

~~~~~~~2~~~~~~~

So I went food shopping this morning like I do every Friday. It was INSANE! I lived in South Florida for over a decade and never saw such panic over a hurricane as the people here have shown for a snowstorm. I encourage those of Michigan and Minnesota to have a good chuckle at Maryland’s expense because it deserves it. The panic the media has created is shameful and the reaction disappointing. I bought the last potatoes in the store – of any kind of potatoes. There were no bell peppers. The chips, soups, hotdogs, milk, berries, breads, sodas, waffles, and meats sections all were almost completely raided of any products.The cart collecting guy told me it was even worse last night. He said they ran out of carts last night. You know those big water containers used in waiting rooms in dispensers? I saw people leaving with 5 or 6 of them! People, if you need water, here is a science lesson for you, all that fluffy white stuff you are panicking about? IT MELTS INTO WATER!

I’m still stunned.

~~~~~~~3~~~~~~~

Does anyone else have lunatic plants? I have tulips and some other flowers that began popping up through the ground 3 weeks ago. Now we are expecting a blizzard. It wasn’t unseasonably warm when they popped up either. Dare I hope they will survive? What twist of nature made them want to spring up in freezing weather?

~~~~~~~4~~~~~~~

I actually don’t know who I want to win the Super Bowl. I like the Colts but the Saints have never won. I think I might be in the enjoyable position of being content no matter who wins.

~~~~~~~5~~~~~~~

I watched High Society, starring Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Grace Kelly, yesterday. It is a musical version of The Philadelphia Story, which starred Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart and Katharine Hepburn. High Society was enjoyable but I can’t say I thought many of the songs that memorable and without the songs, you are back at the original film with a different cast. Now I think Grace Kelly is one of the most elegant women to ever grace the silver screen, but I think Hepburn was more endearing in the part. I also was blown away by Jimmy Stewart in the original so I can’t say Sinatra did much for me by comparison. I love Bing but I also thought Cary was great in the part. In the end, I have to say I liked the original better and I think one of the key factors for me that put it on top was Jimmy Stewart. But both are enjoyable films.

~~~~~~~6~~~~~~~

This morning Cecilia said she wanted cereal. I asked what cereal and she said she wanted Fiber One. I informed her that the only Fiber One cereal we had had raisins in it, which she refuses to eat. I informed her I did have another cereal without raisins. She said, “Fiber Two?” I informed her it was actually Special K, but I love her logical jump that the other cereal would be “Fiber Two.”

~~~~~~~7~~~~~~~

Eliabeth’s sleep this week has really improved. She went from waking every 40 or 60 minutes to waking only a couple times a night. She went from only sleeping in our bed, to taking some naps in her crib. BUT! She figured out that, being as mobile as she is, she doesn’t have to stay laying down and can, in fact, get up and move around. So, I’m beginning the task of teaching a 7 month old to voluntarily lay down and go to sleep. I’m going to begin today by putting her in her crib and giving her the chance to lay down but I know where that will probably end: she will end up sitting in her crib crying her head off tired as can be and not understanding why she is sitting there miserable. So my plan then is to bring her to our bed, which she is very familiar with, and lay down quietly with her. I’ll see how it goes, but, I’m interested in hearing any suggestions or advice on how to teach a 7 month old to voluntarily lay down to go to sleep?

More Quick Takes.

Small (and not so small) Successes

Celebrating the little (and big) things…

1. I’ve prayed the Divine Office every morning this week. Considering my girls like to get up before the roosters, doing this is especially difficult. This morning Felicity got up at 5:40 and Cecilia has been up since 6:20. Elizabeth woke up around 7:05. Throw in breakfasts, a leaky diaper and Cecilia’s sore arm and you get the fact I haven’t been able to brush my teeth yet. But I’ve prayed my Morning Prayer every morning this week and that thrills me.

2. We began formal homeschooling this week. Cecilia has been really enjoying doing “school” and our flexibility has been wonderful!

3. Elizabeth has been cosleeping for 7 months, although she has always been willing to sleep in her swing at least once a day. But this week I got her to take 2 of her 3 daily naps in her crib falling asleep on her own on her back. Some of those naps last 30 minutes but some have lasted as long as 2 hours. Wohoo!

Read more Successes at Faith & Family Live!

Going Rogue

I finished reading Sarah Palin’s Going Rogue. First, let me say I don’t generally read books about politics and I rarely read biographies or autobiographies. So this is an unusual read for me.

Overall it was an enjoyable read. The book begins with her childhood and background and follows chronologically until she is elected governor. Then she progresses by topic until she becomes the Republican Vice Presidential candidate. Then it picks up chronologically and follows her experience through her resignation of her position as governor.

I definitely was interested in learning more about this woman who made many people adore her and most of the media foam at the mouth in rabid rage. Reading about her upbringing and life in Alaska was fascinating. I love the snow, but lived in Alaska I have not come close.

I vaguely remember the stories circulated about her in the press. I don’t read or listen to much news, particularly political news. But even I couldn’t help seeing headlines or hearing snippits about such nonsense as Trig not being her son or some such stupidity about her wardrobe something or other. I give the media in general very little credibility so I never thought much about what the media said about her and lowered my opinion of the media, to the extent that was possible. So I did appreciate reading her side of the story and hear her experiences throughout it all.

But my favorite part had to be reading and understanding her viewpoint. She is one of the most patriotic people I think I’ve heard of. She makes most of these thieves that live near me in D.C. look like the most selfish conspirators against their own country. She loves her country. She is proud to be an American. She has a passion for this country and it is not all that easy to find genuine passion about this country in a politician. I wish I had more of it. She has a worldview that is admirable and she strives to live according to the principles she believes in. She believes in a government that PROTECTS but does not try to PERFECT it’s nation. She advocates national security through safe energy found here at home without destroying the environment. She sounds like a mom with whom I could set up play dates as well as a woman whom I could stand behind.

She is an inspiration. I am thankful she is an American and she makes me proud to be one too.

A Carrot Nose and Wagonwheel Eyes…

We woke up to the most beautiful morning.

One of the wonderful things about staying home with my kids and homeschooling is that we can alter our schedule however we want. So we began our school schedule on a delayed schedule and, once I got Elizabeth asleep for her morning nap, headed outside for some fun in the snow.The snow was absolutely perfect for snowballs and snowmen, so, of course, we had to make one.

Cecilia had a lot of fun making him with me. I had the plastic pipe from a snowman kit my aunt gave me years ago. The carrot came from the fridge but I was at a bit of a loss for eyes and I thought it would be nice for Elizabeth to contribute, so we used two Gerber Wagonwheels. His head came out a bit bigger than his body, but as you can see from Cecilia, who is over 3 feet tall now, that it wasn’t a mini snowman.

Felicity is not, as yet, as tolerant of the cold or treading through 5 inches of snow so she was only so into it, but she did help some. She also struggled to use her mittens efficiently which made doing anything with her hands more difficult. But she was a sport and posed for me with Cecilia and Mr. Snowman.

We came inside with bowls of snow and put some flavored topping on it and had snow “cones” while we began working on Cecilia’s subject of choice – handwriting. It seems to be her favorite subject so far. In fact we spent over a solid hour mostly working on writing letters. She had been willing to trace any letter but today she began trying to write them without tracing. I raved about her attempts and I think it really boosted her confidence. She often will only want to “learn” what she is already pretty good at. She loves sounding out letters but she freezes at pronouncing words because she doesn’t feel as comfortable and confident about it. So for her to exit her comfort zone and try to write the letters on her own was fantastic.

Yesterday we did only a little school since Cecilia’s arm was sore. It is still red and warm and sore today but Motrin seems to be helping. We really only did Handwriting and some work on opposites and letters and the like today, but, again one of the marvelous things about homeschooling is that we can set our own pace and schedule and everything. Cecilia spent over an hour today learning and she enjoyed every minute of it … with a snowcone!

Felicity’s Baptism Anniversary

I realize we have not celebrated Baptism anniversaries previously, although it has been something I have wanted to do.

There was a present we wanted to get Felicity. But how to give it to her without lessening Cecilia’s birthday was a concern. After all, Cecilia didn’t get a big gift at Felicity’s birthday and while this gift was not insanely expensive, it wasn’t small. So, it seems God ushered us into celebrating Baptism anniversaries. We will try to get better at it with each one. Like, maybe next time we can wrap the present. Oh well.

In Texas, Felicity in particular had a ball on a little car like this. We found a similar item but designed like a train. Our girls adore trains.

Felicity has been having a ball scooting around on it. She presses the top and the balls spin around. Two levers make different sounds and the front can be twirled. The seat even opens for storage. Of course in this house we share almost everything and Cecilia has been having fun on it as well but she is big enough that the fit isn’t ideal.

This works well since Cecilia has a scooter and is a pro on her tricycle but Felicity was still a bit young to pedal well on the tricycle and could only sit on the scooter. Now both are on the go. Look out Elizabeth!

Hopefully next time around I will remember to do a bit more for their Baptism anniversary. Anyone have any suggestions? Do you do anything to celebrate Baptism anniversaries? If so, what? I’m interested in ideas!

A Psalm For Life

I was praying my Morning Prayer this morning, and one Psalm just seemed to strike me as being a prayer against abortion.

Blessed be the LORD, my rock, who trains my arms for battle, my hands for war.
He is my love, my fortress; he is my stronghold, my savior, my shield, my place of refuge.
LORD, what is man that you care for him, mortal man, that you keep him in mind; man, who is merely a breath, whose life fades like a passing shadow?
Lower your heavens and come down; touch the mountains; wreathe them in smoke.
Flash your lightnings; rout the foe, shoot your arrows and put them to flight.
Reach down from heaven and save me; draw me out from the mighty waters, from the hands of alien foes whose mouths are filled with lies, whose hands are raised in perjury.
To you, O God, will I sing a new song; I will play on the ten-stringed harp to you who give kings their victory, who set David your servant free.  ~ Psalm 144: 1-10

We are at war. We are at war in defense of life. The unborn are the casualties and their mothers are the wounded (even if they don’t always realize it). It is the LORD who prepares and equips us to fight this battle and it is the LORD who forms those soft arms and gentle hands of his unborn children to fight as his children of the Light. He is our surety, our protection and our comfort against the shouts of hatred and the evil people do.

How great is our God that he cares for even the smallest among us, even that breath that is smaller than we can see, that miracle that is the unborn human baby! Though many would disregard this life, this jewel of promise and love, no soul is beneath his notice, his care.

We call on God to come to our aid, to be at our side and to push back those who would take our lives, the lives of our unborn children, and break our hearts. Then, as the voice of that unborn precious, we beg God to let our children be born, to make safe that passage from the waters of the womb away from the lies of the pro-abortionists and the hands of those who would harm the most vulnerable.

We will sing a new song, for each new life is a new melody from heaven and we will praise our God who sets our hearts and our children free – free to live!

(Cecilia, 10 weeks unborn)

First Day of School

Well, we had our first formal homeschooling day. It went better than I had hoped it would.

First let me say that I had laid out a schedule for myself for the month of February consisting of 12 subjects. Sounds like a lot I know. I was worried about that. But, so far, I must say it has worked out really really well. Why? Because when Cecilia wants to continue “school” but is tired of one subject, she is all too happy to bounce to another. The subjects are as follows:

Poetry – using The Harp and Laurel Wreath by Berquist.

Phonics – using Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy lessons.

Handwriting – using Book A from Mother of Divine Grace’s curriculum and a dry erase board with traceable letters from Sam’s or Walmart.

Art – Child Sized Masterpieces

Geography – Melisa and Doug United States Puzzle

Literature – pretty much any book on our bookcases

Music – 36 Traditional Roman Catholic Hymns Book and CD

Math

History

Religion – The Golden Children’s Bible

Science – God’s World by A Beka

Practical Skills.

Now, we don’t do all the subjects every day. First of all, I only scheduled any formal school four days of the week: Monday through Thursday. Poetry, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion, Literature and Music we do all four days. Art, Geography, Science, Math, History and Practical Skills we alternate days.

So this morning we began with Phonics. When I was creating a schedule for myself, which I did only for February until I see how this goes, I scheduled things to move slowly. On my schedule, this morning, she went from February 1st to February 25th. I thought the earlier lessons looked a little easy for her since she knows the sounds letters make but I’m sure she will slow down now that she is at words and not just letters. She seemed to enjoy it though.

Handwriting she really enjoyed as long as she decided what she did and didn’t do.

Poetry she wasn’t as fond of. She couldn’t understand why we stopped after four lines and didn’t just keep reading. She wanted me to just read through the poems like a storybook. So poetry didn’t last long this morning, but I’ll see if I can be more creative with it tomorrow.

For Art we just looked through the pictures, which she seemed to enjoy. She familiarized herself with them a little and we talked about some of them. I admit a couple of the modern ones I was a bit at a loss of what to tell her they were other than shapes and colors, but maybe that is enough for right now.

Geography she loved. We did her U.S. states puzzle, which she loved. She knows that puzzle inside and out already but she doesn’t know the names of the states so I would say each one as she “hammered” them into the puzzle. (Didn’t know Oklahoma made a perfect hammer did you?) She began repeating some of the names. Enough times I think she will get them down. She remembered Texas and Florida already.

We then began reading Genesis and read the first 4 days of creation. Yeah, she wasn’t too interested. I found it mildly amusing because it is one of those readings that I feel like I’ve heard SO many times it bores me too. At the same time though, it seemed to me it was written so simple so anyone, even a child, could listen to it. She likes the creation of the plants and the sun and the moon and the stars. But somehow the waters above and the waters below failed to capture her imagination. The fact this was the last subject we did in a full hour of school could also have something to do with it.

I admit our music lesson didn’t go over very well. O Come, Little Children just doesn’t seem to capture the 4 year old like the soundtrack to The Princess and the Frog.

I admit I didn’t get to the practical skills today. Since Cecilia turned 4 years old on Friday, she had her annual check-up this afternoon which took over an hour out of our day. She passed her exam with flying colors and, I’m so proud, she even got two shots and never cried once. Definitely lollipop-worthy!

Literature is an everyday, any time category. We read books every day. So, while that is a subject, it is not as formal as the others. We just read wherever, whenever. But I do plan to make a point of beginning the Catholic Children’s Treasure Box Series this week.

We even had some unscheduled PE today when, despite the 27 degree weather, the girls spent a half hour on the deck playing in the snow.

Overall it was a good first day. Cecilia enjoyed it and it went well.

Cecilia turns 4!

We’ve had a busy weekend.

On Friday we took the girls to Chick Fila for lunch and then over an hour playing on their indoor playground. I love, love, love our Chick Fila. The restaurant is always clean and the staff is super nice. They bring the food to your table and come by to offer drink refills and I’ve even had them bring the girls balloons. Then I took Cecilia (Felicity and Elizabeth were napping in the car while James supervised) for two carousel rides at the mall, a browse through the pet store (no, we didn’t buy anything) and then a stop for a birthday card and wrapping paper. We then had dinner at Red Robin, which is another place Cecilia really likes.

On Saturday we took the girls to see the Princess and the Frog, for the fourth and last time in theaters. It is a good film and Cecilia and Felicity behave well but Elizabeth, having learned how to crawl this past month, is not so keen anymore to just sit there and I had to leave the theater with her. Originally, the weather report for our area had been “little to no accumulation” but by the time we left the theater the roads were getting noticeably hazardous. It took us longer than usual to get home and we stayed in after that. In fact, Cecilia’s godparents were unable to make her party because of the weather. Our “little to no accumulation” turned into 6 inches of snow. Needless to say I don’t think much of our weathermen right now.

Cecilia loved her presents.

She had a blast racing Felicity with their new  Disney character cars and race track.

She got many wonderful new books! She had so much fun playing her new Princess and the Frog musical instruments.

And she especially loved the Cinderella dress, slippers, gloves, purse and crown Grandma sent her. She wore it the rest of the day except when we made her take it off to eat. She is ready for the ball!

Then we had a parade with dancing and music and became quite the party animals. Move over Ringo, Grandpa is on the drums now!

Cecilia asked for an ice cream cake. So we got a Mickey themed chocolate ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins, which, I must say, was quite good.

Despite previous refusals, Cecilia let us sing Happy Birthday to her and then she blew out her candle (despite Felicity’s attempt to help.)

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY MY BEAUTIFUL CECILIA!!!