Daybook 02-28-11

Outside the window... clear and sunny, but 12 below zero.

Getting an earful of... the washer and the dryer. I'm starting my spring cleaning early.

Grateful for... a special intention that was answered with a resounding yes!

Reading... one thousand gifts....

Home Learning... still plugging along with Term 3.

Liturgical Year... St. Katharine Drexel, St. Casimir, St. Ciaran

Hoping and Praying... my friend and a successful pregnancy, my niece and a successful pregnancy, my mom's upcoming surgery, another friend's wife and her treatments, several other personal intentions.

The Kitchen... steak. A big mouth-watering, medium rare steak. Yum.

Favorite Things... purging, cleaning and organizing

Plans for the Week... mystery reader at school, religious education, dance class, choir concert, Mother-Daughter luncheon, dance competition...another busy week.

Eagle vs. Dogs

ETA: The fight was over a carp, which is what you see on the ground. It's not an Eagle. As stated in previous posts, no animals were injured during this photo shoot.

Prayers needed

Please pray for my friend Suzanne.

Thrifty Thursday, updated

Frames made years ago by my Grampa L.

Memories made by us.

Thrifty Thursday

or-what-to-do-when-your-kids-are-sick-for-the-second-time-in-three-weeks-and-you-want-to-use-what-you-have...






more pictures shortly...

Daybook 02-21-11

Outside the window... snowing...10 inches so far...cold

Getting an earful of... kids playing Wii on a snow day!

Grateful for... this life I'm living.

Reading... one thousand gifts....really, really good.

Home Learning... Term 3. We are all suffering burnout, even with the changes.

Liturgical Year... St. Peter Damian, Chair of St. Peter, St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows....

Hoping and Praying... my friend and a successful pregnancy, my niece and a successful pregnancy, my mom's upcoming surgery, another friend's wife and her treatments, my BIL, several other personal intentions.

The Kitchen...Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken - it's Monday!

Favorite Things... snow days!

Plans for the Week... watch Shoes of the Fisherman (it's a tradition), Catholicism 101, religious education, dance...another busy week.

Daybook 02-14-11 Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Outside the window... sunny and 40 - can you believe it?!

Getting an earful of... my husband teasing our daughter. Tomorrow she'll be 12 and way. too. cool. to hang out with her mom and dad.

Grateful for... my husband. again. always.

Reading... A Biblical Walk Through The Mass. Still reading. Wonderful book.

Home Learning... Term 3. Made a few changes last week. So far so good.

Liturgical Year... St. Valentine, Sts. Faustinus & Jovita, The Children of Fatima.

Hoping and Praying... my friend and a successful pregnancy, my niece and a successful pregnancy, my mom's upcoming surgery, another friend's wife and her treatments, my BIL, several other personal intentions.

The Kitchen... hmm. I forgot to thaw the chicken last night and we had errands this morning, so nothing in the crockpot. I think it'll be steak.

Favorite Things... winter vacation!

Plans for the Week... Planning Commission, wrestling, 6th grade Religious education, dance, basketball, choir practice, and a rather large sleepover birthday party!

Fix It Up Friday

Today we are looking at the main floor bathroom. I took two pictures because I noticed the wall color changes in pictures depending on the lighting. I also see that when the lights are off the glass globes around the bulbs look like the rest of the fixture.

My questions today are (1) should I paint the light fixture an oil-rubbed bronze color and (2) should I paint the covers of the glass cotton ball and cotton swab containers and oil-rubbed bronze?

The towel hook, faucet, toothbrush holder, soap container, switchplate covers, magnifying mirror and all the drawer and cabinet knobs are oil-rubbed bronze. The mirror is wood, but very dark so it looks like everything else.

Thrifty Thursday

Not a lot of BS on this one.

We've been looking for a couch.

We almost came to blows at one point, and are not afraid to admit it. We went back to one store three. different. times. to look at the same couch.

Then we bought it.

Thirty minutes later we returned it. I am not joking.

Furniture shopping stinks.

Two days after that fiasco, I saw an ad on craigslist. My hubs happened to be in town, so I emailed the seller, asked if the couch was still available and gave him my hubs cell phone number. Then I left to run my own errands.

My husband bought the couch and picked it up the next day.

I still hadn't seen it.




I think he did a pretty good job!

Daybook 02-07-11

Outside the window... cloudy gray sky, cold air, good weather for hot chocolate-coffee and staying indoors!

Getting an earful of... Wii games. My youngest has strep throat and is living on the couch.

Grateful For... Urgent Care facilities less than 10 miles from home.

Reading... A Biblical Walk Through The Mass. Highly recommend! This is based on the new translation of the Mass beginning this Advent season.

Creating... a clean, healthy home. I'm trying!

The Learning Room... Term 3. We need to change things up a bit. Last week was horrid.

Liturgical Year... St. Josephine Bakhita, St. Appollonia, St. Scholastica, Our Lady of Lourdes. Lots of tea party material!

Hoping and Praying... my son recovering from strep, my friend and a successful pregnancy, my niece and a successful pregnancy, my mom's upcoming surgery, another friend's wife and her treatments, my BIL, several other personal intentions.

The Kitchen... plenty of leftovers from two days of birthday parties, so no cooking today!

Favorite Things... being home with my kids. I know I've stated this before, but it is at the top of my list.

Plans for the Week... Catholic 101 class, Parish Council meeting, wrestling, 6th grade Religious education, Homeschool coop, and dance. Of course, attendance is dependent on my sons recovery from strep throat!

Fix It Up Friday

A new feature!

How would you like to help me redesign, redecorate, reorganize, re-anything my home? I have run out of ideas and I need inspiration.

I'll tell you what I like - warm autumn colors and clutter-free horizontal spaces. I like aspects of many design styles, but would not want a room filled with only one style.

So, here are a few pictures of our kitchen/living room/my office/winter homeschool room.

For reference, the room is 15' 7" wide by 25' long. The oven and sink are on the south wall, and there are sliding glass doors on the north wall of the living room.

Yes, that is a stuffed carp on the wall. It's a record. It can't be moved.

Have fun!

Thrifty Thursday, continued

Because she asked... 5 large shelves!!

Thrifty Thursday

So I thought today was Wednesday.

That's what happens when you are a family with two children and then one night you encourage six other children to come and stay for two nights and days. We are having a great time....

On to the BS.

I think my Father-in-law (FIL) wishes he had Caller ID so he would know when I'm calling. Our conversations usually start with me asking what he is doing, then asking if he'd like to help me out, and then describing the predicament/situation I'm in.

I could be stuck in a ditch during the day.

I could be broken down on the side of the road in the middle of the night.

I could be at a thrift store and need a truck to haul the fabulous but ugly cabinet I just bought super-duper-cheap....


He generally says yes, and then comes to help. Sometimes he gives me looks, and shakes his head, because he thinks I bought something completely ugly and useless.

But I ignore him, because I see the potential.


Kitchen Pantry Cupboard, purchased 2005