Writing in my Diary, v.3

:noticing God's glory: We spent our last Sunday at our current church, as our community is getting its own church (which will eventually become an official parish). I am so sad to leave, because this church holds so many wonderful memories for me - including the church where we were married and where all of our children (so far) have been baptized. Our new church is nice, but it will just not be the same. We remodeled an existing (Protestant) church building - and they just don't build them like they used to. ;)

:listening to: A kid's Christmas CD over and over in the car. Obsessions: I Saw Three Ships, Here We Come A-Caroling. They sang We Three Kings at church today and Nate seemed pretty impressed that they knew "the song from the cd." Now that it's Epiphany, think I can get away with switching it out for Hug Me, Jesus? Or will we listen to Christmas music til March?

:clothing myself in: I think I wear my blue skirt 6 days a week. Sometimes 7. Wearing it right now. The waistband is just so... forgiving.

:thinking: About all the pretty things I found on a new blog today. Buying a house. How I am desperately yearning for a playroom/dedicated play area. How I'm excited to paint. White walls for almost 5 years = ready for color!

:pondering prayerfully: End of the Christmas season. Lent is in 5 weeks...!?!? Sort of a lull right now, but thinking about starting some kind of novena.

:cultivating rhythm: What is that? We are so out of whack. Too many sweets, too many shows, too many meltdowns and so much mom-and-children-tiredness.

:creating by hand: Thinking about making a felt food lobster for Ben, since he's really into the play food right now. And has this thing about lobsters (not that he likes them, but he's kind of fascinated by them and freaked out at the same time.)

the little people order I fulfilled around Thanksgiving - exciting!

:learning lessons in: humility, again? Mass meltdown today.

:encouraging learning: Still obsessed with calendars (thanks to our chocolate Advent calendar!) And now, days of the week. We got a few new games for Christmas - Chutes & Ladders, Dominos, the Lotto Game - will be playing those quite a bit.

:keeping house: It really isn't terrible. I just get to that point where the Christmas decor, as lovely as it is, become a nuisance. The tree is dry and needles are everywhere, and the pretty Christmas cards hanging on the wall start to make it seem cluttered - I am ready for a "fresh start." Packing it up this week, figuring out something clever to do with the cards so I don't have to pack them away.

:in the kitchen: Quite a bit of frozen pizza and simple meals lately. Cooking is not my favorite thing to do these days. I got this personal blender for Christmas and it actually works REALLY well, so I've been making smoothies with frozen berries, yogurt, and a little grape juice for myself. And "It's a mommy drink" seems to be a satisfactory answer when little people ask for a sip. (I rarely DON'T share!)

       the turkey cookies I made on Thanksgiving. Why won't this center?

:loving the moments: Our (very recent) new after-dinner routine is to go downstairs and play. Nate is very into the Wii. He doesn't play, but he holds the remote and acts like he's playing. He loves Wii Play games - the shooting; he announces which level is coming up next - "the targets!", "the grown-up drinks!" (the soda cans you have to shoot - haha), "the aliens!". He also likes the tank game, which daddy is great at and mommy stinks. Mario Kart is a new fave as well. He spends most of the time watching, while Ben serves us play food and Andrew crawls around in the toy area. We usually only play for 20-30 minutes, but now as soon as dinner is done it's "time to go downstairs!!!"

:planning for the week ahead: Catholic Sistas editorial board meeting, doctor's appointment Tuesday, new Bible study group meets Thursday - more on the calendar than normal! Also, GOODBYE, CHRISTMAS TREE.

:funny things: Last week we drove past the apple orchard and I explained that since there is snow on the ground, it's too cold for apples to grow this time of year. Today Nate said "Oh look, the snow is melting, it must be almost time to go apple-picking!"

:new years resolutions: I did not really make. I feel like my head has been a fog for the last several weeks. They would probably have had something to do with eating better exercising more praying more cleaning more being a nicer mom and wife. That's about as far as I got. Trying to accept this fog I'm in and do the best I can for now, in hopes that my sanity will return. :)

I am not in a creative mood today! This post feels super boring and like I'm forgetting a lot of details.

I'm thinking about changing my blog name... but I don't want to start a new blog, so would that mess things up? I would probably change the URL to go along with it. hmm.