Monday Musings--27 September 2010

Right Now:  5:45 a.m.  It was a bit of a rough night.  Gemma has had a teary eye for a couple of days, and nothing else.  I put her to bed a little early last night since she missed having a decent nap.  Well, when she woke up to nurse somewhere around midnight, the poor little thing had a fever.  I gave her a bit of acetaminophen and got her back to sleep, but she was so restless that I had trouble sleeping.  Adrian woke up with a bad dream at about 3, and when I came back to bed, Gemma woke up again.  Her head was cool from the medicine, but again, I found it took some time for me to get back to sleep.  Then the cursed alarm went off at 4:45.  Up and out of bed--"For the greater glory of God and the good of all souls."

This Weekend: was very full.  On Friday Adrian released the little turtle.  He had been wanting to do it for days, and only the pleading of his siblings made him put it off as long as he did.  Of all my kids, it is he who seems to understand that when you love a wild creature, you must be willing to let it go.  He was worried that the turtle might not be happy, and campaigned vigorously to release him down by the pond, and he finally had his way.  On Friday we also began working on some paper mache lanterns, which we hope to have done by Michaelmas (Feast of the Archangels), but I have my doubts.  I made the mistake of involving the little guys in it, and it was pretty messy and chaotic.  It's a wonder we all weren't stuck to one another with paste at the end of the session.

On Saturday, we dropped Una and Sebastian off for a bi-monthly art class at the library.  It is two hours and is part of a pilot program there.  Then we left the three middle boys with my sister to drive her nuts play with their cousins, and Bret and I headed into Bowling Green with only Gemma to go to Aldi.  It reminded me of the days when we only had Una to tote around.  The kids all had fun, and at home they played outside for a bit and then watched a film from Netflix while I mopped the floors (I am so happy to have gotten that done!) and worked on cutting out pieces for Gemma's fall/winter pants.

Yesterday we went to Mass and right after, we went for lunch and then headed into Nashville for Harvest Days at the Nashville Zoo.  It was a lot of fun, and I will have to do a separate post this week on that trip (tomorrow, perhaps?), as I have a lot of photos to share.  We came home to a pizza for dinner, and watched a few episodes of Green Acres.  A very nice, but exhausting weekend.

Some Plans for the Week:  Still hoping to get more done with the menu planning, as I haven't done much, but I really do need to look at some of my favorite food magazines and find some fast, cheap and healthy recipes that all the kids will love (HA!)...I also want to finish the lanterns with the kids, which means we need to finish the paper mache by tomorrow afternoon.  We are really pushing it there.  But they'll get done one way or another, even if they don't get done in time.  I also need to start putting away summer things and taking out autumn and winter things.  I dread this as much as I dread dental work, but I need to assess the kids' needs for winter clothing before winter actually arrives.

If I Find Some Time for Myself, I Want to: work on a few handmade Christmas gifts.  I have come up with a couple of small "stocking stuffer" ideas, and I only need time alone (What?  What is that?) to work on a few.  I would also like to try to get to bed at 9 each night this week!  I am so wiped out...

Some Prayer Intentions:  for Gemma to be well quickly; for my friend Cindy and her family; for my nephew James, whose birthday is this week, and for a spirit of joy and peace in our homeschooling.  

Something That Makes Me Smile: babies who fall asleep during meals.

                   
If you care to join in and share a bit about the past weekend and plans for the coming week, grab the header image and link your post back here for me to read.  Have a blessed week!