Monday Musings--3 October 2011

Right now...It is nearly 6:00 a.m., dark, a bit chilly in the house, and quiet.  As usual, Una is doing her Algebra on the office computer.

This weekend...was fairly busy.  On Friday the kids finished their work quite early and then worked on a little movie they've been making.  It usually involves a lot of costuming and rearranging of furniture and set-creating, and then some filming, and then a lot of cleaning up.  Anyway, I let them do their thing while I worked on a few things myself, including the new, updated chore chart.

On Friday night the boys, not including Dominic, decided they would brave sleeping out in the tent by themselves for the first time.  Unfortunately, the expedition in the backyard ended in failure at around 11:30 p.m., as the temperature dropped lower than what the forecast had indicated and the shivering little adventurers all came in to climb under their feather comforters!  I think that they will have to wait until next summer...

Saturday I did laundry, baked some loaves of honey fruitcake (made the house smell like Christmas!) with Dominic's help--he chopped nuts, snipped dried apricots, measured the raisins, sultanas and dried cherries, and helped peel and grate carrots-- and I began folding and cutting watercolor paper for some new sketchbooks I am going to make for our Etsy shop.  I hope to do ten of them by the end of the month...hope that's not too ambitious.

Saturday night was awful.  Gemma has been waking--not every night, but a couple of nights per week--screaming like the house is on fire.  Even with earplugs I find myself leaping to my feet before I'm even awake. When asked if something is hurting her, she says no most emphatically.   I brought her into our room, where she continued to toss about and yell or call for me every 20 to 30 minutes.  I brought her into our bed, and she finally settled into a good, quiet sleep--at about 3:40 a.m.  Of course it had to be on a morning when I was severely sleep-deprived and when we planned to go to an early Mass that the coffee maker died.  Fortunately, we had a spare up in the attic.  I managed to get through Mass without falling asleep, but I did lie down for an hour after lunch.

Sunday afternoon was lovely.  I worked on sewing up half the sketchbooks and watching/listening to the kids play outside in the golden light of a perfect autumn afternoon. They played with bows and arrows, rode their bikes, chased Sebastian around and Una took out the tin whistle to practice. I had to make do with a mental picture of it, as I couldn't think of any way to really capture it all in photos.

Some plans for the week:  okay, the cooler weather is forcing me to quit my procrastinating and start the dreaded Changing of the Wardrobe.  It was downright chilly yesterday morning, and I actually had to put the heat on (it was 64 degrees in the house when we got home from Mass).  Poor Una needs shoes for this fall and winter--boots, dress shoes and tennis shoes.  The girl's feet are now bigger than mine, and I am wearing some of her hand-me-downs!

I also want to make headway on these sketchbooks.  We have a number of things we hope to get into the Etsy shop for holiday shoppers.  Right now we are keeping up with a demand for cutlasses for Halloween.  Seems that there are a lot of pirates out there this year!

I need to bake bread.  I have avoided it for a couple of months because having the baking stone preheating at 450 degrees for 45 minutes is not pleasant in the warmer months.  Now it doesn't seem like such a bad idea.

If I find some time for myself, I want to...knit like crazy, make things for the shop and get prints made of some of the photos I've taken over the last few months.

I am grateful for...so much!  Afternoons like the one I enjoyed today in particular.

Some prayer intentions for this week:  for more work for Bret and for all who are seeking work; for me to be efficient and productive so that I may accomplish the many tasks I have before me right now without feeling anxious or overwhelmed; for peace and joy in our home; for Mr. H--a neighbor who nearly lost his eye, but who might regain some sight in it--that he do much better than what the doctors expect.

Something that makes me smile:  Bret target shooting with the little guys (just BB guns, folks, which they aren't allowed to use unless Bret is with them).  He set up a 2' wide aluminum target that is hard to miss and makes a satisfying "ping" sound when hit, and Dominic almost did a happy-dance every time he hit the target.  Adrian was much cooler about the whole thing.

As always, you are invited to take part in the Monday Musings if you so desire.  Just grab the header image to use for your own, and then if you want, you can leave a link to your post in the comments.  Have a blessed week!