Monday Musings--Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 2011

Right now...it is about 6:30, and getting light.  Bret is with me, having coffee, as he prepares to meet--finally!--with our Mennonite crew to finish the framing of the new house today.  I am hoping to go out there when they put up the roof so that I can take some photos!  Gemma is yelling right now, Una is doing her algebra on the computer in the office, and I can see that the light is on in Sebastian and Gabriel's room.

This weekend was...a blur.  Not that it was more busy than usual, but I am sooo sleep-deprived.  Gemma has got to be our worst sleeper ever, waking almost hourly with shouts and yells.  When she goes back to sleep, I frequently do not.

I wish I could recall what I did on Friday, but I can't.  On Saturday I made butter and did laundry, painted for a little while, made up a batch of cookie dough for the freezer, and tried to get some gift-knitting done.  Bret took the little boys with him for haircuts (our clippers need replacing, and the little boys' hair had grown to where it was more than I could handle).  I set up a makeshift easel for Gemma with a big cardboard box and let her paint with some tempera paints.  And I bathed kids in the evening.

Yesterday we went to Mass at the Chapel of Divine Mercy, and I went to confession.  It was a wonderful Mass, and Fr. David Wilton gave a lovely homily on Christian joy.  You know how sometimes you go to confession, and then the next homily you hear seems like it is aimed at you?  It was one of those...

After Mass we made a stop for groceries, came home, got comfortable, and the kids watched a borrowed video while I made dinner.  In the evening we celebrated Advent with the usual sweets and candles and music, and then watched William Powell and Myrna Loy as Nick and Nora Charles in The Thin Man.  We really love old movies here.  I finished knitting some Christmas gifts as I watched...

Some plans for this week:  I had better make a list, because I am otherwise destined for confusion and scattered energies!  School will be limited to math, history and Christmas crafting this week!  I have at least 6 or 7 batches of cookie dough to make up in preparation for the mad, last-week-before-Christmas cookie baking madness; I haven't yet mailed a single Christmas card; I have to sew up doll bedding for Gemma's Christmas gift; I have to felt and sew the soles on a couple of pairs of Christmas slippers;  I have another hopefully quick gift to knit and another to sew; and then, of course, there is the regular house-cleaning, laundry, butter-making and so forth that must be kept up with.

I am grateful for...clear weather for building; a new well pump; paid work for Bret this week; a good confession; a decent night's sleep last night; the fact that my friend's house didn't burn down last week...

Some prayer intentions for this week:  that I can get things done!!!  That I can preserve peace and joy in my home while trying to get things done; for the repose of the soul of a friend of my mom's in Germany; for my parents health; for things to progress well and everyone to be safe on the job as they complete the framing of the new house.

Something that makes me smile:  When Gemma woke up last night, I didn't hear it at first and Dominic came to get me.  I tried to settle her back to sleep, but she kept crying, "I sleep Mama's room!"  As I gathered her and her covers, I said, "I hope you will sleep soundly--I don't know what I'll do if you don't keep quiet in my room!" and Dominic said, from his bed, "If she keeps you awake you can bring her to me and I'll take care of her."

And also:  our Sunday evenings during Advent: