Pray for Kelly

Please keep Kelly in your prayers. She is delivering her 6th child sometime today (or tomorrow). She was induced early this morning at 34 weeks because of high blood pressure.

She has VERY difficult and dangerous pregnancies but has remained open to life in an amazing way. She is a faithful Catholic homeschooling mom who suffered brain damage (and almost died) during the birth of her 5th due to high blood pressure. (and had scary pregnancies 2 - 4 as well)

Please pray for her and her sweet Gemma who should be born sometime today. thanks!!

ETA: Gemma was born via emergency c-section this evening and is doing well. Please keep them in your prayers as Kelly recovers.

stress

I've been overwhelmed lately. Things need to change in my life, but I'm struggling with figuring out how to make the necessary changes.

Over at Prevention, I wrote a post about dealing with stress. All of the things I mention are things that lower my stress level . . . but I'm still struggling. Mainly because I'm not doing those things!

My oldest said to me the other day "Mom, I don't know the last time I heard you laugh!?" I know that's not the type of mom (or person) I want to be.

Time to log off the computer and put into practice my own advice!

coloring sheet

I printed out some coloring sheets to go along with our mammals unit. We're learning about unusual mammals - like the platypus that lays eggs. I found a coloring page of a platypus but it wasn't anything more than a shape, so I printed out another one that was cartoon-y. N just came up to me and said "Um, Mom, why did you give me a character platypus? I want a picture of a realistic one!"

I printed out the boring (to me) picture and he was pleased.

Do You Like Pizza?

My husband could eat pizza multiple times in a week, and I think my boys would happily join him! I enjoy a good pizza as well, and my favorites are the ones my husband makes for us at home. He often grills them outside to keep the heat outside, and we top them with all kinds of yummy ingredients.

Check out my post over at Prevention to read more about it!

Some of What I'm Reading

I've been busy at the library the last couple weeks! Here are a few of the books I'm currently reading. I stash books all over the house, in my purse and in the car so that wherever I find myself with a free moment I can read. Now that L nurses less frequently, I don't have as much opportunity to read.

Help for the Harried Homeschooler: A Practical Guide to Balancing Your Child's Education with the Rest of Your Life by Christine Field. I've picked up a few good tips from this book, and I'm sure I'll pick up a few more. The book is easy to skim and read bits and pieces from.

Raising Puppies and Kids Together: A Guide for Parents by Pia Silvani and Lynn Eckhart. I actually got a number of puppy books from the library, but this one has been most useful for me. I've raised a puppy before, and actually remember quite a bit more than I thought I might. I didn't have any kids the last time I raised a puppy, however! This book has lots of great tips for raising puppies alongside children and wonderful ideas of how to get them to play together well. I highly recommend this to any family adding a puppy to their family with children.

Renegade Writer: A Totally Unconventional Guide to Freelance Writing Success by Linda Formichelli and Diana Burrell. I'm trying to gather information from many sources about pursuing a freelance writing career. I am also trying to balance learning about the process with actually DOING it. This is a good book, and I wish the library had their query book . . . but maybe I should plan a bookstore visit in the next week or so.

Redwall by Brian Jacques. I'm reading this book aloud to the boys as our evening read. I had heard good things about it for a couple years now, but was sick of reading about mice after the Ralph Mouse series and Tale of Desperaux. The boys are really enjoying this book. I think there's a lot of violence in it, but the lines of good and evil are pretty well drawn. The hero and his companions are likable, while the villains are definitely not. There are plenty of moral lessons woven throughout. I'm glad I didn't read it a couple of years ago when I first heard of it, because I don't think the boys would have been ready. As it is now, I still question some chapters and am glad I can edit while reading aloud. While I know the boys will want me to start the 2nd book in the series, we're going to read The Borrowers next.

Everything is non-fiction at the moment, except for the read aloud for the boys. I usually have one or two novels in the mix, but I guess nothing caught my eye recently. Well, that and L believes that all the books in the library are there for her to unshelve. That makes it hard to browse!

What are you reading right now? Any recommendations to give me? Any good novels in your pile?

Ad Perk

Have you visited Ad Perk? I first came across the site because they were giving out free subscriptions to Parents if you watched a few ads for J&J products. My subscription hasn't started yet, but I received an email to watch some ads for Sears for a $5 gift card a few weeks after I earned my magazine subscription.

The gift card came today, so I know they're a legit site. They're giving away subscriptions to Ode and Field & Stream at the moment -- but more magazines are shown as "coming soon!" Although, what do I know? Maybe your hubby would LOVE a Field & Stream subscription for Christmas this year?

It really didn't take long to watch all the video ads (maybe 15 minutes?) and I was very interested in the Sears appliance ads, actually. It made me want to remodel our kitchen pronto!

If you're like me and don't like to pay for magazine subscriptions (but LOVE to read magazines), this is a great site to sign up with.

St. Bartholomew's Feast Day

Yesterday was St. Bartholomew's Feast Day, and also N's baptismal day. We always celebrate the kids' baptismal days with a small celebration. The big highlight for them is that they are allowed to choose a cake to have with dinner.

N was very excited to choose his cake, and spent quite a bit of time agonizing over his choices at the store bakery. He was insistent that the cake be kept a surprise, and that nobody except him & me could see it before dinner. He finally chose a 1/2 sheet carrot cake. I had the bakers write "St. Bartholomew's Day" on the top of the cake.

My parents and sister joined us for dinner last night, and when I put out the cake, I asked N -- "So, why did you get to choose this cake today?" And he answered "Because it's my baptismal day! This is the day I first became Catholic." And then I asked "So, why did we have 'St. Bartholomew's Day' written on it?" And he answered just as clear as day "Because I was baptized on his feast day. AND because Bartholomew is the other name for N!"

I was so proud of him for remembering all that and stating it clearly at the dinner table. The rest of my family doesn't practice their faith and it was a joy to see my son be a witness to our faith.

When I was pregnant with N, my mom suggested many names -- few of which DH & I considered. One of the names she did suggest, however, was Bartholomew, so I like to tell her that she had a hand in naming N. He actually wasn't named until after he was born -- we had 3 or 4 different names we were considering and it wasn't until we met him that we knew what his name was. This was unlike C or L, who were named well before birth.

(I don't write out my children's names to avoid google searches on their specific names together. But, if you know who Philip hung around with in John's gospel, then you know N's name!)

invisible pool sharks

We play a silly game with the kids in the pool. We'll go by and pinch them (lightly) and then feign ignorance and say "Hmmm, must be the invisible pool sharks!" It's very silly, but it always cracks them up. They like to turn it around on us as well.

Tonight, the kids and I were in the pool. C swam by me underwater and gave me a little pinch. He surfaced a few feet away and said "Mom! I felt a nibble. I think the pool sharks are at it again! Did you get bit?"

It was so funny that he thought it through and carried the joke that far. It couldn't possibly be him since he also was bit! I just love watching their senses of humor develop.

Review: Green Works Dishwashing Soap

There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not washing dishes by hand. While I've been trying to teach the boys to handle this chore, it still falls to me most days.

When Mom Central asked if I'd be willing to try out Clorox's new Green Works Dish Washing Soap, I jumped at the chance. A few months ago I reviewed some of their other cleaning products and was happy with the results. We still use them regularly because I like the fact that they are all-natural and non-toxic.

The dish washing soap is similar to the other products, in that it is all-natural and non-toxic. I like the fact that all these cleaners are made using plant-based ingredients derived from coconuts, as well as essential oils. In addition, all of the products are made from biodegradable ingredients, are packaged in bottles that can be recycled and not tested on animals.

The soap worked just fine! It suds up nicely, but the bubbles don't seem to last as long as other dish soaps. It cut through the grease when we had spaghetti and meatballs the other night, and left my dishes clean and sparkly.

The sample bottle I received was the original scent, which is relatively neutral. There are other scents available: Water Lily, Tangerine, Free & Clear and Simply Lemon. I'd like to try some of the other scents because I like fruity dish soaps. (I don't know why?! But a nice scent makes washing dishes somehow easier.)

I'll continue to use this soap, and buy more when we run out. I feel much better rinsing natural ingredients down the drain, instead of chemicals!

Thanks to Mom Central and Clorox for letting me try this new dish washing soap!

feet

I realized just the other day that my boys have big boy feet now. They're no longer the chubby baby feet that they had for so long. I'm not sure exactly when it happened, but tonight I was looking for a picture and came across this one of N. He still had baby feet 2 years ago . . . but today they are definitely longer, slimmer and not nearly as kissable as when they were tiny.

At least L's feet are still chubsters!