Wednesday, January 31

• Lots of playing on their own today. I played catch-up: phone calls, project-prep, prep for Madeleine's "meeting", food prep, etc.
• Long breakfast - poems and bible story at table.
• Play-do w/lots of outside stuff: pinecones, sticks, leaves, nuts, etc. At kitchen table while I worked in kitchen.
• Girls played in living room while I did other stuff. Basically I ignored them for the morning.
• Lunch.
• Walked to neighbor's to play on swing set.
• Anne over. I left.
• Quick taco dinner. Madeleine and I left for Little Flower meeting. My turn to lead: candle centerpieces for "candlemas" and feast of presentation / obedience / Joan of Arc.
• Madeleine starting to get sick.

Tuesday, January 30

Dental appointments for everyone. Cancelled Erika's since she couldn't breathe out of her mouth. Went to Fred Meyer afterwards, for a few things. Home-lunch.
I was pretty much wiped out after that. But life must go on.
Quiet time-everyone horizontal, no talking. Sometimes I'm so mean.
Tea time w/ pretzels
Read lots of books on the couch while Caroline slept.
Dinner.

Monday, January 29, 2007

• Breakfast after Pete left. Read a couple picture books and talked.
• Girls at table doing "something" while I attempted to clean up kitchen. Caroline screaming or crawling around on the floor becoming black.
• Read 2 chapters of Our Lady of Banneaux. Madeleine colored the book. E spelled words on fridge. D played w/dollhouse.
• Read M,E St. Joan of Arc story for M's Little Flower project. Discussed.
• E did crayon rubbings. M did Little Flower stuff: copywork, organized book, memorized, sang. i sat next to her, watching Caroline tear up the house. D worked puzzles.
• Went through sight words with Madeleine and did a bit of Little Stories for Little Folks. E did puzzles.
• Jemma arrived for an hour (teacher in-service today). Caroline down for a nap. Did lots of OWL stuff. Drew owls from books, read picture books: Owl Moon, Owl Lake, Moon book.
• Talked about stages of the moon. Dorothy Jo did counting chips and more puzzles.
• Jemma left. We went through our new library books. Looked at L. Ingalls books. Lots of questions about her.
• E down for a nap; she's sick. Lunch
• Played in living room. I cleaned up.
• M,D did watercolors. E still sleeping.
• Quiet time.
• Watched Little House video. I did 5 decades of Rosary.
• Dinner. Lots of craziness, lunacy, I tell you.
• Random play.
• PJs. Teeth. Madeleine led everyone in decade of the 3rd Joyful mystery: nativity. For an increase in "obedience" her Little Flower virtue. They all did wonderfully. Then daddy called and everyone started crying!
• Bed. Here I am; avoiding the very messy kitchen and baskets of laundry folded last night that needs to be put away.

Thursday, January 25, 2007

• Up early. Laundry, soup, emails, b-fast.
• E, D went in our bed until 7:15 or so.
• dressed, played in living room.
• M did Little flower stuff w/me while I nursed Caroline.
• Breakfast. Music.
• I finished cooking. They played.
• Read Blackbird, Popcorn poems, Martha, Up North in Winter
• Lunch and playdate
• Girls played outside.
• Quiet time
• Read bible stories.

January 24

• Picture books on couch. Noah's Ark, Curious George, FIAR-Stopping By Woods on Snowy Evening.
• Dressed, jobs, quick breakfast.
• Everyone played in living room. I read books to D,C. D read to C.
• I made a few NFP calls which infuriated me, so I stopped.
• Art and Craft Day - Made peanut-butter-coated-pinecone-birdfeeders.
• Beautiful day, so everyone outside to play. I roamed around outside with Caroline for some fresh air, since she's not feeling well.
• Lunch outside! Sat around watching all the squirrels.
• Walked up to Amy's to play on swingset.
• Caroline down for a nap. Girls still playing outside in our yard.
• Anne over, fed Caroline. I returned several phone calls and began making travel plans for this summer/fall. I left to run errands.
• Called everyone in for dinner. (it was just like summer with them staying outside ALL AFTERNOON!) Great! We needed some lengthy time in fresh air!
• Dinner and clean up. Pete put travel crib away and hung out with them. I did lots of prep work in kitchen. Starting to worry again about C not gaining weight. Made mineral broth and some other 'nutrient-rich' baby foods for her. Prepped dinner for next 2 days and breakfasts. Along with Sunday soup. Pete did bedtime.

January 23, 2007

• Late breakfast. All slept in to try to ward off colds/coughs. Pete had a flight out at 6 am, but decided not to go.
• Quick breakfast. Girls did half-jobs, then helped w/laundry downstairs. M,E sort, I decided, Dorothy Jo stuffs it in. Erika empties the lint trap....or else!
• We all played Mass. MD did altar work. M sang tantum ergo. E in room by self.
• I worked on a present for Pete's birthday at table, while Madeleine and Dorothy cut, paste, drawing, random projects. Caroline in play yard. E still in room doing her thing. Madeleine drew pictures of things then wrote down the beginning letter of each picture. This is for Pete's bday.
• Girls outside. I cleaned up, got lunch ready. C down for a nap. Everyone is crabby.
• Lunch.
• I was exhausted from being up all night with Pete's coughing, so I fell asleep on the couch while the girls watched a bible story video. When I woke up an hour later, they were deep in a pretend game of "flying on an airplane" and "staying at Grama Charlotte's" complete with luggage that was staged to leave with Pete this AM but didn't.
• I'm in a fog, wishing it was 8 pm, but it's only 3. I "checked out" for an hour, let them play.
• Early dinner. cleanup, jammies, games w/dad, Pete watched State-Union address while I read books.
• Basically a pretty awful day. cranky kids + crabby/tired mom + Sick dad = recipe for disaster.

January 22, 2007

• Quiet book time for them in my room, upon waking, as I just wasn't ready for them yet. Needed my coffee!
• Fast breakfast, Caroline screaming. Girls did their "jobs." I helped with Caroline in backpack.
• MED - drawing/coloring and then recommenced their play from last night. I cleaned up.
• Atrium presentation again. Lots fidgeting that drove me crazy, but I held it together. Lots of discussion, as opposed to yesterday. We sang the offertory this time; they liked that. Colored page. D did altar work by self. Yet another fight over who snuffs candles first.
• I brought out my Prismacolors - girls used them. Discussed colors of the rainbow. Drew rainbows. Talked about mixing colors.
• I did Math-U-See with Madeleine and Erika. Dorothy Jo did Cuisenaire rods.
• Girls did their own building with MUS blocks. I put laundry in and cleaned up hot-spots
• Skip counting CD. Danced to '2' and '5' song.
• Little House video. I made phone calls, organized NFP stuff-potentially starting a class series next week.
• I lost it when they wouldn't clean up their "nonsense" from last night. Not one of my better moments. Decided we all needed to get outside.
• Outside for a walk. Played outside-all.
• We all looked at our new "owl books" from library. Read a few.
• Listened to owl audio tape for quiet time. I nursed C and listened too. Long talk about owls after this.
• Left Happy Birthday message / song for Grama Charlotte.
• More prismacolor drawing while I fixed dinner.
• Did FOUR puzzles with Dorothy Jo. She proud of herself; nice to see, as she often is 'down' about being 'littler' than the others.
• Crazy dinner. Caroline screaming constantly. I desired a margarita. M, E told back owl story from quiet time.
• I went to adoration chapel after dinner. Pete did PJs, and I have bedtime duty. MED are in their room playing with a Gregorian Chant CD playing. Ha! I would be an idiot to interupt THAT!
• Caroline was a crab-apple today. She's starting to cough too.