Mama-luia

~1~ I'm rather behind the eight ball on the first day of school blog post, seeing as though we've been at it for over a week, but oh my, what a week it was. On the night of Labour Day, my husband and I stayed up much later than we normally do getting our little homeschool nook in order. I wanted very much to have it look appealing to the boys because this is our first year formally homeschooling and I want to have them excited about it all. Anyway, we managed to create this little space: and I was quite pleased with it.  The boys each have their own IKEA-hack shelf with their daily read-alouds picked our for them, as well as a little calendar to learn more about the seasons and weather (mostly for Isaiah) and laminated prayer cards of the Morning Offering, the Act of Contrition and the Anima Christi. Oh, and the lunar cycle there for good measure. We love the moon a lot around here. Anyway, I went to bed that night thinking I'd sleep the sleep of ...

Well, my friends, we have made it to the halfway point of February, and beyond, and that is reason in itself to celebrate ! The days are already visibly longer, and we have had some near-tropical days, for here anyway, of +1! So the children and I have been enjoying some (muchmuchmuch needed) fresh air. (This was taken in January) You can probably see the little marks of the window screen through this picture.  Because I was inside taking their picture. I don't do winter. At least not a Charlotte Mason-y outdoors-every-day winter. Eeee-yuck. Love those teeny little baby feet, while getting mooned over by Isaiah Anna is already 3.5 months old. Where is time going? Of course I realize that makes her still a Very Tiny Person, but insofar as babyhood goes, time is going by quickly. I told Noah the other day about the Nourishing Traditions idea of feeding a baby egg yolk at 4 months old, which got him excited, but then I shocked myself when I realized that is onl...

Today was my first day with the children by myself. Patrick returned to work last week, my mom left yesterday, my sister-in-law just moved out this weekend. So I was the sole adult looking after them, and I think it went wonderfully. For one, I had this little darling at my side who is still in the lovely stage of sleeping lots, nursing lots (but oh-so-well) and looking adorable in headband bows. Yes, I know, I swore I never would put my daughter in one if I were to have a little girl. But I did today. And she looked so Aunt Jemima-ish and adorable that I could hardly stand it. The boys were enchanted by their sister in a headband too!  And we did a craft this morning. Using some rather pink tissue paper and school glue, the boys and I decorated mason jars for little lanterns to celebrate Martinmas. Noah took this picture of our morning craft, and I thought it was charming. This lovely appliance made its dishwashing music while I went about my day....

I gave to myself an evening of crafting while my husband read "A Christmas Carol" aloud to me (Are you swooning yet?) I'm pretty pleased with myself. I made something this evening! Well, in reality I only decoupaged something, but still, my own bare hands turned something kinda hokey looking comme ca: Just a plain old jewelry box. into something more sophisticated (at least, I think): If you look closely, you'll see that those bits of paper are actually hacked from The Complete Works of Shakespeare . Who in their right mind cuts Shakespeare to pieces, you ask? Not I, at least usually. But this particular edition of Shakespeare has been known for some time in our home as "The Vomit Shakespeare". I will spare you the details, but yes, the cover was once vomited on. I wasn't enticed to read it much after that. But it seemed so Pinterest-y chique of me to use Shakespeare for a little upcycled word-art with Mod Po...

Advent has come and gone, and here it is Christmas, beautiful, holy Christmas. But I want to pause and recall this Advent. Nothing glamorous or earth-shattering took place, but lots of learning, mostly by me by my two Tiny Teachers in the school of patience and surrender. I love them so much. Crowning Our Lord at Christ the King (not technically Advent, but getting us prepared for the upcoming season) Crayons (sans wrapper) on a warmed plate -- watch them melt and swirl A delightfully satisfying activity, even for the grown-ups!  (And surprisingly easy clean-up; just wash with warm soapy water!)       Making wreaths (How cute is he when he says 'wreath-ses' as the plural form? My little Gollum!) Sweet Noah's Nativity scene.  Our Lady in blue, St. Joseph with a beard, Baby Jesus in the manger with a crown  Snuggling little little Isaiah in the hospital;  Thank You, Merciful Father, for his q...