Mama-luia

Hi Kelly ! 1. The weather is very insane here lately. Warm, sandal weather one day... and Thursday night, a massive snowstorm and a power outage. This resulted in another snow day at my boys' school. If you're keeping track, that would be #11. Over two whole weeks of class-time gone, due to inclement weather. And it's April now. However, the forecast for Monday is 19 degrees celsius. I still have snowsuits in my entrance-way, but now I also need to go find their shorts in storage this weekend. 2. While I'm griping about the weather, I can't help at laugh about this incident: You know how one of the first signs of spring is the first sighting of a robin? Well, this year, the first robin we spied was outside our church, dead, and tipped over in a snowbank. (No, not that dead robin.) The kids were upset to think it had either frozen or starved to death, having appeared too early under the false hope that spring had already sprung. What an omen. ...

1. We had such a fun Halloween this week! The kids were bouncing off the walls by 3:10, wanting to head out trick or treating then. They each wanted to be the specific costumes you see here photographed, and I was happy to oblige. Meanwhile, we had the added bonus of my parents being here the previous week to help out (my Dad made the Mary Poppins hat out of an empty flat of Perrier; I just painted it and added the Dollar Store flowers.) So, without further ado, I give you: An adorable baby bear Mary Poppins (You should hear this girl sing "Feed the Birds, Tuppence a Bag."  She has a beautiful singing voice.) Thorin Oakenshield He was perturbed when I googled Thorin costumes that each example looked like the movie version. He was quite adamant: Thorin had a red beard, wore a sky-blue cloak and had a golden helmet.  So this is our Tolkien/Jemima Catlin tribute to Thorin. Kraft Dinner I loved this costume idea! And it...

~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 ...

People ! It is my final day as twenty-something (and by -something, I mean, -nine. As in, it's my final day being twenty-nine). Clearly this needs to be documented for posterity's sake. Here are 7 Quick Takes in honour of my roarin' twenties. - 1 - I met this guy just one month short of my twentieth birthday.  Here we are when we were young and unmarried, looking way less tired. In case you were wondering, it was not love at first sight.  Not even close. He approached me at an event that was being run by CCO . He knew a surprising amount of information about me, considering we had never met, so I was put off by his eagerness. I considered it to be a hidden agenda. It was, I guess. He kinda fancied me from the get-go. But I was busy discerning a religious vocation. Ahem. Naturally, I came around (see subsequent takes). - 2 - After a winding road of studies, (I attended three different institutions, although my heart's alma ...

Here is a 7 Quick Takes from the World o'Craine. Unfortunately this will be photo-free because Patrick has the GOOD laptop writing a massive term paper, the one where our photos are stored. I'm stuck on the one that Isaiah discovered... and promptly removed 5 keys. Including the Enter key. But my lack of blogging is disappointing me. NOT because I think I owe my readers posts, but because I like keeping these wee records of our life. I would prefer to write something eloquent, or have super jaw-dropping photos of my beautiful kids, but neither is going to happen tonight.  Given that "a thing worth doing is a thing worth doing badly", here goes: 1. I finished my Christmas shopping! BEFORE ADVENT BEGAN! This is an unheard of accomplishment in my life, even pre-motherhood. But I am so relieved. It's worth explaining that I primarily bought everything online, made spreadsheets that checked off people as I bought for them, and pared down who I shop for. I r...

This post will most likely be all over the lot, as I am writing at 3:30 in the morning. Oldest Boy has already gotten up twice asking for water and Baby was awake once already. This is typical for the latter, very atypical for the former. Anyway I am tired. I expect I will be running on only one cylinder today. So I apologize for sounding out of it; I am. Seven Quick Takes 1. I just had a most wonderful few days with my dear friend. We haven't seen each other since last summer and even then, that was only for about one hour. She played with my kids, did the dishes (!) and joined us at beach trips. I selfishly admit that my favourite part of her visit was when we went out after the kids were in bed for martinis. 2. I regret having not done more fun things with said friend. I wanted to keep up our routine around the house of snacktimes, mealtimes, naptimes and so on, but let's face it, my kids nap abysmally (ABYSSSSMALLY) so we could have easily gone into the city to do tou...

Okay, so officially speaking, 7 Quick Takes is a Friday affair. It's Saturday morning, but this was the first time I had the concentration to write anything. So here goes nothing! 1. When I was in grade 3, my teacher, for some strange reason, went around the classroom and told each student whether she thought we would make it to university or not. Really. I was slated against such a success, and was devastated, even at that age, by such an assessment. My mother and I have periodically joked that I should send a photocopy of my degree certificate to this teacher, to show her, not only did I make it there, I graduated... with Honours. I had the satisfaction of running into her yesterday, and because all women are magnetically attracted to my baby, she came to admire him, realized who I was, and was excited to see a former student's child. I causally told her about having gone to university et cetera, et cetera. It felt so good to finally set the record straight -- that I...

1. We're really beginning to make this place feel like home now! I am so excited that Patrick has been putting up our art (as I don't trust myself with a hammer). Meanwhile I sit in a half-lotus on the glider, and frequently interject with "Noo, not there. THERE!" (The reason I am confined to the glider is due to nursing, not laziness, FYI.) 2. On the subject of homemaking, I attacked our library with a vengeance today, sorting Theology into Scripture, Magisterial documents, saint lives, dogmatics and spiritual theology. Then onto philosophy, history, and literature (with equally obsessive sub-categories). My big concern, though, is where to put the "popularizers"? You know, Christopher West , John Eldredge , Rick Warren (cough) , and the like? I hate putting them into Theology with the likes of Garigou-Lagrange, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Teresa of Avila, among others. My compromise? A "Christian Living" section. Sidebar: while visiting w...

Seven Quick Takes Friday! The internet connection here at my lovely parents' house is finnicky at best, so rather than attempt to download the logo from Conversion Diary, I'm plunging into the blog carnival as is. With a fussy baby in my lap as I type, this is the best I will be able to do for an entry. Enjoy. 1. This is our moving-in weekend! We signed a lease for a 3-bedroom apartment and got our keys today. My darling husband is currently assembling furniture at our place across the bridge with his dad while I eat Nibs, type and nurse the baby back at the parents' homestead. 2. The apartment is two levels! This should probably apply to Quick Take #1 but it is so fab, I am putting it on it's own line. 3. My dear sister and her family arrive in less than a week to our blessed, foggy province. I am nearly standing outside of myself with glee! I envision strollercising with her, chasing around my hilarious, delightful godchild and watching my mother light up wi...