Daybook: End of May

I can't believe it has been so long since I have written a post. I guess time flies when you are having fun. Here is a daybook post that I wrote up on Sunday, but didn't get posted until now. Enjoy!

Outside My Window: ...it has been a gorgeous late-spring day full of warm sunshine, gentle breezes and an occasional rain shower.

I Am Listening To: ...whatever Bruce has left on the television now that he's retired for the night and I'm up blogging, as well as, the rumbling sound of thunder in the distance.

I Am Wearing: ...a pink, short-sleeved nightgown. Actually, it is the same pink nightgown that I wore in the hospital after having Brinley. As ugly as it is--remember, I had to find something with convenient openings for breastfeeding--I don't think I'll ever be getting rid of this nightgown. After all, Brinley and I took some of our first pictures together in this pink nightgown.

Brand-new Brinley and the infamous ugly (but comfy!) pink nightgown.

I Am Thankful For: ...kisses from the sweetest little girl in the world.

I Am Pondering:... what a friend wrote about accepting and having peace about areas of our lives that are under construction. So many times we have the final goal in mind and become quickly disappointed when that picture-perfect goal doesn't happen soon enough for us. Its okay to have a blue-print or a prototype of something. Like my friend said, "You don't start out with the perfect pair of shoes. Often, they have to be lived in and allowed to mold to your own feet. Only then do they become your comfy, go-to pair of shoes."

I Am Reading: ...The Discipline Book by the Sears, Womanly Dominion by Mark Chanski and Don't Let Me Count To Three by Ginger Plowman. Maybe I'll be able to get at least one of these books finished this week...maybe?

To Be Fit And Happy: Brinley and I have taken a couple of walks around the neighborhood this past week. I also recently set up her pool that has a small slide as well as a sprinkler whichshe had a blast in. We've spent a little time over the past couple of weeks doing yard work as well as time just kicking the soccer ball back and forth.

From The Kitchen: Gluten-Free Chocolate Brownies

I Am Thinking: ... that it should be impossible for an individual to have a headache for more than 24 hours straight. Actually, it would be nice if headaches didn't exist at all.

I Am Creating: ... a less cluttered home--which amazingly enough seems to help create a less cluttered mind and a less cluttered heart. :-D

On My iPod: Breathing: the Master Key to Self Healing by Dr. Andrew Weil. (For those of you that are unfamiliar with Dr. Weil, he is a very renowned expert on natural health and wellness.) Although I began doing breathing exercises several months ago (and they do help tremendously!), this audiobook has wonderful reviews and I'm ready to add a little something different to my current repertoire. I figure if a $10 audiobook helps me to feel more relaxed and focused, sleep better, and feel less fatigued then it will be well worth the money.

Towards A Real Education: Starting to look into lesson planning for this fall.

Towards Rhythm and Beauty: I love this time of the year. Its warm enough to find many ways to have a good time outside, yet its not hot enough that it feels as though your body is actually cooking. The nights are still cool and very comfortable. The flowers are blooming, birds are singing and squirrels are....well, they're being squirrels.

To Live The Liturgy: As the end of May is upon us, so is the celebration of the Queenship of our Blessed Mother.

I Am Hoping And Praying: ...for those that are directly being affected by this terrible oil spill disaster in the Gulf right now.

In The Garden: Last weekend, we all worked out in the yard. Bruce mowed the lawn and Brinley and I trimmed up the flower beds.

Around The House: Brinley's nursery is coming back together. Her crib was recalled a few weeks ago because the mattress support had been known to bend or break which could have caused the mattress to collapse and a little one to become trapped. We immediately broke her crib down and she slept in her playyard until we were able to get a new crib. Since Babies 'R Us fully refunded us for the recalled crib, we ordered a new crib and matching a dresser/changer combo since the dresser we had been using was a hand-me-down from Mom and Dad. We set up her new crib immediately, but we've been so busy the past several days that we didn't get the dressers changed out until last weekend. I had no idea that was going to be an all day ordeal either. By the time I moved the old dresser out of her room, vacuumed the carpet and baseboards, had Bruce help me carry the new dresser in, unpack the new dresser, put together the railing for it, moved everything from Brinley's old dresser to her new one and cleaned crayon off the wall I was exhausted.

On Keeping Home: Did I just mention I had to clean crayon off the wall? I'm sure y'all have a pretty good idea of who put it there in the first place, but I'll fill in the details for you. While Brinley was 'helping' move all her belongings from her old dresser to her new dresser she apparently decided that the wall that her dresser had been on was too plain and needed some decorating. The sad part is, I was in the room when all this took place. While I was putting things into her new dresser--obviously my back is turned while I'm digging in drawers--I hear a noise on the wall, but my first thought was that Brinley was just running her hand across the wall. Then, when I heard her say "OVAL" something clicked, and yes folks, she had drawn an oval...and much more. She and I had a little discussion about how crayons are ONLY for paper--not for walls--and then I asked her to help Mommy clean the mess she had made. Thankfully, I live in the 21st century where there is this awesome invention called a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Most of y'all know that I try to stay away from mainstream cleaners because of their toxicity and the effects that they have on us humans and our environment. However, every blue moon, I pull out my trusty Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and quickly 'erase' what Brinley would call a 'whoops'.

One Of My Favorite Things: ...cool evenings that just beg for me to keep the window by my bed cracked so the fresh breeze can mingle with a lavender sachet that I have sitting on the window sill. My bedroom smells absolutely heavenly.

Brinley Anne This Week: ...has been a load of fun. The girl is always on the go. Bruce and I think that is how the girl stays so thin, yet can eat so much--she rarely slows down!

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: In all honesty, with this headache that I've had the past two days, I haven't even thought of any plans for this week muchless made any.

A Picture I'm Sharing:

If you look closely above the electrical and cable outlets you may be able to see hint of orange crayon that my little artist decided to decorate her wall with.

...and this is the kind of help I get when I ask her to clean the wall with me. Silly girl!

Brinley-isms

"nellephent" ~translates to~ elephent

"cancakes" ~translates to~ pancakes

"yam" ~translates to~ lamb

"kiki" ~translates to~ cookie

"sapes" ~translates to~ shapes

"nanee" ~translates to~ banana

"hep" ~translates to~ help

"tat" ~translates to~ cat

"jamas" ~translates to~ pajamas

"yewwo" ~translates to~ yellow

"teek a boo" ~translates to~ peek-a-boo

"buh-buh-ooo" ~translates to~ double-u (W)

"jaff" ~translates to~ giraffe

"in-ments" ~translates to~ instruments

Daybook: First Weekend of May

Outside My Window: ...is a dreary Sunday evening.

I Am Listening To: ...Bruce snoring on the couch and Brinley putting together her 'Shapes' puzzle in the floor.

I Am Wearing: ...a white cami and blue and white toile-printed pajama pants.

I Am Thankful For: ...God's gifts--most especially the peace, comfort, strength and motivation that he has so mercifully been providing to me.

I Am Pondering: "Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself." ~St Francis de Sales

I Am Reading: ...The Discipline Book by the Sears, Womanly Dominion by by Mark Chanski and Don't Let Me Count To Three by Ginger Plowman. Although I am still working on those, does it count that I did complete the new Beverly Lewis series that I started last week? Over the past few days, I've read through both The Missing and The Telling.

To Be Fit And Happy: This past week has been full of dreariness. We may have had one sunny day in the mix, but to be honest with you I couldn't tell you which one it was. Otherwise, its been dark, humid, cloudy and windy which in turn has not made for a very active week outside of the house. After the rain gets out of the picture early part of this next week, its supposed to be much prettier and we will definately be spending more time in the good ol' outdoors.

From The Kitchen: Friday evening, I surprised Bruce with Chicken Fried Steak, Steamed Rice, Homemade Brown Gravy and sauteed Green Beans. I try not to cook a lot of fried foods and gear our menu towards baked, stewed or sauteed meats so this was a real treat for us.

I Am Thinking: ... about the coming week.

I Am Creating: ... more peace and tranquility for our home, my family and myself. God has been so good at providing different means for me to accomodate this, whether it be from other's ideas or suggestions, books I'm reading, blogs I keep up with, etc. It is so amazing how God provides just what you need, when you need it.

On My iPod: Again, nothing new this week. However, I am still loving my KSBJ app. Brinley and I listen to it at some point everyday.

Towards A Real Education: On a Catholic mom's forum that I am a part of, we have started discussing different homeschooling programs that are available-- Catholic Heritage Curricula, Kolbe Academy, Seton Home, etc. Meeting moms that have 20+ years experience with homeschooling has definately been a blessing since we are just beginning our journey.

Towards Rhythm and Beauty: Another sign of spring has made its way upon us--power outages. Since living in Mississippi and now Alabama, I've learned that power outages are especially common in the spring with the high winds and rainy weather. Nothing like being without electricity when its a good 85 degrees with 95% humidity...

To Live The Liturgy: I've been trying to think of ways over the past few days of how I can incorporate more prayer, more quiet, more meditation and more peace into my life whether that be through a daily Rosary, daily scripture reading, or maybe from Elizabeth and Danielle's new book that just came out. As much as I would like to do all three, I'm just not sure how feasible that would be right now where I am in my life. Praying for some discernment in this area.

I Am Hoping And Praying: ...for those that are directly being affected by this terrible oil spill disaster in the Gulf right now.

In The Garden: One blessing that this regular rain has given us is the lack of a need to water the lawn and flower beds.

Around The House: Bruce, Brinley and I went to a few furniture stores on Saturday to get some ideas on what styles of living room furniture that we favor. Since most every piece of furniture in our living room now is a hand-me-down from our college days, we are REALLY looking foward to having pieces that reflect our style and taste AND actually coordinate with each other. :-D We did find a collection that we really liked, but unfortunately after we spent some time looking at the measurements of the room and the deminsions of furniture, the pieces are just too oversized for our living room. Back to the drawing board we go...

On Keeping Home: I've still been bagging up things to be taken to Goodwill...and thinking about what ways I'll be able to rearrange things with all this new found space I'll have. :-D We also need to decide what cabinetry we're going to order for the garage so that I can start organizing a few more nooks and crannies in this house.

One Of My Favorite Things:... Ben & Jerry's Americone Dream. As the official description states, it is "vanilla ice cream with fudge-covered waffle cone pieces and a caramel swirl." Yum!

Brinley Anne This Week: ...has not been sleeping well. Almost every night over the past week she has woken up at least once, if not more. As soon as Bruce or I go in there to tell her its time to night-night, that we love her and we'll see her in the morning, she limmediately ays back down and goes to sleep. Not sure if its reflux, bad dreams, or what, but we're hoping that whatever it is will go away and she'll go back to her sleeping through the night routine.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week: I am hoping once the dreary weather clears out of the area, Brinley and I can spend some time at one of the local parks a day or two this week. I know we need to take advantage of the mild weather before the temperatures soar and it will be too hot to do anything!

A Picture I'm Sharing:

More of my lovely azaelas--a sight I definately missed during the winter months.