::noticing God's glory
...in the rain. Last week we were blessed with a few days of rainy weather and it seems like that is what it will be like this week as well. After 2011 being such a dry year, I am so thankful for each and every drop of rain we receive.
::listening to
Silence. Brinley is in bed and Bruce is behind the other laptop working on 'work stuff'.
::clothing myself in
...rainy weather clothes--black yoga pants and a pink tank top.
::giving thanks for
...sleep. Brinley has been doing so well the past few nights. In fact, Sunday night she spent the whole night in her bed...didn't wake up at all until after Bruce left for work around 6:30. At that time she came and slept in our room for a couple more hours. Last night, she slept fairly well. She woke up in the middle of the night to come to our room and then in the early morning hours to potty. I'm really hoping that this continues because for the past several weeks I have been getting up with her every couple of hours most nights to turn on her ladybug. After being desperate for a solid or even somewhat solid night's rests, Bruce and I told her that ladybug was going on vacation for a little bit to see if it would help her sleep better. She still has a nightlight in her room, but it is something that stays on all night...unlike the ladybug. So far, the experiment is working.
::pondering prayerfully
"If I did not simply live from one moment to another, it would be impossible for me to be patient, but I only look at the present, I forget the past, and I take good care not to forestall the future." ~St. Therese de Lisieux
::clicking around these links
::turning the pages of this book
The only 'page turning' I've been doing lately is from my iPhone. Last week I read Don't Make Me Come Up There! and this week I've been reading How To Unspoil Your Child Fast...not that I think Brinley is spoiled, but its one of those books that I've heard is good to read before you NEED to.
::thinking thoughts as I go about my daily round
Christmas thank you notes. If you have not received one yet, I promise I am almost finished and it will be on it's way to you soon!
::creating by hand
DIY Magazine Holders. I actually came across this tutorial via Pinterest so I hunted in my closet for some flat-rate mailing boxes that I knew I had been hanging onto because something could be made out of them. (Wow...the last half of that sentence reminded me so much of my grandmother. Not a bad thing at all...love you Grandma!) Anyway, Brinley and I made a trip to our local Hobby Lobby one day last week to buy a few yards of fabric and spray adhesive--which honestly, I don't think I knew they made such a thing--and this past weekend I created six magazine holders that we actually use to sort out mail into various categories like 'Catalogs', 'Bills To Pay' and so on.
::learning lessons in
trusting God.
::encouraging learning
in the pages of some of our favorite winter board books. This past week Brinley and I read The Snowy Day and did some really cute lessons that corresponded with the book that I found over at one of my favorite homeschooling blogs, Homeschool Creations.
::carefully cultivating rhythm
Overall, I feel like we're having a more organized year so far. I've been doing pretty good about creating a menu plan for each week so that I know what dinner options we have on hand and and I don't have the "oh, %$&# what's for dinner?" thought at 4:30PM. At least, not so often...
::begging prayers
...for a special couple that is dear to my heart and needing our Lord's work in their marriage.
::keeping house
This week I'm taking advantage of the rainy weather to focus on getting some deep cleaning and organization done around here.
::crafting in the kitchen
Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest? Since I joined last summer, we have tried at least a dozen new-to-us recipes. Although this really isn't much of a recipe, one of my favorite things to do for lunches during the week for Brinley is to create a Muffin Tin Meal. About a month ago, I bought a couple of really cute silicone muffin pans at Michael's like this, and once or twice a week I put her lunch in it. Usually it consists of snacky, easy-to-eat finger foods. For example, I might put tangerine slices in one compartment, blueberries in a second, Cheddar Bunnies in a third, raspberries in a fourth, slices of cheese in a fifth and baby carrots in the last. I haven't ventured too far of the path when it comes to making her Muffin Tin Meals, but there is a whole blog dedicated to them here that is full of very cute meal ideas.
::loving the moments
The three of us snugged-up on the couch watching Shrek on a lazy Sunday afternoon with bowls of freshly popped popcorn between us.
::living the liturgy
Thinking ahead to the Lenten season that is quickly approaching. I think I'll start by taking Elizabeth's advice and reading about The Pharisee and the Publican.
::planning for the week ahead
Lesson plans are completed for next week. Brinley will be working on Valentine printable that I found over at Confessions of a Homeschooler. Now Brinley and I just need to get to the grocery store within the next couple of days so that I can get my meals planned for next week.
::capturing the images of my days
As promised, here are some pictures from Christmas that I finally uploaded and {lightly} edited.
This is from our 'Christmas Morning' which we celebrated a week early due to traveling. Brinley's 'big' gift from us was an art table that she uses every. single. day. Instead of wrapping it, I wrote 'Merry Christmas Brinley' on some of the paper.
Brinley's other two presents from us were a Melissa & Doug Pizza making kit and an Alex My Giant Busy Box that you can see on the right side of the picture. Bruce and I focus on giving her only three high-quality gifts versus a dozen less expensive gifts that would either break, get lost or get forgotten about in a short amount of time. We figure if three gifts were good enough for the Christ Child than three gifts are good enough for ours. ;-)
Brinley giving her cousin Lucas kisses while PawPaw reads one of her favorite books, The Little Airplane.
I tried to get a decent picture of Brinley and her cousin together, but trying to get a picture of two three-year-old's is next to impossible. Somebody is looking away, or digging in Nana's flower bed, or pestering the dog, or looking at the ground or....well, you get the idea. I was able to get decent shots of each of the kids by cropping and rotating pictures of them from the duet shots I was trying to get. Here's Brinley's one and only time to smile AND look at the camera the entire afternoon.
...here's 'Santa'. ;-)
...and here are the two 'stinkers' together making 'silly faces'. :-D
