Treading

We are all doing well!  Busy, as always, but everyone is healthy and thriving.  We are treading  slowly and surely through this long, cold winter.  The promise of warmer, sunnier days is just around the corner, but it snowed today and yesterday ... and more times than I can count since winter began.  Every partly sunny day and anything 40 degrees and above outside is cause for celebration around here :).

I am trying to encourage the boys to tread softly around our rental home lately.  Maybe it's because we have spent more time indoors, or maybe it's because I am weary of living in rental homes for the past 4+ years, but I am tired of finding all the little (and not so little) dings and dents that 4 boys can visit upon a household.  We haven't (yet) had crayons or markers on the walls, but we have had a 2 year old that bit some pieces out of the mini blinds in his room (who does that?!?), some doors that have been flung open and dented the wall behind, various carpet messes (I love Goo Gone!), lots of handprints along walls and stairs, nicks in hardwood flooring from dropped plastic toys, and my own contributions when I accidentally scratch the vinyl floor, etc.  The list goes on!  I know it's all within the realm of normal for life with 5 kids, but it just feels like our household is hard on furniture and walls and floors and everything!  I would feel better if it were our own things that we're denting, but when it's someone else's home, I feel bad, try my best to repair what I can, and try not to be too anxious about it and about whether or not we'll see all of our security deposit again.

David is working a lot lately, and recently acquired a work laptop which lets him work from home, which is a mixed blessing.  I am glad he can be home for dinner and then work late here rather than at the office working late, though.  There may or may not be a location change in our future, so we are chugging along and waiting to hear more.

Lent starts next week and I am excited (and a little nervous!).  We are planning to go vegetarian as a family, which will be a good sacrifice.  I will have to steel myself against the stink eyes that the kids give me, and to remind them of their good manners, but it will be a good challenge for us all to eat better and to be grateful for what we have.  We hope to save a little money in our food budget (although fruits and veggies aren't cheap, either) and maybe donate it.  I am also planning to encourage the kids to live the Beatitudes during Lent, so I need to come up with a good way to highlight them (maybe focus on 1-2 per week?).  I am also planning to do a couple of hobby type projects during Lent that will be good for me and my work-life balance, and might just yield some nice end products.  I am also planning to simplify our belongings, and I think I will start with my maternity clothes and baby boy clothes.  We may be blessed with more children in the future, but until/if that ever happens, I can share whatever maternity clothes I have that are still in good shape, and whatever baby clothes have survived 4 boys! 

Claire

Post Christmas

I feel a little behind writing this post now, since Christmas was almost a month ago (!), but today I was driving around and I still saw lots of Christmas decorations up, so I don't feel quite so bad!

We had a lovely Christmas season.  We were able to spend time with my mom and dad for nearly 2 weeks, and that was a treat.  David was off of work for about 1.5 weeks, and that was wonderful.  We went snowtubing, which everyone loved except for Davy.  I think next year, if we go again, he will be thrilled with it, but this time he was too nervous to even attempt going down the kiddie hill.  The big boys (including David and Poppi) went on a LaserTag adventure, and that was a big hit.  We really tried to keep Christmas simple this year, with less focus on "stuff", and the kids did better with it than I expected.  It was more relaxing and fun for David and I, too.

Now we're looking ahead to 2014 and what this year might bring.  We may see some interesting job opportunities for David, and although we hope to move westward eventually, we understand that it might not happen just yet.  We're trying hard to be patient and enjoy the time we have, wherever we are.

This is a hard lesson, especially for me, because I find it hard to sit still and just wait.  I am rarely content with things as they are -- I'm always looking to improve or tweak or adjust things so they are better.  But so many things are out of my control, and while I understand that rationally, it is a hard
(but necessary) truth for me to internalize.  I hope to practice a sense of gratitude for whatever comes our way in 2014.

Let's Compare, Shall We?

All the kids at about 3 months old:

Snow Days

Davy, with a post-Mass celebratory doughnut for good behavior.

The boys had yesterday and today off of school due to a winter storm that brought ice and a few inches of snow.  It was perfect snowball and snowman snow today!

Davy plants a snowball on Thomas's head.

Post Thanksgiving Roundup

Bow-hawk, take 1

Bow-hawk, take 2

First Annual Campbell Turkey Bowl

Spinning!

Surprise!  (Peter created this look by whooshing a blanket near her.  She actually liked it!)

"Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses...."

And, I'm just realizing this post is devoid of any Davy pictures!  I'll try to post some soon.  He was too little to play in the football game with the big boys.  I wish I could adequately capture his character and "two-ness" on camera.  Maybe I'll try to sneak a video of him.  It is so fun to talk to him and to ask him questions and see what he comes up with.  He is a great mimic, and loves to sing songs that the boys are singing (which can be really cute or really gross, depending!).  I need to teach him some good Christmas carols soon!

Fall