Grade School Valentine's Day Memories

I'm reminiscing about Valentine's Day in grade school.  So many memories!

I went to St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic grade school, and every year, we had a homeroom Valentine party hosted by the sweet "room moms" that volunteered to bring treats and organize games.  Aside from the parties, I have some distinct memories.

In first grade, I was in Mrs. Walsh's homeroom.  Around Valentine's Day, my seat happened to be right in front of my mega crush, Matt.  My last name and Matt's were right next to each other in alphabetical order, so we were often paired together.  He was so sweet, smart, and funny, and I thought he was the cutest.  In addition to whatever valentines I had made with my mom for all of my classmates, I had created a special construction paper heart valentine for Matt.  As everyone was handing out their valentines, I mustered up my courage to deliver Matt my special pink creation.  He was talking to his guy friends, so I was a little nervous, but I bravely interrupted their conversation, and I handed him my valentine.  "Matt, will you be my valentine?"  It took him all but two seconds to give me an embarrassed laugh and said, "Uh, no!"  He just wasn't that into me.  Bummer.  My little first grade heart was broken, and I remember telling his big sister all about my heartbreak after school while we waited for our rides.  I told that story to Matt's wife at a bachelorette party, but I can't remember if I ever told him.  If you're reading this, Matt (and I doubt you are), you were such a heartbreaker back in first grade!  I clearly still have issues from it.  Ha!

In second grade, Mrs. Ryktarsyk's homeroom (yeah, I had to spell that name as a second grader) had a Valentine box decorating contest.  Some of the creations were huge and so impressive!  I wish I had pictures of them.

In fifth grade, I decided to create a little mischievous entertainment.  I thought it would be a good idea to stick a "Be Mine" conversation heart in my classmate Nick's uniform sweater pocket.  He had it hanging on the back of his chair, and I put it in the pocket when he wasn't looking.  I had completely forgotten about it until later that afternoon when he put his hand in his pocket, pulled out the heart, read it, and it became the hot topic in 5B for the rest of the school day.  Who could have put a "Be Mine" candy heart into Nick's pocket?  I was so thrilled with myself for creating the mystery and intrigue!  I probably had a crush on him at the time because I was beyond boy crazy.

At home, Mom and Dad put out a card and a present for each child at our seats at the kitchen table.  It was always so exciting to wake up to those special treats!  In 7th grade, our dog, Trev (named after Nebraska Cornhusker #34 Trev Alberts), got into the special treats overnight.  At that point, only 3 of the 6 kids were living at home.  Trev had jumped up onto the kitchen table, unwrapped the red cellophane wrap on all THREE of the Russell Stover boxes of chocolates, and ate every single one.  He politely left all of the wrappers behind.  The 12-pound Bichón Frisé was lucky he didn't die from it, but we had to have the carpets professionally cleaned.  My mom likes to tell the story of how my dad woke her up that morning when he was leaving for work.  "Honey, Happy Valentine's Day.  THE DAMN DOG ate all of the kids' chocolate and puked all over the house!  Gotta run.  I love you."    

What about you?  What memories do you have from your childhood Valentine's Days?  

Small Success Thursday #7

Writing this as quickly as I can and going to bed, so this is going to be the lamest Small Success Thursday post ever:

• Jane turned 4, and I think she'd say that she had a great day.  More on our fun day another time!

• I survived another week of subcontractors and household disasters in preparation for listing the house.  Yes, there are two streams of water coming out of that faucet.

• I got the kids' Valentine presents weeks ago, and I actually remembered to set them out.  Books, a puzzle, stickers, and spinning tops.  Harry didn't get a card because he's 6 months old.  Does that make me a bad mom?

• Philip got to have a man date tonight with a buddy, and he said he had a great time.  Yay for Philip taking time for himself!
• This guy loves green beans, but he mostly loves wearing them.  This was his first food other than rice cereal.  Let the love affair with food begin!

Your turn!  What are your small successes from the week?  Come over to CatholicMom to join the fun and share!  If you're using social media, use the hashtag #SmallSuccess.  Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy 4th Birthday, Jane Louise!

Dear Janie Boo,

You're four years old!  FOUR!  Can you believe it?!  Daddy and I can't.

4 years ago, we were watching the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver from our hospital room with you

and now you're a big preschooler!

Preschool Christmas sing-along

Now, we get to watch the Olympics with you and your 2 little brothers!  

I love so many things about you.  

You are so friendly and outgoing, and you want to make friends wherever we go--the neighborhood park, grocery store, library, and most recently, with all of the subcontractors doing work on the house before we move.  

You are very sensitive to other people's feelings, and you are always the first to offer a hug, a tissue, or wipe away tears.  A few months ago, Walt hurt himself, and he was very upset.  You grabbed a tissue and dabbed his tears.  "Here, buddy.  It's okay.  Blow."  

You are quite the little mother to Baby Harry, too.  You love to tell me what you think he needs--a bottle, a diaper, a toy, some snuggling, and you're always the first volunteer to do it all.  Sometimes, I wonder how your big heart fits into your tiny body! 

Helping Harry eat some rice cereal

You always want to know what's happening and what we are doing next.  Like your mama, you like knowing the plan, and you agree that the anticipation of an event is half the fun.  

You love little surprises like picnics in the family room, donuts on Daddy's post-call mornings, or unexpected visits to your favorite places.  More than that, you like doing the surprising.  When you hear Daddy come home, you get such a kick out of hiding and either waiting for him to find you or jumping out when you think he least expects it. 

On the days when you take only a catnap, I love our new tradition of "quiet reading time."  You snuggle up right next to me on the couch, and we read our stories next to each other.  

You and Monty are inseparable buddies these days, and I love how much you two love each other.  On the days when you go to preschool or take your nap, your reunions afterward are so precious.  I am so proud of you for teaching anxious Monty how to be a happy dog in our home.  

If you could have it your way, our life would be a musical.  Well, I suppose yours already is because you sing all day about anything and everything!  You pluck away on the piano keys, making up your own songs.  I hear you singing in the bathroom, while you're getting dressed, when you greet Harry in the morning with a lullaby, or when you're dancing around in one of your princess costumes or tutus.  My girl, I love your ZEST for life.

Just a princess bouncing on a trampoline

One of my favorite things about you is how easy it is for you to laugh--especially at yourself.  

Laughing when I pointed out that you had put your pants on backwards.

You have taught me to stop taking myself so seriously and refocus my priorities.  

You are so innocently open to people and experiences, and it's such a joy to watch you take in the world around you.  

Fearless on your first day of preschool

You're so great at expressing how you are processing everything as it happens--what you're hearing, thinking, smelling, feeling, touching, seeing.  I imagine your preschool teacher will tell me and Daddy at conferences that she needs to redirect you back to the task at hand because you are so curious and focused on whatever has your attention.  Don't tell her, but I love your curiosity and intense focus on the task at hand.

One of my favorite parts of being your mama is watching your faith develop.  I love how good you are about asking all of us to join you in prayer.  If you stub your toe, you're the first to say, "Let's pray!  Dear God, please help my toe to feel better.  I love you.  Amen."  Or, you'll ask us to pray for you through tears.  "Mommy, can you please pray for my toe?"  

Advent 2011

One year ago on your birthday, Pope Benedict XVI announced his resignation from the papacy.  Can you even imagine the Church without Pope Francis at the helm right now?  I'll think about that moment every year on your birthday.  It taught me that we usually have absolutely no idea what God has in store for us, but we must have faith that they are "plans for good" (Jeremiah 29:11).  

So, my dear, I want you to know that I don't know exactly what God has in store for you, but I know that they are plans for good.  You are such a precious blessing to our family, and I am so proud of the little lady you are becoming.  I am so honored that God entrusted you to our family, Janie Boo.  I pray that you will continue to learn to know, love, and serve Him, and I pray that our domestic church will continue to reveal His Love to you through every member of our family.

  
We love you so much, sweetie!  Happy 4th Birthday!  Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!  

Love,
Mommy

Please give me your input on these 3 things before we list the house

I have a few questions and random tasks I'd love your input on before we list the house.  

1.  How do I get this white stuff off of our bathroom counter? 

Despite regular cleaning and some good elbow grease with all-purpose cleaners, I can't get the white stuff to disappear.  I suppose you'd call the countertop material laminate.  Any tricks to share?

2.  Our "wall of fame" photo gallery

Keep it, get rid of it, or switch out for "neutral images"?  I know they say to depersonalize the house, blah blah blah, and I ordinarily agree, but I'd love to see something like this on a wall as a decorating idea for the home.  What do you think?  If you're in favor of taking the pictures down, would you put up a large print (or something else) or just leave the wall bare?

3.  The oven  
How do you deep clean your oven without feeling like you took a year off of all of your family members' lives from the fumes?  Do the Pinterest posts with baking soda, etc. actually work?  Let's hear every detail of how you do it!

I'm sure I'll have more questions as time goes on.  Until then, please share your input on these 3 things!

Small Success Thursday #6 (A day late!)

It's been a whirlwind of a week, so I'm writing our "small successes" a day late.  And, you know what?  I'm going to call my small success #1 the fact that I don't care that it's late!

On to our other small successes for this week:

I'm gonna go ahead and call this the week of Harry successes because almost all of them are about him.

Even though I abandoned the baby books (for now), we remembered to capture Harry's 5-month pictures in the laundry basket.  By some miracle, I remembered to capture this pose and put all of the siblings' pictures at 5 months side by side.  Isn't it incredible how much they look alike?  (Left to right:  Harry, Walt, and Jane)

My amazing brother and sister-in-law watched the kiddos for us overnight on Saturday.  We didn't know what to do with ourselves!  We went to Mass, had a great dinner out at a delicious Italian restaurant (yay for coupon social sites!), and brought some dessert home.  I think we fell asleep by 10:30, but that's late for us, so, yay!

Apparently we have another big Thomas fan in the family.  When Jane put this Thomas engine in Harry's lap while I was cleaning up from lunch, he sat up!  I'm sad to say that means we're done with the bouncer, but Harry is happy as can be hanging out in his exersaucer instead.

Harry tried rice cereal for the first time, and he couldn't get enough of it!  Jane thought it was so funny, so she asked to help feed him.  After each bite, he kept leaning forward for more, and he resisted letting go of the spoon.  Let's pray that means we'll have another good eater in the family!

Using pipe cleaners and pony beads is helping to keep the kiddos engaged during family prayer time.

To help introduce the kids to Sacred Scripture, I introduced a "Memory Verse of the Week" on Monday.  I'm using this Totally Tots site with a Bible verse for each letter of the Alphabet.  The Bible verse for "A" is Psalm 17:8 "Keep me as the apple of your eye, hide me in the shadow of your wing."  

I put the verses up on the fridge where we will see them often.  The kids and I say the verse whenever we think of it.  We did a simple apple craft to help cement the verse in our memory.  I am putting the verses and the accompanying crafts into a binder with page protectors for each kid.  I am adding in activities we do for that letter as well.  The kids love them, and they are so excited to have their work put together in a binder.

My new blog site is coming along nicely, and I'm planning to launch it by the middle of next week.  Philip has done such a great job helping me put it all together.  The new site will make it easier for people to share posts, write comments, and subscribe.  Stay tuned!

Oh, and this cuteness happened:

  
That's a success, right?  I know, my definition of "success" is so broad, and these posts are truly just weeks in review, but it's my blog, and I'll blog how I want to!

I've been blogging long enough that I have a post to re-share with some activities we did to help us get into the Olympic spirit.  Here's a link with some things we did during the 2012 Summer Olympics.  

Your turn!  What are your small successes from this week?  Come on over to CatholicMom to share and join in the fun.  If you're using social media, use the hashtag #SmallSuccess.  Have a great weekend!

Keeping The Kids Engaged During Family Prayer Time

I love using social media to find practical solutions to everyday dilemmas.  Last week, we noticed that the novelty of our family rosary time was gone for the kids, and they were getting really squirrelly.  Jane and Walt would erupt into a fit of giggles by the third Hail Mary, and we would spend the rest of the decade trying to get them to stop giggling.  

Instead of doing away with family rosary time altogether, I decided to switch things up a bit.  Somehow, through all of my mental cobwebs, I remembered reading this post by Catholic Missionary Family called "The Rosary and Kids - Part 2."  They list some great tactile ways to keep little ones involved as you pray the Rosary.  (Check out their adorable blog!  There are a lot of great posts!)

I thought the pipe cleaners and pony beads would be appealing to Jane and Walt, so I went that route.  While Philip was giving the kids baths, I set up the kitchen table for family prayer time.

Each night, we:

• Light two candles.
• Record each family member's response to "What made you happy today?" on looseleaf.  (We started this in November with, "What are you thankful for?" but the kids didn't understand that question.)
• Introduce 1 mystery of the rosary with a picture.
• Pray that decade of the scriptural rosary from Rosary Army
• Close with bedtime prayers ("Angel of God" and "God bless Daddy, God bless Mommy, God bless...each member of the family by name")
• Jane and Walt each blow out a candle.

Instead of setting out rosaries, I set out pipe cleaners and a small bowl with 10 pony beads for each kiddo.

I don't know if you can tell, but I tied a knot at the bottom of each pipe cleaner.  The idea is that the kids can string a bead onto the pipe cleaner for each Hail Mary without them falling off.

When the kids saw the pipe cleaners and beads, they were SO EXCITED!  They quickly got into their chairs, and they started stringing the beads right away.  They didn't really grasp the concept of only adding one bead for each Hail Mary, so they were out of beads by the time we got started.  I didn't want to spend our prayer time correcting them with, "Just one bead for each prayer," so I dumped more pony beads into each of their dishes and let them keep stringing as we prayed.  

I decided we'd let them string as many beads as they wish for a week, and then we'll try re-introducing "one bead per prayer" next week.  We'll see whether or not they're ready for it then.

Even though their hands were much busier then usual, their minds were more focused.  They said the words to the prayers very reverently, and we didn't have to redirect them like we usually do.  At one point, Walt dropped a bead that he was stringing.  Without saying a word, Jane left her chair, picked it up for him, and resumed stringing her beads.  Usually, an interruption like a dropped Rosary would throw everything off, but their focus on stringing their beads kept them chugging right along.  

At the end, I asked the kids to put their beads down so that we could finish with our bedtime prayers, and Walt said, "One more bead, please?"

   
They were very proud of themselves and happily posed with their beads at the end!

I love Walt's new-found phony smile and squinty eyes for the camera.

This is what's working for now.  We'll see if we're sticking with it next week or if it's deteriorated into them throwing the beads at each other or eating them!  We're content to meet them where they are. 

Apparently it's all starting to sink in for them because that night the mystery we prayed "The Presentation of the Lord."  When Jane saw the picture, she said, "That's Simeon!"  Considering I didn't know who he was until three years ago, I'd say we're off to a good start around here.   

How do you keep your kids engaged during family prayer time?  

The Day of the Little Way

Image Books, a Catholic book company, is hosting The Day of the Little Way today.  It's an opportunity for people around the world to share in St. Thérèse's "Little Way" with a 21st century twist.  Using the 140 characters allotted on Twitter, people are supposed to share their own "#LittleWay stories, quotes, prayers, and inspirations all day long."

Click here to learn more, participate, or find graphic images to use on your Twitter and other social media accounts.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux is the namesake of our own precious "Little Flower."  We have every confidence that our precious baby is interceding in helping our family move daily toward sanctity.  As Jane says, "She is my sister and my favorite saint!"  

Fr. Robert Barron, creator of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries and the Catholicism series, is participating in The Day of the Little Way.  Here, he recounts how St. Thérèse helped his ministry, Word on Fire, and he shares a clip about St. Thérèse from the Catholicism series.  

Visit Twitter, and search for #LittleWay to read other inspirational stories.  What's your "Little Way" story?