Yes, it's been four months...

FOCUS conference in Nashville in January, Uncle Jimmy's passing and funeral in February, Uncle Tony (Brother Anthony) came to visit in February, Spring Break in Toledo, OH...and here we are in late March!  We are eagerly planning Cate's 7th birthday party in just twelve days! It's countdown time around here, folks!  It's a countdown of another sort, too - last week Matt accepted a new position in FOCUS which will send us back West and will necessitate changing the name of my blog, I just noticed.  (Add that to the checklist.  "Change Blog name." Also add, "Don't forget I have a blog."  People actually read it.  I found this out from Aunt Pattie McCartney and Brother Anthony in Rome.)  Eight weeks until the end of school at UK and ten weeks until Matt starts his new position.  Eight weeks to find a new place to live and pack and move - pray for me!  St. Joseph, find us the perfect place to homeschool and live!

This is homeschool!

Ann caught picking.  She is still seriously cute in that tutu.

At the Explorium for our Wednesday outing.  I love this glitter table in their open art studio!  They can have all the fun they want and I don't have to deal with the mess!  I try to get us out of the house one morning a week.  It could be to the library, the park, the Arboretum, the zoo or the Explorium (thank you again Real Life 1380 for our free family membership for a year!) 

Add Jane gave Bridget her first bottle the other day.  Jane was WAAAY more excited about it than Bridget.  She did swallow an ounce or two.caption

Look at those jowls starting to grow!  I kiss those cheeks a hundred times in a day.

This was school today.  Cate and Jane decided to play "Sarah Morton" - after reading the book Sarah Morton's Day, a wonderful book about a day in the life of a girl in Plymouth Colony.  They acted out her life (Jane was Sarah's friend, Elizabeth) for (I am not exaggerating) FOUR HOURS.  Two hours before lunch and two hours after.  When do you have a 6 and 4 year old concentrate on one thing for that long???  No fights or whining (which have become more common between Cate and Jane).  I let my worksheets go and let them be.  They were so quiet, intent and into it.  "Sarah, are you polishing the kettle?" I heard Jane's voice once.   OK, there is Bridget squawking, so signing off for now...

Pumpkin Farm

Four daughters is not much harder than three, or two...

I'm typing over Bridget Clare, sleeping on the Boppy (nursing pillow) on my lap.  Ann is asleep upstairs and Cate and Jane are across the street at a friend's house.  Life IS crazy and hard, but also, it is a little easier with each child.  I wake up at night several times now.  Bridget nurses every 2-3 hours (but sometimes she sleeps 4 hours at a time) and Ann wakes up once or twice a night to nurse.  (We had her almost sleeping all night, and then...my milk came in with this new baby and she is all about the "bobos!")  On the nights when Matt and I have a date with the laptop in bed to watch The Office until midnight, I am not getting much sleep at all!  But, the good news is that Cate and Jane, ages six and four, sleep all night, and I have not had a solid night's sleep in six years, so I'm used to it.  I've read that motherhood is a time of light sleep - even when they are all sleeping, you wake up wondering if they are all ok!  I try to catch a nap with the babies in the afternoon, which brings me to another point - the fact that at ages 6 and 4, Cate and Jane can play in another part of the house, watch a video, or even be outside with friends on our cul-de-sac, and it's OK.  They are good girls, and they can do much for themselves.  I also have wonderful neighbors who are stay at home moms, so that is a huge blessing.  I have not yet gone to the store with all four kids by myself.  I think I will put that off as long as I can.  I run out with just the baby when Matt is home or now that my mom is here for little errands and grocery store trips.

Honestly, I don't know what I would do if Cate were in school and we were trying to get her out the door by 7 in the morning, and to bed by 8pm.  Bedtime takes hours to get everyone taken care of and settled down.  And breakfast/getting ready to go anywhere, or getting ready for homeschool take another few hours in and of themselves.  But we are happy!  Cate can hold Bridget (and wants to!) for a long time.  Jane can wipe Ann's bottom.  And if I can just keep a sense of humor and remember to enjoy how little and sweet they are, this parenting and schooling of four daughters won't wipe me out.  It will make me holier and better.

New School Year!

This is for the family and friends I have been meaning to call. I am too wiped out at the end of the day to make phone calls or email. It's good to be tired. But at 34 weeks pregnant, my body is not only tired but aches in places I did not even know I could ache! If you are hoping to see some belly pictures, sorry to disappoint. Only those who see me in person in Kentucky get to see the fourth pregnancy belly. I get great comments, mostly from people at church, about how I am not going to make it until October, or am I sure there aren't twins in there? I do try my best to look cute and be happy when we are around students - I want to be an excellent witness to the joys of having children! But I am sure Cate hugging and kissing my belly during Mass is witness enough.

The Bopper Wopper Home School

School started about 2 weeks ago for us here at the Little Way Catholic Home School (Bopper Wopper was one of the names suggested by Cate for the school). The top photo is the "uniform" the girls chose to wear today!

We made a banner for our school, and we have a medium sized American flag on a stick. Each morning when we start school at about 10:00, Cate and Jane take turns holding either the flag or the crucifix while we start the day off with our Morning offering prayer, the Our Father and the Pledge of Allegiance. Ann wanted to hold the flag today. After several days of watching her big sisters, she knew just what to do. She climbed up on a little box and held that flag high while we pledged (she was naked - she's potty training - I only realize now how funny that is).

For those of you wondering exactly what homeschool looks like, here is a run-down. First grade for Cate includes short lessons in:

-Religion (1 catechism lesson a week, 2 New Testament lessons and 1 saint of the week),

-Math (I am using Saxon Math curriculum this year),

-Reading (she is working through Little Stories for Little Folks phonics series),

-Writing (short copywork lessons each day in her book we ordered from Catholic Heritage Curricula - today one of the words she copied and then wrote was "pick" and then she asked me how to spell "nose" before I realized what she was doing),

-Literature (we are reading poetry and Aesops fables four times a week)

-Spanish words of the day, as a family, when we remember

-Art and Science once a week - sometimes these are covered in our field trips to the Explorium or Arboretum

-Read aloud every evening before bed - the Boxcar Children and Little House books this semester

Formal school time lasts 45 minutes to an hour, and we do a lot of the reading aloud and extra subjects off and on throughout the day. We try to finish before noon, or sooner, so they can ride their bikes before we go to Mass at 12:10 on campus a few days a week. In addition, Cate and Jane are taking swimming lessons now, gymnastics and dance next month. What I love is that they have hours on end to play - and how they play! Cate and Jane act out Little House on the Prairie, Peter Pan, Boxcar children and Little Women for hours in their room (mostly in their closet!) and with the neighbors after they get home from school or on weekends. Sometimes they bring Ann in, sometimes they ask me to keep her out. I made cornbread for them a few weeks ago, so they could have real cornbread like Ma made for Laura and Mary's dinner. I heard Ann the other day calling for "Jo!" and then realized she was talking to Jane and they were playing Little Women.

FOCUS at UK

We have been trying to be as involved as possible in FOCUS' fall outreach at UK. It's a good thing my daughters and I have sweet tooths (teeth?) and love to bake. We made cookies and brownies for their kick off pool party for early arriving disciples and Bible study students. And, the girls got to swim! We made spaghetti and meatballs for the student leaders' meeting we had here at our house all day last week, culminating in a home mass with Father Al. We stayed out of the way for the meetings during the day, but when Shelby started teaching camp songs, and MaryLiz started a game of Ninja, the girls jumped right in. We made dozens more brownies and attended three welcome dinners at the Newman center in three days. Our girls loved climbing trees and playing frisbee and playing cornhole with all the new students and students they just met.

We washed FOCUS cups for root beer float outreach at UK (see second photo - Cate and Jane counted 98 cups that would stack from our floor to the ceiling), but then found out they were not allowed to hand out food at the "We are UK" event that happened this evening. So, at "We are UK," FOCUS had a life-size cardboard cutout of Pope Benedict and students could get their photos taken with the pope, and a sign up for a raffle to win a free iPad. As of now, one week into fall outreach, with classes starting tomorrow, FOCUS has 400 students who filled out contact cards. We have been praying hard. We have to continue praying as the missionaries start the follow-up phase to actually get people to come to their Bible studies and speaker series.

Matt has been gone a lot. It will calm down soon. We have been unwinding together late in the evening with Seinfeld episodes from Netflix. Please pray for me as October 4 approaches and we have another bottom to bop in our house. We really can't wait. It will be nuts around here, but we are so excited to welcome this little McCartney into our home.

White Birch Lodge 2010

Thank you to my in-laws, Denny and Karen McCartney, for bringing us to White Birch Lodge yet again! This is my seventh year coming here with kids. Each year gets better. Now Cate and Jane and even Ann are old enough to enjoy the kids' program each morning from 10-12, so we get some time to read, go into town, excercise. Then, the rest of the day, we all enjoy beach and lake time with the girls, because they are old enough to really enjoy it, too! Jane asked yesterday if we could live here. It's fun living in a little cinderblock cabin right next door (hollering distance - "Is the coffee ready?") from Grandma and Papa, Aunt Meghan and Aunt Mary. It's even fun at 29 weeks pregnant, although I can't waterski or be as athletic as I would like. Check me out in the kayak, though! Even though I love being pregnant, and I am excited about it, and there is a good reason why I lumber along, and am carrying this extra weight, I still feel like a whale and envy the slim, active ladies here. Self image issues don't completely go away, they just change. By God's grace, I can remember to be thankful and keep perspective!

Spring rain