Highlights from what seemed to be the longest week in history.

::I didn’t get stuck in the rain on Monday.  Considering my normal routine, I have no idea how that happened.  I even kicked my cousin out of the house Monday so that I could leave in time to make a 9:30 class at the gym.  Then I decided I didn’t feel like dealing with the rain, which wasn’t even bad at that point.  I would have been stuck at the gym with no food for anyone for a long time.

::I went to the zoo today assuming the worst.  The last time I went to the zoo in January (when it was cold) the animals refused to come out.  It’s like they were mocking us for even being there.  On the way there, I was telling a friend what a waste the zoo was going to be today.  I was more than wrong.  The young female lions were jumping in the water, the male was roaring nonstop.  Turns out there was a turtle in the water the lions were trying to capture.  We sat there watching them for almost an hour.  We were able to see the turtle get rescued as well.  He had some nasty scratches on his shell, but was going to be fine.  The rest of the animals were out and close to the windows which made for a fun trip.

::A friend came over this afternoon with her son.  Goose was playing with him and all of a sudden the kid runs out crying.  When I asked Goose what happened, this was his response: “we were playing football, the score was 28-14, I was winning,”  I interrupted him at this point, “what happened???”  He started over again with the 28-14 bit instead of just saying the kid fell on his back.

::My friend made homemade kolaches for our family.  I made some comment about how we would have them over the weekend since they were fruit filled.  Every day I’ve been having one right after my workout.  Tonight the Baby Hulk totally busted me in front of Lance about my actions.

::Speaking of food, my kids literally ask to eat nonstop.  It is starting to get embarrassing.  Nobody else has this problem with their kids.  It’s like I don’t feed them.  When everyone else is trying to get their kids to eat their lunch, mine are done and asking what else they can have.  This afternoon, both Baby Hulk and No David threw huge fits when they could only have one snack before dinner.

For Today…January 9, 2011

Outside my window…it’s dark and rainy.  I can’t see the curb anymore.  My yard is a mess.  Kind of glad I came right home after dropping the boys off at school.  Even though I could use the gym.

I am wearing…my workout clothes.  I’m hopeful that maybe later I’ll get to the gym.

I am listening to…the sound of heavy rain.

I am praying for…the repose of the soul of a dear friend’s father who last his battle with cancer, rather quickly.  For my mom’s friend who is close to losing her battle also.  Join me please.  For a friend who is pregnant.

Updated to add…sometimes life just kicks you in the ass.  My mom’s friend passed away before I could even post this.  And my friend, she had a miscarriage.  Sometimes there are no words that seem sufficient.  I can only pray to a new little Saint that I know is praying for his mom right now.  He is taking all those prayers to Jesus, I know this.

Lessons learned about…purgatory.  When I told the Baby Hulk about my friend’s father his response: “well we know he’s in purgatory.  Guess we need to pray for him.”  I wondered if my friend, not Catholic, would appreciate the story or want to punch him.  Just in case it was the latter, I didn’t tell her.

I am grateful for…several visits with friends over the past couple of weeks.  Of course, there was our time with Paul and Brian that I’m always grateful to have, but we also met with the gang from Apedonkey, my friends from Michigan, had lunch with a friend and my cousin and his family came for the weekend.  There were lots of kids involved.  And it was all wonderful.  We were with people we enjoyed, and the kids had a great time.  At one point, we were at Star Pizza with ten kids.  It was pretty incredible how much fun we had.

Around the house…the Kings came and went.  I’ll admit that by Friday evening, all of my decorations were put away even though we didn’t celebrate the Epiphany until today at church.  I cleaned like a mad woman and now it’s time to get rid of the clutter.  Again.  My new goal is to clean every. single. drawer in this house.  I want to finish this by the end of the month.

Learning all the time…the big boys went back to school this week.  And the little boys started back as well.  Noticing that our unit on Winter has little meaning for the Baby Hulk right now due to such warm weather.  I am trying to find new ways to engage No David because he is ready for more.   Except he doesn’t know he’s ready.  And not a lot, just some fun stuff, possibly getting him to learn how to write something, hold a pencil.

Towards rhythm…we’re heading back into ordinary time in the church.  Christmas will be officially over tonight.  I’m hoping to reflect this season of the ordinary in all that we do from eating to learning to living.  Ordinary doesn’t mean boring, but it’s certainly not the same as Christmas.

In the kitchen…new goal: each month we will make a large menu to reflect seasonal foods.  We will have about twenty choices in which to make a menu for the month.  I’m already behind on this small goal.

Baby love…no, we’re not pregnant.  That said, I was holding my cousin’s new baby with stars in my eyes, and Lance just shook his head no.

For the year…I want to be joyful and grateful.  I want to cultivate the virtue of joy, which isn’t as easy as one would think.  And I want to be grateful.  For everything, the good, the bad, the fun, the frustrating.  How do you cultivate joy when there is such sorrow right now?

One of my favorite things…watching my kids play with their cousins.  My Godson was here this weekend, he turns 4 this week, and the boys just loved him.  My brother, his wife and my niece came over  as well, and the kids were running all over the place having a great time together.  Squirt went to another cousin’s sweet 16 birthday party Saturday evening and had a blast.  Tonight, Squirt was listening to me and my cousin and said, “cool, one day me and K will be like this with our families.”  I pray they are.  Families are a funny thing.  You can’t pick them, they drive you absolutely crazy a lot of the time, but honestly, few things can make you happier.  I’m glad to be close to my cousin and his wife so that one day our kids will indeed be having family gatherings too.

On being fit and happy…For the most part, the pain from the shingles is gone.  And I’m happy about that.  Now to get into a routine at the gym again.  Trying some different things to get motivated.  Maybe trying on my jeans will do the trick.

A few plans for the week…hopefully a trip to the play-scape, learning, finishing a project with Goose and starting on those drawers.

A picture thought…

I love traditions.  I love hearing about what people do with their families year after year.  And since I love hearing about others, I’ll tell you about our traditions.  (That is meant to  be a warning that this is a long, rambling sort of post.)

Traditions work really well for someone like me who doesn’t like change very much.  That said, we had some deviations this year and started some new ones.

Tradition is about family, being together, giving a sense of rhythm in a time (especially Christmas) that barely has a rhythm at all.  In my opinion, our traditions allow us to celebrate the season properly.  From the preparation and excitement that is Advent to the actual Christmas season, 12 days in all.

One of my favorite parts of being Catholic, is that we are forced to see Christmas as a separate season that doesn’t begin until Advent ends.  I’ve tried lots of different things to teach my kids about Advent and preparing for the gift of Jesus.  We have books, the Advent wreath, we sing O Come Emmanuel, we don’t decorate until Guadete Sunday and this year we had a Jesse Tree, or rather Jesse greenery.  We also did something I’ve been dying to do for years, we decorated the tree on Christmas Eve.

For me, we start with books.  Tons of books.

We have a lot of Christmas books, probably more than we need.  This year I limited myself to four new books, (while typing this I have changed this number three times already), but truthfully, there are about four more I really want to add to our collection.  I try to separate the books into certain weeks during Advent in order to make sure we don’t read the same thing over and over as well as make sure that we don’t skip any of our “good” books.

It wouldn’t be Christmas without our favorite children’s author: Tomie De Paola.  Each kid has a favorite Tomie book as do I.  And yes, one of our new books was Strega Nona’s Gift.  My personal favorite is Clown of God.

Last summer, a friend asked if I wanted to participate in a Jesse Tree swap.  Three weeks before the deadline, I was regretting my decision to participate.  I called on Jenn for help, and she didn’t let me down.  I am so glad I didn’t back out at the last minute.  Most of the ornaments were really good, and my kids really enjoyed this new tradition.  Next year we start the O Antiphons.

We purchased this amazing Advent spiral wreath this year, and then failed to light one candle all Advent.  It just didn’t work for us this year.  I still set it out and will again during Lent, and hopefully, my boys, one who will remain nameless, will learn not to mess with my stuff.

If only my kids behaved every day the way they do at Trulucks.  I’ll admit that with the downpour of rain and the thought of the boys at a really nice restaurant, I wondered if we should even go.  I have no clue what I was thinking.  The dinner was as wonderful as always.  And the boys couldn’t stop talking about how it is our tradition.  I can’t wait for the day when they finally order something besides fries and chicken strips.  Or maybe I can.  I don’t think I can afford 7 orders of stone crabs.

Then there are the pictures on Christmas Eve.  Cookies for Santa.  Tracking Santa on the computer.  Baby Hulk finally asked if he could go to bed so Santa could visit our house.

Then the work begins…in getting presents ready, but more importantly in changing out our vestments, putting away the Advent wreath, and bringing out our Christ candle.  Realizing that the time of preparation is over.

One of best things we do Christmas morning is place Jesus in all the nativity scenes throughout the house.  I’ve been collecting nativity scenes for years.  I started before Lance and I got married.  I have so many that I have no room for new sets and now just buy an ornament for my nativity tree.  After No David broke one of my favorites, I decided to keep things really simple this year and only set out a few.

Then there is Mass.  We go to Mass on Christmas morning.  Before opening gifts, before going to the stockings.  It’s what we’ve done since Lance and I got married.  And the kids have never once complained.  It’s tradition.

Christmas morning is about our family.  Our little family.  We don’t see the rest of the family until later in the day.  After mass, we open gifts and I get rid of all the mess.  Then my family comes over.  And the kids go wild again.  And this year, Lance’s parents joined us for dinner as well.  A first for them, and hopefully a new tradition we’ll enjoy each year.

One tradition, I’m not sad to let go of is the real Christmas tree.  Four days before Christmas, I went with a friend and purchased our tree.  I don’t regret it one bit, and my kids didn’t say a word.  Not even Squirt.

I had a lot of misses with this kid this year.  I told Paul and Brian to get him a bird house, which upon opening that gift sent him running and crying from the room.  This book, poems about insects, was a total hit.

One tradition I’ll never repeat again: doing the yard as a gift to each other or any other home improvement project.  Lance and I opened one gift a piece on Christmas: from my brother and his family.  And while I appreciate the gift, it obviously wasn’t some huge gift you would receive from your spouse.  The reality is that our yard must be redone, but it sure is a sucky gift.

For today…December 27, 2011

Outside my window…the sun is shining and it’s cold.  I love this weather.

I am listening to…my boys play with new toys.  They are playing so nicely together.  For now.

I am wearing…my pj’s.  I am not going to mention just how late in the day it really is.

I am praying for…a friend whose dad has cancer, a friend who is pregnant, my children and my husband.

I am grateful for…a Christmas Day and Christmas Eve that were wonderful.  The chance for a visit with our best friends.  Family.  Hugs from sons.  Traditions.  The Holy Mass.  Lance.

To be fit and happy…I cannot wait to get back to the gym.  Can’t wait to lose the holiday weight that has found a home on my body.  Besides the benefit of losing a few pounds, hopefully, I just like working out.  A lot.  I want my time at the gym.

From the kitchen…No more sweets.  Or eating out.  Or forgetting to plan my menu.  I’ve come to realize that when we don’t plan, our meals suck.  No other way to put it.

Around the house…Decorations are still up.  Everything stays out until the Three Kings arrive.  I finally bought a tree the Wednesday before Christmas.  I love it.  I loved decorating the tree with the boys.  We lost our star.  The boys want a star.  Need to order one before next Christmas.

One of my faovrite things…Rold Gold Peppermint Dipped Snowflakes.  No David and I found these at Costco one day and went back for a sample three times.  Since early December we have purchased 4 bags.  They are so good.  So very good.

A few plans for the week…hopefully I’ll get to the gym, a visit with a dear friend and family from Michigan, meeting my newest Godson (a year after the fact!), park, a trip to the library so Goose can find a biography for his book report.

A picture thought I am sharing…

All you need is to see your best friends.

And all is right in the world.

I love these three guys so much.  It’s been too long, but I can promise we won’t be waiting this long ever again.

On Saturday we took our ONE YEAR OLD(!) to the park.  She loves to swing, and the weather was perfect.  While there, I noticed a women with her two kids.  She was working out with a friend and you could tell their nighttime jobs.  She was nice enough and as I was lining up the kids for a picture she offered to take a shot of all of us.

Perfect, I didn’t  have a picture for the Christmas card and while we weren’t all dressed as I might have liked, this picture would show real life for us.  Not some posed scene where everyone hates me.  Hate might be too strong a word, but generally, most of the family dislikes me during picture time.  (Not my fault, they never smile at the right time.)

She even took A LOT of pictures of us so I could choose just the right one.

Only problem, she managed to take a ton of out of focus shots (with an auto focus digital SLR???) and cut off our heads.

Merry Christmas~ The Zierleins 2011

Oh my sweet girl, you are one year old.  I can hardly believe it.  This past year has been nothing short of amazing for us.  Truly you were the best gift ever.  God knew we needed you.  He knew what was best for our family.

As I think back on the past year, I am overwhelmed with joy.  I look in your eyes and can’t believe how blessed I am.  You are such a ray of sunshine, bringing such brightness into our lives.  You have touched each member of our family in different ways.

I remember a year ago, dropping your brothers off at school and checking into the hospital.  Chatting with the nurses until your dad could leave the kids with Mimi.  And then waiting.  Waiting to see your face.  Waiting to meet the person growing inside of me.  I remember the feeling of sadness that I wouldn’t be able to feel you hitting me on the right side of my tummy.  How sad I felt because it would soon be over.  That seems so silly when meeting you was better than any kick or punch.  Your dad and I, as well as your doctor, were all overjoyed when you arrived.  We’d been through a lot together, mostly good, your brothers, and some a bit harder, your sisters in heaven.  We were able to breathe a sigh of relief at seeing your sweet face.

And then the party started.  I’ve said it before, but I will remind you, sweet child, you were born into a family of love.   We’re not all related by blood, but we are all family.  All of us.  You have so many people that have been with you from day one and they all love you dearly.  Really, you have a village.  As silly as that sounds, it is the truth.

Looking at your face at birth, watching you with each of your brothers, sweet Baby Hulk who waited for you so earnestly, your sisters,  your grandparents…oh sweet girl, I could live that day over and over.

You are such a nice little girl, so content, not fussy, just oh so sweet.  Happy with your brothers, smart, chatty and just beautiful.

Sunshine, I wish the world for you.  The world, nothing less will be good enough.  And it’s possible, you are a child of God, your namesake is one to be rivaled, our Mother in Heaven and her mother.  (And so sorry for all those who don’t pronounce your name correctly!  Just be firm and force everyone to say your name properly.)  You do have big shoes to fill. Yet, you are so special, you can.

Sunshine, you are my girl, my baby.  If I’m selfish with my time, it’s only because I love you so.  I hate to admit, but I love how much you love me, how much you want me over the others.  I love the smile on your face, the way you talk with your brothers.  Mostly, I just love you.

God knew.  He always does.  Your brothers are amazing too.  I freely admit, I didn’t think it could get better than a houseful of boys.  And I will now admit I was SO WRONG.  You made life better.  For me.  For this family.  You fit right in, ready to scrap with those boys, lunch with me and my friends and hang with me and daddy.  Thank you for those eyes full of love, for those sweet whispers and that beautiful smile.

Happy Birthday, Sunshine.  May God, Mary and all the Saints bless you every single day of your life.  You are more than I ever deserved, and I promise to treat you as the precious gift you are.

For Today…December 16, 2011

Outside my window…it’s look like fall.  A week before Winter officially starts, we have the most beautiful trees.  Of course, we wore shorts today.  (I started this yesterday, today it was chilly.  But not that chilly.)

I am wearing…a blue Get Up Kids t-shirt and workout shorts.   I love the Get Up Kids.  Love them.

I am listening to…Goose sing.  Feliz Navidad.  Not kidding.  It’s kind of cute, except I don’t like the song.

I am praying…for a friend’s father and sister who both have been diagnosed with cancer within two months of each other, another friend who had heart issues, another with more cancer news, a pregnant friend and me.

I am thankful…for all the above mentioned people, my family and the Holy Mass.

Around the house…the decorations are up.  And this year, we’re keeping things minimal again.  Although my minimal isn’t the same as other people.  I love Snoopy, and I love nativity scenes.  I have a lot of both.  I love to see them at the holidays, but I have a three year old who likes to touch things.  A  lot.  He already broke my Snoopy nativity scene.  Yes, such a thing does exist.   Regardless, I’m excited about all the decorations.  They bring back such memories for me.

To live the liturgy…I love Advent.  I love December, it’s another rich month in the church.  We’ve celebrated St. Nick, St. Juan Diego, Our Lady of Guadalupe, St. Lucia (I can’t wait until Sunshine is a little older and can celebrate this day properly!)  and tomorrow we’ll go to Mass for Las Posadas.  (We did and loved it.)  All the while, learning the new translation of the creed and reflecting on what it means to prepare.

Learning all the time…we’ve learned a lot about patience and how to behave while running errands with mommy.  We’re onto J for Joy, Jesus and Jesse Tree.  One day I’ll post about our Jesse Tree ornaments, but for now I’ll just say we love this tradition.

One of my favorite things…little girls.

I am creating…one craft, I’ve been working on it all week for about ten minutes at a time, nothing too difficult, but I want to finish, especially since I am gifting a few of them.

I am finished…with all but two gifts.  TWO gifts.  I didn’t start shopping until two weeks ago.  Go me.  Anyone think I don’t talk about how I have shopped for everyone while having shingles?

Towards rhythm…it’s hard to keep your rhythm during the holidays.  I really want to try and work on that this last week before Christmas.

A few plans…a certain birthday is tomorrow.

A picture thought…

Best part of Goose’s school?  Snow Day.  Snow, free pictures with Santa, what more could I ask for?

I’ve always known Goose was a good speller, he takes after his dad.  This week he proved it by being selected to represent his class in the school-wide spelling bee.  I am super proud.  Last year when I commented on his spelling to his teacher (the one I hated) she blew off his spelling skills.   Yes, I made sure to find her today to let her know he was in the spelling bee.  (Me, a grudge holder?)

He was so cool today, until he missed his word.  But regardless, he was so excited to participate and claimed that next year he would win.  

Little does he know that I am already thinking about how best to prepare for this next year.  Now that I know what words they start with, I know what he needs to study.  I can totally see us in DC one of these years.  And if not him, Baby Hulk is a good back up in spelling.

Can I take a deep breathe?  This shingles business sucks.  And while I’d love to milk it for all it’s worth, the only thing I have not done over the past thirteen days is blog.

Rest.  Take it easy.  That doesn’t happen under normal circumstances, but during the holiday season.  Not a chance in hell.

While I thought shingles would slow things down and allow me to really embrace a season of preparation in a way I seldom do, it has not.  I have shopped, both online and in person.  I have come up with ideas for each of my kids for myself, my dad, my in-laws, my brother, sister-in-law, and soon my mom.  (All while doing my own shopping for my rather large list.)  Sure it’s good that I’m picking out gifts that I mostly approve of, but it’s more than tiring to come up with everyone’s list.

Between shopping, I’ve also been trying to come up with ideas for Goose’s class party.  Something about a small gift for the kids, hoping maybe it’s a book.  Except finding a decent chapter for a buck a piece is near impossible.  Other ideas have been vetoed and now we’re (as in I am) painting frames for the class.  Cheap and relatively easy.  Then Friday during snow day, I’ll take pictures of each child and another mom will print copies before the end of the day.  All this with three littles along for the ride.

In an interesting bit of news, I haven’t yelled much this week.  Why?  One reason: grace.  Grace received from attending Mass the past three mornings.  It has been life saving for me.  And the weird thing is that the boys have hardly behaved really well in Mass, but we leave calmer, happier and we’ve been able to run errands non-stop.  Despite needing rest, there have been several days where we leave in the morning at 7:30 and don’t come home until after 4:00.  And the kids are really great during this time.

Of course, it’s not all happiness over here; once 7:00 hits, my witching hours starts.  I need the rest my body has craved for weeks.  And until everyone is in bed, I slowly start to unravel.  Getting slightly bitter about all I’ve been doing and what won’t be happening this Saturday, a party for my best girl.  I’m not interested in doing much except catering to my sweet girl’s every whim on Saturday.

Tomorrow is another busy day.  I had planned to rest and make a couple of gifts, but I still have painting to do, cookies to bake, party stuff to purchase and try and buy my Sunshine a dress for her big day.