SharonAndAdam.com

New Bathroom?

Therese wrote a nice note to Adam on Saturday, “Dear Daddy, I think yoour a super hero. Love, Therese.”

Indeed he is certainly our superhero as he spent ALL weekend gutting and cleaning out our bathroom. HUGE thanks to Matthew who came by yesterday to help him for a couple of hours. There’s a big hole where our shower used to be. Tub’s gone, wall’s gone, all the tiles gone. Adam clean and sprayed the framing beams to get rid of as much of the “m” word as possible. Because the mental giant who built our home didn’t put a door between our bedroom and the bathroom, we’re upstairs sleeping and showering. I spent today hot washing a lot of the stuff that was exposed to the dust and the “m” word.

So by the grace of God, we will hopefully be able to reinstall a tub and get this shower area up and tiled correctly before Baby G’s birthday.

Do you know a handy man? Tile guy? Pass on his info because we’re going to need a little help to get this thing done.

Darling little Muffin

Muffin is almost two weeks shy of her 2nd birthday. And she’s just so amazing to me. Too often I forget that she too is growing up and she is coming into her own personality and quirks.

The kids started their Wednesday CGS at Miss Jackie’s house in anticipation for the classes they will attend on Wednesdays at a new parish in a couple of weeks. This meant that Muffin and I got to go to our Holy Hour without the big kids and WHAT A DIFFERENCE that made! Our adoration chapel has these two back cushions that someone brought in for the chairs. This has been the bane of my existence all summer long as the kids would literally fight over them. And Gianna really likes the one  with the buckle strap on it because she loves to buckle things up–like her car seat and the strap on the change table. Anyway, I sat next to the chair with said back cushion and she was so delighted. She sat down and said, “I buckle,” she buckled up in front of Jesus and read the stack of holy books I brought for the WHOLE hour! Occasionally she would ask me to unbuckle her and then she’d do something with one of the rosaries she brought and would climb back up, buckle up and sit quietly looking at books. I couldn’t help but thank Jesus every two minutes for this sweet delightful little girl.

Last week I discovered that she also can sort the silverware into the drawer when we put away the dishes! Isn’t that grand. She just graduated into being a new little helper. Then Thursday, I was in the kitchen and she spontaneously decided to put away the dishes–ALL OF THEM! And she knew where they all went too. I am so proud of her. Of course this means I can totally put her to work now and she can see her contribution to the family.

Home Repairs…ugghh

Well, if getting ready for a new baby wasn’t enough to be thankful for, God decided that we needed to appreciate our home a little more!

Our downstairs AC unit went out last Sunday. Joy of joys! To be 8 months pregnant and without AC downstairs–not so fun. But THANKFULLY our upstairs unit is still working. Turns out the capacitor on the condenser went out. And it had just been replaced in April. So we called our AC guy and thankfully he changed it free of charge as he said they were having problems with those that had installed this year. But in his investigation, he discovered that some of the wires going into the disconnects on the side of the house had shorted and burned. He thought it could have been due to how the wires were reconnected when the siding was put on the house last year. He gave us a recommendation for an electrician and he verified that the wires were installed improperly. After two days and $200 the AC is working again, but not without a word to the company who installed our siding. THANKFULLY, we took some ‘before’ shots and God graced us with a great deal of charity in speaking and writing to the Vice President of the company who (thankfully is a man of God and in formation for the deaconate).The company is going to reimburse us the expense of the repair. The capacitor going out was a great blessing because it could have saved our lives and home from catching on fire.

Adam started a bit of nesting last week when he decided to re-grout part of the kitchen counter tiles. Then I made him do a little more around the sink. He also decided that our tub tile could use some repair. But opening up the wall was not a pretty site. And as I type, he’s tearing down all the tile and removing the tub to repair and clean out the yuck behind the walls. Thankfully we have the extra bathroom and bedroom upstairs which we will be residing in for a while but hopefully not too long. Going from a king to a full size bed with 4 weeks left of this pregnancy has been an adjustment.

In the midst of all these inconveniences, Therese and I read a devotional book called, “Devotional Stories for Little Folks,” by Nancy Nicholson which I highly recommend. This week’s story was quite timely as was the prayer at the end of the chapter:

My God,

I do not know what today will bring.

I believe that whatever happends to me,

You have known about from all eternity

and planned or allowed for my greater good.

I praise You for Your good plans for my life.

Please help me to be patient in my sufferings,

and to give You thanks in all things.

Amen.

Organized?

To take a little spin off of Mark Twain, the rumors of my level of organization have been greatly exaggerated.

As I look around our school room at the clutter and the book shelves overflowing with books, I sigh and think I’m WAY off the mark of being organized.

But having finished the third week of 1st grade, for me, homeschooling demands a great deal of organization—especially of time. In the last 5 years we finally carved our bedtime routine in stone. Up until the  last 3 months the rest of our days were pretty much hit or miss. This summer turned out to be busier than expected with CGS on one day, adoration on another and Latin lesson on still another. All are good, but for someone who enjoys staying home and not running around, it was challenging.

When I started walking in the mornings, our morning routine took at turn for the better. Now the kids are dressed and we have breakfast at 8 a.m. sharp–provided they have put away the dishes. I have until 9 to do my house chores and then school begins.

In the last week, I’ve FINALLY fixed my daytime schedule to allow 2 hours of schooling in the morning and two hours in the afternoon except on Wednesday when the kids have CGS and I’ll have my holy hour.

Last week I had finally scheduled all our ministry work so Adam and/or I would be out  only once a week. Then God decided to call us to something more. Adam (and maybe I) will be serving as catechists at our parish for the first of the two years of Sacramental preparation for Therese’s first communion. A lot of sweat, frustration and tears came out of that considering how much our faith is already part of our everyday life. And through a lot prayer and Holy Spirit talking to us, we decided this was best. Perhaps I’ll save the details of our decision for another post. But we are at peace for now. So now, with our growing family, we’ll have two nights a week that require one or both of us to be away from home.  I pray that God’s grace will overflow during this time and we don’t burn out.

Now with all this organizing, I hope that God doesn’t decide to have a sense of humor and throw our world upside down after Baby G comes!

Mischief or Budding Scientist?

Muffin’s new nickname will soon be Little Miss Mischief!

Having already learned to unscrew tops of bottles and jars, I’ve had to be quite weary of what I leave out for our little Muffin, but curiosity has gotten the better of us last week. When she’s a little too quiet, I asked Therese to check to see what she is doing and Therese’s response has usually been, “She’s getting into mischief!”

Wednesday she wanders off to the bathroom…climbs on the counter…and pumps ALL the foaming soap out of the dispenser and rubs it all over herself. All she had to say for herself was, “Mommy, wash hands.”

Thursday when our friends the Ceys came over for a visit, Misty and I were chatting and sent the kids to make some masks. Muffin proceeds to write ALL OVER her arms and legs with marker. If I hadn’t been concerned about it permanently staining her skin, I would have taken a picture.

Saturday night I bought a bunch of 5 or 6 bananas. Sunday morning I had one for breakfast. Then I go get cleaned up for Mass and leave the kids eating cereal (“that’s safe” I thought). Fulton decided to have one banana for breakfast too. Then when I noticed I only heard Fulton and Therese in the living room, I sent Adam to check on our little banana nut Muffin. She had proceeded to peel and mash up ALL the remaining bananas!

Lesson: when your child hands you a bowl of mashed bananas, make banana nut buttermilk pancakes for brunch!