FOR TODAY

Outside my window…
It’s gray and chilly but not raining; which makes me happy. Winter has arrived and seems to be here until spring. The hardest part has been that it’s been so rainy that the boys have been unable to go outside, even when bundled up.

I am thinking…
About how I can make the most of this upcoming year and stay busy while Mark is away on deployment.

I am thankful…
So, much that I don’t even know where to start. This past year was a difficult year with my surgery and extended family drama. However, I have healed so well and for the first time in years I spend a majority of my time pain free. I can’t even put my thankfulness for that into words. It is just so awe inspiring to me that it is even possible.

In the kitchen…
It looks like a tornado went through it. I am in the process of re-organizing, re-arranging and purging in there and as the saying goes sometimes it has to get messier before it gets clean.  I am hoping to finish the re-organizing this evening and then diving into the new cookbook I purchased. With Mark deploying I am going to explore freezer cooking as a way to still eat good meals but not have to stress as much about trying to cook dinner during the witching hour.

I am wearing…
Since, we’ve already been to Mass and came home I changed into comfy yoga pants and a aqua blue long sleeve tee-shirt. I figured as I work on finishing up the kitchen I want to be comfortable.

I am creating…
A home management binder is my current work in progress. I purchased a cute binder from walmart and I am currently working on filling out the different sections. I will have the following sections: address book, calendar (monthly and weekly; so 2 sections), domestic church, homeschool, list (to-do list, master cleaning list, etc), menu and project section.

I am going…
Nowhere else today. Mass was our only place to go this afternoon. However, we do have a busy week ahead of us of therapy appointments and doctor appointments. We will be meeting with Thomas’ Endocrinologist for a 6 month follow up on his weight.

I am wondering…
How to answer all of Paul’s question. He is just full of questions. Listening to Father’s homily was interesting today and provoked all sorts of questions from Paul. While, I love that he is intrigued by God and Mass some of the questions were down right difficult to figure out how to answer on a level that an almost 5 year old would understand.

I am reading…
The Girl Who Came Home – A Titanic Novel by Hazel Gaynor. I have just started it and I am only a couple chapters into it but so far it seems like it will be a good read.

I am hoping…
That God is with a wonderful lady I know and her husband in the coming months as they learn more about the special blessing God gave them in the form of a miracle baby.

I am looking forward to…
Mark getting home in 2 weeks from his training and getting to see my best friend in the whole world when she comes to the localish area in a few weeks.

I am learning
The art of freezer cooking and how to better feed my family.

Around the house…
Re-arrangement, re-arrangement. Since, we arrived home from our Christmas trip we have been busy with re-arranging the house and rooms to try and make the space for us more efficient.

I am pondering…
If we should try for new orders to somewhere else for after Mark’s deployment or if we should stay here where we are at.

A favorite quote for today…
“If the Magi had come in search of an earthly King, they would have been disconcerted at finding that they had taken the trouble to come such a long way for nothing. Consequently they would have neither adored nor offered gifts. But since they sought a heavenly King, though they found in Him no signs of royal pre-eminence, yet, content with the testimony of the star alone, they adored: for they saw a man, and they acknowledged a God.” ~St. John Chrysostom
One of my favorite things…
Watching Paul and Thomas share their new beds; we recently purchased a set of bunk beds for the boys. The plan was to set them up as 2 individual beds but we quickly figured out that despite me measuring the room 2 beds didn’t fit. So, we set them up as bunk beds. Paul was supposed to sleep on the top and Thomas on the bottom. Minus the first night we have found both boys asleep in the same bed; normal the top bunk together.

A few plans for The Feast of Epiphany
Today being the Feast of Epiphany I have a few special plans for the children. Normally, our Christmas decorations are still up and we move the 3 Kings to the Nativity set. However, due to Mark’s schedule and upcoming deployment our Christmas decorations came down early this year so there is no Nativity set to move the 3 Kings to. However, for lunch the children are going to have crown shaped sandwiches and receive a new book. I found a great deal on Tomie dePaola’s Bible Stories. The sandwiches were really easy to make with a star shaped sandwich cutter I had picked up for Thomas’ name day; which is coming up at the end of the month. I took the 2 sandwich halves and instead of putting them back together to form the star I set them up to look like crowns. This evening will we also be reading for bedtime Tomie dePaola’s The Story of the Three Wisemen which is in his wonderful Christmas story collection that was gifted to use this year.