A park dedicated to a stay at home Mom

Today Dominic and I visited a park that we go to once in awhile, it's a park that is across the street from the first apartment I lived in here in town with my friend Catharine. I remember seeing young mothers taking their children to this park on my way home from work, and being engaged at the time, I would daydream about taking my own children to this park. I noticed today that this very park is dedicated to a mother of many children, who stayed at home with them and volunteered a great deal in the community. I forget the wording, but it was something to the effect of "this park is dedicated to all the heroes who are quietly forming the generations to come." I just thought it was really neat! We also read a great book today that we picked up from the library, called "What did you do today?" It's all about a little boy's first day of a school, and a Mommy's first day at work. The book takes you through how they do basically the same things throughout the day, but the little boy is distracted by how much fun he is having while the Mom always has a little thought bubble over her head with her son in it. I was reminded of how when I worked part-time in Dominic's first year of life that while was SO GOOD for me to be out of the house for 2.5 hours a night, I was so super motivated at work to do my best because I was so excited about getting back to my husband and son!

I think I'm in love....

We've been looking for a new family car on and off, and I've been doing some research where I can, and I think I found a good match for us! At first we were looking at station wagons, but it occurred to us that they didn't really offer much more seating than a sedan, and if they did, it was at the price of precious trunk space. So then we scoped out some minivans, but just decided we're not ready to commit ourselves to that much car...and gas guzzlage. My first car was an old old Saturn, and I always had an affinity for Saturns after that. So I came across the Saturn Outlook, and I've been seeing stars ever since. I'm not sure its the "best" crossover vehicle out there, but it's affordable, has reasonable gas economy for its size and really offers all that we're looking for. It seats 8 adults, and not at the price of precious trunk space! The seating can be configured in a bunch of ways, and the car isn't bigger than the empire state building like most SUVS I see. We're still researching, and an old model is still pushing our price range, but I'm excited that we're getting closer to a new car!

So thankful!

All kinds of places to hide at Papa and Grandma's!
















My sister is the reason I ever have a chance to sit down. :)

















One of many music lessons from Papa.















Bronius posing with Grandma. This was our first Thanksgiving without Grandpa, and his joyful, youthful soul was missed at every moment.
















My brother and sister dressed as Native Americans for the feast, much to Dominic's delight.











My parents taking a pause in the busy kitchen to smile for me










Us attempting to do a family picture in front of the hearth (only the 7th attempt, and it turned out blurry!)




It seems every year I have more and more to be thankful for. Which means I have no excuses to not be spending the rest of my life praising God in word and deed for the blessings of my life (which is my main desire for this blog :) Among so many other things, I thank God daily for revealing Himself to me through my family so that I may have a relationship with Him every moment of my life. For my family - my parents, my siblings, my husband, my son and child to be, my aunts, uncles, cousins, and my treasured friends. These people who love me, inspire me, teach me, help me, and set me straight! For my good health, for our home, for our occupations and vocations, for our amazing community. For this incredible country we live in and those who work for the common good. For this and so much more, I am thankful! Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours, may blessings of thankfulness and charity fill our hearts with warmth in all the days ahead.

Weekend of treats

Playing tetherball at Senele's house. Notice Senele and I walking in the background :)




Josie's beautiful teddy bear cupcakes








One snapshot of the teddy bear picnic












Cloud watching

















Japanese drumming group

What a treaty weekend we had! Yesterday we celebrated Dominic's friend Elena's 2nd birthday party with a teddy bear picnic theme. We had a wonderful time with our buds, and Josie and Omar did such a beautiful job hosting! Then as soon as Dominic woke up from his very short-lived nap (Dominic licking the frosting off 3 cupcakes while Mommy and Daddy were both distracted might have something to do with that), we went downtown to deliver Thanksgiving dinners to the community. As soon as we wrapped up with that, we went to our city's very first annual Worldfest, which was just amazing. We saw lots of friends down there and got to try authentic sourkraut, kolaches, Indian turkey cutlets and other international treats! We came at the tail end, so we actually cleaned out one stand of their kolaches for breakfast, and they threw in a pound of cooked fajita meat for us at an unbeatable price! Took care of two meals today, woo hoo!

We really enjoyed the Japanese drumming group which just left us awestruck, Dominic loved shouting enthusiastically as he echoed the drummers vocalizations (much like karate sounds, for lack of a better description!) He came home and drummed in his bath the whole night! We also liked watching henna being painted on people's hands. There was so much going on, we were so sad we only caught 45 mins! When it began to rain, we drove home and Bronius so sweetly helped with the bedtime routine so I could plunge into writing my paper and assignments.

Today after Mass we stopped at the Farm Patch for some fresh and tasty things, and then went to Senele's house for lunch in the country. ANOTHER treat! She had prepared BOMBAS for us, which are her homemade Lithuanian potato dumplings served hot with her homemade cottage cheese inside, smothered in butter and sour cream. Then we went outside to find grasshoppers and jump alongside them (guess who's suggestion that was? ;) After a nap, now I'm ready to tackle the end of my research paper and prep my Mom's group materials for tomorrow - hopefully in time for Bronius and Dominic to come home for dinner (they went to Lowe's to start working on a secret project...I am intrigued). But that brings me to the end of our weekend of treats. May blessings of thanksgiving, gratitude and generosity inspire us in this week ahead, in the event I don't hop on to blog again soon, Happy Thanksgiving lovely friends and family! I am thankful for you!

Every day is a winding road...

Aside from the fact that my once a week commute to school takes me down a breathtaking, winding road in the country with a setting sun much like this picture, my discernment to return to school has felt like a winding road from the beginning...every day I get closer to my goal. This was a HUGE decision for me, and already, the process has really helped me to grow to trust in the Lord's plans for my future.

I do not know when I will work, it won't be until our children are all school-aged unless a very family-friendly opportunity is presented in the meantime. And I'm still sitting on the fence about homeschooling, which doesn't preclude me from working if I choose that route, but still... I struggle with not knowing how the story ends. Most people who know me know very well that patience is a very difficult virtue for me, at least patience with myself as I try to achieve something. I'm weary as I think about the 6 semesters ahead of me, and how I'll have to figure out how to complete those courses in between childbearing, nursing, sleepless nights, sicknesses and busy family functions. I just want to get the classes all over with so I can quit worrying about the logistics!!!

There are days when school seems like an annoyance that is getting in the way of my life, and then other days when I realize that education is like the best gift second only to the gift of life. Working with families has always been my career dream (aside from hosting a televised cooking show or being an art history professor, neither of which are realistic goals for me at this point, but maybe I'll tack those on later too. ;) Really though. I've witnessed the rewards that a fulfilling, part-time career can do for a family-focused Mommy. I appreciate my time with my family so much more, I'm more energetic and productive and more fun to be around! So that's what keeps me running the race. And the added bonus of praying under shooting stars on my nighttime commute home is really special. ;) It's most important to enjoy the journey, whatever our journeys may be, so, please keep me in your thoughts and prayers that I remember the journey is the focus and not the destination! :)

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A good tea company to support

It is an every day goal of mine to become a more globally conscious shopper. It's important to our family to try to make choices where buying organic and fair trade products makes a difference in terms of supporting farmers and small companies. I've been noticing that major companies are coming out with organic products now, like Kraft, Kellogg, and others...which is nice...and it makes groceries more affordable for the average Jane like myself...but it also undermines the prospects of the smaller companies. At the same time, it's good that these major companies are recognizing the need to change their corporate practices.

I guess it has been a while since I bought celestial seasonings tea, because I went to pick up my ever favorite Sleepytime flavor, and noticed the box had a new face! The CS company is now supporting fair trade, using recycled boxes, and has started to offer organic tea. It's a small way for a consumer like me to make a difference, but it's a good way to start. :)

And while I'm making plugs, I'll post more about this in a few weeks, but this is a co-operative where I usually buy most of my Christmas gifts www.agreatergift.org. It's just one of many wonderful companies that put our money into the hands of the very gifted, but impoverisheartisans who actually make the products. It is no small thing that they are then able to afford to send their children to the local schools, in hopes of them having a future with more opportunities!

Mac - n- cheese and finger painting

It's a sick day here at the M house. It all started on Saturday evening when I felt pain in my teeth. With the whole house being 100% healthy for the last 9 months, I forgot one of the warning signs of the harshest kind of cold for me - sinus aches and pains radiating from my teeth! The lovely cold snowballed gradually on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - and my activities this week tapered off after a grocery trip Monday, park trip Tuesday, and after shuffling through class last night like a zombie, all I can manage today at home with Dominic is serving up macaroni and cheese, finger painting, and several episodes of Calliou. Dominic has been so sweet about me being a dud this week. He has been so totally cool with me just hanging out with him, and not doing a THING. I promise, this wasn't supposed to turn into a "poor me" entry, but while I'm on the subject, I've only slept cumlatively maybe 10 hrs in the last 4 days. Trying to beat this cold the au naturale way is no fun, but baby #2 will thank me one day. :)

And now, what this post was really supposed to be about...my favorite artist enjoying his unopened birthday gift from 4 months ago for the first time. I finally found the perfect day to use it! I also included a random photo of him enjoying his tomato bisque soup, with gusto! It's better than slurping, and it's just so cute to watch. :) I'm going to go try to nap now, so I can muster the energy to sit outside with D after his nap and start on some homework. Wish me luck!

Simple Scones

I watch the Barefoot Contessa during Dominic's naptime and she got me ALL in a tizzy about her strawberry scones yesterday. They were on my mind ALL day yesterday and today. All I wanted was a warm, buttery, subtly sweet biscuit with some tea! Her recipe is simple as it is, but I made it even simpler. Granted, these are not the truest scones fit for the Queen, but my Americanized version hit the spot for me in a pinch!

*2.5 cups flour (I used bisquick)
*1/2 cup sugar
*1/2 stick butter melted
*1/2 cup milk (heavy whipping cream is more rich, vanilla or lemon yogurt also yields an interesting flavor and texture)
* A handful of whatever you have on hand (raisins, walnuts, chocolate chips, blueberries - I used lemon zest!)
*Last minute idea for flavor if you have nothing: add 2 tsp almond, vanilla or rum extract
*Stir everything together and drop spoonfuls on an ungreased cookie sheet (roll into triangles if desired ;)
*Bake on 425 for 10-15 mins
*Pour a tall glass of milk or your favorite tea and enjoy!

I've got 12 happy scones out on a plate cooling, and they're going fast! ;)