Habachi time

Our church supper club met at a Habachi grill this month, and I'm not sure we can go back to eating at each other's houses after all this - it's quite a tough act to follow! I am always amazed how quickly a meal for 8 is prepared on a hibachi grill, and it is so grandly entertaining (and DELICIOUS) too!!

Tennis anyone?

Waking up with this gorgeous weather, I was practically crawling out of my skin wanting to jump outside and play tennis. In my home growing up, my Dad took all 4 of us to play tennis every Saturday morning while my Mom got a few hours of peace and quiet to herself. ;) Like celebrating Mass, it's just not a weekend without it! We hit the courts this morning with our rackets and balls and the CUTEST ball boy in the world. :) We had the fortune of two courts side by side so we had space to spread out so Dominic had his own court to himself, safely out of the way while Mommy and Daddy hit power shots. And when he came back over to our side, we would hit light volleys with him. Afterwards we made time to play at the park before coming home for lunch. What a GREAT DAY!!!

Feels so good, feelin' good again

It may be the only Robert Earl Keen song I know, but I love it, and I'm hearing it in my head today. We're finally feeling better around here! Dominic and I had the same nasty cold that has been keeping us up intermittently every single night, coughing and sneezing up drainage for almost 2 weeks (yuck!) On the whole Dominic's sleep was not disturbed save for some coughing fits, but we did spend one night huddled over the edge of the bed and breathing in the humidifier together at 3 am. At which point I realized my happy-go-lucky child needed sleep despite the look of excitement on his face about being up late at night with me, and I gave him a little decongestant. Trying to beat colds with natural remedies has never been harder in my life than when pregnant, because I'm already battling some other minor discomforts and sleep disruptions. Dominic is a trooper though. I have so much to learn from him. He has been a GREAT sport and is his cheerful self through it all.

The good news is that I had plenty of quiet wee hours of the morning to be alone with my thoughts to pray, which was a good way to usher in the Lenten season and to remind me to bear my small sufferings with Christ's ultimate sacrifice in mind! It never ceases to amaze me how that perspective can transform my attitude!

We spent all morning outside with Elizabeth and her kiddos and the fresh, sunny air has us feeling good again! (Thanks guys! We LOVE you!) And thank you Lord for the return of good health! I'm only sad that my throaty-Norah Jones singing voice is gone until the next cold.... ;)

The church season of Lent begins today with Ash Wednesday

Taken from www.catholicculture.org

The time has now come in the Church year for the solemn observance of the great central act of history, the redemption of the human race by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In the Roman Rite, the beginning of the forty days of penance is marked with the austere symbol of ashes which is used in today's liturgy. The use of ashes is a survival from an ancient rite according to which converted sinners submitted themselves to canonical penance. The Alleluia and the Gloria are suppressed until Easter. Abstinence from eating meat is to be observed on all Fridays during Lent. This applies to all persons 14 and older. The law of fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday applies to all Catholics from age 18 through age 59. (There is fine print for people with special dietary needs and pregnant and nursing mothers, FYI)

Ash Wednesday prayer:
Lord, protect us in our struggle against evil. As we begin the discipline of Lent, make this day holy by our self-denial. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Festive February has begun!

February has always been my favorite month ;) with my birthday being on the 1st, Valentine's Day on the 14th and Bronius' birthday on the 11th, there's lots of card, cupcake and merry-making! Friday we went to my favorite favorite local restaurant for lunch, Saturday we had a Bronius and Julia birthday dinner with a small group of friends (our group is tapering off year after year as more people need babysitters - we wouldn't go anywhere either if it weren't for Bronius' wonderful Mom who helps us!) and today my parents brought us Indian food for lunch!!! :) Phone calls and emails and handmade cards from family and friends old and new, I am smiling ear to ear on my birthday weekend. I'm so thankful for my blessing-filled life, and hope to share these blessings out into the world to show my thankfulness!

Last week's highlights

Enjoying the super awesomely windy day on Monday

















I had the honor of visiting a student group whom I advised while at St. Mary's, and I gave a talk about incorporating service and servant-leadership into our education and careers. I miss working with this group!!!! :) (And I'm glad they didn't mind me sitting on the table to get off my feet at the end of the day!)

















A wagon ride to get the mail while chomping on peanuts :)


















Um, no wonder he didn't nap a few times last week - look at the evidence I found in his bed!!!

BLTs

My new lunch obsession. Toasted whole grain bread with mayo on each side, nice hearty, crunchy romaine leaves down first, then salted/peppered roma tomatoes, and then two pieces of center-cut organic bacon. I usually indulge in some sea salt vinegar chips and wild blueberries on the side, and make a strawberry banana smoothie to drink. So much better than the quiche lunch rut I had when I was pregnant with Dominic! I found a recipe that adds avocado slices to the sandwich...maybe I'll try that tomorrow... :)

Dominic cute-isms

We are snickering all the time about the cute little things Dominic is saying these days. Here are some highlights.

One that happens daily:

"May-ee, I want teddy bear."
"He's on the couch."
"GASP! Oh - my - gosh!!!!!" and runs away to retrieve teddy.
(He must really be listening to Mommies talking at playdates!)

When asked to do something like brush his teeth or find his shoes, the response is: "ummmmm...no thank you, Mommy."

When asked to do other random things, the response sometimes is "I caaaaaan't. I have tiny baby inside."

He loves to go over to our neighbor's "dog window" and talk to Soma all the time. Mainly, he tells Soma "Soma, don't scare the scary man. He's not rea-lt. He's just pretend. He's a toy." And if Soma barks at night while Dominic is trying to sleep, we hear him barking with him on the monitor and saying "Soma, calm down! Everything's okay!"

He has invented a kitty cat routine, out of the blue seemingly. He gets in a very sweet and demure mood, and just crawls between our legs and purrs (LOVES to do this when either of us get on the phone). Then he'll stand upright and say "I need some milk," and realize he is standing, so he'll fall to the ground and crawl away.

At Mass the other night, I started to sing the Alleluia, and Dominic said, "No Mommy. Don't sing the Oo La La!"

About 20 mins after placed in bed at night:

"I'm sccccaaared! I sccccaaared of the crescent moon!" (the glow in the dark moon painted in his bedroom)

More to come..........

New heights

New Heights

With the weather being so hostile this week, we have been taking Dominic EVERYWHERE, trying to tucker the poor chap out in the mornings so he will take good naps. That has been successful thankfully, but as it is 4:41 pm and he is *still* sleeping, I know we'll have a hard time getting him to bed by his usual bedtime of 8pm (which he has been pushing up and up b/c of these late naps!)

We took him to this bouncing facility, and he just ran right in, no timidity. He waited a bit to see what we would allow him to go on or not, and asked for help getting in, but in general, he was rip roaring to play. I was *hoping* he wouldn't see the bigger slides, as I'm generally not a big risk taker as a Mommy and encourage him not to be as well, but before I knew it, he and Daddy were scaling and climbing the slides like pros. I suppose it's good that Dominic has a Mom obsessed with safety, boundaries and parameters and a Daddy who just wants to freefall with fun ;) So here is his big debut on one of the bigger slides. I'm still trying to figure out how I'll be able to help him forget he already knows how to do this slide the next time we are there..... ;)

Tour of Montessori schools

Today we did a family tour of two of four (known) Montessori schools in our area. Most people are probably tired of hearing how much I push Montessori ;) but I've inherited a love for the system from my Mother in Law who is a specialist in the field and has taught this method for over 30 years. All of her children are living, breathing, very bright, sensitive and creative testaments to the method as they all went through her very own program (the school was located in a "cottage" behind the Motekaitis' country home growing up)...as well as many students who have grown up to do things in the world today (some of which we still run into here in town!)

I really hope everything works out for us in the Fall so that we can enroll Dominic in a Montessori program. From what I observed today, there is no time for tantrums, squabbles and mischevious behavior when children are kept as busy as they are at a Montessori center. They're given choices about how to spend their class time so that they learn best and enjoy their time best. They work together and singularly on tasks, everyone has a special job (washing, sorting, stacking, folding, scrubbing, polishing). It sounds a lot like child labor ;) but I assure you, I've pretty much not ever seen happier and more engaged children. These "jobs" give them such a sense of independence and accomplishment. All the activities are as basic, natural and homemade as can be, so as to allow their imaginations to flourish. They even maintain their own garden outside, the kids do the composting and watering! They have animals that they all take turns feeding and holding. The list goes on and on!

Here is a synopsis of Montessori if anyone wants to learn more: http://www.montessori.edu/FAQ.html#QUESTIONS

Really everything pends on potty training at this point, which is going pretty well, and to some degree, what baby number 2's needs will be (as he will be 4 mths old when Dominic begins in a program). I am continuing to pray that God will lead us to the best place for our family, as He always has. :)

Flashlight part 2

Flashlight Fun

Fit Mama

With the weather being so yucky, and potty training keeping us close to home, exercising has been tricky for me in this pregnancy. But I found this GREAT prenatal fitness video which combines salsa dancing and yoga and pregnancy-geared exercises and it is awesome. I put it on at night when Dominic is sleeping (since he shouts "no Mommy!!!!! NO DANCING!!!!" when I try to do it when he is awake). So much for my salsa dance partner!

Moby Wrap Demo

This is mostly so that every time I visit my blog, I remember to practice doing the moby wrap. I am a very impatient person, and as simple as this lovely mommy model makes it look, I know I am going to need lots of test runs before I'm a pro like her! :) Maybe this demo will be helpful for others who are thinking of trying a moby wrap! :)

Back from our camping trip!!!!

Welcome to the Dino Park! (It got 8 thumbs up from all of us!)




















Petting the baby T-rex hatchling. Dominic finally found some friends his own size!

















Rounding the corner at the Dino Park to see the T-REX! Look at Dominic's face!
























Generously sharing a cracker with the T Rex. He *does* look a little peckish.

















My husband the ham, always making me laugh. Do you think he might have missed his calling? ;)





















A park at the end of the dino trail, complete with a dig for "dino" bones too! They had a GREAT gift shop with lots of hands on activities for children. This park was dino-myte!!! ;)
















Time for the BEST tomato bisque soup and toasted BLT sandwiches in the whole wide world! Dominic was ravenous, so were we!
















Roasting marshmellows with Daddy



















The "freeze dip" manuever Daddy invented just for Dominic



















Cuddling with my favorite 2 year old





























































Just wanted to share some pictures with you guys of our weekend wilderness retreat! We enjoyed our lovely cabin hidden in the Lost Pines of Texas, complete with a front porch jacuzzi and hammock, wood burning fireplace and all kinds of amenities to make our lives as homey as possible! :) (Thanks for the recommendation, Buchan family!!!)

We took nature walks on the camp grounds (and happened across a lone, broken foosball table at the community pavilion, which occupied us while we waited for dinner to finish baking), visited a Dinosaur Park ( to rival those many, random, side-of-the-road theme parks of Florida that I recall with fondness), had Greek food, visited a Belgian chocolatier and brought home truffles and bon bons (sorry folks, they're all gone now!), celebrated Mass at one of the historic painted churches of Central Texas, roasted marshmellows in the fireplace and had time to write, read and nap too! We were welcomed home by Senele with love (as her country home was right on our path home) and her homemade bombas (GIANT potato dumplings filled with her famous homemade cottage cheese, and then smothered in bacon and chive bits with plenty of sour cream).

Now we're back to reality (booooo!) planning for the start of Bronius' new job, my course work and most importantly - baby! We're trying to hold on to the memories of peace and simplicity as best we can though! :) Continued wishes for simplicity, peace and wellness for all of us in the new year!

Family Friday Fun

Having a ball in the the ball pit


























It even had SpRiNkLeS on top!

















Wish I would have remembered a poodle skirt! :)

















I think I'd like a piece of pecan pie now.















Bronius had a day off work today, and so we took advantage of the time together to check out a tot gym we wanted to visit and have burgers and milkshakes at a vintage diner. This diner car was purchased from NY over ebay and brought back down south to our little town to be opened as an operating restaurant! Great food and ambiance. Then we stopped by a beautiful furniture store to let Dominic burn off more energy on this drizzly and cold day, as we dreamed of opulent furnishings for our house. ;)

Glorious weather

Our picnic







Making Mommy nervous as he embraces nature.








Listening intently to "The Tale of Peter Rabbit," a regular feature in the bedtime story line up.











We spent almost all weekend outside this past weekend! The weather was just exceptionally beautiful! We took a picnic lunch to our favorite park, and fed the ducks, and took Dominic for a ride in his wagon, spent all afternoon in the backyard on the swing set and took advantage of some lovely sunsets to walk some more together. I am happy to see the weather seems to be continuing in this fashion this week. It was this weather 6 years ago that convinced me to move to town without a second thought (my fiancee and job at St. Mary's were also great pluses!)


We were also pretty excited about two big firsts this weekend - our first outing with Dominic sans diaper, which went quite well, and Dominic's first time to go to the Children's Liturgy at Mass. We were sitting at the back of the church and a friend of ours happened to be leading the group this week, and asked us casually if Dominic wanted to join. Before we had the chance to refuse, Dominic slipped off the pew from in between us, went to grab her hand, and started walking off with the (older)kids with out so much as a glance backwards at us. We were stunned. He stayed there the full half hour while we got to pay attention to the Gospel and the sermon - it was BLISS! And this week the children were learning about baptism, the leaders were demonstrating for them with a baby doll and water, since our Gospel this Sunday was about the baptism of Jesus by St. John the Baptist. Dominic came back hopping, as usual, and talking about "drop-tizing the baby, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit." Could we be more proud?!?!!!!!! :)

Middle of the night movie review

After waking up from a very disappointing dream about frantically searching for a favorite ice cream flavor in a familiar store that had completely rearranged their freezer section (how sad is that?) I woke up and am unable to get back to sleep! Before I go get my book in hopes of lulling myself to sleep, I wanted to mention this GREAT movie B and I watched tonight on t.v. It was called "The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio" starring Julianne Moore. Has anyone seen it? It's a true story about a resourceful mother of 10 children who leans on her sparkling wit and her way with words to enter into multiple contests to keep her struggling family afloat. It's funny, heartwarming and so artistically done! Here is a website that goes into more detail about the real story - but RENT it if you can (all mommies should!) It is airing on Encore this month, so you may be able to see it on t.v.

www.theprizewinner.com/ (still trying to debug the issue of not being able to include live links....)

Week's highlights

There have been some nice highlights to our week thus far:





1) My sister Les came to celebrate her birthday with us! We spent the day together and ate at her favorite local sandwich shop for dinner, and came home for chocolate strawberry shortcakes, adorned with cream that Dominic helped make :) I treasure my time with my siblings, it is such a gift that we are all such great friends.

2) I have been using my new grill pan to make EVERYTHING - grilled cheese sandwiches, grilled chicken, fish and steak, veggies - I am finally more pleased with the meals coming out of my kitchen, and right in time for cooking meals for multiple friends who have had babies in the last month! Thanks Mom for the pan!







3) My belly popped! (Which may be in part due to the holidays....)I am feeling AWESOME, no complaints whatsoever. I am really enjoying the sensations of "tiny" rolling around and I'm imagining how he will look, and what his personality will be like as God knits him together in my tummy. There is much more to reflect on and imagine the second time around!








4) Our friend Eric helped us put up the swing set in our backyard which we inherited from friends, thanks Bullinger family! And I put out the soccer training set which Dominic got for Christmas, thanks Mom and Dad! He usually plays "goalie" when we play together, where I explain to him that he must stop me from kicking the ball in. Today he got innovative and knocked over the entire net as I kicked the ball in. ;)

5) In Dominic-land - we've made GREAT strides with potty training in the last 2 weeks, we're enjoying his growth in attention span to books with more plot development (which has me running and skipping to the library often twice a week to fetch more selections), and also growth in listening and expressing himself and his feelings. We also got him signed up for hot shots pee wee soccer. I'm especially enjoying my one-on-one time with Dominic these days, I am soaking them up. He is so much fun to be around!!!!!

6) After watching the latest production on PBS, I have re-discovered reading Jane Eyre. I can not put this book down for the life of me. I've even skipped naps to read it! I've got "Inklings" and "Musicophilia" lined up next on the bedstand. Probably a little ambitious, but I want lots of options when we go camping soon!

We're hoping to finish off the week by going to Luigi's to expose Dominic to some live jazz...and then we have a visit from my parents to look forward to this weekend. I'm definitely living up these last few days before online classes start for me! (I've been blogging-busted so gotta go now - Dominic is swiveling me around in my chair to hint to me that I am done now... so good of him to remind me!)

Welcome 2008

Bonnie's visit :)

















B's buds Chris and Adam spent the afternoon at our house on New Year's Day.












Inspired by the timeless Beatrix Potter books, Dominic requested to walk through the wood like Peter Rabbit.








How our very kinesthetic child usually watches t.v.









What a nice low-key weekend we had! Friday night my good friend Bonnie came to visit on her break from med school, and we spent the evening chattering away at Sweet Eugene's and devouring a giant piece of chocolate cake. Saturday my brother came in to town for the basketball game (or, erhem, as he would say, to "visit us, and then see the game" ;. We took our Christmas tree to be recycled and received a sapling in return which Dominic and Bronius planted already together in the yard. Last night I cooked us a delish dinner and we watched an indie film (my favorite kind of Saturday night thing to do). Sunday after Mass we celebrated the Feast of the Three Kings with a yummy lunch at Senele's house, and much to our delight, we found gifts that the Kings had left for us! :) And we finished the evening by visiting our neighbor who is terminally ill and receiving hospice care, and Bronius shared a little music therapy by playing his violin. Dominic was fascinated with the Grandfather clock the whole time, and a secret stash of peanut M&M's which he found in a porcelain jar somewhere. Buttons and candy, my child will find them ANYwhere! I'm getting ready to watch the conclusion of Jane Eyre on PBS tonight (too bad I can't read along fast enough in the book!) and prepare the house for my sister Lesley's visit tomorrow, as today is her birthday and we have a special sister day to look forward to! Weekends always go too fast. :)

Retro Space room

After all the fun we had at Space Center last week, we sort of caught a space bug, and I think it's going to be the theme for Dominic's new big boy room. (We may change our minds in the next month, but so far, so good ;)

I saw these pictures online and just got all excited. So I'm now on the hunt for retro space junk, essentially. ;) Anything spacy that looks like it would fit in a 50's diner is going to be the theme. Ebay, here I come! ;)