This Monday

Right now... it is 5:48 AM.  And I just heard Gabriel's alarm clock go off telling him it's time to get up and get ready for school.  It's dark and quiet and I haven't turned on a light yet so I can't see my key board.

This weekend...Andy worked a lot.  I can't really remember too much else.  Oh yes. On Saturday I was outside with the two little ones quite a bit.  We have a tree that is loosing a lot of leaves.  It's not near being bare or anything it is just loosing enough so that I need to rake in the hopes I can keep some of the grass in my yard alive as it has been so dry much of the grass that was thin and not doing that well anyway because of all the shade in my yard is brown now.  Depressing. 

The two little ones helped me rake.  It was fun.  Clare actually raked some of the leaves while I put the leaves in the wagon to take over to our compost pile.  I usually do the raking while the kids help me put the leaves in the wagon for as long as it holds their attention.  One time they got on top of the leaves in the wagon and I gave them a ride to the compost pile where they helped me put the leaves in the compost.  Again. It was fun.

When we were done with this Clare asked if she could take her tricycle out and ride it on the sidewalk as she usually just rides it down the hill in our back yard.  I was kind of surprised at how well she did.  There is a little bit of a slope on our street and she rode both up and down very well.  She was starting to get the hang of using the handle bars while she was pedaling to keep herself straight rather than just stopping and moving the tricycle with her feet. 

Later that day Clare and I rode our bike (she in the trailer) to get stamps, make phtoto copies, and spend  money on supplies for a certain craft when I really should have waited for the next pay day to get them.

On Sunday we slept late and Andy made the usual scones for breakfast.  We went to 1:30 Latin Mass.  After making chicken sandwiches for supper from the Chicken left over from Saturday I took Clare and Ephrem for a bike ride to the park.  It seems to get dark so quickly these days so I tried to get out earlier than usual so it wasn't completely dark for the ride home.  It was really beautiful out side and there were quite a few people at the park. 

Some plans for this week...It would be nice to get some cleaning done and get the clutter under control.  I have a basement that I would really like to make a pleasant place for kids to play and do other activities.  I also have a pile of stuff that needs to be taken to Good Will.  I really just need to make these things a priority.  I need to email people today and get some business done.  I also need to send Andy some phone numbers at work and make sure he calls about applying student loans payments to the principal and not to postpone the next payment.  (This should be the default anyway!)  There is much more but I can't think of it right now.

If I can find sometime for myself I would like to...think about what to do for Clare's and Gabe's upcoming birthdays.

Some prayer intentions for this week...For a beautiful family who's Dad has just been diagnosed with colon cancer and will be having surgery this morning.  They are also expecting their tenth child in 9 weeks.  For Andy that he will get his work done satisfactorily and can find some time to sleep and just relax.  That I can be more consistent in disciplning my two little ones aged almost 4 and 2. 

I am grateful for...this morning quiet time.

Something that makes me smile...

Hearing Ephrem tell Clare in the morning when they get up and I am still in bed.  "Gonna go look at Mama"  and then he comes in and snuggles in and gives me a book to read to him.