November 30: First Sunday of Advent!

Day 204

Today is the first Sunday of Advent. I love Advent. It's the beginning of the Catholic liturgical year and it's a time of preparation. When I teach about Advent in CCD, I always say that Advent is like a microcosm of a life. We are meant to spend Advent preparing for Christmas...the coming of Christ. In the same way, we are meant to spend our lives preparing for Christ's second coming OR our meeting with Christ when we die. It seems every year the preparations for Christmas begin earlier and earlier. The world is desperate for Christmas because of the joy and cheer and peace it represents. Our world is starved for Christ we are desperate for Him. I can't help but think that the creeping Christmas season is just our world's way of crying out for Jesus.

On a less preachy note, my purge today is a sleeper. It's long enough for Peter, but it's so loosey-goosey that his legs come out of the holes and the shoulders get all misaligned. Peter wiggles so much that he needs a bit more structure.

November 29: Material

Day 203

We've been having lots of fun in Missouri. Clint and I went to see Dumb and Dumber To yesterday and while I was glad I saw it, it's not something I'd watch again. It was just a little too forced. Oh well. It was the first time Clint and I had been to a movie together since before Peter was born.

We've been doing a lot of thrifting too. I've bought a variety of items from books to sweaters to nativity pieces.

My purge today is a nearly full yard of material. I bought this material for a project, but the project didn't work out.

November 28: Black Cardigan

Day 202

My purge today is a black cardigan.

This is my dad's hairstyle this morning:

November 27: Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 201

My BFF Caroline recently gave me this little book as a present for Peter.

All was well until we reached the last page:

Auuuuggghhhhhhh! The Horror! The one animal I cannot abide is a snake. Snakes scare the living daylights out of both me and Clint, so I'm afraid this book just won't work for us.

In other news....it's Thanksgiving! This is one of my favorite holidays. My whole family was together and my mom's food is dreamworthy. We stick to the traditional stuff...turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, rolls and cranberry sauce. The one specialty item we have is cranberry butter...it's soooo delicious on mom's rolls. We had such a great day and the boys were so cute together!

Max and Greta wearing their turkey hats!

This is Max's favorite pose. He's either going to propose or join a football huddle.

The three sisters and their three boys.

Great-grandma Flaim and Peter

November 26: On the Road Again

Day 200

My more faithful readers have probably realized that it's been a while since I've posted, reason being that we've been in MO for Thanksgiving and we've been having a such a good time that I haven't had time to post anything.

Anyway, today is my big 200th purge! Huzzah! Today I'm purging a breast pump that a coworker gave me when I was pregnant with Peter. I ended up getting one through my insurance company so I never used this one.

 

I didn't take too many pictures today, but here's one of my nephew Jude. He's almost one year old and he's walking now! When the boys are all together, they sure do have a resemblance!

Feed me more lasagna!

 

November 25: Happy Birthday Uncle Joe!

Day 199

So clearly, my family has a lot of November birthdays. Clint's brother Joe and my sister Abby were both born in November of 1979...only 4 days apart! Today, happy birthday to Uncle Joe Joe!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is day #200 of my purge! I'm not sure when or if I'll be posting tomorrow as the holiday is interrupting my normal routine.

Today I'm purging this statue of Mary. I've had the statue for a long time, but last year, she fell of the bookshelf and her head broke off. We glued her head back on, but since she's made of plaster it looks a bit strange now. I'd like to get an outdoor statue of Mary eventually.

I also want to remark that my prayers today are with the people in Ferguson and St. Louis, MO - especially my siblings and my friends Kathleen and Micahel.

On a lighter note: I read this headline the other day "American Pigs Too Fat For Ham."

November 24: Prune Face

Day 198

Peter got ahold of his empty container of prunes...much to my dismay.

Look Mama,

I feeded myself!

(heh, heh, heh)

Today I'm purging a pretty bowl that I've had for ages. It's just time to let it go. I love bowls, but I've got more than I can use already!

November 23: Cooler

Day 197

All of a sudden...Peter can sit up! I came home from work on Saturday and we were playing on the floor. I thought "Well, I'll just try to sit him up and see what happens." And he did it!

I don't like sitting up by myself Mama!

In these photos Peter is watching his Holy Baby DVD. This DVD has simple, religious songs, a tiny of bit of animation and bright colorful live images combined with the prayers of the Rosary. Peter loves this DVD. He smiles as soon as he hears the music and if something gets in his way, like his bottle, he'll bat the bottle out of his way and crane his neck to see the TV. It's only 30 minutes, so I don't feel too guilty about letting Peter watch the program! It's perfect for winding down before bedtime.

Today I'm purging Clint's old blue cooler.

That old blue cooler, ain't what it used to be

November 22: Diapers

Day 196

In the past, I've explained that Clint and I cloth diaper Peter the majority of the time...at least we did until his surgery. We've been using disposable diapers since the surgery due to the extra absorbancy.

We use/d what are known as "prefold" diapers, which are about the size of dish towels and they are somewhat fluffy. Before Peter was born, we (I) did a lot of research on cloth diapers and found some local deals on some newborn diapers that are called "all-in-ones." All-in-ones are diapers that are just like disposables, only they can go in the wash. Unfortunately, these some of these newborn diapers did not fit Peter all that well...he needed the prefolds because you can get a snugger fit. What can I say, my kid has skinny legs! I recently posted four of these all-in-one diapers on my local online marketplace for $20. They sold within the week and are now officially purged from my life!

I've also written about saying goodbye to Clint and Peter when I drive to work on Saturday mornings...they stand at the door or on the porch and wave and blow kisses. this morning, Peter took blowing kisses to a new level:

As soon as Clint held him up to the door, he put his hands, mouth and nose on the glass. It mad it really hard for me to leave!

Another Petie update...his toes now touch the ground when he's in his walker! When did my teeny-tiny preemie get so big?

November 21: Happy Birthday Abby!

Day 195

Today is the birthday of my oldest sister, Abby. It's also Gus's birthday. Gus is my oldest nephew on Clint's side. Happy Birthday Augustus!

I have very few memories of Abby from when I was little. She was seven years older than me and I don't remember a lot of Abby "BC" (before college). When Abby finished college and moved back near home, we began to know each other as sisters and as friends. One of the best memories I have of my sister and I together is a trip we took to the Lake of the Ozarks to shop. I was in high school and it was the first time I got to go to the Lake without mom...mom is many wonderful things, but fun to shop with is not one of them. It was also the first time Abby invited me to go anywhere with her, just her and I. We had so much fun that day. As we were driving home we went through a drive-thru for dinner and I remember that they gave us an extra order of fries. We thought that was pretty awesome. Ever since then, Abby has been one of my best friends. I still love going to the Lake with Abby. Even though I live far away now, we still talk all the time and it's fun that our boys, Max and Peter, are just four days apart. I love you Abby - Happy Birthday!!

Today I'm purging a lamp that I got from my Grandma Flaim's house. It doesn't work, but the local thrift store refurbishes lamps, so I'm going to donate it anyway.

Petie was being a little dickens this morning. He woke up at about 5 AM, which of course wakes us up. He was making quite a racket and Clint informed me that Petie was using his legs to beat on the wall between our bedrooms: "Mom and Dad, it's time to get up!" Clever little devil. As soon as I pick him up he gets this big smile on his face: "I win!"

November 20: John Deere Green

Day 194

I've been reading a lot recently about how most people are walking around with a Vitamin D deficiency. I believe it. Recently, I started taking a supplement with Vitamin D in it, and I feel about a million times better. I have more energy, more mental clarity and my mood is improved. When I went to college in the bleak northeastern corner of MO, almost everyone I knew had seasonal depression in the winter because there was never any sunlight. Too bad I didn't take a Vitamin D supplement back then!

I'm really getting a jump on Christmas presents. Clint and I have a small spending limit on each other, so I'm almost done purchasing his gifts, and for Petie, Clint and I are going to abide by the 4-gift rule: something to wear, something to read, something he wants, something he needs. We'll also do a stocking for him. All I have left to get Petie is something he needs which could be anything from formula to A&D ointment to wipes. The hardest category for me to hold back on is something to read...I want to get Petie some more faith-based books so I got him two for his gift and one for his stocking. It's a justifiable purchase, I try to read to him everyday and there are some books we've already read A LOT (Like the story of St. Juan Diego-Thanks uncle Sammy!)

I haven't had much extra time this week, so I haven't taken any pictures of Petie. I'll try and do better over the weekend. Poor Petie. When I went in to check on him after my CCD class last night, he'd been sick in his bed and he was really upset. I got his bed changed and his clothes changed. I'm not sure what caused him to be sick, but it always makes us feel terrible and helpless.

My purge today is a john deer bucket. I was big into agriculture when I was in high school and I started collecting random bits and pieces of John Deere kitsch. It doesn't really go along with my lifestyle anymore!

Since I don't have any recent pictures, I thought I'd post a couple of my honeymoon pics from Ireland.

I do like to be beside the seaside...you should have seen all the Irelanders laying on the grass enjoying the rare sunshine!

Probably the best photographic homage to me, ever.

November 19: Bug Glass

Day 193

Some time ago, I purchased this "stained glass" at a thrift shop. For whatever reason, I was deeply in love with this purchase for a time, until I realized that it was actually pretty ratty and didn't look so nice in our house. The picture is quite lovely though.

November 18: Devil in the White City

Day 192

One of my favorite books is Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, but today I'm purging it.

Since it's about 6 degrees here every morning and reaches a high of a bout 19 degrees every afternoon, we've been getting quite a lot of use of Petie's winter "coat."

He looks like a baby-blue michilen man when he wears it. Yesterday evening, Petie was wearing short sleeves and I thought he might be getting cold, so I told Clint to go put a jacket on him. When Petie and Clint reappeared, Clint had dressed Petie in his winter coat.

November 17: Deals Galore!

Day 191

This morning I went grocery shopping and it was triumphant. I had been cutting out coupons for a while and combined with the savings from my shoppers card, I saved about $30. It was awesome! The picture below shows some of my best deals.

The laundry detergent was $9. The Eggland's Best Eggs were $2.44. The ground turkey was just $2.25! The butter was on such a good sale that I bought two. It was $3 for a lb. This seemed like a good price to me. The 4-pk of hawaiian roles was just $0.69 and the garlic bread loaf was $1.69 - both from the day-old bread rack. Finally, the large, concentrated Dawn was just $0.99! This was the deal of the century. I've finally come to understand how people become addicted to couponing. At least I didn't buy 75 bags of Jolly Rancher or 60 bottles of body wash just to prove a point, all the things I bought I needed.

My purge today isa collection of poems by Robert Frost. You can see Petie in the background. He loves to lay on our bed and look up at the fan. This can keep him happy for a long time.

November 16: Magic School Bus

Day 190

Today I'm purging another Magic School Bus VHS.

November 15: Anita Shreve IV and MORE SNOW!

Day 189

Here we are, only half way through November, and it's already snowed twice. I was talking to my sister the other day and we agreed that even though it's cold and the winter is supposed to be a bear, it reminds us of the winters of our youth. Winter, in our estimation, is supposed to be cold and snowy!

View outside this morning.

Today I'm purging my last Anita Shreve book. This one is the most famous.

I tried to get a good picture of Petie for the blog this morning and all I ended up with were some blurry photos and these:

Hey baby. Wanna go for a spin in my high chair?

November 14: Anita Shreve III

Day 188

Today we had to go back to Overland Park, KS for Peter's follow up appointment. Once again, as we did in August for his consultation, we drove for four hours, had a 10 minute appointment and drove back home. We did stop at Free State Brewing Co. in Lawrence again for lunch. It was delicious, but Petie was not very cooperative. I had one of their seasonal meals, which was a poached pear salad with an almond encrusted cheese patty and little croquettes. Yumm! Then we drove 4 hours back home. Sitting in a car all day is hard on all of us. Clint drives and I sit in back with Petie. Peter is so good in the car, but by the end of our drive yesterday, we were all ready to stretch out!

Another Shreve book is being purged today. This one is another of my favorites. In fact it may have been the first Shreve book I ever read. In the book, the main character spends a lot of time looking for sea glass, which is a glass that's been made smooth by being tossed around in the ocean. If I lived by the sea, I would totally do this in all my spare time. (I actually found some when we were in Ireland). One thing I love about Anita Shreve's characters are their names. The main character in this book is Honora.

November 13: Anita Shreve II

Day 187

Holy macaroni! Yesterday I went to my local thift shop because they switched everything over to Christmas. Yowza! They do Christmas in a big way. They basically take all the normal merchandise out of the store and replace it with everything Christmas. It's overwhelming. I ended up purchasing some tree lights, a wreath for my door and an illuminated Santa for my porch. I also found a new, fantastic ugly sweatshirt for Christmastime. It's surprisingly cozy. I need to take some pictures of this stuff because it is all so fabulous.

Tonight is another German cooking class featuring "schnitzel with noodles" aka one of Frauline Maria's favorite things in the Sound of Music.

I'm purging another Shreve book today.

Her books are nice "beach reading" as most of them take place on the coast.

November 12: Anita Shreve I

Day 186

Anita Shreve is one of my favorite authors. Her prose is beautiful, but what I really like is that in several of her novels, she uses the same house but different time periods for the setting. I think it's so cool when authors create subtle universes this way and weave stories together without a "series." The Last Time They Met is my favorite Shreve book. The ending is one of the best I've ever read in any book. I'm purging several Shreve books this week because even though I love them, I don't usually reread books. There's too many books in the world to reread the same ones over and over again!

November 11: Veterans Day

Day 185

The special occasions just keep coming! Happy Veterans Day to all those who have fought- or are fighting -in America's wars. May God bless you and keep you and your family's safe from harm. Today I want to especially pray for the souls of my grandfather's, both of whom served in WWII.

Guess what? It snowed last night. The temperature dropped like a rock yesterday and the wind was fierce. This morning we woke to 15 degree temperatures and snow! Only in KS...or Kirksville.

Today I'm purging yet another book. Big Whoop.

November 10: Marine Corps Birthday

Day 184

Perhaps I've never mentioned this, but my father-in-law is a Marine and a veteran. We are so proud of him and his service to our country. November 10th is the birthday of the Marine Corps which was founded in 1775, so Craig always takes the day off. It's bow-hunting season in Kansas, so Clint and his brother Matt went to the farm to hunt deer with their dad today. From what I understand, their dad didn't get to do much hunting, but Clint and his brother enjoyed freezing their tails off in the frigid dusk. I will never understand why men love sitting silently in a freezing cold tree for hours on end. Oh well. Clint enjoyed himself.

Meanwhile, I was home all day with Peter. All was well until about 2 PM, when he decided to scream his head off for the rest of the day. Actually, he would only scream when I put him down, so as long as I was holding him and walking around he was fine. As you can imagine, I had an incredibly productive day ;)

After his nap. Notice the bed-head!

Peter loves the lids from his baby food. I found three of them in his high chair later in the evening.

My purge today is a book on Frank Sinatra.

Fly me to the moon.