Thanksgiving!

And now, bless the God of all,

    who has done wondrous things on earth;

Who fosters people’s growth from their mother’s womb,

    and fashions them according to his will!

May he grant you joy of heart

    and may peace abide among you...

-Sirach 50:22-23

We hosted for most of the last month. However, this Thanksgiving we celebrated with only immediate family and a couple of neighbors, who joined us before our meal. The weather was extremely windy, dry, and 80*. So, DH scrapped plans for smoking and brined and roasted this delicious bird. He marinated it with cinnamon, cloves, and a few other spices, stuffed it with apples and persimmons, and turned it into a masterpiece.

We are serious about being healthy, especially after my previous delivery. So, we only splurged on the unhealthy foods we really enjoy. The kids wanted both apple and pumpkin pies. And we decided to pick up King's Hawaiian rolls at the last minute. Otherwise, it was protein and vegetables, prepared by DH.

One of our neighbors is a Bears fan. So, he joined us with his eldest for an hour or so. It is really nice to have neighbors who pop by.

Our next-door neighbor came over in the afternoon with a Chimay; and we exchanged photography notes.

All of the Christmas decorations were pulled out on Friday morning. The Fifth stared lovingly at photos of himself and his siblings:

This one dressed partly formally. He decided to put a clip-on tie at the second-button spot of this shirt. Naturally, I noticed it when we were already at Mass.

This one has gained some Olympic-level focusing skills:

Thank you, Jesus, for our tremendous year!

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Baby's First Dip in the Ocean

How can I repay the Lord for all his goodness to me?/ The chalice of salvation I will raise, and I will call on the name of the Lord.

-Psalm 116

We are learning how to be parents of six still. How do we successfully go to the beach? Today I told all the kids they must walk at the speed of the Fifth. It was too much power for him; and he decided to sit down very slowly every 20' while the siblings begged him to move.

Afterward, I simply told him he would be left behind. That was much more effective. So, when he's in therapy with abandonment issues, let it be known that the alternatives didn't work.

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Overheard

 "Our God is mighty to say!" -Sweet Pea confidently belting out the wrong lyrics.

"It's 'mighty to SAVE!'" -Engineer

"Aw, I can't talk right because I lost a tooth!"

 

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Working from Home

This has been his favorite part of the pandemic. We're at 20 months of telework, which tells you how well we get along. ❤

 

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Necessary, But Not Sufficient

This phrase gets used often in our home. Today, the context was good looks.

"Jimmy* wants to marry me." -Sweet Pea

"How do you know?"

"He told me ... But I don't want to marry him ... The only thing is he looks good. He has that gelled, combed hair."

"And that doesn't quite do it for you? Good looks are 'necessary but not sufficient'?"

[Laughter. Runs off to beach to be a kid again. 😅]

(Also, why are we having this conversation?! But I am glad she tells me what's on her mind. It's easier to parent her because of that.)

*Changed name

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Christ the King

 Challenging and so good:

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Four Months of Sol!

 "Do you have a family history of large heads?" 

-a serious question by the doctor to which I 😂.

He's very social, meeting all the milestones.

Stats, not adjusted for premies: 

Weight: 13 lbs., 4.2 oz., 15th%

Height: 25.5", 60th%

Head: 17.13", 93rd%

When your siblings get your mom's phone:

Here he is at Birth, Two Weeks, One Month, and Two Months.

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Overheard

During a particularly loud moment in our home, I hear DH pray out loud Psalm 23:

The Lord is my Shepherd. There is nothing I shall want!

Sweet Pea, incredulous: There's nothing you want?!

 

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Sweet Child of Mine

Music has been carrying us through lately. All of it: praise, chant, pop, etc. Tonight, I was playing Greta Van Fleet and told the kids, "the band is of brothers and named after a grandmother." The Firstborn said, "and this song must be about their mother... 'So sweet ... So nice.'" I absolutely love having prepubescent boys! I will tuck that in my heart and remember  it when he's a teenager.

 

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Mr. Serious

Lately, he catches every bug going around and sits on the rocking chair and shouts "Mystery Mousketool!" at each Mickey Mouse Clubhouse prompt. I'm starting to think he's intentionally getting sick... The school secretary caught him snickering the last time I picked him up due to "illness." But he is sick here, poor thing!

His siblings, especially the Engineer, have been fantastic at triage. The other day, I returned from the grocery store and Mr. Serious showed me his scratched up chest (below). He told me he fell out of a tree. I asked if he skinned his chest on the concrete. He said, no the branches cut him as he fell. And, he said, the Engineer cleaned him up and put Neosporin on it. "Did Dad tell him to do that?" I asked. "No, I just did it," the Engineer jumped in. He also made a bag of ice for the Fourth's head when it gently touched the desk. We may be creating a monster... 😂😅🤦

 

In the image above, I had just jumped into the pool with all my clothes on and my smart phone in my pocket to save his life. So we are winning all over the place here! 💪💪💪

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Sweet Pea Loses A Tooth

This was her first tooth lost; and she was so excited. She gained a dollar and brought her tooth to school to give to her teacher. 😂😅❤

 

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Cleaning Up

We attended a couple of galas recently. I love events such as these and could do them every night.

When parents go out one night per year:

 

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Cousin Visit!

Our sweet cousin, Laura, visited us during a friend's wedding trip. We had a lovely time catching up and seeing some local sites. The kids, especially Sweet Pea, loved having another girl in the home! (It's still hard to believe we live in a wedding and vacation destination!)

 

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Smiling!

He's acting like a 3-month-old: smiling, trying to roll (Engineer tells me baby rolled for him while I was making dinner.), cooing and trying to engage in conversation. His neck is stable. He can be held at the hip; and I'm grateful to have one more chance to hold a baby that way. Everyone sneaks time alone with him. It's adorable. He is so loved. ❤

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The Big 4-5!

 Our main man turned 45 this week. We gave him all of his requests: strawberry pretzel pie, Thai food, and a clean home.

DH is such a good man. It's hard to describe what he means to us. He's the foundation upon which we all depend, after God. He makes everything possible through his hard work and determination. He's a supportive husband and father. He loves God and puts things in their proper order.

He always says the exact right thing. Whenever I'm down, he tells me precisely what I need to hear. He is wise and pragmatic. He wants me to succeed and works with me toward our goals. I'm always amazed and grateful that God gave me such a good communicator.

The kids love him so much. He plays with them, helps them with homework, and gives them tough love when necessary. E.g. "You can do this, and you will have it done in 5 minutes or your Legos will go away for a week." He lets them know that men tell the truth and do hard things. These boys (and Sweet Pea) will be fine with DH at the helm. I am so proud of him!

He lives this admonition of Pope St. John Paul II, "Do not forget that true love sets no conditions; it does not calculate or complain, but simply loves."

Taking stock of our birthdays together: 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, and 34. Happy birthday, Love!

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So Good!

And also will make you look up "insouciance." Thank you, Bishop Barron. LOL. This is exactly how I felt going into surgery on July 14th:

 During a period of intense drought, the prophet Elijah comes to the town of Zarephath, where he meets a widow gathering sticks. He asks the woman for food and drink. When she responds that she has precisely enough to provide one last meal for herself and her son before they die, he says, with almost comic insouciance, make me a little cake and bring it to me. The lady has just told the prophet that she has practically nothing left, and yet he asks her to give. Trusting in the holy man, perhaps hoping against hope, she does what he  commands and the jar of flour did not go empty, nor the jug of oil run dry, as the Lord had foretold through Elijah. The miracle is meant to illustrate a basic truth of the spiritual life, which Saint John Paul II characterized as “the law of the gift.” It can be articulated as follows: “your being increases in the measure that you give it away.” By a natural instinct, we cling to the goods of the world and try thereby to protect and aggrandize  ourselves. But this conduces, paradoxically, to a diminishment of the self; we find that we lose the little that we think we have. On the other hand, when we give away that which  we have received through God’s grace, we find that more grace arrives. And when we give that away, still more arrives, and then still more, until we discover, finally, water welling up to eternal life (Jn 4:14). Or as Jesus puts it in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke: Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap.

-Bishop Robert Barron, Magnificat, 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

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Deep Thoughts in Magnificat

As my heart is made to possess you entirely, and as you alone are able to satisfy its great expanse, grant me the grace to look for no one but you and to attach myself to nothing but you. May all my efforts unite themselves to draw you into my heart and to keep you

there. 

-Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie Cormier

 *DH birthday coming soon!

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Today's Psalm

Wait for the LORD with courage;
    be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

-Psalm 27:14

 

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Sunday Night

"Two are better than one: They get a good wage for their toil. If the one falls, the other will help the fallen one." 

-Ecclesiastes 4:9

We trick-or-treated with some good friends. I'm so edified by the good people in our lives!

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