Outside my window…the birds are chirping, the bees are buzzing and the mosquitoes are biting.  The vegetable garden is planted, the flower boxes are refreshed, and there is a whole new assortment of flowering pots to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.  We are READY for spring.

I am remembering…Andrew’s comment at lunch the other day.  He really wanted some more cantaloupe (after two servings of his own!).  Just as I filled up my fork with the last bite and was about to eat it, he shouted, “Stop!  Don’t eat that!  It’s not on the Whole30!!!”  Nice try kid.

Although, on the flip side, when he brought home a box of saltwater taffy this weekend, he was so excited to tell me, “You’re off the Whole30…now you can have a taffy with me!”

I am listening…the kids playing outside…music to my ears.

I am wondering…why it is if I let a child use my phone, I end up with a million selfies of said child…all the exact same...(pretty sure I deleted at least 20 pictures that looked EXACTLY like this one!)

I am going…crazy trying to find the receipt for our air conditioner.

I am thankful…for a fun few days with Mom, including a trip to Goliad to see the battle re-enactments.

Around the house..still trying to clean out the filing cabinet and file away all those lovely receipts and documents that we “keep for tax purposes.”  Please, oh please, why don’t more people see the wisdom behind The Fair Tax??!!

In the schoolroom…It’s Holy Week and thanks to the suggestion from my sister, we are doing Catholic Icing’s Holy Week in Handprints…just perfect for the age range over here (although I’m thankful this school of ours only has 4 students…I can’t imagine hand printing a class of 24!).  We also spent the early part of the week building Jerusalem with blocks and helping Jesus enter the city.  I’m looking forward to the Tridiuum and all of the traditions we follow (including our Stations of the Cross meal inspired by Alice’s Lenten Tea).

In the refrigerator…strangely, it still looks eerily like the Whole30.  Lots of fruits, veggies, meats and good fats.  Not much has changed.  I did try a few bites of peanut butter and I am indulging in a bowl of cereal now and then (no wheat yet, just corn flakes), but aside from that, I’m really only craving Whole30 food.

I am wearing…black shorts and a pink Gap t-shirt with the word GAP printed across the front.  Talk about a walking advertisement.

I am creating…a list of what needs to be planned for next year.  The crazy “I need to get this planned” mood hasn’t hit yet, but I’m making a list now so when it does, I’m ready!

We recently celebrated…St. Joseph’s Feast Day.  Feast days are a huge deal around here.  We celebrate each of the children’s namesake days and it’s a pretty big deal.  There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation as the day approaches.  Special books, a craft or cooking project, songs and prayers are just a few of the highlights of the day.  The book that consistently gets used, regardless of whose feast day it is, is this little gem I have called My Nameday: Come for Dessert.  This is such an awesome book!  It’s full of prayers and songs and stories and ideas for different nameday celebrations.

For St. Joseph’s Feast Day, we used Catholic Mosaic and the book Song of the Swallows (which includes a lovely song), The Childhood of Jesus (I’m including a snapshot of one of the pages that focuses on St. Joseph), The Holy Family and St. Joseph.  After realizing that our St. Joseph stories were rather limited (there really aren’t that many good books that focus solely on Saint Joseph for kids!), I did some searching and next year we’ll add in St. Joseph’s Story and Devotion to St. Joseph: Read Aloud Stories, Poems, and Prayers for Catholic Children.

Saint Joseph’s Feast day is busy and full.  This year we listened to a few songs from The Divine Office app about St. Joseph and then used a few of those prayers as well as one from My Nameday to begin our day.  The kids all colored a picture of St. Joseph and of course, no St. Joseph day would be complete without cream puffs.  Unfortunately, I was short a few eggs, so our puffs were filled with ice cream instead of traditional cream…no complaints there.

Someday I am going to miss…Katie’s obsession with soaking her feet.  She LOVES to have her feet soaked (and she’s extra joyful if I throw in some Lavender epsom salt!).  Sometimes a brother will join her.  Other times she gets the tub all to herself.  Usually it’s right before bed, but on this particular day, we were outside and she kept insisting that she wanted to soak her feet.  So we did.

I am reading…Miracles and Massacres by Glenn Beck.  The reading club is up and running again.  Ahh, good company, a night out, and a friend to share it with…pure bliss.

One of my favorite things…squeals of delight over something as simple as an inchworm.

A peek into my day…

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