{WWRW} and Creighton Updates

Monday night, we drove another 3-hour roundtrip to meet with our Creighton Model instructor.  Having learned the basics of two methods already, I'm feeling like a remedial student because much of it is review.

I have to just keep reminding myself of the efficacy of the model in achieving pregnancy.......our kids are super cute, that's GOT to be motivation!

And they're cool kids too!

So, we're still driving at least three more times for follow-ups and then we're hoping to start web chatting for follow-ups.  Here's hoping we can find the triggers for my super-low fertility and work towards healing my body.  Thank you for all your prayers and love!

My first read for What We're Reading Wednesday was a purchase directly related to our new practice of the Creighton model.  (The first month requires abstinence to set a baseline and then there are continued periods of abstinence for low fertility to increase likelihood of conceiving.) 

When you're of low fertility, there can certainly be a different dynamic in marriage from a couple actively practicing NFP.  So, to get a little emotional support for a different season of life, I bought Simcha's book, The Sinner's Guide to Natural Family Planning. 


The book, as the title suggests, is a good, practical guide to living a more peaceful, grace-filled NFP marriage.  Her humor was really my favorite part....well, that and the oh-so-practical tone.  I get the feeling from reading it that she's the kind of friend to whom you can speak frankly, deeply, personally.

She GETS it!  The dichotomy of the beautiful, flowery brochure of NFP and married life versus the practice and use in real married life was something she pulled out with such humor and realism.  She also gave such practical advice to grow in holiness and kindness through practicing NFP. 

Get it, read it, be renewed in your commitment to live in the fullness of truth and union with the Church.  Seriously.

The other book I read this week was Teaching in Your Tiara.  My overall impression is that I picked up this book four years later than I should have. In my defense, the book came out May 2013. 

I started homeschooling four years ago and I was the only person in my family who's ever done that.  I was concerned that I wouldn't do it right, that I would forever scar my daughter and that I was generally ruining everyone's life.  She was FOUR.

This book is a gift for any homeschooler.  The first half of the book especially is very practical, how-to-begin oriented.  I thought perhaps I wouldn't like the book, but I kept reading.....and discovered it had so much more to offer than just a how-to-begin primer. 

It was also kind of a walk through a lot of concerns I'd had in the past and her reasonable, humor-filled voice really reassured me.  It's always nice to read that you weren't the only one who went through something.....from the curriculum debate to the concern about less-than-enthusiastic family members.

Perhaps my favorite section was worrying about whether or not homeschooling would make your child weird.  The answer?  Yes, yes they'll likely be weird because the kind of parent that chooses to homeschool is likely to the side of mainstream....well played Rebecca, well played.

This is the kind of book that new homeschoolers should read as part of that initial research phase, but it also has a lot of sound advice and camaraderie to offer the more experienced homeschooler.  In all, such an excellent book.

I loved both my books this week and I think you should read them too!

Check out what everyone else is reading over at Jessica's.

Getting Ready for Sochi

We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled curriculum for the Winter Olympics....mostly because I want to watch them, and all that school work would really cramp my style :)

So, we're making a couple projects to get ready:

Lap books
Poster following USA medals

The lap books are going to fall into a few categories:

• History of the Olympics
• Women's Ski Jump (new this year!)
• Skiing (her favorite!)

I figure that a few lap books will be good, with attached reports.  My strategy was one big project (history), one interest I picked (ski jump), and one interest she picked (skiing).

I'm sure we'll find more interesting and fun things along the way...I'm really a go-with-the-flow kind of schooler.

Our poster is what's been on the project list today.

 Supply List:

• 100 pack manilla folders ($5.99 at Target) - you'll need these for the lap books, I also used them to make our medals
• 1 each, bronze, silver, gold acrylic paint ($1.15 each at Hobby Lobby)
• Foam brushes ($1.99 at Hobby Lobby)
• Foam poster board ($2.49 at Hobby Lobby)
• Circular punch ($15.49 on sale at Hobby Lobby)

Total cost:  $29.41 + tax

Making the medals:

Step 1:  Find an eager young painter.

Step 2:  Have her paint one side of the open manila folders so that you have gold, silver, and bronze.

Step 3:  Allow folders to dry.

Step 4:  Attempt to cut circles with the fancy new circle cutter you went out and bought SPECIFICALLY for this project.  Realize the cutter won't cut through the manilla folders, nor will it cut through a layer of aluminum foil which is, according to the package, supposed to sharpen the cutter.

Step 5:  Put the circle cutter back in the box with disgust and shattered dreams of a quick and easy solution.  Realize that now, your project total is really just $13.92 (and you'll have a ton of leftover folders for your next lap book project), so maybe it's not all bad!

Step 6:  Trace out circles on the manilla folders.

Step 7:  Find something on Netflix, Hulu, or Amazon to watch while you spend the rest of the afternoon cutting out circles...every now and then, shake your head in disgust over the circle cutter debacle.

We'll be attaching the medals to our decorated board as USA athletes win medals.  Each medal will be labeled with the name and sport (because that will allow us to do math things later like the percentage of male/female winners, winners by indoor/outdoor sport, etc).  I'll probably have to stack the medals a little to fit enough on for our super-winning and awesome athletes - go 'Merica! (We won 37 medals in 2010, including 9 gold, so even if you're really optimistic like me, you probably can make do with a couple dozen each for your supplies :)

Tomorrow, Little Bean will be decorating the board (title, flag, whatever her fancy) and we'll start preparing the lapbooks (putting the two folders together, writing out the titles, etc).

I'm so looking forward to the Olympics!!!  It is such a wonderful, special thing and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to hear your ideas on celebrations for Opening Ceremonies and what you do with your kiddos to commemorate the event.

Go 'Merica!!! One more, just to get you pumped too!

{Theme Thursday} Barns

I should pay attention.  It wasn't until Micaela mentioned looking for a barn in California that I started thinking about this week's Theme Thursday *make sure you check out all the fun with Cari!*

Barns.....ummm, I live in corn country.  This seems like such an easy-peasy assignment given where I live.  I mean, my friend lives in a converted barn (if only I'd had the time/foresight to drive out to her place for a shot!).  So, sometimes when it seems so easy, it starts to wiggle in your brain that maybe you should be more creative than just snapping the first one you see on the way out of town.  This is where I start over-thinking.

I very nearly gave you a shot of our Little People farm house, but I'm pretty sure it's packed in the attic still from our basement remodel.

I also had to go to the lovely DMV today (for the record, they're always super-nice, I just hate all errands).  The DMV used to be about a mile from my house - they moved it a few years ago to a more "central" location....now almost 40 minutes from my house.  I remembered as I was getting ready that there happens to be a unique barn on our way.

I pulled up, took out the camera, realized I had forgotten to stick the memory card back in, thanked the maker that there was a small amount of internal memory and snapped a shot.  I thought it would be a pain to get the photo from the internal memory to the removable card, but my camera is a genius and as soon as I stuck the card in, it promptly asked me if I'd like to transfer the internal pictures to the card....why yes, yes I would.  Thank you genius camera for making my day a little easier.....especially since I spent from 11am-12:15pm waiting in line for a couple sandwiches from a local place that's closing on Saturday (amazing sandwiches, not sorry I waited!).

The barn I captured is a converted barn that has become a theater.  Local actors put on productions on a stage that has audience seating on three sides.  The first floor features concessions, the ticket office and a reception area.  The upstairs loft is the theater.  Seats where the hay bales used to be folks *real seats*!  If you're ever in the area, it's a fantastic way to take in local talent.

f 8.0 - 1/30 - ISO 200

When the World Keeps Moving {Weekends with Chesterton}

When you're struggling with a loss or infertility, there comes a moment or a series of moments when the world takes a leap ahead and the leap takes you further into the realization of what isn't.

If you're longing for your next little one, this probably comes through someone's own announcement of expectation.  When you see the leap their life will make and you're still stuck in neutral gear.  Even after years of secondary infertility, this is still the hardest of moments.  Because I am truly so filled with joy for the sister, friend, fellow blogger, whomever is experiencing that gift of new life.  But that joy for them always renews the longing.  Really, it's never far from the surface.

It brings to mind thoughts like, "when is it my turn?".  But it's not about turns.  It's all about our roads to heaven.  Mine likely won't include a Duggar-like clan.  I may never need more seats than a mini-van....or even a sedan.  My longing brings me to Christ.  In a way that those mothers are brought further down the road of sanctification by additional children, mine seems to be an emptier road.  On the good days, I trust that I need this way; that this path has a purpose.  On the bad days, I question my way and doubt that I will feel the sunshine of grace upon me again.

The knowledge resides in me, learned after many years of questioning and doubt, that these moments can be my next step on the journey too.  I truly am not stuck in neutral gear idling away while I wait for life to start with a sudden increased and abundant fertility.  My next step in grace may seem imperceptible to most.  My next step forward is nearly invisible to the outside world.  It looks as if perhaps, I'm just running in place, but my next step forward is to choose to live in those moments of joy with those around me.  Today is not my day to make such an announcement.  Indeed, that day may never come again.  But I will not let that rob me of the joy of new life.  There may be a pain in my heart or tears in my eyes that my way does not include a "quiver full", but I am no less exuberant about the beauty of new life, no less joyful over the beauty of a large family.  Perhaps I am more exuberant and more joy-filled at the sight of a newborn or a large family, because I have learned at great personal price how truly remarkable they are.  I have learned in years of barrenness what abundance could not have taught me.  

For this, I will be glad in my heart for those who are expecting and I will wait in joyful anticipation with them, whether it be a first, a sixth, an eighth....let us not lose the spirit of rejoicing. 

Truly, the only object of our liberty is the gift of life.  May we live it abundantly, even when the blessings we pray for are more scarce than we would wish.

Linking up with Amongst Lovely Things for:

{Theme Thursday} Catching People Unaware

Theme Thursday over at Clan Donaldson today!





Every time the toddler sees a camera, she starts moving....at least Little Bean was a little easier to catch.

Years of being ignored pays off

Is that Mom with the camera? Run!

Moments later, Bert helps me catch her unaware

{WWRW} Island of Fog

Linking up with Jessica for What We're Reading Wednesday, where you can see my tastes vary from medical texts to children/tween literature.

Today it's tween literature. We got a tablet for Christmas, and a week or so ago, I started looking for Kindle downloads for Little Bean.  I always start with the free books and work my way up.  Well, this book looked promising and is zero dollars on Amazon right now, so I added it to the Kindle library.

After a certain author included a theme in his latest book that I felt inappropriate for Little Bean, I've been more wary of new books, which is probably for the good.  So, before letting her read a book that Amazon labeled as good for 6-9 year-olds, I decided a little vetting was in order.

This book takes place in a post-apocalyptic world.  Out There is mysteriously tainted with a virus that will not die.  A handful of families are now living on an Island of Fog, protected from out there, but isolated and living completely off the land.  Each family has one child....and it is those children that provide the mystery and plot for the story. 

It was a good read.  It's only a couple hundred pages, so it's a relatively short read compared to some YA tomes.  I'll be letting Little Bean read it.  There was some mention of a breeding program in relation to the children (ie, they were the product of), but it is a passing mention and in no way goes into any of the details that would surround such a program (except to say that the process was randomized regarding magical abilities). 

It was a good enough book that I think I'll be looking for the next one at the library...perhaps after the list of suggestions I ordered through the library after last week's reviews.

Looking forward to reading about what everyone else has read!  Stop by Jessica's to find out all the books that should be on your list!

Sweet Pea Has a Picture Day

I bought a coupon on a coupon service in November, thinking I would get a family Christmas picture....well, the vortex of the holidays sucked me in and the coupon was expiring this week, so I ran Sweet Pea down to the photo place and got some pictures taken.  The coupon included three images on CD....which is always a hard choice because unless your kid is going through an awkward phase, you generally want them all.  But, I managed to leave with a three image CD and only a couple extra sheets of photos, the "extras" totaling less than $20....not too bad overall. 

The sheets won't be ready for a couple weeks, BUT enjoy with me just how cute Sweet Pea is at 19 months!

I got the outfits at Halo Heaven, which gives me no $$$, but I just want you to know what a great deal their stuff is....and seriously cute too!

Have a wonderful week :)