Daybook for Tuesday, June 1

Outside my window... the beginning of our patio. The patio guys plowed up the dirt and them promptly disappeared on Friday. They showed up unannounced this afternoon (scared me to death when one of them walked right past the window of the laundry room when I was putting stuff in the dryer!!) and built the form. Hopefully they will pour the concrete tomorrow.

watching the Bobcat smooth out the dirt

I am thinking... that maybe there is a reason that Caroline coughs a lot every night as soon as she lays down. I keep thinking allergies... Claritin hasn't helped so far this season. I hate coughing while I am trying to sleep - not much more miserable than that, I think.

I am wondering... why we didn't get Netflix sooner. It is only $8.99 a month, and we never watch TV, only movies... so we don't have cable or a dish or anything, so Netflix makes sense. Now we can watch all the old episodes of The Office and get caught up to whatever season they are on now. And Netflix has all the episodes of The State, an old comedy show that came on MTV when I was in high school (back when MTV started to play random non-music shows).

I am praying... for a good summer that will lead into a good start to homeschooling.

I am thankful... for my parents for having us over on Memorial Day for a cookout. We got to see two of my three brothers, too, and we got to at least see the dog of the brother who we didn't see, ha ha. And we got to see our niece Julianne, who is getting so big... probably 15 pounds already at 2 months old!

Cecilia being goofy with Dutch

Holding Julianne, who is fascinated by the ceiling fan

I am hearing... the new Tonic album. It was my autographed prize that I mentioned before, and it came in the mail about two weeks ago. Chris says he likes the solo album better that I was listening to constantly before this one arrived. I am alternating between the two now.

Learning at home... topics include What Squirrels Do to a Garden, How to Check Birds' Nests in the Fig Tree for Eggs, and Swimming. And Caroline is printing letters a lot, reading some small words on her own, and creating lots of interesting artistic items... today was a fishing pole made of a craft stick, yarn, and a bead, with a paper fish she made attached to the end.

From the kitchen... interesting diet food. We had breakfast burritos in corn tortillas for dinner tonight - mine were made with all egg whites. But I got to eat four of them!! Lots of mono unsaturated fatty acids for me. But everything has been very yummy so far... oatmeal with bananas and pecans sprinkled with nutmeg and cinnamon - mmm! And I will be making myself my fourth meal of the day, a chocolate raspberry smoothie, in just a bit! Yes, this is really a diet, although I bet it doesn't sound like it!

I am reading... the recipes from the Flat Belly Diet book, and blogs... making time for watching the old episodes of The Office with the hubby, so not as much reading now.

To live the liturgical year... We changed out our May decor and put out the June saint holy cards. Yesterday was the feast of the Visitation, when Mary went to her cousin Elizabeth's house and stayed for three months, we presume to help her in the last trimester of her pregnancy. I thought that a great way to celebrate this day would be to help out a friend or relative who is pregnant or has a new baby... and we have two pretty new babies in our extended family right now. Rather than going and helping them out, Caroline and I baked banana bread to mail to them. We had taken banana bread to my brother's family when their baby was first born, and Dutch (the aforementioned ownerless dog) ate it. And he is allergic to everything, so not only did he eat their food, but they had to deal with him reacting to it. He lives with my parents now... poor transient dog. Seeing as his owner doesn't come back until October, he could even end up here... I don't know if my parents' rats (I mean cats) can take five months of him in their house... Mason may just take up permanent residence in her hidey hole in the ceiling!

One of my favorite things... relaxing. I think I like it too much, ha ha.

I am creating... June Circle Time plans... not much else. Not feeling too creative lately; I've been in a bit of a rut.

Around the house... laundry. Had to pull it all off the line when we heard very loud, sudden thunder, and then of course the actual rain missed us. Oh well. I washed coats and sweaters too, since it's pretty safe to say that we are done with them for a while.

A few plans for the rest of the week... swimming laps at the indoor pool for me on Tuesday and Thursday evening, post office tomorrow, possibly hanging out with friends so the kids can play together, a friend is coming over to buy eggs and let her son play with the girls (and chickens, maybe!), and I want to go here on Saturday afternoon/evening - trying to convince Chris that it would be fun!! It is free, and we can stay at my parents' house overnight afterwards. Bonus points to anyone who can guess why I want to go... Chris and Tim are not eligible to guess since they know.

A picture thought I am sharing...

playing the piano with Uncle Mike