Saturday Successes - Volume 7

Since the last time I posted, which seems like eons ago, I've hosted a slumber party, three birthday parties, and a Seder meal. I've attended the investiture and simple profession of vows of four young women starting a new religious community in the Diocese of New Ulm. I traveled with the family to Bismarck, North Dakota for four days. And I have pictures and stories to share about all of the above. And I have bills to pay. And taxes to file. And errands to run. And overdue library books to return. And Easter clothes and shoes to find. And a potluck to attend. And ... and ... and ... yes, folks, lest I get too discouraged this morning, it's time for an edition of Saturday Successes. Link up and join me!

* got out of bed and got a cup of coffee
* wrote this post

11:30 UPDATE:
* found recipes for pies and made a grocery list
* went on a spring shoe hunt in the basement and was (finally!) successful
* found Easter outfits for most and tried them on
* made a shopping list to complete Easter outfits
* poured another cup of coffee
* made a fried egg and cheese sandwich
* had my usual morning chat with my sister while eating the above-mentioned sandwich
* got The Baby fed and dressed
* took a shower
* ran to Target and picked up groceries and goodies for Easter baskets

3:30 UPDATE:
* put The Baby down for a nap
* unpacked groceries
* made strawberry jell-o beans
* arranged a meat and cheese tray
* scooped the strawberry jell-o beans out of the mold and made some orange ones
* attended a potluck at our church
* sent all four kids upstairs for a nap in the hopes of attending the Easter Vigil this evening

6:30 UPDATE:
* scooped the orange jell-o beans out of the mold and made some lemon ones (still lamenting that my Target does not carry the preferred pineapple ones)
* laid down with The Boy for a twenty-minute power nap in the hopes he would fall asleep (and he did -- big success!)
* scooped the lemon jell-o beans out of the mold and made some lime ones
* chatted with my mom while making a pie crust
* scooped the lime jell-o beans out of the mold and made some berry-blue ones
* chatted with my grandmother in New York while making a second pie crust
* scooped the berry-blue jell-o beans out of the mold and made some grape ones

11:30 UPDATE:
* picked up the house
* got myself and The Girls ready for Mass
* attended a beautiful Easter Vigil liturgy
* scooped the grape jello-beans out of the mold
* heated some leftovers for dinner
* filled and hid the Easter baskets

Saturday Successes - Volume 6 AND 100th Post

This is my sixth volume of Saturday Successes and I think I have figured out Mr. Linky, so you can join me in celebrating your Saturday successes. The concept arose from my complete frustration at the end of my Saturdays. With homeschooling and working full-time, and hopefully resting on Sundays, my Saturdays have typically been left for EVERYTHING else. My to-do list was so long and overwhelming and hopelessly impossible to complete that I was left frustrated at the end of the day -- only seeing what I did not get done, instead of the myriad of accomplishments. So, I tried a new approach: I start each Saturday with a clean slate, instead of a to-do list. Instead of writing down what needs to get done, I write down what's gotten done, even the seemingly mundane things like changing The Baby's diaper. The point is to find JOY in my successes ... I hope you will join me.

So far today ...

* fed The Baby breakfast and got her dressed

* had breakfast (leftover omelet) and coffee

* spent two hours reading some of the very. lengthy. testimony for a marriage case (in preparation for writing a Defender brief later)

* wrote this 100th blog post and figured out Mr. Linky

2:30 UPDATE:

* showered
* got The Girls new costume pieces labeled and helped them get things together and pack for an afternoon of dancing
* did The Girls hair (BTW, this was a most unpleasant experience for all involved, especially The Older Girl and Mommy!)
* dropped The Girls off at the International Institute for a Festival of Nations review, from their they will go with one of their instructors to perform at the Wee Leprechauns Contest
* took The Boy and The Baby with me to Michaels to buy a star-shaped cake pan and the supplies for The Younger Girl's birthday party invitations
* stopped at McDonald's -- The Boy has been begging to go to a Play Place, and since the older two weren't with us, it seemed like the perfect opportunity (plus, The Boy has been driving me NUTS with his motor mouth and ants-in-pants and it's been too wet and muddy to send him into the backyard to play!)

8:30 UPDATE:

* spent another hour and a half reading the above-mentioned case
* picked up the living room
* picked up and swept the dining room
* went to Mass
* went out for Chinese
* dropped two kids at home to get ready for bed
* dropped DH off at office to work some more
* picked up a friend at a birthday party (got lost!) and dropped The Older Girl and her friend off at The Celtic Junction for a Two Tap Trio concert (The Girls take whistle lessons from Mr. Miller and The Boy's dance teacher is Ms. Norah)
* brought The (very. tired.) Baby home and got her ready for bed

11:00 UPDATE:

* unloaded the dishwasher
* poured a glass of wine to enjoy while ...
* ... still reading this (stinkin' long) case

11:35 UPDATE:
* finished reading ... going to bed

Saturday Successes - Volume 5

Running around like a chicken with my head cut off today ... join me in celebrating your Saturday successes ...

* attempted morning prayer and a cup of coffee, but the kids were up before me, so ... you know how that goes

* got The Baby dressed and fed her breakfast

* helped The Older Girl paint the horse she drew for a pin-the-tale-on-the-horse game

* made a cake

* fixed a fried egg and cheese sandwich (and ate it!)

* put a load of towels in the washer

* unloaded, reloaded, and started the dishwasher

3:00 UPDATE:

* picked up The Baby's room (where everyone's been playing this morning) and put her down for a nap

* picked up and swept the kitchen

* took delicates from dryer, put towels in dryer, and put The Boy's comforter in the washer

* hung pink streamers and balloons in the dining room

* decorated and stuffed six goodie bags

* cut out seven paper horse tails

* made lunch for the kiddos and myself (salami and cheese sandwiches) (look, Sweetie, two meals already today!)

* took a shower

* took towels out of dryer (had to send a Girl down to get one for me when I got out of the shower!) and put The Boy's comforter in the dryer

* decorated cake

* printed out horse breed bingo cards, horse color word search, and horse picture puzzles

* took staples out of seven pink bandanas

* picked up the house

6:30 UPDATE:

* hosted a birthday party for The Older Girl (more on this in another post)

9:15 UPDATE:

* gave The Baby a bath, nursed her, and put her to bed

* ate dinner with DH

* played Word Pirates with The Boy and DH

* watched an episode of The Waltons with DH

going to bed. now.

Saturday Successes - Volume 4

Saturday already??? Here we go again ...

*** changed a very stinky diaper

*** fed The Baby breakfast (note: The Baby definitely has her own opinions -- she most definitely did not want (read: threw on the floor) the Cheerios or the bagel offered her because she saw the boxes of doughnuts on the table left from yesterday's birthday breakfast!)

*** completed one Defender brief while drinking morning coffee and eating a jelly doughnut

*** had morning prayer time with a second cup of coffee

*** read the evidence and argument in preparation for writing a second defender brief

*** made our bed (yes, the third Saturday in a row!)

*** got The Baby dressed

*** took a shower

*** ate lunch and fed The Baby

*** loaded and started the dishwasher

*** completed second Defender brief of the day

7:00 UPDATE:

*** read evidence for and wrote third Defender brief of the day

*** made a menu for the week and a grocery list

*** read evidence for and wrote fourth Defender brief of the day (yes, my children were largely neglected today, but they were relatively happy -- The Boy was busy playing with 20 new Matchbox cars that he received as a belated Christmas present yesterday and The Girls were busy with the two newest additions to our family -- Carmella Rose and Rebecca -- Happy Birthday, Girls!)

10:00 UPDATE:

*** ate pizza and salad with the fam

*** watched the Olympics

Saturday Successes - Volume 3

Here we go again ... another Saturday. One of these days I'll figure out how to do Mr. Linky ...

*** grabbed some coffee and attempted some prayer time before the kiddos, plus a niece, woke up

*** loaded the dishwasher

*** put a load of red and pink clothes in the dryer and put a load of fleece and jammies in the washing machine

*** supervised breakfast, had a bowl of cereal, and supervised clean-up

*** took a coffee/cocoa break with my sister, who came to pick up my niece, who had spent the night with us

1:00 UPDATE:

*** finished one defender brief

*** read evidence for second defender brief while entertaining The Baby with Mr. Potato Head and supervising The Girls Saturday chores (sinks and toilets cleaned, kitchen and dining room floors washed)

*** got The Baby dressed (she took an early nap and was still in her jammies)

*** made bed

*** took red and pink clothes out of dryer and put fleece and jammies in dryer

*** sorted dirty laundry and put green and blue clothes in washer

*** unloaded and reloaded dishwasher

*** made lunch: rice and frozen egg rolls (Saturday is all about easy!)

5:00 UPDATE:

*** ate lunch

*** put clean laundry away

*** took jammies and fleece out of dryer, put green and blue clothes in dryer, put hubby's dress shirts in the washer

*** supervised lunch clean-up

*** took a shower

*** grabbed an afternoon cup of coffee

*** helped The Girls get ready for an American Girls Mystery Party at some friends' house

*** took The Girls to their party

*** heated up my now cold cup of coffee

*** completed second defender brief

10:30 UPDATE:

*** read most of the evidence for a third defender brief

*** made dinner for The Boy and The Baby and supervised the eating and cleaning up process

*** picked up the house

*** enjoyed an evening out for dinner with my DH and my parents (thanks again, Dad and Mom, for the wonderful dinner!)

Saturday Successes - Volume 2

I am a little frustrated by the lack of time I have had to post lately -- I have so many fun things to share and so many other things to write about (I have the titles saved to remind me later) -- but we are definitely in survival mode around here -- one step at a time, moving closer to our goal of a finished dissertation. My DH is giving it his all. And I'm giving all I can give to everything else. And trying to be cheerful about it, too.

Last night, we went over to my parents' for a taco party and to watch the opening ceremony of the Olympics. We didn't get to bed until after midnight, so my Saturday started out a little slow. But here's the beginning of my list of successes.

*** grabbed some coffee and a brownie

*** fed The Baby breakfast, with help of DH

*** made our bed (on a Saturday!)

*** gave The Kids their Saturday chore lists

*** loaded the dishwasher

*** made and ate a fried egg and cheese sandwich (for the benefit of my DH, who is making sure I eat on Saturdays -- I have a tendency to neglect this in favor of getting more done)

*** completed one defender brief (For those of you who don't know, I serve as the Defender of the Bond for the Court of Second Instance for our Archdiocese. I do a lot of my work on Saturdays -- I have to catch-up on what I didn't have time to get to during the week. My work involves reading the evidence and decision of a First Instance Court for a marriage nullity case (popularly, but incorrectly, known as an annulment) and then writing a brief outlining everything that favors the validity of the marriage -- I defend the bond of marriage.)

5:00 UPDATE:

*** took a shower

*** folded a load of laundry, put a load in the dryer, and started a load of towels

*** supervised the lunch routine

*** ate a tortilla with melted cheese and salsa

*** unloaded the dishwasher

*** folded another load of laundry, put the towels in the dryer, and started a load of sheets

*** completed another defender brief

8:00 UPDATE:

*** picked up the house

*** ordered a heart-shaped pepperoni pizza from Papa Murphy's for dinner

*** set the table for our Lord's Day dinner

*** enjoyed prayer, pizza, and salad with my family

*** took sheets out of the dryer and put new Valentine's t-shirts from Gramma in the washing machine for tomorrow

*** cleaned up from dinner and loaded the dishwasher

*** dealt with very fragile kids before bed (The Girls told me they stayed up until 1:00 am reading Harry Potter last night!), prayed with them, and put them to bed. early.

*** put Valentine's shirts in the dryer and put rags in the washing machine

*** filled a bucket with bleach (said bucket holds poopy underwear ... don't get me started)

*** poured a glass of wine

10:30 UPDATE:

*** drank glass of wine

*** tried to work on third defender brief, but was very distracted by Apolo Anton Ohno and JR Celski and Hannah Kearney and Shannon Bahrke (DH brought 13" emergency TV up from basement -- shhhh! -- Go Team USA!)

Saturday Successes - Volume 1

I tend to get bogged down with my to-do list on Saturdays. With working full-time and home-schooling, everything else tends to have to wait until Saturday. My list is usually a week's worth of stuff that I'm trying to cram into one day. I don't eat properly. I run around like a chicken with my head cut off. I yell at the kids to stay out of my way. I'm a machine. This week I'm trying something new ... instead of a to-do list, I'm starting with a clean slate and seeing how many successes I can add. Check back often for an update ...

*** finished working on the marriage case I started yesterday afternoon

*** had a cup of coffee and a brownie

*** made a menu for the week

*** made a grocery list and a Sam's Club list

*** sent a couple e-mails

*** got The Baby dressed and ready for the day

*** helped The Girls finish a reading project

*** did a little birthday shopping on amazon

*** helped The Boy with his virtues project for Blue Knights

*** took a shower

*** made some Pizza Rolls to eat while I created this post

And it's only 10:30! Stay tuned ...

Won't you join me in celebrating your Saturday successes?

12:30 UPDATE:

*** picked up kitchen

*** packed away winter dishes (a little prematurely, but I started cleaning up in the basement after our rain shower and this bin was next in line)

*** typed up and printed Lord's Day prayers for this evening

*** supervised lunch for the kiddos

3:30 UPDATE

*** brought The Boy to Blue Knights

*** went to Sam's Club

*** picked The Boy up

*** unloaded Sam's Club purchases

*** made a loaf of garlic herb bread for dinner (actually, I just put the ingredients in the bread machine and I'm letting it do the real work)

10:00 UPDATE

*** went to the grocery store

*** unpacked groceries

*** made bolognese sauce for dinner

*** put away all the groceries and Sam's Club purchases

*** made salad for dinner (with The Older Girl's help)

*** picked up the main rooms of the house

*** set the table

*** hosted a wonderful evening with Fr. Humberto and Br. Adam and Br. Alvaro

*** loaded the dishwasher