Pangolins and "P" week

After putting the kids to bed last night, Darren came to me and said, "Dylan wants you to read to them about pangolins from his Ranger Rick magazine this week."

"Penguins?"

"No, pangolins."

"Oh. Um. Okay. What's a pangolin?"

"Google it! They're really cool!"

So, "google it" I did, and they are, and it seems Dylan will again be teaching his old mom a thing or two this week! Should be fun and interesting, to say the least!

I'm still working on my post from "O" week (it was a great one!) and I'm really excited about "P" week. So many wonderful topics! Pirates, Princes, Princesses, Presidents, Pilgrims, Pioneers, Pyramids, Pharaohs, St. Patrick, Prayers, Plants, Pandas, and...Pangolins! Of course there's also all the fun food to consider, such as Pizza and Pepsi for a family movie night...one beginning with "P" of course! I was thinking maybe "Pirates of the Caribbean" but Dylan informed me that we're not allowed because it's PG-13. ;) So, maybe something a little more old school, like "Mary Poppins", which I've never actually seen. (I know, can you believe it?!) Anyway, I'm open to suggestions here if any of you have any great "P" movie recommendations. :)

(Best part about this week: my mom will be here Wednesday! For a month!)

Happy Monday!

Along the Alphabet Path: "N" week

Here are the highlights from last week's stop along the alphabet path! "N" was for Nasturtium fairy and St. Nicholas, and also:

'Nana pancakes!

Narnia and Neverland

Numbers and Noah's Ark

(I found the idea for this Numberbow game at Starry Sky Ranch, and my kids and I LOVED it!)

From our Alpha Bakery cookbook, "N" was for Nibble Sticks
(Perfect with mugs of tomato soup on that cold, rainy day!)

"N" was also for Noodles! Yum! Haha, can you tell I love to incorporate food as much as possible along our alphabet path? :) All credit goes to my honey for these culinary creations, though, at least as far as main courses go. Snacks and desserts I can do, but actual meals are best left to the master! I asked him if he could come up with something to go along with Strega Nona, and, since he had already made spaghetti and meatballs for us the week before, he chose this:

Linguine with a creamy chicken and herb sauce and oh my, was it delicious! I am so lucky to be married to a man who loves to cook!!!

"N" was for Nana as we read Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs, and also had a chance to visit my own Nana, who got to finally meet Austin for the first time!

"N" was for New Mexico, adding two more pages to our state-by- state scrapbook:

We also enjoyed reading Bill and Pete Go Down the Nile, What Makes Day and Night?, and learning about Nutrition in Health and Manners. We had also hoped to go on a nice Nature walk near our house, but another snowfall made it too cold and wet for that. Our New Mexico skies and mountains were looking particularly lovely, though! :)

Three Stooges

Just a small example of why even a simple trip across town is far from boring! :)

Big Baby, Little Baby (And Their Very Tired Mama)

If I had Super Powers...

1426 square feet.

3 bedrooms.

1 living area.

Dining room/School room/Kitchen.

Seven family members.

This morning, while yet again shifting things from room to room, it finally occurred to me what trying to comfortably fit all of us into this house reminded me of:

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I've always hated those stupid puzzles! I always wished that just one more square would magically appear so I could more neatly arrange my tiles. Of course that's impossible, just as it's not likely that one more room will suddenly magically appear in this house! Too bad I'm not Wonder Woman. Looks like she could take on anything, even the challenge of organizing this house. :)

Updated to add: This post was only written in jest; I hope I didn't sound at all ungrateful for the house I have. I am so blessed. Thank you, God, for my happy home!

Words to live by

From Parenting with Grace: Catholic Parent's Guide to Raising Almost Perfect Kids, by Gregory and Lisa Popcak:

"Most of us can think of someone in our lives who has most closely mirrored Christ to us. A person whose wise counsel we have followed, and whose wisdom we respected. A person who generously gave of himself or herself, whom we would willingly follow to the ends of the earth. That is the kind of person our children need us to be to them."