(Another) Outing!

The parks 'round these parts are one more fantastic than the next. We stumbled upon another free and fun activity about 10 minutes from our house. Have I mentioned that everything is 10 minutes or less away from our home? We have become so quickly accustomed to this that anything that is 12 minutes away or *gasp* longer is cause for skepticism. Anyway, here are a few photos from a recent adventure at the Children's Garden...

So pretty!

Maybe I'll see a fish...right...NOW!

Pretty and pensive.

Just look at all. that. sand!

Carefully calculating...

She loved these scoopers!

Brothers hard at work.

Rockin' out, sibling style.

Hey, you! Wait up!

Rocks + water + sun = bliss.

A spooky cave with teeth!

A waterfall, too? Awesome!

Diving in!

I said a few photos...I meant a multitude. In any case, we enjoyed a hot day and a picnic lunch here. Can't wait to take Daddy, too!

School at the Stable

We started school a couple weeks ago here at the Stable. It's our first year of homeschooling, and I am more convinced now than ever that I will be doing more learning than the kids this year! We took a couple of photos the first day as well as the second day. I went into the school year thinking that we would include uniforms into our daily routine, but after day #1 I nixed that idea for now. It got too confusing when we did a few things after lunch and the kids didn't know if they needed to put their uniforms back on or not...plus, the learning never really ends, does it? Anyway, I have the idea in my back pocket if we decide it's a necessary addition to our day. So here are a couple of shots from our first day:

Maria almost never does the 'lips only' smile, but here it is on full display.

A liiiiitle bit better...

I can never seem to get a good photo of how handsome this little guy really is!

Steed siblings, no doubt!

And here are a few from our 2nd day of school...

Typical.

Big guy!

Who knew pictures could be so painful?

Ended our school time that day with cups, bowls, trucks, and oats!

Our school year is going well so far. We're using one of many Catholic 'packaged programs' while supplementing things as we go. Next week begins our homeschool co-op where Thomas will be taking Art, Memory Jr., doing Blue Knights, Liturgical Celebrations, and a monthly field trip. Maria will have ballet, Little Saints, and Liturgical Celebrations. There are many other components to this co-op, including a saint presentation and rosary each Thursday as well as lunch with all the other families, recess, and by that time little Dominic will be way past his usual nap time, so we'll head home. I think I mentioned in my previous post that Cadet Judo will begin for Thomas next week and gymnastics for Maria. Soccer is still a mainstay for us on Friday evenings.

We're still working to find a good rhythm to our days, balancing school, classes outside the home, chores, errands, downtime, and everything in between. But I must say, I have surely been experiencing a great serenity in our home these last few weeks. Like any other family, we have our moments (myself included!), but this is serving us well so far, and our homeschool group has been a great blessing to us. Here's to a year of learning!

A Recap!

It's been a long while since I've posted. That goes without saying, I suppose. In many ways, I struggle to make blogging a priority in the midst of so many other responsibilities. But, it is a good outlet for me to get out a few thoughts in written form every now and again.

We Steeds have been busily relishing in family life these last few weeks. Drake is busily getting smarter by the day on internship. He's attending a training in Cincinnati for a few days this week and realized how quickly he adapted to a 10 minute commute after 4 years of a 1-2 hour commute. 'It took me so long to get there this morning!' he told me with a wink when he arrived home last night. His rotation starts on Thursday, and while he's looking forward to getting into some kind of rhythm, the stakes are incredibly high. Jesus, we trust in you!

Thomas Michael seems more accustomed to our home and new surroundings now. He just cannot get enough of having a playroom! If you ever came over to our home in Lombard, you might understand his excitement (and relief!) over a place for his toys. He has grown quite fond of Legos (thank you, Father Krengiel!) and enjoys pretend play with Sister Steed. Lately he has been enjoying trips to the local children's museum, visits to the park on his scooter, reading with Mommy for hours on end, and Friday night soccer. He's doing quite well in school, and next week we'll add Judo to the mix twice a week in the hopes that it helps dear Thomas develop a little more body/spatial awareness. He has been embracing his role as the oldest boy in our home as he helped me get an unwelcome furry visitor out of our home last week despite his reservations. As he told Maria, 'I'm scared, but I'm staying downstairs to help Mommy.'

Maria Therese is absolutely loving the aforementioned pretend play with Thomas as they have been creating all sorts of adventures together including, but not limited to, camping, trips to the store, Mass with young children (always an adventure, for sure!), cooking, and boat trips. She is loving school and is often known to come bounding down the stairs in the morning just to check her list of work for the day. She continues to be the most maternal 3 year-old we have ever known. Maria will start gymnastics next week, which we hope she will love!

Dominic Ambrose is keeping busy keeping up with his older siblings, and they have been showing him a great deal of care and affection in recent weeks. He is getting more and more verbal, specific in his likes and dislikes, and is ever so slowly warming up to the idea of vegetables in his diet. I am currently perusing Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious in an effort to sneak in more nutrition for this little Steed. He continues to be the most adorable rascal and quite the little flirt with a fantastic smile and gorgeous blue eyes. And he cannot get enough of Mommy, which I'm not complaining about in the least!

As for me, our Lord has given me many graces in these last several weeks to get our homeschool year off to a good start. I am learning to manage 2 curricula simultaneously while also trying to keep Dominic involved in his own 'tot school' which involves a lot of fine and gross motor activities. I'm learning how to manage our home and our time well (or at most times, not so well!), and I'm seeing how important self-care is for both Drake and I as we embark on this internship year. It is often an act of the will to get myself to the gym at the end of the day, but it always helps. I am finding that my efforts to stay close to the sacraments, prayer throughout the day, and openness to the Lord's plans (often different from my own) typically result in great serenity and love within our home. Praise be to God.

I hope to post soon on our school year, including a few sassy photos of the little ones. We're excited for our homeschool co-op to begin next week. The adventure continues!

Germanfest!

Today we Steeds enjoyed some family time together before Drake begins internship tomorrow. Now, I fully recognize how spoiled I have been in having him home for 3 full weeks. It's been fantastic, and I'm going to miss him tomorrow! But, we are so grateful for this opportunity.

Anyway...I digress.

Our family time came in the form of walking to a local Germanfest this afternoon. With the older 2 in the wagon and little Dominic in the stroller, we headed over in the heat to a festive party! Dancing, a live band, craft booths, rides, and of course, plenty of overpriced food!

Ready to ride!

Daddy and his mini-me

We made it!

The inflatable bouncy house got a thumbs up from Maria and a so-so from Thomas.

The band featured the lead singer playing an accordion. Major thumbs up in my book.

A bit unsure of the selfie...

Strawberry smoothies and German pretzels for snack!

Yeah. It was hot.

But it was fun!

Feasting at the Stable

Friends, we Steeds love our Catholic faith. Love it! It surely is difficult to live out at times, but we are trying to build up a very Catholic culture in our family based on Christ and His teachings. And one of our favorite things about being Catholic? The feasting!

As Catholics, we do a lot of celebrating: feast days throughout the year (several each week), sacraments (and the parties that often follow), namesake/patron saint days, baptism anniversaries. Easter isn't limited to one day of celebrating - that party lasts 8 full days! And then there's the Christmas season, too...and every mass, commemorating the Resurrection of Our Lord!

We have recently made a change regarding sweets in our home. Little Steeds (and the bigger ones, too) love sweets just as much as anyone else, but we realized that they were becoming all too common at the Stable. Dessert was eaten happily every night, and treats were no longer treats...simply expected sugar intake. And so, we opted for a change.

We splurged on a large $3.99 monthly calendar at the local teachers' store, adhered some magnets to the back (fancy shmancy, I know), and put it right on our freezer door. This calendar helps us keep track of all 'dessert days' as the kids have named them. We have decided that each month we will have dessert on all Sundays, any family birthdays, any patron saint days in our family. Then we also ask all Steeds to choose a saint whose feast is celebrated that month, learn a few things about that saint's life, enlighten the rest of the family about it (clearly help from Mama Steed and Daddy Steed is needed and happily given), and that child/adult even gets to choose the dessert for that night!

Friends, Steeds are not wanting for dessert, juuuust in case you were starting to feel sorry for any of us.

We had our first go-around at this beginning on Sunday. After some lively table discussion regarding dessert preference, it was decided that chocolate cake should be made by Mama Steed and any interested helpers. And so, chocolate cake was made. Disclaimer: I'm not big on the 'by myself selfie' so I do not have any photos documenting my cake-baking. You'll have to take my word for it.

A slightly nervous Maria adding the butter she proudly softened herself.

Focused.

Sneaky.

Not so sneaky.

Chefs!

Did I mention this cake had homemade cocoa frosting? I meant what I said about feasting!

Adorable chefs eagerly awaiting dessert!

And so, many delectable desserts still await the Steeds this month! Dominic's feast day is Aug 8, so we'll celebrate with a dessert of our family's choosing. Thomas will be learning about St. Clare and choosing a dessert for her feast day on Aug. 11, Daddy's birthday and Assumption of Our Lady will be celebrated on the 15th. Maria chose St. Rose of Lima this month on Aug 23. Mama Steed chose to learn more about St. Monica this month, so we'll feast on Aug 27, followed by Daddy Steed's St. Augustine choice on the 28th plus every Sunday this month.

Yum! It's good to be Catholic!

Just In Case You Were Wondering...

Here at the Stable we just started reading

(*gasp*, is that a photo? On this blog? Why, yes! Yes! It is!)

And I am head over heels for this series. Reading this book aloud is bringing me back to my 4th grade days in which I was first introduced to this book. I love reading C.S. Lewis works, and I'm so happy to be sharing them with our children. Of course the kids don't grasp every word at their tender ages, but the intensity with which Thomas focuses on understanding the plot is second to none. We read about 2 chapters a night (one before night prayer and one after), and the older little ones are eating it up.

And bonus? I scored the entire Chronicles of Narnia series for a whopping $1.89 at Goodwill early in the summer. Thrift stores have become my favorite place to buy books (and many other things!) as people tend to be donating the very books that I'm trying to procure.

And on an unrelated note...

I do apologize if you've tried rather unsuccessfully to leave comments on any posts on the blog. After hearing of the difficulties from a few people, I was able to fix the problem (with much help from my tech-savvy husband). So please do feel free to comment if you wish! My apologies!

Some Steed Family Updates

This weekend marks 2 weeks that we've lived in Dayton, and we are relishing in the family time together! Here's a recap of what we've been up to lately:

• We have been trying to establish good routines for the time being, for both Drake and I and the kids -- so we're working on exciting things like routine bedtimes, establishing our family's daily mass time, exercise for Drake and I (besides child-chasing), and a general schedule for caring for our home, time for school, community events, etc.

• Speaking of exercise, we joined the Y again and hope to get in on some open gym time for Drake, group fitness classes for me, and swimming for the kids. Our goal is to be doing one sport at a time, so we'll focus on some family swim times in the fall and take swim lessons in the winter once soccer is over.

• Speaking of soccer...we joined a homeschool soccer league that gets all the families together on Friday nights for practice and then scrimmages. Drake will be helping coach the younger kids with the hopes that he can be one of Thomas and Maria's coaches. We're really looking forward to this, even if it makes for a guaranteed late night for all members of the Stable. The little Steeds have yet to fully grasp the foreign concept of...what is that called again? Ah yes...sleeping in.

• Drake and I were really spoiled in Lombard as we enjoyed date nights out almost every week during the last academic year. It was fantastic! As we continue to meet families here (specifically families with older children), we hope to get some date nights out on the books. But in the meantime, we've enjoyed a date night in or two. My parents sent us gift cards to two local places, including Piada. We had that for dinner on Friday, and I cannot remember the last time my mouth was watering through an entire meal. Thanks again, Mom and Dad!

• This week we'll be starting VBS at our parish - I'm pumped! I love the family-style nature of it as Maria and Thomas will be in the same group, and I'll be volunteering to help babysit the other children (along with sweet Dominic, of course). Many of our friends will be doing this all week, and there's a big party on Friday to celebrate. Bonus!

• Drake is getting ready for internship which starts next week. While the time off has been nice, it's also a lot of time to anticipate a new and rigorous job.

• We're also hoping to use this week for continuing to unpack those last few pesky boxes (you know, the ones that we've managed to survive this long without even knowing what's inside and could probably just donate the items sight unseen...those boxes).

I do hope to incorporate more photos on this blog. I've never been good at taking photos as I'm usually just immersed in whatever is going on...but I'll work on it, I promise! 

Do the Most Good.

There's a woman who has been on my heart and mind almost constantly these last few days. And while I never knew her personally, her life has been remarkably impactful on my own. Perhaps you have heard of this Catholic wife and mother, Sarah Harkins. A quick internet search will give you a glimpse into the recent happenings in her life and in the lives of her family members, and I hope you will take a moment or more to pray for the repose of her soul and for all those who mourn losing her, specifically her husband and young children. And, if you feel so inclined, you can donate monetarily to the family here.

I hope that you will take some time to work through any grief you have over this recent happening; sometimes we experience great sadness and confusion even if we ourselves did not know the person. I think this is particularly true if elements of that person's life resonate closely with our own, and that is why I have been thinking of Sarah so often these last several days.

I am not going to attempt to convey the heartbreak and suffering that her family is experiencing, nor am I going to speculate on the affliction that her husband and children are now forced to live through. But there are some striking things to me about her story that I've been reflecting on as of late.

It seems to me that one of the greatest tragedies in this already confusing and devastating situation would be to chalk it up to a horrific event and then leave it at that. It would only make this situation worse to say, "Wow, how could God let something like this happen?" and then harbor anger and then forget about it. Instead, what can we learn from this? I went through some moments of confusion as I wondered, 'Why would God allow for a person doing so much good for His Kingdom to be taken from this earth, especially at a time in which the Church desperately needs the witness of people like Sarah?' And it is a valid question that is worth considering...but, in the end, the reasons behind this event are not mine to know. But I do know that God speaks to His people in a multitude of ways, even in the midst of sadness and pain; we just have to be willing to listen to what He desires to say.

I am most struck by some of the seemingly smaller aspects of this story as I find similarities between Sarah's life and my own...we are both Catholic homeschooling mothers who desire large families (if it be God's will), we both are active in our parishes, we love the Church. But something strikes a different chord with me -- Sarah did the most good in her short time on earth. She poured herself out to her family, her parish, her volunteer organizations. Her life was a great witness to her faith, and it isn't because she held positions of prestige, had letters behind her name, or could run a 5-minute mile (or maybe she could, but it's not important). She did small things extraordinarily well, saying 'yes' to Our Lord in the various contexts that comprised her vocation as a wife and mother. And those small acts of generosity bore great fruit in the lives of those blessed enough to know her as she lived what some would call an ordinary life. Saint Josemaria Escriva has summed this up well:

"...the holiness that Our Lord demands of you is to be achieved by carrying out with love of God your work and your daily duties, and these will almost always consist of small realities."

May the soul of Sarah and all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.