Piano!

We inherited this lovely 1960 Gulbransen piano from my late grandparents (my half-sibling's biological) and we love it! Here are some pictures of when it arrived yesterday:

They had to put it on a dolly to get up our steps..kinda scary! And it was freezing out..29 degrees.
The movers were very nice and did a great job, although they did track in some mud..or at least I hope it was mud.

This is grandma emma playing for us back in 2009 when I was pregnant with Olivia:

 Here's Lucas learning from Grandma--she always said, "they are learning when they pound on the keys--it's music to their ears!"

 This is Lucas again, a few years later, just after Grandma Emma passed away. You could still feel her presence there, and yet it also felt empty.

 It is nice to know Grandpa has joined her..he missed her dearly, everyday that she was gone.  

 I intend to get Lucas lessons, but for now, I am relearning things I used to know, and learning songs I knew on the guitar, on the piano. It sounds so pretty---I am so excited to get to have a real piano in my home. Thank you Grandma!

Home w/ My Babies

We have been doing crafts I bought from the Catholic store lately--they are really affordable and the kids enjoy them! We made these pretty cross puzzles and angels last week. Frankie enjoyed watching :)

And these are from the other night. I just thought it was so cute how much Frankie enjoyed sitting between his siblings.

We also made this rosary--it was actually hard to thread but it's pretty and they love watching the Brother Francis Rosary video. I love to hear them pray :)

I was trying to get a picture of Frankie with his pretty smile for a collage with L&O's smiling baby pics at 3 months.He smiles ALL THE TIME...but I woke him from a deep slumber and he was upset...:( still cute though!

He is always scratching his face/head...Still battling certain sensitivities, and eczema/cradle cap..

So behind!

I am trying to remember all the little happenings that I need to take note of here...Frankie's skin seems to go back and forth between seeming clear, and irritated with eczema rash throughout the day. I have just recently stopped having eggs in the morning to see if it helps. I scrub the eczema off his scalp (or cradle cap) in his bath, and then put that mustela lotion, but it comes back the next day. He is obsessed with scratching it, so he lives with socks/mittens on his hands because he will scratch til it bleeds. :( I wish I knew how to help him. Don't know if it's an allergy or just random cradle cap (no explanation for that) but all 3 kids have an appt with Dr Bain next month so I hope to get some answers then.

    I got back into the school routine, and Lucas is doing really well in math, pretty much mastering addition and subtraction. He has been doing 1st grade books very easily. He struggles with phonics, but when he tries, he can get it and is excited. I also subscribed to www.abcmouse.com for both kids. They enjoy it, and it's more at Olivia's pace since it's mostly stuff Lucas already knows. They like it because it is personalized for each of them and even says their names! Look at how cute their avatars are:

It's really just supplementary to their lessons with me. We have "home school", "computer school" (abcmouse), and "church school", which is a new Catholic homeschooling group we joined. We joined just in time to celebrate Valentine's day with the 30 other kids! I hope to get to know everyone better and allow the kids to grow in friendship and in their faith. These are the cards we made for blessed Mary, they later brought them to the chapel. 

And little Frankie sat quietly during the class.

And these are the v-day cards we made for the rest of the class the night before:

In more selfish news, I am battling thoughts about how much I dislike my body and can't fit properly in anything. My weight and loose skin make it very difficult to feel comfortable in anything enough to wear in public. John decided we could buy a nice spin bike for me to keep at home! Beginning in 2012, I was really getting back into shape because I loved my gym as much as the kids did and I enjoyed spin class. Well, we don't live near a Lifetime Fitness, and I wouldn't want to leave little Frankie in a childcare anyway. So having it at home, is very convenient. We bought the Tsunami Waters bike from Fitness HQ to be picked up next week---cannot wait! Guess it's time for those dreaded "before" pictures again..:P

I know John will enjoy using it too. 

At night, Frankie is almost sleeping through the night, so I have a little time to read like I used to. Lately I have been reading--and recommend:

All very good and inspirational. The last one is similar (but much shorter than) St. Faustina's diary. I really believe their accounts of Jesus & Mary. It is great for perspective...which can be said of all these books listed!

Lastly, I am finally taking part in volunteering at a pregnancy counseling ctr! Father Ivan gave me a special penance of an Act of Charity of my choice. I found this center:

 Susan came with me and met the awesome staff. They are a Christian-based non-profit center, that gives women and girls the resources to help them make choices regarding pregnancy. They tell the truth about all the details of abortions and offer the testimonies of many women who have chosen life for their babies, whether through parenting them, or adoption. They offer counseling for women harmed by abortion, and they are right next door to a fertility doctor---that first creeped me out, because I believe IVF to be wrong, since they usually fertilize many eggs and then pick and choose which are "good" and which should be thrown out. But this embryologist is probably the only Christian embryologist, and he only fertilizes one for each trial.
   Anyway the Lifetalk staff talked about some of the typical (and terrible) cases they see, and asked what kind of volunteering we would like to do. I said I would eventually want to be trained to be a counselor to help women choose life, but for now my options (and time) are limited to my own family, so I am offering to help with more clerical duties, and possibly heading up their facebook page (ironic since I don't use FB anymore lol). I am so glad I took the step in calling them and going in. I am going to turn in my application this week.

 Lastly, Frankie is getting more and more eager to interact---trying to talk, smiling so much, and using his hands (great coordination already!). Here he is in his bumbo chair trying to play with his big bro and sis. BTW---the fish puzzle you see on the table was given to Lucas by his Godparents for his bday---it's 200 pieces---he does it by himself...

 ...so we got him this Nintendo puzzle..which is 550 pieces...he DOES IT BY HIMSELF!

Bye for now!