A Day in the Life of an Officer's Wife: 20120131

Well, January is just ending here in El Paso, and the thermometer has not been shy about hitting 70 degrees or higher more than once so far in 2012! Wow! Joe and I don't so much enjoy the "look" of El Paso, but I must admit that I don't mind thinking about getting out the kids' shorts this time of year!

First, of highest import, our family received some very important news since our last update: We are now officially expecting our fifth little one! Yes... we are pregnant, and if, God willing, our child stays healthy he or she (or both... who knows!) should join us right around the Feast of St. Therese, October 1. And yes... as you know we choose our children's names immediately, but Joe and I are actually still in discussion about the boy name, so I will just share the possible girl name at the moment: Clare. So, please pray for Clare and mommy that we can have a chance to at least meet this little one in person!

And a quick very cute story to go along with that news: We end our nightly prayer time with a prayer for the health of our new addition. The first night that we referred to the baby as "#5" Therese quickly commented: "Daddy, when we get to Heaven we might have to get a van for all those kids!" Oh, I LOVE that girl!

But, moving on to less interesting things around our humble abode:

Therese has had an itch for quite some time to help the "poor people". It was kind of hard for her to understand that it isn't as easy as wrapping up a baby doll and knocking on a door, so after some creative thought, the kids and I spent a morning drawing pictures with which to wrap a few dollars for people who beg at the street corners. I had explained to her that often you need to wait for a "poor person" to ask for something so that you know what they need, and this seemed to be a hands-on way to apply the principle. So, since creating these picture packages, Therese has had the opportunity to personally hand two of them out from her car seat when I roll down her window. It was very touching yesterday morning when she did this. She, in her little three-year-old voice said "God bless you" as she handed it to the middle-aged gentleman. And he could only respond with grunts and a smile... he was mute! What a gift to just be able to realize his misery and so be able to personalize our prayers for him. We would have never been able to do this if we would not have rolled down our window and given him this tiniest of gifts!

On a much less serious note, I went to have my eyes checked last week, and was very thankful to randomly have sunglasses in my car afterwards to help with my eyes being dilated in the bright sun as I drove home. David also appreciated the sunglasses.

A few of our completed gifts of love for the poor.

Therese found a book that she can read cover to cover! I am a huge fan of Sandra Boynton's board books, so when I was looking through them last week I realized that just by knowing her colors and the names for articles of clothing, Therese could read the book "Blue Hat, Green Hat". So now she enjoys reading it to her brother and anyone that will listen - whether they are on the phone or seeing her via Skype!

The kids and I found out about a beautiful scenic byway that goes basically from our neighborhood to the neighborhood of a friend of ours. It is a little windy road up and around the mountain, and I only wish it wasn't so narrow, so that the driver could enjoy the view instead of needing to go 20 mph just to make sure you aren't going to hit another car at the next turn! There was a "park" at the highest point, however, where you can pull over, and the next day we brought dad there.

The kids enjoyed "climbing the mountain"!

I did take some videos of this dance session, but I think that they were making our Picasa slow down way too much, so I deleted them, unfortunately! Here are some still shots from the kids' Justin Bieber jam in the living room! Three words: Never Say Never!

And, a very random picture of David's really dirty face!

I try to make a bit of a treat on Sunday mornings, and I tried my first "Dutch Baby Pancake" this week. It was well accepted, but I must give all credit to first being introduced to it at R and A Dragonowski's house when I was watching their kids. It was such an oddly named thing that I never forgot it!

So our friend from the other side of the mountain is a Catholic homeschooler, and since going to their place last week I have digested from cover to cover 2 books on preschool homeschooling, specifically incorporating Montessori thought into it. And I got kind of excited! So... we now have a table full of activities, and Therese is enjoying them a lot! As you can see here... she didn't even get dressed or have breakfast before she tackled a cutting project yesterday!