Favorite Things....

. . .celebrating Grammy's 80th birthday.  She was in her element with all of her friends there.

. . .overhearing a conversation between Papa and a friend of his about how wonderful Phil and I are to be homeschooling, and how smart our children are, and how great it is that they are not exposed to all the junk that comes from going to school, and how our kids are so well-socialized because all of our friends homeschool.  It was precious!  And of course, I know that homeschooling brings no guarantees, and that my children's intelligence is much more about their God-given talents than about my teaching ability.  But it is really nice to hear your 82 year-old grandfather being so vocal in his support of you.

. . .Fr. Keith asked Jacob today what he thought about his Nana, and he responded so very seriously, "My Nana is my favorite person."

. . .watching my boy overcome so many fears lately.  In the last two weeks, he has really started to come into his own.  He jumped off the diving board and swam to the side.  He processed into Mass today without one of us right next to him, and went up to get his award when his name was called.  He visited with strangers today at the party, and even helped serve the cake.  I was so proud of him!

. . .hearing Annelise say Nana and Dada for the first time today.

. . .beginning to plan our school year.  My new planner came yesterday, and I can't wait to fill it up.  I mapped out the whole year's worth of History and Science.  I'm so excited!

. . .new hairstyles for my big girls.  Ava is loving her shorter hair (and I'm loving the look and how easy it is to deal with).  Courtney gave us a flat iron and some product, and Mary-Grace is sporting straight hair for the first time in her life...she LOVES it and while I don't think it looks like my Gracie, it's SUPER CUTE!

. . .a brother and sister who really are the best of friends.

. . .introducing my children to this:  The Secret Garden Broadway Soundtrack.  They love it as much as I do, and now we're reading the book and discussing all the differences.