What a great quote!

I have always been a reader. I had plenty of favorite books when I was growing up and I realized the other day that these classics were so much better than the trash that I read now. I loved Little Women, the Anne of Green Gables series, Caddie Woodlawn, and the Little House on the Prairie books. I read this quote the other day from Caddie Woodlawn and I loved it so much I just had to share. Oh and by the way Caddie Woodlawn was written by a Gamma Phi Beta....


"It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, Caddie, who keep the world sweet and beautiful...A woman's task is to teach...gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It's a big task, too, Caddie-harder than cutting trees or building mills or damming rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things...A woman's work is something fine and noble to grow up to..."

Guilty Pleasures

So those of you who know me well know that I am completely obsessed with reality tv shows. I'm not at all selective, in fact, the trashier the better. Give me a reality show and I'm happy!

Since Mike has been in the field I've discovered my newest favorite guilty pleasure--reality tv online! Peter is a pretty good sleeper and at this point he is usually waking up once a night for me to nurse him. I feel slightly guilty that I'm not using this time to bond with my adorable son but really, how much bonding goes on at 4 am when I'm half asleep. Instead I've taken to bringing the laptop to bed and when Peter wakes up for his feeding I log on and catch up on my reality tv. So far this week I've watched the entire season of MTV's Real World/Road Rules Challenge "The Island". I don't know what I'm going to do when Mike gets back from the field, something tells me that he won't enjoy being woken up in the middle of the night by the drama of reality tv, but then there are always headphones :)....

Family Date Night

We finished dinner a little early the other night and we decided to have a mini-Family Date Night and go for ice cream. We drove to the nearest Cold Stone and got some ice cream. It was the best way to end a weekend! The three of us shared some ice cream (Peter was there too but of course he couldn't share in the ice cream fun). Olivia helped me pick and we settled on chocolate ice cream with peanut butter and fudge in a waffle bowl. But the best part was that Olivia ate most of the ice cream by herself. It's amazing how much her spoon using skills improve when it's ice cream as opposed to soup or something less exciting.

Church Behavior-To use childcare or not

When Olivia was younger we we were careful to arrive at mass a little early each Sunday so that we could be sure and get "good seats". Seats appropriate for a young couple with a young child. We were sure to sit in at the end of a row, preferably close to the cry room so that we could easily get up and leave if Olivia started fussing. This past Sunday, I found myself kneeling after Communion, discreetly trying to pick up bright orange goldfish from all over the floor. We have become one of those obnoxious families. Our child brings a bag full of toys and snacks to church, she crawls all over the pew and kneelers, the list goes on. When it was just Mike, Olivia, and I it didn't seem to be such a big deal. Between the two of us we could keep her entertained and still pay attention and actively participate in mass. Somehow that's not the case anymore.

Each Sunday as we walk into church we see the sign advertising childcare down the hall and I'm torn. Part of me really appreciates that we go to church together as a family. How will Olivia learn to behave in mass if she doesn't ever attend mass. But then at the same time I am embarrassed that I have to pick up goldfish from all over the floor. Mike and I aren't able to devote all our attention to what is going on in mass because we're taking turns trying to keep Olivia occupied. There isn't a cry room in the church we attend now so that's not an option. So we struggle, to use child care or not to use child care........