Land of Lockhart: Answer Me This

Sunday, July 19, 2015

Answer Me This #2

I forgot how much I enjoy documenting our little family here, but I am feel like have nothing to write about right now. So I'm joining Kendra at Catholic All Year in her Answer Me This link up. What I love about this is that it is totally prompted and nothing I would write about. The sad part is there is only one more before she has her baby! So here we go!

1. What's currently on your to do list?

Oh man...housework. Always housework. The house and I are always at war and the house usually wins. Our home has not been in complete disarray lately, but it's never quite as tidy as I would like it to be.

Saint dolls. I love being apart of these swaps. I like the sense of community even though they are complete strangers. Taking a small break, but I have to get back at it. Last night I was at the ER with Simon (he hurt his arm no fracture, but he's limiting its use) and that cut into my painting time.

Our Lady of the Rosary

Click here if you want to join the Facebook Swap group.

Planning next year's school year. Oh my goodness!!! I was going to formally start on the 10th but I may push it back a week. I am really trying to do it right. Pam at Everyday Snapshots has a Plan Your Year Kit. It is a digital download with an ebook and companion worksheets. She has made the very daunting task of planning a school year and broke it down into 10 steps that can be molded to fit any family. I'm only on step 3 or 4 and I want to do it right. Pushing back our start date might be worth it.

Updating "the look" of this blog. We have an extra family member...and he's nearly 10 months old. So over due, a bit?

And I joined a book club so I have some reading to do by tomorrow night. I was able to get some of that done while I was at the ER. Silver-lining?

2. Better type of superhero: magic/radioactive powers? Or trauma/gadget/hard work?

I don't know if I am the right person to answer this question. I enjoy superheroes, but I am not strongly committed to any certain one. Batman is probably my favorite because I am most familiar with that storyline. Iron Man would probably be next because Tony Stark makes me laugh. So, I guess that would put may answer as trauma/gadget/hard work.

3. Finding out the baby is a boy or a girl before birth: Good idea? Bad idea?

Four pregnancies are in the books and we have found out with each one what we were having. Each time we are pregnant I'm unsure if we should find out that time but ultimately we find out. If we are blessed with anymore I'm not sure what we will choose to do.

I love the idea of not finding out. The surprise would be lots of fun. Hearing other women's testimonies about their husbands cheering the babies sex is really really appealing, and I think I would really enjoy it.

What I love about finding out is calling the baby he or she. Eventually we settle on a name so we begin to use it. For me there is no need "to plan". It's a baby. We have a car seat and some sleepers. The ONLY thing is I like shopping for the coming home outfit. Knowing the gender does help narrow down that process.

4. Have you appeared on a stadium jumbotron?

I have not, but Owen did at a Greensboro Grasshoppers game in 2011.

5. Are you more book smart or street smart?

Can I say neither? I don't know. Maybe street smart? I'm not well read. And I'm probably not the best student. I enjoy intellectual conversation, but usually feel like I don't have much to contribute. I really enjoy reading blogs because they often feel like a conversation rather than dry text. I "wing" most things and rely on my intuition more often than I probably should. BUT, I am really out of touch with most of pop culture. I'm not really sure where I fit in other than the walls of my own home.

6. Have you had that baby yet?

Nope. Doesn't really apply. My baby is approaching his first birthday so baby fever is beginning to stir more than usual, but that's pretty normal.

Make sure you head over to Catholic All Year see read more Answer Me This.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Answer Me This #1

I'm linking up with Kendra at Catholic All Year for the first time. Actually, linked up with her about a year ago but this is the first time for Answer Me This. I've thought it would be fun to participate in the past, planning to do so the next week, and then I would miss it again...story of my life! But not this week baby! I'm linking up. So make sure you head over to Catholic All Year to read other's Answer Me This.

1. How did you get your name?

I'm not 100% sure where my parents found the name Nicole. Maybe a baby name book. I do know that they had a boy name ready to go, Ryan. On the way to the hospital, my mom told my dad that she knows they are having a girl and they needed a name. She said, "I like Nicole." And my dad said "Okay". I think that's the story anyway. Marie is after my dad's grandmother. My siblings and I all have middle names after someone. Chris and I have continued that middle name tradition with our kids. Owen Clarence (Chris's grandfather), Amelia Rose (my dear friend Julie), Simon Paul (my dad), and #4's middle name will be Roger (Chris's dad). Clarence is the only first name, the rest are middle names. I think Marie was my great-grandmother's first name, but I could be completely wrong about that.

2. Do you have a set time for prayer in your day?

No, not really. We manage to say prayers with the kids every night before bed. We are improving saying the blessing before meals. Dinnertime is becoming more frequent, but not every time. There have been a few times we pray after we have eaten because we forgot. Breakfast and lunch get skipped more often, but it's getting there. Neither Chris or I grew up praying before meals regularly, so trying to make this a priority and breaking habits is taking some work.

Most of the time my prayers are randomly said. When something crosses my mind I will offer it up. Our day to day living is going to change as we embark on homeschooling this year. I have scheduled prayer into our day, but I'm not great with schedules. My plan is to make a visual daily timeline, so the kids can help keep me on track. They often remind us to pray before meals, so I think this will eventually work. The visual reminder will likely help me, too.

3. Did your mom work, stay home, or both?

Mostly worked. She was home for the first few years of my life, and then began to work. For a while she would be off work around the time I was getting out of school. And there was a summer where she was able to stay home with us. Overall she worked. I think she would have really liked to have been able to stay home with us, but it wasn't in God's plan for her.

I'm really grateful that I get to stay home with our kids. Most days, I enjoy having them around. After an hour or two I start to miss them when we are separated. I love that I'm available when Chris is off work. Combating schedules in one of many reasons we are choosing to homeschool, and it is one of the reasons I am grateful to be home.

4. Do you vote?

YES! I even do the research that is necessary to vote in the right person for smaller titles.

5. What is your favorite drink?

Diet Pepsi. I know it's terrible for you, but I really like carbonated, aspartamey goodness. I have stopped buying it for the house, but I will still order it if we are out to eat. I have been known to drink a good amount of sweet tea, too.

Adult beverages...beer, wine, cocktails. Middle of the road leaning toward sweet, but not too sweet and I prefer chilled.

6. How are your photography skills?

Ummm, mediocre at best. Every so often I will snap a few gems, but mostly the ones I really love turn out blurry or dark. I have a fancy-ish camera that I mostly keep on auto because I just don't know what I'm doing. There are some people who are really talented with their trusty camera phone. I specialize is dark grainy camera phone pictures that I just make worse with filters. It's all good. Even if my skills do not improve I will try to continue to capture our lives with low quality images. Hopefully, my kids will appreciate it down the road.

Here are some of the low quality images that I love!