Happiness is...

The item most requested in my home on any given afternoon is this: PAPER!

My children are very creative and they love to draw on plain white paper. I need to keep it out of reach because Lucy, almost 2, will quickly scribble on every page (usually just a few lines or swirls) which deems the paper unusable to my other children who say it is ruined (Lucy is quite proud though!).

Our Lady of Lourdes freestyle!

On Monday, Gianna attended the K-4 version of the Our Lady of Lourdes Virtual presentation (see my last post). She came home and drew this picture of Mary. It's currently hanging on my wall and I love it. I plan to get a frame for it (someday...I always forget things like that when I'm running around Target to get necessities!).

Some of Joseph's creations!

Joseph LOVES to write and illustrate books, as well as make some pretty fun innovative games. I hate to admit it, but I toss most of them (he's not old enough to read this yet...ha!). The house isn't big enough to neatly store them all! Of course, I keep my favorites (there's quite a few) and store them in my "special box."

When Teresa was born in October, I quickly came to the conclusion that we would have to stay home every afternoon. This really bothered me at first as I love to be on the go, and for years, we have planned play dates at friend's houses, trips to the playground, errands, etc around 4 p.m.. It made the afternoons much more enjoyable because when we stay home too much, the fighting and restlessness begin!

But, when the older kids get off the bus at 3:40ish, the last thing they want to do is jump back in the car! Plus, there is homework. And, honestly, it is very nerve wracking for me to take all six kids anywhere by myself! So, we are home.

And, it's not so bad now that I've gotten used to it! That's not to say that it's not absolutely crazy :). But, there is paper...and for now, it makes us all very happy! I love that my children are asking for paper rather than technology (guess that's because we don't have any besides a few Leapfrog things/kiddie computers...ha)!

These are simple, innocent times.

And, I'm trying to cherish them :).