P, H, F, R - numero dos

This link up a nice way to break up the week and I really don't have anything particular to be inspired by so... here goes : )


Pretty

The Y pool was PRETTY cold this week for our final swim lesson. Seriously the girls had chattering teeth half way through. HELLO!!! Turn up the pool heater. Turn up the inside air temp. Oh wait you are on Rocky Mount utilities... Supposedly next week soccer will start for E. Nothing from the real NC about it - which is not a big surprise according to sources familiar with the subject. IDK how things will go. Probably just as cute and hilarious as they did when I coached the Ducks and the Geckos in the Chapel Hill league in college. The question in my projecting the future/ love-to-plan mind... This fall will E choose to take ballet much to the delight of Grammy or my chagrin (not really, I will honestly support whatever she wants, just as my mom did with me) or will she choose something else. Seems like once she has her mind made up about something it is a done deal so I'll be sure not to ask her until about 10 days before otherwise she will be asking about it for months!

Happy

R was thrilled earlier this week when we ran out of Chex. She rejects Cheerios in the morning but will eat them as a snack if there happen to be a few left on her tray from breakfast because if you think I can manage to clean her tray after breakfast and get out the door semi-ontime you are loca en the cabeza. So   I was forced to resort to frosted (thank you Papa) mini Wheats (the Food Lion brand because Papa and E like it better). I am pretty sure R has consumed more mini wheats than E over the past two mornings. It is quite impressive. Not that I am opposed to the frosted kind because the girls really don't have much sugar throughout the day and it is a nice disguise for all that fiber - and who does not love a fiber filled diet???

Funny

E is obsessed with puzzles and the Elmo puzzle has recycled back through the puzzle stack. She finished it in record time. Then proceeded to inform us of the following:

Cookie Monster eats cookies
Oscar eats cabbage
Abby eats cookies
Grover eats tomatoes
Big Bird eats chicken nuggets


Real

Yes those are real holes in the ceiling and hallway thanks to that nice little pin hole leak in the supply line of the upstairs bathroom. Other than the fact that we are BFF with our plumber because he fixed that and replaced our water heater in the span of less than 24 hours - I am kinda not looking forward to that bill...

Stuff Happens in Threes...

Yesterday afternoon I was horrified when I pulled back the kids shower curtain and was greeted by this  thing.

Well this is actually a pic of post-plumber visit today. The 3rd bathroom is right above the kids bathroom - and it is really not used too much - Lee uses it when he is in his study and does not want to wander back downstairs. Anyway I frantically call Lee who does not answer - of course in the time of crisis he would not! Well long story short the plumber came today and replaced the gasket on the toilet - because the shower has not be used in months! And quick and easy (and probably not so cheapy fix). 

Five minutes after the plumber leaves the termite pest control guy comes to do our annual termite inspection (we live in a swampy area so bugs/lizards - thank goodness no snakes like our house). Well we pass termite inspection and the leak in the ceiling is fixed. Sweet! But then the guy comes to the door and says "You have a leak under the house"... Whoa whoa whoa... Enter frantically run to grab Lee because he understands this stuff. Leak = bad that is about the extent of my knowledge of these kinds of things. 

Wouldn't you know Lee is back on the phone with the plumber... because the water heater is leaking/broken/shot. UGH! Well at least it is plumbed to leak under the house and not in the house right! Well at least our termite guy was scheduled to come today otherwise our hot water heater would have blown up (I don't know if that is the exact visual but it sounds kinda like how I would imagine it.) Anyway Senor Plumber is due back at our house tomorrow to replace that convenient appliance

Which is a darn good thing because I go in and check on R and turn off the light in the kids bathroom and drip.... drip.... drip. 

So does this count as our third 'thing' or is this a resurrection of the first 'thing'... I am hoping for the former and assuming the latter. Ideas/bets on what #3 is going to be? 

Overheard...

"Mama I need to close the door so the chickens don't get in church!"

After repeatedly telling E that the door at church needed to stay open...

Chickens in church... that sounds wild.

Quick Takes - Busy Busy Busy Week Addition

--- 1 ---

It turns out that 300 dozen pierogi actually does not fit in one freezer - or two - the pierogi overflowed into our family freezer - which is totally fine. Just threw a wrench in where the kielbasa are going... E is going to play at Jibbe's tomorrow morning as the pork and garlic and casings fly around our house. R will hopefully take a good nap either in the am or pm.

--- 2 ---

2.5 secs after Papa got home we raced to Raleigh for Grammy and Grandpa Joe's Marti Gras party. I think we have one decent family pic so I'll post those in my February update - though I don't think I ever did one for January... Opps!

--- 3 ---

Now onto Sunday. Downton Abbey finale. After catching up on season 2, Lee and I decided to NOT watch the DA finale. Having given up TV during the week we still have not watched it. I am so bad at not looking so on Tuesday I finally gave in and read several people's rants and raves about the finale. Well, I am way mad - to the point I don't want to watch the show anymore! I cannot believe that is what happened. I told Lee and he is probably going to force me to watch it with him. - because we really don't watch too much together - Person of Interest, Chopped, Iron Chef, 19 kids and Counting - Lee is not a big fan of the last one and last season was kind of boring so I don't know if that will continue. Got any shows we should watch?

--- 4 ---

Monday brought swim lessons. Well the teacher we like was back. I told her we missed the first class and I did not know if we could make it up... Background - there are only 3 kids in the class. She said no. It did not matter if the kids were sick or whatever. Okay so the next time my kids are sick and have pink eye - I'll bring them to swim class and spread the love because 'there are no makeups'???? Please. If there were 10 kids in the class then I could see that would be a problem but for really I am paying $10/half hr class - I think I should be able to have a makeup class. K thanks.

--- 5 ---

Oh wow. Tuesday was a second and final attempt at Presanctified Liturgy. Note the FINAL attempt. I had high hopes. I came prepared with snacks and cups for before Liturgy. E did moderately better - only because there was another little girl a bit older to keep her in line. R on the other hand did no better. She desperately wants to get down and crawl around. I got over the nasty floor thing but she was crawling in and out of the chairs - and I cannot have her be a distraction - that is not fair to others. Well she was inconsolable once Liturgy ended and despite have brought more cupcakes (I used less Soymilk in the frosting and it was 100% more fluffy) so we left without eating dinner : ( and E forgot her umbrella - small crisis. Fortunately Fr. Mark and family recovered it before they left but there were tears shed over that!. Anyways, lesson learned we will NOT be going back to PL - maybe Holy Week. But I am getting nervous about that now too!!! Can we make it through PL on Wednesday, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday and Pascha? I think Holy Saturday might get nixed if we are melting down - last year I remember was quite manageable with two. I think R will be better once she can walk around. I think E will be better when she realizing that running back and forth from her seat to me in the back is really not good in church. Oh well... Not worried about it - I can't be.


                                           

--- 6 ---

Speaking of things I made. I made dinner on Wednesday??? Yes I know. Cupcakes one day and lentil soup the next. Pretty crazy! I got it from the slow cooker recipes book from America's Test kitchen. I think its a winner and it even had Swiss Chard in it so it was healthy too! For dessert our dinner guest brought the OverStuffed Oreos. Those are kinda ridiculous.

--- 7 ---

Last night Lee and I went to the Pregnancy Care Center dinner which was super nice to finally get back. The speaker was entertaining and the food was 100 times better than I remember it back in 2010. This morning there is another 2 hr delay for rain. AHHHHHHH!!!! These news channel scare people in closing/delaying schools. It is so insanely crazy! Tonight Fish Fry and Stations is on tap. Really hoping that R will not meltdown. I am thinking total change of scenery AND Stations is probably about 45 min instead of double that. Am I being too optimistic?

Next week we don't have an activity every night - which is a welcome relaxation.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

My Morning in Pics

Okay it is time to do wash Mama

P,H,F,R - to remember a few moments from today

I'll give this Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real thing a whirl... in no particular order

Today started off kinda rough... I getting over a cold, E had a meltdown - a few in fact, ehhh it just seemed kind of blah-ish

Good Morning World!

Pretty

R wore a pretty coat I scored at the Wil-town consignment shop. The LL Bean coat retails for $100 and I got it for $13 and I pretty sure it was worn a single time. I also got a jumper for E since she LOVES them and a few long sleeve dresses and a jumper for R - as E's 12-18 month clothes are all summer so I need to extend the wardrobe out a few more weeks.

Happy

We had such a great time outside this afternoon. It was in the low 60s and I was super pumped about cycling and walking. Then I realized that I A. left something in my car that had to go out on FedEx and B. I had nothing for dinner. Bummer! So we had a shortened outside time : ( We headed out to FedEx and then to McD's to give the Fish McBites a try -but then I was so happy to remember that OLPH was having a fish fry!!! Sweet! and they accept checks - double score for the mama who carries no cash. R was freaking out because it was time to eat. E was interesting in the fries. Anyway this super nice older lady came over and held R as I stuffed her face and kept her quiet/content : ) The lady was way happy to help - she has 3 grandsons - and we had a nice conversation.

Funny

Okay back track to the outside time. E was on the red cycle ( the big cycle) the one that she does not obliterate her shoes because she is forced to use the pedals. We walked/cycled up to S&J's house - our neighbor friends with little boys about 18 months older than E&R respectively. On the way we saw some birds in the grass and trees. E rung her little bell on her cycle. She said 'Mama I beeped the birds' pause 'Mama I ringed the birds' pause 'I ringed that one' pause 'I ringed that one and that one'. Backstory, we beep people in the car. Actually we playfully beep Nani and I can be an aggressive honker when it comes to bad driving but we differentiate between beeping and honking. So we beep Nani on the road, at her house, we beep Nani at BR Global (E says it so cutely), and we beep Nani's crazy puppies. So clearly it would follow we can 'ring the birds'.

Ringing the birds

                               

Also, hilarious R was mad at me that I would not let her crawl on the driveway. She does this crazy spin move and pivots on one knee/leg and does a 90 degree spin. It is an excellent visual. She also did one round of hopscotch with me. She liked it the first time but the second time she was way mad.

Happily bird watching

                                 

Real

It is really half way through February?  It is really almost Saturday? For real, I got a jump on the laundry for the weekend so I am way ahead of the eight ball - at least until the girls wake up : )

Seven QTs - Lent Style

--- 1 ---

Hello Friday! Papa has left for the Holy Land of Ukrainian Catholics in the United States otherwise known as Parma, OH. After Presanctified Liturgy and a fish fry with the Bishop and members of the cathedral parish he will be back on the road with 300 dozen pierogi for our church fundraiser. Yes the shipping on 300 dozen frozen items is worth the crazy 36 hours loop-de-loop to bring them back to a freezer at the residence of your's truly.

--- 2 ---

Speaking of fundraiser. Next weekend we have the distinct pleasure of hosting our parish kielbasa aka sausage makers at our house. It will be a good time for all. After having lived through it last year with a toddler and infant and now I have a toddler and almost toddler (yes R is almost walking - well kinda she finally figured out pulling up the other day - GO R!!!) Anyway, I won't get into the stinky details about this sausage but I am clearing out everything from the dining area to the kitchen and laundry room back. The pork somehow ends up getting everywhere and the casing - well they are casings. If I could make a Yankee Candle Scent of "Sausage Making" I would totally do it so you all could smell the glory of what these sausage makers smell for 10 hours. BUT! I won't do that... You should know if you live in NC and you like kielbasa (or pierogi for that matter) and want to support a good cause - get some of the sausage it is pretty darn awesome. So leave a comment and I'll hook you up with the details.

--- 3 ---

Now along the same line of church topics... I am coordinating our booth at a local Catholic conference. Nice. Except I found out this week that said conference has a 'no child 10 and under policy'. Now since we have a booth there I am not going to go into a rant mode. I will simply pose the question, IF the Catholic Church teaches the stuff it does about families, family size, babies etc etc AND since the conference is definitely geared toward a Catholic audience THEN what am I missing here? Okay enough said - no longer upset just slightly peaved. No I am not going to leave my kids all day and pay a babysitter so I can go to this conference. I know that Papa will be there because there is a speaker whom I know he wants to meet so he and other parishioners will have to hold down the fort.

--- 4 ---

Moving on. R's bday.... Well the party was kind of a bust with the girls being sick. Grammy and Grandpa Joe braved the sick house and brought homemade soup and of course the cake!!! R had another birthday celebrating midweek at Jibbe's she was a (cup)cake eating pro at that point so the pics (which I need to post) are a bit more of what you would expect for a birthday cake smash. In total she raked in 4 babies (no live ones, thanks Auntie C for asking for clarification : ), 5 puzzles, 1 Dumbo Elephant (she loves his nose), Ernie (now she and E can be matching- I think E is more excited about it), 1 spring dress (and E has one too - matching again), 1 saving account (my pleas for practical things have been heard!!!!) and 1 insanely pleasant noise making toy (which R happens to love and dances to and everything - It is a sunny day, a perfect to play at the playground... yes I know all the words... already : )

--- 5 ---

How about Valentine's Day??? I did not do heart shaped toast like last year but I squeaked out some cupcakes and frosting - all fast friendly/Lent legal - whatever you want. They weren't too bad either! E helped with the batter for both cupcakes and frosting which was mildly entertaining. This was after her little preschool class party which I got crafty and sent this little Chinese food takeout boxes (new and appropriately colors for Valentine's Day - along with this crazy messy glittery letters so the kids could stick their names on the boxes. It was way cute and I may or may not have spent a good 20 minutes spelling out the kids names so I just sent the necessary letters - the A and H were had to come by in the pink and purple and the N and A in the blue and red. I think you can see the box which E made on our frig. Crafty and baker in one day!!! Papa gave me flowers and a card and before we left for church the girls opened their cards and presents - books - because clearly we need more of those, right? Papa opened his card too!

                                           

--- 6 ---

Speaking of church... last night. By the end of it while I was standing in the back with R who had been wailing for AT LEAST the last half of the service - I almost started laughing. There was nothing I could do for her. She was just mad and up past her bedtime - which I totally thought she could handle. Apparently I was very wrong and everyone at church knew about it. It did not help I thought it was going to be in the 1 hr range and not 1 hr and 45 minutes!!! The first hour she was pretty manageable. ALSO, she is teething and desperately wants to crawl on the icky dirty floor!!! I happen to have a special affection for Presanctified Liturgy as it was the first Eastern Catholic service I attended - and pretty much got me hooked. If you have never been I highly recommend going at least once to check it out!

--- 7 ---

Finally I have no idea what happened on Downton Abbey this week and among other things it has been nice to be disconnect from Facebook and TV... not that I will get used to it but turning things/noise whatever down has been a much needed break. 

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Art from this Week

Can you tell it is Valentine's Day?

Wordless Wednesday - Our Contortionists

Went in to check on E and found her fast asleep like this

R after dinner... I have no idea

Fish and Frog - Our First 2013 Pool Experience

So I don't have any pics of this adventure. Sorry!!! I knew I would have my hands full with the girls and I knew I'd probably not get out and take any pics this time. I am hopeful for next week. Anyway, the teacher was not there... grrrr... but there was a substitute. She was okay. Better than the subs prior.

E was ready to hop right in the water. She 'swam' after a few of the toys and put on these weird floatie things that are arms float with a chest float all attached - so basically she looked like a frog with her elbow and head out of water and feet and body in the water. She really really enjoyed 'swimming' to get stuff. She even when under - after seeing R do it. She did not want to leave but we told her we'd be back.

Now R was not really sure what in the world was going on. She was mad about her swim diaper but calmed down when we got to the pool. I took her in. She was perplexed by the situation at first. Then she realized that she was buoyant and had a ball. She was kicking and moving her arms like a champ! She preferred to be tummy down in the water but did 'float' on her back a few times. She went under a couple times and was not thrilled but did not scream about it either. By the end she was kicking and trying to blow bubbles. Papa said she was like a fish out of water... more like a fish back in her desired habit.

Cannot wait for next week.

Oh and the locker room floors give me the creeps. I thought I needed to soak my feet in clorox went we got home.. I know I am such a germaphob.

R's Birthday in pics

Let her eat cake!

Here's a few pics from R's birthday party which was toned down from originally planned as we are getting over pink eye and ear infections and coughs and fevers.

Presents!

The first present

Grammy and E helping

Okay this is how you open presents

Ahhhh! Baby 

Let me help you with that

Reading the cards

So excited about another toy that make noise!

A bow!

This is kind of overwhelming 

Loving the noise toy

Paper!

Paper!!!

PAPER!!!

Yea!!!

Eating the card... that means it is cake time!

Hmm....

What is this stuff?

Divide

Conquer

Yum

Must have more cake / on a sugar high : ) 

The caption possibilities are endless...

Sweet little R how is it that you are one? How it is possible that one year has gone by? I think you screamed more today at church than you did the day you were born. You are into everything and especially love to pick up the tiniest pieces of stuff of the floor and put it in your mouth. You pull up to your knees but not to your feet yet. I think you aren't going to start walking - you will just start running. Running to give big sis a run for her money. You all have been playing together recently though E will commandeer things you are playing with but I know that your protest over situations like that will come soon. You have traveled internationally and put your toes in the sand in DR - but still not in NC, yet. You are saying mama and papa and nini and nigh-nigh. You are a pointer when you want something. You save mama from changing a stinky diaper more than 50% of the time by going on the potty - and for this I am ever so grateful.

Here's to your next year and every year after that!