7QTs - Books, Leaves, Soccer

Linking up with Kelly ... surviving Flo

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We had some fun with C last Friday

Getting ready for that hairband

And thinking about walking

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Outside

A and C need their outside time. NEED IT

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Soccer:

The games have begun. M and the Grasshoppers were victorious in their first game. I love game like this because we were winning pretty handily and M and another girl on the team had not scored yet so the second half of the game, the goal was to help the two girls score - and that goal was met. It was great. 

Sunday the big girls went to a soccer clinic in the afternoon with the local professional team and college team. It was long and hot but I was proud of them for seeing it through - especially R who doesn't even really play soccer. 

A had his very first soccer ever. He is the second from the left - me and C are the first to the left. A's team has a really good player who 'gets it'. This is really important for 3 yr old soccer because you need a good leader of the pack around the ball. A and his friend had a ball. They kicked and they ran and they sat down but they were on the field for the full 16 minute game. No goals scored but he wasn't super concerned. 

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M had to do some work for her family tree

She got tried of cutting leaves out... sorry kid, you got a bunch of peeps in your family

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A is wild

He is currently sporting a black eye after running into M's bed. He cried. Put some ice on it and then RAN to the mirror to check out the tattoo. He never slows down and he doesn't realize if he'd slow down just a bit - he'd get hurt less frequently. 

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Friends...  

Love them!

---7---

Hurricane Flo 

It has been an interesting week here. The early part of the week it looked pretty bad for us in the Mount. The hurricane path was coming for us. Well that changed and instead of getting pummeled with a hurricane we got rain, wind and one tornado warning that required a quick trip to the little bathroom with my favorite people. 

There was no school Thursday or Friday. Thursday was more of a prep day so E had swim practice - yay for out of the house activities and A tagged along. Then we shot to the library and picked out a few books. 

Lee made coffee cake on Friday morning. It was awesome. The power flickered one or twice and then I filled up the bath tub a bit more (hello flushing toilets with a well) and wondered if Lee would be hooked up the generator that he rented Wednesday afternoon. Tuesday things didn't look good here so on a whim I called our equipment rental place and they had generators! Who knew?!?!? That was a big wife win but thank goodness we did not need it. 

There's a LOT of people who are in really terrible positions so prayers for them

We've done lots of reading (R is almost done with her reading book!), work booking, Lego building and playing. We ventured out today for a short walk to nix the cabin fever. 

Week in My Life - Tuesday

Week in My Life catch up - Monday

Tuesday started really early - thanks to C who was up at 4ish to eat. I got up in the hopes of being productive. I heard A rustling around so I turned on the laundry room light - which is the furthest light from his room (and M's) and then bam! He knew I was up. 

He and I snuggled on the couch for a while because what else do you do with a 2 yr old who might wake up the entire house at 4:30 am. He is wearing is 'ball' pajamas he insisted on wearing the night before. 

C decided to get up before 6 which was fine because what the heck. But her diaper was overflowing so strip the sheets from the crib and change her. Throw the sheets and clothes in the washer - gasp! - I don't do laundry during the week except in extreme situations. Then I come back to get her dressed and somehow in the changing process she must have peed on the big bed sheet soooooo... strip those sheets and get them in the washer too. 

We left the house without too much fuss - except over brushing hair

A loves walking through the mulch at school even though I'm not a fan

Spontaneous sister/brother holding hands in school - that never happens. Usually M is mad that A is messing up something of hers

Tire pressure light came on yesterday because of the temperature drop, plus no gas, plus 2000 miles overdue for an oil change... story of my life

C and I shot into work. I find out Lee's appointment is moved to 1 hour later which throws me for a loop with preschool pick up. All you people who don't live near awesome family, I don't know how you do it. Jibbe saved the day - of course - and picked up M and A so I could be with Lee and drive him home. 

No more diverticulitis! Let's total the medical bills of that saga - it is more than it cost us to have C earlier this year. And yes, I wish I was kidding.  

A moment of peace with the kids resting and checking in on work. 

Pretty accurate scene. R with her headband. E with her newfound bubble making talent and her book. I picked up again because Lee was home - plus I knocked out some work phone calls in the truck. 

C is on the verge of rolling over! Which is not too hard to believe I suppose but gracious she is getting big. A friend had a baby a few weeks ago and I've seen him a few times and I am reminded how little she used to be!

Next up is homework which happens at the dinner table and the girls do homework better when they are not doing it at the same time. Plus book reading. Plus sight words. Trying to get through all the sight words before spelling words... Oh Kindergarten can't you be fun again 

E knee deep in math homework and I had her recopy all her sentences from the night before because they were pretty terrible. Plus the Jesse Tree is up because November 15 marks the start of Advent for us. 

That planner - we had an issue over the planner. Isn't it interesting when our kids don't do the right thing - but they do it kinda out of ignorance and some bit of maliciousness - how disappointing it is as a parent. We want our kids to do the right thing all the time and when they don't it is such a let down. I have to imagine God feels exactly the same way with us when we sin... I know you know better than that, but you want to go and do it anyways. Kinda hurts my feelings

A picked out his 'ball' shirt and GEEEns for school. He's so cute!

Last on tap was AHG. Lee couldn't drive and I needed to touch base with another mom about some badges for E that she worked on over the summer (at camp) which I haven't posted about but really happened.

Then it was a bit of studying for quizzes before tucking in. 

7QTs - Green, Traps, & Irish Food

Linking up with Kelly and adding the necessary amount of green..

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Hopefully you celebrated yesterday with lots of green!

I cannot believe it - a decent 4-kid-pic!

The girls weren't thrilled about their green milk at breakfast or the green mac and cheese at lunch BUT its St. Patricks Day and I always add a bit of green to food as a reminder. So they will just have to get over it : ) 

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The week started off with a bang and A throwing up (we think it was too much milk at once and not a continuation of the funk he had in the wee hours of Saturday morning - while Papa was in OH on this pierogi mission)

Because after a morning power nap he was pretty much fine the rest of the day.

But that wasn't the only illness of the week, I took E to the dr on Thursday because she had been nonacid off complaining of her ear hurting and school called and said she had a fever so off to the doctor to put this to bed. After one inflamed ear canal (close to the start of swimmer's ear) later and a small bottle of $$ eye drops - she's fine. 

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This post is going to sound like an ode to E but it's been a pretty slow week... Any ways, E's been working on a leprechaun trap for a few weeks. 

We craft in stages... 

She first started off with attracting the leprechauns with candy but after reading a Magic Tree House fact checker about Irish folklore we learned that leprechauns are after gold coins - not candy. We talked about her design plans and how the leprechauns might see the coins in the shoebox and etc etc... enter the trap door and the windows. I really wanted to see how/where she'd run with it so I had her draw the cut outs because I'm still not good with handing over a pair of boxcutters to a 6 yr old - though she did make the windows bigger - which she thought was excellent. 

Deep in golden ladder making

While she did that, I tested my Saran wrap and glue gun theory - which is totally doable. I wouldn't recommend trying to do it in tight shoebox corners but it worked. E trimmed the excess wrap and I was pretty sure she was going to punch a hole in the Saran before she turned it in 

A sign and a gold path were the finishing touches 

The finished product. Unfortunately, none of the traps caught any leprechauns yesterday at school. The leprechauns ate the chocolate coins E had in her trap and busted out one of the windows.... 

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E hit a big milestone in AR points and I told her she could either go out for ice cream or order a new set of fairy books... I thought she was going to be sold on the ice cream and we all lost out when she chose the fairy books.

She's downed these 7 books in less than 2 days!

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Lee's been cooking like crazy for a big school fundraiser... 

Veggie lasagne, Guinness beef stew, Shepherd's pie, corned beef and cabbage, and roasted potatoes. The kitchen has been overflowing with food and great smells. Next weekend it's sausage making weekend for our parish fundraiser which is icky and gross to me so the kids and I will have to evacuate because I can't stand it. 

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Wednesday we survived our first pre sanctified Liturgy of Lent (I know scandalous given this was the 3rd week)... with China the first week and Lee giving a Lenten retreat at the parish here the second week - it just wasn't in the cards. 

The kids - even A - did mostly well. E was in a micro-managing mood so I got reports on who was doing what. 

We also hit the Fish Fry and Stations of the Cross here last night (for the first time). E sat in her own pew in the front - and always does a million times better when she's by herself and not distracted. R did awesome too - which I've kind of been waiting for to step up her behavior game. Still wouldn't trust to make through all of Mass but with the standing and kneeling and moving for Stations I think it makes it easier. M and A weren't terrible so props to them. A destroyed a Stations booklet so we have that to tape up and use next week. He found the Holy Water so between that and the prayer cards that he went up and down the pews taking out of the holders, he was actually pretty quiet. Thank goodness we didn't have to go outside because it was FREEZING.

I'm learning that parenting is so much about patience and I am trying to embrace the need to be more patient but it is hard. Maybe adding another baby will slow things down some and cause me to stretch and add a little more. patience

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But until then... We will par the course and carry on with the crazy like always

Spring sports is starting up - there's only a few weeks over lap with the end of swim season. Thank goodness the practices are 5 minutes away because everyone is on a different schedule. I'm not coaching E's team this year which is new but good. I think its good for her to learn from someone else plus I couldn't do a good job if I wanted to given the fact I might have some or all kids in tow because spring pool season is upon us and St. Joseph seems to be taking care of Lee in the lots of work department. R's doing tee ball again but the wacky cold and rainy weather has canceled the first week of practice. M starts her soccer next week. She's decided to be the purple Ducks. I'm coaching her little team because I enjoy it and I feel pretty good about Lee being there most days and E and R are pretty self-contained and A cannot wander too far because he is super into every single ball there is in sight so he'll probably stick right with me. 

I'm actually kind of excited about the spring season of activities because they really force me (and Lee) to stay on dinner schedule and have a plan and stick to it. Yes, there are some late showers and meltdowns but everyone learns a little bit of sacrifice for another person. 

To the birthday boy

To A - the boy I'd never thought I'd have

A, I don't think I really wrapped my mind around the idea that there would be any Kibbe boys in this family. Your Papa and I were quite convinced it would be Pinktown for life. But you can and changed all that. 

You screamed for the first hour and a half of your life - like the nurse had to come stand at the bed and speak to me because I couldn't her her over your howling. You howled yesterday around the same time range when I was putting you to round o nap part 2. You aren't much of a snuggler or a rocker anymore except in the morning. You love your Nini and your paci and your Eeyore. You know when its time for bed and you get really antsy and don't want to get in but you don't cry too much. 

When you are not asleep you can probably be found crawling through the house chewing on or tearing apart or drooling on and occasionally playing with various things. You like to play with the trash can foot-push. You like to play in the red car outside. You like to play with the doorstops and listen to them vibrate. You have climbed tables and chairs and on the fireplace - which is hilarious and terrifying. You love going into the bathroom and staring down the potty and sometimes sticking your hand in it! You don't like being contained but you cry at my feet if I'm not holding you. 

When you cry, I usually put you in your highchair to eat. You love bananas and cheese and pumpkin muffins. LOVE THEM. You're not a huge fan of hot dogs or plain Cheerios but your Papa says it's because that's all I gave you for several weeks when you started eating food. You wrapped up nursing when you were about 9 months old. Right before all your teeth came in; you lost some of your baby look when all SIX came in at one time. 

Your big sisters adore you but you don't let them hold you too much. You like it when they crawl around on the floor with you. You chase them around and you think it is funny. They like pushing you on the swing and E took you for some rides down the slide the other day - you were a fan. You like going to school - you didn't at first. Your screamed and screamed and screamed. They even put you in a different room because they thought you didn't like the room. But now, you happily take a break from me in the mornings. 

You are so different than your sisters the difference is so vast. Your papa and I talk about it often. You are just louder, more destructive and a little stinkier than them - and that's okay Little Boy. You're a keeper. 

Much love

Mama

7QTs - Carrot Cake, High Dives and Soggy Fish

School talk, birthday talk, talk talk...

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We went over to my parents to celebrate my birthday early because it was smack dab in the middle of one heck of a crazy week a normal week 

E unsure of the cream cheese frosting 

Beer can chicken and if you think that looks good you should have seen the homemade Chinese dumplings that we had for lunch!

The cake was awesome. 

I requested carrot cake and of course Grammy came through. The girls were SO AGAINST CARROT CAKE that I heard about everyday for at least 10 days leading up to this day. 

E/R/M - You know you aren't having chocolate cake for your birthday

Me - Yes I know

E/R/M - Why/

Me - I just wanted carrot cake this year

E/R/M - I don't like carrot cake! I'm not going to eat it

Me - Okay, there will be more for me

Well I least I have trained them well in their love for chocolate. 

Grammy totally caved and made some cupcakes with chocolate frosting because I certainly wouldn't have... take it or leave it. #meanestmomever R did try some carrot cake and liked it. E of course wouldn't touch it

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So then it was the day before E's school started sooooo.....

We have some super great friends who took E to the pool for the morning to spend the last day of summer vacation doing what she has been asking to do since June... Go off the high dive (at a pool we swim against). Our pool doesn't have diving boards so this was kind of a big deal plus she didn't have to hang out at work with me (which she did do the week prior because some little boy in the house decided he needed to have free reign and that can't happen at one of the places I work). So E and A swapped places and while I'm sure she enjoyed Frozen (she could be heard singing Let it Go a floor away) and Star Wars, I know the pool and friends was way funner than spending the morning holed up in the conference room. 

Then the 3 yr old Penguins convened the season opening practice. I have a theory about coaching 3 yr olds. Teaching passing/sharing is pretty pointless. Just getting the kids going to the correct goal and not using their hands is about all that can possibly be expected of 3 yr olds plus the games are just comical. Anyhow, M isn't quite 3 yet but E and R both opted out of soccer and I couldn't bear not coaching so M was recruited to play for the 3s. 

She's actually surprisingly 'into it' seems to like it but we'll see what in the world happens at our first game in a few weeks. 

Finally on the eve of 1st grade, E spent her last night with the class pet she took care of for the summer. Fidget was wrapped in her nice pink hairband for the night and hung out with Olaf. I was quite convinced E would shed some tears over Fidget and she asked me to give him back to her K teacher.... I think she knows he'll be around next year when R gets to petsit Fidget. 

Speaking of K... I almost had a small breakdown when R tried E's uniform on for size. Yes that is her in the pic... I don't know where E is.

The long story is, this new priest at a church close by asked to have a parent from the school speak after each Mass about our school and how great it is. Well someone asked me to do it? And I passed that buck right onto Lee because HELLO Alumni-Parent-Deacon. So we got E and R dressed in uniform and headed down to Saturday evening Mass. Slash I think it was the first time Lee has ever not served as a deacon plus all the crazies kids were there which again is a totally novelty for him. (This parish has a very active deacon and there was a 50th anniversary celebration for a Jesuit priest plus a visiting priest from Rome so the altar was overflowing with clergy so... to the pews papa-deacon) So I think A made it to about the Gospel and then I had him out during the homilies (oh and the Mass was bilingual : ) Then I passed A off to Papa who was privileged to stay out in the narthex with A for the most of the rest of Mass (I could hear him wailing during the quiet parts). Then there was one more reflection on Jesuit life/education and then Lee got his 15 minutes of fame with E and R but he really kept it to about 90 seconds because Mass was tipping the 87 minutes mark (#notlying) 

ANYWAY, I am very grateful that this priest is a promotor and advocate for Catholic education and he wants the local Catholic school to have a presence at his parish. Very promising. Next time, I hope we can actually speak because he seems awesome. 

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And then the first day of school happened. But this is what my kitchen looked like after getting everyone out the door 10 minutes early for obligatory first day pics:

Pretty sure I could use someone to come through my kitchen every morning 

Because it is logistically impossible to clean up breakfast dishes, pack snacks/lunches and facilitate getting people dressed as well as teeth and hair brushed. It is a pressure cooker of things that require a certain amount of time and attention and well something has to give and usually it is le kitchen. 

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This guy...

I've been trying to get a pic of A's teeth for awhile now and he not being terribly cooperative in the matter. The kid has 6 teeth now. They have been working him hard since the beginning of August and he has been pretty moody and sad about them all coming in at one time 

I'm not sure why I bother with a bib for him...

But I know he likes using it because first he'll let milk dribble out of his mouth and then he'll eat some goldfish and get all the salt off of them and then spit them out and let the fish marinate in the milk for a few minutes and then he'll grab a fistfull of soggy fish and stuff them in his mouth. 

Promise. 

It happens more often than you think for it not to be a well hatched plan on his part. 

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RANDOs for the week....

We walked the track while E was at swim practice. For the first 35 min it was R and M in the stroller and A in the carrier but then I let the crazies loose and hopefully they didn't bother too many people because staying in the lines is not something they are great at : ) 

#thisisgross

Buy 3 products get $10 for the school? multiple by four (per receipt) = 

And overloaded cart with nowhere for A to sit. Plus he was being crabby anyway so he didn't want to. 

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This is how my birthday was spent (after school and work):

I got to go for a swim while E was at her swim practice. Then we shot over to the back to school ice cream social and then R had tee ball. Pretty much sums up my life as a mom but I happen to have zero problems with that. 

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The day after the craziness of my actual birthday Lee and I went out to dinner



To one of our favorite restaurants that we actually haven't been to since Valentines Day (the service was pretty terrible but this time is was back to normal). It was so good and I'm glad I didn't try talking him out of the 25 minute drive over there