Just Because - car seats

Two weeks ago when we were driving to get the girls from school the stomach bug reared it’s ugly head - in the van, via people strapped in carseats. 

ICK!

Carseats normally collect tons of crumbs, dirt, rocks, treasures and trash but when you are trying to clean up from someone getting sick in them, if you are like me you probably just wish you had the money in the budget to toss them and start fresh.

But if are like me you probably don’t have the disposable income to just trash 250 car seats so we are stuck unstrapping them, fighting with the padding and tossing them in the washer - but that probably voids the manufacturer warranty- but it’s pretty much nearly impossible to spot clean so VOID away.

Then there’s the straps which are impossible to clean. And they are the place that I have found is center stage in the stomach illness department. The straps are made into the seats so you cannot take them out and wash them so spot clean it is and clean they’ll never get.

And the icing on the cake is that you probably forget there’s no padding on the seats until you are ready to brave the world again post stomach bug and then you’ll be late as you fight to get the padding back in place and the seats back in position.

Linking up with Rosie just because 

7QTs - Work, Pool, School

Linking up with Kelly ... pre gaming for school week

---1---

It has been a rough week for Catholics. And if by rough, I mean awful. Many more eloquent writers have written more about everything. It is disgusting. It is sad. We pray for the victims. We pray that all the evil men (and women) who are in the Church to depart.

Part of this post really made me think about the scandals in a whole other way "My son wants to be a priest. He talks about celebrating Mass and practices with his Mass kit. I have prayed to God that He would give one of my sons a vocation to the priesthood. But now I just don't know if I want that for him, for any of them."

---2---

I got this fancy new desk... 

Actually it is really not. Just a 42x24 metal board thing with feet. A few other peeps in the office stand while working so I figured I'd give it a whirl. You know the staying... 

Sitting > Laying down

Standing > Sitting

Walking > Standing

Running > Walking

---3---

We were on the last jar of honey and it had solidified...

I was really worried I was going to boil it because the directions are clear about the water being hot but not boiling. Reconstituting took longer than I thought but did the trick. 

Now we can have peanut butter and honey sandwiches again! BLAAAAAAAAAH!

---4---

We soaked in a little more summer at the pool

C waffles about loving being in the pool and hating life at the pool

I'm mostly not worried about the kids dragging her around in the shallow part of the pool

A refused to go down the slide... I think our first bout from the beginning of the summer was traumatizing. Next summer he's going to be going down like a champ!

---5---

We had to do our school supply shopping... 

This was me and the 3 littles while the 2 bigs were at playground clean up. Thanks for the pic M!

Then we headed into Target with the behemoth cart - which is harder to drive than the van! - plus...  

And my 2 walkers. The Saturday before school started back. 

It is not procrastination for me people. It is just how I CHOOSE to handle things. Did my kids have the coolest folders - no but we did find one good Shopkins one. Did M have the best pencil box - heck no because I've convinced they don't make good pencil boxes anymore they are all crappy - or at least the ones mass market available are. 

Anyhow, we made it and I'm glad I didn't school supply shop for a month before school began. I was busy in summer mode. 

Also, it is worth noting I gave the Wally-world pick up app a shot for about half the school supplies. 

Point.

Click. 

Crayola markers, pencils, paints, scissors etc was too easy and I had a discount code. 

I purposefully left folders off and a few other things (Hi Target) because I needed to put my hands on these things. 

My Wally's experience was nice. It mainly cut the jabber from the kids of CAN I HAVE EVERYTHING COLORFUL AND GLITTERY IN THE STORE??!?!?!

My shopper was really nice and brought my stuff out and told me they didn't have any scissors left and something else got  replaced - totally fine. 

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got home and unloaded and peeked in my bags and crazy me had ordered 3 packs of skinny dry erase markers - I swear they looked thick online at 11:15 pm when I was ordered them 

SOOOOOO....

Lee had to return them for me and pick up scissors which he obviously had to go into the store for thus defeating the purpose of online ordering but whatever. It was operator error. 

Then for the next 3.5 days the girls wanted to peruse everything but I nixed that until the night before school which almost killed them. 

---6---

And then school happened.... 

And the first day I picked them up on their halfday and had packed lunch for the pool which was met with grumbling but one day they'll thank me. 

And then homework became a reality

But we survived it

I spent one of the halfday morning sweeping out the garage with the little peeps who were not in preschool. I was glad to get that done and throw some stuff out including a little dead mouse.

---7---

To close I don't think I've fully dished on the fall sports line up but here's a teaser...

PB bites for a prepractice snack

He was loving his shinguard and soccer shoes and rolled around in the grass more than he stayed on his feet but the Rabbits are going to rock it out this season... I just know it!

E stitched this photo together or something. But obviously the next most important thing at soccer outside of postgame snacks in the postpractice playground run

In Defense of Cleaning Out the Van... Transitasaurs

Another school year another clean out? 

I'm not 100% sure when the van was totally cleaned out but it was some time last year. Lee got the van cleaned for me last year but this year it wasn't in the works plus a little blood, sweat and tears (okay not the first one) never hurt anyone. 

Schools starts Tuesday so Sunday afternoon was do or die. I didn't really consider it work, it was more like sacrifice and penance. I cannot imagine how many loadings and unloading have happened in the van over the course of the last year. 

MANY.

Back during the funk of 2018, the van was Lysoled out but taking carseat in and out is a massive pain in the neck. 

In defense of taking carseats out... 

and cleaning them. All the sand and food and git and grim and stickers and stuff. It really makes me want to clean these things more often because it never ceases to amaze me the amount of junk these things collect. 

It is kind of gross but taking them in and out is a super hassle - almost as bad as changing the sheets on the bunk bed (but I promise those are cleaned more than once a year). 

E was my harder worker out in the humidity. We stripped the carseats, washed the padding, vacuuming the van, wiped some surfaces and put everything back together. 

Can you tell we are in between seasons.... fall soccer on the left and hanging on to summer and the pool on your right?

Everyone had new assigned seats in the fresh clean van, which I'm sure the clean won't last too long but it was good while it lasted. I really feel A. blessed to need a van this size, B. blessed we have a van this size, C. want to bless other families with this van so first and foremost I need to be a good steward of it and part of that is keeping it clean. 

Here's to another round of seatings... I'll keep you posted on the commentary even though it doesn't matter because all decisions are final and commentary will be taken (as it always is) but not taken into consideration. 

7QTs - The Flu of 2018

Linking up with Kelly and co... The flu of 2018

---1---

Let's talk about the flu now shall we? 

IT has been forever since I wrote a blog post but it all started with R about 3 years weeks ago. She came home and took a nap after school and it was down hill from there for her. She was out Tuesday-Friday. One day she went up to bed after lunch  and she did not emerge until the next morning. We made multiple trips to A. make sure she was breathing and B. to make her drink some juice. I picked her up early Monday just so she could give her system an extra rest. That day I started feeling bad but brushed it off for a cold because we had beat the flu with only one of seven in the house getting it. Wrong so wrong. 

Tuesday wasn't great but wasn't terrible. Wednesday I barely had the energy to move around but I shlepped the peeps to school and get to work and sit down and within minutes get a call that A has a super high fever. I didn't dress him that morning so I have no idea how he felt that morning. Check him and M out head home and call the dr. This is the gist of the conversation:

Nurse - Has it been exposed to the flu?

Me - Yes his sister had it but it was unconfirmed but she had a fever for a week etc 

Nurse - Sounds like the flu

Me - We think so

Nurse - So you can bring him in and we can test him, that is no problem. If he doesn't have the flu when he comes in, chances are he'll walk out with it because we are diagnosing the flu left and right. 

Me - Perfect 

Plus Tamil is expensive and that office doesn't usually give it to kids unless there is a preexisting condition and you have to catch it early enough in the first place.

So we opt not for the doctor. And A and I hunker down. He is super snuggly and I don't care because I'm sick too and if I had been well I would not have wanted to snuggle up with him like I did. So A and I were roommates for a while. Papa has been on the couch for over a week. 

Anyhow, back to my story. So the night of the day I checked them out from school I get a text saying M had thrown up at Family Reading Night at school. So I text Lee and wait for a call because clearly he's not going to answer...

They get home, M is burning up and gets a check for the flu and away we go.

Me - So you were cleaning up throw up in your cassock?

Lee - Yeah it was a sight to see

Me - I'll bet

---2---

The whole time...

Why are you feeding me and putting me right back down and not loving me up? 

Because I'm trying to not get you sick, kid. 

C was a trooper. I missed kissing her and snuggling her. One day I made her stay up late just so Lee could hold her because she hadn't been held all day - other than me feeding her. 

---3---

A in true fashion fell hard and bounced back quick... 

Which tells me he either had and it had it bad or he didn't have it. Wednesday was the day he came home from school and basically didn't move until the next morning but once he did - he was back to normal. Not the week long deal that R and M had but honestly I cannot imagine A being mopey for a week. The balloon has brought lots of entertainment for him!

---4---

Last week was Catholic Schools Week so the schedule was crazier than normal...

Dress down day. Add color to uniform day. Field trip. Talent show. 

Field trip - Volunteer to take minibus full of kids. Get sick. Pass keys off to husband. Proof that the Holy Spirit is at work in his life. Never would he ever imagined his Kindergarten teacher (from the same Catholic school the girls are at) who is now the principal, riding shotgun in his minibus, chaperoning 2 of his daughters and a small handful of their classmates on a field trip. If  you asked him that 15 years ago, he would have laughed in your face. 

Talent show - sad I missed it but there was good family representation. Over the weekend R got treated to a weekend at Hotel Grammy and Grandpa Joe while E swam. 

---5---

I tried to find ways to interact with C without touching her.

She loved it when I clapped and she bounced. She also discovered the ceiling fan moved when I turned it on - which she loved. 

---6---

We worked on C sitting up... 

Who needs a Bumbo seat when you've got a half full laundry basket. 

---7---

A discovered heat comes out of the vent

I'm not sure why it took him so love to discover the heat wave but it acted so surprised . It was great. 

7QTs - End of School, Start of Summer & Red, White and Blue

Linking up with Kelly and co

Picking up where we left off... somewhere in between crazy and insanity just in time for a Memorial Day weekend break.

---1---

Seeing that it was Memorial Day weekend it is worth pointing out that the big kids realize that - hey something is different because it is Monday and we don't have school. So R asked what Memorial Day was? E responded that it is when we remember all the people who died in war. R needing clarification asked if everyone died on the same day. And E said no its just we remember everyone on Memorial Day but they died at different time. 

If kids don't understand this they ought to. We live in a crazy world but in a country where we have freedoms and rights and we can never forget those people who lost their lives to preserve and protect our freedom. 

Now lighter subjects...

We had to run an errand after church which included a stop at donuts and bagels. E got the last RW&B donut and the shop pretty much closes up when they totally run out - so there's no let's wait 5 minutes so they can get more out of the back. 

M settled on an orange donut which I never got a taste of but she liked it so whatever. 

A was the beneficiary of some confusion about which donut M wanted so he was pleased 

And insanely cute!

And a mess :  )

R was with us but was not a donut recipient because when I tell you you'd better shape up in church so that you can earn your donut and then you retort back that you don't want a donut... then guess what... NO DONUT. R has a habit of saying things that she really doesn't mean - I think just to see what I'll do so now I'm holding her to more of the things that she says and I'm hoping she gets the point. 

Which is completely different than M who says things and means them. Example. Yesterday she was eating a hotdog for lunch and she got up and said - I don't want my dessert. and I look over at her plate and there's half a hotdog left. So I tell her fine and then dessert time rolls around and she proudly will announce that she isn't getting her dessert. 

---2---

On Memorial Day we all put on our Red White and Blue...

 And headed out to celebrate an AR point milestone for E. I told her she could get another set of books or go out for ice cream or snow-balls. This time she picked sno-balls (last time she picked books)

Cotton Candy I want to say

Strawberry (with the big van photobombing)

Pink something that got a thumbs down from me 

I shared my Blue Raspberry with A and Papa did NOT share his Cherry with him. Coincidentally we all ended up with blue and red flavors which makes my OCD self very happy. 

Then the girls and I headed to the pool for opening weekend and it was pretty much swamped. I think R might give swimming a run for its money this year because if she really wants to - I think she could do it. M is way more nervous than I remember her last year 

---3---

Then it was back to the normal...

A came bounding out of school one day but then when back to the stroller to grab a flower and I thought he was going to give it to me but then he didn't and plucked it apart in the car. Next time I'll be sure not to get my hopes up. 

---4---

This week was our End of Year Week... 

End of AHG awards ceremony

E earned 9 badges and has high hopes of earning a lot more in the next 2 years she's still a Tenderheart plus some service stars so she's devising ways to rack up some service hours.

I'm so glad we've found a program that is Christ-centered and lifeskill building that she enjoys. For comparisons sake... Last year she had a few more teeth I think. E's already talking about R joining in the fall and cannot wait to show her the ropes

---5---

Then 18 hours later (smack dap in the middle of NAP TIME) it was End of the Year 1st grade celebration 

I love our school, I love our class of kids and parents and we had a pretty rockstar of a teacher this year so it will be hard to close this 1st grade chapter for E. 

Each child was awarded a candy that the teacher said exemplified them. E got a SKOR bar which I've not heard of or tried. 

She got an AR award too but was way more interested in the cake than anything else. 

---6---

After the program and after a quick nap for A we headed out to the pool despite the kitchen being a disaster area (one of the benefits - seeing the positive - about Lee working until dusk is that I can bank on him NOT coming home to find the kitchen a wreck. Call it his thing, but he thinks if you are going to play then the mess should be cleaned up; clearly we don't agree so during pool season I can clean up the kitchen at 7:30 and still be 'safe' ; ) 

A will be living in this lovely apparatus for the summer. He fought me hard on it and continued the screamfest for a while be - ASK ME IF I CARE. 

'Mom, this is totally not cool' 

Anyways he got over it at some point and ventured to the pool steps and had a nominal amount of fun. M got in the water more than Monday probably because there were way fewer people. R melted down a bunch because it was a late night at AHG plus no rest. E was generally annoyed that there were more people to play with. But whatever.... 

I tried a new recipe for dinner and the kids didn't turn up their noses and Lee actually ate it - not that he gave it raving reviews - but I think it might get put in rotation with a few tweaks. 

---7---

Our hang up clothes are probably the most telling of our transition... Transition from spring to summer.... 

Papa's clothes, spring sports clothes, Catholic school uniform, bathing suits... Next week it's going to only be bathing suits!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Last night capped off the spring sports madness with 3 games in one night (at the same park). I basically read Lee the riot act and told him I needed him at the park at 5:45 or else. R had a tee ball game at 6. M had a soccer game at 6 - which I had to coach and E had a soccer game at 7:30 and A is a loony tune. Papa came through for us even though we probably won't see him until 8 or 9 Friday and Saturday because of it.

E and R still have games left tomorrow but those are in the morning and totally manageable. Here's to getting through our spring sports activities.