Answer Me This - Fairy Rings, Soapy Mouths and TV shows

Mushroom circles anyone? We've been having a weird week around here and the lawn is apparently no immune. Last week everyone was just a little off. E wants to go back to school. R is 2.5 yrs old so that means everything is glorious or the world is ending at any moment in time. M is desperate to pull up and get into stuff. I don't know it's been weird. Oh and E called R 'stupid' so I washed her mouth out with soap to make a point (because she had a warning about that word about 7-8 months ago). She freaked so I think the point was gotten. I felt really old school and kinda bad when I was doing it - though it lasted for all of 12 seconds maybe. I mean I don't remember having my mouth washed with soap. Any one else do this? I cannot say I would do it again but seriously blatant mean-ness is not tolerable. 

Also we went to church Thursday and did not pack up into the van until 9:45. Yes in the P-M. A solid 2.5 hours late for bed. The girls did not seem like they were going to fair well - which I was giving them a nearly free pass on behavior because it was 6:30 on an off week to begin with but then things got better and one nice lady took M so that freed up my hands - which is always welcomed by R.

Anyhow the winds of weirdness be gone… We headed to Raleigh for a weekend full of activities which was super fun and exciting. 

1. What is your favorite room in the house?

Hmmm.. I kinda like my whole house especially after last year's reno. Except for the garage because I found a snake in it once and now I cannot go out there without reliving the moment. 

2. Do you subscribe to any magazines or other periodicals?

Funny you ask. We just got our first National Catholic Register in the mail last week - it is part of a trial. We still have not decided if we'll keep it but it was neat to get. 

Lee gets Our State magazine which is about NC. That is usually a good one. 

E gets High Five and used to be SUPER into them but the novelty is fading BUT they still have good stories

3. How do you feel about the sign of peace in Mass? Enriching? Awkward? Overdone? Just right? Some combination of the above?

Hmmm.. yeah. We don't do that in the DL but when I do go to Mass it is only awkward because I'm not used to it anymore and my kids are totally clueless about it so yeah. 

4. What is your least favorite sound?

M's screaming has recently hit my nerve in the wrong way. She's on a screaming-in-her-crib-before-rest-and-night-time kick and it drives me cra-zee. I cannot listen to it because I feel bad that she's crying but I know she's tired and it makes me want to snuggle her up (and sometimes I do). But then I realize I should not complain because Morgan's boys outcry my girls every day of the week (so say a prayer for them!). 

5. What was your favorite TV show (or shows) growing up?

7th Heaven. Enough said. 

6.  What are your favorite TV shows now?

I hate to say because as soon as we find a show to watch together it gets canceled or weird or something happens and I don't like it. 

- 19 Kids and Counting - don't agree with some of their principles but whatever
- The Great Food Truck Race - one of the only shows we'll watch on the Food Network and it is only 6 episodes a season
- Downton Abbey - Loved it until the car wreck and my favorite character was killed off. I have not gotten back into it since
- A Beautiful Mind - Was on for a season and got cut
- Person of Interest - We religiously watched this and DVRed and everything but then something happened and things got too weird and creepy and that got axed

The Sisters - A Quick Update

I should periodically update what each of the siblings are doing… so here goes!

Currently E is anxiously awaiting the start of pre-K. I got her a pre-K workbook from Sam's and she is almost done with it and her efforts will be rewarded in the form of new markers (her pick) and possibly some new Legos (my pick). She is so scared of bugs and dogs it kinda drives me crazy but other than that she likes going outside to play in the Sprinks and swing and make water slides on the playset. Of recent E has gotten into a whiny - I don't like this, that and the other thing - mood sometimes and we are working through how to deal with it. I'd heard dealing with your kids character issues can be quite the challenge so here's to a long road of character training. 

This picture pretty much sums up R. She is in this generally carefree 2.5 yr old mode. She like her big sister is afraid of dogs and bugs and she cannot be reasoned with so usually it does not end well. She continues her laissez-faire mindset about using the potty - which drive me cra-zeee. But I'm taking a I-got-bigger-problems-to-stress-over attitude which has resulted in some potty successes. She is getting so stinking big. I looked a pics of her from last fall and I think where has my toddler gone? She recently spent the night a Jibbes and she packed up and waived bye to everyone and gave everyone a squeeze and was on her way {tears}. She is attentive to M. Whenever M is crying, R brings EVERY single toy of M's that is in sight and piles them up in her face which is hilarious and usually overwhelms M and then M forgets why she was crying in the first place. 

Gah! The cuteness of this kid. I pretty much cannot handle it. M is still going to work with me - for now but I imagine her days are numbered. The only reason why she is able to is due to the fact she still takes a good 2 hour morning nap - in the bathroom with the lights off and fan on. {insert mom judgement here : ) } E and R were not as into their morning naps so they ended up going to Mothers Morning Out around 8-ish months maybe. M now holds the record for longest nursing bebe. Again E and R had dropped nursing at 9 months (nearly to the day). M does not seem ready - though I think that will change when she started going to MMO. I'm ready for her to wrap it up but it is not about me. Currently M is doing an Army crawl on the hardwood floors and getting around quite well. She loves to find a cord and pull on it and chew on it - which is currently a problem. We have maneuvered several cords out of her reach. Overall, she like here sisters, are getting way too big, way too fast.

Answer Me This - Pools, Poems and Pies

1. What do you still want to do this summer?

Summers are currently overrated in the Kibbe house because well you know the whole our papa is a pool man issue. Nothing changes too much with the girls schedules in that they go to the same school - just that it is much less structured and they are not divided by age. 

Moving on from my whininess. I would like to go back to Jibbes pool and swim one more time. Yes we have only swam ONCE this entire summer. 

Also, I must order R's book bag for 2 yr old class. 

2. What's your favorite kind of pie?

Derby pie. Mainly because it has chocolate in it and I am so addicted to chocolate it is not funny. Fortunately my sister in law only makes this around Thanksgiving  

3. How much sleep do you need each day? How much do you get?

I need and get about 6-8 hours a night. I WISH I could sleep less and still be a productive functioning human being - but I cannot. Well when I'm pregnant I don't sleep as much and then I'm exhausted but then I guess I can justify being exhausted on the pregnancy and not on the lack of sleep. 

4. Do you prefer to swim in a pool, lake, river, or ocean?

E in the ocean last year

Pool. Pool. Pool. I like being able to see the bottom and know nothing creepy is in the water. I can handle the ocean but I HATE when a piece of seaweed or other creepy, slimy object brushes my leg. 

Probably my favorite pic from The Beach Trip 2013

5. Do you know any poems by heart?

No. I know a bunch-o kids books by heart. Does that count? Goodnight Moon (English and Spanish), The Foot Book, etc etc etc. For the record if I were to memorize a poem it would be Robert Frost's The Road Not Taken:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Pretty much sums up my life.

6.  Do you use the public library?

No and I am slightly embarrassed by it but I'll move on. 

Theme Thursday - Panic

We hit the tape hard last week for Papa's birthday presents and totally ran out of scotch tape. And the girls have a birthday party to go to today so circa 6 am this morning I was THRILLED to find another roll. Because you know even though I've known we needed tape for 5 days... I did not get any. 

So we gathered around the table for a ceremonial present wrapping a good 7 minutes before we needed to leave the house - because that's how we roll here. But here's the thing the new roll of scotch tape had been started and not turned over upon last use, which means you and pick and pick and pick at it and it WON'T start... So in my tape panic I used Heavy Duty clear duct tape to wrap a 4 yr old's present. 

Judge me. 

I had no other choice. 

So that tape is actually AWESOME for wrapping presents because there is just about zero paper movement and the dispenser won't let you lose that sticky part of the tape.

I'm putting on the finishing touches and doing that last nice neat and boxy fold over (giving myself a little pat on the back for how good it looks) and I panic yet again because I think:

"Oh I wonder if I took the price tag off. And I just wrapped this present in duct tape so there is no chance in the world of my being able to check without tearing the whole thing up"

#winning

#goodthing4yroldcannotreadpricetags

#classy

Next birthday party is 36 hours after this one so I have ample opportunity to get tape or just take off the price tags... 

7QTs - Tweets from the Ladies of Edel

Oh one more Edel post… Why not? This time we'll let the ladies do the talking because we had enough of the guy's tweeting earlier...

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For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

                               

Happy Birthday Papa

Dearest Papa -

Happy Birthday. or Burff-day as they say around here.

We each picked out a card so we could decorate it just for you.

We got you a few books but you probably already figured that.

We hope you have a fantastic day.

You mean THE WORLD to us.

We get sad when we wake up and find out you had to leave for work.

We get sad at night when we don't 'read Bible' because we don't think Mama can read it.

We love spending time with you. Reading. Mowing the Grass. Taking trash to the Dump. Going to eat breakfast at Waffle House or Smiths.

We look up to you.

We love to get Papa squeezes.

~ Your girls

Five Favs - Funny Tweets from #edel14

So I'll actually do a post of substance about Edel. BUT in the mean time let's talk about the Tweets on the Jumbotron. Because some of them were stinking hilarious -some courtesy of the dads (aka the Edel Widowers). Props to all the dads and the grandparents who made it possible for all the mamas to get to Edel. Clearly we would not have been there without you… 

#5

#4

#3

#2

#1

Answer Me This - Volvos, The Letter Y and Christmas

Back to the ole blog because Edel is over… 

1. What’s your favorite thing on YouTube?

Can I pick two? Of course…

I've liked this one from way back when E would come to the store with me and want to watch Elmo on YouTube. 

And this one came about last Christmas which was awesome because I was SUPER post partum hormonal and needed a happy reason to cry. 

2. Who taught you to drive?

My Father Dearest did… I learned on a 1994 (correct me if I'm wrong) Chrysler Van. It was not a manuel and Lee did make one single attempt to teach me to drive stick and that did not last long (and I'm kinda okay with that). That van would have been my first car had the brakes not been SUPER sketchy but then this was my car:

until I crashed it
in a parking lot
that was empty 
at 11 in the morning

yeah… maybe Kendra will have to specifically ask if a question regarding car accidents to get the details on that one. 

3. What’s your favorite thing to cook?

Banana chocolate chip bread. Frequently we have nearly rotten bananas and then if gives me something chocolate in the house and since it has bananas in it, I feel slightly less bad about eating  several large pieces in one sitting. 

4. Are you a hugger or a non-hugger? Why? 

Non. So non. I have no idea. I promise I can cry at the drop of a dime but hugging is not my thing (except when Lee (and the kids) are involved and I can barely get a squeeze once a day). 

Oh and E thinks it is hilarious when at the end of the squeeze Lee and I 'kiss lips' (because only married people get to do that, right?) and if we don't for whatever reason we get quizzed 'how come y'all didn't kiss lips?'. 

5. Where do you pray best?

In the chapel, in our house, right before we rush out to school and work. Awhile back I instituted family prayer time before school. At first it was semi-sporadic but then on days we did not go pray I felt flustered and not centered. Now we pray before leaving for school at all costs - even if it causes us to be a few minutes late. 

Normally there is not gold chocolate coins strewn about and piles from St. Nicholas… Just once a year. Or to our hotel room. Or back in 2011.

6.  When is the last time you saw/spoke to your grandparents?

#catholicguilt #thanksKendra

Kidding. Kidding. 

Soooo… we took E to visit my maternal grandparents back in 2011. That was a good trip and my grandma gave E a toy that I used to play with and now it is at my parent's house. Kinda cool. But we have not been back. I would go if it weren't 8 degrees when we went. Seriously we left for church that Sunday morning and it was so so so cold my Southern bones did not cope well. 

We have taken the girls to my paternal grandparents spot at Arlington National Cemetery. We've been a few times and I think we'll actually use the parking pass next time instead of hoofing it on the Metro because it is a LONG walk and inevitably it rains. 

Sunday Night Links...

Not trying to stir the pot just sharing a few things that have been on my mind recently. PLEASE let's not hate in the com box. We can respectfully disagree or just ignore me as usual...

Well I guess it is NFP awareness week. I think I read that somewhere. So I suppose this is appropriate:

I wish I had the link to the blog… I'm SORRY the blogger I screen grabbed it from and cannot link back!!! I think this is hilariously awesome and true

Except…

I we don't use NFP. We signed up and went to the first class and didn't go back. Maybe because trying to sit through a class with 6 week old is tortuous? No. The whole idea of being THAT 'in touch' with something so mystical (in the Godly sense) did not really sit well with us amongst a number of other reasons. That's not to say we would be opposed to using in a dire situation as Humanae Vitae stipulates. It is just not for us. Not right now.

To each his own I'm not here to pass judgement or bash NFP.

This article happens to be fantastic.

So many statements I agree with in that. If I was going to make a sign I think mine would say:

"because we have committed our lives and our marriage to the Lord and the bedroom in undeniably part of it"

Moving on…

If you need a great tissue requiring story… check it out. Seriously, seriously. Even if you don't believe in saints and you just need a pick-me-up hopeful story. Read it and weep. Literally.

I've never had a sick child in the NICU so I really have no idea. Over the past week or two it seems like a number of babies I have heard about are sick or are in need of some prayer so don't forget to pray for them and their mamas and papas and families who are carrying a heavy burden.

Answer Me This - I am not an artist

1. What’s something you've won and how did you win it?

Hmmm… In high school the soccer team I played on won the state tournament a few times - I do have some fantastic memories of my last year on that team. 

My freshman year of college I ran my first road race - a marathon - (yes I am insane) and got third place in my age group. Technically speaking I got last place in my age group because there were only three in the 18 and under division so sometimes I conveniently leave that part out of the story. 

My senior year of college I won the NC Press Student Photographer of the year. 

2. Do you save old greeting cards and letters, or throw them all away? Why?

Goodness yes and it is a problem. I have FINALLY started throwing away the kids art that comes home from school. But back to the cards. I don't know I just like keeping them even though they clutter up my life a little bit.

We keep our Christmas cards that people send us and we use those in the mornings when we pray so if you need some extra prayers, send us your Christmas card and you'll get cycled through our little prayer warriors : ) 

3. When you’re at home, do you wear shoes, socks, slippers, or go barefoot?

The kids have a shoes off rule in play. Just like we did growing up. I didn't wear anything around the house until we got hardwood floors and now I wear flip flops so the tiny little specks of sand and dirt and dust don't get stuck to my feet. 

4. Who’s the most famous person you have ever met? 

Hmmm… Off hand I cannot remember anyone in particular.  

5. What has been your best work of art?

Do these count? 

6.  What’s your strongest sense?

Smell? Ehhh.. I don't know. 

VBS - Twinkies, Hot Glue Guns and Little Blessings

So we are now in the season of life in which there is VBS for our kiddos. R thinks that she should be allowed to go but then when she falls asleep before 8 (normally it's more like 8:30 when big sister is there for antics and singing parties and scream-fest) I know why 2 yr olds don't go to VBS.

E was hestitent to want to go to VBS in the first place because it is not like she has a ton of friends going or she really knows any one who goes to our local Roman Catholic parish. So Papa decided to volunteer but then they had volunteer overload so he was not needed. I'm grateful for that parish for a number of reasons and I should connect with more families there… I digress

I was not really sure how she would fair. But E totally rocked it. She came back jabbering about her 'work' she needed to do (coloring) and she filled out her prayer stars. She 'had' to fix her bag because the foam stickers just wouldn't stay on.

{Insert hot glue gun here}

E got her regular glue and the glue gun and I tried to convince her that the regular glue would not go well with the glue gun… "But she WANTED to do the glue" soooo…

R and I supervised the glue gunning. E loaded up the back with a healthy dose of hot glue and I stuck on the stickers for her - she was not keen on the idea of the hot stickers so I really just had to make sure she did not get the tip close to her face/hair.

Otherwise, I really have no idea what they are doing in class because E 'doesn't know' what they did or who is in her class or who her teachers are. Well I mean she comes home with coloring pages and little crafts so I get the idea but Hello! details please : )

I usually get a full-detailed description of dessert (which she has imposed no dessert on herself after dinner so she can eat dessert at VBS). First it was twinkies, then cupcakes I think and last night was cinnamon sticks with whipped cream. At 8:30.

I thought there were 50 flavors or Dum-Dums
Lee thought 10… turns out there are 20
Self investigation rather than googling is way more fun!

Sunday night E was bouncing off the walls until a good 10 pm and then she finally crashed. Maybe it is a combo of our kids are usually in bed between 7-7:30 plus a bit of, dessert at our house usually consists of a dum-dum or small Tootsie Roll (from the Treeeeeeeeet Box - just ask R) regardless I'm just going to "Let it Go" (because we are still singing Frozen around here) and let E soak up her time at VBS : )

We've had this conversation for the past two nights:

Me - How was VBS?
E - Good
Me - What did you do?
E - I don't know
Me - Who's in your class?
E - I dunno
Me - What's your teacher's name?
E - I don't know... Fr. Meares did not give us a little blessing today
Me - Why not? {knowing Monday is his day off}
E - Because he only gives little blessings on Sundays

Oh and every morning E asks if she gets to go back to VBS tonight and she plans out who is going to take her and who is going to pick her up so I think next week she is going to be super bummed… because I have heard

"Mama can I go back to VBS EVERY night?"