7 Quick Takes - Red, White and Blue

God Bless America… Here's what we did to celebrate Independence Day

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Obligatory Family Pic...

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Obligatory Sisters Pics

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We went swimming at Jibbe's

Mental note to self leave a bottle of sunscreen in the van because you'll end up swimming for 4 hours instead of two. 

E and R and M all had a blast. E can touch the bottom of the shallow end and (scarily) discovered there is a deeper part. Healthy fear of the pool… Check. R had a blast kicking around and still enjoys the float that M is pictured in. M was her normal chilled out self and stayed in the pool for 45 minutes probably? Happily floating around and randomly getting dunked under water by yours truly. 

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After rest Grammy and Grandpa Joe came with cute hats and bubbles and dessert. I think only a third of the quart-o-bubbles is left. 

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I which I make good on my promise from last year…

I really wanted some organic strawberries or something I knew would have excellent strawberry taste because strawberry season around here is over. Anyways, I picked through some pitiful strawberries from the store and found just enough to make it work. 

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Grammy and Grandpa Joe came bearing (amongst other things) The Best 4th of July Cake EVER. Did I mention my mom missed her calling as a baker?

Yeah White cake with red, white and blue sprinkles… I know I know. Definitely on par with my 4th of July strawberries… 

Hmmm… Except not… 

Grammy wins. Except we all won because we got to eat it. And it was awesome and Lee wants her to make that cake (especially the frosting) at least once a week. 

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Obligatory family walk after dinner with Grammy and Grandpa Joe

We talked about going to Sunset Beach for pretty much the entire walk…

No parade this year or fireworks or sparklers but over all excellent memories

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Answer Me This - Guatemalan at Heart

1. Have you ever walked out of a movie?

Errrr… No? I really cannot remember the last time I went to the movies either. I think movies are generally overpriced and I have to use the {nasty} facilities at least once while watching a movie - so why not just watch movies at home where the bathrooms are clean, the movie can be paused, and the popcorn is not expensive. 

Now if you'd ask Lee he'd tell you something different and it drives him NUTS I don't like going to the movies. I have promised him a date with the next three Star Wars movies whenever they come out so I'm sure he'll hold me to it!

2. Do you abstain from meat on Fridays?

Yes and I (we) try to on Wednesdays too. BUT we are meat eaters through Pentecost and if we are at someones house I definitely don't say anything because we should be fasting/abstaining in secret, right? The girls definitely don't understand it too much but E is picking up on it a little. 

Or like Kendra if it's 4th of July or some {big} reason to celebrate then probably it's okay. But I don't like talking about it so I'll stop. 

3. What do you most often use for blogs and blogging: desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone?

I take pictures on el iPhone and then blog on the laptop. Our desktop is on the outs… I think but I really only get on that to get our bills in order. 

4. Have you ever had anything stolen from you?

Hmmm.. Let me get back to you. I don't think so but maybe. Clearly it was not important if it was so I guess that's a good thing. 

5.  Do you identify as a member of a particular ethnic group?

I think I'm want to be Irish because I'm 60-75% Irish me thinks.. Maybe. But if I could chose to identify with one that I am totally unrelated to it would be Guatemalan. Seriously that place has a special place in my heart so that would make me Chapin. 

6. Seen anything weird lately?

No. But if I do then I totally blame Kendra because the week she asked about creepy things outside your house, not one but TWO snakes showed up. 

Theme Thursday - Pool

Again… Gonna pull the cobbler's kid wisdom here. Cobbler's kid doesn't have shoes… Well pool man's kids sure don't have a pool… 

For those of you who don't know. Lee lives and breathes pools. I mean he (and his mom) owns a swimming pool company so summer is all pool. So one might imagine that we have this fantastic pool with all the bells and whistles and light shows and fountains and slides and diving board and water cannons… Pretty much the end all, be all pool. 

But here's the thing. We don't 

E and R would love to have a pool and they are actually quite creative when containing enough water in something to call it a pool, but Lee does not want to maintain our pool. Note the OUR. He maintains a number of pools for our fantastic customers but he would not want to spend his spare time (because he got loads of that during the summertime, I promise) cleaning a pool in our backyard. Heck we have a spa that is nearly new might require one piece of new tubing BUT let's just say, it's not been fixed. Since I was pregnant. With R. Yeah.

Point of Le Story is we're happy with our puddle jumper pools. 

What's the deal with Hello Kitty?

Any other Hello Kitty readers out there? Jibbe gave the girls a book with 10 Hello Kitty stories in it. E and R LOVE reading Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty has a sleepover. Hello Kitty visits the USA. Hello Kitty. Hello Kitty! HELLO KITTY!!!

Listening to Lee read E and R Hello Kitty makes me laugh a little because all the other characters in the stories have normal names. Mama. Fifi. Mimi. I get it. But Hello Kitty? Does not fit the name mold. But it does roll off the tongue. 

Not hating on Hello Kitty or anything but just saying try listening to someone read a story and in EVERY SINGLE sentence you hear Hello Kitty (as opposed to just Kitty). I suppose one could make the argument that Curious George is similar in that it is a two part name but Curious George is not Curious Monkey. Also, the name Curious George is very well defined. George was a little monkey and always very curious. I get it. It makes good sense.

You don't get that in depth description with Hello Kitty. Not like, Kitty loved saying Hello to everyone she meets so that's what everyone calls her Hello Kitty. 

Are you still reading? 

Am I missing something glaring obvious? 

Any Hello Kitty theories out there? : ) 

7 QTs - Dishwasher Discussions

It's that time of the week...

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Saturday was thrilling with a trip to Pullen Park with Grammy and then off to get E's foot painted. When we got home I discovered M had a NASTY fever like in the 103.5-104 range. Yeah. Muy bad. So I semi-not-freaked out but freaked out enough to put her in a cool bath. I played phone tag with the nurse on call for our peds office who got in touch with the dr on call who said I should take her to urgent care. No problem. If they had told me to go to the ER that would have been a different story.

Welp… turns out the one single urgent care open in the Mount on Saturday at 5:30 does not see anyone younger than 12 months. Awesomeness. Head back home. E screams "Why did you have to come back so early" right when I walk in and then proceeds to shed tears. Yeah nice to see you too, kid. After Papa assured her Cinderella would be watched (as he promised, because that's what they do when Mama's gone) E was better. M was still feverish but not nearly as bad. More phone tag with the nurse and not too much temp taking (because who wants that done), we decide to hunker down for the night which was good because Sunday morning M was fine. Virus. I think so.

Lee did have to go out and get a new non-forehead-scanning thermometer. Vicks ones are great. The number readout is big and they are quick.

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Pillow surfing

She's got the craziest ways of sitting and sleeping… Promise

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This is what happens when a big girl bed and crib are dumped… I mean when the 'animals are having a meeting'

Well said animal meeting convened and recessed several times this week. Unfortunately for most participants, the Main Boss Lady fired them all because the Ringleader was supposed to be cleaning them up and instead sat around and took off the Assistant's diaper.

Let's just say it was a dramatic and ceremonious taking away of the animals. A few were spared. Like the one on her bed and one under R's bed that I missed. R was able to save a few during the process. As I took the bucket loads upstairs E sobbed "I want them back in one week, no two weeks!"

Two weeks.

No problem. 

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Speaking of ceremonious takeaways. I ceremoniously asked R to bring me all her undi-wears after school one day and I took those too. Seriously. Seriously. The girl does not care if she has wet shorts/skirts/dresses. Some days she is awesome at using the potty. But she won't tell me she needs to go. Other days like this past one, she was taken to the potty a few times and not once BUT TWICE after going within 15 minutes had an accident. 

So I'm taking the less stressful route here (after a quick mama-friend consult) and putting her back in diapers. My rule is either undies or Pull-Up and if one gets wet then diaper. But like my mama-friend said, it is stressing me out worrying about it so mark a big X over that stressor. I think I was more frustrated that she doesn't seem to care. 

I'm packing up the undies for a month. I'm not buying the high dollar Pull-Ups (aka glorified diapers) either. I'll take her to the potty if she asks (which she does) but for the month of July… Its on her. One day she will care. Nothing like some positive peer pressure at school to kick the ole diaper habit. 

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Wednesday was St. John the Baptist's birthday… You know 6 months 'til Christmas because Elizabeth was in her 6th month when Mary visited and John leapt in her womb etc etc… Anyways, I was not planning on doing anything other than Vespers but then Kendra inspired me… So we had dirt and worms because JTB ate locusts (okay it's a stretch but a bug's a bug in this house) and what's a feast day without fire? So sparklers it was except E and R would not get near them. I guess I should not complain. E says 'When she's 11" she'll be ready to hold one : )

Celebrating the liturgical year… Round one. Next year's bound to improve. 

Worms? Locusts? Totally the same right…

Feasting on dirt

Did I mention they did not fall asleep until after 9. Sigh

Waiting for Papa to read about how Zachariah got his voice back

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Lee and I have recently been discussing the contents of the dishwasher. I don't think we actually discussed it on this load but let me give you the gist of the conversation

Lee - Chicky, why are there so many cups in the dishwasher?

Me - … We just used them

Lee - Well why are there so many bowls?

Me - We ate food

Lee - Why are there so many snack containers?

Me - WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE, THAT'S WHY WE HAVE A DISHWASHER???

Lee - I was just wondering

Me - Okay, there are two cups from breakfast, plus E's coffee cup, two of R's cups from snack - one from today and one from Friday that was left in the van, two of E's cups from snack - one from today and one from Friday, two cups from lunch, two bowls from breakfast, two bowls from lunch, four snack containers because Friday's were left in the van.

Lee - Well couldn't you have reused some cups?

Me - I guess but that's why we have a dishwasher. 

Not lying we have had similar conversations several times in the past week. 

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M cracks me up!

This is how she drained 4 oz of milk in three minutes this morning

I promise her neck was not broken in the process

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Top 8 Reasons Why I Run After Having a Baby

Because sometimes even I wonder…

8. I love running. Nope. Not true. In fact I really don't like running I just force myself to lace up the old shoes and go

7. I have $100 to drop on new running shoes every 6 month. Wrong again. I get a new pair of running shoes maybe once every two years and I usually ask for them for my birthday because I think shoes are so overly priced it is ridiculous. Though Colleen said she got a good deal here, so maybe I'll have to check them out sometime.

6. Running help me lose that last bit of baby weight. No. And this came as a surprise to me when I ran my first half marathon after E was born. I figured I would be training for this half marathon and the last 10 pregnancy lbs would be gone in a heartbeat. Let's just say I've already run a half after having M and I still have about 8 lbs to go.

5. Running two half marathons will definitely kick all the post pregnancy weight. Yeah. I wouldn't count on it. Now maybe if I were running 8 minute miles and running more than once or twice a week - maybe, but that's not how I roll. I did sign up for another half marathon so I'm back on the running train.

4. I love having a pile of smelly running clothes to add to my wash run. Running clothes smell awful. The farther the run the high on the stink scale they go. Am I right or am I right? Whiffes of what my soccer clothes used to smell like brings back memories

3. Makes walking up the stairs at work really interesting. I usually run on Sundays. Because I only run once a week it means my muscles pretty much hate me for a few days after the run. Going up stairs is true pay back for not running more often.

2. Gives me an excuse to give Lee a hand at solo parenting. Okay usually I go during rest time so if anyone is most likely to be up it is E and then M. This was a bit nerve racking when I was training for the half marathon in April because M was 3-4 months old and really not keen on taking a bottle so I would have my fingers crossed half the time that she would stay asleep and I would not get a text from Lee saying "Chicky she's been screaming since you left." Fortunately that did not happen but it did happen on a walk Nani and I took the other night - good thing I didn't have my phone : ) .

1. I love singing to my neighbors. I admit it. I'm one of those crazies who sings while I run. It is usually quite intermittent but I love to sing when I run. Hopefully I don't sing loud enough for my neighbors to hear it but if I do then so be it. I used to sing in the shower growing up but somewhere along the line I stopped and moved the lyrics to the great outdoors.

First run in 10 weeks...

7QTs - Summer Living

Forgive me readers for I have not posted in five days...

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Round off the Father's Day wave from last week… I was going to post this but then I realized it might spoil his card. Side note, E 'hid' his card in the hall closet then Saturday Papa found it and was really confused but E was thrilled to have the card 'hidden' from him.

Okay so I got this overly mushy card, right? Wrong. I'm not too much into the mushy gushy mainly because I'll start to tear up reading them and the last thing I need is to have that happen. In public. As I am reading 15 different mushy cards.

Anyways I found this card and there was a bible verse in it. Now if you can understand one thing about Lee it is he is a student of the Bible. He reads commentaries, writes homilies (sermons for all my non-Catholic peeps), he can recall passages and explain them in ways I cannot understand soooo… point of my story is I thought I'd be nice to give him a card with a Bible verse. I really did not think twice about the translation the card company (Hallmark ehem) was using. Then I got to signing it and for kicks I thought why not check the translation for the one Bible we are reading out of (I'll bet you we have 4-6 different Bible translation here - so we are a cross-referencing family you might say) and maybe cross out what's in the card and then that'd be funny and Bible humor Lee can appreciate

Well, then I opened up to the verse and BAM… talking about chains and stuff and then I was not so confident in my Father's Day card humor plan…

#translationmatters

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Days of summer consist of sprinklers and sandboxes and swings. R still cannot be persuaded to go in the sprinkler and M contently swung in the swing for over an hour the other day

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Pretty sure all the winged creatures of the neighborhood are descending on our house.

The number of dragonflies and bees and flies and things that buzz in our ears is pretty stinking out-o-control. Or at least I think so. We have not been stung yet. 

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This one's for you Nani

So the big girls climbed up in the tree house to slide and this rock comes flying down at M and I get up to get vicious and realize it was not a rock. 

But indeed a frog that almost landed in M's lap. As in the frog that was a likely prey of the snake from a few weeks back

#scarred4life

Not even lying. EVERY single time I open the flipping door to the garage I pause before stepping out. Listen for the slithering snake noise. Bolt to the van to get whatever and run back inside. OR if I'm loading up the van with my peeps or getting home from school with my peeps I carefully scan the area in the garage where the snake was.

I wish I were kidding. 

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I've been mulling a pile of blog topics recently. But clearly I have not followed through. Top topic is…

To Disney or Not to Disney?

Pre-thoughts to the topic?

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Remember when our insanely professional weather gauge said it was minus four? Well this is what it said Wednesday:

#notcomplainingbecauseatleastwecangooutside

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I got nothing else so I'll close with the way some humor courtesy of Lee's diaconal counterpart who preached last week:

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit
Wisdom is not putting it in fruit salad

Oh and might as well throw this in because every time he brings it up I cannot help but laugh:

"Holy P.O.T."

Prayer
Obedience
Trust

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