7 Quick Takes, or 8 or 10 or 15

A little big iPhone photo dump!

Tommy in the garage checking out Daddy's new fishing rod rack on the ceiling.

Another evening for basketball at the park in 100 degree weather!  Why not?

Daddy went to evening mass and this kid sobbed for like an hour.  Did NOT want to go to the park.  But I think he had the most fun of anyone.

One of my goals for the week was to take the kids shoe shopping to get some shoes that fit and can be worn at Disney World.  First and last stop on Monday was Academy.  This virtual golf thing was not my idea of fun.  And $50 sandals for children is not my idea of a good deal.  Thanks but no thanks, Academy.

Daddy has always called Thomas "T-Bone."  He lived up to his name this week.

The kids have enjoyed riding bikes a few nights a week recently.  On this night, the boys were playing with pebbles in the street.  It's so hard for little boys to have to be inside most of the day!

Daddy has decided that wearing socks inside-out is much more comfortable.  Those in his family might laugh when I say that I told him he's turning into his father.  BopBop wears a shirt rightside-out one day, and then inside-out the next day!

I nearly missed a dentist appointment this week.  One had to get a sealant.  Somehow I was able to handle all 4 at the dentist office for an hour (you can tell my kids rarely play video games!), and then took all of them to the mall for more shoe shopping.  Because, why not?

Yay for a Stride Rite shoe sale and probably the first pairs of shoes particularly fitted to these boys!  With triplet boy cousins, we rarely buy clothes or shoes for either of them.  But boo for not having a stroller for the 2yr old while mall shopping.  He was CRAZY.  He ran away from every single store we went into.  The girls were like dog chasers!

One day I found about 50 photos on my phone taken by someone small.  Documenting big sis baking a cake.

Documenting the other big sis having a morning talk with NeNe.

 And this photo showed who the culprit was.  Chubby toddler feet gave him away!

Big sisters took this of SJ taking a nap on the arm of the couch!

Here's what our schoolroom/dining room often looks like.  Today we had the internet/phone guy come out because we had no service.  I waited all day for him, and he finally arrived after 7pm and did some things outdoors.  Then he wanted me to show him where the modem was.  We walked up to the playroom where the modem sits on the toy refrigerator.  A KID HAD UNPLUGGED THE MODEM.  I felt like a genius.  Yep.  Oh and he made a comment about how this crazy room looked when he first walked in the front door.  Thanks.  I'm sure he'll go tell someone about the crazy lady with kids running wild, one wearing only a diaper, throw pillows strewn all over the living room (from a pillow fight), who called for internet help without realizing the modem was unplugged.

So this week was a rough one.  I'm working on pulling this homeschool co-op together for next week, and it is a lot more emotional and physical work than I was expecting.  I also wasn't expecting to be "expecting" so soon (I mean we were hoping for a baby, but it didn't seem to be happening quickly), so coordinating it during my first trimester has been quite difficult.  I think I'm going to write a blog post about starting a co-op.  It has definitely been a learning process.  I've taught school, taught my kids, and coordinated dozens of homeschool activities, some of them academic.  But for some reason (hormones?) this one seems especially daunting.  I want the kids to learn and have fun, and I really, really don't want to overwhelm the other moms.  But I'm afraid I already have.  I mean, what homeschool mom isn't already overwhelmed in mid-August?  We had a long planning meeting this week and it was exhausting.  I'm trying to do what we can to be prepared, and then I think things will go smoothly once we get into a little groove.  But please pray for us?

Anyway, to reward myself for a rough week, and a daddy who has, and will be, traveling quite a bit, I finally bought the purse I've been wanting!  There is a big sale going on at the Vera Bradley website, but it didn't include the patterns I like, so I ended up buying this one off eBay.  I wanted one that could be worn cross-body and wouldn't be too heavy for Disney World.  I'm hoping to maybe snag a little wallet or something too.  They actually have some cute coolers that I think might work as a camera bag if I added some padding.  The pattern is called "Jazzy Blooms," and this purse is their "Hipster," so I hope it makes me feel a little jazzy and hip ;)  I could surely use some jazzy hipness right now!

 

I'm 10 weeks along, which seems crazy to me.  The days are horribly long, but the pregnancy seems to be flying by.  I am still having a hard time believing that I'm even pregnant.  Praise God that so very many friends are pregnant right now, too.  I mean probably 10 of them.  I keep getting top secret messages about new little babies.  So awesome!

And once again I have a toddler who is taking late naps and is wide awake at midnight.  Right now he's playing with a pop-up fireman book.  Excuse me while I "hold the ladder" so he can deal with a pwoblem on the roof...

Two nights ago he was talking and talking during his 2nd wind around 10 or 11pm about how he likes the baby and he wants the baby to be named "Rosie" like Caillou's sister.  Then last night he was just grabbing my face, telling me he loved me, and that "You and me are good, Mommy.  You and me are nice."

And now after editing, he has finally fallen asleep, standing with his body leaning forward onto the rocking chair.  Better put us both to beddie-bye.  Have a great weekend, friends!  And really, thank you so much for all the sweet words of encouragement about my c-section post.  It's neat to have so many friends who can relate to different aspects of motherhood.  I am truly blessed by each of you.