Friday Five!

It's been a few weeks, and I've been missing my blog! But the season is really revving up, and my energy level by the time homeschooling is done is at about zero! I'm going to keep trying though.

~~1~~
Peter.
Peter turned 10 weeks this week, and everyone is commenting about how big he is! He no longer looks like a little newborn and he's feeling thick and solid. He's interacting a lot and awake for long periods of time. He's started chewing on his fists and can hold his head up really well. He still gets fussy in the evenings, but is really happy in the mornings and early afternoons. We've been taking lots of walks to the park and spending more time out and about. He pretty much hates the carseat unless we're on the highway, so I try to avoid doing any unnecessary driving! He likes the swing and tolerates the bouncy seat. Mostly he just wants to be held by me, of course!

~~2~~
Katie.
Katie turns 3 in about a week and she is finally pretty much potty trained! I'd been feeling guilty for not working on this, so the past few weeks we just went for it! She's only had one or two accidents in the past week, so she's doing great. She loves her brother and wants to smother him with hugs and kisses. She loves reading books and playing with her Little People. She's dying for a "big dolly" (American Girl), so her big sisters are starting to let her play with their old ones a little. She's also been sleeping in Ellie's room for about six weeks now, so we have our eyes out for a bunk bed for them. One of her favorite things right now is using special glasses and plates! Her NeNe lets her look in the cabinets and pick out special glasses and plates for her snacks, and now she's wanting to use them all the time! She wanted to use her aunt's fine china at the Super Bowl party last weekend! She's ready for a little tea party time, I guess.

~~3~~
Big boys.
Steven and Thomas are starting baseball tomorrow (Well, today. It's after midnight)! The crazy season is beginning for me, with practices and games and baseball gear and all around insanity, especially since the girls have ballet and 4-H events, the boys will probably start swim team in April, and Steven is traveling a lot. I'm already ready for summer! Steven got some reading glasses this week; they look pretty cute on him! Both boys are just loving the warm weather, and they escape to the driveway or backyard for baseball, football, or basketball any chance they get! In the past few months, they've really gotten into watching sports and keeping track of scores and players too. They're becoming good buddies, which I love to see.

~~4~~
Big girls.
These two keep busy with school, ballet, and babysitting jobs. They both entered a 4-H photography contest this week, which was a bit of a hassle for their mom as we loaded and printed photos, then got them mounted and mailed! Tomorrow they have a 4-H food challenge workshop bright and early, as they prepare for the big one at the Houston Rodeo. They're both a great help around the house, and it's such a blessing to have babysitters now and to be able to go on some spontaneous dates with Steven every so often!

~~5~~
Steven and Me.
Steven has been busy with work and lots of traveling. He got to take quite a few hunting and fishing trips last month too. He even took the boys on a work/hunting adventure to Oklahoma! But even while busy and traveling, he's still checking up on our crew, grocery shopping and cooking for us, and especially spoiling me on my birthday weekend! Last Saturday I turned 39, which was celebrated with: gorgeous flowers and a date on Friday evening, Saturday brunch with the family and my parents, a Peter Pan play with the 3 oldest kids (and baby), and a mom's night out to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. My friends spoiled me with some sweet gifts too. Sunday was the annual Super Bowl party with Steven's family, and it was just a great family weekend overall. I am so blessed! I'm also feeling more myself again these days. I was able to get out a lot the past couple weeks; we went to the trampoline place, to a nature class with the boys, and to the park quite a few times!

I have a bunch of photos I'd love to share, but the USB ports on my computer are not working, so it looks like I'll just be able to share this one from Facebook (Peter in a doll bed at my parents' house) and will have to come back with more pictures to share. Check me out on Instagram @blairsblessings where I tend to post a lot and do some Live Stories most days.

Friday Five

Seven Takes seems like a lot to write on Fridays after these long weeks, so maybe trying for a Friday Five would be more doable. Let's see...

~~1~~

Peter. Seven weeks old. Growing fast out of his newborn clothes. Nursing so much better than the early weeks, so mama isn't in pain anymore! Fussy most evenings. Sleeps through most nights (just fussing to nurse, but not waking). Starting to coo and giggle. Such a joy for all of us!

~~2~~

Homeschool. We're a couple weeks in now, and still trying to get back into our routines. For the girls, it's mainly remembering to grade Ellie's work. For the boys, it's keeping them on track all...day...long! They want to play and don't want to work. They need reminders, and encouragement, and rewards, and threats. Some days we aren't finishing everything until 6pm. And I am so mentally exhausted. My patience is wearing thin, and many days I am not the most encouraging and positive homeschooler or mother. Daddy has been working long hours and traveling a couple nights each week. Sometimes this means I have to take everyone to pick up the girls at ballet at 8:30, and sometimes like last night, we also need to run into the store after that. Loooong days. But at least we can sleep in!

~~3~~

4-H. It's time to start getting ready for the 4-H semester with all the spring contests of the Rodeo, the County Fair, and the District Round Up. The girls will be focusing on the Food Challenge and Photography for now, and then we'll decide if and what things they will enter for the Fair. Today we'll be hosting our monthly meeting, which always stresses me out a little, especially if I don't have a speaker planned. We decided to do a mock Food Challenge, hence me having to grocery shop at 9pm last night (actually the girls did the shopping and I just came in to check out and pay!). I love the opportunities that 4-H offers, but I struggle with leading the club and wishing I could do more. But for now it's just a very low-key club of our homeschool friends, and maybe in the future we will figure out how to get the kids to do the running of the meetings, parliamentary procedures, and planning things ahead of time!

~~4~~

Post-Partum. Oh it's a rough time. My body is really going to struggle to get back to where I was a few years ago. I didn't lose the baby weight before getting pregnant this time, and I am afraid I now have so much to lose and have gotten into such bad eating habits. My right knee also went bad during this pregnancy, so I'm worried about how I will start exercising again. It's already a struggle to bend down, stand from sitting if I'm holding a baby , or climb up into the van because I can't hold as much weight on my knee.

Then there's the clothing issue. Nothing fits, and I can't shop for clothing with all these kids. This week I finally ordered some things off Amazon that have been in my cart for awhile, these Free to Live tunics and cardigans. And yikes, I'm afraid I'm going to want to order a bunch more from this brand! They seem to be aimed at pregnant/post-partum/nursing moms, and they're so comfy, and made in the USA! The tops will work well with my LuLaRoe leggings, and hopefully my maxi-skirts too, so now I feel like I have a variety of things to wear that feel comfortable for now as I slowly get back to a better weight. Oh how I love Amazon and how I'm glad to have found this Free to Live brand!

~~5~~

SIX kids! I'm still in shock that we have six children. When I was a young girl, I always said I wanted 10 kids. I had no idea what a family life like that would entail. I didn't know the stress, love, heartache, fear, excitement, exhaustion, enjoyment, and the true work that goes into raising a large family. I definitely didn't know what homeschooling would be like! And I still can't believe we're this far into our family life. We have a 14 year-old! And a new baby! And it's just really the best thing ever. To see these kids love their siblings. To know that they will have lifelong friends. To watch them mature and become responsible and virtuous young people makes my heart swell.

I am so, so grateful that we have been entrusted with the care of each of these unique souls. That God would once again allow me the gift of caring for a new baby. There is nothing like it. I hold yet another sweet-smelling head right under my chin and think, "WOW. I get to do this again. Thank you, Jesus. Gosh, I can't imagine ever NOT doing this." It honestly makes me cry right now thinking of never having a newborn again. Hopefully we will be blessed with a couple more! But I love it when I see photos and videos of big extended families, when we celebrate the holidays with Steven's big family, and I know that this party is just getting started! God-willing this family will continue to multiply and hopefully we will be blessed to see that happen.

But as I nurse this baby here in the wee morning hours, and hear three other kids in here sleeping, I just breathe in this blessing of their childhood. It is going by SO fast. I just hope that I can remember the way it feels to nurse my baby, potty train my toddler, encourage my young boys, and admire my young women. I hope they know how much I love them, and I hope that I never take this blessing of motherhood for granted. This year I really desire to work on my prayer life, and to do a better job at thanking God for the gift of life, the gift of faith, and the gift of family.

36 Weeks!

How about a 7 Quick Takes Friday?

~~1~~

at Monday's appt

Thurs at the hospital

Today I'm 36 weeks! I'm so grateful to be nearly full-term and hopeful that if baby was born now he wouldn't need much, if any, time in the NICU. Making it another week would be great, since the last two babies have both been born at 37 weeks and were totally healthy! I had an ultrasound on Monday where he looked great (although his cord was still around his neck), and another NST at the hospital yesterday which also showed normal reactivity. I'll go in again this coming Monday, and I'm hoping that maybe by the end of next week we'll have a baby here, so we can be home for Thanksgiving and so I won't be worried about my OB not being available on Thanksgiving Day! If all goes well, we might actually even host Thanksgiving for Steven's family that Friday. It was fun having everyone over last year, and although I may spend much of Thanksgiving in bed recovering, it would be nice to share the meal with everyone.

~~2~~

Katie's favorite books in my bed

Bed rest is hard. The last time I was on bed rest was when I was pregnant with Mary Clare, so I didn't have other children to care for, to teach, or to continually make messes that I can't clean up. The messy house can be really frustrating for a pregnant, nesting mama.  We've spent some time on the weekends doing some major purging and cleaning, finding and washing the baby gear, and last weekend even braving the boys' room...a cleaning project which took nearly two hours with four of us working! This weekend I'd like to clean the playroom (which is almost as bad) and start sorting the boys' clothes. There are about four overflowing laundry baskets in the hallway, plus clothes in their room, which need to be folded and organized. I've also got my eye out for a dresser for Katie (her clothes are stuffed on changing table shelves in our closet) and a bunk bed so that we can put Katie in Ellie's room. She's so attached to me right now, mores than even a few months ago, so I'm hoping she handles the new baby's arrival okay.

~~3~~

Steven and PaPa have been SuperDad and SuperGrandpa! My dad has been taking the girls to ballet several days a week, and he sometimes takes the boys to baseball. Steven attends all the practices and games, and does all the ballet pick-ups, while also working long hours and taking some road trips for work these past few weeks. We've also had some kind friends step in to help, or to offer, to give rides. I had hoped the baseball season would be over last weekend, but alas both boys had make-up games this week, Steven Joseph had a play-off game last night (which they won!), and now both have play-off games tomorrow. Neverending baseball over here!

~~4~~

All the baby gear is ready! We've washed the swing and rocking seat, all the tiny boy clothes, the blankets, socks, and burp cloths. I've ordered a few outfits and blankets, a cute bath towel, some new cloth diaper burp cloths, a new car seat, and a new diaper bag! I am loving my first JuJuBe diaper bag/backpack, and I just got it loaded up. It was time to move on from the pink floral Vera Bradley bag with its broken zipper. It's been well-loved! 

Up until now we've used cloth diapers that were given to me as gifts before Mary Clare was born! First they were actual diapers for the first few kids, then they were burp cloths and later became rags to clean up spills around the house. So it was time for a new set of those. Then we had a little car seat fiasco. I bought a really cool travel system last time at a huge discount because it was being discontinued. Unfortunately some kind of rodent got into the car seat in the garage a few months ago. I tried to get replacement parts, and Graco was kind enough to send them for free, but they didn't fit. I've searched for hours for the same car seat, but cannot find it. So I ended up ordering a new car seat that I'm hoping (after lots of research) will still fit into the stroller frame. It should arrive tomorrow. I do use the car seat clicked into a stroller a lot during the first year, so if this one isn't compatible I may just start over with a different seat and stroller.  Silly problems that aren't that big of a deal, but it's kept me busy while resting these past few weeks.

~~5~~

Ice, ice, and more ice! I have a major ice craving during the last trimester of my pregnancies. We've realized that you can buy big bags of ice from Sonic, and I go through about two a week. Normally, I have a big appetite and a weakness for fast food and fatty foods. But these past few weeks, my heartburn is so bad that I can't really eat much. I'm eating about 1 1/2 actual meals a day, and I can't eat much at night or I won't be able to sleep. So it's ice all day, and thankfully I've had almost zero weight gain in the last month or two because I was already so huge this time around!

My poor family is dealing with hunger since I can't grocery stop, stand for long periods of time to cook, and I don't have an appetite, especially at dinner time. They're subsisting on frozen pizzas, frozen nuggets, quesadillas, and a lot of chips! I know I'll need to take it easy after the baby is born, and we're always graced with generous friends bringing meals, but I'm definitely looking forward to being able to do a bit of cooking and cleaning again once I'm up for it. Oh, and exercising, I've really missed that!

~~6~~

The election. Whoa, what a week. My dad took me out to vote on Tuesday morning (I think we were gone for 10 minutes; love our little city!). Then Steven and I were shocked as we watched the results come in on Tuesday night. I finally fell asleep around 1am, but Steven stayed watching coverage until about 2:30am before leaving on a business trip early the next morning. Although we were not thrilled with the voting choices we had this time around, as conservative pro-life Catholics we are grateful that Hillary did not win. 

So our feelings are of relief and uncertainty about President-elect Trump, but we are also prayerful and hopeful. It's been quite scary to watch and read about what's going on around our country this week though. Facebook has been a mess of words, images, videos, and negativity, and I'm trying to really take a step away from that today. I am sad for the people who are so upset by the results that it is keeping them from functioning in normal life. I can't say I fully grasp what that means, because we have known disappointment in previous elections and yet still moved forward in prayer and hope. But I know many of these citizens don't have a faith in God to fall back on, and/or they have a true and deep fear for our country, so this is more than they can handle. My heart and prayers go out to them. 

~~7~~

Homeschool. It's also quite difficult to homeschool while on bed rest and as the weather becomes so nice for outside play! One child in particular is fighting doing work all day long. I try to do things from the couch, sit with them on my bed and do work, and sometimes even venture to the schoolroom for a bit until sitting in the chairs makes me crampy. I'm glad we have the online courses, grading, and teacher assistance through MODG so that the girls can stay on track. It's also nice to have checklists for each day that I print from the website. We've just finished Week 11 in most subjects and will hopefully get about another month in before Christmas break. So far, so good. While it's difficult, I'm definitely grateful to homeschool during times like this. The kids are having to spend a lot of time at home, but we're growing as a family and are all very much looking forward to meeting our newest member!

More Quick Takes over HERE with Kelly!

7 Quick Takes Friday--I've been MIA

(Posting this a few days late since I just got the computer fixed and can finally post photos!)

Looks like it's been about three weeks since I've blogged here! I will hopefully get back to updates about our Florida trip soon, that is once I can use my laptop again. It got stepped on and has a cracked screen! Not only is this challenging with blogging and our summer screen addictions (I'm binge watching Gilmore Girls), but it also makes it hard to do all the things that are more urgent on my to-do list like...paying bills, registering for online classes, searching for an exterminator (ANTS!), and planning an anniversary getaway. But we have been doing a few things besides laying around and watching Netflix! Let's see if iPhone blogging will work...(it didn't)


1. I'm still growing a baby! Little one is 19wks today and my pregnancy app says that means about 6 inches, 8.5 ounces, and the size of an heirloom tomato! We are anxious for the big ultrasound in about 10 days and the kids are really wanting to have some kind of gender reveal celebration. Katie Grace loves to talk about the baby and kiss my belly, and if we accidentally say something about her being the baby she replies, "My no baby. My a big girl!" She's convinced it's a baby sister. We will see!

kissing my belly

2. We went up to Aggieland in June for the last Sunday mass of now-Bishop David Konderla! We got to see a lot of old friends from our days at A&M. We were sad to miss his ordination mass as Bishop of Tulsa, Oklahoma (we weren't quite up for another out of state road trip), but at least we could watch it live streaming on the internet and take some screen shots! What a gift to the Church that he and Bishop Mike Sis are...and how cool that they were our two priests in college!

running out steam before mass

with the now-Bishop!

took this screenshot while watching the ordination,

our two college pastors

3. We had a fun Independence Day weekend with an afternoon at the beach house to celebrate some family birthdays and then the local parade and a swim party with friends on the 4th. There's a lot of tragedy going on in the world and in our country. We have lots to pray for!

4. There has been a lot of swimming going on this summer! Our city pool is just a few blocks away, and now it's right between our house and my parents' house. We often see our neighborhood friends there and it's a nice evening activity to get us out of the house and tire everyone out before dinner and bedtime! We finished swim team in late June and are proud of Steven who qualified for the All Star invitational meet in breast stroke. Both boys worked very hard this season!

5. Last weekend was my 20yr high school reunion. One of my friends hosted a ladies brunch at her parents' house on Saturday morning, and then the actual reunion was that evening. It was nice to catch up with so many old friends at the brunch, and see classmates I hadn't seen in 20yrs at the reunion. It was a bit hard to catch up that evening because the DJ was playing very loud music and we all had to yell! But we had some great fajitas and it was fun to see all those familiar faces. I was quite the interesting person for many of them, being pregnant with my 6th baby made me get lots of wide eyes!

6. We are planning our first trip away since having kids! It will be our 15th anniversary, and we're blessed to live close enough to family members who are willing to come stay and watch the kids. It's rare for me to not have a nursing baby or toddler, so we just haven't had time for trips alone or even many dates. I know I will miss my little Katie Grace so much; she's still very attached to mommy. But it will be a good time to focus on each other and give the kids some fun time with their aunts!

7. I can't believe we're halfway through July. I need to register for our MODG online classes, and start sorting through books to order what we need for the new school year. I still need to mail last year's work and report cards! The girls are getting ready for VBS at our church at the end of the month, and then August will be here. I'll be taking a mom's weekend away and hopefully we will have a weekend getaway for all of us before we start back to school.

And now, 5 days later I'll finally post this before more time gets away from me!

Seven Quick Takes

 --1--

Not much time for blogging these days! We are still settling into our new house and trying to make it more of a home. There were quite a few furniture items that needed Craigslist replacements, so my part-time job has been scouring the online classifieds to find the best deals! I'm generally pretty savvy at this, but I've still lost 3 or 4 desk deals for Mary Clare, who is currently using an upside-down moving box in her room as her desk! Overall I've done pretty well with scoring couches, bedroom furniture, a fridge, and a buffet for a very good deal! We also went ahead and got a set of IKEA chairs and compensated our friends with dinner and wine to help us assemble them!

--2--

Another reason I haven't been blogging is that my amazing friend Beverly isn't doing so great. She just spent a few days in the hospital, and we are all praying that they find the right treatment to manage her cancer. She's still so positive, her kids are showing great kindness and courage, and we got to spend a whole weekend with her youngest, our goddaughter, last weekend!

--3--

A weekend away at the beach has also kept me away from my writing. We've had some warm October weather and were blessed to spend two nights at the family beach house with friends. It was just what we needed to take a step back from everything going on at home. 

--4--

Aside from unpacking, moving, decorating, and settling into our new home, we've also been renovating our old home for my parents! We are very happy with our contractor, and he's almost finished with the updates in the kitchen and bathrooms. It looks amazing, both inside and outside!

--5--

We have continued our normal ballet schedule which is pretty manageable. They dance for about 3 hours twice a week, and we just drop them off and pick them up. Piano is once weekly, and currently it's just Ellie and Thomas taking lessons. We also have 4-H, museum classes, and park days once monthly, and the boys and girls homeschool clubs twice monthly. But...now we are back doing little league baseball for Steven Joseph, and it is a challenge! 3-4 days a week of practices and games, and every week the schedule is different. The two youngest don't handle the driving well, and I am exhausted! I'm hoping we can find a better solution this spring!

--6--

After I blog about our beach trip, I'll be sharing some wonderful photos of our big boy Steven who will have his First Holy Communion this coming Sunday! He had his First Penance this past Sunday, and we were so proud of him even though he was very scared. We are very excited for him to receive these sacraments. We're preparing for a busy weekend and a big party to celebrate!

--7--

Today we have a large group of our 4-H club over here to make meals for Beverly's family! The kids shopped together and are now washing, chopping, and cooking without much help at all from the adults. Katie was ready for a nap so I'm getting her down and starting to think about the rest of the errands of the day. A big weekend, but we will be blessed to share it with family and friends!

7 Quick Takes Friday

July seems to be a month of big decisions this year; my brain is so very tired and ready for a break! Here are some of the big things going on. This post is brought to you by the letter H!

~~1~~

Homeschool

I realized I have two tests to grade, and the packet to put together and send in their work and report cards for last year! I plan to do that by the weekend. I finally registered the girls for their online courses and grading support this year. I need to do a blog post with a summary of this last school year and a plan for next year. I've chosen to register for quite a bit of support for the 7th grader. I pray that it was the right decision for her; it was an agonizing decision for me to figure out all of her courses! 

~~2~~

House

This week we began in a major way the renovations we will do on our current house. We got new siding and back doors installed. We have spent the past year trying to decide whether to live in this house or lease it and move. I look at homes online almost every day and we've looked at many in person too. As much as we would love to have more space both inside and outside, I think for the time being we are choosing to find contentment right here where we are. Our house and yard might be smaller than I'd like, but we are in the best location and we have the opportunity to fix this home just how we'd like it. Our neighborhood has made tremendous improvements over the past few years, we have some neighbors we love, our park and pool are blocks away and have both been redone, and Steven's commute isn't as bad as it would be if we moved farther out. So in the coming weeks and months this may very well become a bit of a home renovation blog! I can't wait! Though I do reserve the right to change my mind if a dream house comes on the market!

~~3~~

Health

It's been awhile since I've made my own health a priority. After my shingles outbreak, I had a little wake-up call that my body isn't what it was in my 20s! I can't lose the pregnancy weight like I used to, and I've got to start being proactive about my eating and exercise habits. One of the moms in my homeschool group started a weight loss challenge a week ago. Whoever hits 10 pounds first gets some cash! So I've gone back on the My Fitness Pal app to track my calories, and I'm trying to stay more active. I've been doing some water aerobics at the pool, and I'd also like to find another consistent form of exercise for myself. It looks like a few pounds have been shed in the first week, although I'm not sure how accurate my scale is!

~~4~~

Hope 

We're dealing with some pretty serious health issues among my family and friends. I briefly mentioned that my dad was hospitalized a couple weeks ago. He had a scary seizure episode in the middle of the night, but is doing well now. I also have my dear friend Beverly going through a new "chemo cocktail" to try to eliminate the gastric cancer she was diagnosed with this spring. Sometimes life can be depressing and anxiety-inducing. There are so many factors in our day-to-day lives that affect our health and can cause us anxiety and concern. But watching my friend be so positive and hopeful in her cancer battle helps me to see the bigger picture, that virtue of HOPE that we're striving for. We hope for a good future for ourselves and our children, but even moreso we hope for Heaven. When it comes down to it, our lives here are all short, and hopefully our souls are purified through the suffering as we realize that our home is truly in Heaven.

~~5~~

Helping Hands

Helping Hands is the name of the calendar website that our community is using to coordinate meals and help for my friend. What generous hearts people have when they are willing to take a few hours out of their week to make a meal, run errands, or grocery shop for a friend in need. It's also a reflection of the generous heart of the receiver, because her family has been on the other end for all of us, always giving of themselves. Still in the midst of this trial they have offered help to our family at various times, as have other generous friends recently. It is so nice to read an "Absolutely Yes" to a question of help with childcare or something else. I hope as we heal from these little trials of this summer we can find more ways to give of ourselves. The above photo was taken when a generous friend came from across town, in rush hour, with five kids and husband, on their anniversary, the night before a road trip, to do a last minute family photo session for my friend before she loses her hair. A true gift of herself. Mary Clare enjoyed being back-up photographer.

~~6~~

Healing Waters

One thing that always helps us to have a joyful and relaxing summer is spending time in the water. This is how my childhood summers were spent too. While living in Corpus Christi, we got to take lots of trips to the beach throughout the year. Here back home, we have the blessing of a nice pool just two blocks away. We have spent many days there this month, getting our Vitamin D, cooling off, and visiting with neighbors. I also love that rejuvenating evening water aerobics class when I can make it. This week we made a trip to my parents' neighborhood pool too. I was hoping to take some trips this summer but it turns out that with illness and Steven's work schedule we will have to wait until September to travel. I'm so pining for a few days away, but am trying to find my happy heart right here at home. 

~~7~~

Happy Heart

Speaking of having a happy heart, our little love does so well at helping us to be happy in the midst of a kind of stressful time. I found her a shirt that says this and it is so true! She accompanied me to the hospital to be with my dad and to his doctor visit too. Her snuggles brightened my mom's days. This weekend she had a little bug and fever with major teething which took away that always-smiley baby for a couple days, but we are glad to have her back! I am so grateful to God for the gift of little Katie. I can't imagine life without a baby to love on. I'm afraid we may end up having to add more room so we will have space for all those children I want to adopt after we can't have anymore! That's another thing we told the children about staying in this house: it could allow us to reach the financial spot where adoption could be a reality. We will see if that's God's will for us, but for now I'm enjoying the happy heart that most of the children have had during a generally carefree summer!

A few unrelated snapshots for good measure...

Mom's Night Out on the weekend many of us were a little sad to not attend the Edel Gathering

A LaMadeleine lunch with the kids after a library outing 

Cow Appreciation Day at Chickfila!

Seven Quick Takes, May Madness!

A friend was recently talking about her family's "May Madness" and I realized that has truly been a good description of our month! We've had baseball, ballet, swim team, several trips, illness, broken AC, flooding, and more! We're still in one piece, but I'm not sure I'll be recovered for awhile...

~~1~~

Shingles

Let's just start with the least fun part of this month! We got back from our beach trip and I had these horrible pains in my ribs on one side of my body. It hurt like my ribs were bruised and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. A few days later I developed a painful and itchy rash on my back, but I was still perplexed at what was going on with me. Finally, after Googling my symptoms a little more I was able to diagnose myself with Shingles! The doctor confirmed this and prescribed some anti-viral medication which I've been taking for a week. Thankfully it's a mild case and it looks like the rash is almost gone. I really need to get healthy and get better rest. My body is crying out for help!

~~2~~

Flash Floods

Texas has had the rainiest year! I don't remember a time when it rained through the whole spring like this. Finally this week, the ground could hold no more and flooding began on Memorial Day evening. It was nothing like the flooding in other areas of Texas where homes were washed away with the river, but we did have a lot of high water in the area. 

We got stuck out in the storms for awhile, trying to get home but having to turn around due to floodwaters. It was a bit scary for all of us. We were in two cars leaving the mall, but after stopping for awhile in a different shopping center, the rain slowed and the water went down enough for us to make it home. There were also some scary storms when we were staying at the beach house. Of course the worst one was the night when Steven took Steven Joseph home for his baseball playoff game, and I was left at the beach house with the girls, no car, and a nearly-dead cell phone without a charger. That was a long and scary night!

Tonight it looks like rain is about to hit the major cities in Texas once again. Hopefully this is the last hurrah and there won't be too much damage. 

~~3~~

Our Friend Nan

Aside from our beach trips and some work trips for Steven, our other overnight adventure was a trip to College Station for a surprise birthday party for our friend Nan. Nan is one of those lovely, generous, kind, creative souls that is always giving, always encouraging, and always a light to others. She helped so many of us with our weddings, and she helped put together so many college celebrations with her amazing cooking and decorating skills. So this weekend was an opportunity to celebrate HER! Our friends that put it together went all out, with a tent set up indoors, all kinds of decorations, fresh flowers, candles, live music, and the most delicious gourmet meal. Several college friends brought their kids and it was such a fun evening!

The kids all pitched in to help clean up the elaborate decorations and food, and we had fun hanging out at the hotel with some of our friends. But of course there must always be something that goes wrong. First of all, Steven Joseph's baseball playoff game was rescheduled for late that afternoon (after he already had a swim meet), so we had to take two cars and SJ wasn't feeling well when they arrived. He perked up a little but then started having bad stomach pains, so I took the youngest three kids and rushed off to go check-in at the hotel. I didn't get checked in quick enough, though, and SJ puked in the lobby and the lobby bathroom! He was fine after that and ate a whole bag of microwave popcorn, so we were grateful it wasn't a virus.  But overall we were so glad to be a part of this special celebration for an old friend who we don't get to see as much as we'd like.

~~4~~

Sports

Baseball is over! Finally! Steven's last game was the day of that birthday party (May 16), and the boys both had their team parties after that. I missed SJ's party and final games because of the crazy schedule and my shingles, so I don't have any photos of those, but Tommy was so proud of his banner and trophy!

We've been taking it easy with swim team. Steven Joseph makes it to practice once or twice a week, and we're just doing the home meets. Our team, which used to be known as the more low-key area swim team, is now huge and competitive, and sadly I think it's just going to be too much to do in the future with their other activities. In this area, if the kids don't "specialize" in a sport, it's hard to compete with area kids who have started these sports at age 3 or 4, many training year-round.  He's having fun, but it's been hard to make practices and meets with the other May Madness going on!

The girls did amazingly well on their ballet exams, after being away from this studio and this kind of technical ballet for three years. They have their recital in a week, and then I'll share some photos and words about their year in dance!

~~5~~

Ellie's Birthday Party

We were finally able to celebrate Ellie with a few friends and my parents last weekend. She wanted a "Sweet Shoppe" themed birthday, and we delivered! Actually the girls delivered, because they put most of it together themselves, along with some adorable decor by NeNe! I'll share more about it this week after I get through the rest of the beach week photos!

~~6~~

Photography

I think I'm finally starting to get the hang of this photography thing. I am shooting almost all in manual mode, which is a big accomplishment after using a DSLR camera on and off for several years. I can't quite get the photos I see in my head, but I can now recognize what I'm aiming for with focus and lighting and such. I still have a LONG way to go with learning editing and Lightroom, but I'm just glad that I'm making some progress! Here are a few I took at the farm on Memorial Day!

~~7~~

A little decorating and house stuff

I really enjoy crafting and decorating projects, but my time is limited and I'm in a bit of a rut with the current state of this house. We had fun doing the Saint Peg Doll Exchange, which was a fun creative outlet.  While we were getting some items for Ellie's birthday party at the craft store, I decided to pop onto Pinterest on my phone to find some ideas and buy a few things to put together a front door wreath. I think it came out pretty cute! But now I really want to paint the front door! Either red or turquoise. Probably red. But more likely it'll just stay black! White might be nice...

We're getting some drainage work done in the yard and starting to get estimates for remodeling projects in hopes that we can start the renovations this summer (mainly bathrooms, kitchen, and flooring).  It's quite overwhelming and I am still not sure I believe that this is going to happen. We moved here in January 2007, and overall we haven't done much. Our friends who lived here before put quite a bit of work into this house, but we've never had the funds to do more than fix the things that were very broken.  

As of now we plan to renovate the house to prepare to rent it out again, whenever we find our "forever" home. We don't have a timeline for that yet. One day Steven says about a year, the next time three years, and then five years! He likes to mess with me!  But I really would love to have a little more space both inside and outside, as well as a safe area for them to play. Our street has gotten really busy and I am so worried that they will get hit by cars when they are biking and running around. Hopefully their guardian angels keep working overtime until that time when/if we can move somewhere with a little more safety and freedom for their play. We will see!

And now for a weekend filled with a swim meet, food drive, mass, and a week getting ready for the dance recital! Bring on a relaxing month of June...please!

See more Quick Takes over at Kelly's!