Cares

Cares
by Elisabeth Barrett Browning

The little cares that fretted me,

I lost them yesterday

Among the fields above the sea,

Among the winds at play;

Among the lowing of the herds,

The rustling of the trees,

Among the singing of the birds,

The humming of the bees.

The foolish fears of what may happen,
I cast them all away
Among the clover-scented grass,
Among the new-mown hay;
Among the husking of the corn
Where drowsy poppies nod,
Where ill thoughts die and good are born
Out in the fields with God.

Answer Me This Father's Day and Silly String Edition

1. What’s something you intended to do today, but didn't?
Well, I intended to buy something small for my husband and my dad for Father's Day, but I waited too long to order it and now it'll have to be a late gift. I had a gift planned for Steven's dad too that didn't happen. I also intended to make Steven breakfast in bed, but Mary Clare beat me to it! She also crocheted him a thingie to go on his golf club driver, so she wins the prize for best daughter today.


2. What's your favorite grilling recipe?
Steven does all the grilling.  He even grilled today on Father's Day, but I made the sides (mashed potatoes and green beans).  He got some delicious steaks and I don't know what he put on them (he says it was Adams Reserve seasoning), but they were good!  I know he did put the chicken in a bowl with Zesty Italian dressing to marinate before grilling, and they turned out great too!


3. What movie did you see most recently?
Oh man, I don't really enjoy watching movies, so it was probably Frozen at the theater about six months ago!  I like watching shows on Netflix, and I think I've watched all of this season of the Duggar show.


4. Would you say your tendency is to over or under react to medical situations?
I think I'm getting better about this.  When the girls were little I definitely overreacted to illnesses, and we ended up at the ER quite a few times for nighttime croup coughing fits that always seemed to happen on the weekend.  Now the kids don't get sick often, except stomach viruses!  I still get really anxious when they're sick though. 

Steven and I probably both under react to injuries.  His typical phrase is, "shake it off!" So we've had a few instances of an injury that was actually worse than we'd thought or a cut that probably would've healed better had we taken them in.  Going through a knee surgery and open heart surgery with kids definitely heightened by anxiety about medical issues for awhile though!


5. Do you squeeze the toothpaste tube or roll it?
I squeeze my Crest.


6. What are you doing for Father's Day?
Today we went to mass and stayed for the usual brunch fellowship time afterwards.  Then we came home and Steven grilled and we had a nice "linner" (lunch/dinner), which is our typical Sunday meal.  Steven, the baby, and I napped while the kids ran around and got into fights.  Then we went out for ice cream and let the kids pick something at the dollar store.  The big kids had a silly string fight and they came home for baths and bed.  A pretty low key day which is just what Daddy prefers!

Hope your day was full of fun and a great celebration of all the dads in your life!

Special prayers going out to those who are missing their daddies today.

Happy Father's Day

Our kids are standing on the shoulders of giants. We are so blessed that they have three wonderful men to stand on.

Happy Father's Day, Steven!

Happy Father's Day, Dad!

Happy Father's Day, BopBop!

Seven Crazy Takes

Whoa. Haven't posted in over a week! Last weekend was our first swim meet and then we headed to Houston to tag along for a work trip for Steven. We stayed at a hotel. It was crazy. Traveling with five kids, especially when your husband is working long hours, is very hard! So I'll share seven crazy events, as I settle down from the long road trip home...

--1--

Elevator madness

Thomas was obsessed with pressing elevator buttons. If he wasn't the one to press, a major fit would ensue. He would run down the hall in order to press the button first, and one time he actually got in and rode the elevator down to the first floor ALONE.  In this picture they're just excited to go down to the hotel pool, two of them too excited to put shoes on!

--2--

IKEA 

There were 13 kids with 3 moms, including one due with a baby any day!  I took mine there for breakfast, and we also stayed for the free-kids-on-Tuesdays lunch, so we were there about four hours! Thomas got lost a couple times and the big boys had to go and find him.  But overall the kids all did well and I enjoyed my time shopping with friends. I stocked up on some fabric food for the play kitchen, which I hope will allow for hours of upstairs play time this summer.

--3--

Pool

The kids were thrilled to get to swim every day.  But lots of pool time equaled lots of unhappy sweaty baby. I took her into the pool a couple times, just dipping her feet, but overall she was not crazy about our outdoor activities. 

Tommy, on the other hand, was happy as a clam! And he's so proud that he can now jump in and get his face in the water :)

--4--

Science museum on a free day

Two moms and nine kids trying to navigate the Museum of Natural Science on a free afternoon was not an easy endeavor. Just getting there involved three restaurants, a park, two bathroom accidents, crazy traffic, and a parking garage madhouse. I lost Tommy at least five times in the museum. Not my best decision there, but glad to see a dear friend!

--5--

Rain and traffic

I don't remember when I took this picture, but I do know that I sent it to Steven who responded, "Wecome home."  His feelings about the Houston traffic have been discussed on this blog here before. I'm just glad he loves me enough to be willing to deal with it again. 

It only poured rain a few times for a few minutes, once when I was trying to go into the dentist office and another right when we were leaving the house of some friends. Both times I was in a hurry and the baby was asleep and I was just praying someone didn't fall in a big puddle! 

After the above drive in the rain, my two boys took a nice long car nap!

 --6--

Guard at the mall playland

I'm sorry, but do we really need a security guard to patrol the children's playground in the mall? Do the adults (and children) really need to be ordered to have their shoes removed to enter? What is the point of removing shoes anyway? Ridiculous if you ask me. 

--7--

Shopping fun

This last morning of our trip we made a visit to the American Girl store, along with a little walk through the mall (see security guy in #6) and the Target connected to the mall (nice!). 

The girls were waiting for this all week! Mary Clare knew just what she wanted to buy, and Ellie took a bit longer but was happy with her book choice. Little brother just wanted to photobomb. 

Our bitty baby wasn't so sure about the whole experience. I'm sure her sisters will clue her in soon enough. 

The boys got to pick out one thing at Target and they both fell asleep on the drive home holding their new toys, a transformer and a nerf gun. 

(I know his seatbelt is twisted and not latched. We got it fixed.)

And I'll end with the happiest photo of the week, Tommy swinging at the park next to his cousin's all star baseball game. 

See more quick takes over at Kathryn's today, and have a great weekend!

One Hot Mess

Joining the link-up over at The Fike Life today!

The past few months this little man has been the epitome of One Hot Mess. Here's a sampling from the week.

I posted on Facebook Monday night asking for any help with ideas to entertain a 3 1/2yr old while the others are at a 1 1/2 hr swim practice every morning at 7:30am.  I got lots of great ideas and so Tuesday's practice went fairly well.  You might notice a big cut on his "thumb" toe, the first of the week's injuries, from bike riding without shoes.

We also ventured to the locker room at the Natatorium, which kept him entertained for about 2-3 minutes.  

He threw a fit about his shoes when everyone was leaving for the park, so I was left to deal with it and decided that riding his bike there wasn't a battle I wanted to fight.  He actually rode pretty fast on his little training wheels!  Another fit ensued when he realized he forgot his baseball glove, though.

On Thursday morning, he found a little playmate during the swim practice.  At one point I lost them, and the other mom assured me they were just playing under the wall of bleachers.  Soon enough he emerged with this bruiser.

This was the moment when I noticed just what a hot mess he was.  He fell asleep on the way to Daddy's basketball game last night, and I had to drag him out of the car while also pushing the stroller.  We were able to calm him down with food.  Red Gatorade is just what a fussy child needs, right?

So today I decided to brave the stores for the first time with five kids!  We went to Hobby Lobby for some summertime crafts, then to Mardel Christian book store.  Thomas did okay at Hobby Lobby, but threw a few fits in Mardel wanting different toys.  He was putting a big construction costume up on the checkout counter as I was telling him that we were not going to buy it.  He wasn't having it.

Checkout lady at Mardel to the rescue!  She had a little bin of toys for them to choose and saved the day.  I could care less that he chose a whistle and put it on his neck.  At least he didn't have a meltdown about the construction costume.

We finally arrived home for lunch (pizza from Papa Murphy's that is) and the boys were ready for a water gun war.  Without pants.  It's how he rolls.

It took me a few hours to write this post because Mr. Hotmess kept throwing fits all afternoon as I was trying to take care of some phone calls and emails.  Daddy has come home to the rescue and of course they all calm down and play outside now.  Typical.  TGIF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{pretty, happy, funny, real} A Nature Walk

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

Last week we went on an evening stroll down a nearby trail that leads to the bay.  We didn't make it all the way to the bay since the sun was setting, but we enjoyed our evening outing.  So why don't you all come along with us on our little walk?

All photos taken with my new camera lens  

(still working in Auto or Av mode though)

{pretty}

A pretty walk down a nature trail

Baby is on Daddy's back in the Ergo!

 {happy}

 {funny}
Steven has a baby on his back and a very large 3yr old on his shoulders.  Wow!

Katie doesn't look amused.

 

Always funny are our attempts at kid group pics.

{real}

Here's an Instagram shot of the bee swarm Mary Clare found on our way back to the car!  Steven was excited and took the kids back the next evening to see if it was still there (it wasn't).  He can't wait to have a beehive again, but I think we will be waiting until after the move!  Do you remember these videos of him "cutting out" a feral hive?  Crazy!  Here are all our posts about bees for the bee lovers :)

And a real shot of Steven with his big catch from a fishing trip the next day.  Whoa!  He and Mary Clare had it for dinner last night.  

It was quite a full weekend,with hikes, beach outings, fishing trips, swimming, and a trip to a small water park.  This weekend will be a swim meet and preparations for an upcoming week in Houston.  The summer is off to a fun, but busy start!