7 Quick Takes Friday

1. End of Summer

Bet he was thinking, Book Reports!

2.  So Naturally, I start a New Project...

Normally, I'm more of a Hammond fan, but James May is on to something...

We began the great house purge of 2013.  Children will remember it as the day Mom went utterly mad.  She took all toys downstairs. She started sorting. Three days later, you can walk from one room to another, but some children may still be trapped in the undertow of legos and the bed is sagging from the sheer volume of stuffed animals.  I'm stating for the record, Christmas, birthdays, random generosity presents...think gift cards to food and or movies and or i-tunes/book stores.  I am fairly certain if I really worked at it, I could replicate our house out of random assorted blocks in the event things ever got dire.  

3.  Epiphany!

Found this lovely image when I googled Epiphany and it fits the moment I took all the laundry to the laundry mat!  What would have taken at my conservative estimation 4 days minus the folding, was done in two hours.  I have something of my life back.  I may never use the damn machine in our house again. My mother and one of my best friends have been telling me to do this, I know why I haven't...I'm stupid.  I'm one of the shepherds out there, not one of the wise men.  So I had to be told...get over there and finally, once I got there I thought...I am the weirdest person in the world.  Why?  Because other women go to the spa.  But me, I was beyond joyful because the machines were washing my stuff.  I came home. I still have to fold. (talk about a bummer), but I still considered driving back again to finish off any and all spare clothing that needed to be washed.  I may yet.   Because I need more projects.  

4. I'm Not Nuts...I'm Just Busy

Yesterday was so full, I still can't wrap around all that transpired.  We got up at 6 so I could take the oldest daughter to high school to start her senior year. Then I came home, fixed breakfast, cajoled four children to consider their math books, went down to work on the basement, scheduled a visit with the 4 year old's teacher, forgot about open house, bathed two children who needed it, shopped for uniforms for the three that needed it, fostered world peace amongst the warring nations in the house, made an emergency trip to Best Buy for the oldest, got the refrigerator fixed and realized at 9 o'clock, I'd still not purchased school supplies or shoes for the elementary set.  For the record, I decided to blog instead of flogging myself to the store last night.  Today, I will be going.  But not yet.   

5.  Today my husband comes home!!!! He's awesome because he gets our family to do together, what alone I cannot.  Back on July 5th, I told all of you about the Vine! Here is the video proof that what we worked on to pull out, was actually a monster sized weed.  

I don't have anything to add to this other than YAY! 

6.  I still hate Flat Stanley.

This time, it's because we went to Disneyland. We had premo would have been the coolest ever Flat Stanley opportunities and we were...Flat Stanley-less.  

We go to Disneyland, all 12 of us...maybe I could help her make a project of "Where's Flat Stanley?" and show everywhere we went without him.  

7.   Because this 7 quick takes has been largely a picture portrait of the week, I thought I'd try out a new Catholic meme.  I made one, but I can't for the life of me figure out how to get it from there to here, so here's the link.  Maybe one day...sigh.  I remain technology challenged. 

Merry Christmas

This is last year's photo.

I'll be uploading this year's as soon as I figure out how to download it from our new camera.

We close every Christmas Eve with my husband reading "A Night before Christmas" and then carolling his children, closing with "Silent Night."

May all of you have a blessed Christmas.

How To Completely Stress Out This Christmas

How to Completely Stress Out This Christmas…

November 29, 2007: We just had Thanksgiving! I’m not in the Christmas spirit yet. Procrastinate. As the song goes, there are twelve days, I’ve still got time. Week one passes, and I pat myself on the back for breaking out the lights and putting up three Christmas displays.

December 8, 2007: Felt Virtuous. Bought Christmas Cards today! However, I also was wanting to be frugal so I only bought two boxes. Our Christmas card list easily tops four boxes…oh well, I’ll get them later. Looking at the cards that have already come in, impulsively, I decide I want a picture this year. Assemble everyone. We can’t find good Christmas pj’s because I haven’t hit the mall for fear it would hit back. Oldest is in Dad’s robe, middle one is wearing pink, youngest is hidden in a Christmas blanket because she spit up before we finished setting up. Say Cheese. Three year old son doesn’t look so good. Six shots into the Christmas shoot, he throws up.

Decide we’ll finish the roll with the season and get them developed then, but two weeks pass and we keep forgetting to bring the camera.

December 15, 2007: Panic sets in, impulsively surf the net and ring up a tidy sum online. Feeling subsides although there is still a lot to do, and I only got a few things….

December 18, 2007: Husband’s panic attack takes place, credit card is warm to the touch.

December 20, 2007: Still have not sent card one. We haven’t taken pictures at the Christmas Concert, Christmas Party or the Cub Scouts’ Christmas award ceremony. Couldn’t find the camera. In a random search for a box of diaper wipes, I find the camera under a National’s baseball cap, under the bed. There are still fifteen shots left. In desperation, I grab the thing and shoot random shots of everyone to finish the 36 exposure film. Take the next day for double prints. Every shot has werewolf eyes on someone, except the one where my son is turning a funny shade of green.

December 21, 2007: Go to Christmas program for end of school. Missed first half because of triple diaper change in the car. Very bad. Make it to wave at kindergartener, so I’m thinking “That counts!” until my oldest daughter gives a bracing hug and says, “Did you see me?” “I made it.” I say with a smile. She reads through it and slumps away. “I stink.” I think. She is now happily chattering with friends. “Maybe not.” I think hopefully. She gives me a “I forgive you but you’re in the doghouse look.” I’ll make it up to her when we go shopping for teacher gifts that afternoon.

My toddler is trying to drink the Mississippi’s worth of water out of the fountain. As I remove her from the fountain, she fights, she screams, she drops. She hurts her hand. Bad. I take her to the school nurse.

“It’s either a sprain or a broken wrist.” She explains.
Four hours at the emergency room later, I joyfully call my husband and fork over the $75 co pay for an emergency visit, “It’s only a sprain.” We get home, it’s eight o’clock, they haven’t done homework, they haven’t eaten. We finally get the last one to bed and realize…

The Kids get out of school tomorrow and I don’t have teacher gifts! Husband obliges by producing chocolates originally intended for me. Feeling deep resentment. Not in the right mood, can’t wrap the boxes that have come, going to bed.

December 22, 2007: What do you mean we're hosting Christmas Dinner? No one briefed me on this…Call Crisis Cleaners and beg to get on the schedule…eat chocolate preallocated for teacher gifts out of stress. Swing through the Starbucks to purchase gift cards for six teachers. They only have five. Decide the one I know the least will get a different certificate. Guilt manages to nag me into stopping at a second Starbucks and getting a better bigger gift certificate for her.

December 23, 2007: I have the cards. I have the stamps. I have the pictures. I never bought the second two sets. Just as that starts to melt me down, something else does. What’s Christmas without an appliance breakdown? The Dryer is on fire. I call 911. I throw the three diaper sets in jackets and lock them in the car in their car seats. The Fire department comes and declares the infernal contraption dead. Appliance man can come in January. Using a different man would invalidate Home Warranty plan. Too stressed to write cards. We’re doing Epiphany Cards this year. Husband agrees and produces Christmas wine, also originally intended for me. There won’t be much under the tree…he starts to explain. “Yes there will, I’m getting a new Dryer.” We drink the wine. "We’ll wrap things up tomorrow night."

December 25, 5:30 a.m. Time for bed.

Merry Christmas!