7QT: Such a long to-do list, I think I'll blog.

We are leaving for Michigan in the am.  The laundry isn't done.  There are still groceries to buy (Hello Aldi cheap beach snacks!).  The house is a mess.  But I think I'll cough up seven quick takes and tell the big kids to make brownies, because these things are important.

1.

Those people down there are my people.

Michigan.  It's just like this.  On a lake with a beer and a baby.

2.

We have a new Christian in the house!

Many, many thanks to Fr. Steve Grunow of Word on Fire for coming down to our neck of the woods to baptize Polly and to the many family members who journeyed far and cut vacations short to be with us on this great occasion!

3.  Here are some examples of how Old Scratch tried to spoil the day interspersed with photos that are not related to the text.

My dishwasher broke the night before.  Patrick duct taped it so the tape was barely noticeable and the dishwasher still functioned.

The morning of, in a group effort to get beverages in the coolers, Lucy picked up a 12 pack of beer on the back porch and the box broke!  Broken glass and beer everywhere!

Then after cleaning up that mess, Susan was stirring a glass pitcher of OJ RIGHT BEFORE WE WERE TO WALK OUT THE DOOR, AND THE PITCHER BROKE!  Glass and OJ all over my clean kitchen.

At this point, Patrick, Polly, Jill, and I took off for the church, leaving the oldest four to clean and make their own way.

Polly was a perfect baby for the entire ceremony except for some serious fussiness and squirming during the prayer of exorcism.  But then Fr. Steve called the Holy Spirit down on her, and she settled right down.

4.  The rest of the day was just lovely.  There was no Bacon Cake left.  No ham.  None of the four egg casseroles.  No Prosecco.  It was a great feast!

Then we napped.

My hair looked pretty good too.  Washed it the day before.  Curly friends, you got to get educated in Ouidad.  I read about this nursing friendly dress on this blog.  Thanks, Tess.  Sorry not sorry I got the same print as she did.  It's the prettiest one.

5.  Some of the male party guests were complaining about our gorgeous vegetable garden. I think they were afraid their wives would get ideas.

I'm linking up with Cari's Garden Post. Our harvest has been small so far.  Some lettuce, Swiss Chard, basil, and a total of 2 cucumbers and 9 green beans.  This is our first attempt at vegetable gardening.

Each of those cucumbers cost us about $175.

There are zillions of green tomatoes too.  I'm certain everything will ripen while we are away.  If you live locally, swing by my back yard and help yourselves.  I have a good gazpacho recipe here.

The pepper plants look good, but no peppers.  The watermelon was about the size of a golf ball, but squirrels got it somehow.  It looks like we will do well with pumpkins.  That will save me about $8 this fall.

Next year, I'm growing zucchini and arugula.

Mixing the compost.

BTW, the vegetable garden is all the work of Patrick, Edmund, and Peter.  Any and all flowers are my domain, and they are all dead or mostly dead, which is why they are not pictured.

6.

On Monday, we took our Houston family members to the zoo.  They left from the zoo for the airport, but we stayed and went to the Butterfly House.

Patrick is SKEERED of butterflies, so we have never been there before.

It was gorgeous and magical and I want to live there.  Or at least spend a couple of hours in there with a large iced tea.

7.

Jill is talking about this moment when she says she touched a pig at the zoo.

I suppose that's enough procrastinating.

I will try to keep up with the WWRW posts, but there is a serious lack of internet and even cell coverage where we're going.  Don't you ever think that I'd skip a What We're Reading Wednesday post because I haven't read any books.  Jill would never let that happen.

Linking up with Jennifer @ Conversion Diary and Cari @ Clan Donaldson.

7QT-Actually quick ones this time!

1.

2.  Speaking of big, if you're large and in charge, this fancy dress from Tarjay (online only) is the nicest tent I've seen for pregnant ladies who might have to go somewhere formal.  We have a benefit and bunch of high school graduation stuff coming up.  I will be wearing this for the next three months.

Black lace is totally fine on Easter, right?

3.  

St. Jude's School for Kids Who Want to Read Good and Do Other Things Good Too had a field trip to the Shedd Aquarium this week.  

We saw the dolphin/beluga/sea lion show.  Throughout the show Jill loudly queried, "Does this turn into a mermaid?"  

I whispered to her that mermaids aren't real, and she retorted, "They're real when they talk!

4.  I can't decide if I liked the seahorses or the jellyfish better.  Probably seahorses, because male seahorses carry their unborn and give birth, and because of this awesomeness:

5.  St. Jude's also started seeds this week.

Not our seeds, but we did order a lot.

We ordered a bajillion non-GMO seeds from St. Clare Heirloom Seeds.  This week we are starting tomatoes, green (sweet for Chicagoans) peppers, and jalapenos. 

The pepper seeds, both sweet and hot, had to be soaked for some time before planting.  Well, they sorta got soaked in the same container. 

I'm not that concerned.  Come harvest time (if we make it that far), I think I can tell the difference between a green pepper and a jalapeno.

6.  

Also, Edmund was given instructions to plant EIGHT tomato seeds, one in each peat pot.  That ended up being eight tomato seeds in each peat pot.  Oopies.

We are dealing with a huge learning curve here as Patrick, Edmund, and I read from our well-thumbed copy of Gardening for Dummies, the Interweb, and anxiously await our library hold on Square-foot Gardening to show up.

7.  

Edmund left the bowl that he used to moisten the seed starter mix on the dining room table.  Peter came home after his baseball game, and Naturally assumed that we had been making some mid-Lenten Oreo Balls and proceeded to taste the leavings.  Serves him right after QT#1.  

Bonus QT:  Edmund is using this garden project for a gardening merit badge for Boy Scouts.  He has to build and maintain a compost bin for 90 days.  Hit me with your best compost tips.  Fire Away!

Follow Conversion Diary for more Friday Fast Takes.