Seven Actually Quick Takes

1. Birthday Trifecta Week is over. Three birthdays, three parades, three cakes, three birthday dinners.

My feast was the best. Patrick grilled salmon (and Italian sausages because he has that thing about fish) AND he grilled avocados for this Grilled Avocado and Tomato Salad recipe from John Besh. Grilled avocado is a brand new wonderful thing that we are going to eat a lot of this summer.

2.

Edmund won't finish a book because he "doesn't like it."  I told him I finish every book I start.  His response, "You're a geek."  I said to give it to page 100, then decide.

Patrick said, "You're right."  I said, "I know.  You can't tell until page 100 if it's worth it or not."

Patrick said, "No, he's right.  You are a geek."

I get no respect.

3.  Jill adores Polly.  Worships her. And speaks to her in this weirdly deep voice, "Heh behbeh."

Heh Heh beh beh.  Heh Chubs.

Speaking of Polly, she walks. She only takes steps if no one is looking or paying attention to her. She's a baby ninja.

4. Things are gorgeous here.

Breathtaking.

Pulchritudinous.

5.

Last weekend, Lucy changed up our exterior home decor with a spot of paint. Don't you love it? I sure do.

6.

Check out our entry way now! Look at all of those hooks just waiting to be overloaded with jackets and bags.

7. Today is Prom!!!

Today is also the four hour European history test from noon to four so send up a prayer that we can get her hairs done by 11:30am. I fired up my hot rollers for a test drive last night and she's been scouring Pinterest.

Unfortunately, my Irish-dance-wig-putting-on skills are not helping me at all.

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum.

Have a pulchritudinous weekend! 

7QT: Car Trip Tricks and DIY Renovations

1. First things first. Someone is making me this Banana Split Icebox Cake for my birthday. Or Mother's Day. Or both. Even though they're only 3 days apart.

No Image of Banana Split Cake Until I Take a Photo Myself. Copyrights etc.

Or maybe Easter. Meg, can I make this for Easter?

My mother used to make this, way back when. It was heavenly.

2. Heads Up!

The April What We're Reading Wednesday link-up will go live this Wednesday on April 1st. No joke.

I'm going to be road-tripping it to D.C. with my brood and I look forward to reading your posts all the way there.

3.

 Remember when the older gentleman behind me at mass told me I have a blessing and a challenge?

While we are on this 12 hour journey, I have shoved a few tricks up my proverbial sleeves to entertain my *ahem* challenge.

Wikki Stix Rainbow Pak like play-doh, but cleaner, and good for mid-air use, or for making letters on a piece of cardboard.

Little Cuties Activity Tin. Magnets. Cutie pets. Lots of teeny tiny pieces to keep little hands occupied.

Magnetic MightyMind. Jill loves Mighty Mind. Plus, the box says it "makes kids smarter!" My set is not magnetic, but I can retrofit it with MightyMind Magnetic Design Tray & Tile Magnets.

24 Creative Plastic Stencils from Highlights and a sketchbook.

Crayola Color Wonder Travel Tote No mess. Nuff said.

You could call these my five favorites, so I'm linking up with Jenna @ Call Her Happy.

4. You know there will be some movie watching in the car.

To see my Holy Week movie picks, go here and here.

5. But I myself am a bookish person and so I have stocked up on audio books of a historical nature.

Ben Hur (Radio Theatre) abridged and performed by Focus on the Family's Radio Theater because Holy Week.

The rest of my choices are all U.S.A./D.C. related.

Betsy Ross: The American Flag and Life in a Young America by Ryan Randolph. It's only an hour. I think even Jill can handle that.

Hana's Suitcase - A True Story by Karen Levine because the Holocaust Museum is on my to-do list.

Lincoln: A Photobiography by Russell Freedman - which we've already started listening too. You'd think you'd need to see the photos, but you don't. In any case, I have the book too for reference.

The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery by Steve Sheinkin - see my review here.

Chasing Lincoln's Killer by James L. Swanson because Ford's Theater is in D.C.

Did you know that Laura Hillenbrand edited her epic story of Louie Zamperini? Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive is abridged for younger, sensitive readers (such as myself ;)).

I found these comments from an Amazon reviewer encouraging:

As a middle school librarian, I wanted to share this unbelievable, inspirational tale, but the more graphic & violent scenes in the adult version were disturbing and overwhelming.
Laura Hillenbrand has taken out some of those more graphically violent parts of her adult version, but still communicated the depravity and inhumane treatment of Allied POW's by the Japanese.

Edmund is especially excited about Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive because he and Peter saw the movie.

6. Challenger Jill will play games on my phone too. Thank you Jesus.

She uses cheap-o noise blocker AUVIO® Kid's Headphones that have been surprisingly durable.

I won't deny that she plays Disney Princess Palace Pets and the free Princess Maker Dress Up game, but mostly she plays Starfall.

She's done Starfall ABCs so much, she knows all the letters and sounds. She also loves Starfall Learn To Read, Starfall Numbers and Starfall FREE which is nursery rhymes and fairy tales, seasons, shapes,colors, etc.

I did pay $35 for unlimited access to all of the Starfall content. It has been worth every peaceful penny.

7. Lots of beautiful changes around here.

Remember this hideous china cabinet?

Peter made it beautiful with leftover wall paint and new hardware and we had the room painted. Lighter and brighter, baby!

Then, I made some DIY Pottery Barn-esque white cotton drapes using twin flat sheets, curtain ring with clips and and extra-long special-order oil-rubbed bronze curtain rod.

We hung the rod high and wide so that when the curtains are open, not on square inch of sunlight is blocked. Also, it makes the room look huge. Cathedral like.  Not bad for an afternoon's work.

I have read about people transforming their front hall closets. With eight, sometimes nine people in the house, not counting guests, my coat closet is at capacity.

I convinced Patrick to build me this (even though he said it's my worst idea ever), upon which we will hang many hooks.  Squee!

Linking up with Kelly for 7 Quick Takes.

Have a blessed Easter with much candy!

7QT: March Madness

1. Susan's Prom Planning Meeting

"Mom, you haven't blogged about me in a while. Are you going to blog about me soon?"

This email went out to all the seniors at Susan's school:

Hello Senior Board Members,
This Friday, February 27th, we are having a Prom planning meeting.  You hopefully saw the flier John and Emma handed out.  This is not mandatory, so if you cannot make it no worries.  If you are planning to be here, please RSVP to this email.
Its very important that you RSVP, so please reply to this if you are coming!
Thanks,
Mrs. S
Mrs. R
Mrs. C

This email from an unknown party followed soon after:

Change of plans the meeting will be changed from this Friday to this Thursday the 26th. Please try to make this change fit your schedules accordingly and sorry for the inconvenience. Thanks for all you do 

See, one of the email addresses was entered incorrectly, so Mrs. S had to clear up matters:

Ignore this last email.  It from a wrong email address for Emma.  Don't know who it went to...someone who is being obnoxious, that's for sure!!!!!!!!!!!

But she forgot to remove "Evan" from the email thread:

With the new material that was dropped on me this morning it is absolutely imperative that all of you are in attendance this Thursday. If you absolutely can not make it please email me and let me know. Again I apologize for the inconvenience... If it is any consolation Max has volunteered to bring in a lovely vegetable tray and deli platter for us to snack on as we will be in this meeting for the long haul Thursday night. Thanks again!

Personally, I think Susan should ask "Evan" to the Prom. Alas, the meeting was on Friday and he and his deli platter did not show.

2. Painting Furniture.

Is it still "in"?

Because I have a china cabinet that I loathe and rather than buy a new one, I think I could paint it to look like this one.

Or this one.

Or this.

I figure if Ethan Allen is still doing it, it's gotta be "on trend."


3. Springfield, where our governors make our license plates.

We're planning a day trip to Springfield this month.  We've done it before awhile back.

The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum is incredible. You walk through Abe's parents' log cabin, Mary Todd Lincoln's White House, and you go into the Lincoln's box at Ford's Theater.

We haven't done the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library before, but I've heard the exhibits there are terrific as well.

We also need to visit Lincoln's tomb.  The one that was nearly robbed by carpet baggers who were trying to re-start the war. And his house from when he was an attorney.

4.

As usual, we are doing some larnin' to prep for this excursion. We've been reading lots of books about Lincoln including Abraham Lincoln by the D'Aulaires, and Russell Freedman's Lincoln: A Photobiography.

We are also going to watch Daniel Day Lewis's Lincoln movie as well as The History Channel documentary: Stealing Lincoln's Body.

5. When we get to Springfield, I surely hope to eat a horseshoe. Or at least a pony shoe.

That would be a hamburger on Texas toast covered with french fries and smothered in cheese sauce.

Don't be judging.

6.  Thorntons be hitting all the capitals this year. (Capitols are the buildings, capitals are the cities.)

Peter, Susan, and Lucy

We are very fortunate to have relatives who love us enough to take All of us into their home every now and then for Easter. We love all of them and always have a crazy-wonderful time.

I spoke with Mr. McFeely about the recent passing of Fred Rogers at this time. 

We did our nation's Capitol and egg rolling at the White House last time. It's one of the few things my older kids remember from our last trip in 2004.

Mt. Vernon with Lucy, Edmund, and Peter. Maybe I should go back to my Dharma haircut? 

We are making our lists and checking them twice. Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the monuments, and the dum-dum statue are all on the itinerary.

We're reading and watching reference materials for this odyssey too. Movies like Night at the Museum and National Treasure. High brow stuff, indeed. Yes, I'm open to suggestions here. Grasping at straws.

7.  This is so bad, it's good.

Let It Go - The Sacrament of Confession version

Hanging with Kelly's Crew for 7QT. 

7QT: All the things.

1.  Important Business First.

2.  I've been re-arranging furniture.  (translation:  If you feel you have no control over anything in your life, at least you can control the furniture.  Until your spouse gets home.)

We need more seating in our living room.  See quick take #7 below.

I'm thinking about this piece from Target. The size perfectly fits the tiny space I have left. Unfortunately, it has a rather restricted weight limit so Patrick and I could not sit on there together.

Also, unlike most of my furniture, it is not brown.

Brown hides dirt, chocolate, coffee, and daily dinge.  Downside:  brown is boring.

I'm also in love with this rug from LL Bean. But honestly.  Can you put a Christmas tree on an orange rug?  I thought not.

 Of course, it is available in navy.

In the perfect version of my life, I only buy furniture from LL Bean because everything is guaranteed for life and my home looks like a beach cottage in Maine.

3.

Am I the only one that missed when JULIAN FELLOWES made a Titanic two years ago for the 100th anniversary of the historic event?!?

Just in case you were starting to doubt the "There are only 80 British actors total" Theory, may I point out that Clara, current Dr. Who companion, is a stewardess on board Titanic.

Edmund is currently obsessed with shipwrecks, specifically the Titanic.  I see this as a sign that we need to go back to Cali to visit the Queen Mary again.

I also raided our library system for any and all Titanic related material.  (We did NOT watch the Leo DiCaprio/Cate Winslet film.  If we do, it will only be to see the amazing re-created footage of the ship's actual descent underwater.  The best part of the movie in my opinion.)

The reviews of the Julian Fellowes version are varied, but we enjoyed it.  By and large, it's family friendly.  One wicked mother of six exchanges glances and a kiss with ... no spoilers here.

Julian (yes, we are that close) does a remarkable job highlighting the plight of Catholics at that time, in the creation of the ship as well as on board.  The portrayal of class differences is eye-opening.  The snubs the aristocracy give each other are almost comical.

All of the details that I find captivating about the Titanic travesty are given due: the lost binoculars, the treatment of steerage passengers, the cowards, the heroes, the cluster of mistakes made in the creation of the ship, the myriad of bizarre conditions the night of April 15, 1912.

At this time, the Julian Fellowes Titanic mini-series is not available on Amazon Instant Video or Netflix, but the DVDs are available on Amazon Prime for only $5.38.

(I do use affiliate links.  Thank you for your support.)

4.  Do you rotate toys?  If so, how?

We have far too many toys in our home.  Books too for that matter.  I pitch or donate the junk, but I still have more than we can store neatly.

This is just a tiny fraction of what we have.

I have this one cabinet that I would like to imagine could contain all of the toys. But as more birthdays and Christmases keep happening to Jill, and Polly has a good size basket of her own things, I am fighting a losing battle.

5.  Our garden is STILL flourishing!  I am still harvesting about 6-10 tomatoes a day.  They are small plum tomatoes, which are perfect for Marinara Sauce.

Patrick based his sauce off Martha's recipe.  He can't follow a recipe. His creative genius just takes over.  He added fresh basil and I forgot to put it through a food mill.

It was still most excellent. And I am not a fan of red sauce.

6.

St. Jude's School for Kids Who Want to Read Good and Do Other Things Good is chugging right along.

I am THRILLED that I took Charlotte's advice and bought the Teaching Tapes for Saxon math.

Edmund was thisclose to testing into an advanced grade level but I chose to under-challenge him and build confidence, rather than over-challenge him and create frustration.

He watches these terribly made dvds of the sweetest woman with a Southern drawl explaining the day's lesson, and whips through it.

THEN he re-creates the dvd lesson on our whiteboard HIMSELF with problems of his own creation! FOR FUN!

We are also delighted with Andrew Pudewa's Student Writing Intensive on dvd.

Edmund finds the topics (Sea Snakes, Desert Tarantulas, etc.) so completely fascinating that he looks forward to the writing lessons.

7.

As you know, it's Friday, and these are the 7 quick takes that I always link up with Jen Fulwiler, because she's good at this blogging gig.  (shudder.  "Gig" is one of those words that makes me cringe.)

Jen has really good stuff to say today, particularly on entertaining.

Hospitality is a virtue, something that comes naturally to some, and must be worked towards for others.  I've found that entertaining for me is often always an act of humility, because my house isn't the way I want it.

But it's not my will that matters here, and that's the rub.

Go read Jen.  She gives hope to those who suffer from inferior home issues.