7 Quick Takes: A Jumble

Linking up with Kelly for 7 very jumbled quick takes today...

1) Monday, I took 5 of the kids with me to Michigan while Kyle and 2 of our gainfully-employed offspring stayed at home. Where they got nearly an inch of rain in 24 MINUTES. 

After 3 days of steady rainfall.

It was record-breaking.

The storm sewers couldn't keep up, streets flooded massively, and drained into basements.

Specifically, OUR basement.

Kyle, Joe, and Maeve spent all of that night pumping out water and trying to furniture off the floor.

2) But, they worked quickly: no furniture was lost, the water was kept to only a couple of inches, and they cleaned and sanitized everything. Truly, it was nothing short of miraculous and I feel truly blessed to have such a wonderful husband and awesome kids!

3) Meanwhile, I met up with Dwija for a lightning-fast shopping trip to Hobby Lobby where this happened:

We are never NOT mature when we hang out together. 

4) Those of us in Michigan spent all of Tuesday swimming, playing Bags, shooting bows and arrows, and eating. Then, we all passed out.

5) We came home on Wednesday evening and Kyle saved the day (again!!) by bringing home pizza for dinner!!! 

6) Yesterday was our 21st wedding anniversary! We had decided to keep it low-key and it ended up being exactly what we needed. Every Thursday, there are free concerts in Millennium Park's Jay Priztker Pavilion...

After listening to some very cool artists called Mother Falcon, we strolled over to The Bean (a.k.a. Cloudgate)....

And, then on to dinner at the Park Grill. 

The weather was a 75 and breezy. The music was fun. The setting was world-class. The food was delicious. And, the company was my most favorite person in the world. 

Happy Anniversary, sweetie!!! I love you forever!!

7) Our realtor for the lake house is hosting an Open House there this Sunday from 1-3PM. The house next door to ours is also up for sale and having an open house, so it's the perfect  way to see 2 great properties all in one day. Please spread the word and, if you're anywhere in the Midwest, consider making a day of it and check out our awesome lake!!(http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/19534-Lakeshore-Dr_Three-Rivers_MI_49093_M41482-43972)

HAPPY FRIDAY, ERRYONE!!

13 in 13 Lucky Link-Up!

Dwija is hosting a 13 in 13 photo link-up to commemorate 13 memories from 2013. 

Have I lost you yet?

No? Great!

So, here we go.....

Killian and I (and Will!) visited NIU in January. It was the first time the realization of his impending "nest-leaving" hit me. 

In February, Will turned ONE! Well, technically, we celebrated his Leap Day birthday on 3/1, but he IS a February birthday. OK????

St. Patrick's Day is always fun around here and this year, Will got to wear the Dempsey Baby Boy kilt (along with rabbit fur sporran!). 

We ended up March with Easter at the lake. A newer tradition that I really love.

In April, Will and I tagged along on one of Kyle's business trips to Cincinnati and Columbus. We managed some quality sightseeing time, too.

In May, my oldest baby graduated high school. 

The pool opened in June! Yay, Summer!

In July, I turned the big 4-0 and Kyle threw me an awesome pub crawl party!

Kyle drove a Lambourghini in August. Nuff said.

By the first week of September, everyone was back in school. We had a college freshman, high school sophomore, 8th grader, 5th grader, 1st grader, and a Pre-K!

October brought Halloween!

November brought sugar highs!

And Christmas added more costumes and weaponry to our already burgeoning arsenal.

Happy 2014!!!

What We're Reading Wednesday: The Westing Game

Joining the lovely Jessica for this week's installment of WWRW....

Reliable Dwija over at HouseUnseen recommended this book to me a while ago. Since I was vetting several books for Maeve (thanks to all the parents out there who think reading any book is good, because "well, they're READING, aren't they?"), I didn't have time to read The Westing Game until this past week.

It's a young adult mystery (well, lots of mysteries, actually!), which makes it more difficult to review without spoiling the ending, but I will try.

The Westing Game is the story of the tenants of Sunrise Towers who are all

seemingly unconnected to one another but as the story unfolds, you begin to learn that they all have one person in common: Samuel Westing.

Westing is an eccentric old business tycoon who disappeared years ago and is rumored to be dead. His mansion is situated across from Sunset Towers, and one Halloween, the tenants see smoke rising from the chimney. (Cue the spooky music...)

From here on out, Raskin (who won the Newberry for this book) does a superb job of introducing you to each character while weaving a complex storyline. The book is less than 200 pages, but I was forced to read slowly so I wouldn't miss a single detail or clue. In some books, this is confusing and problematic, but that is not the case in The Westing Game. 

The tenants (from 13 year old Turtle Wexler to old Crow) are summoned by letter to the Westing Mansion as heirs, divided into pairs, with each pair receiving $10,000 and a set of 5 words as clues. They are told they have a short amount of time to solve the mystery of who took the life of Sam Westing.

From here on out, the reader is treated to the character development necessary to solve the mystery and to make one truly invested in the lives of these characters. Each character is a mystery within the larger mystery. It's fascinating.

I also enjoyed the overall theme of hope that came across as very pro-marriage and pro-life. A sense of this permeated the entire story and gained my trust -- which sounds weird, but it's true. The very ending let me down a little, though. And, without giving anything away, I will

tell you that my sense of established trust in the hopefulness of the storyline was violated by the decision of 2 of the main characters.

However, I still feel this was an extremely good book and totally appropriate for anyone high school age or older. (I would allow my 13 year old to read it, provided we discuss my feelings regarding the ending).

BEST IDEA EVER!!

Hey everybody!!!

Cari, over at Clan Donaldson, had theeeeee BEST idea! She is holding an online fundraiser to help our very good buddy, Dwija (HouseUnseen), get a working laundry room!

If you haven't been following Dwija's story, here are a couple of examples of what she is going through right now and of how beautifully she deals with the stress and heartache.

I have personally met Dwija and her beautiful family, and if you think you would like her based on her writing, ten you are wrong: you would DEFINITELY LOVE her! She comes across as genuine and loving and beautiful in her posts because that is exactly who she is in real life!

Please, go to Cari's blog and give anything you can to help out the Borobias. I can tell you from experience that the laundry of 5 (and 6 and 7!) kids is overwhelming when you have a working washer and dryer, hot water, and no leaky valves. I really cannot imagine doing it the way Dwija does, and all while she is supposed to be resting to keep Baby Borobia safe. Please, will you help?

Feel free to share this with a lot of people, too!!!