7 QTs: The Fast, The Furious, and The Faithful

:::crickets chirping::::

Yes, I'm still alive and linking up with Jen, you lucky ducks!

1) The South Beach Diet works, yo! I've lost 13 pounds, nearly 7 inches from my waist, and discovered a gluten intolerance in only 6.5 weeks! (I've always wanted to sound like an infomercial!) Now, if only it was noticeable to anyone except for me and my pants.....

2) Don't laugh, but I joined a beginning runners' class. I know, I know: put one front in front of the other. You can't tell me anything my teen sons haven't already declared loudly in my presence. But, for me, even signing up (the class starts on the 30th) is huge. I am hoping the motivation and tips will encourage someone who hates running as much as I do to keep going. I'm also hoping the weight loss speeds up even more. Kyle says I will surprise myself. Easy for a guy who doesn't need 2 sports bras, "running Spanx", and an inhaler just to do a quick 1 mile walk. 

4) Another freaking tree fell on our lake house!

That's 2 trees in 14 months! This time, at least, it was only the electric meter and front porch overhang that was damaged, but it still necessitates dragging in our bozo insurance company, loopy contractors, and lazy code inspectors. All in all, no one was hurt so I'm trying to be grateful and look on the bright side.

4) I hosted a Back to School Rosary this week and some really wonderful women came to pray with me, including Jessica! She brought these insanely delicious  mini-frittatas that Will (and everyone else!) scarfed up. I'm not one to tell someone what to blog about, but sharing that recipe would be the Christian thing to do. 

5) Maeve is visiting ("shadowing") various Catholic high schools this fall. Unlike her 2 older brothers, she is very sure that she wants to attend a single-sex school. I'm learning that girls make decisions much more quickly and matter-of-fact-ly than do boys. Well, at least that's how it's looking in our family. Kyle dropped her off at her most recent Shadow Day and lamented the fact that she "easily looked like one of the Freshman". Her high school career is going to be rough on both of them. 

6) We went apple picking last weekend and it was so much fun! Last year, most orchards weren't offering U-Pick due to crop shortages caused by the drought, so we missed out on this favorite family activity. We go to a really cool orchard that uses 1/4 less commercial pesticides, which makes eating a freshly picked apple that much tastier!

Plus, they have apple doughnuts, cider slushies, a hayride, corn maze, apple slingshot, petting zoo, and a big haystack to climb!

In 15 years, when these 3 start a band, this will be their album cover.

7) This last QT is a picture that I will save and show at Will's wedding. It perfectly highlights what happens when you are the 5th brother and your two teen brothers are left in charge of you:

Hasta la Vista! Ah'll be baaahck!

7 QTs: Father Knows Best edition

Hampa cheering on Joe at a wrestling meet.

Linking up with  Jen for 7 QTs and with Cari for Theme Thursday...

1) My dad. Or, Da-Doo as I first dubbed him when I was a teeny baby. Or, Hampa as his 10 (soon to be 11, when my nephew is born!) grandkids call him. This guy loves all things spicy and crazy. I'm talking Dave's Insanity Sauce, wild roller coasters, Tim Conway. He also knows every one of his 5 kids' favorite foods, books, movies, and jokes. To top that off, he knows all the same things about his grandkids! Dad is a regular at the local bakery and after his Saturday morning stop there, makes his rounds dropping off the goodies for all the grandkids. Yes, he delivers our Saturday morning doughnuts. Dad is our biggest cheerleader, eternal optimist, best comedian, and fiercest protector. He is the reason I chose such an awesome husband for myself and father for my kids.

2) Kyle. Or, Dad, Daddy, DaDa to our kids. Never a day goes by that this man doesn't make me smile and laugh. Nothing gives him greater joy than spending time with his kids and it plainly shows on his face. He is hugely biased in their favor and will not tolerate anyone (including me!) criticizing them. He's very much a sucker for his Princesses, while still remains a rough-and-tumble "cool guy" for his boys. He is unashamedly devout, sings in Church, and reminds all of us to pray regularly. He is my hero -- in every way.

Joe and his godson and brother

3) My father-in-law. He gave my husband the perfect example Response Error.
Technical description:
502 Bad Gateway - Response Error, a bad response was received from another proxy server or the destination origin server.of what a good husband should do, and isn't that the very best thing a father can do for his kids: love their mother? He is a brilliant man, who still tries to learn new things of all kinds and I admire that so very much. He is battling a debilitating neurological disease for which there is no treatment, and the humbleness with which he accepts this fact is inspiring. Please keep him in your prayers.

Killian and his goddaughter and sister

4)Godfathers! Mine is long passed away, but I'm sure he prays for me still. Our family prays for our kids' godfathers, 2 of which are my 2 oldest kids! Killian is Faith's godfather and Joe is Will's godfather. In a large family, it is a special way for those older kids to have another connection to the babies of the family. Godfathers everywhere tend to get forgotten after the baptism is over, but their role is huge and we are so grateful for them!

5)  Uncles! All tolled, my kids have 9 uncles: my 2 brothers and Kyle's 7 brothers. They are all equally insane and fun. Isn't that what an uncle should be?!

6) Father-figures. My kids are so blessed to have so many wonderful examples of good manhood in their lives. From the selfless religious education teacher my 3 oldest have had for their Confirmation I class to the many wonderful family friends we have, my kids can easily see the many good and different ways the Father's love is shown to them.

7) Priests! Kyle and I were so lucky to grow up having good priests around. Having a priest over for dinner or a "personalized" baptism or First Communion was the norm for us. My dad's childhood friend is a Colomban Missionary and he performed our wedding, 3 of my siblings' weddings, 2 baptisms, and 4 First Communions for us! My brother's good friend is a priest (a vocations director!) and my brother and his wife attended his ordination. My son Joe is currently in a program geared towards helping high school boys discern a calling to the priesthood. Mothers of priests have a guaranteed place in heaven, right? RIGHT?!? 

Fr. Brendan giving Jack his First Eucharist

So, Happy Father's Day to my dad, to my Kyle, and to all the fathers out there! God bless you!

7 QT: Water, Water Everywhere

Joining Jen and welcoming her back!

Waiting for take-off!

1) Kyle let Will and I tag along on a business trip to Cincinnati and Columbus early last week. It was Will's first airplane ride and our first trip away alone (well, almost!) since 2008. My sister stayed with our oldest 6 kids and we are forever grateful.

 2) While Kyle had to spend his days working, Will and I were able to visit the Cincinnati Zoo and the Oletangy Indian Caverns. Cincy Zoo is a must-see, but never attempt the caverns alone during the off-season. The caverns were flooding, but they saw fit to still send me down 200 feet below ground level with a baby strapped to my chest. Oh! They also neglected to mention that BATS were in these caverns. With the possibly-inbred gift shop clerk running the show, it had the feel of a Stephen King-Alfred Hitchcock collaboration. 

I'm not sure, but I think Will may have enjoyed the carousel...

Will and I with a photo-bombing giraffe!

3) Kyle did manage to spend quite a but of time with us, though, and we took some lovely strolls through the Mt. Adams neighborhood in Cincinnati, at dinner at a couple of wonderful restaurants (tapas and sangria, anyone?), and even hit an outlet mall during a hailstorm. "Tis a terrible thing to be trapped in a Gap Outlet store by ice falling from the heavens" -- I'm pretty sure that's an old Irish saying...

4) Our return flight home was delayed and delayed again due to really horrific storms in Chicago. At one point, I was sure we were spending the night in Columbus airport. But, finally the weather cleared a bit, and we boarded for a bumpy ride home. Followed by an extremely lengthy wait in baggage claim and the world's longest taxi queue...in the rain. We dropped into our bed at 1am. The record rainfall continued and the nearby river flooded like never before.

5) At 6:30, Kyle went downstairs to get ready for work in the basement bathroom. 10 minutes later, our oldest son knocked on my door and said, "Dad says to call to call school and tell them we won't be there today.". Bleary-eyed, I asked, "why? Are you guys sick?" and his reply was, "No, Mom, the basement is flooded. Our room is flooded. My clothes and homework are floating."

6) The basement that we just finished renovating from a cement nothing into a gorgeous family room, playroom, teen bedroom and full bathroom last Fall, was filled with 8 inches of water. Dudes, I
couldn't even cry. You need oxygen to cry.

7) My sainted husband and our older kids spent the entire day pumping out water, sucking as much dampness as they could from the carpeting, and bleached walls.
Now, according to the carpet cleaning guy's instructions, we waited 24-48 hours until the carpet was dry and smelled musty before he came and sanitized it. As for the walls, we bleached them in the hopes that mold won't take hold (hey! That's a depressing rhyme!).

Scary Caverns or our flooded basement?
YOU decide!

7 QTs and 3 Reasons

Joining Jen for 7 QTs and Micaela for 3 Reasons, because I'm all about math.

So, my first 3 QTs will address some reasons why I love being Catholic:

1) TRUTH! I love Truth. I love getting down to the bottom of everything. I love getting my "why's" answered, and answered correctly. Guess what? Chicken Butt. The Catholic Church IS 100% Truth.

2) Tradition! I love any and all tradition. I especially love tradition that is rooted in deep meaning. I love the rhythm of tradition. I love it's steadfastness. I love the feeling that interconnectedness and family traditions create. I love knowing that while I'm receiving absolution in the sacrament of Confession, so is some other mom sitting in a confessional somewhere in Kenya. And, 200 years ago, my great-great grandma in Ireland was also doing the same thing! The Catholic Church is really and truly steeped in rich traditions. As in, 2000 years worth of traditions!

3) Parties! We Catholics know how to kick it and we have the reception of the sacraments to give us more reason to do so! Your baby's getting baptized? Great! What time is brunch? I'll bring the ham. My child is receiving his First Holy Communion, so come on over for some beer and Italian Beef sandwiches after Mass! Getting married? Ginormous celebration! Receiving Holy Orders? We are not just going to commemorate that with a handshake and a cuppa java; you get a reception! I believe it was Simcha Fisher who said (paraphrasing, here!), "If it's Christian, it's true. If it's Catholic, it's FUN!".

OK, that was fun! Now, onto my remaining 4 QTs....

4) Let's talk Easter candy. More specifically, let's talk about how to get it out of my house so I stop eating it. Leave your address in the combox, and I'll send you a tasty care package. No, really.

5) Choosing colleges is, um, not fun. The reality of loans and expenses and fiscal responsibility is hitting Killian (and his parents) pretty hard. Laying it all out on paper makes it more clear, but the clarity is not what he wanted. The disappointment of not getting to do what he wanted to do is very bitter. But, as we've pointed out to him, he still is going to college and receiving an awesome education! Just not living there next year and not the college he wanted to attend. Money, or the lack-thereof, sucks.

6) Spring? What the funk?! Where ARE you?!? When Kyle and I retire (ha!), we are totally going to be snowbirds. We'll keep the lake house for summers and spend the rest of the year at a condo in Orlando. If I still have this blog at that point, prepare yourselves for a lot of pictures of an old lady posing with Mickey Mouse.

7) I did the 40 Bags in 40 Days purge during Lent. I threw out/gave away way more than 40 bags. Apparently, that was not enough. To top it off, the damn Easter Bunny decided to bestow gifts on my kids through other relatives, besides Kyle and I, so now we have more stuff to "organize". People's generosity is overwhelming. Really overwhelming.

Have a Happy Meat Friday and a sunny weekend!

7 QTs! Look at this girl go!

1) Boooo-YAH! I'm joining in the Quick Takes fun for the first time! Let's all take a moment of silence to appreciate my first FIRST Quick Take evah!
::::cue crickets chirping::::

2) If the pictures don't match up with QT, you can blame Blogger and it's moronic, useless app. What up, Blogger? Y U no make a more better product???

3) I had fully intended to join in Cari's Theme Thursday yesterday (Architecture!) and I took some nice pics of the interesting architectural features of our Chicago-style bungalow on my big girl camera. My plan was to upload them to my husband's laptop, pretty them up, and post. However, God decided that His plans of dealing with a very tired 3 year old, a teething baby, and a couple of teens that needed some heart-to-hearts was much more important. He always wins, doesn't He?

4) I recently checked out these books from la bibliotheca, because I feel like I need a jump start on my weight loss journey. So far, interesting reads, but not sure how many different approaches I can incorporate without imploding the whole venture! Hey! Implosion may actually work! For all my #pray2lose peeps, I'm down 1.7lbs this week but I have no idea what/if I did differently. Hence, my continued quest.

5) A little bitty of a snowstorm hit us last night (3 inches? Borrrrring!), but it covered the old Christmas wreath and Christmas tree stand that have been SITTING ON MY PORCH SINCE THE EPIPHANY quite nicely.

6) Sorry, that last QT was for my beloved. He is a contemplative, so he has this awesome ability to walk (and shovel around!) past things multiple times without noticing them. The upside is that he's usually contemplating how much he loves me, so I forgive him. (Honey, seriously, please get that stuff off of our front porch?)

7) You know why I need the front porch prettied-up? Because we are celebrating Will's 1st Birthday tomorrow!!!!! As the kids keep reminding him, since he was born on February 29th, he has "no real birthday this year", so BIG par-TAY tomorrow and a sweet family dinner on March 1st. It's been a really rough and wonderful year, and I just want to savor my Sweet William and all his amazing growth and his many accomplishments! We are so blessed. We love you so very much, William Luke -- our own Leap Day William!

Mosey on over to Jen for more experienced QTs!