7 Quick Take #293: Seven things that happened while I was away

 

 Happy May! Long time no post ~ how about a bit of catch-up?

1. Slightly out of order thanks to an uncooperative computer:
   
   
   
   May 1st brought some Lily of the Valley and
   
   
   Caitlin's First Communion!
   
   
   Was able to return to my favorite Longwood Garden during tulip peak!
   
   
   Caitlin got glasses
   
   
   

   
   Dr. Dad and I celebrated our birthdays
   
   
   
   Liam got glasses, making for a full set!
   
   
   And back in April, we celebrate Easter!

Cate is 8!!

 

1. Caitlin at 8 is a unicorn loving, artist; who loves drawing & coloring, and playing with kinetic sand.  Having learned to ride her bike without training wheels this fall, after school she is often out and about visiting neighborhood friends.  However, Skye and her light-up seahorse Bubbles, are still essential at bedtime.
2. Favorite shows include Spirit Riding Free, Ryan's Mystery Playdate, Bluey, and when watching with Liam, Pokemon.  Jake, & the Neverland Pirates, Elena of Avalor, and Sophia the First still make the cut. In our house at eight years old, you can begin playing Minecraft Creative Version.  In preparation, Caitlin has also been watching Gamer Girl videos.
3. She is enjoying school; doing well in all her subjects. Her reading skills are getting stronger and stronger. She has begun reading chapter books such as Billie Brown mysteries, and Princess in Black.  Currently virtual for a couple of weeks, she is very much looking forward to being back in the classroom with her friends.
4. Favorite foods include lasagna, Shepherd's Pie, and pizza. Mostly she like cookies and milk. 
5. She was really enjoying her gymnastics class, unfortunately, that gym has recently closed.  Due to the Covid virus, swimming lessons were not possible last summer. However, we are holding out hope for the coming summer.
6. Her chosen theme for balloon and banner is Descendants, with Frozen a close second. She chose cupcakes with blue &purple frosting and donut rings for her birthday dessert.
7. She is so very much the youngest; eager to rush ahead to catch up with her older siblings, and at the end of the day such the goofy cuddle bug.  Enjoys attempting phone conversations in french with Bonne Mamy, yet still resorts to baby talk when in trouble. 
8. pictures. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

7 Quick Takes #285 ~ Caitlin is 7!

1. Happy New Year! Earlier this week Caitlin marked her personal new year and turned 7. We celebrated as a family with cupcakes and presents. This weekend she will celebrate with friends at at a local gym with some gymnastics and maze exploring, choosing a Vampirina theme for the balloons and tableware.  
2. Caitlin at 7 is a unicorn loving, artist; who loves drawing & coloring, and playing with magni-tiles, and kinetic sand.  Very fond of her scooter to explore neighborhood, is contemplating learning to ride her bike without training wheels this spring.  However Skye and her light-up seahorse are still essential at bedtime.
3. Favorite shows include Spirit Riding Free, Vampirina, Molly from Denali, and when watching with Liam, Pokemon.  Max and Ruby, Elena of Avalor, and Sophia the First still make the cut. 
4. She is enjoying school; doing well in all her subjects. Building her reading skills with sight words and learning phonetics.  Often now reading before bedtime involves her reading a book to me before I read to her.  
5. Favorite foods include lasagna, Shepherd's Pie, and pizza. Mostly she like cookies and milk. 
6. She is really enjoying her beginner ballet/tap class, and looking forward to her recital in June; and swimming again next summer.  
7. Picture time:

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7 Quick Takes #273: Caitlin at 6

1. Happy New Year! Earlier this week Caitlin marked her personal new year and turned 6. We celebrated as a family with a strawberry cheesecake and presents. This weekend she will celebrate with friends at Build.a.Bear (she said for her birthday she either wanted to go on a Disney cruise or go to B.A.B. ~ we went with the Bear).
2. Caitlin at 6 is reluctantly letting go of toddler things like her tricycle and trying out a bicycle.  She has also asked that we start to take the Winnie-the-Pooh elements out of her room to be replaced by a unicorn sleep tent and pink flower fan.  However Skye and her light-up seahorse are still essential at bedtime.
3. Favorite shows include Fancy Nancy, Vampirina, Marsha & the Bear, and when watching with Liam, Loud House. Max and Ruby, Elena of Avalor, and Sophia the First still make the cut. 
4. She is enjoying school; doing well in all her subjects. Building her reading skills with sight words and learning phonetics.  When being read to the Princess in Black, and Ladybug Girl continue to be favorites.
5. Favorite foods include lasagna, Shepherd's Pie, and pizza. Mostly she like cookies and milk. 
6. She is really enjoying her gymnastics class (except for the balance beam) and looking forward to swimming again next summer.  Favorites toys include Calico Critters and Kinetic Sand.
7. 
   

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Quick Takes #258: Where Art Thou O Spring?

1. I must start by stating last weekend was glorious; warm breezes, bright sun! Perfect porch reading weather.  And despite how much I reminded myself that it wasn't going to last; that it is not suppose to be in the 70's in April, the return to the rainy 40's has been bumpy.  What has a girl gotta do to get some sun and 60's? 
2. The other thing making last weekend so much fun was a visit from my mom. Winter weather and house issues had kept postponing her visit since New Year so we all really enjoyed having her here for the weekend.  Dr Daddy cooked delicious food and ran point on the kids giving us time to catch-up.
3. Other excitement: Caitlin lost her first tooth becoming the earliest to such a milestone by several months over her siblings. Great excitement ensued and the Tooth Fairy made a visit!
4. Great mail week; Ponder, and One Beautiful Dream arrived!! I'm currently reading Spiritual Canticle of the Soul by Saint John of the Cross; and having recently finished The Interior Castle by Saint Theresa of Avila has left me wondering if the writing feels so similar because they were friends or if that was simply the approach to spiritual writing at the time.
5. Was sorry to learn of the death of Former First Lady Barbara Bush; though by all accounts it was peaceful and after a very long life. I'm of a generation to remember her wonderful example of compassion in her insistence that children battling AIDS (and indeed everyone battling that awful disease) needed to be touched and held.
6. Royal Baby Watch: I'm thinking Boy but otherwise just very excited to see who is joining the Cambridge household and when.
7. Dr Daddy is unfortunately working but am otherwise hoping for a good weekend. Whatever yours holds; have a  good one!

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Quick Takes #253: Post-op Reflections and Lenten Plans

1. Caitlin two weeks post surgery is doing well. Overall it went very smoothly; the staff was kind and worked with her very well. Her recovery was up and down but mostly the medicine regiment they recommended worked well and with encouragement she was willing to drink. All about the popsicles to start, now ice cream is the fave.  Another funny memory will be the day she was very reluctant to drink but ate 3 mozzarella sticks at a birthday dinner for a friend.
2. She is actually home from school today complaining of a very stiff neck but I believe we are coming to the end of the acute recovery period. The key question being if she actually sleeps better and snores less after all of this.
3. Was happy to see that Jess Ptomey is again hosting a Catholic Reading challenge this year. Am not sure that I'm up for another reading challenge but given the first category is the same as the MMD challenge 'read a classic' perhaps I can find enough overlap to make it doable.
4. Last Sunday went very well for two of the teams we root for in the house.  The Super Bowl will hopefully prove to be a lot of fun with very little downside.
5. I've found that a guided devotional really helps my prayer life in Lent and this year I ordered the Take Up and Read.  It arrived earlier this week and is thick, beautiful and I'm very optimistic about what it will bring to my observance of Lent this year.
6. Somewhere in the past week this little blog of mine had a blogaversary and marked 9 years since it's starting. Thank you to all those who have read, commented and encouraged me to keep writing in my corner of the blogosphere!
7. This weekend kicks off Catholic School Week here and the kids are excited for us to see the various projects in preparation for the Open House.

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Quick Takes #252 Happy New Year

Longwood Garden from our December visit.

1. How is everyone? Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We did ~ safely made it to Maine before the worst of the ice storm hit and then got to hunker down cozy warm. The kids actually did great going to Mass twice on Sunday and the liturgies were lovely

2. During our week at my MIL we were able to get in lots of visiting as many of Dr Daddy's extended family were able to stop by for overnight visits. Lots of quality cousin time for the kids ~ and lots of new stuff to play with!

3. We rounded out the week with an Anniversary lunch and shopping trip and our traditional NYE fondue dinner. The year Lisbeth made it to midnight (largely by playing Minecraft with her twin/cousin)!

4. The snowstorm last week meant that the kids only went to school once the first week of January, so this week found us a bit rusty at the whole school routine but the general warming pattern did help.

5. On Monday Caitlin turned 5 and opted for Elana of Avalor decorations plus some Unicorn stuff, bringing Munchkins to school and a unicorn cake at home to mark the occasion!!

6. I owe her a real birthday post soon but as the other excitement of the week for her was parting with her tonsils I'm deferring writing in favor of cuddling her at the moment. Prayers and good thoughts welcome.

7. Have a  good weekend!!

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Quick Takes #222: Successes and the sickies

1. Prayers for our nation and its new president this Inauguration Day; prayers for the marchers this weekend.
2. Last weekend started with Caitie's Shimmer & Shine gymnastics party during which all had a lot of fun ~ unfortunately by Monday we were all one by one hit by a stomach bug.
3. And I again give thanks that when my kids are sick they don't tend to whine and are not impossible to console. Being sick simultaneously with both girls was definitely lousy but we have hopefully now survived our bug for the winter and can look forward to healthier days ahead.
4. Favorite Post of Late
5. Having finally decided to get Netflix in order to watch the new episodes of Gilmore Girls we are now watching The Crown. We have only so far watched 2 of the ten episodes of Season 1 but are enjoying it so far.
6. Finished The Life You Save this week and while I really enjoyed it and learn so much about these four amazing people ~ it was dense and I'm looking forward to reading slightly lighter stuff for a bit.
7. Attending a birthday party; Liam's Kindergarten Mass and doing a bit of Pre_Cana counseling this weekend while hoping for a bit of sunshine and a chance to air out the house.  Whatever the weekend holds for you ~ have a good one!!

Happy Birthday Girl!

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Caitlin at 4

   A pretty perfect fit for our family right from the start.

And as you've grown you have continued to be happy to join in with whatever craziness your brother and sister have planned.  You happily take the lead when the big's are at school but share well when everyone is home. Provided they asked you first  ~ you have no problem shouting the house down if a toy snatched from you.

You have a  wonderful imagination and are forever making up games for us to play, or telling me stories or singing songs of your own creation. You are quick to see and learn patterns and are becoming very interested in different languages often asking me how something is said in French or Spanish.  You are still a bit too interested in drawing on the walls, but no-one is perfect!!

You love chocolate milk, cookies, yogurt and cheese. Not too fond of eating breakfast, bananas, and most warm vegetables aside from peas and corn. Mostly you wish cold cucumbers and tomatoes were on the menu everyday.  And olives ~ much  to your Daddy's delight!  You still call us Mama and Papa when being snuggly and are quick with hugs and kisses.

Happy Birthday Caitlin!! 

You're the Best!!

Quick Takes #220 Christmas memories and looking forward

1. Happy New Year! Happy Epiphany!! Hope you all had a good Christmas. 
2. We did ~ after getting a later start than we had hoped we made the trip north in a great for us 8 hours. Kids only requiring 1 longish stop and 1 quick one plus amazingly little traffic allowed us to keep moving and get to Maine in good order and early enough to get all of us a decent night sleep ahead of Christmas Eve.
3. All in all a great week with a lot time catching up with family, quality cousin time, the chance for an afternoon out to celebrate our anniversary and a 6in snow fall which made for some excellent sledding in G-ma's back yard.
4. New Years Eve we enjoyed the traditional fondue dinner which went so much better than I had envisioned when Dr Daddy suggested letting the kids cook their own meat. When we went to wake Lisbeth and Liam at midnight they both declined to come down but had no memory in the morning which made for annoyed kids ~ next year we will tried harder to wake them.
5. Am once again doing the MMD book challenge; this year she is offering two tracks and while I will be focusing on the fun track will depending on how the year goes try and tackle a few of the stretch category's.
6. I hit my admittedly minimal goal of 50 posts last year; and am (I think) finding my way forward. I still care too much about comments or not but I imagine trusting and resting in my value as a child of God is the work of a lifetime.  Onward!!
7. Along with the ongoing process of putting the house back in order, after the holidays and time away, this weekend we will also be celebrating Caitlin's 4th birthday. Her party is not for a week but we most definitely mark the day with balloons and cupcakes.

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Quick Takes #211

1. 1. Camp life is going well for everyone. The keyword in that last sentence is EVERYONE. Meaning after dragging her proverbial feet all of May and baffling me why she wasn't connecting the last dots Caitlin with a week to spare before camp started began consistently and with solid success wearing underwear. (Insert happy dance!)
   2. It happened so fast after no progress for awhile that I found myself taken aback and not quite trusting ~ but then deciding to go for it and registered her along with the other two. So far so good!
   3. Another milestone this week, Liam lost his first tooth. It had been wiggling more and more over the past couple of weeks and proved not up to the challenge of eating an apple earlier this week.
   4. Strawberries were largely a bust for us as I think we harvested 3 that the rabbits didn't get first. Tomatoes are looking good, along with basil and of course MINT.
   5. Earlier this week I had been looking for kid song videos for Caitie on YouTube and what should pop-up but episodes of My Three Sons. Later that evening once I had the kids tucked and Charlie on a work trip I put in a couple happy hours rewatching a half dozen episodes. Is there such a thing as comfort tv?
   6. I got nothin :)
   7. Happy July! Happy 4th of July Weekend!!
   
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Quick Takes #206: Spring 2016

Please bear with me as I share a bit of what is growing around here

1. Spring has finally fully landed; after such crazy weather in March we have consistently now had  the type of weather which convinces blossoms to unfurl and flowers to show their colorful faces.
2. Exhibit A:
   
    3. Exhibit B: The Dogwood by the driveway
   
    4. Exhibit C: The Cherry Tree in the front yard
   
    5: Exhibit D: The Lilies of the Valley growing in the backyard
   
    6. Of course no spring around here would be complete without a trip to Longwood Garden
   
    7. Happy Weekend from the painter and me!
   
   
   
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Quick Takes #205: Playing a bit of catch-up

1. Happy April! Sorry to go quiet ~ happy to play a bit of catch-up.
2. Currently Caitie is calling Dr Daddy 'Papa' ~ neither of us know why but it is so cute!
3. Elisabeth received her first Holy Communion last weekend and with the exception of a couple hiccups it was wonderful; both her grandmothers were able to come as well as both her Godparents ~ all of whom had to travel from out of state.  I hope she will carry with her good memories of both the Mass and the party afterwards; I know I will.
4. Some of the tops were seeing her wear my dress and veil, watching her excitement at her first pair of heels, having our house fill with people excited to celebrate with us, and seeing Liam having so much fun getting the 7 month old twins of friends to smile.
5. I'm really ready for the weather to pick a season; the weeds are going crazy but so far just one tulip. I've bought some annuals to plant and then it decided to be freezing at night again so I'm doing the whole bring them in every night dance wondering when I can safely actually plant them.
6. One of the bright spots amongst the chaos is watching the kids in their own way take hold of reading. Lisbeth is now starting to explore chapter books; Liam is showing interest in first readers and Caitlin loves to be read to and will ask for book after book.  Awhile back I hosted a Usborne  book party ~ and when the books I earned arrived the kids treated it as such a box of treasures.
7. Speaking of plants again; we are planning on planting tomatoes again and friends are giving us red pepper plants.  Any other suggestions for novice gardeners?

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