Quick Takes #264: My Month So Far

1. Happy July!! How has yours been?? Mine has been to say the least  "IN~teresting!"
2. The month started with Running Boy running and falling while carrying my iPhone and said phone's screen cracking! Followed by a discussion about running with Mommy's phone and me wondering/worrying could we continue to use the phone without getting cut from the screen.
3. Next Dr Daddy's flight was so delayed coming home on the 2nd that he in fact couldn't come home but rather headed straight to work after a quick shower in a call room. #hospitallife
4. On the 3rd we had a 6 hr power failure during a thunderstorm and missed the town's fireworks that I was sure would be cancelled due to all the lightening and if fact wasn't. Silver lining for this one; kids had a lot of fun eating ice cream on the porch and then catching fireflies!
5. The morning of the 4th found us making pancakes and watching America Rock when I left the kitchen and Dr Daddy took that opportunity to fall and some how manage to cut his chin and break his jaw! The rest of the day was spent discovering the extent of the injury and making plans for remedying it.  And taking the kids to the pool once we established that Dr Daddy was going to be ok.
6. A meeting with a surgeon later in the week established that the fracture is in a tough place to reach surgically and that the jaw is not actually displaced so hoping a couple weeks of liquid diet is sufficient to heal the fracture. Prayers welcomed!! Anyone know the patron saint of broken bones??
7. So a week later we are all fine and getting really good at making smoothies and discovering which foods puree well.  Recipes welcome!!

Please head over to Kelly's for more 7QT's!

Remembering my Dad through books.

   Happy Monday! Hope you all had a wonderful Father's Day. In addition to celebrating Dr Daddy I of course was thinking and remembering my Dad. One of the ways I continue to feel connected to him and his memory is through books. My Dad loved to read and shared that love with my brother, sisters and me (as did my mom).  He would reread his favorites over and over; and some of them have become favorites of mine too.

I wrote about Look to the Mountain earlier this year when I reread it for the 'I don't know which time'.  A wonderful book in and of itself about the settling of the White Mountains region of New Hampshire during the 1770's, made more so by memories it invokes of my dad and the mountain he loved to climb.

God is An Englishmen by R.F. Delderfield is a story of the Industrial Revolution in England told from the perspective of Adam Swann who saw the opportunities the railroad could bring to moving goods around and set about making his fortune while at the same time he and his wife built and raised a family.  This is the first of three books; I don't remember if my dad read the whole series, (I've read and enjoyed the first two) but his copy of the first which I now have shows the signs of many reads.

To Serve Them All My Days also by R.F. Delderfield is the story of David Powlett-Jones a young man in his first teaching job at a private school still recovering from service during the First World War.  The story told over nearly two decades as he and the country heals and redefines itself is very moving in a quiet way.

I also remember my dad reading a lot of James Mitchner of whom I've yet to read any; but when I get there I will likely start with Chesapeake as that is a part of the East Coast that holds memories for us and that I wish to know more about its history.

What books hold a special place in your family history and remembrance of those you've loved?

A different kind of Friday

No Quick Takes here today; as I've written about before March 27 th holds a special meaning in my family and so I'm taking a break this week.

7 Quick Takes hosted by Kelly of This Ain't the Lyceum

Last year's Milkshakes and Memories

Milkshakes and Memories: 10 years later

   As I first wrote here back in 2010 it has been my habit to on the anniversary of my dad's passing to get a milkshake as a way of marking the date and remembering and so I will today.  This year is a bit more bittersweet;  wrapping my brain around the idea that it has been a decade since I saw his smile or held his hand is tough but seeing the 3 little people with whom I will share the sweet treat eases that pain; as does sharing stories and pictures both of which Lisbeth ( and to a lesser extent Liam) are beginning to take an interest in.

  In this past year I had the chance to visit a favorite beach of my dad and my brother climbed again the mountains he first climbed with our dad  ~ and so a decade later he does in a sense travel forward with us.

originally post:

In the plans for today is getting a milkshake (ideally a frappe, but those are hard to come by outside of New England), preferably coffee. You see my dad passed away March 27, 2004 and when the first anniversary came I was not sure what to do, I did not exactly want to celebrate, but marking the date was definitely in order.

So I got a coffee shake because my dad loved them, and he taught me to also. It felt right and so now every year on his birthday in September and on this day in March I get a milkshake, remember, and raise my glass to my dad.

My dad who loved to read, the ocean, and mountain climbing especially the White's in New Hampshire. Who preferred classical music but also introduced me to The Weavers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Beyond the Fringe.

So probably I can convince Elisabeth to join me in a milkshake and someday when she is older I will tell her why we are having one on this day and who her grandfather was

Day 13 & 14: What we like to do ~ in spring and summer

Day 13: What we like to do

                      Yesterday's prompt asked about what we do together as a family on a daily or weekly basis.  Because of his long hours my husband is rarely home for dinner but as often as possible we wait bath time until he is home; it is his chance to reconnect with the kids and enjoy some shared silliness and bath play.  Afterwards bedtime almost often includes reading together in our bed before they brush teeth and are tucked-in in their beds ~ prayers before bed evolving over time as the kids are able recite them themselves.  Weekend breakfasts are also settling into a nice pattern with Daddy and kids (older two) making pancakes on Saturday morning and Sunday morning means a Dunkin run for egg sandwiches and doughnuts.

Day 14: Spring and Summer traditions

                   Today's prompt asked about Spring and Summer activities: Lisbeth's birthday at the beginning of March marks that Spring is on its way as does the end of Lent and Easter Celebrations.  Followed by our birthdays in May.  Summer means as much water play as possible with always one and potentially more beach trips.  Pool time and playgrounds with sprinklers round out the fun as does ice cream cones at teatime or even better Deck Deals, a special featured at a favorite restaurant in Maine near where my mother-in-law lives.

Linking up with Dara of Not in Jersey

Maine '09

Outer Banks, NC '11

Maine '12

Maine '13

Milkshake and Memories: Updated

Originally posted on March 27, 2010

In the plans for today is getting a milkshake (ideally a frappe, but those are hard to come by outside of New England), preferably coffee. You see my dad passed away March 27, 2004 and when the first anniversary came I was not sure what to do, I did not exactly want to celebrate, but marking the date was definitely in order.

So I got a coffee shake because my dad loved them, and he taught me to also. It felt right and so now every year on his birthday in September and on this day in March I get a milkshake, remember, and raise my glass to my dad.

My dad who loved to read, the ocean, and mountain climbing especially the White's in New Hampshire.  Who preferred classical music but also introduced me to The Weavers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Beyond the Fringe.

So probably I can convince Elisabeth to join me in a milkshake and someday when she is older I will tell her why we are having one on this day and who her grandfather was.

Update: In the last year Lisbeth has begun to learn about grandparents and how that works; that Bonne Mamy is my mom and Grandma is Daddy's.  So this year it begins, as we share our milkshakes, telling her  (and Liam) about their frappe loving grandfather.

Thankful Thursday: September 22nd

1. The roof does not currently seem to be leaking
2. Lisbeth had a good first day of nursery school
3. Pumpkin: muffins, lattes, candles
4. Pockets of time this week to think and pray
5. Many happy memories of my Dad
6. The love of my Heavenly Father

My thanks again to Rebecca of The Road Home for hosting

Milkshakes and Memories: repost

originally posted March 28, 2010

In the plans for today is getting a milkshake (ideally a frappe, but those are hard to come by outside of New England), preferably coffee. You see my dad passed away March 27, 2004 and when the first anniversary came I was not sure what to do, I did not exactly want to celebrate, but marking the date was definitely in order.

So I got a coffee shake because my dad loved them, and he taught me to also. It felt right and so now every year on his birthday in September and on this day in March I get a milkshake, remember, and raise my glass to my dad.

My dad who loved to read, the ocean, and mountain climbing especially the White's in New Hampshire. Who preferred classical music but also introduced me to The Weavers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Beyond the Fringe.

So probably I can convince Elisabeth to join me in a milkshake and someday when she is older I will tell her why we are having one on this day and who her grandfather was.

Milkshakes and Memories

In the plans for today is getting a milkshake (ideally a frappe, but those are hard to come by outside of New England), preferably coffee. You see my dad passed away March 27, 2004 and when the first anniversary came I was not sure what to do, I did not exactly want to celebrate, but marking the date was definitely in order.

So I got a coffee shake because my dad loved them, and he taught me to also. It felt right and so now every year on his birthday in September and on this day in March I get a milkshake, remember, and raise my glass to my dad.

My dad who loved to read, the ocean, and mountain climbing especially the White's in New Hampshire. Who preferred classical music but also introduced me to The Weavers, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Beyond the Fringe.

So probably I can convince Elisabeth to join me in a milkshake and someday when she is older I will tell her why we are having one on this day and who her grandfather was.