Summertime Reprieve

Funny how we take everyday things for granted.  For instance, this morning I woke up and took a nice warm shower.  Not too short, not too long.  Then I headed to the kitchen to brew my coffee.  I turned on the faucet and ... trickle, trickle, trickle.  Stop.   What?!!! Did the water dept. come and shut off the water? I think we paid the water bill.  No, I'm pretty sure we paid the water bill. 

Let me go check to see if there's a shut off notice on the front door.  Nope.  No notice. [About this time I'm finding it bizarre that I took a shower only minutes ago and now hardly a drop was to be found.  I should also add that I was so very thankful that I actually took a shower first!] Next I checked our water bill. That's up-to-date, so no worries there.  Then I looked to see if there were neighbors in alarm.  Not really.  So I called the water dept .-  knowing that I was in good standing with them ::wink:: - to find out if something happened to cause this water outage.  

Seems that someone plowed into a fire hydrant only 10 - 15 minutes before I called.  Rumor has it that this person was texting - which is now against the law while driving in our state.  I asked the nice lady if she knew how long it would be and she basically told me not a clue, the crew was on their way.  Great.  My nice neighbor who gave me the tidbit about the rumor also gave me a gallon of water - just so I'd have my cup of coffee.  So sweet :)

I can not tell you how many times I turned on the faucet.  Not because I was checking to see if it was back on, but rather out of pure habit!  I'd get a bit of jelly on my fingers - rinse my fingers off ::oh yeah, that's right!::   Clear a cereal bowl from the breakfast table - rinse it out ::gees!::  Wash my hands off  ::gosh, I forgot again!::   Run a BATH (a bath!!) for Therese - come on Therese, you can take one in my tub - turn knobs on tub ::crap!!! duh! chuckling to myself:: 

Get the picture?

This went on for 6 hours.

There were plenty of times that I did turn it on just to see if it actually was back on.  Just thought you should know that.

But it was all worth it in the end.  All the jesting by Dani - "You just can't get it in your head that the water's out!" - all the flushless potty breaks ::yikes::- it was worth it.  

Some fella from the dept. had to flush the hydrant for, oh say, an hour - to get rid of air in the lines (?).  What ever, that doesn't matter.  But what does matter are these happy kids...

John Paul right where the action is!

All the kids from the cul-de-sac

Charlie still debating whether this is something he wants to do

He's getting closer to the action!

Not sure if the workman was positioning the water upward because he was supposed to or if he was doing it for the kids enjoyment.  

You can see how it's spraying upward now, unlike the flowing into the street in earlier shots

Charlie decided to join in after all

It was so worth every arid minute!

CatholicToTheMax

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Exclusive

Do you have a large family?  Would you like to network with others who appreciate the beauty of God’s plan for children, families and society?  Why not join a growing community, meet others of like mind and values, and share your stories and experiences in raising a large family!

To join a great online forum for large Catholic families you can sign-up here. It's like Facebook for large families!  It's a project of Human Life International (HLI).  

From their "Advice" tab: 

Every parent of a large family has been on the receiving end of insipid and even snide comments from complete strangers with regard to family size. It’s important to remember that as annoying as they may be, these are little missionary opportunities, so it’s important to keep a sense of humor about them, and to turn away even the confrontational person with a smile. Depending on the general tone of the comment and the commentator, we have started to have fun with our responses, and to that end, have collected some of our favorites from other large families.

While shopping in a grocery store, a passing comment such as “You have your hands full!” might be met with “Not yet!” or even a confused “Isn’t that what the carts are for?”

Or to the ubiquitous “Are they all yours?”, one might wryly respond “No, we left the rest of them at home.”

“Are you done yet?”
“Not until we get an ugly one!”  **how can you not LOVE this one!?  Heehee :)

Let me know when you join by requesting friendship!

4th of July Celebration

The Fourth of July falling on a Sunday just throws everyone out of whack, don't you agree?  Confusion as to when the official day will be celebrated with city fireworks to "it's Sunday so can't buy alcohol" (not a biggie, but still something to consider... preferably ahead of time )

We ended up going to a nearby parish (the one  which my mom and dad belong), meeting my parents and other families to sit on the open lawn.  This parish really does an amazing job with the 4th festivities.  There's a DJ (line dancing, hula hoop competition, etc.), grilled food for a small price, face painting for the kids, and tons and tons of families with their blankets, chairs, tents and tables dotted on the lawn.  

Kids riding their bikes, skateboards and scooters on the round-about (which was blocked off - :-), lots of ball and frisbee throwing.  Just real vibrant!  It's really awesome!

Grandma and Grandpa :)

Daddy :)

ooey gooey blue frosting....

Face painting...

so serious...

"I 'post to be a dwagon"  

My absolute favorite shot of the night...

 FIREWORKS!!!! 

Hope your 4th was just as awesome! 

 God bless America!

Cup Station

With many kids, we go through tons of cups per day. So much so that the majority of the dishwasher was cups / glasses - even the bottom rack!  I first remember hearing some ideas toward this problem at a Smart Martha seminar, but more recently I went to a friend's home and she had this on her kitchen counter:

I loved this idea, and more importantly my friend said that it works out so well for them!

I will tell you that this system is working beautifully.  They're still getting used to it [one child in particular can't seem to rmbr], but mostly it's been great!

I came up with the template on Word - the kids got to choose their color and the type of font [b/c we all know it's all about the FONT!].  Well, Charlie had no choice on the font but he's not complaining ;)  I printed it on photo paper for more vivid colors and then laminated it.

It stays on the counter right below the cups and next to the fridge.  So from breakfast to dinner, that is the cup they use all day.  It's somewhat prolonging the dishwasher run-time.  And that works for me ;)

Cake

John Paul said he wanted a shield and sword on his cake - I went with that, but it morphed into something very meaningful [thank goodness that Dani had recently had her nose in this book which sparked this idea] ...

The coat of arms for Pope John Paul II is intended to be a homage to the central mystery of Christianity, that of Redemption. It mainly represents a cross, whose form however does not correspond to any of the usual heraldry models. The reason for the unusual shift of the vertical part of the cross is striking, if one considers the second object included in the Coat of Arms: the large and majestic capital M, which recalls the presence of the Madonna under the Cross and Her exceptional participation in Redemption. The Pontiff’s intense devotion to the Holy Virgin is manifested in this manner, as it is also expressed in the motto when he was Cardinal Wojtyla: TOTUS TUUS. One cannot forget that right in the territory of the ecclesiastical Province of Krakow one can find the famous Marian sanctuary of Czestochowa, where the Polish people have been nurturing their filial devotion to the Madonna for centuries.

Pope John Paul, pray for us!

St. Anthony, pray for us!

7-Up

My handsome son...

He called this one his "fancy smile" ... ;)

We are so very blessed by God

 with you in our family,

   John Paul!  

We love you so much.

Happy Birthday Buddy!

Now I'm off to go change a few ages on my sidebar :o)

All Fingers Up!

Because she's TEN today!!!!!!

Daddy and I call you our Silly Heart - and yes, we call you Theresey-Poo or just plain Poo as well!  You are a beautiful soul Therese Agnes - we are so proud of the young lady you're becoming.  You always make us laugh - usually because you're laughing :)

Happy Birthday Beautiful!