Happy Father's Day!

I love this picture because it captures the essence of what makes Mr. Pickles such a great husband and father: he's patient, generous, hard-working, a good example, and so loving.  Our boys are SO lucky.

Katie's First Communion

Our bitsy girl made her first Holy Communion in May. (Do you think it's too late to send the invitations?)

It's funny how precedents get set. She wanted special shoes with heels like Miriam had (but which we weren't able to find in time, weep weep), and she wanted her hair put in rag curls like Miriam's was (which we did).

She was so ready to receive Jesus.

I was so happy Miriam's dress fit and didn't need alterations!

 This moment before the Mass was hilarious -- all the girls were oohing and ahhing over each other's dresses, tripping around the room excitedly, while all the boys sat around looking uncomfortable and just dying for the things to start happening already.

Because Katie was one of the smallest in her class, she was second in the procession and got to sit in the very front row!  I have to admit I was impressed with how well she behaved herself in Mass (it's always a crap shoot with her). :)  All the kids were very sweet and pious and well-behaved.  The congregation, however....  I swear I've never been to a louder Mass in my entire life, even on Easter Sunday.  It was SO disturbing that it makes one seriously think of asking for a private first Communion from now on.  Either that or hiring ushers with military training.

And then the party afterwards was a madhouse.  Fortunately all the kids got to eat first, since they were starving.  By the time we finally got to the line, though, it had been strip-mined.  So after saying a few quick congratulations to some of our friends we headed home for a private celebration. 

We stopped at the grocery store and Katie got to pick whatever treats she wanted.  Then for dessert after dinner I made cupcakes to decorate.  One of our containers of sprinkles had some shapes that actually looked like little crosses, which Katie was very excited about.  So even though I did no planning whatsoever (maternal guilt maternal guilt maternal guilt), she was still very pleased with her special day!

I'm so happy we made the decision to put her in CCD a year early -- she was really ready for this moment.  I'm thankful that she can receive all the graces she needs to help her grow into the person God designed her to be!

Out with the Old, In with the New!

Before:

please note the missing front grill, protruding drip pan filled with sludge (not pictured), dust-bunny-covered side, sagging door, and front right corner propped up with sections of flooring because wheel is broken.

After:

bing!

the kids watched the delivery from a safe perch, while I hovered and battled dislodged dust rhinos.  all our food is in the coolers and bags on the floor there.  I way overestimated the amount of ice we needed -- I have a huge bag in the new freezer still!

homeboy's already raiding the new fridge!

Something still doesn't seem right....

ahh, better! (I removed the ice maker since we don't have a water line in that wall, and I'd much rather use that space for, you know, storing food)

So, details: we got it from the Sears outlet, which means it's in as-is condition, which means it came pre-dinged so we didn't have to stress about the first dent/scratch/permanent marker art the kids were going to make.  Score!  Also the freezer section smelled like a barn.  But after a thorough baking soda bath, it's all good!

And quiet!  We hardly know when it's on, unlike our old dinosaur of a fridge.

And is it cold!  Our ice cream is solid as a rock, which isn't so good when you actually want to eat some.  But at least we know our fridge is no longer a salmonella incubator!  Yay!

The BoyZ' Room Redux

So after weeks of searching on Craig's List for a new dresser for Mr. Pickles, I came across this one and just COULDN'T pass it up, considering the boys' room decor:

now you can be annoyed by the fact that we didn't mix up the bottom two drawers

It was too perfect for their room!  This thing came well-used and obviously well-loved.  It's already dinged and scratched up, but it's very solid and totally worth the $20 asking price.  We rearranged the beds again to fit it -- I would have taken a picture but that day was laundry day and the beds were unmade and, therefore, unphotographable. :)

It feels SO good to have a real place to put the boys clothes all together, instead of in some insufficient drawers, on the floor, in a cardboard box, and in our nightstand!

Next on the wishlist: a box spring for the girls' bed so we can get their mattress off the floor and into their frame and have some under-bed storage space, yey!

Photo dump!

Lots of random little moments from our life, each of which deserved a post of its own, but, well, here we are.

First entry: a new Pickle pet!

heebiejeebieheebiejeebieheebiejeebie

These monstrosities in our basement in the summer and regularly threaten small children (and squeamish adults) foolish enough to use the downstairs bathroom.

Okay, now that you're awake, here is some relaxo-vision provided by the littlest gherkin.... quite literally:

I'm curious to know how he got himself into this position... while sleeping...

I forgot to mention that for Mother's Day, Miriam gave me a set of wind chimes, which is awesome in itself. BUT! The gorgeous glass globe on top LIGHTS UP IN THE DARK, which kicks the awesome up a notch:

AND it changes colors!

low lighting and small children do not a sharp photo make

 Katie's really gotten into her music lately.  She asks to practice every day, and is really progressing.  She is so ready for lessons -- we're hoping to start her off this summer!

ahh, Theory, my old nemesis, we meet again

Okay so one of the reasons we need to move into a bigger house is so we have more room for the books.

Barbara Cooney is one of my favorite illustrators.  Herge is fast becoming a new household favourite :)

homeboy REALLY loves Tintin

I'm so glad we have reading children.  I keep hearing complaints from parents about these mythical children who don't like to read.  Who wouldn't love to read?  My idea of the perfect day is a bright window, a steady supply of iced tea, and a stack of books.  (If there happens to be an ocean outside the window, all the better!)


So Daniel has this habit of eating part of his dinner, then searching for an available lap to finish the rest.  At first we thought it was because his booster chair was getting uncomfortable.  But now I think it's just because he's such a snuggle bug.  The other evening he rejected both Mommy's and Daddy's laps in favor of big sis's:

she very willingly obliged.  she was so tickled he chose her!  (note my new, honkin', thirsty-pregnant-momma water bottle -- I go through about 3 of these a day, not counting drinks at meals!)

Finally, the pool is open!! The pool is open!!  We went for the first time on Sunday.  (Saturday we were busy shopping for a new fridge -- huzzah)  And of course, with the first pool trip of the summer comes...

the first pool toes of the summer!

Poor little Daniel's tootsies were raw and bleeding.  I can't find Joseph's water shoes from last year (which ought to fit Daniel now) -- our basement/dungeon where we store the swim stuff is quite the disaster.  But hopefully we can dig them out before our next pool trip.  I guess I should have let them run around barefoot on concrete for a few weeks beforehand to condition their sensitive skin!

At least we postponed the first sunburns of the summer, although I'm sure that's coming....

whack! whack! whack!  I love my brother!

I'm not joining Google+ either.

Even though I no longer have a Facebook account, I still find myself thinking in terms of status updates that I wish I could share with everyone.  You know, just the funny little moments of the day.  No, I'm not going to reactivate my account.  Every time I consider it, I think of what a dangerous time suck it was for me, plus all the times my blood pressure rose whenever I'd come across a thoughtless comment by someone who Ought To Know Better.  I'm also not singing up for Twitter (for the less admirable, irrational reason that it is an Unknown).  Although maybe a twitterfeed in the sidebar is the way to go.  I must cogitate upon this matter.

Meanwhile, here are some non-Facebook, non-Twitter statweets that have been burning holes in my brain the last few weeks.

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Seriously??  THAT'S who August W. Booth really is?  His coolness rating just went down a couple notches, imho.  Never would have pegged him as that FTL character.  (Get it?  "Pegged?"  yuk yuk yuk)

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We just had a make-way-for-ducklings moment!!  Except in our case, it was "Make Way for Goslings."  As we were driving up Van Dorn St. during rush hour this evening,  all traffic came to a halt to allow a family of geese, with seven half-grown goslings, to cross the road.  Even the taxi cab stopped!  (Thus proving that they are still capable of human feeling.)  We all marveled at the sight, as Joseph piped up, "Hey, it's like my ducklings book!"  Then he said in a more worried voice, "They should have a policeman!"  I told him that at least they crossed at an intersection with a traffic light.

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My new conditioner smells like beer.  Which would be fine, if it weren't supposed to smell like apricots instead.  Kinda wonder what was going on in THAT testing lab.

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Daniel has a new word.  "Di-din!  Di-din!" which is, of course, "Tintin."  The other night he cut short his snuggle-nursing time so I could read Tintin to him.

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I saw my first Cake Wreck!!  For funsies I was checking out the decorated cakes in the bakery at the grocery store, and I saw a graduation cake that said, "Congratulations!  The best is yes to be."  (Obviously encouraging Shakespeare students that "to be" is better than "not to be.")  I laughed and walked on, wishing I had a camera phone to document it.

But THEN!  A couple days later I came back, and the cake was STILL THERE, and someone had decided to fix it, to hilarious effect.  The "s" in "yes" had very obviously been wiped off and replaced with a "t" -- in a different color!!  I really, REALLY wished I had a camera phone.

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Our property is death to birds, apparently.  Remember the wren's nest we saw being assembled?  Well, the nest is still there, with eggs in it, but the parents have abandoned it.  (Maybe they got annoyed by all the times we peeked in the bag to check on the nest and freaked out the mother wren.)  Very sad. :(  Then the girls were ecstatic to discover that robins had built a nest RIGHT outside their bedroom window, and kept a careful watch over the mother robin sitting on her little blue eggs.  Every time we walked out the front door the parent robins would throw a fit.  But one sad day we saw a crow in the tree, eying the nest.  Miriam successfully chased it away using her trademarked effective method of barking at it.  But then the next day there were no eggs to be seen in the nest. :(

WARNING TO BIRDS: DO NOT LAY EGGS ON OUR PROPERTY.  WE ARE CURSED.

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Okay, I broke down and created a twitter account.  I will test it and determine if it is Worthy of The Pickles Sidebar.  I'm annoyed by the fact that I have so few characters to work with.  I may send it the way of my facebook account.  Time Will Tell.

Mommy's Boyfriend

Check out Katie's New Skill!

This was taken back in February (the tree is full of leaves now).

Yay!  Now I can try to break my bones in ever more creative ways, too!

Danielish

I had a delightful Mother's Day on Sunday!  After Mass and a fabulous brunch provided by Mr. Pickles (with a little help from Trader Joe's), I did whatever I pleased, guilt-free. :)  (I have to confess much of it involved hunting through fan theories for the season finale of Once Upon A Time.  You've been following obsessively too, right?  Right??)  Then after my quiet time I took Daniel outside to play, and ended up hanging out with our next-to-next-door neighbors, who have a little boy a few weeks older than Daniel.  Eventually all the kids came out and we had a blast, while Mr. Pickles slaved away over a hot grill.  (Steak kabobs, asparagus, and potatoes -- all grilled.  Wowza.)  It was just a lovely, restful day.  I needed that.

I think Mr. Pickles is still recovering.

Anyway, what better way to celebrate Mother's Day than by posting a list of the soon-to-be-displaced baby's favorite words?  I realized as I was compiling this that he actually says, or tries to say, a lot more than this.  It's getting exciting, after so many months of his not showing any interest in communication, at least via a recognizable language.

Here, in no particular order (except what randomly came to my head), are the words we hear the most, at 23 months of age.

Daniel's Favorite Words

ca (car/truck)
lin! (airplane)
een (train)
peeba (pizza/quesadilla/cheese sandwich)
ah-beh-bee?  AH-BEH-BEE!  AH-BEH-BEEEEEE!!  (strawberries -- his all-time favorite food of all time)
Meebum (Miriam)
AAAAAAAAAAGH!  (stop annoying me, Joseph!)

ma-ma-ma [sung in a descending major triad] (here you go, Mommy/thank you, Mommy/God bless you)
gehgee (scooter -- not quite sure how he came up with this, but he uses it consistently)
goggy (doggy)
Eeyo (Jojo)
duh-done (donut -- all our children learn this one early)
wawa? wawa? wawa? wawa? (I want to play in the kitchen sink and dump water on the floor and myself and otherwise make a huge mess)
ba-ba-boo (popsicle -- requested whenever he gets an owie anywhere, not just a mouth-related owie)
la (lap/socks -- why "socks" I couldn't tell you, but, again, he uses it consistently)
lala (chocolate -- one of his first food words, good man) :)
Kekee/Kiki  (Katie -- although there is some debate over the actual pronunciation.  I haven't heard it myself, I'm going on the testimony of his siblings here)
weeooh weeooh (fire truck/police car)


He's also trying REALLY hard to find a consistent collection of syllables for "motorcycle" -- mostly he just points enthusiastically and utters a random string of various noises (which is probably what "motorcycle" sounds like to young ears), looking at us expectantly that we'll know just what he's saying.

Another thing loves to do is saying and waving bye-bye.  I've noticed that since he started doing this, he doesn't freak out when one of us goes out the door without him.  It's like being able to say goodbye gives him some control over the situation, so he doesn't need to panic.

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FURTHER BULLETINS AS EVENTS WARRANT

Please say a little prayer...

for our Katie tomorrow, as she makes her First Holy Communion! (We just received the invitations in the mail today -- they were back ordered -- which is why none of you have gotten one yet!) She is so excited.  We're going to put her hair up in rag curls tonight.  She'll be wearing Miriam's dress, which thankfully wasn't large enough to need altering.  A while back she had asked for pierced ears, but mean ol' Mommy nixed that, after all the drama with Miriam and her ears. I'm not ready to deal with that with Katie, yet!

And yes, we've been focusing on lots of spiritual preparation, too. :)