Our camera has been out of batteries for almost a month. We have rechargeable batteries, but some little person, we think, got into them and flipped them around when they were charging, thus ruining them. It's just not been high priority to replace them, and I never seem to remember to buy new ones. Well, I finally did. So I've been taking lots of pictures lately, especially of Blaise. And the others, of course. :) They all had to have their turn with him.

My little hippie baby.

Or 'survivor' baby.

Or hippie survivor...

Either way, I'm lovin' the beads.

And the baby. :)

Garden Post

I have so many delightful things in my garden right now.

Never had success with these before. Maybe we will, as long as no rodents get to them.

Love, love, love this baby watermelon!! Again, never had success with these to even grow this much! I'm doubtful we'll make it all the way to getting a regular melon, but here's hoping!

So cute! I've had many pickling cucumbers. Pickles are in the plans next.

This is just so adorable!!! I've never grown eggplant! It's so cool how it just kind of emerges out of those protective green leaves.

Another beauty. Check out the baby to the left. We have quite a few of those out there. This may be our year for melons. Yeah!

Yeah, and we have a few of these creeps. They're just on the yellow squash, thus the dead leaf and no squash for a while. Dan took care of them, and I see a bitty squash growing again.

I can't wait to see these turn red. They're a volunteer plant from last year's tomatoes.

And I've never had so many peppers.

Or tomatoes for that matter. I'm getting about five a day! yeah!

So this is what became of all the tomatoes and peppers I picked:

Just that was pretty labor intensive.

But I turned it into fabulous salsa:

Feisn' Rosie!!!

The car ride there. She was so excited.

Her fabulous curls (although she still wants a wig).

Yep, she's seven. :)

Her 'first feis' ribbon.

Her two second place medals.

She was so happy. The next day, we went to Cincinnati for their feis. It was so nice. They started right on time, and Rose's competition was up very quickly. We had Cecilia with us (which was a godsend), but not Dan. So it was a bit trickier. I regret not getting any pictures. But right as Rose took the stage, Blaise decided to be sleepy/fussy. Ugh! I won't forget that row of 13 gals, Rose being the smallest. She danced very well. I was a bit worried the judges might not think she was lifting as high, cus her legs are smaller. Turns out they didn't. She got first place in both her dances! In Dayton, she had about 8 competitors, and in Cincinnati, there were 13 of them. I was worried she might not fair as well as in Dayton, and be disappointed. Boy was I wrong! She blew them all away! Yeah Rosie!!!

I kinda took for granted that Rose didn't quite get the whole placing thing. I knew she wouldn't really grasp it, and I want to keep it that way for as long as I can! I just want her to do her best and have fun. I really thought she kinda knew it, though. Guess not. She said after she won her first place, 'Now all I have to get is third, fourth, and fifth!' Later that night, we showed Dan her medals. I repeated what Rose had said about the placing. He explained to her how it works. She thought fifth was the highest place.

Overall, it was fun. I was a little disappointed we all left the Dayton feis at 10:15...am! We'll have plenty of years to spend all day long at a feis, I told myself. And it was very nice to leave the Cincy fies in time to make it to Mass at 11:30 at Sacred Heart.

Just a couple pics of my delicious baby. I haven't taken pictures for a whole month on account of our camera batteries that bit the dust. So here's the latest of my chubbiest baby!

You learned that living in a family of faith means that someone will pick you up and carry you as far as you need, for as long as you need.

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2010/04/man-of-god.html

Yes!!!

I know I quote this gal a lot. I guess I'm hoping that I'll know where to find all her good info by the time my kids are teenagers! But I just loved this line about family.

Garden post: After a horrible time with groundhogs this year, I actually did harvest some things last night. Five very nice tomatoes, two pickling cucumbers, and two regular size cucumbers, and a yellow squash. I was impressed! The beans are gone...again. :( Really bummed about that. I noticed we have melons growing well. And eggplant. And peppers. We'll see if they survive.

Summer is plugging along...as is life. The words 'lazy summer days' I believe are there for a reason. At least I feel that. Maybe not so much Dan. He doesn't get summers off.

What am I talking about! I'm a mom! I don't get so much as a day off!!

Well, now, I can go back to sleep after Dan leaves, and wait for my kiddos to wake me. And then continue to snooze while they play. I can leave the dishes just one more day, and use paper plates and forks. It's too hot to wash dishes anyway! I do the laundry, though. One load a day, hung on the line to dry. I like that part of summer routine. But we do end up living out of the clean clothes baskets, instead of putting the clothes away, until we absolutely need the baskets for the new dirty laundry piles. 'Wing it' doesn't begin to embody my style when it comes to meal planning, dinner making and grocery shopping. I'd just have watermelon every day if it was up to me. Oh, yeah, there is that person, though that isn't just sloughing along from day to day. He goes to work eight ours a day, comes home exhausted. He wants a 'real' meal. Oh, yeah, and ice cream or Popsicles does not constitute a side dish...every day. Hmmm....

Okay, so that's been a glimpse of how I see my summer. It's really nice so far. Gardening, park play dates, parties, festivals. Just how summer should be. But I feel like I need an overhaul. I feel like I am in this la-la land of just laziness! It starts with having a baby and everyone, including yourself, saying 'take it easy'. Whew. This is pretty easy. Some days. I am disillusioned to think that. Dishes, laundry, meals, discipline...they don't go away. I don't know that it will ever be easy. I may escape those dishes for a day or two, but boy they come back with a vengeance (and a stink).

So I feel a renewal in my life is necessary. Sheesh, is it Lent yet??? I usually look forward to that liturgical season each year for this very reason. I've become sluggish. I seem to have no will power. It shows in my eating, sleeping, parenting, spiritual habits. I just drift, each day, doing just what I please. Sure, the days are speckled with 'chores', those life necessities that kinda get in the way and are a bother to me. Just so I can get back to what I was doing. Oh, yeah. Nothing. Nothing of notable importance. I'm not writing letters, or sewing, or playing games with my kids. What is it that is so pleasurable that I'm wasting all my time with? Computer, food, computer, a book here or there, computer, computer.

And here I find myself, at the computer.

I've been through this cycle four times now. I have a baby, and it takes time to adjust. I drink in that baby's smile every morning and lounge in my jammies just to try to get another laugh. I make some tea and read some emails. I lounge some more. It is nice. I know I can't really do much till that baby goes to nap. So I think. I just don't want to do anything yet. By the time I'm nursing baby to sleep, I'm on the computer or reading. I lay baby down. NOW, instead of doing the things I should do, that I was excused from doing on account of my baby's presence, I go back to that book or computer. And waste time. Period. And my brain is very soggy at this point. I can only think of the emails I wanted to respond to, or things I wanted to read. I truly have trouble remembering what it was I really wanted to try to do this morning, unless I put it on the list. Then I have to consult the list. Then I have to act on it! Boy, that computer chair is so much easier. Where was that energy, that sense of urgency when my baby was awake?

So while I sit there and joyfully waste time- well, feverishly waste time is the word- I know my clock is ticking. I only have so much time before baby awakes again. Kids start getting more antsy. "Just one more minute!!!" "Don't wake the baby!" 'I need to be done. I've got to do ___ today!' my conscience reminds me. Some days I make it. I tear away, get something done, and feel fulfilled enough...to reward myself with more 'down time'. Other days, I don't. I get absorbed, kids get riled up, baby awakes. Nothing got done. The mood is dismal at best.

Sigh.

So why do I write all this. One, to kinda put on paper for myself the flaws of my days, the errors of my ways. All in an attempt to change them, of course. I've been reading a bit about other moms suffering from too much technology in their lives and how to curb it.

I know, by the blessings of an addition to our family, I've gone through a change in my daily rhythm. I need that rhythm back. I may think I am happy drifting and doing things each day as I please. But I am far happier not drifting. I am far happier being organized, making lists and plans, rising early and working hard, sacrificing junk food for my own health, maintaining a spiritual life each day and sharing in that life with my kids, playing with my kids!! I feel like I could use some spring cleaning on my habits and time management. With those in place, I can better enjoy the occasional 'lazy' summer days.

Outside My Window::

::Dark. Cool air.

I am Listening to::

::TV

I am wearing ::

::a pretty flowery old fashioned nightgown

I am Thankful For::

::my faith. My family. my faith.

I am Pondering::

::A new house is a huge investment. Financial experts agree that, for most people, it is the largest single investment they will make in their lifetimes. It shouldn’t be. The largest investment should be in the relationships one has with the people live who live in the house and the God who created them all.

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/reallearning/2010/06/in-an-instant.html

I am Reading::

:: Handbook for Catholic Moms

From the Kitchen::

:: dirty pots and pans. :( I did make some awesome blueberry oatmeal muffins earlier this week.

I am Thinking::

::I need to go to bed. Even though Mass will be almost two hours later tomorrow, I have a feeling it will come very quickly!

I am Creating::

::need to be creating something for brunch tomorrow!

On my iTunes::

::Taylor Swift while cleaning today.

Towards a Real Education::

::Thinking we need to do some sort of summer math...Ummm...on second thought, we'll just keep throwing out the occasional practical addition problem. It is summer after all.

Towards Rhythm and Beauty::

::I wish I had some sort of rhythm! I spent the first three days of the week making the basement of church beautiful! Some heavy cleaning there in preparation for our first brunch at our new old Church!!! Yeah!

To Live the Liturgy::

::A solemn high Mass tomorrow at Holy Family!!! Yeah!!!

I am Hoping and Praying::

::Stephen. Stephen.

In the Garden::

::I managed to get two tomatoes, a little green, before the groundhog!! We did a little more housekeeping in the back yard in hopes of keeping away the groundhogs. I spent several hours the last couple days replanting beans and beets. I have a renewed interest in gardening not only because I am so hoping the groundhogs are gone for good, but also because of the discovery of our compost! I finally looked at the compost we 'made' last year, and it's really compost...I mean I can use it this year. So I've been watering my garden, and am anxious to put the compost on and keep it watered throughout this hot month.

Around the House::

::I vacuumed today! Had a really hard time submitting to my housework, that I haven't done all week. I still didn't get it all done. I have no excuse.

On Keeping Home::

::Oh, see above. :)

One of My Favorite Things::

::fireworks! I decided to ditch my shopping trip tonight in favor of seeing Dayton fireworks with family. So far, not regretting it! I am excited about going tomorrow. I love sitting at Delco seeing fireworks.

Blaise this week::

::Ummm....rolled over this morning, from back to belly for the first time. It's been a long time since I blogged, so I can mention that at his only doc appt. since birth, a couple weeks ago, he weighed 15 lbs. and is in the 75th percentile. I've never cared about percentiles, but I thought it was funny to have a baby that high on the charts! He is such a sweet little chub chop.

A Few Plans for the Rest of the Week::

::fireworks. Bowling for free, maybe. Gardening. Oh, yeah, those chores.

A Picture Thought I'm sharing::

:: I looked at a lot of pictures of Sam at age four months. He was a super smiley baby too. He had so much more hair, though! Wish I had the pics to share! I wish I had more pics of Blaise, but the batteries in the camera are dead, and I can't find the spares!

I've spent the last three days of this very mild last week of June, at Holy Family, cleaning the basement. It's pretty exciting being around all the hubub that comes along with moving to a new church. I think we're all pretty optimistic and excited.

Much to my dismay, our groundhogs came back. Dan got one of them with his pellet gun, and we thought we were done. We had two in the garden yesterday. So Dan went behind the fence and pulled out the wood pile where the groundhogs were burrowing. We're hoping that helps. I was getting discouraged once again. No peas. No beans. And now they're eating my tomatoes and cucumber leaves. :(

I'm trying to muster up enough motivation to keep going with this garden this year. Dan's diligence with the groundhog has been inspiring. And tonight I took a peek at the compost bin...for the first time this year. We have compost!!! It's real looking compost. Pretty exciting. I turned it and I am excited to put it on the garden. I know you're supposed to till it in, but even if it's placed on top, it really helps cut down on weeds. I've been wanting to go to the park over here in Kettering; they have compost for residents. But it was so hot, and I'd have to go in the evening when Dan got home, so we can take his truck. And I'm a bit bummed that the weather has been so nice this week...and we've been in a basement eight hours a day! I'm not complaining...really. :) I'll just have to get up the gumption to sweat it out next week and really put some last ditch effort into my garden.

I wish I could write more...more interesting, more thoughts. But it's late. I've konked out the past three nights when I put Blaise to sleep. So this is late!