7 Quick Takes Friday - July Heat Wave Edition

  I've decided to try something new for my regular Friday posts.  I spend way too much a completely normal amount of time reading other blogs and really like the "7 Quick Takes Friday" idea that I've seen numerous times out in the blogosphere.  I first got the idea from this blog which is written by a Catholic mom of five kids. It is her story of conversion to Catholicism and she is a wonderful writer - her blog is always good for a laugh or two.  Another blog I enjoy is this one written by another talented writer and mom to six kids (five boys and one girl!).  Please let me know in the comments what you think about the new format! I'm hoping that it allows for more balance of pictures and writing while also making it easier to connect somewhat unrelated things. But I would love to know what you think. Which brings me to Quick Take number one...

~ 1 ~

Comments! I believe that I've fixed the comment problem that some of you were having.  That's why some of you haven't been commenting, right? Right?!  If you still have trouble with leaving a comment then you may need to un-check the "keep me signed in" box in Google. Please let me know if you still have any problems.

~ 2 ~

This guy has been keeping me busy!  He is quickly perfecting the art of finding every dangerous object within a 10 foot radius. 

Keeping him safe has become my full-time job.  By the way, does anyone have a recommendation for a baby gate that's good for uneven doorways (that have baseboards in the way)? Preferably pressure-mounted? I'm struggling to find a good, affordable solution that doesn't require drilling holes into our nice landlady's house.  

As if the speed-crawling wasn't enough to keep me busy, Benjamin is also starting to pull up on things! Help! 

~ 3 ~

Operation: lose the baby weight has begun again in earnest.  In that I did my Pilates DVD one time this week which was followed by three days of begging everyone to please stop making me laugh or bend down to get things because muscles I didn't know I had were HURTING.  By the way, if you are one of those moms who simply breastfeeds while watching the extra weight melt off then I hate you.  

I'm sorry.  I'll move on. 

~ 4 ~

Poor Bella has been sick recently.  To a degree that required a VERY expensive trip to the vet and a spreadsheet to keep track of her various medications.  Because, really, what else do I have to do in a day? Thanks to the trip to the vet, my commitment to following the medication spreadsheet and much affection from the boys, she is doing much better.  

~ 5 ~

Is it bad that I had already lost count at number five?  I'll chalk it up to the constant interruptions from little people.  Little people with BIG appetites and a sudden inability to fend for themselves.  

Anyway.  We are ready for the heat wave to move on out of the state of Ohio.  Sorry, East Coast - you're next! Before it got insanely hot outside, the boys enjoyed much time playing in the backyard.  

Their new favorite game is "monkey in the middle," which they happen to have the exact number of players for!

Fortunately, their massive Lego collection has helped keep them occupied during these last couple of days when shooing them outside would have bordered on child abuse.  We've done a little school work, too.  Mostly I've been taking inventory of what we have and what we might need to begin a new school year.  It's always hard to control myself with the book buying/curriculum gathering.

~ 6 ~

The older boys are going camping in a couple of days! This means two (mostly) full days of just me and Benjamin hanging out at home together.   I'm going to try and resist the urge to tackle the mountains of housework I SHOULD do and instead work on things that I WANT to do. Although, I may have to take advantage of the fact that I could clean the carpet in the living/dining room since there won't be little boys running around on it.  And because Benjamin spends all of his time crawling and rolling around down there I'd really like to give it a good cleaning.  Some of you are very jealous of the exciting life I lead right now. 

~ 7 ~

I looked up from what I was doing last night (my latest crochet project, if you really want to know) and saw this.  My family of  boys.  I'm very blessed.

Okay. That does it for the new, improved (do you think so? Don't forget to tell me what you think!) Friday post. Next week I'm hoping to share a special, secret project that I've been working on with you. Then we'll be heading west for a brief visit to Indiana.  After that, I will be getting a visit from my best friend in the whole wide world! I realized the other day that we've been friends for 16 years now. Yikes! I'm old! I've been literally doing a happy dance every day since the plans for that were confirmed.  I can not wait to see her and her beautiful girls!

I hope you had a great week and are staying cool! 

I recommend lots of ice cream...

~ Dori

Fun Photo Friday Returns!

Benjamin turned nine months old yesterday.  Nine. Months. Old. 

He decided to celebrate the occasion by learning how to crawl this week.  He's gotten very good at it. 

A little too good at it.

Just for the record, there is a brother located at the top of those stairs out of sight but ready to keep the baby from tumbling down while I took the pictures. 

Nine months old also means starting to take baths in the big tub. 

He's not too sure about it yet.

The other boys have thoroughly enjoyed watching Benjamin learn and grow. 

He's pretty fascinated by them, too.

In other news, Thomas is still engrossed in lego building...

The new sets he received for his birthday have kept him pretty busy.  We've had to literally drag him away from them anytime we've left the house in the last week.

But that's okay.  For now.  I will have to wean him off the abundance of lego time to do some school work next week, however.

Before Thomas' birthday we celebrated the Fourth of July by taking the boys to a big fireworks display in a nearby town.

The boys waited patiently for it to get dark outside. I don't have any other pictures since I was holding a sleeping Benjamin for most of the time. The boys LOVED it, though! We hadn't been to a fireworks display in a while, so it was really nice.

Earlier that day, Michael and Thomas were in a parade where they represented the Cub Scouts.

Obviously they were very excited about it.

Getting to ride in a fancy car (Jaguar) and throw candy at people made it a little better, though.

That lady is Mrs. Bob Feller, in case you were wondering.  Mother of the famous Cleveland Indians pitcher. She's a big deal around here.

After surviving enjoying the parade, we did some fireworks at home to get the celebration going. 

And by fireworks I mean things that just made noise and didn't even require the use of a lighter (much to my husband's disappointment). 

The boys enjoyed it anyway. 

We'll be spending the rest of July and August trying to find a balance of making progress with school and enjoying the fleeting days of summer.  

Hope you are enjoying summer, too!

~ Dori