You know you have a big family when your son sees the perfectly normal bottle of mustard and exclaims:  "Aww!  Look at the cute little bottle!!"

Bella

This is my sweet Bella, in her usual state of complete freak out over nothing. Pretty, huh?

I'm Melting.

I think I know what the Wicked Witch felt like.  Man.  It's hot.

 Today, we decided to spend the day inside, hiding from the heat.  Yesterday, Christopher spend the day at Wrigley Field watching the Cubs get creamed by the Phillies.  I think the temperature was hovering around 100.  I guess little boys can withstand more heat that Mama's!

The rest of us hit the fair yesterday, but didn't last very long.  Blistering heat and whining children isn't a very good combo!  We thought maybe we could cool off if we went to the pool.  I am pretty sure we didn't "cool off" but the water sort of, kind of, maybe just a little, took the edge off.

(Pictures are from the Fourth and Riverfest -- days we thought were hot, but upon which we now just look longingly and laugh at our foolish ignorance!)

The Humor Of Bodily Functions

Grace is reading The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and commented that the repeated use of the word "poop" was hilarious.  Which led to the discussion of why on earth is it called a "poop deck" (because heaven knows Lucy wasn't refering to her bodily functions!).

And don't you wonder, too?

So we looked it up (who doesn't love Wikipedia??)

Fascinating!

And I thought this was particularly interesting, considering it is one of Christopher's favorite expressions!

In nautical parlance, "to be pooped" means to have a wave come over the stern from abaft.

What To Do When It's Too Dern Hot Out

The kids and I had a ball making fabric flowers this afternoon.  It was way to hot / humid to be out, so we set to work creating!

We loved these little rosettes from V and Co.  So sweet and so simple!  But watch out for that hot glue!

These super easy "scrunch flowers" from Little Miss Mama were fun to make as well.  Talk about instant gratification!

Bella trotted around with them on her shirt, but Grace preferred them in her hair.  

It would be fun to cluster a bunch on a shirt, too!  (That may be next -- these are addicting!)

We wrapped a bit of brown fabric around a dollar store headband, affix the flower with a dab of hot glue and, viola!  Cuteness!

These quick and easy flowers were a great boredom buster AND a great way to use up a bunch of scrap pieces of fabric!

If only it were so simple!

by Grace - for whom this still unfinished project was, apparently, no big deal at all.

Self Incrimination

This is a picture of my dining room table.  I love my table -- it's one of my favorite pieces of furniture.  It is heavy and sturdy, just perfect for a large and rambunctious family.  But do you see those markings?  Carvings, actually.  Will that little boy ever learn to, at the very least, carve someone else's name??  Silly, silly little boy.

Seven Quick Takes --Catch Up Edition

Hello, July!  Where did my friend June go?  He must have been swept away in the rains.  We have had a busy, busy month.  Remember those long, lazy summer days of childhood?  I was expecting those in adulthood, too.  Ha!  I sure was wrong!  Here is our lightening speed June in Quick Takes

~1~

Christopher's scout den had a camp out at my parents cottage over Pentecost.  The wonderful Fr. Jeff came up and celebrated Mass for the boys.  What a special experience for those boys (and the families who tagged along!).

~2~  

We've been eating lots of summer foods and soaking up the sun when it decides to shine.  Andrew has poured countless hours into our back yard this summer and it has been SO very worth it!

~3~
We have had insane amounts of rain this summer, so the river has been really high and fast.  Andrew and the kids finally had a chance to get in a couple of weeks ago.  

~4~

What is a summer without firearms?

Nothing like walking out of the house to find your girly-girl shooting a gun!

And Christopher, too.  But that is nothing new :)

~5~

This is a fuzzy stolen-from-Facebook picture, but Corpus Christi was beautiful as always!  Christopher served, along with about 35 other boys!

~6~

FIDDLER'S!!!  A summer highlight for us and this year's event did NOT disappoint!  Best. Fiddler's. Ever.

Fun skirts required

Napping in the hot sun.  Shortly after this picture, Andrew used is Filipino innovativeness to build Avi a sun shade out of a pizza box.  He is turning into his dad!

Henna happiness!  If I weren't such a wimp, I would make this permanent.  I wuv it.

We ran into a bunch of friends at Fiddler's and that made the day all the better!

~7~

Andrew decided it was now or never for our dining room flooring, so the other day he ripped it all up AND tore down a fake wall that was closing off the French Doors.  Now we are knee deep in dust, mess, and the potential of fabulous flooring.  It's the fun kind of messy, right?