Gnashing of Teeth

Where in the world has this whole Sunday gone anyway? Oh yes, now I remember. After a late night of celebrating Independence Day, the Catholic Peeps and I woke up to Hubs’ Famous Breakfast Smörgåsbord of Belgian waffles (kids), bacon (girlie & me), veggie omelet (hubs & me) and english muffin (hubs). Then we spent the rest of the morning watching Federer beat squeak past a local favorite, Roddick, at Wimbledon. Last and probably least, the four of us enjoyed a relaxing frustrating afternoon at the pool, where we dodged 4-letter words tossed around the deep-end area by a slew of teens who received no less than 3 verbal warnings and scathing looks from nearby adults attempting to sunbathe peacefully beside the pool. *Ugh.*

Reminds me of a song, “Every party has a pooper that’s why we invited you…” (From movie: Father of the Bride)

Happy Fourth of July!

So much excitement today, the most important of which being:

• Catholic Girlie lost another tooth and is now one step closer to getting braces on those adult teeth of hers.
• Making (and eating!) Independence Day parfaits.
• Setting off fireworks in our driveway, because technically, it’s not illegal when you live outside city limits. (This just in!)
• And finally, watching an even bigger fireworks display from our deck while having a late-night snack.

Freedom and parfaits are such a blessing.

Dynamite Day

So the Catholic Family’s Friday July 3rd party got started early with my 8:00 am salon appointment and Hubs having the day off from work, meaning a breakfast of homemade waffles and steamy espresso to tide me over while sitting in that blessed salon chair for 2+ hours. Then, for wasting time purposes, I paid Kohls a visit and picked up 3 new outfits of skimmers (pants somewhere in between walking shorts and capris) and summer tops, because quite frankly, I needed a lil’ wardrobe update that didn’t bear the name of Nike or Adidas. (Father Chi frowns on that kind of thing during mass, you know.)

Meanwhile, Hubs & the Catholic Kids were home watching Roger Federer kick some tennis bootay at Wimbledon, out-and-about taking taking the car for a much needed oil change, and subsequently working up a good appetite for sub sandwiches. So guess what? I met those peeps at Barnes & Noble, because it just happens to be right next door to Kohls and a birthday gift card was burning a hole in my wallet. But we only left with a few books for the CK’s and my card intact. (BTW: Spent that baby online later in the afternoon, per Becca’s sweet book recommendation – thanks!) And finally, lunch at Subway where we replenished our starving bodies. *whew*

Then what? In search of a fireworks stand! More specifically, one bearing the Knights of Columbus logo, as we prefer buying fireworks in support of those nice Catholic gentlemen in our Archdiocese. Although, despite the fact that Catholic Son had his sights set on bringing home a 3-foot tall monstrosity of pseudo-dynamite, we settled with a nice grocery bag of fireworks fun to keep us safely entertained yet another year:

Father’s Day: Part 2

Our plan for Catholic Hubs’ Father’s Day celebration went off smoothly right out of the gate with a homemade French toast breakfast complete with sausage, bacon, and juice. While the CK’s and I read the Sunday comics together, CH browsed through the rest of the newspaper and licked his plate clean, the sign of a fairly decadent meal. Then it was gift showering time with gifts that included a Gorillapod, remote cooking thermometer and NEBRASKA t-shirt. What a perfect way to pamper that guy – we’re that good.

But we weren’t done with his Dad Day Wish List yet. Oh no we weren’t. With an afternoon of swimming at the pool for burning-off-energy goodness, Hubs’ favorite Famous Dave’s Bar-B-Que ribs meal awaited. We got that guy completely sauced, and he loved every finger lickin’ minute of it… as did nearly every other Dad/Grandfather in town by the looks of the line waiting for tables as we left the building. Carnivores.

Father’s Day: Part 1

For Father’s Day this year, we actually have a PLAN for Catholic Hubs/Dad thanks to the swanky survey we created especially for him to fill out. The Father’s Day Survey consists of selections for all kinds of meal choices and events, complete with little check boxes next to each item. Not only that, but we even put that convenient “other” option with a blank line next to it for many of the selections just in case our options weren’t up to snuff. Then with CH’s completed survey, we set out to achieve all of his requests over the weekend. Aren’t we amazing? I know!

So here’s what happened today, the first half of Father’s Day weekend:

• Shopping, Dad-Dude Style: With a Sports Authority gift card burning a hole in Hub’s wallet, we took him to the shopping center where he bought a few workout duds. But shopping didn’t end there, oh no. Best Buy and Books-a-Million beckoned from the curb for us to bring Hubs inside for a little more perusing, for Dad of course. Ok, so I walked out with a BAM membership for future savings, but I had good intentions.
• Lunch at Subway: This seems to be a recurring Saturday event , so who were we to keep Hubs away from a usual favorite? We’d never do such a thing. The menu: toasted Italian Herb/Cheese turkey footlong (split between Hubs & me), pepperoni & cheese 6-inch on white (CG), ham/turkey/white American cheese on wheat (CS) all complete with Lay’s BBQ chips on the side with carbonated beverages.
• Pool Time & Mowing: Hubs wanted to mow the lawn this weekend, so I took the CK’s to the pool for a couple of hours as a way to keep people busy. The weather was perfect for both: a little overcast and free of rain showers. I even snuck in some reading time while checking out the over-abundance of tattooed people swimming at the pool. How fun is that?
• Mass, Frozen Yogurt, Barnes & Noble: Next, we took CH to mass where Father Chi bestowed a Father’s Day blessing on Hubs and all of the other dads in attendance. So nice to have our weekly obligation out of the way on Saturday so we can sleep in on Sunday. Then we headed over to TCBY and treated CH to a cup of chocolate frozen yogurt topped with Heath bar crumbs, while the CK’s slurped down strawberry smoothies and I savored a cup of white chocolate mousse with fresh strawberries, whipped cream and Lactaid on the side. Then finally, because it was nearby and why the heck not, we visited Barnes & Noble where I left without buying a single book for myself. Miracles do happen.

Next: Day #2, Sunday (6/21), the OFFICIAL Father’s Day

Sleepy Sunday Swimmers

Is it really only the 2nd Sunday of June? Good Lord, we’ve been so busy that it seems like so much longer already. But nope. Summer’s still here and with plenty more to go. On the down side, this weekend found Catholic Hub’s manning the Corps office, leaving me to fly solo in the family breakfast-making department. But hey, no problemo, as I can bake a pretty mean batch of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls, brew espresso and serve juice like nobody’s business. The Catholic Kids and I wolfed those babies down while reading the funnies together… wishing Hubs were there, of course. We’ll make up for it next weekend. (Father’s Day!)

So then what? Well, I made good on my weekend workout routine and hit the elliptical hard, burning 700+ calories in the process, all while the kiddos got involved with this new PC game called ‘Spore’ that CG purchased with her allowance. Keeping a close eye on that one after reading Common Sense Media’s review. It’s not exactly a G-rated game, but CG is fully aware of her limitations. Anyway, soon after my workout Hubs returned home for lunch to find me ready to actually eat the table — having an extra hand in the kitchen with Mom collapsing from hunger does a family (and table) good.

The afternoon spiraled right past us at lightening speed with meal-planning and grocery-shopping in preparation for the week. But then after finishing up several loads of laundry, I managed to strike a deal with 2 antsy youngsters: kitchen clean-up, instrument practice, bag packing, and only then will there be pool swimming, during which time my personal plan was to disappear into a good book and upload mobile pics to Facebook. Plan was a success, and that extra energy burned off sent people to dreamland totally exhausted tonight, the perfect way to end this summer weekend.

Tomorrow: Tennis lessons & more IT phone consulting for the Sistah-hood.

Summer 2009

Guess what? The Catholic Kids officially start Summer Vacation tomorrow, May 29, at 12:00 NOON, and I’m planning to blog each and every day during the break. My posts might be just a blurb, or even a big ‘ole write-up of what happened that day – you just never know. But I’m really wanting to record how everything goes over the summer, no matter what gets posted.

What’s that I hear? Catholic Son playing Guitar Hero to the tune of…

Schoooool’s Out For SUMMER!

This is going to get extremely interesting. Let’s only hope.

Valentine’s Day Blog Quiz

You Are Wine

You are very naturally sexy and inviting. You don’t have to try too hard. The longer people spend time with you, the more drawn in they become. You believe that seduction shouldn’t be rushed, you like to savor every moment. Going too fast kills the excitement. You like to indulge all of your senses.

Alrighty then! Happy Valentine’s Day – and by the way…
What Aphrodisiac Are You?

Monday ‘Me Day’ is BACK

The Catholic Family is back to the regular non-school-break routine again, and I have one simple word to describe it all:

HALLELUIA!

Now the only thing that could make this whole ‘back to the grind’ situation better would be having the ability to sleep in past 7:30 am every. single. day. Oh, and maid service. But that one is always a given, holiday or not. So where exactly was I again? Oh yes, it’s all coming back to me:

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Here’s wishing you and yours exactly what we pray for each and every day:

Faith… Hope… Good Health… Happiness… Success… Prosperity… Joy… Comfort… Warmth… Contentment… Peace… Friendship… Family… Cheer… Balance… Security… Pride… Patriotism… Strength… Loyalty… Confidence… Wisdom… Vision… Laughter… Love…

And a whole bunch of afternoon catnaps: