Fiddles on Fire Once Again

Today was all suck-it-up-and-forget-about-the-stinkin’-illness because YOUTH ORCHESTRA TIME IS HERE! That’s right. Remember the area-wide strings orchestra Catholic Girlie performed in last year? Well, she auditioned for another more advanced group last spring and was selected, sending us off and running to more rehearsals again this year.

Total ear candy all over again – gotta love that!

Ok, so giddiness took over just then. *cough* That’s what happens to a person blessed with musicians in the family – you just go completely silly about it. Or maybe the nasal spray is just messing with my head? Nah. This is serious talent, nasal spray or otherwise. Stay tuned for more music posts!

Caution: Zombies Ahead

Just taking in the sights while waiting for Catholic Son to complete his last baritone lesson of the summer. From the bulletin board to the hanging electric guitars, how could a completely zombied-out-mom fall asleep? *zzzzzz*

That Powered Up Breakfast

This is exactly how to start a summer day filled with instrument lesson taking, housecleaning, DVD watching, and swimming at the pool:

That’s right – homemade Belgian waffles topped with strawberries, bananas, syrup, and whipped cream. Oh, and with 2 espresso shots on the side. (Or Sunny-D if you’re under the age of 20 and don’t really need that extra jolt.)

Total mouth-watering goodness.

Ketchup Day

From the very minute of awakening from my deep slumber this morning, today was all about catching up. What better than to blog a simple list for wrapping this whole day up nicely? Alrighty! So here’s my Caught-Up-With-Life list:

• Sleep. Yes, I actually slept in until almost 8 am – a record!
• Dishes. All those dirty dishes in/on/around the sink & dishwasher – spotless!
• Laundry. Soiled clothes dumped out of our suitcases – clean, ironed and put away!
• Checkbook. Bills paid with books balanced!
• Email. Completely caught up with clients, family, friends and instrument teachers!
• Reading. Updated online book lists and sorted current & future reads for sanity purposes!

The icing on the cake? Kicking back and listening to the fabulous CD given to us by Catholic Girlie’s private cello teacher, the same one in which he recorded with the London Cello Orchestra: Latin Cello.

That ‘Must Take’ Photo

After spending much of the day watching Michael Jackson’s memorial service on television and zipping across town to Catholic Son’s baritone lesson with Mr. George, we broke down and found ourselves at the pool for the 19th time this summer. And what would a pool visit be without a certain mom standing poolside ready and waiting to snap a photo of that classic CANNON BALL jump off the diving board? All empty-like, I know.

Mysterious Tennis Society

Amazing how we’ve been loading up these summer days with a multitude of projects and activities, filling the time so well that we’re finding ourselves completely spent each and every night – exactly my plan! Today was no different with the day starting out finishing those chores hand-picked by each of my precious peeps. Next, we were on with watching Wimbledon on TV while a certain incognito mom multi-tasked (laundry/ironing/kitchen cleaning), and then trekking over to the tennis courts for an hour of hitting the ball around, all before Catholic Girlie’s cello lesson at the conservatory.

Side Note: Watch out Williams sisters and Andy Roddick – we’re steppin’ up in the tennis circuit!

Which is really no lie, because CG & CS actually talked Hubs into taking them back to the courts later in the evening for more tennis action. Apparently they hadn’t had enough play time earlier in the day? Nah. I’m thinking the kids wanted to show off those new-found tennis skills acquired by playing tennis with a certain former tennis pro mom… *cough* who is starting to experience a little chlorine-on-the-brain after so many days at the pool, but I digress.

And now a picture of the new nighttime reads we’re loving right now, The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart. Move aside, Harry Potter.:

All Washed Up

Plan for the Day: tennis, grocery store trip, lunch, bathroom cleaning, pool, dinner, free time.

Actual Events: tennis, grocery store trip, bathroom cleaning, lunch, pool shopping for water toys at Kmart, water play in backyard, dinner outside on deck, free time/instrument practice.

About that lost pool time? Well, we arrived at the pool as scheduled only to turn around and leave after learning that a swimmer had been sick lost their lunch in the pool, thus explaining Plan B: buying pool toys at Kmart and having our own water fun at home in the backyard.

Flexibility and Slip ‘n Slides are such good things:

Look Who’s Talking

One would expect the day after a person’s birthday to be a big let-down, but with this busy summer schedule we’ve got going in the Catholic homestead? Not even close. Instead, we kept up with our Thursday cleaning routine, now calling our crew the “Thursday Three Clean Peeps”, and whipped right through the house like a bunch of Tasmanian Devils. Then before lunch, we tested out my birthday Wii games: EA Sports Active and My Fitness Coach, getting our appetites extremely worked up in the process.

Side note: Neither Wii Fit nor Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum can touch EA Sports Active and My Fitness Coach. Finally, personalized fitness with improved Wii interactive response time. Two exhuberant thumbs up!

So then can you guess where the CK’s wanted to spend the afternoon? Yup. Poolside. No surprise there. Catholic Hubs with a day off from work stepped up to the challenge and took care of that little request nicely (thank goodness because I’m changing ethnicities with all of the sun exposure) while I made an errand run to the library for returning books and Target to pick up a few more necessities: Bagel Bites, drink boxes, chocolate milk, calcium fortified apple juice, chex mix, pop tarts, and pancake mix.

Ok so we’re all set for awhile now, right? Uh-oh… who forgot to write ‘paper towels’ on the list? *errg*

Finally, Catholic Girlie and I met with her cello coach at the Conservatory of Music where she experienced the Best Lesson Ever. Not only did Mark rave about the “cooking” she did while etude-playing, but he also mentioned that “word was getting around town” about CG’s talent. As it turns out, Mark received a phone call from another parent referred to him by CG’s Middle School orchestra teacher. The caller heard that CG made amazing strides while working with him and wanted to set up coaching sessions for another cellist. People are talking!

This just calls for a Root Beer Float Party.

Topsy Turvy Friday

Just after I posted yesterday’s blog, Mr. George, Catholic Son’s baritone teacher, called and asked to reschedule the missed lesson. Let me rephrase, Mr. G apparently forgot that he’d already called and rescheduled, then failed to realize that he’d subsequently stood us up when we showed up for the newly scheduled lesson, thus calling again to reschedule the original lesson. Good grief. Ok, so basically we re-rescheduled and actually had a decent lesson this morning after all was said and done.

Note to self: We’re blessed to have Mr. G as a teacher, so I’ll say no more on that front. *cough*

Next, after a quick grocery store pit-stop where we picked up milk, potato chips, tortillas, Sunny Delight, and chewing gum, the CK’s and I ventured home for a homemade lunch of pepperoni & cheese quesadillas (CG), Banquet frozen Mac ‘n Cheese (CS), and leftover chicken and mashed potatoes (me). With rain showers going on outside, another day at the pool was out of the question (sorry about that, CS – not exactly my fault) but other home-based activities were in, such as laundry, dishwashing, vacuuming, and dusting furniture. Yay to that! Oh and with a little reading and Lego building for good measure, of course. It is summer break.

Hubs made it home from work an hour early, then it was Grilled Asian Turkey Burger time, another Incognito specialty. As it turned out, we’d all worked up a pretty good appetite after all that elbow grease we’d put in over the day, so we put away scarfed down that meal rather nicely. Catholic Girlie had her heart set on biking over to the park after dinner, and guess what? Hubs gave me a break and biked the CK’s over to a favorite neighborhood spot while I stayed back to finish up on client web projects.

Only, uh-oh. A phone call from Hubs @1 hr later had me driving over to where CS fell off his bike. Let’s just say I could see the bleeding scuff on his knee from the car as I approached but managed to maintain my composure, even though the Mom inside me wanted to jump out and cradle that guy, sticking a Band-Aid on the dratted scuff while doing so. Nope. Total coolness. My response, “Dude – did ya fall off right there at the curb?” He nods, sniffs. Then I hand him a Band-aid as we drive home quietly. That’s when I realized… gone are the days of kissing boo-boo’s.

Times like these call for Limeade.

Clean Freak Thursday

After waking up at 4 am to find our house still standing after the long night of watching-out-for-tornadoes, I thought maybe I’d passed out during it all. Funny Hubs thought the same and asked me if we missed anything while we were sleeping, but no. Apparently we made it through the night completely unscathed of tornadic activity and received only a little rain out of the deal. So guess what? No droopy eyelids after all!

Thanks, God. We appreciate Your thoughtfulness there. Oh, and that extra large glass of chardonnay was especially helpful.

So back on with the Thursday Cleaning Plan for Incognito & the Catholic Kids, and man oh man are they ever getting GOOD at it. We strapped on our cleaning gloves and got right to it at 9:30 am, zipping through the house in record time, with 4 clean bathrooms in our wake. Merry Maids ain’t got nuthin’ on us – and that’s no joke! Ahhh, the fresh smell of Lysol and Yankee Candles… total heaven on earth at the Catholic Homestead. Sweetness personified.

A quick lunch, and then we were off to reward ourselves with a visit to the pool, the same one that was filled almost to capacity with people who had the very same idea. But no worries. We actually scored the last 3 poolside chairs — and despite the fact that it was 90+ degrees outside, I managed to sprawl out and catch some serious rays in my new bikini. Got me some new tan lines out of that visit, but definitely well worth the trip.

2 hours later we stopped by Sonic for ½ price ‘Happy Hour’ drinks, showered up at home, then it was time for CG’s cello lesson at the Conservatory for Music. I did the usual and brought a book to read while listening in on the lesson, my eyelids not as heavy as usual thanks to that extra espresso shot before leaving home. CG got a ‘thumbs up’ from her coach and we set off back home where Hubs had dinner waiting for us: Flat bread melt Lean Cuisine (me) and toasted Peanut Butter Hoagie (CG).

Yes, we’ve got a pattern going on here… and it’s all good. 🙂