Hosted by Jen at Conversion Diary.

Mother/Daughter Bonding – This week is we officially began our summer vacation. Bella was out of school last Friday but the boys last day at preschool was Wednesday. That gave Bella and I a couple days to have fun ourselves. It was sweet to have some alone time with her and talk and laugh together. There are so many things about her that I love. I told her I wish a knew her when I was a little kid because she would have been my best friend. She loved the idea of a little mini-me running around as a kid. It made me think of my own relationship with my mom and how we’re mother and daughter but also friends now. I look forward to that kind of future relationship with Bella. I told her that when she gets married I hope she lives close by because I want to be able to see her and babysit my grandchildren! She told me not to worry, she will. I’m relishing this time when she still loves to be around me and doesn’t buck at everything I tell her. That will come far too soon.

Still My Baby Boy – On Friday it was Andrew’s 5th birthday, as seen in this week’s {p, h, f, r}. I was reading through my old pregnancy journal and was reliving the joy and fear of being pregnant again. It took us a year to conceive Bella and after that I had a hard time conceiving and maintaining a pregnancy. It took four years of trying and two miscarriages, until we finally got our little Andrew. Since I already posted my pregnancy journal for Bella, I am typing out some of the entries of Andrew’s, along with his birth story. I’ll hopefully have it ready to post in a day or two.

I Am Sher-Locked – With summer vacation here I have been able to stay up late and catch up on my Google reader, emails, and DVR-ed shows. (Brian is a morning bird but I am a night owl!) I have FINALLY cleared out a number of season finales from last month, including some favorites: Once Upon A Time – So now that the curse has been broken, can the residents leave? Do they live their storybook lives or their alter egos? Will Regina be worse than ever now that magic is back? Will Pinocchio turn back into August? Fun! 😉 // Grimm – Will Nick be able to save Juliette? Will the beloved Monroe find a kindred spirit in Rosalee? // Masterpiece Mystery: Sherlock – Brian and I love the Sherlock series and I am going through withdrawl that is just about equal to my Downton Abbey withdrawl. How did Sherlock survive? Did the garage truck play a part? Was Watson knocked down by the bicyclist on purpose? Was the hung dummy at the beginning a clue? Is Moriarty actually dead? So may questions to be answered. I love it!
In the meantime, I have been waiting for the season finale of The Killing ( Do you really think Jamie did it?) and enjoying this season of The Next Food Network Star. Have you been watching? Who is your favorite? When it first started I didn’t have one team that I liked more than the others but I definitely had favorites. My favorite from Alton’s team is also my top pick – Emily. I love her 50’s vibe and retro rad concept. She is still my favorite but last week she was a little annoying. I think they explained it perfectly when they said they wanted her to be authentically quirky and not just a character. My favorite from Giada’s team is Ippy. I like his cool laid back style but I’m not sure if he could take it all the way. I also liked Martita a lot and her Spanish flair but it seems like FN already had the Mexican food niche filled. There is also something about Yvan that I like, and although I don’t think he’d win, I hope he sticks around longer. My favorite on Bobby’s team is Michelle, even though she is a little too Ann Burrell for Brian’s taste.

Summer Reading – During the summer I also have extra time to read. I have two books I am starting this week. The first is Beyond the Birds and the Bees by Gregory Popcak. The second is Maggie Come Lately (The Pathway Collection #1) by Michelle Buckman. I have been enjoying her book Rachel’s Contrition and came across an old interview she did with The National Catholic Register and wanted to read some of her earlier works. I’ll let you know what I think.

Hanging with the Cool Kids – This morning I got an email from my sister telling me that a favorite mom blogger (and photographer extraordinaire) at Colleen’s Green Grass mentioned me in her Quick Takes. She says:

A new favorite blog. You must go check out Bobbi’s Revolution of Love blog if you have not already. This sweet mom of four has been blogging for 9(!) years and I just love her style. She’s smart, funny, honest and inspiring and she blogs about movies, organizing, parenting, books… so many of the things that I love.

Major blush! Thank you, Colleen! You are such a sweetheart. You know, I may sound vain or weird saying this but it has been a pleasing week in blogdom because last week the rock star of blogging (and today’s host) Jennifer Fulwiler “liked” one of my instagram photos and I felt like a tween at a Justin Bieber concert. Then the queen of Sweetness and Style Hallie Lord commented on another instagram photo and said she grew up close to where I live now and that the next time she visits family we should try to get together. Happy dance. Then Colleen says such kind things about me. Wow.
Do you remember the movie My Big, Fat Greek Wedding and the scene where Toula fixes herself up and goes back to college and instead of sitting at the lunch table alone, she goes to sit with the pretty, popular girls at their table? That’s what I feel like. Like I am hitting my blogging stride (it only took nine stinkin years) and now I was invited to sit at the table with the fun, pretty, popular girls. I know, I know. I need to get out more. Sigh.

Chipmunk Cheeks – Now before you start thinking that I am getting a big head or anything, don’t worry. God likes to keep me humble. I did get out the other day and went to Costco. (I’m getting wild in my old age.) As we were leaving, the friendly door man checked our cart and looked at me and then looked at Matthew. He told Matthew, “You’re a happy little guy! And I can see where you get your cheeks from!” Um, thanks…wait. What are you trying to say??

Mom, The Security Blanket – Speaking of cheeks, all the kids have had a little security soothing habit that entailed me. Instead of sucking their thumb or rubbing their security blanket, they required me. Bella used to sit on my lap and rub my cheeks over and over and over again. Andrew used to sit next to me and rub my upper arm over and over and over again. John-Paul loves to sit next to me on the couch or behind me on a chair and rub my lips over and over and over. So far Matthew hasn’t had any weird quirks unless you count the number of times he likes to lay on top of my feet as I am cooking and he will occasionally bite my toe. I hope it is because of his teething and he isn’t going to have any weird foot fetish or desire to act like a dog. Hmm, maybe I better stop patting him on the head and saying “good boy” when he does something right.
Oh, well. That’s it for my time and to prove this take #7 I leave you with a photo of JP sitting behind me while I am typing. I wish I was more like the fresh-faced mother with her sewing basket as pictured above. Instead you have me, washed out and sweaty from my walk, typing away on the computer with my little monkey on my back. I love that little guy and his cute smile!




Have a great weekend and Happy Father’s Day to all the Papas out there, especially my own daddy and the daddy of my children. Love you both!!