First I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude for having such nice brothers. Even though I was the youngest in the family I never felt threatened or that my life was in danger from my older brothers.
And with that, I begin my story.
Sunday was a gorgeous day. We went to 10am Mass at the Cathedral and brought the stroller to walk around with the kids in our old neighborhood. We walked to a park and let Demand play for a bit before heading home. Mr. Sloth was going to brew and grill at the same time. Brewing is the only thing he wanted to do for his birthday (which was Saturday) so he was kind of anxious to get going. Like every Sunday, I was itching to clean and organize. I never do because it's Sunday, but I decided that if I really WANT to do it and thoroughly enjoy it, why not? I do not regret my decision. It was so relaxing to get all the cleaning done. I set up Demand's tent in her room and she was highly entertained for a few hours. Happy just did his thing using his new 'sitting up' trick. It's all he wants to do these days. (I never thought I would have a four month old who could sit up independently. Crazy!)
Anyway the day passed, there were naps and dinner. It was still beautiful outside so we took the kids for a walk. There's a huge open field/park in our subdivision that runs along side the road and a nature preserve. In an effort to burn some energy we had Demand run to one of the two large rocks that serve as benches there. Our family sat at the rock and looked out at the nature preserve. It's quite beautiful. A long, very high ravine with trees and small lake at the bottom. You can't tell how steep the ravine is because they let the weeks and such grow free, it's about waist high with grass and wild flowers.
Well Demand decided she want to push Happy in the stroller so we pointed her towards the large open area. (Really large, like three football fields end to end. She started on her trek and Mr. Sloth and I started discussing the time. He wanted me to guess the time. I guessed 5:47pm. He said I was close. 6:02pm. And it was at 6:02pm that I heard Demand yelp. Like Miriam and Moses, Demand pushed her little brother through the reeds towards the water.
We're guessing that Demand tried to turn the heavy stroller but was walking too close to the hill and lost control and lacking the strength to hold on, let go. They were about 20-30 feet away but I made it there in three steps. Happy rolled about five feet down the ravine before the high grass stopped the stroller. Mr. Sloth said he had never seen me run that fast. Although it did not seem slow to me. I asked Mr. Sloth why he just sat there and he said that by the time he processed what was happening I was already there. As I picked thistles out of my toes from diving into the brush he asked if I had enough adrenaline in me to lift a car. On the contrary, I could barely stand. As I drug Happy and the stroller back up the hill Demand informed me that "Happy" wanted to see the river. They write horror movies about things like this I thought.
With very few words I just started pushing my baby home. Demand and Mr. Sloth followed, but first Demand asked me to pick her up. It was then I informed her that she was not one of my top children right now and she could ride in the stroller.
So, like I said before. I'm grateful for the non-life threatening siblings I was given and I'm also grateful that I always buckle the boy into the stroller, otherwise I would have been pulling thistles out of his face. I would also like to give a shout out to the Guardian Angels apparently they work on Sundays too.
The Sloths
Lazywife, Mr. Sloth, Demand, Prophet, Rooster, and King
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Out of My Element
I recently joined a Catholic homeschooling group and a book club for Conservative Catholic Women. Both are out of my element. Last night was a moms night out event for the homeschool group. Nursing babies were welcome but I opted for a full break from children, besides by 7pm Happy is hankering to be put to bed. There were other nursing babies there however, two six month olds, two nine month olds, and two, two week olds. Lots of babies. Lots of fun.
As it turns out I already knew a number of the women in the group already. It's a brand new group geared towards whole families not just a moms group. One woman Mr. Sloth grew up with, another woman knew my brother in law and taught Mr. Sloth in high school. (Get that JWD?) Three women were from Bible Study (but one invited me to the group so she doesn't count) and one women I met at a Catholic Woman's gathering last year. Everyone else was nice of course.
Since we're not actively homeschooling yet we'll mostly just be going on outings and bouncing off ideas and questions at this point.
The book club. I told Mr. Sloth at dinner last night that this was completely out of my element and expressed my concern for barely being literate. Then I came up with the idea of "Book on Tape Club". Mr. Sloth called it a Lazywife's guide to literacy.
Other than that we're just waiting for Tiger to have her baby. I'm on the entertainment commitee this weekend. Today she is two days past due. I have fun planned for the evening if she hasn't gone yet. It's Mr. Sloth's morning off so it's just like any other day for me at least until about noon. (It's the first official week of the "mornings off" schedule since Happy was born).
Hopefully I've done some more reading next time you hear from me!
As it turns out I already knew a number of the women in the group already. It's a brand new group geared towards whole families not just a moms group. One woman Mr. Sloth grew up with, another woman knew my brother in law and taught Mr. Sloth in high school. (Get that JWD?) Three women were from Bible Study (but one invited me to the group so she doesn't count) and one women I met at a Catholic Woman's gathering last year. Everyone else was nice of course.
Since we're not actively homeschooling yet we'll mostly just be going on outings and bouncing off ideas and questions at this point.
The book club. I told Mr. Sloth at dinner last night that this was completely out of my element and expressed my concern for barely being literate. Then I came up with the idea of "Book on Tape Club". Mr. Sloth called it a Lazywife's guide to literacy.
Other than that we're just waiting for Tiger to have her baby. I'm on the entertainment commitee this weekend. Today she is two days past due. I have fun planned for the evening if she hasn't gone yet. It's Mr. Sloth's morning off so it's just like any other day for me at least until about noon. (It's the first official week of the "mornings off" schedule since Happy was born).
Hopefully I've done some more reading next time you hear from me!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Learning
That's funny, I thought we got rid of cable, yet the TV is always on...hmmm. See I knew we wouldn't miss cable. We have enough DVDs to keep us busy for months. How's my Italian coming you say?? Yeah, I'll get right on that. Demand's French is coming along though. Planning is half the fun. The Sloths plus Obscure have been having a blast planning our European adventure. We've been teaching Demand some French phrases as well and she knows her heritage, the girl is flawless in her pronunciation.
Yesterday I came up with the idea to make a scrapbook/treasure hunt for her. I'll put together pages with things we plan on seeing for her to study ahead of time so she'll recognize people/places/things as we go and there will be space for her to add to the book as we go via post cards, coloring, stickers, etc. Think North American Dora meets Europe. Over the weekend she watched "Ratatouille" for the ump-teenth time, and turned to me and asked, "I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower!?".
As you can guess our Europe trip is taking up a good amount of our time. Just prior to the fourth of July fireworks we were talking to Demand about the things she was going to see; Eiffel Tower, Vatican, lots of Churches...Well she had some reservations about the fireworks. As soon as they started she started screaming and clinging to Mr. Sloth. In the midst of screaming she declared "I want to see churches". Sanctuary anyone??
In case anyone is curious this trip is more than a vacation. In the past few years whenever we've discussed the education of our children we've always mentioned traveling. Not only have we learned a lot from traveling but many of the smartest people we know grew up exposed various cultures. The more cultural experiences we can expose our children to (under our supervision) the better. Mr. Sloth and I both love to travel and have new experiences and we love sharing that with our children. That has brought us to our next conclusion. Homeschooling.
Our plan is to homeschool at least preschool and kindergarten and then see where we want to go. And as I jokingly mentioned to Mr. Sloth, "Well we're homeschooling her now, because this trip to Europe is tuition money." Homeschooling will allow us to travel at will and in fact make travel a part of our lessons. How fantastic would it have been if you just drove to Gettysburg in the middle of studying the Civil War? I think it would have been awesome.
Arrivederci!! (See I'm learning something)
Yesterday I came up with the idea to make a scrapbook/treasure hunt for her. I'll put together pages with things we plan on seeing for her to study ahead of time so she'll recognize people/places/things as we go and there will be space for her to add to the book as we go via post cards, coloring, stickers, etc. Think North American Dora meets Europe. Over the weekend she watched "Ratatouille" for the ump-teenth time, and turned to me and asked, "I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower!?".
As you can guess our Europe trip is taking up a good amount of our time. Just prior to the fourth of July fireworks we were talking to Demand about the things she was going to see; Eiffel Tower, Vatican, lots of Churches...Well she had some reservations about the fireworks. As soon as they started she started screaming and clinging to Mr. Sloth. In the midst of screaming she declared "I want to see churches". Sanctuary anyone??
In case anyone is curious this trip is more than a vacation. In the past few years whenever we've discussed the education of our children we've always mentioned traveling. Not only have we learned a lot from traveling but many of the smartest people we know grew up exposed various cultures. The more cultural experiences we can expose our children to (under our supervision) the better. Mr. Sloth and I both love to travel and have new experiences and we love sharing that with our children. That has brought us to our next conclusion. Homeschooling.
Our plan is to homeschool at least preschool and kindergarten and then see where we want to go. And as I jokingly mentioned to Mr. Sloth, "Well we're homeschooling her now, because this trip to Europe is tuition money." Homeschooling will allow us to travel at will and in fact make travel a part of our lessons. How fantastic would it have been if you just drove to Gettysburg in the middle of studying the Civil War? I think it would have been awesome.
Arrivederci!! (See I'm learning something)
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Milestones
Some big things have been happening in the Sloth home. Happy REALLY wants to crawl after perfecting rolling over this past weekend. Demand turned the big three and we're finally going to get Mr. Sloth to Rome! (more on that later)
Demand's birthday party was so much fun. Even though I had a blast putting it all together, it was a lot of work and I'm still exhausted. It took over a week to make the cardboard castle, but it was a blast to make. Plus it made giving up cable that week a bit easier. Her castle cake was also fun to make, just a little time consuming. Every cake should be that much fun to make. By far her favorite part of the party was having all her friends there. She keeps talking about how much fun she had with her friends. However, in true Sloth fashion, amidst friends, sweets, fun and laughter, Demand asked if she could watch a show. Next year, no party. ;)
Happy has ridiculous strength, well some of him is strong. He was born with wicked strong neck and legs, and how has outrageously strong abs. His arms however,not so much. The poor kid can roll over and get his legs under him but just face plants. And THAT does not make him happy. Speaking of which, yes, Happy is still happy. When he's in a good mood he'll charm your socks off. However when that kid is mad you better watch out. Ear piercing screams; and he turns bright red which is appropriate since he'll also raise a good 80 degrees in temperature. Moral of the story is keep the kid happy.
Ok, now onto the fun stuff. The Sloth family has decided to head to Europe for a month this coming fall. It was kind of a quick decision but not one made in haste. We currently have college friend who have been living over there for three years. Every summer they come back to the states for a few months and every year they encourage us to come for a visit and every year we say we'll try. Well no time like the present. The money is "there", (looks like we won't be getting a van this month after all) I'm not pregnant and prices to fly are ridiculously low. We're also bringing Obscure to help with the kiddos. Our plan is to fly into Munich and spend a day there before heading to France for ten days. I've been to France and actually been in Paris four time but I haven't actually seen anything. Then we're heading to Austria for about a week. We'll stay with our friends and visit some my old stomping grounds from when I spent a semester there. Then we're joining our friends on a Rome/Assisi pilgrimage that they organize every semester. They have two young kids the same age as ours so it should be fun. Oh, and the price we'll pay for the Rome/Assisi trip is also ridiculous. Then we'll head back to Austria for a day or two before flying home.
See Mr. Sloth flew to Europe once for the purpose of going to Rome but I had "issues" and refused to leave Austria. So he gave up Rome for me. Every since then we've been looking for an opportunity to go there, and it looks like our ship has come in, or in this case, plane.
(more pictures of the family below)
Demand after blowing out her candles.
Happy's first feeding.
Our astute son.
The kids after a delightful afternoon of "German Festing"
Demand's birthday party was so much fun. Even though I had a blast putting it all together, it was a lot of work and I'm still exhausted. It took over a week to make the cardboard castle, but it was a blast to make. Plus it made giving up cable that week a bit easier. Her castle cake was also fun to make, just a little time consuming. Every cake should be that much fun to make. By far her favorite part of the party was having all her friends there. She keeps talking about how much fun she had with her friends. However, in true Sloth fashion, amidst friends, sweets, fun and laughter, Demand asked if she could watch a show. Next year, no party. ;)
Happy has ridiculous strength, well some of him is strong. He was born with wicked strong neck and legs, and how has outrageously strong abs. His arms however,not so much. The poor kid can roll over and get his legs under him but just face plants. And THAT does not make him happy. Speaking of which, yes, Happy is still happy. When he's in a good mood he'll charm your socks off. However when that kid is mad you better watch out. Ear piercing screams; and he turns bright red which is appropriate since he'll also raise a good 80 degrees in temperature. Moral of the story is keep the kid happy.
Ok, now onto the fun stuff. The Sloth family has decided to head to Europe for a month this coming fall. It was kind of a quick decision but not one made in haste. We currently have college friend who have been living over there for three years. Every summer they come back to the states for a few months and every year they encourage us to come for a visit and every year we say we'll try. Well no time like the present. The money is "there", (looks like we won't be getting a van this month after all) I'm not pregnant and prices to fly are ridiculously low. We're also bringing Obscure to help with the kiddos. Our plan is to fly into Munich and spend a day there before heading to France for ten days. I've been to France and actually been in Paris four time but I haven't actually seen anything. Then we're heading to Austria for about a week. We'll stay with our friends and visit some my old stomping grounds from when I spent a semester there. Then we're joining our friends on a Rome/Assisi pilgrimage that they organize every semester. They have two young kids the same age as ours so it should be fun. Oh, and the price we'll pay for the Rome/Assisi trip is also ridiculous. Then we'll head back to Austria for a day or two before flying home.
See Mr. Sloth flew to Europe once for the purpose of going to Rome but I had "issues" and refused to leave Austria. So he gave up Rome for me. Every since then we've been looking for an opportunity to go there, and it looks like our ship has come in, or in this case, plane.
(more pictures of the family below)
Demand after blowing out her candles.
Happy's first feeding.
Our astute son.
The kids after a delightful afternoon of "German Festing"
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Things we did yesterday
1-baked four boxes of cake
2-folded two baskets of laundry
3-changed at least 20 diapers
4-bought groceries
5-went to the post office
6-bought four plane tickets to Europe
7-ordered new checks at the bank
8-bought two birthday balloons and a tablecloth at the dollar store
9-cleaned the kitchen (three times)
10-canceled cable
11-and Mr. Sloth kegged beer
Busy day. And expensive, I think the trip to the Dollar Tree is what really set us over the edge.
2-folded two baskets of laundry
3-changed at least 20 diapers
4-bought groceries
5-went to the post office
6-bought four plane tickets to Europe
7-ordered new checks at the bank
8-bought two birthday balloons and a tablecloth at the dollar store
9-cleaned the kitchen (three times)
10-canceled cable
11-and Mr. Sloth kegged beer
Busy day. And expensive, I think the trip to the Dollar Tree is what really set us over the edge.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Nature's Cable
I called to cancel cable two days ago. We still have it until we drop off the box which is Mr. Sloths job, I had the joy of calling to cancel. I was so busy just prior to calling that it wasn't until I was dialing the phone that I realized what run-around I was about to encounter. First off I had to press 1 for upgrades, 2 for downgrades. (Jeepers,creepers they have a whole department for this??) Sure enough the guy answers the phone, I tell him I would like to cancel my cable. With words covered in butter he asks, "Now why would you want to do a thing like that?" I wasn't about to play his game so I didn't say a word. The awkward silence worked because he moved on. At one point he asked if I was going to "the darkside" (meaning satellite), I said no we're getting rid of it altogether. He was shocked.
Anyway, as soon as Mr. Sloth drops off the box we'll be completely without TV as we don't get a signal here without it. We only plan on giving it up for the summer so we'll survive and while it's true that a lot off shows are online now, my favorites are not. (Oh, Duggars, how I will miss thee!!)
However, pre-empitve of being cable free last night we had some good old fashion fun. The four of us (Mr. Sloth, Sidekick, Obscure and I) lined our lawn chairs up on the sidewalk and watched the most amazing lighting storm as it swept towards us. Honestly it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Constant lighting, somtimes even blinding and it was so far away we never heard thunder. It was great, except for, well....we knew the sprinklers would go off at sometime, but we usually hear a clicking sound (think Princess Bride) before they go off. Well we heard a clicking sound at the East end of the yard, but before we could move, a sprinkler right in front of us went off that was pointed directly at Mr. Sloth's.... lap. (Ahh, that was funny)
Nature's Cable. Fantastic.
Anyway, as soon as Mr. Sloth drops off the box we'll be completely without TV as we don't get a signal here without it. We only plan on giving it up for the summer so we'll survive and while it's true that a lot off shows are online now, my favorites are not. (Oh, Duggars, how I will miss thee!!)
However, pre-empitve of being cable free last night we had some good old fashion fun. The four of us (Mr. Sloth, Sidekick, Obscure and I) lined our lawn chairs up on the sidewalk and watched the most amazing lighting storm as it swept towards us. Honestly it was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever seen. Constant lighting, somtimes even blinding and it was so far away we never heard thunder. It was great, except for, well....we knew the sprinklers would go off at sometime, but we usually hear a clicking sound (think Princess Bride) before they go off. Well we heard a clicking sound at the East end of the yard, but before we could move, a sprinkler right in front of us went off that was pointed directly at Mr. Sloth's.... lap. (Ahh, that was funny)
Nature's Cable. Fantastic.
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