7 Super Short Quick Takes

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Super short Quick Takes this week.  Super short is better than nothing at all, right?

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We have company again this weekend!  Very fun! My brother has arrived yesterday and our favorite deacon arrived earlier today.  We are so happy we get to spend some time with them.

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Peep is obsessed with Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site.  His grandfather gave him a matching game based on the book and Peep is obsessed with it as well.  Excavator is is most favorite machine.  Peep took this picture himself.

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This is Willy the Wooly Bear Caterpillar.  Peep and his daddy found this little guy a few weeks ago and Peep decided to keep him in his bug jar.  Initially I was in favor of this.  Peep is already familiar with the metamorphosis process thanks to Peep and the Big Wide World, so how exciting would it be to experience it in real life? Peep loved the idea too.

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Unfortunately, Willy was ravenous.  I quickly figured out his favorite foods (dandelions and magnolia leaves), but I was not up for foraging for his favorite food every morning.  Also, apparently caterpillars are excellent producers of massive quantities of poop.  Dumping his poop every morning got really old really fast.  Unfortunately Peep was not interested in sharing responsilibty in maintaining his new pet.

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After two weeks I realized Willy's rapid food consumption was decreasing and therefore he probably needed to get to work on making his cocoon.  Either we let him go now or supply him with a cocooning stick/mulch pile and commit to having him in all winter.  So for a few days we repeatedly asked Peep if he was ready to free Willy.  Everyday he said no.  One day Peep and I made it as far as the backyard and were preparing to set him free.  Then Peep broke down in tears.  He just couldn't do it.  He wanted to keep Willy.  Willy didn't need to go make a cocoon, Willy needed to stay.  It was a very piteous scene and the caterpillar remained captive. 

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Then Peep's favorite Uncle showed up for the weekend.  Even though it was still so very hard, Peep took the initiative of  proudly showing him to his Uncle and then, with some coaxing, freeing Willy. We let him out in the grass near where he was captured.  We took lots of pictures with him and said goodbye.  Peep hoped to watch Willy make his cocoon, but Uncle and I explained that it takes too long to watch.  We promised Willy we'd look for him in the spring when he'd be a beautiful butterfly (er...moth).   

 

It's tough being a 3 year old melancholic.

 

Happy Friday!

 Go visit Jen. 

 

Deep dark secret:  I wrote the majority of this on Friday but had to attend a crying Pebble before publishing, so this is getting posted on Sunday.  But you know what? I'm back dating it just because I can.   I don't want to have to rewrite things.

7 Quick Takes - The Rest of September Summed Up

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After resolving to start blogging again, I missed 7QTs two Fridays in a row.  Instead of blogging I was playing way too many rounds of matching games with Peep.   I was also gearing up to have a house full of friends!

But now I have time to type as I sit here comforting Peep who just suffered his first busted-up lip.  There's nothing like a few episodes of Peep and the Big Wide World and Mama's arms to dull one's pain.

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The Saturday before last these awesome people came into town and thus were the cause of great celebration.  We'd planned a nice little barbecue, but then upon remembering that the current grill in this household is about the size of a large book, we downgraded to just brats and hot dogs.  Dinner plans were further foiled when the thunderclouds rolled in, the heavens opened and the men got out of grilling while the ladies did the job on the stove.

Despite the weather, we had a great time!

Party Animals

I'm still impressed by how well the children played.  Peep was very excited for "ALL [his] friends" to come over.  Before the guests showed, we spent a little time roll-playing what to do when his friends wanted to play with his treasures. I was one proud mama because Peep's biggest meltdown was not over sharing but rather the scary lighting and thunder. 

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This past weekend some of the party returned for an encore.  In addition to more fun times with fun people I managed to coerce my sister into running her first 5K!  Notre Dame Right to Life sponsored the race to benefit Women's Care Center. Irresistible!

Now I had not run since Pebble was conceived and barely started running again before that.  The last 5K I ran was high school.  My sister had never, ever run for fun.

With a firm belief (on my part) that this would be a fun challenge and no pressure to compete since "walkers [were] welcome" we signed up.

For having no training whatsoever, I think we did pretty darn good.  Our times weren't stellar, but we came in under my goal.  We ran almost the whole the first half and alternated walking and running for the second half.  My sister seemed shocked when I told her to leave me behind and keep going.  She didn't understand how she "had more energy" than me, the enthusiastic, former runner.  Well, my dear, the fact that there is a decent age gap and I am still less than 6 months postpartum might have a little something to do with it!

We look so confident pre-race. hahaha (photo: NDRTL)

The Sis hanging with her nephews post race.

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Other gems from the last several weeks include the following:

In a most disappointed tone:
"Oh no.  My paper's been accepted."  - The resident theologian upon finding out he's 3 for 3 for conference paper acceptance.

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Question of the week:

Should you frequently clean your preschooler's chair at the kitchen table.  Why yes you should:

Before. Ugh.

After. Ahh.

Will he keep it clean after you scrub it? Absolutely not. He will spill his drink all over it as soon as you take a picture.

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You can't make this stuff up:

Boys playing happily together.  Mama takes advantage of the moment to send a work-related email. 
Sent!  Mama notices a strange reduction of noise in the other room.  Goes to investigate. 

Mom: Where's Pebble!? 

Peep giggling:  I put him in the closet!  He wanted to see my things.*

Mom opens the closet door to find a smiling, giggling Pebble.

Peep:  See! He likes it!

*the numerous toys not scattered on the floor.

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Peep apparently likes locking people in closets.  I came home from work the other day to discover that Peep had locked his father in a closet too.  Thankfully Peep managed to unlock it before the door had to be kicked open.  Looks like I'm next in line...uh oh...


Happy Friday!

Linking up with Jen's 7 Quick Takes.