Ten on Tuesday

Ten random facts about our current lives...

1. We finally picked out glasses for Robby tonight. They're on order and should arrive in the next 2 weeks. It still bothers me to think of him wearing them, but he's unfazed and even noted that he'll have glasses like me.

2. Joey is picking up so many more words now and really getting the hang of stringing them together. Love his sentences and some of the unusual words he can correctly use, like "empty." Big sentence this past weekend -- Indy. Bite. Dor. (Indy bite dinosaur.) He's still telling this story 3 days later.

3. We handed out the invitations to Robby and Desi's pirates and mermaids birthday party today. I think this is going to be such a cute and fun party. Looking forward starting to shop for the party favors tomorrow with Robby.

4. Bought Joey his own pair of flip flops today so he can stop stealing Robby's and having a meltdown when we take them away. For some reason, he loves them. Is obsessed in fact. And he happily chants "flip flops" (which he pronounces very much like the way he says ketchup, which he is also obsessed with). His chubby little toes look so cute in them too.

5. I'm reading the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and really enjoying it. Not sure how much is fiction and how much is based on the facts of German occupation, but it's fascinating. I have a passion for Depression and WWII history (as seen in my choice of History classes in college and my senior thesis topic). I can't read this book fast enough and may have to find some follow up books on this subject.

6. Finished re-reading Persausion a few days ago. That book is almost tied with Pride and Prejudice as my all-time favorite, but alas, it is just not P&P. Anne does not have the spirit of Elizabeth. Anne is so good and patient; Elizabeth more lively and sharp-witted. And something about Mr. Darcy's haughtiness and misunderstood nature is so attractive. I am well able to fall in love with Captain Wentworth, but I think Mr. Darcy's character, set off by Elizabeth, perhaps make for more tension/friction in the story. Or perhaps it's my favorite because it was my first Jane Austen.

7. Bob and I have agreed to try a new plan for getting our house cleaned up -- 15 minutes of clean-up work every night. I made a nerdy chart in Excel to give ourselves checks for completing our 15 minutes. I guess it's the grown-up version of the star chart.

8. In preparation for our Disney trip, I need to do some major shopping to stock up on some summer clothes for all of us. Otherwise, by the time I'm ready to shop, there will only be sweaters and cordouroys in the stores. Good luck finding a bathing suit then! Looking for lots of bright t-shirts for the boys so it'll be easier to spot them.

9. We've had 3 weeks (more??) of more rainy days than sunny days. It's like Ireland's weather (and meanwhile, they are enjoying hot, sunny, summer weather there). Barely a day goes by without some rain. Everything's been so wet that even when we get a sunny day, the ground is so soaked that we can't really go to the park and such. And ugh, being inside so much and this dreary gray weather is dampening my mood.

10. I am a bit tense about how much of our summer is already booked. The weekend of Robby's party, we have 2 other parties and the weekend after is Krista's baby shower. Then I need to schedule Joey's party. It makes me feel like September will be here much too fast, followed quickly by our Disney trip in October. I need to find a few extra hours (or weekends) to slow things down a little!

Signs of Summer

Couple of things that make me realize summer is here:

1. Watermelon: yum, sweet and cool and the mess makes them ideal for eating outside

2. Ice cream cones (ok, we eat these even in freezing, snowy weather, but still, ice cream cones really say summer)

3. Cool little dudes in sunglasses

4. The sound of lawn mowers: the open windows make it easier to hear the mowers and this noise always sounds like summer to me. Then the smell of freshly cut grass enhances it.

5. The Greek Fair: always around the last week of May/first week of June, and just as the weather starts to heat up. I love that from our open bedroom windows you can hear the shouts and screams of people on the rides.

Happy summer!