7 Quick Takes Friday: Catching Up

one.

What better way to catch up on a bunch of neglected posting, than with 7 Quick Takes, right?  Maybe I'll take care of all the things I meant to say in one fell swoop, and then we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming.

two.

Way back on Friday, June 8th, we joined up with the thousands of other people in nearly 200 cities across the country, to rally for our religious freedom.  It was kind of a huge undertaking for me, being in the heart of a big city which I am not accustomed to navigating (especially on my own, in my gigantic van with a brood of kids in tow), but I knew in my heart it was the right thing to do, so we went.  It was educational, motivating, and a true display of faith and patriotism, and the older boys will not soon forget it.  I'm so glad we participated.  We even came home with a souvenir:

three.

Our gardens are growing nicely.  The strawberries that we planted last year have multiplied, and are giving us bigger berries and more of them.  I love to see the boys head back to the berry patch and just pick and eat.  Makes me forget we live in the city.

The blueberry bushes that did nothing last year did produce some fruit this year, but we're still waiting for it to ripen, and what's there seems to be getting eaten a little at a time by something.  I know blueberry bushes are slow to become happy in a location, and develop over a period of years, so I'm still hopeful that we'll get fruit from them in the future.

We also planted one raspberry bush last year, and it is spreading like crazy!  We have yet to see any fruit on them, but it's early yet and they are covered in flowers.

We also have roma tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, zucchini, bell peppers, green onions and sugar snap peas, all coming along.  The boys planted their own garden with pumpkins and watermelon.

four.

My (current) baby is TWO!  Sebastian turned two on Father's Day.  This is what you look like in your birthday pictures, when Grandma and Grandpa gift you with a water table minutes before you blow out your candles:

five.

Two days later it was Isaac's turn, now he's four.

He is a very happy four-year-old.

six.

Last weekend I attended our local Catholic Homeschool Conference.  It was such a good experience, and I feel refreshed and ready to plan our coming year.  We've wrapped up this year for the most part, and are enjoying our summer break.  I've got 6 weeks before this baby comes, and I plan to use every minute of that time getting ready (for baby and school!).

seven.

Oliver.  Just Oliver.

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