Friday, July 12, 2013

7 Quick Take Fridays

1.  Late Night Swimming

It is such a cool feeling to go swimming at night!  So, last Saturday night after Jay and I returned from our Psuedo date night, we all hopped in the pool.  It was late for the little ones...around 9...but it was special!  Luke loved it!  It turns out we were sharing the pool with the tree frogs who probably didn't like to have their nightly croaking interrupted!  Jay and Luke watched the tree frogs throat puff up with air and then let out it's familiar 'croak' over and over!  Jon acted as 'frog protector' to make sure Peter and Luke weren't too rough!

I think Luke's favorite part of night swimming was catching sight of a couple of bats flying around!  He keeps asking if he can go 'swimming with the bats' again:)

Luke and Jay with the tree frog

2.  He Said/She Said

While we were swimming in the pool.....
Jon:  One of the tree frogs jumped in the pool!
Me:  It's swimming in the pool!?!(insert slightly panicked voice!)
Jon:  Yes!
Me:  I'm just warning you that if it touches me I'm going to scream like a girl!
Mike:  Hate to tell you, Mom, but you are a girl....

3.  Earwigs...a.k.a known as 'pincherbugs' at our house
These yucky bugs are just everywhere this year!  I think it's all the extra rain we have had.  Jay got some spray to put around the doors so at least we won't get them in the house.  But...just, eww!  That's the one thing that stinks about summer..bugs!

4. Well...maybe not all bugs!

Luke:  Mom, do you like dragonflies?
Me:  Yes.
Luke:  I like dragonflies...and frogs.  Dragonflies and frogs are my friends.  (said with big eyes and a super cute grin:)

Dragonflies evoke lots of memories of the older boys when they were little running around the yard catching dragonflies in a big pail and covering the top with a basketball...lol!  When we homeschooled for a couple of years, we even did a graphing lesson with the different colored dragonflies they caught:)

It seems so long ago!  sigh......

5. Washing and Drying Like a Boss!
I was whining sharing my frustration over our broken washing machine a month ago and my dryer with the broken door that only worked with duct tape placed 'just so' and, even then, opened up at some point during the cycle making the laundry process that much longer and more difficult!  

Anyway....we finally bit the bullet 3 weeks ago, after a week of lugging laundry over to my Mom's, our new washer and dryer arrived first thing in the morning!squealllllll!  They work so well!  It takes a third of the time to dry the laundry load!  And everything works without duct tape!  Amazing:)

We decided to go with a high efficiency top loader washing machine.  I love the look of the front loaders, but we had a lot of issues with the doors...and some leaking...and the stupid rubber seal around the door that ripped(twice!) and is super expensive to replace!  I was torn...especially by those shiny red front loaders(!)...but in the end, the top loader felt like the right choice for us.

The best part about the washer and dryer is that they sing!  Well, they don't really "sing", but when the load finishes it doesn't 'beep'.....music plays that sounds like a jewelry box.  The sound is so pretty and it makes me happy! 

Who knew that the way to my heart was appliances...oh, and furniture!  I like that, too.  (An all day shopping trip with a healthy budget is definitely right up there as well!)

6.  Speaking of Appliances....
My parents spoiled me for my birthday and got me a new double oven range because our old one had lots of issues!  We had changed over from oil heat to gas heat 3 years ago using our tax returns because of the crazy cost of oil(best.decision.ever!)..so I was able to get a gas range!  Love it!

7.  A Real Date Night!
My parents gave us a surprise babysitting offer on Monday night so that we could go out to dinner!  We left a little after 6 and were back a little before 8...because we are tired people!  When we got back, my parents were surprised to see us and told us we could of stayed out longer.  Honestly, we couldn't!  I was exhausted!  

It was great to have a little alone time!  

Even better, Jay had a gift card that a generous patient had given him to our favorite restaurant...The Pasta House.  I had butternut squash ravioli with chicken and Jay had their incredible steak tips with red wine sauce and 2 baked stuff shrimp.  We split a tiramisu for dessert! 

Sooooo yummy:) 

We are looking forward to a (mostly) laid back weekend!  Hope your weekend is fabulous!