This Week in Pictures

by | Jul 17, 2015 | 7 Quick Takes, Photography | 17 comments

Hey! Been wondering what the week has looked like around here? No? Too bad. Here goes.
1. This week in modern conveniences . . . We were without air conditioning from Sunday through Thursday. In the Valley. In July. But we survived. Pope Francis would be really proud of us. Even though it did get up to ninety in the mid-afternoon most days, it cools down enough in the evenings to open the house up, then once it started getting hot by mid-morning, we closed all the windows and curtains and turned on the fans. Cave living. It was manageable, even super-pregnant.
So, ya know, interesting experiment and all, but I do prefer to have it. The new unit was installed yesterday, and I want to make sure it knows that it’s appreciated.

2. This week in the liturgical year . . . we haven’t been doing anything too involved for saints’ days recently. But I can usually manage us a dessert.

Yesterday was Caramel Brownie Teacup Sundaes for Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

Earlier in the week was St. Kateri. I celebrated that one by shutting the kids outside all day and making them forage for their own food. (Mostly) kidding.

3. This week in Frankie . . . In an exciting development, Frankie has moved past general naughtiness
into full on thievery. I found over forty dollars in ones, fives, and
change in his various pockets yesterday morning when we were doing the laundry.

Sigh.

HE has NO IDEA where it came from. My guess is that it’s Jack’s money
from his job bringing in trash cans around the neighborhood. Or maybe
Frankie’s been secretly bartending.

We’re going to get this kid sorted. It’s going to happen. But it hasn’t yet.

4. This week in living nightmares . . . Betty has been gone at sleepaway camp with the Sacred Heart Sisters in the local mountains all week.

Jack and Bobby went away the week before, but I gotta say, our daily efficiency is not all that adversely effected by the absence of those two.

I miss Betty. I’m sure she’s having fun. But I MIGHT be counting down the seconds until tomorrow.

5. This week in Netflix . . . this box arrived out of the blue full of How to Train Your Dragon stuff.

Ironically, a TV show-themed gift box kept the kids occupied outside for quite some time. So THAT was awesome.

But I did finally give in to their carefully phrased requests to watch the new series on Netflix, it’s called Race to the Edge. After all, they JUST want to help me be a better blogger.

Here is their review:

  • It happens between the two movies. 
  • It has all the characters, except the dad looks kinda weird on the TV show. 
  • It’s totally awesome and we love it.

6. This week in my kids all look the same . . . Check out the caricature my parents got of the kids at the San Diego Zoo:

We just have the one model. We keep having it again and again. Good thing it’s cute.

7. This week in belated link-ups . . . Here’s what we wore last Sunday, when I was at 38 weeks:

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

17 Comments

  1. Angie

    I'm sorry, but Frankie having no idea where the money comes from makes me chuckle! It's a good thing he's cute!

  2. Sarah @ Ordinary Days

    It took me far too long to realize that, no, you did not somehow magically defy gravity and stick your caramel brownie sundae teacup on the wall. I am very special.

  3. Nancy Shuman

    I LOVE your "my air conditioner is the love of my life" illustration. Absolute Perfection.

  4. Liesl

    That picture of you loving the AC is pure gold. I'm sure it will behave since it feels so loved!

  5. AnneMarie

    I love the outfit you wore in the air conditioning picture!! So classy!

  6. Ali

    I think your new AC should feel sufficiently loved! What a great picture…and what a lot of linens they layered around the home in the 1950's.
    We have the same weather pattern in inland San Diego and I've been able to go AC free about 90% of the days. But I'm not pregnant. When I'm pregnant I need the AC on in the dead of winter.

    I have a 3.5 year old cut from the same cloth as Frankie. As I type he is trying to jump over me & the computer on the couch. He is money obsessed and takes any money he finds anywhere. so far though it is just pennies and a few larger coins. He would be so impressed with Frankie's stash.

  7. Amanda

    Thank you for that picture. Our upstairs ac is dead so we're all living downstairs, since in Dallas it does NOT get "open the windows cool" in July. Even at 2 am. Fortunately, only 2 people sleep up there and they can be moved to the floor since they are not pregnant. But that adoring pic really perked me up.

    I'm just glad the baby held off for Betty's return. Could my baby hold off until I have a helpful 10 year old daughter? It's only 6.5 more years.

  8. Elizabeth

    Funny, my AC is dying, too! I have to go outside and stick something long and skinny into the unit to give the fan a push to make it start. What is up with all the AC issues? AC is definitely high on my list of reasons I'm so glad to live now (rather than 100 years ago, right up there with modern optometry and hot showers).

  9. Anonymous

    Some of these totally cracked me up!

  10. Catie

    I am trying to feel sorry for you about the A/C because being that pregnant and hot is not fun, but seriously, it is probably just as hot in my house right now and my A/C is 'working.' People in Southern California are not allowed to fuss about the weather. 🙂 We practice cave living here for several months out of the year. (Oklahoma, just in case you are curious. Wonderful people. Craptacular weather.)

    Frankie is a hoot, mostly because he isn't my son. Don't worry though. Some of mine are eerily similar to him. And they all look the same, too.

  11. Kelly M.

    Addie is going to sleep away camp with sisters in NH this Saturday, until Sunday, and I already miss the extra set of hands. Even though Tony is working from home more, it's just not the same. She's the Robin to my Batman, the Tonto to my Lone Ranger, and the Jimmy Olsen to my Superman.

  12. Nanacamille

    We got our first window air-conditioning unit in the early 1950s It was in my parents bedroom window and eventually the TV was moved in there and we are dinner in there. It's hot in Memphis in the summer and my mom did actually lock us out of the house in the day time. We got another unit for the den but not for kids bedrooms. We had to tough out the heat and humidity.

  13. Amelia Bentrup

    So, I imagine the Valley is very hot and dry. Is there any truth to the whole "it's not the heat, it's the humidity thing." You've been in humid summer heat before.. Do you find dry CA valley heat, easier to take than the humid East Coast or Midwest heat? I think it cools off a lot more at night in the desert, which might make the lack of a/c a bit easier to take, I would think,but I've never been there, so I don't really know.

    We've lived with and without a/c and my experience is that it's definitely managable to be without a/c as long as it cools off at night considerably (like into the low to mid 60's), but when it doesn't, it is absolutely miserable. Now, we have a/c and I love it. I need to go stand in front of it admiringly, so it knows how much I appreciate it.

    • Kendra

      The nice thing about dry heat is that it really means shade makes a difference. When we're in Chicago, it's hot in the sun and hot in the shade. It's just hot. But here, we really can be outside relatively comfortably, as long as we stay in the shade, even when it's pretty darn hot. It's still really nice to have the air conditioning though.

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Hi! I’m Kendra.

For twenty years now, I’ve been using food, prayer, and conversation based around the liturgical calendar to share the lives of the saints and the beautiful truths and traditions of our Catholic faith. My own ten children, our friends and neighbors, and people just like you have been on this journey with me.

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