Cecilia's on a princess book kick lately, and in an attempt to avoid Disney-fication, we've been exploring lots of different options at our local library - I have a feeling we'll be slowly working our way through ALL of the fairy tale options sooner rather than later, but here are some current favorites:

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--1--



The Apple Pip Princess

Not at all saccharine, beautiful pictures, and a story I actually hadn't heard of before!

--2--

Mercer Mayer's Sleeping Beauty

Yes! THE Mercer Mayer who does the Little Critter books! This one is on the dark side - lots of details I'd never heard of in a fairly long Sleeping Beauty retelling, and I had a little trouble telling the difference between several of the female characters... But beautiful pictures and great text.

--3--



Rapunzel

The pictures! Rapunzel is Cecilia's favorite fairy tale princess, although I'm not sure why... I'm just glad she hasn't asked how exactly Rapunzel "married" the prince when they were alone in the tower, and how exactly Rapunzel ended up getting pregnant with twins.

--4--



Beauty and the Beast

I love love love the style of illustration in this one - it's a nice read as well, flowing language and not overly long.

--5--

And now, for something completely different!

I've been cold-brewing my coffee all summer but it's finally cool enough in the mornings that I really want something warm to drink - I've done instant (blech. But cheap, at least), and I really tried to like a hand-me-down Keurig last year but I just couldn't get the coffee strong enough!

I read about the Aeropress Coffee Maker a while back and while it's definitely more effort than brewing a whole pitcher full of coffee for the week, it's DEFINITELY an improvement on weak coffee & instant coffee! I don't drink enough to justify a real coffee maker, nor do I want something that takes up the counter space that a real coffee maker would take up...

Now I just need to get John Paul to wake up early enough to make it for me! He's DESPERATE to try... But if I'm up before 6 and he's not up until 8, there's no way I'm waiting.

--6--

How about a photo dump for those of you not on instagram?

Our playground game might just have changed for the better...

Giant playground "hamster wheel"

Peter's favorite part of the pumpkin patch we visited

Obligatory "how tall this fall" pictures...

Looking back at last year's pictures, are the twins seriously about as tall as Cecilia was a year ago? Okay, she IS a shortie! Here's 2 years ago for comparison, 3 years, and 4 years... And WHY did I not try to get Peter in a picture? Oh well.

--7--

I think this is the first year we're going to be able to skip trick or treating completely! We're going to an all-day party that's got enough activities to keep everyone happy without having to figure out how to corral everybody while trick or treating and trying to keep them from eating all their candy while walking from house to house - a big win in my book! Now maybe the big kids will forget about it and we can just do parties from now on... 

Linking up with Kelly at This Ain't the Lyceum - go check out more Quick Takes!

Womp Womp

Well, that... Didn't happen.

You know, the posting every day this month?

I tried. Oh well. Saturday was our housewarming party and it went really well! Tasty food, great company, perfect fall weather, and no time for blogging. And Sunday apparently the weeks and weeks worth of exhaustion caught up, because I was bed-bound all day long (aside from the hour in the morning I was up with Elizabeth before I went back to bed, and the hour I was up with Peter while I waited for my mom to get home from Mass) with a horrible headache and stomachache. So once again, blogging wasn't so much on the to-do list.

Not that you really mind! And really, I feel like I could just ignore it except... Well, I said I would do it. And I didn't. So there you have it - sometimes life gets in the way and that's that.

I'll just consider this the end of the pressure for writing every day this month, honestly. It's been fun, but tiring - I hate not having the chance to answer comments on the previous post before I publish the next post, and I haven't had a chance to visit other blogs and comment as much as I usually do. Plus all those "substantive" posts I wanted to get written? Well, making the decision to write every day doesn't magically make it possible to write every day, nor does it guarantee I'll have any brain power left by the time I can write.

Maybe those drafts will get dusted off, and those real posts will get finished. And maybe not.

So I'll just give you a picture of the baby grabbing leaves and leave (ha!) it at that. Maybe I'll have something to stay tomorrow, or maybe not!

Best & Worst {7 Quick Takes}

Kelly's been hosting a Link-toberfest for her Quick Takes this month, and I have yet to answer any of her questions because I always ended up writing my takes before she posted them... But not today! Today my entire POST will be an answer to her question!

Which, in my case, means I'll be listing my 7 most popular and my 7 least popular Quick Takes posts - hopefully you're bored and want to click around for a while, because this should keep you busy!

Looking back, all the least popular posts are from when I first started linking up with 7 Quick Takes - it took a while for people to start consistently clicking through to read what I had to say, clearly!

--1--

We'll start with the 7th most popular post, as well as the 7th least popular...

Most?

22 Catholic Bloggers. 7 Babies. One Conference.

Least?

Coming in at #7 is...

Mary Claire running for Pope!

--2--

Most?

My first Stitch Fix review (I was so hopeful...)!

Least?

Some really amazing conversations with the kids from years ago... Gosh they were funny! Also weird...

John Paul:  I'm a BFF!
Me:  You're a best friend forever?
John Paul:  Yes!  And I'm an OB!
Me:  You're an obstetrician?
John Paul:  AND I'm an obligation.
Me:  What?
John Paul:  I'm a holy day of obligation.  
Me:  Uh...  What holy day of obligation are you?
John Paul:  August 15th.
Me:  Oh.  So what does that make you?
John Paul:  I'm the Assumption!!!

--3--

Most?

A post with links to my 7 favorite posts from 2 years ago... I think I've probably got some new favorites now!

Least?

My very first Quick Takes post! Including a picture of how dramatically different in size the twins were, because Elizabeth took forever to start gaining weight...

--4--

Most?

That post where I drew eyebrows on baby Elizabeth and it ended up getting linked to on College Humor...



Least?

Tiny Elizabeth in a giant hat, and me marveling at all the crafts I let the kids do in one week (it's STILL a big deal if they paint, let's be honest...)

--5--

Most?

My 2nd Stitch Fix Review - and after 4 tries, I can conclude that Golden Tote is by far a better fit for me!

Least?

Blast from the past, a post from almost 3 years ago in which you can marvel at poor Elizabeth's bald head and big ears... Of all our kids, she's the one whose appearance has made the most dramatic improvement since infancy!

--6--

Most?

Mom Style: How to Start - clearly I'm not the only one who needs help!

Least?

My 2nd ever Quick Takes Post (really not interesting....)

--7--

And the most popular post is...

Pregnancy & Post-Partum fashion tips! Because nobody really knows what to do with that awkward belly...

But more exciting, really, is the least popular post...

My 3rd-ever Quick Takes post! Which actually includes some amazing quotes from 2-year-old Cecilia, who was awesome. 4-year-old Cecilia is ALSO awesome, but man she was FUNNY back then!

Judging from the popularity (and unpopularity) of these posts, it's obvious that the best way to get lots of views on your Quick Takes is to write about fashion, and the worst way is to write random things about your kids. At least for me!

Want to see what other people have written? Check it out at Kelly's!

Same Photo, Different Angles {Theme Thursday}

This week, by golly, I'm posting my Theme Thursday pictures on Thursday!

Peter LOVES standing by the screen door and watching everything - it's actually pretty interesting, there are cows across the road in front of the house, and the darned cat is usually around in back, plus there are all those fascinating siblings to watch, too!

However, it's not a great place to get a picture - too much sunlight gives that awkward halo effect ...

A different angle works a little better, although it really just captures the hair I'm in denial is in serious need of a cut... Sadly, it hasn't gotten long gracefully, and is really just scraggly. But I'm afraid that if I cut it it won't be quite so red!

And I was going to try one more angle, but... Well, he was trying to eat the camera. You know how it is.

Linking up with Micaela at California to Korea for Theme Thursday!

Mountain Picnic

Fun fact: Skyline Drive in Virginia gets CRAZY crowded with tourists every autumn as they all decide they want to drive through simultaneously and veeeeery slowly while admiring the views and fall colors.

I figured a Wednesday would be better than the weekend, right?

And it was, but I still got stuck behind very slow cars going there and back...

We met up with some moms from church for a picnic at the rest area - Andrew joked about us really getting our money's worth for the park pass we bought, given the fact that mostly we just go to the visitor center four miles up...

John Paul ran off with the camera and this picture just makes me laugh every time I see it, so I couldn't delete it!

6 moms, 20 kids, and apparently not enough babies for Cecilia (there were 6, plus one in-utero)...

Is it just me, or does it feel like the colors should be more brilliant at this point? There just seems to be a disappointing amount of brown this year, which is sad.

Of course, John Paul's favorite part was the telephone he found by the restrooms... "For Local Calls Only" so of course he called the City of Winchester. Apparently the first two times he left messages asking for bubble gum. But he managed to get through the third time...

John Paul: I just finished making my phone call to the City of Winchester! And this time they actually picked up!

Me: WHAT.

John Paul: I asked them for 10 gum balls and 2 butterscotch candies. I told them to charge it to my account. They asked me for your phone number, Mom!

Me: Did you give it to them???

John Paul: Yup! Then I hung up.

Shockingly they didn't call me to scold me for my son prank calling them... Other than that, though, it was a good time and a beautiful day!