7 Quick Takes–Summer Time

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Did you know that priests and seminarians have to provide their own transportation? Rosario’s brother is a seminarian in need of a car, and like a good sister Rosario is doing what she can to help. Last year we helped out Marise who wanted to be a nun. (She needed to pay off her college debt before entering the noviate. Vocations are diminishing in part perhaps because young men and women must be debt free to enter. If you are so inclined to help out visit Rosario’s site here.
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Peanut went for fittings this week for cheer team. It still has not sunk in that I am the mother of a bona fide Cheerleader. Not just any cheerleader but a Oklahoma Cheerleader. This is serious business here in Oklahoma, right up with beauty pageants.l
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Speaking of Pageants, Peanut who likes to compete in every sport under the sun has decided that she wants to add the competitive sport of pageants to the list. And believe it or not Daddy has said yes. It is a local pageant put on by the Chamber of Commerce. Daddy even said yes to the dress. We found it on deep discount. it was more than I wanted to pay. My budget was for $20,  but Deacon G convinced Peanut to pony up the difference. She is eager and motivated to do this pageant.  Why do I do these things? Quite frankly we are hoping to get this out of her system. As little girls she and her sister liked to play dress up, we used to keep a bin of dress up clothes. When I asked her why she wanted to do a pageant, she gave a very appropriate response of she wanted to dress up and maybe win a crown. I am very comfortable with her doing the pageant because we have opted to go classic with her other other outfit and did not spend more than $5 on that one. She looks happy in the dress doesn’t she? Did you ever participate in any sort of pageant? I never did but I had friends who did.

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We have been enjoying a little down time here. Our summer started last Friday and we are taking it easy till June. By taking it easy I mean we have enjoyed trips to the library, chess club,  vocal coaching, dance classes and committee meetings for Catholic Charities. I know not so much down town, but we have been enjoying sleeping in.
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I forgot how much teenagers love/need to sleep in. Something about their physiology changes and they all of the sudden need more sleep than babies, and their sleep cycles change so that they need their sleep in the morning not at night. Our teenager is happy to go to bed at 9pm and will sleep in to 9-10am (secretly I think she is staying up reading books). Our little Peanut will soon be 12 and she is going through a growth spurt, eating and sleeping all the time. We are quite happy that she is finally growing. She has always been our petite one. When she was in 4th grade she could still wear clothes she wore in kindergarten. Just this week we measured her and she is now 5’2”. I literally was worried because she was running smaller than me at that age. I know we moms worry about things needlessly.
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Pumpkin and I have been enjoying morning hikes picking blackberries along the way. We have wild blackberries growing along our fences here.. Somehow the black berries never seem to make it back to the house.  We can hardly wait for the pears though.

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Growing up Memorial Day weekend was the kick off to summer. My grandparents lived next door to us and they had a pool which they would open on that weekend. No matter how cold it was we always took advantage of the pool. As kids we did not care, water was water to us. I could never understand why the grown ups did not swim with us. Now I understand completely. I will not go swimming unless it is over 90 degrees outside. (I know I have lived in Oklahoma too long.)
Not only did my grandparents open the pool we often did so with a big Memorial Day Party. You see my Dad’s birthday was May 28th. This always seems to fall on Memorial Day weekend. We would have the proverbial “cook out”. I think my favorite food was the marinated shaved steak, and my grandmother’s clam chowder, this was in Rhode Island after all.
Do you have a favorite Memorial Day Tradition or Favorite Memorial Day Food?

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