Friday, September 25, 2015

7 Quick Takes about a Not-So-Elaborate Announcement, How to Be a Hillbilly, and the Real Reason I'm Always Late

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! Summing up the last 7 days in 7 quick takes. How was your week?

1


Big news, guys. Here's the email I sent Phillip at work to tell him about it:

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
World's smallest pregnancy test, bought at Dollar Tree.
Readers on my blog's Facebook page assured me they were accurate. Thanks, guys!

We're expecting #6! 

(Phillip did email me back to say that "it was upside-down," which actually isn't true. I'm not sure why the control stripe on top is fainter than the test stripe below it. I guess I am just SUPER pregnant.)

2


As I typed Phillip's email, all the elaborate "pregnancy reveal" ideas floating around Pinterest and the Internet in general went through my head.

It made me laugh because Phillip is so chill about everything that putting effort into any type of reveal for him would be a hilarious waste of time.

I could take him out for dinner and secretly hire the waitstaff to perform a musical number I'd written and choreographed months beforehand that ended with an explosion of confetti and the words "WE'RE PREGNANT!" spelled out in flatware from the kitchen, and he'd be like, "That's great! I think I'll have the grilled salmon."

Engineers are stable folk, and that's one reason I love Phillip. He keeps me grounded.

3


My 6th grader has always been artistically-minded, and lately in school they've been talking about something called "foreshortening." It makes a flat drawing look 3-D from a certain perspective.

Here are some cool examples:


Inspired, she went outside with some sidewalk chalk and made this cool "splash" in the driveway.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}

I think she's on her way.

4


Phillip is always experimenting in the kitchen and going on food jags of one kind or another. Lately he's been mixing up some kind of lemonade-like drink every night after the kids go to bed and sipping it as he works overtime on engineer-y stuff.

I give him a hard time about it because he shakes it all up in a quart-sized mason jar and drinks it right out of the jar. I call it his hillbilly juice.

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Yeee-hawww!

5


What would you say if your preschooler came to you with this and asked, "Do you know what this picture is?"

It's 7 Quick Takes Friday! How was your week?  {posted @ Unremarkable Files}
Preschool pictionary: the game where nobody ever wins.

Usually I sidestep the question with a Mr. Rogers-like statement: "It looks like you worked hard on this. Can you tell me about it?"

But no, she wanted me to guess what it was.

"Okay..." I said, exhaling for a long time. "A caterpillar? A laser gun? A block of charming San Francisco row houses with a big satellite dish at the end?"

All wrong.

"What is it, then?"

"I don't know," she replied, and skipped away.

She set me up!

6


I'm always late, and it's partly a conscious decision. I actually dread getting somewhere early and then having time to kill, especially when I've got little kids in tow.

Except every now and then when I decide, "Let's go early so we're not rushed." Like Thursday at the doctor. My toddler, preschooler, and I arrived nearly 25 minutes early!

I sauntered up to the receptionist's desk, feeling excessively proud of myself, and was notified that the doctor was running a half-hour behind.

The universe is reinforcing my bad behavior.

Over the next 50 minutes, my toddler and preschooler and I took walks in the hallway. We read books, made commentary on what was outside the window, and ate snacks out of my purse.

All the time I was desperately hoping that no one in the waiting room would say THE WORST THING anyone can possibly say in that situation.

And then some well-meaning soul went ahead and did it: "Your kids are being so good!"

Practically before she could finish her sentence, my son threw himself on the floor like he was at a Pentecostal revival, kicked and screamed his way under a chair, and had a convulsive fit over a water bottle.

This is why I'm never, ever early.

7


As I write this, the kids are repeatedly asking Siri, "What does the fox say?" and laughing at her answers.

What did my children do before they could badger an inanimate being with the same nonsense question over and over?

Oh that's right, they badgered me. Well, maybe technology isn't so bad after all.

Click to Share:
Unremarkable Files

24 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey hey! Congratulations (not so fancy reveal and all!). I wanna learn the 3D art thing or teach it to my kids. I've been sending them out to our patio in the afternoons to draw as it's fenced in and resembles playing outdoors.

Unknown said...

My kids are having my phone translate everything to German since we had an exchange student. Now they have discovered saying nonsense words into it and always really enjoy that!
During our county fair I had a woman tell me she thought my kids were 'the nicest kids in the COUNTY' Can you even imagine the scene that followed that!
Also, Congratulations! That is one thing that is a little bit of a bummer bout having a lot of kids. Doing something exciting once or twice is way more exciting each time than after you have done it 5 or 6 times.

Anonymous said...

Congrats!!! And your 6th grader is hugely talented...love that splash!

Rachel said...

Congratulations!! The drama of the announcement does not always correlate exactly with the importance of the news. :)

Jenny said...

Yay! I don't know you in person but I love reading about your family because your kids are hilarious! The tantrum thing is right on. That's exactly why I never go early.

Jenny Evans said...

That counts as outdoor time, I'm sure! There are lots of cool 3D art videos on YouTube, I bet an artistic person (i.e: not me) could teach themselves from those.

Jenny Evans said...

Wow, in the whole county... that's a lot of pressure. I'm sure your kids did their best to defend that reputation. For a few minutes, anyway.

Maple Sugar said...

Congratulations on Baby #6. Also, thank you for making me feel better about each time I told my engineer husband I was pregnant (we have three kids). I got some sort of congratulatory sentence consisting of two or three words with a smile and hug, promptly followed by him rolling over to go back to sleep. Yes, so chill.

Jenny Evans said...

Just the other day I was at the grocery store with my two youngest when a lady told me "You have your hands full, but I bet you're just laughing all day long!" I just smiled and agreed because I didn't want to give her a heart attack, but I wonder what she'd have said if she knew I had three more at home who are just as hilarious.

Jenny Evans said...

Engineering: it's not just an occupation, it's a way of life.

Queen Mom Jen said...

Congrats on baby #6! I think an email is fancy. Once I just left it on the counter and figured the hubs would see it eventually. That was probably not the best way....

Amy said...

Congrats on the new baby. Adventures ahead!

Chaun said...

Woohoo! Congrats to you guys!

Also that water splash is amazing

Jenny Evans (sister, not author) said...

Mom, Dad, and I just watched a documentary called Tim's Vermeer. It's about an inventor who tries to figure out amd replicate Vermeer's ability to paint so realistically. I think a certain artist I know, not to mention Phillip, would wnjoy watching it. Dad and I keep talking about how much we wanted to do something like that. I think I might do something creative with my day tomorrow!

Jenny Evans (sister, not author) said...

Oh, and yay on the baby! Can't wait for a new niece or nephew to snuggle :)

monika said...

Congratulations!!!
Well, at least he read it. Me too ive found out last week i m pregnant (with our no. 4) and sent a txt to my husband about it. Accually, even less ellaborate then you, no picture:-) It turns out hubby had a crazy busy day at work and didnt see it. When he got home after work i was bit upset about it, so decided to wait and see how long he will take to see it. It was only at bedtime when he took his phone out of his bag to set up allarm clock when i hear : " oh, what is it here!" :-) His reaction compensated for it all!

I like your little ones pictionary!

PurpleSlob said...

Wait- there's 2 Jenny Evanses???
Congrats on #6! I hear they're cheaper by the half doz. Lol Doesn't work with eggs tho.
Wow, you have a talented girl there!
I just love you and your family. You make it sound so fun. I babysat a 3 yr old, a2 yr old, and 9 month old for 2 days, and I can hardly move or talk today. That's why grandmothers don't have the kids, you younguns do.
Hillbilly juice- haha. Yep, that's exactly how we drink it!

Jenny Evans said...

The other Jenny Evans is my sister-in-law. Apparently "Jenny" was a pretty popular name to give your babies in the early 80s.

Jenny Evans said...

I think it sounds legit!

Jenny Evans said...

We'll look around for it, thanks for the recommendation. We were just looking at the selection of free movies on Amazon Prime last night and just about lost our faith in humanity with how many dumb movies there are out there.

Jenny Evans said...

Congratulations to you, too! I love the "reveal" story.

Handsfullmom said...

Congratulations! I hope you're feeling well.

Jenny Evans said...

I haven't died yet or let my kids starve to death yet, but I can't say a whole lot more than that, unfortunately.

Kelly said...

Congratulations! Baby #6, yay!