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Seven Quick Takes

26 July 2013

Linking up with Jen


1. Numero Uno item of business today is to thank you ALL so much for all of your birthday wishes! I've said it 50 times and I'll say it 50 more ... the people that read this ridiculous blog are the very best and the very nicest people and I'm most undeserving of your readership. Thank you thank you thank you!!

2. Okay, realquick becausenoonecaresaboutyourbirthdayasmuchasyouthinktheydo ... I had the best day yesterday as Simon arranged for a sitter to come for four (4!!!!!!!!!) whole hours while I got to read a book with no interruptions and undergo the torture that is: mani + pedi while a gift card to The Beauty Store burned a hole in my pocket because even though our bathroom cabinet is notexactlyempty ... Simon knows I'm a product junkie. We'd never had that particular sitter before and when she texted that "Leo" was napping (100% my fault as I sprinted out of the house before she could change her mind while Julia was showing her the nonexistent but VERY painful booboo on her knee - so she probably had to rely on Julia's articulated speech to figure anything out) I hoped that the kids weren't killing her softly but when I got home the house was sparkling and the kids were happy so ... dream come true. Babysitters take note: if you clean my house while you babysit ... I will love you FOREVER.

3. I will admit that while the kids napped yesterday I found myself aimlessly wandering the house not because I didn't have anything to do (hello dryer of 99 loads of clean laundry) I've gotten in the religious habit of always blogging during that time. Blogaholism is a thing and I've got it bad. BAD. I need to give you guys a breather every once in a while. But ... just as I was wishing that our oven worked so that I could bake (my favorite food of all time) a carrot cake ... the doorbell rang and behold: a package of Carrot Cake Larabars from sweet Hallie. The only problem is that the (picky) kids LOVE them so ... battle of the Pattons whenever I open yet another one.

4. and 5. and 6. because this really deserves its own post

Okay let's talk about a human being that is not memememememememmemememeME.

Emily!! My sister Emily ...


(and before she books it into an Internet cafe and sees this: she's single ... just throwing that out there to the readers with eligible brothers!)

She just finished hiking Camino de Santiago (way of St. James) in Spain. When she told me she was going to do this with her bff+e Chanelle I was like ... well, that's cool. Very cool. And when she texted me a photo of what she would be wearing for said hike ...


... the 90s style catastrophe that was the pants that could zipper off into shorts? I was like hmmmmmm ... are those really necessary?!

But, yes. Because do you know how many MILEZ she hiked with her bff+e Chanelle?


(she's one in from the right and Chanelle is on the far right)


FIVE HUNDRED AND THIRTY. 

Holy Curse.

If you're not familiar with the "walk" (as I was NOT) let me direct you here. (Yes, it is an Aboutdotcom page ... I'd rather not cut/paste/plagiarize so ... go). Anyway, I was up with Theo in the middle of the night on Wednesday and saw on Twitter that there had been a really bad train crash in the city she was in ... she is totally fine but that was a very pit-in-the-stomach few hours. Anyway -- bravo to Em and Chanelle. Bra to the freaking vo.



"Santi-freaking-ago. More blood, sweat, and especially tears than I could have even imagined. Words cannot express the emotions, but I made it. God is Love."

I almost can't even look at this picture without getting a little bit emotional and proud. Pardon my big sisterself.

7. Okay back to America. And the yawny Pattons. (And please accept my apology if you already saw this on Facebook or Twitter)


Catholic St. Louis (the Magazine of the Archdiocese of St. Louis) interviewed us over the squawks of the kids back in May. They focused on "keeping it real" and if you want to read about an impressive family that is not us ... start on page 12 ... and we're just one turn over on page 14. Thank you Jennifer Brinker for not making us sound like the people that stammered "uhhhh ... hmmm ... yeah ... I don't know" because WE DID. We're those chatty people that are great at creating awkward pauses. Pray you never meet us in real life.



And off to the weekend you go. Awdy-ose.


33 comments:

  1. Congrats to your sis (I'll forward this to my brother bc we would love him to find a nice Catholic girl ;)

    Did you see the movie "The Way?" About the camino and ho hum but beautiful scenery.

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  2. wow! that's so sweet that your sister did the whole thing! i did the last couple of miles when i was studying abroad in spain, but the whole thing? she's amazing (just like her older sister). i'm so happy she's ok, too. that train thing was/is incredibly scary.

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  3. Loved your article! That is such an awesome family pic! How are you able to get your three to look at the camera at the same time? Simply amazing.

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  4. Yay for your sister! I did the Camino last summer and man-it is SUCH an incredible experience, from start to finish! I love hearing about other pilgrims. Bravo!

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  5. That's so cool that she got to hike the camino! I got to see The Way a couple of years ago and was mucho impressed.

    I'm glad she was safe from the train wreck... My brother's friend just finished hiking the camino as well; he's fine. His parents and sister, though, were on the train. His dad and sister are in the hospital in Spain, but will be fine. His mom died. Please pray for them!

    God bless!

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  6. Yay for good, cleaning sitters!
    Congrats to your sister and her friend! Impressive!
    Wonderful article with great pics! Well done!

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  7. Y'all are just too cuuuuuute. Sounds like you had a great birthday- you deserve it! And also, I also pic text outfits to my sisters but we ask each other things like "does this outfit make me look like a maw maw?"

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  8. You need to see "The Way" with Emiiiiiiiiiiillllliiiiiiiiiooooooooooooooooo! And his daddio, Martin Sheen, of course. It made me want to do El Camino... someday, maybe!

    Also, you're like super Catholic famous now. I'm guessing you'll have new flocks of people on el blog, what with being published IN A MAGAZINE!!! (Famous!)

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  9. I think the triple stroller should have been in the pic too! : )

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  10. Well done, Sis! I did the Camino by bicycle in 2011 and it was an incredible experience. I'm still processing the life changing lessons it brought my way. And that adorable family photo from the article? Can you use it for your Christmas card?

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  11. You definitely deserved a great birthday! Congrats on the magazine article! Very cool although I think you guys should've been the cover models (everyone here will agree)!

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  12. LOL. Okay first, great post and NOOOOOOOOOOOOO you have to post daily. I was going through major withdrawals yesterday. Just sayin'.

    Secondly, I have an eligible brother who's looking for a good Catholic girl to be his forever. 22 yrs old. Almost finished getting his degree in biomedical engineering AND...dun dun dun...applying for medical school. And he's not short and Asian like me (I'm adopted). I'm always on the lookout for him, as I'm sure he'd just roll his eyes incessantly if he really knew.

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  13. okay well let's get this ball rolling!!

    And I JUST made the connection that I think you went to FUS?? I'm hoping I'm not wrong here ...

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    1. Okay, sorry, last comment was from my phone and just sounded weird. Yes, I'm an FUS alumni. I think we might have even graduated around the same time, which makes me want to break out the good ol yearbook except it's where the napping child is, so I will consult later. Not to sound all stalkerish because I primrose I'm not...but, I saw you once on a flight back to school. The only reason I remember is because you have the most gorgeous hair

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    2. And apparently my iPad isn't any better...it cut me off. To continue, I always wanted blonde hair growing up. I used to dream about having blonde headed children, until my mom brought reality to me. Anyway, I figured out we went to the same school when you gave a talk on chastity or modesty or something related. So, there you go.

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  14. Aw, I walked the whole camino in 2010. It's when I decided that, yes, I would marry my now-husband. Those pictures made my heart pound a little with the memories. Ask your sister how her feet are doing.

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  15. Cant wait to get my copy and read the article! And I totally teared up reading about your sister. that is so awesome.

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  16. I once babysat for a family and didn't understand the baby's name when they dashed out the door. He kept crying allllll evening and I kept bouncing him and rocking him and walking around the house looking for a name label on a picture or toy or wall hanging. Didnt work. I tried calling him different names to calm him and kept guessing wrong. His older brother came home from a friends finally, and told me the kids name. And it worked, he finally shut up.

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  17. Very cool! And not that YOU wouldn't be prepared for this, but just so you know...4 years from now, some random people will tell you they saw that article. I might be speaking from experience.

    Sounds like a fab birthday and congrats to your sis that's awesome.

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  18. Grace, happy birthday, and please tell your sister I said congrats! Would you mind sending this to her for me?
    http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/cw/post.php?id=723

    Thanks, I don't have her email :)

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  19. Happy belated day o' birth and congrats on the magazine feature -- I appreciated your take on Catholic parenting.

    I don't mean to be that mom, but had to share our homemade version of the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Since we won't be doing the Camino anytime soon, this is what I came up with for the kids:

    http://slowmama.com/parenting-children/little-pilgrims-the-camino-for-kids/

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  20. Happy belated birthday :( oops.... and please don't give us a breather on the blogging thing, thanks :)

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  21. Wow!! High five to your sister!!
    (And cute pic of your familia!)

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  22. I saw the article in Catholic St. Louis, and said to my husband "Hey, I know her!.... actually, I just read her blog, but, yeah." He was very confused; sometimes I'm not sure he knows what blogs are =P Great article!

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  23. My parents just did the Camino as part of their 30th anniversary. My husband thinks we should do that for our 30th, and he has 24 years to talk me into it, so I might give in eventually.

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  24. In regards to your sister clothing choice I believe they're called "shants" as in combo pants and shorts a la Phil Dunphy. Super cute pic of your lovely fam and happy belated bday!!

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  25. Happy Birthday!!! ....way late, as usual. Because can I do anything on time these days? Nope. You're the most stunning twenty-two-year-old I've ever seen.

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  26. yeah that whole hiking the camino thing is pretty impressive. did you know fr. dave pivonka? i'm not a FUS grad, but know him via friends and the fact that he "married" us. he wrote a book about it anyway and it was fun to live vicariously through his journey.

    happy bday! glad you got some much needed/deserved time "off"!

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  27. Happy Belated Birthday and carrot cake is pretty much the best thing ever....or at least the cream cheese frosting is. Off to look up the cc lara bars right now...
    That picture of y'all for the magazine turned out so nicely! Christmas card material???
    And how awesome is it that your sister walked the camino?! If we were minus two little girls, my hubs and I would be all over that. The lack of an athletic bone in my body might present a problem too but at least I can dream. :)

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  28. So, my brother in law just finished the Camino the same day as the crash (feast day eve). He's a priest...sorry :-) who was spiritual director for the FOCUS pilgrims.

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  29. The article was great! I read your blog because it's so funny and because it takes me back to the crazy time of all littles. Even though I still have a mobile baby who I pick up after day and night, I have big kids now who help and life is actually orderly sometimes. And believe it or not, reading your blog I feel nostalgic for spending the entire morning getting toddlers dressed for the park. Yes, I must be crazy. ;) Or you are a really good writer!

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  30. Great article! I have to admit that when I saw Emily's outfit, I couldn't immediately figure out what was wrong with it... Probably because I dress like that almost every weekend. But then, I also knew that was a crazy long hike, and I know that hiking makes you not care about how you look, only how you feel. Anyway, all that rambling to say way to go, Emily! And I'm glad you had such a great birthday.

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