Tiger Boy? Tiger Boy????

1.
This is a scandalous way to start things out, but I can't help it.  It's just too funny not to share.

On the Fourth of July, I was doing something or other when I realized that my brother-in-law was turning a deep, deep shade of red as he talked to 5 year old Lucy.  So I began to listen in.

"I don't understand what you're saying, bud," Andy said to Lu.
"Basically," answered Lucy, using her favorite word, "my Daddy sometimes makes his wife call him Tiger Boy."

Andy could not look at me in the eye. 

Let me back up real quick and mention that Lucy was, in fact, explaining something about the videogame Skyrim (in which the main character looks like a tiger.  Chris went ahead and named his character "Tiger Boy" because Lucy really, really wanted him to.  In Skyrim, Tiger Boy has a wife, and she sometimes calls him by name.)

Andy, of course, had no way of knowing this at the time.  Luckily for me, I've reached the age where I find it unequivocally hilarious.  Unluckily for my barely-out-of-childhood brother-in-law, though, he probably doesn't.

2.
We found out that we are going to be audited by the IRS, our pool sprung a leak and Chris' iphone was submerged in water all on the same day.  Why is it these things always happen in threes?  At least, I really hope it's in threes because we're about as tapped out as we can get.  (And if you are wondering why Chris' cellphone is in the "disaster" category, it's because everything Chris needs to run his business is on there.  Why do we never back these things up?  Because we are lazy and stupid.  How did it end up fried? Chris left it in his swimsuit pocket and then jumped into the -not yet leaking- pool.)

3.
What the (bleep) am I supposed to do with a housefull of kids in 95+ degree weather when we can't swim?  (I know, I know, this is totally a first world problem.)  We went to the park yesterday, and after pouring out buckets of sweat we left after about an hour, leaving me with eight long hours to fill until dinnertime.  I hadn't realized how dependent I've become on the pool for entertainment.

4.
Chris and the girls have been watching a lot of pawn and antique-themed shows lately.  Claire found a penny from Nambia in the couch cushions the other day (yeah, I have no idea where it came from, either) and Beth decided that she absolutely had to have it.  Negotiations ensued, and Beth ended up paying Claire $7 for it.  I had no idea that this was going down, until Beth (proudly!) told me about it at bedtime.  What blows my mind is that I really don't think Claire (who is a year and a half younger than Beth, remember) meant to scam Beth out of money.  I think Beth was so excited to have something to barter over that she jumped at the chance and forgot to actually...you know, make it fair.  Claire is not complaining, though!

5.
Related to #4:  I've realized that the girls really have their own world going on, a world that intersects with and is irrevocably joined to my own, but completely independent.  There are times (and it is happening more and more) when I hear the back-and-forth between them and have no idea what they are talking about.  I remember feeling that way as a child, as though my life was covered in fairy dust that the adult world could not see.  I love seeing it in my kids, and I love the bonds that are growing up between them.  I am, also, kind of proud of the fact that I don't feel any jealousy about this.  Actually, maybe "proud" is not the word so much as "grateful."  For so long, I have been the center and summit of everything the girls do, and to suddenly find myself at times outside of their goings-on is somewhat disconcerting, but so far it has not been painful.  I can't chalk that up to anything but pure grace.

6.
I still don't have a camera, but here are some pictures I stole from my aunt:

7.
I had such a great time visiting with family in Pittsburgh last month!  It reconnects something in my soul to sit around and listen to that unmistakeable burst of crazy-loud laughter when my family finds something funny (and if they find it funny, you always know it really is.)  There is nothing like a party in Pittsburgh.  Nothing.  I love all of you so much!!!

Thanks to Conversion Diary for hosting 7 Quick Takes!