Cancer And I Need To Have Words.

So listen, I'm super duper sick of writing about cancer. Because it sucks and it's awful and it's evil and I want it to stop affecting my loved ones (and their loved ones). 

But I'm gonna need to go ahead and ask for some more of those Hey Internet, Let's Beat Cancer vibes.

Because my Uncle Felix- an extremely good friend of my family's and my sister Rachel's godfather- was just stricken with cancer. And it's bad. Like, wicked, wicked, inoperable bad. And that's just wrong. Like, wicked, wicked this can't be possible wrong. Because Uncle Fe is the guy who makes the rules. He doesn't depend on the calendar to tell him when Christmas is; he is Christmas. 

Case in point: Whenever he'd visit us as kiddos (multiple times a year), he'd bring a carload of presents. Because (he'd say) that he missed Christmas (he never missed Christmas) or that someone's birthday was coming up and he didn't want anyone else to feel badly because he wasn't sure if he'd celebrated their birthday (he had), and "Dave and Debbie, are you trying to tell me what to do?" (They didn't stand a chance.) 

One year, during our vacation to Cape Cod, he decided that he must've missed everyone's birthday because he arrived with four birthday cakes. One for each Flynn girl. We couldn't possibly be expected to share, could we? (We agreed that no, we could not. Not for something as sacred as an individual birthday.) 

Netflix Wants To Make Your Summer Easier (And Nicer).

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Netflix. (Whoo hoo!)

No one should be surprised by now that my family loves watching movies. And shows. And documentaries. And war epics. (Okay, that last one is a highly specific cross-section of the family which includes just one individual. He’s the tallest. And the only boy. And he’s P.J.)

And I know y’all know how hard I love Netflix. The instant gratification. The nonexistent commercials. And the ability to- say- watch it from nearly any device as I fold laundry/wash dishes/distract the heck outta my children. That’s not to say we haven’t been spending an insane amount of this [rainy] summer outdoors. We have. But sometimes- just sometimes- my overheated, overstimulated, undernapped children need a little help unwinding as we set the table, prep some dinner, and wash our hands for the umpteenth time.

And a crazy li'l fact: Did you know that parents spend nearly double on summertime entertainment for their kiddos than they do during the holidays? And how about this- a one year subscription to Netflix (at $7.99 a month) costs less than taking two trips to the movies with a family of five? (And we haven't even hit the snack bar yet.) Why not do as my family does...and watch a movie after supper...and stay up a little too late...and stay up even longer talking about it...and act out a few pivotal scenes/characters/voices...and ask for a breakfast inspired by the movie the next morning? (Again, a few of these things are very family member-specific.) 

Is There A Penance For That?

What's that old saying- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished? Well, it oughta be amended to include the words And It's Probably Gonna Be Public, Too.

The other night as we were tucking in Nora, she looked up from her laundry list of prayers (people she loves/cupcakes/apples) and asked if we could go to church soon.

P.J. and I exchanged a look. Oh yes, that. Ha HA! Now, my girls are no strangers to church, but our recent weekends have included odd deviations like the norovirus and 36-hour bachelor parties and debilitating morning sickness. And our usual parish has the unfortunate designation of being roughly an eight minute drive away, so sometimes it's easier to tell ourselves that no one would really expect us to travel so far a distance- we'd have to, like, get a room for the night.

The sinner and her accomplice during happier times.

But there's no guilt like a 3 year-old's guilt, so I decided that yesterday we would Make The Effort. There's a perfectly sweet Catholic church less than a block from our house- and sure, only a couple of masses each weekend are spoken in English, but we would Make The Effort to attend one of the English-speaking ones. What good Christians we were gonna be!

As we walked into the 11:15am mass, we were struck by two facts; one, that we were among a handful of non-Hispanic and non-Filipino families. Two, that Susannah- she of the 3am wakin' faction- was looking really tired. But we were there to pray, and we were all looking decently nice. This was an especially big deal for me, since the combo of oppressive humidity and a growing figure comfy in neither maternity nor non-maternity exclusively was making it difficult to wear things out n' about. But the outfit I had chosen- a long maternity tank and favorite lightweight (and elastic) summer skirt was making me feel rather pretty.

Sister Mary Pious, that's me.

The Museum of Science & Industry Combats "Summer Brain Drain-" And Gives You Free Admission!

(I'm more obnoxiously excited than my children to have had the chance to write this sponsored post on behalf of the Chicago Museum of Science & Industry. Seriously. It's ridiculous over here.)

Every single Chicagoan knows the glory of our awesome Museum of Science & Industry; from the famed Science Storms to the impossibly detailed Great Train Story to the charming Main Street (with obligatory ice cream parlor and old-fashioned cinema breaks).

And the MSI has added one more thing to love- their Summer Brain Games program. Created to combat the dreaded "summer brain drain," it's a FREE series of projects and experiments emailed to you all summer long! (Did you know that student-aged kiddos can lose up to three months of learnin' in the summer? I personally don't have that kinda grey matter to spare these days.)

As Nora and Zuzu can attest, these projects are indeed "all ages" (with a teenser bit of parental help). Pretty sure those of you with biggies will be watching your kids fly through these experiments with nary a request for assistance. Here's what we've tackled so far:

Science Project #1: Weather Station/Rain Gauge!

It's been a pretty good summer to measure some rainfall, yeah? Nora and Susannah were up to the task of slicing and dicing a seltzer bottle, inverting the top, adding some gravel, securing the two bottle pieces (with sock monkey tape, natch), attaching a ruler at gravel level, caaarefully setting the rain gauge outside, and proceeding to watch the rain fill their weather station for the rest of the afternoon. Science!

Science Project #2: Super-Stable Structure!

Everyone knows that the best structures feature triangles and a big ol' x in the design. (Everyone knows that.) So we built a completely non-threatened-by-the-elements model of the Hancock Tower out of popsicle sticks. And it is perfect. I'd show you the finished model, but you'd have envy. It's that beautiful.

SO. Here are two clutch tips which I figured I'd share from my experiment experience with the two Little Littles:
-Whenever possible, do these projects outside! Clean-up is a breeze, and it makes you feel like a super parent to combine both learning and fresh air.
-And do not let Susannah hold the tape. Ever. (Ever ever.)

I bet you're wanting in on this action, right? (I know.) Check out- and sign up for- this FREE series of science projects here...and guess what else? With your enrollment into this FREE program, you automatically get one complimentary museum admission.

As someone who lives and dies for the museum's free and discounted days, that's nothing to shake a [taped and measured] stick at.

And guess what else, people? I'm holding a little giveaway, courtesy of our friends at the Museum of Science & Industry: good for four free passes to the Museum of Science & Industry. Yes. And it's open to anyone able to get to our good ol' MSI sometime this year. Stoked? I know. (More details attached to the Rafflecopter below.)

So go sign up. Get your science on. And then I'll see you at the Museum.

I'll be the one hogging the Avalanche Disk.

The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry is offering a fun and free online science program called Summer Brain Games. The eight-week program lasts from June 17, 2013-August 12, 2013 and features a weekly experiment or science challenge that can easily be performed at home with kids of all ages.

Visit msichicago.org/summerbrain now to register for Summer Brain Games and download your free Summer Brain Games kit. As an added bonus, registering automatically gets you a pass to come to the Museum for free this summer.

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.

a Rafflecopter giveaway