7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 22)

Yes, I know it's Sunday now, and this is very late.  I wrote "takes" #1-5 early last week, before we went to visit the in-laws for Thanksgiving.   I intended to finish up the last two on Friday and post them while there, but their computer was being frustrating and didn't let me.  So I'm finishing it up now!

- 1-

 Sly and I have been on a little crafting kick.  I find it's a good way to keep him calm and out of trouble, and also to provide me with a more interesting way of entertaining him than just reading the same books for the one thousandth time.  I've been digging back into my memories of kindergarten for inspiration.  Last week, we did the classic "hand turkeys" for Thanksgiving.

Sly wanted lots of feathers on his baby turkey.

-2-

We also tried playing with some clay I discovered in the craft cabinet.  I thought it might be a disaster, but Sly was good with it, and didn't make a mess at all.  I showed him the gist of how to work with clay, and then asked him what he'd like to make.  He said a kitty.  While he worked to mould* his little ball into a kitty, he narrated what he was doing: "Make a paw.  Make a tail.  Make a bum."  haha!  I was pretty impressed at his understanding of all the parts that make up a cat.  But in case you start thinking I have a child genius on my hands, let me just show you the results of his cat-moulding...

hmm, yes - indisputably a bunch of cats...

-3-

Speaking of cats...I took a picture recently of one of my poetic masterpieces made with our ancient Magnetic Poetry set (remember when those were cool?) which we have on the metal cabinet we use as a pantry.

And I made it the cover art for my facebook page.  Oh yeah.

-4-

I am trying really hard to get all our Christmas shopping done before December.  It would be so nice to just have a low-stress Advent for once.  I remember when I was a kid how much I LOVED Christmas shopping.  Of course, my parents gave me the money to buy gifts for themselves and for my brothers, and since I was a kid, I felt zero pressure to pick out the "perfect gift" (actually, it's probably just that since I was a kid, I was delusional enough to believe that whatever I had picked out was perfect).  But now, gift-giving is incredibly stressful to me - the huge cost, the need to think up something the other person will actually enjoy.  Sometimes I wish I could say, "how about we just stop giving each other gifts" to most of the people in my life.  Sometimes you can get away with that.  But with most people you can't.  Sigh.

-5-

Stella Update:
I think Stella's in that stage you hear about where babies don't understand that they have a being distinct from their mother....you know, that mom is actually a part of them.  Which means that sometimes when I walk from the room, a previously-content Stella will suddenly burst into tears.  It's sad but also sorta sweet.  As long as I'm nearby, though, she's usually happy to just watch me and smile.

We've started to put her to bed a bit before our own bedtime, which means for the first time in months, there's actually an hour or so each day that's entirely kid-free!  I cannot WAIT until her and Sly both go to bed at the same time :-D

-6-

We were invited to brunch at our friends' house this morning [Sunday].  When I heard they were serving waffles, I was a bit disappointed, since I don't eat waffles.  I also don't eat pancakes or french toast.  And what do you think is the common denominator between them all?  Maple syrup.  Which I think is disgusting.  And you can't eat any of those foods plain, because they're too boring.  So I just don't eat them at all.  But my friend had made a special recipe along with the waffles: apple cider syrup (as shared on the inimitable blog Shower of Roses)!  So delicious.  So non-maple-y.  I've honestly never eaten a whole waffle before today.  It even got me talking about picking up a waffle iron next time we're at the thrift store (something we swore off for the rest of the year, after going a little too bargain-happy over the weekend), and making them at home.  Tom was thrilled too, since he hasn't eaten waffles either, since he married me.  ha!

-7-

Today we went to Mass in a different city, since we were on the road and visiting abovementioned friends.  A little before Mass began, a family began to stream into a pew a couple rows ahead of us.  I was only vaguely aware of them, but I got this weird feeling like I recognized them from somewhere.  I took a closer look, and I realized: I follow that mom's blog!  I've seen a million pictures of those kids, and read all about their goings-on for the past year!  I'm not going to say whose blog it was, but they are one of those families whose blog just leaves you in total awe.  It was so jarring to see them in real life.  I know this sounds silly, but until that moment, I never thought about the fact that they are real people who have a life beyond just the little glimpses they share online.  I prayed (literally) for the courage to go introduce myself afterwards.  It was a little awkward for us all, but I'm glad I did it.  I think it's really easy to let yourself feel intimidated by some of the other people out there in blogland, who seem to be doing parenting, homemaking, life, better than you are.  And I know I tend to think of certain bloggers as faultless sources of information and opinions.  But somehow, just knowing that one of those "superstar" bloggers who I read is really a REAL person who goes to a real church on Sunday, and with people who I actually do know in real life (and not some mythical church where everyone is already a saint)....helped to bring me down to earth a bit.



*Spell-check is telling me it should be "mold", but I always thought when it meant "the action you do with clay", it had a 'u' in it.  Dictionary.com confirms that there are two accepted spellings.  So I'll stick with "mould", I guess.

Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary