Friday, January 4, 2013

7 Quick Takes Friday (Vol. 24)

-1-
My generous husband spent some time last night re-doing my blog header for me so now it's finally not blurry and super-amateurish-looking anymore!  Behold it above, in its non-pixelated glory!


-2-
 I've been trying to gather information from other parents about when their kids learned the names of colors.  Sly knows all his animals, shapes, some letters and numbers, and many other things besides.  But he is hopelessly bad at recognizing colors.  I won't go into the genetics of it now, but colorblindness runs in the family, and it is quite possible that I'm a carrier, which would mean that statistically, 50% of my sons should be colorblind.  I'm wondering if this could be the answer to Sly's color-recognition issues, or if it's just way too early to assume anything.  I'm not worried about it, really - two of my three brothers are colorblind, and I realize it doesn't affect too much of their lives - but I'd just kind of like to know, ya know?


-3-
I've decided to start compiling a binder with ideas for celebrating the liturgical year in our family.  This will certainly be an ongoing project, something to be added to whenever I come across a new idea, or have some extra time.  It will be organized chronologically, and have ideas for ways to recognize important days/seasons in the church.  I can put prayers, recipes, etc.  In my optimistic vision of myself in the future, I picture myself actually remembering to consult the binder at the beginning of the month, and planning out certain events/meals as appropriate.  Ha -we'll see how that actually goes.

My first addition was a really inspiring article I'd read about celebrating Christmas.


-4-
I made the yummiest dinner the other night.  It was orange chicken, and it tasted every bit as good as if it came from a ("good") Chinese restaurant.  This will probably sound insanely obvious to most of you, but I'd never really considered that you could make it at home.  I just cut up chunks of chicken breast, breaded them (I used Frying Magic breading with egg, and double-dipped each chunk), and fried them in vegetable oil in a pan.  As they finished, I tossed them into a big bowl, and when they were all done, I poured an entire bottle of store-bought "orange sauce" over top.  Super delish.  You can also omit the sauce, and you have perfect homemade "chicken nuggets".


-5-
Stella is four and a half months old, and I've definitely hit the point where I find myself thinking, "I'm ready for another baby!".  I'm not feeling ready to actually be pregnant, though.  I'd love to have a non-pregnant summer...or at least a partial one.   But a few weeks ago, when I mistakenly believed for a short time that a friend was expecting her third baby, I found myself feeling rather jealous, wishing that we were going to be having a third one soon as well.  I know, it's crazy. 


-6-
A number of people have remarked recently on how cute it is that Sly uses the third person when referring to himself ("Sly want book", "Sly want to do it Sly's self", etc.).  I know it's a common enough thing with toddlers, but it's pretty extreme in Sly.   I realized yesterday that it's completely our fault.  We rarely refer to ourselves as "I" when we talk to Sly (we say "Mommy said no" or "give it to Daddy").  And the funny thing is, I remember that we first started to do that around him intentionally over a year ago, when it became clear that he didn't understand our names were "Mommy and Daddy".  So we wanted to emphasize it.  It's a hard habit to break!

-7-
The kids finally have the same bedtime, and both go down easily, which is awesome, because it means I have the evenings to spend getting stuff done or just hanging with my husband again!  Also, we've had time to work on projects again, such as some built-in bookcases...



the alcove as it was
supports for shelves
completed shelves.  there will be a cabinet below

Painting the backs of the shelves

I'll show more pictures of the finished results, hopefully soon!


Quick Takes is hosted at Conversion Diary

6 comments:

  1. Love the shelves!! I am so, so hoping we can move into a house this year and take on projects like that ourselves ... we'll see!

    Haha, I know what you mean about feeling like you're ready for the next baby ... Ever since Michael was four months old I keep wanting another one! And then I'm like, wait, are you SURE you're ready for this? Hehe. Of course, it isn't even possible for us yet (so far as I know ...). It's kind of funny but sometimes I get jealous of my friends whose fertility returned after just two months of exclusive breastfeeding. :-P

    Good thing God is in control. :)

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  2. Funny that ever since Noah was born I have been saying, "I'm done for at least three years." I am so overwhelmed and exhausted. Besides when I tutor, I am caring for the boys mostly by myself since Brian works so much. I need a major break (and for Matthew to be more independent and in school) before another one comes along. I love babies from about six months on. The first six months I spend crying about how sleep deprived I am and wondering why babies with reflux are so fussy. lol Good for you for being ready again already! You never know what God has in store. :)

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  3. The updated header looks great! :)

    Just wanted to say that I love your idea for a binder of liturgical calendar ideas. That is something I will begin THIS WEEK! Thanks for sharing the tip, from one busy mom to another.

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  4. We found out when my son was about 9 that he was colour blind! We couldn't believe it at first; he had been to the optometrist before and nothing was noticed. Then we clued in as to that's why he kept calling our truck grey when it's beige, among a few other things. His colour blindness isn't too severe though. It is definately carried through the mother, which surprised us. My mom's dad was colourblind, and I questioned my cousin about her son once as he was wearing one navy and one black sock LOL. I had only one son, and I have no sisters (two brothers), so it will be interesting to see down the road what happens with the grandkids! My youngest daughter has also shown some symptoms, but the early colour blindness tests (objects instead of numbers) was inconclusive. You can find the various tests online, it's fun to do actually.

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  5. My husband is color blind. He has lots of trouble differentiating red and green. If they are next to each other he can't tell one from the other. I asked him what about when he sees the traffic lights and he said he learned the light position on the lights. I used to correct him when he'd tell me my blue dress was pretty when we were first married, but now I just say thank you.

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  6. those shelves look awesome! i can't wait to {virtually} see how the house looks now with all the rearranging y'all have been doing lately.

    also, i think you should tell us how you get your kids to go to bed so easily, especially at such a young age! what's your secret?

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