Seven Quick Takes vol. 46

My sole blogging contribution in a week. Surely I can muster the super 7?

Hi Jen!

{one}

I haven't blogged all week only because I feel like I have nothing to say. I feel stuck in blog inertia. I figure even though blogging seems a fairly self-centered pursuit most days that I should at least have something, anything, to say in order to actually post. Or maybe I'm just lazy? Either way I feel as if anything I could contribute is being said and being said better by much more interesting people than I these days. 

C'est le vie.

{two}

In even more random non-news I feel as if I ticked off some errands that I've been letting hang for a month or two off the long list of life this week. Why does that give me such a sense of accomplishment?? I think that's one thing that is a stay at home mom principle, finding a sense of accomplishment in small things. Only because raising children has so few literal and visible signs of accomplishment in the everyday! Or at least signs that give that same sense of having gotten things done. There is no daily check-list of child-acquired skills in a day that we can check off and not feel as if we're going to have to do the exact same thing the next day. I've been thinking about that lately...

{three}

I have spent the week cleaning up a lot of mud though! Its rained most every day and Max continues to be a mud magnet. Which I can't really begrudge him. He's adorable even when he's muddy. Plus the whole purpose of childhood is to enjoy mud. I have to admit that seeing muddy children kinda gives me a mom boost even though its completely unrelated to my mothering skills, but a sweet kid having fun and enjoying mud for its sheer mud-ness is remarkable. I must be doing something right! 

{four}

Another thing I never add up to accomplishment is cooking. I never think of it as important thing I do everyday for some reason. And yet every meal during the week I usually cook, fairly healthily and mostly from scratch. Using my patented "pantry/freezer/30 minute meals/anti-menu planning" plan that I like to call "How to survive when you live 30 minutes and 20 miles from the closet grocery store that doesn't even sell fresh parsley". Its sorta like an episode of Chopped except the strange ingredients are whatever is in my freezer and pantry combined with using up the fresh veggies in the fridge. So far we've survived. I really haven't cooked "fancy" or according to actual cookbooks for the last two years or thereabouts which is how I usually like to cook. Everything fairly simple, fast, but tasty. And enough for all of us and my husband's lunch because he works where he can't even get anywhere that sells food and he won't eat sandwiches. 

{five} 

Did I mention I slept a full 7 hours uninterrupted last night for the first time in at least 3 months!! I couldn't believe it when I saw the clock say 5 am! Nora's been my sleeping champion and I'm not afraid to say that even in front of her siblings because there were some really awful sleepers who didn't sleep at all when it was dark out until they were 4 months old! And it seems nights where Nora sleep a 4 or 5 hours solid Max will wake up between times so someone's always awaking. But uninterrupted people!!! Uninterrupted. That is priceless.

I feel like this is bragging. But don't worry I'm sure I just jinxed myself!

{six}

I have to admit that I had a flash of my parental failure yesterday. I had let the kids play outside in front of the house for maybe 20 minutes while I cleared up the house a little without constant pestering for food and water and ya know...bathroom stuff. I could see them outside playing around with bikes and balls but I had to run out and grab Max from picking up mud and rubbing it in his hair and Gemma and Dom started talking about bird eggs. When I asked what they were doing they said they had found bird eggs and they broke them. I sorta freaked out and made them show me where they had broken two little robin's eggs on the gravel. Out on the gravel were the shattered blue eggshells and what was obviously little birds in some stage of embryonic growth. It was fairly gruesome. But what really got my dander up was how not one of my children seemed to understand they had killed little birds. I have to admit I felt like a person who was raising conscience-less sociopaths for a couple minutes. I made everyone (well, just Gemma and Dom because I figured they at least knew they destroyed something) sit on the time-out step for awhile. Then I went back out a few minutes later and tried to explain that they killed little birds who were growing in those eggs, that God had made those little birds and that He doesn't want us to hurt things He made to live. I had no idea if it was sinking in at the time I was lecturing. But Gemma did seem pretty cut up about it later this afternoon, now I'm hoping I didn't traumatize her by telling her she killed something. Modern parenting dilemma! Definitely not fit to photograph!

{seven}

I have the paltry-est of plans for my dear husband, the greatest of daddys to my babies, for Sunday. I'm sure I'll muster a meal or something, but he'll probably refuse some daddy alone time because he's so great, and I ordered his gift only a couple days ago so that won't be here in time either! I'm so thankful I married someone who makes an even greater dad than I thought he would be. I can say gratefully that he works as hard or harder (who am I kidding) than I do taking care of our kids. And our kids are really a full time job for not just one person but two and so I'd really be up the creek if he wasn't so awesome.  

Its also my wonderful dad's birthday today-so I wish him a happy weekend! 

And for having nothing to say this turned out extremely wordy. 

Have a lovely weekend!