Seven Quick Takes vol. 108

Are there no quick takes because of American Thanksgiving yesterday?? Am I the only one doing this? Hello? Hello??

{one}

Another week, another child's birthday. And, oh look, my life is flashing by! But at least another kid is closer to the age of reason, looking on the bright side! 

My oldest son is 6! How can this be?! I was literally just birthing him, and now he's practically a man and...existential crisis! 

But hormonal freak-out aside, Dom is now a boy, not just a toddler or preschooler. And he's all the wonderful things that go with boys. Impetuous curiosity, loveable sense of humour at the silliest of potty jokes (even learning to read the word "but", and still laughing every time he reads it even though he knows it's not actually "butt"), amazing knowledge retention to the point of remembering each ad for a video game he's not allowed to have, or the names to sports teams I didn't know exist, an ability to willfully assert his will with a little newfound logic, rambunctious bravery to try new things (as long as they're not too messy) without the hinderance of pesky repercussions or injury. All in all having boys is really great.

{two}

I think Dominic's birthday party may be blizzard-ed out this weekend. It's been blowing and snowing so much the last couple days and it's only supposed to get colder I have a feeling we might be snowed in this weekend and not have any visitors willing to risk their lives to try and get out here. These are the downfalls of having winter birthdays in Canada. Maybe next weekend?

{three}

I'm sorry if this take either revolts/bores/enrages you but I just noticed everywhere I got there are small baby girl shoes. Nora's kinda a shoe-aholic already and she squeals with joy when she get shoes put on every day. It's hilarious. But her feet are so itsy-bitsy tiny that she has fit in the same shoes for almost a year. So naturally I've bought her a couple more pairs, and there's always boots, and Gemma hand-me-downs. Oh, and the small fact that I am a terrible housekeeper and let them pile up everywhere. Just look:

I know my husband and I complain that they're always everywhere, and I wish babies' things would just put themselves away most nights, but it's really sweet and wonderful to have baby shoes all over your house. I'm just stating this fact so that I burn it into my mind as a happy memory. It's such a drag to forget the cute stuff, right?

{four}

This week my hero Jen finally put her radio show up as a podcast for us cheapskates who don't go in for satellite radio and I'm been stalking binging my way through every episode. The other day I was listening to Jen's episode where she's so humorously and touchingly describing Edel, and how much fun we had, how very much needed it is for the weary Catholic mom etc. as I was driving the half hour into town for groceries that we desperately needed. I park at the post office, go to reach for my purse on the passenger side seat and see no purse. I hadn't even thought about it until I finally put the car into park half an hour from home. I'm not the definition of harried mom now am I?! I was on the verge of tears thinking about the time I'd have wasted and no groceries and baby's naps ending while they were at my mom's house and the cold and the bad roads when I thought to dig around the car and lo and behold found a book of cheques. I was saved. Because when you live in a small town the grocery store still takes cheques because they know where you live and can track you down if they bounce! It's a good thing I bought a ticket to Edel '15 was all I could think of, and then laughed a little at myself, then sorta wanted to cry...

{five}

I'm beginning to feel like should get my act together and think about Christmas gifts. I need to come up with some knock out ideas for my husband who is impossible to shop for...and my love language is not giving gifts...and I'm scouring Hallie's amazing list as we speak...

I also keep finding things that would be perfect gifts...for me...

{six}

Advent is upon us! I love Advent, let's all take a deep breathe and remind ourselves that the exact point of Advent it to chill out. Not for extra stuff. I'm just reminding myself, because I think the way we best celebrate and practice Advent is doing what comes natural to us and our families. It's a fine line sometimes, I know. Here's some of my past Advent posts if any strike your fancy:

A Relaxed But Intentional Advent or; The Lazy Girl's Guide To Advent

The Beauty of Advent Music

G.K. Chesterton and How To Celebrate Christmas

Five Favourite What We're Reading for Advent Books

{seven}

I'm not sure what our weekend has in store for us with this terrible weather. I do know that I'm going to be digging out the Advent stuff if I'm not making birthday cupcakes. I'm going to be hauling out of Christmas and Advent picture books which will give me a kick towards organizing our kid books which are basically taking over the whole house. I think we need more bookshelves!

I'm also going to be working on a "How to Listen to Podcasts" tutorial for anyone who's wondering how to listen to podcasts or what are some of the best apps. It'll be at Fountains of Carrots soon hopefully, we'll also have a new episode out next week!

Hope everyone has a wonderful first weekend of Advent!

---

follow along:

facebook ~ instagram ~ pinterest