7 Quick Takes Friday

--1--
75% of my children are currently out of town. I miss them... In a "I'm their mother and they are always in my heart" kind of way. But I don't miss them in the "please get all of your random junk out of my living room" and "please stop screaming at your sister" kind of way.

Besides, they'll be back on Sunday! And, they're having fun!

--2--
My little daughter, Colleen, randomly says
"Airplane in the sky!"
about 8-10 times a day. No matter where we are. No matter if anything is in the sky at all. An airplane in the sky must be a very exciting thing in a little 2 year old mind. And she relives it every chance she gets.

--3--
My son, Jonathan, had a sleep over this week with another boy his age. I came out in the living room to see them watching a movie, both with a stuffed animal under their arm. Jonathan's is a bear named "Bear" and his friends is a little, worn and well-loved raccoon about 5 inches long. They're both 8 and they both still sleep with their animals. And they're cool with it.

In the past, my son has worried about taking Bear over to a friends' house. "What if they laugh?" the thought of someone making fun of Bear is unbearable (really... I'm not just trying to be cute!)

There's safety in having a friend who you know won't make fun of you 'cause you sleep with a bear. A guy needs a friend like that.


--4--
Books I'm currently reading:
Lizzie's War by Tim Farrington. Recommended by BettyDuffy, my new best friend...
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr
The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web by Tamar Weinbert

Those last two books are completely contradictory. I wonder what that will do to my brain...

--5--
 My boy playing Wii with aforementioned "Bear" stuck in the crook of his elbow.

--6--
Gorgeous Carryl Houselander quote for you:

By his own will Christ was dependent on Mary during Advent:
he was absolutely helpless; he could go nowhere but where she chose to take him; he could not speak; her breathing was his breath; his heart beat in the beating of her heart....
In the seasons of our Advent - waking, working, eating, sleeping, being
Each breath is a breathing of Christ into the world.
~  Caryll Houselander

--7--
some of my favorite blogs...


Reading for Believers
BettyDuffy
CommonReaders
CharlotteWasBoth
CardObserver
JustSomethingIMade

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How I've learned to love folding laundry...

So, I've always hated folding laundry.

When I was a kid, my mom would dump a basket of warm, fresh-out-of-the-dryer laundry on my head while I was watching TV. And I would throw a fit. I HATED folding laundry.

My husband taught me how to fold towels and his undershirts. I do my best. They don't look that great. I once saw an employee at the Gap folding a huge pile of shirts and almost hugged her out of sympathy.

Occasionally, I'll get a type-A babysitter who likes folding laundry... man, is that heaven! It's an art-form. Fitted sheets are practically creased at the edges. T-shirts folded so perfectly that I can stack them 20-high and they don't topple over. I am jealous of her skill, but so thankful.

We'll, we've been trying to save money lately. Less babysitters = more laundry folding.

So, here I am.

Folding.

And I realize that even though it IS a chore, it always goes faster than I think it will. And if I make the kids sort the socks, half of my sanity is saved.

And...

(cue dramatic breakthrough music)

There is something about handling my little kids clothes that is sweet. Not that it's some sort of meditative moment... it's not... but something good happens. I fold my baby's t-shirt and I remember my 10 year old wearing it when she was 2. I find another rip in my son's pants and am glad that he has woods to romp in behind our house and friends to romp in it with. There is a pile of the same skirt in 4 different colors that I bought for my 4 year old, because she won't wear anything else.  I fold a pair of footy jammies that have gotten just way to small for my little one. I realize I can't tell between my t-shirt and my oldest's t-shirt and that's just plain scary.

Their clothes say a lot about them. I know them. Their clothing tells a story. Not in a fashion magazine kind of way. Just their little, simple lives. I see them changing, playing, becoming more sophisticated... growing up.

And, sometimes, it takes something as plain and ordinary as laundry to remind me of that.

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Momma Remedy Monday

I've decided to start a new series... Momma Remedy Mondays.

'Cause I don't like Monday's. And sometimes being the Momma around here makes me crazy... when things are really loud, messy, stinky or sloppy.

But, I've found, that when I take photos of my kids, looking through that lens really makes me focus (cliche, I know, but it's true).

I focus on THEM. How cute they are... how small... how funny... how their hair has grown since last week... how those pants are getting too small... those photos make me focus on the good.

So, I'm going to share my Momma Remedies with you, and maybe you'll do the same!

Here are this weeks' shots (all from my iphone... thus the superb quality!:))

Jonathan's maze...

Jonathan Jumping...

Stick horse racing in heels...

found a sippy cup in the linen closet...

Jonathan's lego star wars light saber with a Polly Pocket high heel on then end. Found on the kitchen floor.

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