7 Quick Takes (vol. 3)

--1--
Katharine Hepburn: I love you

About a month ago, Emelie and I had a date. We went to the George Bush Presidential Library for a free showing of Little Women. Not the Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder version... but the 1933 version starring Katharine Hepburn. What an amazing film. Katherine Hepburn makes a fantastic Jo March. And, for the time, her spunk and vivaciousness on the screen is just amazing. If you are a Little Women fan, like me, you must  see this movie...



--2--
Speaking of Katharine... my Katherine started preschool this week. She had a great week, except that they played Duck, Duck, Goose and she didn't like it. She wasn't sure where she was supposed to run and when she was supposed to stop. This, evidently, stressed her out. Miss Kelly hugged her while she cried.
--3--
At Katherine's school, they tell jokes during lunchtime. It sounds like the teacher tells a few and then the kids take over. Her favorites are... "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side!!! Don't forget to look both ways. Chickens don't know to do THAT!" (giggles) and jokes along the lines of, "Knock, knock. Who's there? Pickle!" Crazy laughter.
I love how they obviously don't get the concept of a joke, but spend 15 minutes laughing with each other anyway!
--4--
At Hobby Lobby, I saw a letterpress kit ~ paper, ink and a desktop letterpress. I had to quickly walk away. I LOVE letterpress cards. Because... I love paper, I love fonts, and I love design. And there is rarely a letterpress item that does not include all three.

Here are a few letterpress shops I peruse on etsy.com:
Sycamore Street Press





Paper Dragonfly

PaperWheel Press

 --5--
Been reading children's books lately. There is something amazingly peaceful and solid about reading children's literature. The good stuff, of course. Over the past few weeks, I've read (or re-read)  

• Jacob Have I Loved (one of my all-time favorite books) by Katherine Patterson
• Indian Captive: The Story of Mary Jemison by Lois Lenski and 
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.

There's something you can trust about good children's literature. It's probably not going to give you bad dreams. You probably won't ever throw a Newberry Award Winner down in disgust when they kill off your favorite character. The characters usually end up better off by the end of the book. And, you get a little glimpse inside the lives of children ~ always good to have when there are 4 of them running around. 
--6--
I found these great free downloads at MomAgenda.com. No, I'm not a reseller or anything. I don't even have a MomAgenda (although I really want one... hard to justify $50 on a planner). But, their downloads are attractive and useful.

There's everything from a Back To School checklist to Holiday Planning and Babysitter Info. Free stuff is always cool.
--7--
Finally, I think that the media, the president, and everyone else should just ignore the nutty Pastor Terry Jones in Gainsville ~ the guy that wants to burn the Koran on Saturday. He's an attention seeker. If the satellite trucks drove away and the news stopped talking about how the president just might give him a call, then he'd probably wrap up his little show and go home. Just my thoughts...

Read more…

7 Quick Takes (vol. 2)

--1--
It's really hot. I know you know this, but it really IS hot.

I remember complaining last summer to my husband about the kids being bored in the summertime. He said, "You know, Mom used to kick us all out of the house in the summertime. We'd run around and get into trouble... but we were out of her hair."

When it's 100 degrees outside, you just can't do that. If only I lived in Minnesota... just for the summertime.


--2--

Recently, Colleen and I visited an one of my oldest friends. We met when we were 12 at summer camp.

Her little son, Sean, is just a cutie pie.

Colleen and Sean had fun playing and she is STILL talking about him!










--3--
Last week, I lost my "The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brain" book. I thought I was finally going crazy or the devil was keeping me from reading it because he is using the computer to corrupt my family. But my husband snagged it for the duration of his business trip. I snagged it back, and after last week, I really think I need to read it.


--4--
Etsy stop of the day... I just love these silhouette prints by Nella Designs.
You can customize your family print with various silhouettes for the mom, dad, and various children poses.

And her other prints are just delightful also!

 
--5--
I finished Lizzie's War by Tim Farrington.
Woah.
I will be getting anything else this man has ever written.
I want to be Lizzie's best friend, but I'm afraid she'd see right through me. 
The novel is honest and real. The characters could be people living right next door, and you'd never know. I learned more about the Vietnam War than I ever though I would.
I highly recommend Lizzie's War! Thanks for the recommendation, BettyDuffy!!

--6--
I updated my Santa Clara Design website. I wonder if it's too feminine... But, I do like it...











--7--

A Light Left On by Mary Sarton

In the evening we came back
Into our yellow room,
For a moment taken aback
To find the light left on,
Falling on silent flowers,
Table, book empty chair
While we had gone elsewhere,
Had been away for hours.

When we came home together
We found the inside weather.
All of our love unended
The quiet light demanded,
And we gave, in a look
At yellow walls and open book.
The deepest world we share
And do not talk about
But have to have, was there,
And by that light found out.

Read more…

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

Read more…