Friday, November 01, 2013

Art and Cookbooks and Kids and Junk (7qt)

(1)
Hey, remember that one time you took all five kids to Mass at noon on a Friday and the two youngest ones sat demurely and didn't fight over the one sippy cup they found in your bag and didn't at all find an open granola bar wrapper and fling the crumbs all over the place? And then start saying "nanoo nanoo nanoo" at each other?  Hah!  Me neither!

But look: we totallybarely survived.  And on the way out I mumbled a sheepish apology to our pastor and he literally had no idea what I was talking about.  Self high-five.

(2)
The Holy Day was also handy because my extroverted second child could meet up with one of her friends there for the great sleepover switchover.  Which actually isn't a thing and just means that she brought her overnight bag with her in the car and went home with them after Mass was over.  So I bring the other four home, put the youngest one down to nap and start doing whatever boring things moms do.  Then Katie, my introverted eldest comes wandering into the kitchen and starts kinda picking at the cookies on the counter.

"Aw, are you lonely and bored and stuff?"

And I start pre feeling bad for her that I wasn't able to coordinate a complementary play date for her too and I'm knitting my eyebrows together like a proper paranoid mother...

"Oh nonononononono!  No.  I am not bored OR lonely.  Oh my gosh.  Please don't start suggesting things or whatever..." and she grabs her book off the counter and RUNS back to the den.

Wow.  Sweet.

(3)
Hey, recently I decided to become the super awesome mom I always wished I could be and...

No.  Lying.  Our carpets are just disgusting beyond resuscitation, so how bad can some water color splats really be?  Surprisingly the answer really is "not very bad."  The kids have been wasting all sorts of cheap printer paper and even-cheaper water color pallets lately and everyone feels the fancier for it.  We'll get this homeschooling thing down soon, swearsies.


 (4)
Hey, did you read my review of Pope Awesome and interview with author of said book, Cari Donaldson?

If not, it's right here.  Probably super lame to link to myself in my quick takes, but I just feel so damn strongly about that book and just want all the people with eyeballs and/or fingers and/or ears to read it. Wow, that's kind of a creepy thing to say, isn't it?  Blame it on Halloween overload.  Or something.

(5)
Ooooooh!  Presents!

Don't you love getting presents?

A box was delivered on....Tuesday?  (brain. overload. can't remember. things.) It was from the delightful Mary Lenaburg (I spent hours one night reading through every post of her life story on her blog.  I do believe it was approximately 16 chapters long and it was worth every dagblam word and I just couldn't stop.) and contained not one but FOUR jars of homemade jam. 


As you can see, every single one has been opened and sampled, possibly with a spoon, in the last four days.  Gah, it is so good!

(6)
Now look, before you read this take you must understand that Mary and I share a special bond.  And that bond is a love for The America's Test Kitchen Family cookbook.  So I knew that when she included a cookbook called Ten Dollar Dinners that it would be full of recipes I'd love.  We've already tried two recipes out of it and both were delicious and simple.  So if you need a cookbook, get the ATK one.  If you've already got that one, get Ten Dollar Dinners.  You're welcome!

(7)
Also, I love this pic of my big kids watching Tommy carve our pumpkin.


More not-so-quick taking over at ConversionDiary, m'kay? 




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6 comments :

  1. What is it about art and paints that make us feel like awesome moms? I don't know either, but I totally get the same feeling when we do art.

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  2. I just love Mary's blog! She mentioned that she had been making jam. Lucky you!

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  3. I don't have the ATK book, but I do own The Best Recipe, which is by the same people. My favorite. So I have Wish-Listed the Ten Dollar one!

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  4. I was patting myself on the back for coloring with my 2-year old yesterday. I can't imagine how proud I would be if I actually busted out the watercolors and paint brushes. So, I'm sending you a high five from Louisiana! :)

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  5. #1 I maintain that 99% of the time, no matter how bad the kids were, we're pretty much the only ones who notice! Although there have been a couple times in the past few months when I've had to take a kid out and the priest has paused the homily to remind everyone that we WELCOME the screaming children...

    At least it was a little bit of comic relief when I had to carry the 4-year-old out of Mass while he screamed, "I WANT TO BE GOOD!!!"

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  6. Totally downloaded and read Pope Awesome...and am making my big girls read it. Love.

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