1. I'm back with Quick Takes. This week, at least. Every week I've had my list of things I wanted to write about and every week something came up that prevented me from getting to the computer. That seems to be happening a lot lately. But here I am now!
2. This week and the next are filled with a lot of "lasts" for William as he closes out his preschool career and begins his new chapter as a grade schooler. Yesterday was his last day of Early Childhood class, a wonderful birth to 5-year-old resource available to families in Minnesota through the public school system. I hadn't spent much time thinking about the fact that this little era of his life was coming to an end until I was driving to class yesterday. I peered in my rearview mirror and saw him perched back there in his booster in the third row, having been demoted long ago to his two little sisters who sat in their carseats in the second row. I thought about how five years ago he and I were driving to our very first class. It was only him and he was only six-months-old.
And it was then that I got a little misty-eyed under my sunglasses. As we got closer to school I started to fan my eyes to dry them up.
"Mom," William said, "Why are you doing this?" And he started flapping his hands in front of his face.
"Oh," I said, "I thought I had a sneeze coming."
2. This week and the next are filled with a lot of "lasts" for William as he closes out his preschool career and begins his new chapter as a grade schooler. Yesterday was his last day of Early Childhood class, a wonderful birth to 5-year-old resource available to families in Minnesota through the public school system. I hadn't spent much time thinking about the fact that this little era of his life was coming to an end until I was driving to class yesterday. I peered in my rearview mirror and saw him perched back there in his booster in the third row, having been demoted long ago to his two little sisters who sat in their carseats in the second row. I thought about how five years ago he and I were driving to our very first class. It was only him and he was only six-months-old.
And it was then that I got a little misty-eyed under my sunglasses. As we got closer to school I started to fan my eyes to dry them up.
"Mom," William said, "Why are you doing this?" And he started flapping his hands in front of his face.
"Oh," I said, "I thought I had a sneeze coming."
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| William and the marvelous, magical Teacher Sue. |
3. Yesterday I made my first batch of homemade ice cream of the season. I think I've mentioned this before but if you've never tried homemade ice cream oh you must! I've noticed in the weekly store ads that you can actually get ice cream makers for a reasonable price now. That said, I do love my Cuisinart maker that came to me as a gift from my mom at a higher price. I've tried a few different recipes but I find myself continuing to come back to this vanilla one I found in the newspaper a year ago. It takes a little elbow grease but it's totally worth it. This time around I kept half of the batch plain vanilla and to the second half I added mini Oreo cookies. Amazing!
4. There were two nights in a row this past week when Katherine woke up in the middle of the night for apparently no reason. Although I'm sure at the time it was teeth or a bellyache or something like that, it felt like she was up just because she didn't want to be in bed. Brian and I tag-teamed holding her and rocking her and carefully laying her down again and praying this would be the time she would give in to sleep. And then, just as quickly as we thought this was going to be her new routine, it was done. She started sleeping from dusk to dawn (or later) again. And it's during these times, when I've experienced a full night's rest, that I have to remind myself that Katherine's worst nights were Lucy's every nights. So I'm going to try to cut her some slack.
5. A couple weeks ago I changed over all the closets from fall/winter to spring/summer. I do this twice a year. Do other parents do this? If so, you'll understand what a huge task this is and why I dread it every year. Why is this? It seems so simple. But three kids later it's such a complicated process.
First I have to decide what still fits and could possibly be salvaged for next year or for colder summer nights. Then I have to decide what definitely doesn't fit and therefore needs to go in storage. Of course I can't get rid of anything for the possibility of hand-me-downs. So then I have to locate the proper gender and size storage bag or make a whole new one. Then I have to weed through hand-me-downs from William's older cousin and from Lucy to Katherine to see what will work.
After I've taken stock of everything I make my list and head to the outlet mall to fill in the gaps. Lucy always comes away the new-clothes winner because she gets hand-me-downs from no one. Once all purchases have been made I have to come home and organize all hangers and drawers so that everything fits. And I'll do this all over again come September. I have to admit, it will be nice one day when the babies have stopped coming and I can start to give away some of those bags I have piled up in the cedar closet.
6. I've realized that I haven't been taking enough pictures lately. Dear sweet Katherine is getting the short-end of the stick when it comes to baby photos. So I strategically placed my camera in the kitchen, where I always am, and keep reminding myself to grab it for the littlest moments. Because those are the best.
4. There were two nights in a row this past week when Katherine woke up in the middle of the night for apparently no reason. Although I'm sure at the time it was teeth or a bellyache or something like that, it felt like she was up just because she didn't want to be in bed. Brian and I tag-teamed holding her and rocking her and carefully laying her down again and praying this would be the time she would give in to sleep. And then, just as quickly as we thought this was going to be her new routine, it was done. She started sleeping from dusk to dawn (or later) again. And it's during these times, when I've experienced a full night's rest, that I have to remind myself that Katherine's worst nights were Lucy's every nights. So I'm going to try to cut her some slack.
5. A couple weeks ago I changed over all the closets from fall/winter to spring/summer. I do this twice a year. Do other parents do this? If so, you'll understand what a huge task this is and why I dread it every year. Why is this? It seems so simple. But three kids later it's such a complicated process.
First I have to decide what still fits and could possibly be salvaged for next year or for colder summer nights. Then I have to decide what definitely doesn't fit and therefore needs to go in storage. Of course I can't get rid of anything for the possibility of hand-me-downs. So then I have to locate the proper gender and size storage bag or make a whole new one. Then I have to weed through hand-me-downs from William's older cousin and from Lucy to Katherine to see what will work.
After I've taken stock of everything I make my list and head to the outlet mall to fill in the gaps. Lucy always comes away the new-clothes winner because she gets hand-me-downs from no one. Once all purchases have been made I have to come home and organize all hangers and drawers so that everything fits. And I'll do this all over again come September. I have to admit, it will be nice one day when the babies have stopped coming and I can start to give away some of those bags I have piled up in the cedar closet.
6. I've realized that I haven't been taking enough pictures lately. Dear sweet Katherine is getting the short-end of the stick when it comes to baby photos. So I strategically placed my camera in the kitchen, where I always am, and keep reminding myself to grab it for the littlest moments. Because those are the best.
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| Painted faces & Katherine |
7. Lastly, I'd like to take a quick poll about laundry. If you wouldn't mind, post your responses to the following questions in the comments section.
(a.) How many total people are in your household?
(b.) How often do you do laundry? (i.e. every day, twice a week, twice a month, etc.)
(c.) When you do laundry, how many loads do you wash?
Have a great weekend and head on over here for more Quick Takes!
(a.) How many total people are in your household?
(b.) How often do you do laundry? (i.e. every day, twice a week, twice a month, etc.)
(c.) When you do laundry, how many loads do you wash?
Have a great weekend and head on over here for more Quick Takes!
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