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Friday, June 11, 2010

7 Quick Takes Friday, #67



1. Toddlers are full of incongruous thought processes, you know?  Here's what I mean:

Lauren does not, will not, can not eat a raw carrot.  She's grown plenty of strong, sharp teeth, but she still spits out the carrot after a few seconds of half-hearted chewing, pronouncing it to be 'too cwunchy!'  And I believe her, for the most part.  Carrots are crunchy.  And hard.  I don't push it.

But earlier this week, Mia was pretending to cook with some dried rotini pasta, and apparently Lauren decided they looked snackable.  In they went, a few hard spirals of pasta, and I dashed over to do some mouth excavation before the situation escalated towards emergency.  Before I could get there, though, Lauren knew what was headed her way: a finger-sweep.  Instead, she opted for another way out: she chewed up AND SWALLOWED the rotini.  Uncooked, hard as nails, and sharp when broken pasta. 

Even I can't chew up a dried piece of rotini without flinching and spitting it out again.  (Never mind how I know for sure.  It's not important.  And I'll deny it.)

But if she can chew and swallow a piece of hard pasta, why can't she do the same with a carrot?  Am I such an adult that I'm wrong about the deliciosity of carrots?

(Deliciosity was for you, Annie!)



2.  Mia has morphed into a child from another era, this week.  She's taken to calling me 'Mother' almost exclusively, and it's sort of unsettling.  'Mother, will you please wipe me?'  'Mother, where are my golden shoes?'  'Mother, I think you're having a baby, your belly is BIG!'

(Although, come to think of it, there are things more unsettling than being called 'Mother.'  Being called pregnant when you're not, is high on the list, nomesayn?)



3.  If you've hung around my blog at all this week, you'll know that I've been participating in Maegan's Creativity Boot Camp.  The medium I chose to work with was fiction writing.  It's a strange beast, fiction.  I've never tackled it before, so it's taking me by surprise.  I'm having trouble separating myself from a story at the end of it, and I find myself feeling things with whatever mindset my character was feeling things.  Like I'm 'in character' for my writing, and can't disengage.  It's left me dizzy this week! 

But I'm still enjoying it -- the process of discovering unknown depths of creativity.  If you'd like to do some of the exercises Maegan's put together, you can play along without anybody knowing, just to feel your creative juices flowing.  It tickles when that happens...you might like it.



4.  Perhaps it's because of this boost in creative energy lately, or perhaps it's because I finally just threw in the towel and decided to try, but I did something new this week.  Are you ready?  It's big...

I french braided Mia's hair.
 

I know!  Amazing, right?! I was pretty pleased with the outcome, never having worn one myself, nor having ever braided one for anybody else.  I just flew by the seat of my pants, tugged at some Mia's wispy hair, and hoped for the best.  While I didn't get THE BEST, I did get, HEY! IT KIND OF WORKED!  It held for about 9 minutes before loosening and falling away. 

Oh, and Mia loved it.  I have a feeling I'll be getting plenty of practice this summer. 



5.  Random question of the week:

How do you feel about spray-on sunscreen?

I thought it was really a great idea until I tried it.  I don't feel like it gets a very good layer of protection on my kids' skin, and it chokes them with fumes in the process.  Mia hated it, twisting away and whining about the vapor-y spray. But she can have something of a whiny attitude in general, so it may not have been too bad after all.  I just don't think it's as good as a thick dollop of lotion, you know? 

Do you like it?


6.  Bonus question of the week:

What's your favorite kind of cereal?  And if you tell me you don't like cereal....I'll shed a tear for you.  We can still be friends, though, even if you think I'm strange for wishing cereal could be eaten for every meal.  I love it so much that I don't even have a favorite kind -- though we do have 7 (7!) boxes of cereal in our cupboard right now.  And only one of them is unopened.  It's ridiculous.



7. Monday will be a special day in the Heavenly household -- it'll mark 7 years since Justin and I have been married!  I love him.  I truly do.



Have a fantastic summer weekend, friends!  Be sure to visit Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes!

16 comments:

  1. #2 - "Mother will you please wipe me" BWAHAHAHAHA!

    #5 - I'm with Mia on this one. I don't like the spray-on sunscreen because of the vapory stuff. Same reason why I don't like spray on bug repellent.

    #6- my favorite cereal isn't make anymore: Kellog's Concentrate. Oh be still my beating heart. I miss it so.

    #7 - Happy Anniversary in advance.

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  2. I LOVE spray on ssunscreen. The boys hold their sunhats lightly over their faces so they don't get it in their eyes. WE've used it for two years and NEVER had a problem, and I have a VERY pale child. He always seems to be covered perfectly.

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  3. Your post made me have to count. We have nine opened cereal boxes right now . . . and six unopened in the overflow cabinet! I join you in your quest to make cereal an acceptable meal for all occasions. My current favorites are Life, Cinnamon Raisin Granola (by Cascadian Farms), Kashi Honey Sunshine, and Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds. Mmmm, think I'll go have a bowl right now. :)

    Happy anniversary!

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  4. Happy Anniversary! Ugh though, the dreaded seven year mark. Not awful for us, but definitely a bit of a struggle. But we're almost to 8 and then it will be smoooooth sailing from here on out...
    Hate the spray on sunscreen too for the same reasons. Plus if you read up on what the best and safest sunscreens are, I don't think the spray ons make the cut. Unfortunately the ones that do leave us looking like ghosts.
    I think my favorite cereal for healthiness and tastiness is Kashi's Cinnamon Harvest. My kids like it too.

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  5. We tried spray-on sunscreen for the first time this summer and so far I like it. I mean, I totally know what you mean because it doesn't SEEM like it's covering them as well as lotion would, but they both giggle while I'm spraying it on them and so far neither one of them has gotten a burn. Of course, I kind of spray it on them in patches and then rub it in, so maybe my technique is wrong. But, you know, it seems to be working!

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  6. I want to love spray on sunscreen, but I use the thick lotion for many of the reasons that have already been named. When I'm trying to wipe that greasy feeling off my hands, I really wish I'd used spray on. :) My cereal choice - Life - I love it and eat it everyday until I get in an oatmeal mood in the winter. The best part of my Life cereal right now is that Teegan wants to share it every morning. We eat my bowl together and he says "You have my germs, momma." I love having his germs! :)

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  7. I love cereal, and try to find options that aren't too bad for me. I love frosted shredded wheat and it's high in fiber, but it is a lot of sugar too.

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  8. OH! And Happy Anniversary!!! Any big plans?

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  9. I've been a complete slacker with boot camp this week. I've really enjoyed reading your writings though!

    I ordered some sunscreen wipes from drugstore.com about a month ago that I'm STILL waiting on, but I'm really excited about them. They're sort of expensive so probably not something I'd use everyday but in a crunch I think they'll be great. Molly got my husband's very fair Irish skin :)
    I'm arming myself!

    Oh, and I LOVE cereal! I used to eat cereal for every meal when I was in college. During Brian's last deployment, he made me promise I wouldn't only eat cereal while he was gone. But my favorite? Hmmm...it changes, but right now we have Special K, Kashi Heart to Heart & Kashi Shredded Wheat. And I usually can't decide in the morning so I put a little of all 3 in a bowl-yum!

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  10. #2 hahahhahha! And, oh, no, she didn't!

    #5 NO! Yuck. Blech! Terrible.

    #6 Kashi -- the whole grain blueberry crunch one. Mmmmmmm. Could eat bowls upon bowls.

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  11. Mmmmm..cereal. We love it, but don't buy it too often because it only last for one meal around here. Doesn't seem cost effective for us, but when we do get it, it's extra special!

    Mia's hair looks great! I always say that I had all boys for a reason, and I am pretty sure my lack of hair fixing was one of the top.

    We use spray sunscreen and it seems to work, but I don't use it on Nick. He doesn't hold his head and eyes closed long enough to get a good spray, so we lotion him all up!

    Happy Anniversary you Heavenly Couple you!! (seriously, I think everyone gets married in June!)

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  12. That braid looks awesome! Good job!
    There's this cereal by Cascadian Farms, some sort of cinnamon crunch, that's incredible... LOVE it!
    And seriously, this is your first time doing fiction?? You're rockin' it!
    I used to hate the spray on sunscreens. And last year I had to have the all natural stuff for the kids. But this year we're at the beach so much, that I've caved and gone w/ the spray stuff. The kids aren't fans, because it comes out cold, but it's a lot easier than getting on the lotion while it's mixing with sand...
    Happy early anniversary! I'll be back to read your piece from today tomorrow... I'm supposed to be going to bed early ;)

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  13. Oh my stinkin' goodness!!!! Our 7th anniversary is on MONDAY TOO!! *squeal* We were married on the SAME EXACT DAY!? :) What time? Our's was at 4:00... Happy Anniversary to you both! :)

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  14. Your stories have been great this week. Way to go on the Creativity Boot Camp.

    French braiding:I love it, and I wish my girls wanted to grow their hair out long so I could do it all the time. Nice job on your first one! Pull tighter next time--it'll stay in all day.

    Cereal: Kashi GoLean Crunch. It's expensive, so I buy it only sporadically, when I see it on a good sale, but I love it so.

    Anniversary: congratulations!

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  15. I love cap'n crunch, and apple jacks. I hate spray sunscreen- how do I know where it's been sprayed? What happens when there's a wind gust and it all ends up on the kid at the next table? Your french braid is fabulous- next time, get her hair wet first, and it'll stay tighter and not fall out so quick (gotta love that soft wispy hair, though!)... I'm loving your CBC writings, I'm too chicken to even pick a medium to practice on.

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  16. Love the word choice! You're the best! :)
    Annie~

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Hmm...And how did that make you FEEL?