Quick Takes: The Random Edition

Seven snippets of life right now: too short for a blog post, too long for Facebook.

1. Freshened the blog up a bit.
   It was long overdue, but I'm on a blue kick right now (could it be having two boys with incredible blue eyes -- of which neither Jonathan or I have?).  If you're reading this in a reader, click on over to see!  There's even a new SKI favicon (Mom, that means that when you look in the upper left corner of the webpage, next to the web address, you'll see a tiny little "SKI" next to the address.)  And the background?  An image of Mt. Rainier (blurred) that I shot last year. 
2. Thomas has a two-year-old-style love affair with cows. He doesn't say the letter "C" very well yet -- so everything comes out as a "T".  "Mommy!  Lots of tows!  Tows over there! (counting them) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 50!"  Clearly we're teaching him the value of compound interest.  He's been very excited as it's haying season, and we get to see our cows all over the farm.  He often asks for more tows while we're driving.  I've been known to take a different route home just to see more cows.  I am a sucker.
3. I shouldn't have mocked The Shining yesterday.
   Or maybe I shouldn't have smugly said that the Skis will sleep well last night.  At three a.m., I woke up to tiny little hand putting an empty water bottle on my nightstand.  "Mommy?  Thirsty."  I had just fallen back asleep after feeding 2.0, and I about jumped through the ceiling.  Jonathan just snickered and went back to sleep.
4. For the days when I'm feeling overwhelmed as a mom:  Mother of Six Priests and Four Nuns Dies
   An incredible piece on a mom of 15 children from a small town in India who passed away at age 94.  She raised them in a tree house (to fend off attacks from wild elephants and jungle beasts) and from her 15 children, Mrs. Elizabeth Anikuzhikattil gave the church 6 priests (including 1 bishop) and 4 nuns.  Somehow, my stress of Thomas's incredible energy that doesn't stop during Mass pales in comparison.  :)
5. Fruit flies, I'm coming after you!  I made this trap yesterday and it's AMAZING.  Amazingly gross, as well, but it seriously does the trick.  Now my ripe bananas can ripen in peace before they become the world's tastiest banana bread. 
6. Cathy Zielske tweeted this yesterday about John Paul and his baby scrapbook...squee!
   
   
   There's a good chance I woke up Jonathan in the middle of the night to tell him that.  His response as a good manly man?  "Who?" 
7. I'm back in the kitchen for meals -- yea!
   We had dinner at the table every night this week (except poker night on Monday, but we still all ate here, the guys just ate outside on the deck).  Back into meal planning and it's been a huge blessing to cut down on trips to the store + costs.  This week, we've had steaks, lots of roasted veggies including asparagus, carrots and broccolettes, chicken nachos, greek chicken wraps, corn casserole, and my favorite seasonal dinner: lobster with garlic scapes and portobello mushrooms in a garlic butter sauce, over rice. Tasty delicious.  Tonight?  Either fajitas or pizza rolls.  One of the big helps has been my 'feeding the fam' notepad from Finian Road (of course) -- check back for a giveaway next week!