Quick Takes: The Beautiful Friday Edition

Seven snippets of life, in no particular order

1. The photo above is one of my very favorites lately. 
   There is nothing funnier than when Thomas is goofing around and started crossing his eyes.  Here, he was marching and "crossing his eyes out". 
2. I thought I was in the clear, but not quite yet.
   As with both earlier pregnancies, the first trimester has been pretty exhausting.  I think I got a little ahead of myself the other day, when I commented, "I haven't taken a nap for 3 days now!"  Because yesterday, I was known as the slug that stayed on the couch.  When I got up to get water and something to eat, I learned just how much carnage the Wee Skis can wreak on a house when Mommy's not paying attention. Today was better. Only two hours of naps and one hour semi-napping on the deck while they boys played with the hose and their bikes. 
3. Finished up the logos for our team Relay tee.
   So excited to unveil them -- we changed our theme a few weeks ago and decided the just do a simple purple & white theme, not tying directly into the 'magic of Relay' theme or the original Irish magic theme we'd chosen for our team. They'll look pretty sweet on our purple baseball jersey style tees, and we can wear them year-round.  Sending them off to the printer!  And now onto the Division's tees for the Nationwide Summit next month...
4. I've been good at lowering my expectations.
   Lowered my expectations of what I can do right now, how much I can keep up, and what's really important right now.  I've had to allot specific times for things -- projects, house stuff, mainly -- and let them rest outside my mind when it's not the specific time for them.  That's been a big challenge for me as a multi-tasker, but has been good for my overall psyche.  But don't expect a beautifully neat home right now when you visit.  You'll be sorely disappointed.
5. A sweet adventure on Monday afternoon.
   Stella and I met up at Bell Square for dinner and shopping. The boys LOVED the new playplace at Bellevue Square, and I loved being able to visit so many sweet shops all at the same time as well as get to spend some quality time with Stella.  It's something I no longer take for granted anymore, living in a small town next to NO malls.  The last shop we visited was Oil and Vinegar, and it was AWESOME.  I came home with two tasty vinegars (strawberry balsam creme and date balsam creme) as well as a lobster butter.  Totally delicious and looking forward to grilling up some shrimp for the lobster butter.  Excited that Olympia now has its own oils/vinegars store as well!
6. Excited for the next two weekends.
   Lots of Relay in store. Next weekend, it's a training weekend for the Nationwide Leadership Training Team -- a training I get to ATTEND instead of present!  Excited to see my NLTT friends from across the nation, and to being preparing for the national summit next month. And I've never been to Tennessee.  It's the first time I've been able to attend this training, since every year - for the past 4 years - it's fallen on the same weekend as the Thurston Relay. Thank you, June, for giving us 5 weekends this year!!  The last weekend is our Relay in Thurston, with the boys camping out and the event moving to a new location at Timberline High School.  It will be a little surreal for the location, given that it shares a boundary with the cemetery that Joanthan's parents are buried. I think we may take Grandma Ski's luminaria to her grave on Saturday after it's burned throughout the night. We can seriously just walk there.
7. Loving our sunshine.
   Even if I have no energy. It is SO MUCH NICER than looking out to constant rain and wind!  Summer is coming!