7 Quick Takes

1. Our weather is waffling. One day it might barely reach 70 degrees, while others top out in the mid 80s.

The shifting seasons here don't bring dramatic changes, but I can say that there have been a handful of days in the past week that have at least not been too hot for this:



Real flames in the fireplace make this home cozy and at least trick us into believing it's fall.

2. One morning before N left for work this week, I listed a stream of thoughts I'd been having about some tasks I'd like us to get to sometime in the next couple of months.

I rattled off Christmas giving ideas, our need to find a new dresser for the baby, some window dressing issues in our bedroom and which day might be best for the children's Halloween party we hope to host.

I felt we needed to address all of this before N leaves this weekend for a week-long trip to the Middle East.

His response?

"You're nesting like crazy!"

3. I set some home-schooling goals for L's preschool year earlier this fall and N expressed some concern over how we would be addressing science--a valid concern, considering what my college transcript shows about my performance in physics and botany.

At any rate, I stumbled upon some helpful resources recently that I thought I'd share in case any of you also need some ideas for helping your child observe the natural world in spite of you.

First there's Mudpies to Magnets. This is specific to preschoolers and has some really fun experiments I think you can adapt to a home learning environment.

The other is one I found when I was searching for some information about herbal remedies that are safe to use with children. I stumbled upon The Kid's Herb Book, which is very crunchy but also loaded with great information to share with your child about the healing properties of plants. There's even a recipe for homemade rootbeer!

4. Speaking of science, we had a bird day at our house yesterday. We used Lois Ehlert's Feathers for Lunch as our launch pad along with this companion teaching guide for some project ideas.



We left some nest-building supplies out for the birds in our neighborhood and we're waiting to see what they take.



We made our own bird nests out of peanut butter, pretzel sticks and various kinds of breakfast cereal. We used giant grapes and marshmallows for eggs. Then we gobbled up our creations.



5. Despite a successful week of activity planning, better-than-average dinner menus, keeping the house clean, staying on top of the laundry and spending quality time with my husband and children, I'm feeling unsatisfied with my work.

I rarely have a full week where I feel like I'm accomplishing all of the goals I set out to tackle, but I did it all this week and I feel, well, let down.

I know some of you have had days or even weeks like this. What do you do when you need to get out of these ruts? How do I find fulfillment today? It can't involve running from the house with my Starbucks gift card--my husband is leaving town tomorrow.

6. If the wives tale is true about heartburn during pregnancy indicating a hairy baby, Tiny Baby is bound to have a full head of luscious tresses.

7. If I have to halt my blogging progress to print out another coloring page of a hippo ballerina or a Disney princess I'm going to lose my mind. It's time to end the quick takes here.

Have a great weekend all!