7 Quick Takes Friday vol. 12

--- 1 ---

I love sun flare, those colorful circles created in a photo when the sun shines directly on the lens.

Also that halo of light in the subject's hair when she's back-lit.

You gotta getcha some.

--- 2 ---

Is anyone else loving the new ABC series "Once Upon a Time"? I'm thoroughly enjoying it and the Secrets of Once Upon a Time podcast on sqpn.com by Fr. Roderick makes the whole experience of the show that much better. Fr. Roderick gives background of the fairy tales behind the stories, which of course are loaded with Christian symbolism and morals. Be sure to check it out! And, if you like what you find over at SQPN, please consider making a donation to their giving campaign and support the amazing work that Fr. Roderick is doing evangelizing through new media.

--- 3 ---

So I did it. I set up a Twitter account. I never quite understood Twitter, but so many of my favorite bloggers, authors, and podcasters are active on Twitter and I felt like I was missing out on the fun. So far, I'm really enjoying the format as well as the content. Are there any fabulous people that I really must follow?

--- 4 ---

For her first two years of life Clara hardly spoke. She'd make this buzzing sound--a kind of combination of a buzz and the sound you make when you roll your r's that I can't duplicate--that she used at various pitches and durations to communicate pretty much everything she had to say. But, when her second birthday came around she started to add a few actual words and a lot of babbling. We're starting to think that we have a first extrovert on our hands with the way she goes to town with toddler speak.

I love the way she talks with her hands.

--- 5 ---

We're still struggling with Gustin's potty training. He'll be 5 in May and he still poops in his pants almost daily. He's had some stints of successfully going in the toilet, once for 6 weeks and once for about two months. But, for some reason, he keeps reverting and it's really wearing me down. I don't need any advice at this point (I'm pretty sure I've heard it all at least a half a dozen times each), but I would appreciate some prayers. It's a very frustrating situation for both him and me.

--- 6 ---

I know I've mentioned multiple times how much I love my Kindle, but I have to share another reason why it is so fabulous. For the first time in my life I am successfully reading more than one book at a time. One is usually fiction (at the moment I'm reading Dickens' Bleak House) and then I have another two or three non-fiction books going at the same time (currently How Harry Cast His Spell by John Granger, A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms by Lisa Hendey and Organized Simplicity by Tsh Oxenreider). So many non-fiction books aren't meant to be read straight though; they should be consumed one bite at a time, stopping to digest what's been read or to implement a strategy. So, often I would start a non-fiction book, set it down so I could think about it, and then never remember to pick it up again after gets buried on my nightstand or bookshelf. With all my books right there on my Kindle home screen, I'm constantly reminded to go back to those non-fiction books for another morsel.

--- 7 ---

Eric is currently reading The Hobbit to Jonathan, my 9-year-old. It is so fun to see him get excited about a book that I love. He was very resistant to start, mainly because Mommy and Daddy suggested it, but now that they began he is really getting into it. He was also convinced that he would never like the Chronicles of Narnia books or Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, but of course he loved them once he finally gave them a chance (in other words, we bribed him to let us read him the first chapter). One day he'll realize that when his parents recommend a book they really do know what they are talking about!

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