7 Quick Takes Friday vol. 17

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Unplanned candids. My favorite kind of photograph.

"Peekaboo!"

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Brain food. I love being a stay-at-home mom, but it can be a challenge to keep my brain from turning to mush during all the hours of laundry and cleaning and potty training. The discovery of podcasts a year or so ago completely changed my life (a great place to start is with any of the fantastic podcasts at sqpn.com). My current favorite, though, is The Tolkien Professor. You can find his feed in iTunes and he has a variety of series including recordings of classes he teaches at Washington College. Right now I'm listening to a series on the Lord of the Rings books (episodes labeled WC Tolkien Course, Sessions 22-40 in iTunes). They are totally nerdy, but also completely accessible to people like me who do not have a background in literature or literary analysis. Fascinating stuff.

Also, if you're interested in the upcoming Hobbit movies, check out Professor Olsen's series, The Riddles in the Dark. In these podcasts they discuss particular aspects of the book, The Hobbit, how they might be adapted to the big screen, and make predictions as to how these themes/characters/back stories may be portrayed in the movies. Lots of fun.

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A local gem. I am frequently surprised by some of the simple, cheap family activities that surround us but are so often unknown. We recently visited a local orchard (persimmons are in season though we didn't pick any) where my kids had a blast playing on the playground and haystack, going on a long hayride, and just getting lots of sunshine and fresh air.

The highlight of the day, though, was the huge tire swing. You could hear my kids' screams and laughs echoing through the entire orchard. Fun times and good memories.

All that fun and we also supported a local, family owned business. It can't get any better than that!

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Second time around. I picked up Kristin Lavransdatter by Sigrid Undset again. I began the trilogy a number of years ago but somehow got distracted and stopped reading somewhere in the middle of the second book. I was enjoying it the first time around, but this time has been even better. I love stories that are both interesting and make me think and Sigrid Undset's medieval Norwegian novels definitely fit the bill. I was struck by this wonderful discussion between Kristin and Brother Edvin:

"... the Devil only [seems] big as long as we harbor fear within ourselves. But if a person seeks God with such earnestness and desire that he enters into His power, then the power of the Devil at once suffers such a great defeat that his instruments become small and impotent. "

Brother Edvin continues:

"There is no one, Kristin, who does not love and fear God. But it's because our hearts are divided between love for God and fear of the Devil, and love for this world and this flesh, that we are miserable in life and death. For if a man knew no yearning for God and God's being, then he would thrive in Hell..."

 So much good food for thought.

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Kids' Portraits 2012. Here are some of my favorites from this year's portrait session. I made some mistakes photographically speaking that I am forcing myself not to enumerate ad nauseum (even after 4 years of pursuing this hobby, I still have so much to learn!), but overall I'm pleased with the results.

 Clara, age 2

Augustine, age 5

Elizabeth, age 8

Jonathan, age 10

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Just ask. At our Mom's group at church we were recently discussing how difficult it can be to get to confession when you have young children. The times that confession is available can be inconvenient to young families and it's difficult to keep children quiet and entertained while their parents are receiving the sacrament. One of my fellow mom's then casually approached are associate pastor and asked if he would be willing to hear confession's during the meeting time of the Mom's group since we are already there on the church campus and our children are being cared for in the childcare ministry. Well, our priest enthusiastically supported the idea and was there to hear our confessions during our October meeting where at least two dozen moms received the sacrament of confession, some for the first time in more than a decade! He also committed himself to being available for confession during every one of our scheduled meetings for the rest of the year. It's amazing what can happen if we only ask!

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A few more candids. I just love it when I can capture them laughing!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Cooking in the Sandbox

We recently visited Eric's hometown for the birthday party of his triplet niece and nephews. I love weekends in Eric's hometown. It's small, quiet community and we always leave feeling renewed and refreshed.

My kids, of course, love visiting grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles but I love that they spend most of their time outside in my in-laws wonderful backyard. Tree swings, sandboxes and pogo sticks are the main sources of entertainment. Sunshine and fresh air abound.

And simple toys. Like old pots and pans in the sandbox. The kids absolutely love them, much more than the plastic shovels and pails in our own sandbox at home.

The way kids' imaginations explode after being handed a pot, a pan, a serving spoon, and a big pile of sand blows my mind. To find such joy in simple things . . . such a blessing.

And a sun slowly sinking in the autumn sky with delicious, soft, golden light . . . more beautiful blessings.

There are some moments in life when your heart just about bursts with gratitude and all you can do is savor the moment by expanding your lungs with a deep breath and then exhaling a most sincere, "Thank you, Lord."

The Sweet Life

I am a mess of contradictions.

I love slow-paced days with lots of book reading, stopping to smell the flowers and giving the kids plenty of time for imaginative play. I also am task driven and work best--and seem to be happiest--when I check off all the items on my to-do list and keep my family to some semblance of a schedule. At the same time, I'm a terribly untidy person and hate housework (or at least I hate doing it with the kids around, it's not so bad if I'm left alone to focus) so I struggle with the daily tasks (even though they are on my task list) required to keep our home from being declared a trash dump instead of a habitation fit for human beings.

 
The result is that I focus too much on my task list without actually getting much done, I feel guilty about taking time to read or to gaze at the wonders in my own garden, and I am constantly annoyed by the the rooms of my home being littered with child-created debris.

 

All that introduction establishes the importance of the following statement: This week I took the time to watch the thunderstorms roll in--I so love a good summer thunderstorm--and allowed the kids romp and play in the puddles for as long as they wanted... and I did not feel guilty about the untended task list for a single second.

Life is a constant push/pull between what is important and what is urgent, between what I want to do and what I think I should be doing. And, frankly, I find it mentally exhausting.

But for this one day there was no interior debating or counting how many tasks were left undone.

We just had some good, old-fashioned (guilt-free) fun.

A Recipe for a Happy Summer Afternoon

I totally stole this idea. Margaret of Minnesota Mom posted about it several years ago. She totally stole the idea from someone else. You totally have permission to steal it from me. And the cycle goes on...

The ingredients are simple and I bet you already have them around your house.

- Dish soap
- Water
- A shallow pan (or two or more, depending on the number of rug-rats in your household)
- Straws
- Someone with a lot of air to expel

(I'm guessing that you can devise the what to do with the ingredients from seeing the above picture.)

This activity easily entertained children of both genders ranging from the age of 2 to 10 for an hour or two (though not continously).

After Clara got a real life lesson on the necessity of blowing through the straw rather than sucking, she wasn't too keen on trying to create the bubbles herself. Luckily her older siblings were generally happy to oblige, as was her mother.

And a fun, bickering-free afternoon was enjoyed by all.

Go, Clara, Go!

Note: Roll over the photos in the post with your mouse to see the unedited, straight-out-of-the-camera version of the shots. 

I reread my recent blog post about lacking photography inspiration and in it I was such a whiny baby! Winter is ugly, I'm so uninspired, blah, blah, blah. The fact is that I'm surrounded by inspiring things if I'd just get up and do something about it.

This winter had been unseasonably warm, the rye grass that Eric top-seeded our lawn with is lush and green, and my pansies are blooming beautifully.

I also have 4 precious children who, in my so very unbiased opinion, make lovely photography subjects.

So, no more whining. Just doing.

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Clara decided she was ready to conquer the scooter the other day.

She really struggled with it at first. However, it was so fun to watch her determination! She had to give the scooter a good talking to, but this little girl would not give up!

Within just a few minutes she was off and rolling and so very delighted with herself.

Since I have lots of these pictures of her to share, I'll throw out a few photography tips as we go.

Objects in the foreground create a nice sense of depth as in the previous picture.

When your subject is moving, it's a good idea to leave visual room in your photo for your subject to move through. Meaning, if she could actually move in the photo, there should be room in front of her to allow for that movement. In the photo above, there is not a lot of room in front of her, but there is more than in the photo below.

This photo (above) seems cramped and Clara looks much more confined than she did in the previous photo. The sense of motion has been lost.

This next photo is much better. Clara has plenty of room in front of her to ride on through the frame.

Now for a photo-shoot prep tip: Comb your daughter's hair, for goodness' sake! That scraggly hair is now captured for all eternity! (But, otherwise, I really like this next photo. Her body language is so focused and I love the sunshine in the trees in the background.)

Notice that I again left plenty of visual room in front of her to preserve the sense of movement.

Try to find different angles and perspectives. You don't always have to see your subject's face to get a good photo.

Though, that precious little face definitely deserves some attention of it's own!

I love the light in her hair in this shot. The sun is actually setting to the right of her and she is in the shadow created by our house, but a few rays of sunshine are bouncing off the windows of a house across the street at the left and are back-lighting her perfectly.

As you can see from the rollovers, I make plenty of mistakes. I had to straighten, correct exposure and white balance, remove distracting objects from the background and even clone out the snot from Clara's nose in the last picture. Unfortunately, though, I haven't yet figured out how to photoshop scraggly hair!

Satisfied sports fan

I've always loved sports. I was the little girl in elementary school who played soccer with all the boys at recess. I played basketball all through junior high and high school and then continued to play intramural basketball in college. I also enjoyed playing weekly games of ultimate Frisbee with friends during college and made regular use of the rec center.

Not only have I played sports all my life, I love to watch as well. As a teenager and into my twenties I could never get enough of NBA and college basketball, tennis, gymnastics, figure skating, NASCAR races, NFL and college football and, of course, the Olympics. I am in heaven for two weeks every two years when the Olympics are on.

But, as I have become a mother and slowly added to the size of my family, my ability to participate in or watch sports has drastically diminished. I haven't picked up a basketball in years. I very rarely catch a bit of a college basketball game. I try to watch at least a match or two of Wimbledon, but even that is getting sketchy.

So, even though youth sports are logistically a major pain, I absolutely love being about to experience them with my kids. We've played a couple of seasons of soccer at the Y with Jonathan and one season with Elizabeth so far. Jonathan is playing baseball for the first time this spring. It is so much fun!

I love going to the practices and the games. I love that the younger kids get to play outside in the dirt with the siblings of the other players and that everyone comes home dirty and sweaty and renewed by the fresh air.

And, I might get a wee bit excited during the games. Don't worry, I'm not one of the crazy parents that yell and scream and criticize from the sidelines. I'm one of those crazy parents that yell and scream and encourage and cheer from the sideline. That's a pet peeve of mine. I think parents should only express positive things from the sideline. Sports should be fun!

Distracted by an airplane passing overhead.

We'll see if I'm quite as enthusiastic this Saturday. Jonathan's game isn't until noon and the high temperature is supposed to be 96°F. But, I guess that's all part of the fun.

Beach fun

About once a year we pack up all the kids and make the hour and a half drive to Galveston Island to have some fun at the beach.

We had a perfect day at the beach this year. The weather was perfect with a nice breeze and it was warm enough so that the kids weren't cold when they were wet but not so hot that we were sweltering under the bright sun. There wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

I'm so glad that we have been able to do this for our kids. The quick drive to Galveston isn't all that big of a deal and we just pack PB&J to eat, but it sure makes a lot of good memories. All that's necessary is the water, the sand and a few buckets and shovels and my kids are happy for hours. And, maybe a few seagulls.

But, I never even saw the ocean myself until I was in college. Actually, Eric was the person who took me on my first trip to the beach. Eric has been the person that created many opportunities for many firsts for me, which is one of the things I love about him. He constantly expands my horizons.

He also let's me have all the time I need to take about a bazillion photos every time we go to the beach.

Keeping track of four active kiddos while I snap away certainly isn't easy.

But, he's a good man and he loves me. And, I love him.