Seven Quick Takes

Here they are--my seven weekly quick takes.  You wait all week for this.  And now it's here.  And lots more quick takes are also here.

1

Yesterday my friend asked me if I'd consider watching her daughter for two weeks before starting her in daycare full time.  This would occur the first two weeks of November, which would make me responsible for weeks 9 and 10 of Baby Girl's life.  I'm so flattered that they asked me and I would love to help them out, but ya'll what if I die because it kills me?????

2

Did you know that the dollar store sells baby wipes?  Well, they do.  For a mere $3.00 I got 210 wipes.  I haven't used them yet, so in my mind they are of the same quality as Huggies one and done.  Do you know what a huge profit margin that is on wipes?  I'm super stoked about this, as only a stay at home mom can be.  Do people still say "stoked?"  Did they ever?

(I'm totally aware that I'll probably need to use all 210 wipes on one bomb, but for now let me pretend, ok?)

3

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the whole Catholic/Protestant thing really grinds my gears.  (That was a Peter Griffin reference).  When I attended Bible study at a large, evangelical church in the area, it always seemed that people would make jabs at Catholics about things they really didn't understand.  Transubstantiation, papal infallibility, do Catholics even believe in Jesus, and even the anti-Christ will come from the Catholic church.  Peeps can be cray, ya'll.  Well, it always irritated me because I think it's possible to study the Bible and your own faith without degrading someone else's.  In my mind, Catholics didn't sit around at Bible study and talk smack about Protestants.  Well, now I'm Catholic and as it turns out they do!  And it's about things that they don't really understand, like the terminology "getting saved," how they assume Protestant communion must be "meaningless," and it was even mentioned that the bride at a Protestant wedding wasn't as beautiful because she didn't represent the beauty of the church.  I think.  The bride/wedding comment was mixed in with remarks about blue carpeting, a crooked cross, and a wooden altar.  Therefore, I am not completely sure if the commenter was making a theological statement or if she just didn't like the church decor.  Either way, what the what?  It drives me crazy because what picture of Christ are you painting when you nitpick over non-essential crap?  And the wedding comment really threw me.  For someone to actually say something like that--well, that reveals an unkind heart, right there.  And my home church used to have blue carpeting and let me tell you, if I had walked down that aisle in a wedding dress, I would've looked good, blue carpeting and all.  Maybe the person didn't feel God's presence because she was too busy concentrating on the sanctuary aesthetics.  Ok.  Enough.

4

Let's move on to lighthearted topics like my new Napa Flex rain boots.  I originally wanted Hunter boots, but I went to Nordstrom and just didn't like them.  The 6 was too big and the 5 was too small.  I also didn't like how they felt around the calf.  The Napa Flex boots have none of those problems.  I like them so much that I look forward to rainy days...and I wear them even if it just sprinkled rain for 5 minutes.  They make me happy.

5

There is something about the image of Max and his dad walking hand in hand that just gets me.  A father and his boy.

6

Will family photos ever not look like this?  Instead of focusing on the unruly toddler, focus on my skirt.  I pinned a coral and navy maxi skirt at the beginning of summer, then one day I walked into TJ Maxx and there it was!  The first article of pinned clothing that has become a reality. Also, Max is wearing baby Vans.  :)

7

Andres and I took Max to Marbles Museum during his Staycation.  I was super impressed!  It was very hands-on and had so many role-play stations.  Max visited the grocery store, farm, vet's office, doctor's office, and an ambulance.  On the second level they had a workshop with real tools and wood.  Papi really enjoyed that area while Max played with some blocks that could not be used as weapons of destruction. They also had a basketball court, a pully chair climbing thing, a craft station, and water play area.  The only thing I can fault them for is that I don't think their membership plan is very good.  It's for family only--to add even one guest to your membership is $50 more.  Considering that basic admission is $5, you would have to bring a guest 10 times to make it worth the cost.  I think that's a little steep, but whatevs.  I don't make the rules, I just complain about them.

Max hard at work during water play.

We noticed the smocks for water play several minutes too late.  Other parents were staring at us.  "OMG, they are letting their son GET WET."  I don't blame them for their judgment.   As we all know, water stains and never dries.