Wildlife and sugar, sugar, sugar {p.h.f.r.}

{pretty}

Well, zoo animals aren't necessarily so much pretty, as interesting and fascinating (though yes, many of them are very beautiful).  It's fun watching my little guy try to interact with them.  My darling girl even gets in on it too, sometimes.  You should have seen the uproar the normally casual prairie dogs were in after she chattered at them a while.
I always enjoy the burrowing owls, especially this one that actually leaned in when I got close to the glass to take this shot, and the moose, which oddly enough is kept just feet away below the deck the owls are on.  I'm still trying to figure out why I always have this strange urge to "moo" at the moose.

{happy}

Yesterday was my hubby's birthday!  We had a delicious dinner of bistro burgers on the grill and a marble cake with chopped chocolate in the butter-cream filling.  Turned out better than I expected.  I was also thrilled to be able to give him the present that I'd been hiding for the last 6 months.  My guy is an Eagle Scout and loves seeing bald eagles on the river sometimes when his work takes him there.  The first one that arrived (on the right) didn't exactly live up to the photo I based my purchase on, plus the legs had big cracks in them!  But, much to the seller's credit, he made it right and sent the replacement on the left.  Beautiful!  So, now we have two - we're talking about putting the smaller one in the garden.  Heck, maybe it'll keep the crows and rabbits away!

{funny}

My poor girly girl - aside from the Cheerios addiction and the constant "Cheerio-butt" syndrome (which definitely contributes to the Cheerio-laden state of our kitchen floor), we add insult to injury making her wear her brother's old bibs.  No girl should have to suffer through having "That's my boy!" hanging around her neck.  Curse those awesome rubber-backed bibs.  Hopefully this isn't why she's always stealing her brother's Matchbox cars.

Here, it's a little hard to see, but my son fully tried to take the cake (literally) before dinner last night.  We all agreed it was a shame, considering the effort put into it, and the time-out that resulted, that he didn't even manage to get a good finger-ful of frosting, instead just leaving deep fingerprints - the evidence leading to his arrest and conviction.  (Don't worry, we had more than just circumstantial evidence against him...)  Hubby and I made a bet this morning regarding just how many times the kiddo will be begging for cake before lunch.

{real}

 It's tradition at Hubby's work that the birthday celebrant brings donuts.  Apparently there were some (read: too many) left over.  This was breakfast.  Or rather, the jelly-filled long-john you no longer see on that piece of tissue paper was breakfast.  I'm not even usually much of a donut person, but dang, that was good!

7 Quick Takes Friday: A little cheese with this whine, anyone?

It wasn't my intention to be all whiny and annoying, but I guess that's what happens when you're low on sleep, everyone in the family has had a cold over the past week, and you didn't get to see your Grandma again as a result...

--- 1 ---

Babies definitely grow too fast.  Even when they're still "little" they can get so big, and when they're getting "bigger" mine is learning to mobilize WAY too quickly.  But who can tell an almost 8 month old that she's not allowed to start pulling up?  She is not at all satisfied with this whole slow-motion crawling deal.  That was so 2 weeks ago.

--- 2 ---

I am far too easily distracted from normal, everyday duties.  My husband put laundry in the washer yesterday before he left from work.  It took me until mid-afternoon to realize the huge laundry pile from our Mother's Day weekend trip was no longer sitting by the basement door.  And no worries, I did get it into the dryer before it started to get all mildew-y, but this morning my poor husband was digging around for a work shirt, at which point I had to sleepily apologize for not getting the laundry upstairs.  Yeah, still sitting in the dryer.  Poor guy.

--- 3 ---

There has yet to be invented a facial tissue soft enough for babies' noses.  Or maybe babies are genetically predisposed to fighting a nose-wiping tooth and nail.  Either way, in the end, no one's happy but baby's nose is slightly less snotty.  At least my 2-year old is learning to be cooperative on this front.

--- 4 ---

I am not the chipper early bird I was last time I wrote a Quick-Takes, but I am still up before at least one of my kids.  (Looking back at that post, I'm now wondering what kind of crazy person wrote it - and if she was on drugs.  And what kind they were.)  He's taken to sleep til nearly 9 o'clock most mornings the last couple of weeks.  At least when we're at home.  Sleeping anywhere else requires earlier wake up times in toddler world.  But still, God Bless You, Dr. Weissbluth!  Forgive me for ever doubting you!  Now you just need to come up with a softer facial tissue, or an extinction program for nose-wiping fits.

--- 5 ---

I'm coming to think that "Quick-Takes" is a misnomer.  Nothing is ever quick when you have two munchkins running around.  In fact, this has been interrupted so many times that the munchkinette is already back in bed for nap #1 and the coffee is starting to kick in.

--- 6 ---

Bare-root perennials have a startlingly higher survival rate when you get them into the ground right away.  I know, it's amazing, right?  Why couldn't I understand this last year?

Just for fun, I'm going to use #6 for a little bragging about my formerly delinquent magnolia.  Isn't Miss Jane beautiful this year?

--- 7 ---

Now it's obvious the coffee is kicking in - and I didn't think caffeine affected me.  Haha!  To end on a cheerier note, the sun is out again today, and we're looking at a third day of gardening this week.  It's amazing how much exercise gardening can be - I feel toned already!  Today, we conquer the new compost bin!  Whee!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

I love it when I'm wrong! (Ok, just sometimes...) {p.h.f.r.}

{pretty}

 I have spent the last two summers cursing my Jane Magnolia's lack of flowers.  The first summer I pretty much expected it (gotta cut it a little slack, right?), the second I blamed it on the dog for tearing branches off during the winter for entertainment (the very same, very active dog that only lasted 8 months with us before we realized that having a dog during pregnancy was tough enough, never mind having said dog while caring for a newborn and a toddler - he has a nice home with someone else now).  This spring, as I saw other saucer magnolias blooming and looking so beautiful, I looked at my own miserable bush and said (yes, I talk to my magnolia) "Look at all these other magnolias - why can't you bloom like them?  What's wrong with you?!?"  (I know, I better not ever talk to my children this way, comparing them to each other - or the neighbors'...)

Then to my surprise and delight (maybe Miss Jane took my criticisms as a personal challenge), it suddenly started blooming!  3 buds have opened so far with 5 more on the way!  I apologize, Miss Jane.  You're awesome!

{happy}

My little sweetie is such a happy girl, and baby feet are oh, so delightful anyway.  This picture just makes me smile.  :0)

{funny}

Don't really have a picture for this one - my little guy has suddenly started substituting "No, thank you." for his typical "Nope" or No!"  I'm not really sure how this happened (though we just visited Grandma and Grandpa), and I'm certainly not complaining, but it does through you for a loop when you're expecting a full-out "NO!!!" followed by a tantrum and all you get is a calm "No, thank you."  It's hard to argue with such politeness, so he got out of eating his broccoli and mashed potatoes at dinner last night (of course, he usually does, just with more screaming and thrashing involved).  Doesn't work for everything though...
"Ok, time for your bath."
"No, thank you."
"Don't you want to play with your boat?  You love your boat."
"No, thank you."
"Nice try."

{real}

I'm hoping to improve with my blogging - as in, posting more regularly and not trying too hard to be inspiring, teach a lesson, or artificially profound.  I think it has to do with my constant temptation to be important or a model for others.  You get to be a role model through genuine holiness and living love in your everyday life - it's what happens along the way, not something you set out to do.  So, I'm going to try to take this slow, start simple and put it in my planner for each day.  Maybe someday this blog thing will evolve into something others take notice of, but for now it can be something that God can use to transform me!  I mean, that's why I gave it the name Reflecting the Brightness, right?
Here's to starting slow and being real!  :0)

7 Quick Takes Friday - Inaugural Post!

--- 1 ---

Ok, WAY new to this whole Quick Takes Friday thing (though I've enjoyed reading them since I've been regularly reading others' blogs - for all of the last few months). And pretty darn new to this whole blogging thing (think: here comes Angeline's post #5!!!) I've been looking forward to writing my own Quick Takes all week!

--- 2 ---

This is the first morning in I don't know how long that I voluntarily got out of bed before either of my children. Now that's just weird. I think I'm overly excited about the kitchen playset I saw being unloaded into the neighbor's garage last night (garage sale!!!) and want to get a jump on the early morning crowds (in a town of circa 8,000. Right...) I don't even know what time the darn thing starts, so I've been checking out my window every 15 minutes since about 6:45. (Yup, pretty excited - does it show?!)

--- 3 ---

This whole morning thing is kind of nice so far, though I'm disappointed to hear my 2 year old whimpering upstairs already. (Hmm, may need to go get him up before the 7 month old is adversely affected.)

--- 4 ---

I've already made coffee, prepared the zucchini and started steaming it for baby's very own custom-made baby food! Yea! There's something about DIY that makes everything better. (As to whether my little darling agrees about the flavor of zucchini, is yet to be seen. But I like it, so I'm sure she will too, right? Right...)

--- 5 ---

The sun is brightly shining, and the wind gently rustling through the brand-new leaves on the maples outside (we're a northern crowd, up here!) and it looks like it'll be a gorgeous day! Big plans for getting out of the house, First Friday Mass, and running some errands and provided the sanctity of the nap schedule is respected, it's looking like a wonderful day ahead! (No, I'm not typically this cheery this early - definite night owl - or at least I am when I'm getting enough sleep in general - which has not been for probably about 3 years...) Whee!

--- 6 ---

If you've never read Divine Mercy in My Soul by St. Faustina, I HIGHLY recommend it! It's the best romance novel I've ever read (ok, not sure I've read any actual romance novels...) and the best part of all, is it's a story that belongs to each and every one of us! Some of the things Jesus says will have your heart pounding. Go figure, the author of my soul is also the most romantic man on earth! (And in heaven!)

BREAKING NEWS! 

 THE GARAGE SALE HAS BEGUN! 

 (Who starts a garage sale at 7:45 am??) 

BREAKING BREAKING NEWS! 

 THE KITCHEN SET IS OURS! 

(And a Thomas the Tank Engine for 25 cents! My little guy will be so pumped!!! Too bad his birthday isn't for another 7 months... Guess we'll have to hand it over "just because.")

--- 7 ---

Both kids are now up, complete with two poopy diapers and little dude has once again removed all clothing (except his diaper, Thanks be to God!), but it's still looking to be the best day EVER and it's only 8 am. (Maybe there's something to this morning thing. Assuming I'm not falling over tired this afternoon.)

I forgot to drink my coffee.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Research Nerd

Yeah, ok, so... I'm a researcher.  (Whew, glad I got that random confession off my chest!  "Say what?" you're thinking...)

I'm a researcher.  Not in the searching for a way to cure cancer or product test-panel-y sort of way, or even the college paper-writing sort of way, but in the sense that if there is ANY question of how to do something best, or which {insert random product here} works best, or even the perennial favorite of "just how much is this kid of mine supposed to be eating???", I am instantly on the web, scouting out reviews and options and "highly touted" methods.  I think this "research mania" I suffer from is connected to my 8 years of collegiate study in two ways:

1.)  I'm stuck in that financial mentality that once obligated me to "get the most bang for my buck" (aka Ramen syndrome)

and, to a lesser extent,

2.)  Yeah, yeah, those paper thingies assigned in nearly every class EVER.

So, I'm a researcher.
Which is how my family came to be the proud owner of one of these:

Quite possibly the creepiest looking boy doll ever marketed to the paranoid parenting community.

Toilet Training in Less Than a Day (sounds too good to be true, right?) is a book my aunt loaned to me shortly after the birth of our son, along with Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child (which I'm still on board with  ...I think).  I read it, I researched it, and I thought, yeah, this could work!  

Well, I still have no doubt that the methods behind it can work, but someone in the family, be it myself, my son or Potty Scotty himself was not quite ready to undertake the task at hand.  We'll try again in a few months.  In the meantime, every time my son sees the box that Scotty lives in up on the shelf, he asks about him, in that cute little 2 year-old voice and barely decipherable pronunciation.  When asked whether he would like to try potty training again, he immediately responds with a very abrupt "No!"  The thing I need to wrap my mind around is that sometimes, what works for us is going to be what works for us.  No researching, no polling, no worrying that I'm going to somehow scar my child for life because I introduced pears before green beans.  God gave us moms a certain intuition, and if we (I!) would just learn to trust it and act in love, our kids will thank us in the end.  Regardless of which "method" we end up going with (the Ramen syndrome in me desperately hopes Scotty will still be an asset in this endeavor), it's not going to matter exactly when my son is potty trained, and potty trained is potty trained.  He's not going to be 20, wishing to himself that his mother had gone a different route.

Of course, ...for boys, I hear shooting cheerios works pretty well too.

In Dreams...

Last night I had a dream that I was punishing a badly-behaved teenager (was I babysitting in the dream?  was he a step-child of some kind?  My dreams NEVER make sense!) by singing very loudly (think opera diva) at him in a public place.  I'm not sure it was very effective.  Maybe this is God's way of letting me know that if I'm ever tempted to punish my own children in this manner in real life, I'll be wasting my time and lung capacity.

Naptime in the Jurassic Jungle

What is it about sleep that small children find so horribly... well, horrible?  I remember when I was really young, the rule was you don't come out of your room before 7 am.  These days, that would feel like quite the feat.  My whole life I've had a love/hate relationship with sleep - as in hate to go to bed, at night, then hate to get up in the morning.  Some people would chalk it up to a "night owl" personality.  I consider it a form of biological inertia:  an object in motion tends to stay in motion, and an object at rest (me) tends to stay at rest.  As a mom, it's become more of a love affair with sleep, complete with "absence makes the heart grow fonder."  Every morning as I hear the stirrings in the next room, I beg God for "just 5 more minutes!"  (Or 20?  An extra hour?  Please???)

And why is it when you have multiple young children, the naptimes ALWAYS overlap just enough to cause severe emotional stress - on the part of the mother??  Having noticed wake-up noises over the baby's monitor, I listen at the bottom of stairs to my 2-year old son "winding down" (a.k.a. decrying the atrocities of naptime), knowing he has probably already removed every article of clothing except (hopefully) his diaper and dumped all his stuffed animals out of the crib onto the floor.

I'm desperately trying to figure out how to make "the switch".  Every mother of two or more knows that touchy undertaking of retrieving a newly awakened napper from an adjacent upstairs room without further disturbing the other napper.  In our home, it typically ends up feeling like a scene out of Jurassic Park - clutching your 7-month old, you creep back out into the hallway, trying vainly to hush your own panicked breathing, praying she'll remain quiet in your arms until you can dodge back down the creaky stairs.  You pause with bated breath, listening...  Sudden and complete silence overwhelms you - he is aware of your presence on the 2nd floor!  Two options remain:  a) wait for the muttering/whimpering/bargaining to resume, thereby masking your whereabouts and allowing you to escape without further notice, or b) make a break for it, hoping against hope that he "won't notice."

 
I went with option b.  In my panic and hurry, I hit every creaky spot on the way down.  If my son were a velociraptor, I'd be a goner.