7 Quick Takes

Don't forget to check out Jennifer at Conversion Diary for other Quick takes.

1. I don't really like breakfast, I don't like the basic breakfast food, and I am not really a morning person. So my kids normally eat cereal for breakfast - occasionally I will make a big bowl of oatmeal for us all but that is about it.

Last 7 days I have made breakfast almost every day (I didn't Sunday morning but that was the only miss). I made homemade -not from a mix - muffins, baked oatmeal, cinnamon rolls, french toast, re-fried donuts with eggs, poached eggs and some others I can't remember right now.

Daisy has loved it. Junior likes his cereal so he has not been the happiest camper. And I have been amazed that it isn't as much trouble as I thought.

2. We went to the sheriffs office to do a statement on the dog that we found chained to a bridge (if you missed it see here and here.

I found out that apparently there is a custody case involving the kids and that is why they want to press charges about the dog. Unfortunately we could be called as witnesses in this custody battle. Luckily we saw the dog for only 15 minutes maybe so the chances of us recognizing the dog are pretty low so we may not be called at all.

I never liked the "no good deed goes unpunished" but it does seem to apply here.

3. At the flea market last Saturday I found one of those butterbells for $3. Have you seen them? They are a butter crock that has a bell shaped thing hanging off the lid. The butter goes into the bell shaped thing and then you put the lid on the crock while their is some water in the crock. This is supposed to keep the butter fresh even leaving it sitting out.

So I got mine filled with butter and love it. You know how it is impossible to spread the cold butter on your toast in the morning (unless you get the pricey whipped butters or margarine). This thing has the butter about the consistency of sour cream or whipped cream. It is wonderful!

4. We started reading Treasure Island last week. Somehow I missed this one as a kid (although I did read Kidnapped) but I am really enjoying it so far. Daisy wasn't really interested because it sounds more like a boy book, Junior wasn't interested because it sounded like a hard book. They are getting into it though. And then a blog friend Calista told me about a unit study on it at www.littleblueschool.com. I am even more excited, they will be learning about a compass and the 16 points, they get to make their own treasure map, and other fun stuff.

5. Halleluia! We have been getting rain! Most of the surrounding counties are under a burn-ban and it was feeling quite oven-like outside. Sixteen days of this year have been 100+ so that explains the oven feel (last year we had I think 6 days over 100). So with the rain it feels more sauna-like which is also uncomfortable but at least the plants aren't dieing as much. I even have a couple of blooms on my lemon tree.

Its cloudy out there now which means it is about 100999% humidity, but it is only 83 degrees so I won't complain. too much.

6. We got a new set of pictures of the child we sponsor through Compassion International. This is something that I really encourage you to look into doing. It is just $38 a month and that provides meals and an education plus help for the parents. There is a button on my sidebar if you are interested.

7. I found a Lego builder program for Junior to play with. He spends hours playing with Legos and designing his own things, so I thought that he would enjoy it (although to me it sounds like watching paint dry). He loves it and it has taught him so much. He has learned how to save files (you design you creation and then you can save it and do something completely different) not to mention all the practice he is getting with the mouse and logic and . . . . Occasionally it says something about "If you add this brick you will no longer be able to see the price of your build" so I don't know if you can then order all the peices to build your creation in real life or what.

Anyway, if you have a kid (or husband) who might enjoy it, you might want to check it out.