Saturday 17 September 2011

7 Quick Takes Volume 6

7 quick takes sm1 7 Quick Takes Friday (vol. 143)

1.

My word, these Quick Takes come around quickly. We are just finishing a week of back to school and it has been a whirlwind! The most amazing thing that has helped me with the routine this academic year is making lunches after dinner and putting them in the refrigerator so they are ready in the morning. This may sound like common sense to some people, but I always tried to do them fresh in the morning, and you are talking to someone who packs 1) A sandwich in a box 2) A salad vegetable chopped up in a box 3) Fruit pieces in a box 4) A dairy product, often a yogurt, plus plastic spoon and napkin and 5) a juice carton, plus a freshly filled water bottle for during the day. Times two. How was I doing this in the morning as well as getting us all ready?!

2.

Something I miss now my girls are bigger is iceskating. As pre-schoolers I used to take one or both of them to a local ice rink and there would about 40 minutes of skating to kiddy tunes punctuated by a drink and a biscuit on the side of the rink. The first time I took FirstSister I was actually overcome with emotion - I was dancing with my daughter on iceskates to Disney tunes! The over 5-s sessions just aren't the same, and quite frankly I have enough on shepherding the sisters around to dance and swimming lessions, so this week I booked the next best thing - Disney on Ice! I've no idea what this is going to be like but a lot of people I know go and enjoy it so we have that to look forward to in November once the nights are really drawing in.


3.

Speaking of which - there was no Daddy to help after dinner and put the sisters to bed last night (this is pretty unusual in our household to be honest) so by the time he came back from his meeting at 8pm, it was dark!!! I had to pop and retrieve the dry laundry from the washing line before it started getting that Autumnal damp think. My friend in Scotland had to defrost her car windscreen yesterday morning. Summer's definitely over!

4. 

The last episode of Torchwood aired last night. Whether or not you think the sexual content was overdone, the science fiction is usually riveting and for some reason I do have this (teeny tiny) crush on John Barrowman (and several of his CDs). I've struggled to find this series as enjoyable as the last excursions though. Having moved to BBC America, it had a wider scope, bigger budget, classy acting from Bill Pullman and could have pulled something great off. Instead the series was oddly paced and the storyline patchy. I still loved me some feisty Gwen Cooper action though. And, given that the whole premise was centred around a 'Miracle Day' and a 'Blessing', there seemed to be some whole avoidance about discussing humanity's place in the universe , and what sort of energy engineers im/mortality, in a religious context. I'm definitely preferring Dr Who at the moment.

5. 

As that Autumn nip is in the air, I'm turning my focus to autumnal dinners - jacket potatoes, hot dogs, roast chicken, that sort of thing. This week I am going to try Leanne's apple chicken from Saving Dinner. Although the measurements aren't always easy to adapt to UK ones, we love her eggless carbonara recipe. I'm also trying to do a meatless Friday, as well as the Meat Free Monday we always do. Friday is now swimming night, which means I want to be able to do something that will refuel the children, but which pays homage to what we call our 'Sorry Friday'.

6. 

We had an amazing Pram Service this week. Five of our regular children left to start school in summer so I didn't think there would be many there. But we were packed! And for some reason we had lots of adults as well as children joining in the actions for  Jesus Love Is Very Wonderful and playing the instruments for One More Step Around the World Go. ThirdSister thought it was a party just for her! (She doesn't get to hang out with under-fives much. Although her best friend Lily, also one, came over to play this week while chatted to her mother.) My friend had said she would pray for the Pram Service in church that morning; I bet she did!

7. 

The Fish Tank has arrived, and is sitting on top of its cabinet in the lounge. Now I just have to go on a mission for gravel (black) and a background (black). Who knows, one day there may even be water in the tank. Oh, and fish!!!

See more Quick Takes with Jen at Conversion Diary.

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