Seven Quick Takes Friday--volume 65

One.
This week has been better than last in trying to establish a schedule. So far I have my morning routine down fairly well, except that we are starting school 30 minutes later than I want to. But since we seem to be getting school done on time anyway, I am okay with that. My "test" schedule sort of falls apart just before lunch. When I get up to make lunch, the kids all run away when they are supposed to be working. Restraints are not an option, so I have to find some way of keeping them working during that time.

Two.
We are are still trying to ward off colds. Not to whine too much, as I know that "colds all winter" is the standard for many large families, but we have been ridiculously lucky the past two winters and so having one cold on the heels of another is a bit annoying. And messy, as it is the three youngest who have it the worst. We have gone through a lot of Kleenex in the last couple of weeks!

Three.
On the topic of illness, please say a quick prayer for Marilyn's family. She no longer blogs publicly, and so misses out on the army of prayer warriors when it is needed. Anyway, her kids are ill and Anna Grace, 7 1/2 months or thereabouts, has croup. I have a dread of coughs, and those that cause babies to gasp for breath are especially terrifying.

Four.
I have to bake a lot of pumpkin bread today. I was opening a couple of cans of peaches for a fruit crumble this week and one of the cans of peaches turned out to be a can of pumpkin. That's okay, we all like pumpkin bread around here.

Five.
In order to draw up plans for the altar he is going to be constructing, Bret has borrowed a drafting table from a friend and has squeezed it into the office here. Since he doesn't have a lamp he can clamp onto the table, he has changed the bulbs in the overhead light to ten million-watt deals which will burn out your retinas if you so much as glance at them make the office look like an operating theater.

Six.
This year I am looking ahead. During Lent I resolve to start making things for Easter and gathering clothing for the kids to wear to Mass on Easter. Every year, two weeks before Easter, I find myself rummaging for clothes that fit and trying to find shoes for Una, whose feet are growing faster than she is (she is going on 11 and we wear the same size shoes). This year I will be ready, with God's help! For those of you who knit, here is a super-easy stuffed bunny pattern. It is adorable, and sewn up from a simple knit square.

Seven.
Our snow is gone, and as much as we enjoyed it, I'm happy for a break from it. Today it is expected to be a balmy 51 degrees!

Visit Jennifer's Conversion Diary for more Seven Quick Takes, and have a great weekend!