7 Quick Takes: September 28, 2012 (Vol. 133)

~ 1 ~

I asked my boys to do a simple task this evening that I knew they would, however, find disgusting.  As I prepared dinner, I had a bowl of things to go out to the composting bin.  So, once they were done hanging around outside, I stopped them as they were coming in and asked if they could go throw it in.  I had to ask them to please not throw in the bowl.  (You never know with kids.)

I was so glad that I had the window open in the kitchen, just so I could hear all of the ensuing adventures!

I heard some commotion from them and then heard muttering of, “I don’t think it’s okay” as they got closer to the door.

“What’s not okay?” I called out.  I fully expected that the next thing I would hear was the sad tale of how my bowl went into the bin (especially since they were empty handed).

Instead, the story went like this…

They threw the veggie pieces in, closed the lid, and decided to be extra helpful and spin the composting bin.  (It’s a tumbler style, like this one.)  However, it seems that they didn’t lock the lid in place and “some dirt” fell out when the lid flew open.

“Like a lot of dirt or a little dirt?  Was there gross stuff too?” I cautiously asked.

“I don’t really know,” Jack offered.  “Probably not a little, but…”

I left my dinner preparations to go check it out, only to find a large pile of very black dirt on the mulch near our composting bin.  I admit, in the past, I may have said that I would clean it up later.  Instead, I knew what was best for the boys.

“Go get some shovels,” I said with a smirk which made them both laugh.

They cleaned it all up and I think they were glad to have taken care of it themselves.  I was glad too.  Not only was it good for them, but being able to hear bits and pieces of their talking while they were cleaning it up was pure entertainment while I prepared dinner.  Some of the funniest stuff I’d heard all day.

~ 2 ~

Speaking of laughter…

Sometimes, like earlier this week, I just get struck by what a fun age my kids are right now.  We can joke together, share smart humor, and just have fun in a different way than we could when they were all small.

It’s hard to imagine now, with a 13 year old, 11 year old, and a very nearly 8 year old that there was once a time that all three were five years old or under.  That was certainly a different time.

~ 3 ~

At long last, Molly began cello lessons this week.  As soon as we picked up the rental cello, I was already feeling an urge to play the instrument, as I have wanted to do since I was in elementary school.  Now that she actually went to a lesson, it only made me want to squat down and play that half-sized cello even more.  There is just something so beautiful about the cello.

There is also something very cool about a cello (like in this video)…

~ 4 ~

When Molly saw cello written in her assignment book, she said quizzically, “Cee Lo?”

I burst out laughing (and realized we’ve been watching at lot of The Voice), and she quickly realized that it actually said cello.

~ 5 ~

While some of the kids are still pretty picky eaters, I marvel at the things that they willingly try now that they never would have tried before.  Apparently those dimes were worth it!

Sure, some of them are still not necessarily happy to try the things and they only eat the minimum, but still — they don’t complain (too much) and we don’t hand out dimes anymore.  This week, they have tried things like beans (as in with “beans and cornbread”) and couscous.

I like saying the word couscous.  It’s like a treat for my mouth.  Couscous.  (Yeah, you know I said it out loud every single time I just typed it too.)

~ 6 ~

Noah, our first to have braces, just had the last of his teeth that has fully come in coaxed to come out and join its friends.  Because it was a stubborn tooth, the orthodontist used alaser to get rid of some of the gum tissue covering the tooth in order to put a temporary bracket and a lasso type of set up to pull it down.

Did you catch that?  A doctor used a laser to disintegrate something in my child’s mouth.

I mused about this to our hairdresser today.  We both agreed that probably back when we had braces, they would have just cut it.  Blech.  (Instead, we had a procedure that took literally about a minute, and that stopped being sore the same day.)  Technology is a pretty crazy thing, huh?

~ 7 ~

Okay, so as long as we’re feeling a little squeamish anyway…

Have you ever stayed in a hotel and been able to hear people in a room, um, well…enjoying their time together in a very personal way?

I hadn’t had that experience until last weekend.  Whew – that’s some kind of awkward.

Oh, wait.  Did I mention that I was with my Mother?  Yeah, let’s amplify the awkward factor on that one.  I’ve never moved so fast trying to get a sound machine app going on my phone.  I probably would have been even faster on that, however, if I was also texting Eric with a set of texts that was so funny (apparently) that he had to share them with people at work later.

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This post is linked to 7 Quick Takes and Weekly Wrap Up.

Related posts:

7 Quick Takes: September 14, 2012 (Vol. 131) 7 Quick Takes: September 21, 2012 (Vol. 132) 7 Quick Takes: September 7, 2012 (Vol. 130) 7 Quick Takes: August 24, 2012 (Vol. 128)