The Week in Quick Takes

1. Seattle Town Hall has a once-a-month children's concert on Saturday mornings in the dreary winter months. Last Saturday, we went to see the Pop-Ups, a Brooklyn-based duo with two Grammy nominations for best children's album. Unsurprisingly, they were really great! Maggie was completely enthralled and Claire told Adam later, "I liked the song where they took off all their clothes." (It was about different careers, hence the many costume changes.)

2. Later that evening, we had friends, Bruce and Leslie (also former Houstonians!) over for dinner. We served pizza, salad, and homemade vanilla ice cream with Fran's dark chocolate sauce. Once the girls were in bed, Adam and Bruce brought a meal over to the homeless shelter while Leslie and I got to hold down the fort and chat about baby names. 

3. Adam joined our parish's newly-formed chant choir, which performed for the first time during Mass on Sunday. We finished cleaning the kitchen during afternoon naps and I successfully convinced Adam to take us out for dinner at Chipotle. We saw the most amazing sunset afterward. Of course, a phone camera couldn't do it justice but that didn't stop me from trying. I wish we could have ended the weekend with watching the Oscars. One of the very few times each year I miss having cable! But since it was my turn to take our weekly holy hour anyway, I suppose it was for the best.

4. We had a pretty normal week. Monday was music class, Tuesday was an exhausting trip to Target (never again will I push one of those gigantic, unwieldy double carts there!) and Wednesday was play group at church, made more exciting than usual with two pregnancy announcements and passing out new books for our monthly book club. On Thursday, I was heading to the mall to return at Madewell and invited a friend to join us at the play space. It's become a tradition to end an outing there with a doughnut from Top Pot. Today, we met our friends Libby and Paige at the children's museum, followed by our traditional lunch of bagels at Panera and browsing the kid's section at Nordstrom Rack. 

5. The above paragraph makes being a stay-at-home mom sound really fun. And it really is, for the most part. I mean, my kids are pretty adorable, as evidenced by the above picture. But, of course, there's a lot of manual labor involved. I spent every afternoon deep cleaning. Just for posterity's sake, here was my check-list for the living room and play room: 

Living Room: 

Dust mantel and television

Dust bookshelves, including tops

Dust coffee table, end tables, and lamps

Dust baseboards, window, and door

Dust picture frames and art 

Wash couch slipcover, pillows, and quilts 

Wash boot tray

Vacuum and mop under all furniture and inside hall closet 

Declutter as I go 

Touch up paint

Play Room:

Dust furniture, including family altar

Dust baseboards, window, and door

Dust picture frames 

Vacuum under all furniture 

Spot clean the carpet 

Wash the toys

Declutter as I go

Touch up paint

I'm done with the living room, but still have a ways to go in the play room. Thankfully, I will have a partner to help me finish it up. I thought I could accomplish more during the week, but routine things like laundry, normal tidying-up, paying bills, and making doctor's appointments take up more time than I realized.

6. And for some reason everyone wants to be fed dinner every night. On our menu: 

Monday: chicken pot pie

Tuesday: waffles, bacon, and green smoothies

Wednesday: quiche florentine and green beans

Thursday: pork chops with applesauce, potatoes, and broccoli

Friday: homemade pizza 

We recently instituted "family movie night" on Fridays so during dinner we've been watching classic Disney shorts on Netflix. Tonight the Sound of Music is on the agenda. (On the DVD, one of the special features is called "music machine" and just plays all the songs, lasting about 45 minutes.)

7. Another recently instituted tradition has been listening to audio books while the girls eat lunch. So far, we've been listening to Robert Munsch stories. He has two collections on iTunes. Other recommendations?

Well, I've got a pizza to make and toys to wash, so I should be off. Have a wonderful weekend, you guys! Joining Kelly for Seven Quick Takes.