Those Quick Takes Again

I could get used to this, if I can stick to it. :)

Read the other Quick Takes hosted by Jennifer.

1. It's cold. But I'll bet you knew that. Started at 20 below first thing this morning. John went in late (he drives an old, old beater of a car and didn't want to get stuck in the dangerous cold) after working at home for a few hours. It's all the way up to around zero now!

2. I finished re-read Friendly Gables to the kids this week. A funny thing happened that other Hilda Van Stockum fans would appreciate. We actually own two copies of Friendly Gables as Ria won an art contest with them many years ago (I think she was 7 or 8) and got to pick one free book. That was her choice. Fastforward 7 or 8 years. We've been working on our attic on and off for the last year or so. It started as just a big room with no flooring, but tons of loose insulation. Now it is completely floored and half-insulated and we've moved a bunch of stuff up there. John has sectioned off a small portion of the attic for the kids to hang out in. They have their own special entrance and of course they are reminded of "Homework" - the Mitchells' secret attic hideaway from Friendly Gables. Apparently Terri decided to store the extra copy of Friendly Gables up there many months ago just because it seemed appropriate (in spite of all the saw dust and fiberglass floating around). So, the other night, we were all searching high and low for the copy of Friendly Gables we were currently reading. We were all very amused when Terri got a "Eureka" expression on her face and proudly brought a copy of Friendly Gables back down from "Homework". (To make a long story LONG!)

3. I've been doing some pro-life research this week. One accusation against the pro-life movement I came across saddened me. Apparently some people think that when pro-lifers equate abortion with the Holocaust, that they're accusing the mothers of being like the Nazis. I think that's a serious misunderstanding. Every pro-lifer I've talked to about such things tends to consider the mother a co-victim of the abortion industry.

4. I think I'm with Twitter to stay. I'm see it as an extension of my blog, whereas Facebook is a good place to keep in touch with friends and family.

5. Changes in my family's daily routine (like re-shifting to an earlier bedtime) and schooling goals (like requiring a certain amount of reading a day) can be really tedious. But when we stick with it for a week or two we seem to be happier and more peaceful. It also seems to help to implement (or re-implement) one thing at a time.

6. I'm getting excited about studying St. Pauls' Letter to the Colossians with our teen discussion group next month. I ordered a couple of books to read up.

7. The state Latin convention is coming up soon! We're thrilled to have 12 students participating this year (up from FOUR two years ago!). It's a fun and motivating event. I'm busy gathering art supplies in my ever-present case. Ria's putting together a costume and looking for something to recite (and provide an English translation of) for the prepared oratory. Lots of other general busy-ness.