I missed 7 Quick Takes...

(I started this post on Friday, but didn't get a chance to finish it until Saturday, so I missed the 7 Quick Takes linky list - but check out Conversion Diary all the same!)

I love 7 Quick Takes because I can just squeeze all the bits and pieces of my week into one post when nothing is really exciting enough to warrant a post all it's own.

1. I missed pumpkin carving this year completely. I don't remember why I couldn't get my act together and actually BUY a pumpkin sometime in the last few weeks. Are there still pumpkins out there? There must be. Maybe I'm not too late...

2. I'm doing my best to get a pair of raspberry pink satiny mittens out to a little girl I know who's turning one. I can't believe little M was born a year ago.

3. Can you tell what we've been doing today? If you guessed cleaning up a lot of vomit you'd be right! Note in the background the pile of baby spit-up laundry on my washing machine.

4. Samuel was less than thrilled at his lion costume. I really wish now that I'd had a chance to make his costume. I can't help but feel that we both would have been happier with it.

5. I enjoy the simplicity of cooking with dried foods. It requires a bit of foresight, yes, because you often need to rehydrate overnight, but using these ingredients offers a lot of benefits. Cost is obviously one as dried legumes are often significantly lower in price than the canned varieties. Salt and preservatives are often non-existent in the dried versions, and then there's this...

How pretty is that?

6. If you were wondering what has been happening with Samuel's room makeover, rest assured that things are progressing! David might have distracted me somewhat with his comment that "if we're not moving soon, should we hang our pictures?" Well, yes, I suppose. In that vein, what do you think of family picture walls?

7. My latest garland obsession! These are from Ten Thousand Villages and are made from palm leaves. The workers, many of them women, are paid a fair wage for their work and even then the items are often ridiculously cheap. I believe I paid under $20 for six handwoven garlands, each at least ten feet long, and an olive wood cross.

(And yes, that's us two and a half years ago. Cute, aren't we?)