Happy October Friday!

Oh hey there! It's Friday! In October! 

This week has been busy. But this week has also been insanely filled with joy. 

Here are some things that made me smile this week: 

Really, how blessed am I that this next one is true? 

Here is the one and only picture I have taken this week. And it was to show M her hair before she left. 

It has rained so, so much this week. Like Wednesday and Thursday, we got officially 3.57" of rain. Roads were closed because of flooding. It was crazy. I had to turn around on a road that closed dramatically and quickly. Today, thank goodness, the deluge has finally stopped, and it's cooler out today, so it feels like fall. 

M kicked a bunch of mushrooms out of the lawn at work. That is one of those truly satisfying nature experiences. Kicking mushrooms. Crunching a crispy leaf. 

My weekend mostly involves me working, but that's okay. We are taking things one day at a time and know that God's plans for us are great indeed! 

Happy October weekend, everyone! 

What's Up Wednesday

First of all... I have always kind of thought Dancing With the Stars was rigged, but now I am certain. Those judges were MEAN to Taylor. And overly nice to people who danced way, way, way worse. 

Carrie Ann especially never said one kind thing about him in 3 weeks. But gushed over the oaf that is Tyler Cameron, who last week lifted his partner and took his shirt off, and that was apparently considered dancing. 

All I am saying is you can critique and be kind at the same time. 

I don't believe for one single moment that his votes didn't come in higher than other people's. The fact that there is no transparency at all... rigged. "A combination of the judges' scores and the votes." For sure, it just equals "we are going to do what we want anyway." 

Guess I got my Tuesday nights back. 

Our school/parish has kicked off a capital campaign to add a "wing," if by wing they mean like 5 rooms. And air conditioning. 

To be clear, I am not opposed to such an addition. I just don't think it's as fancy as a "wing." 

All the kids got a little construction helmet. If you look really closely and you're amazingly talented, you can see Me, C, and M in this picture. 

Don't let the absolutely gorgeous blue sky fool you. That was an outlier in the world of dreary and rainy. Honestly, it's getting old. We've been in flood watches and warnings for weeks. Supposed to get 3 more inches of rain today. 

At least it's not $n@w. Because moving to Florida is looking even more interesting if that were the case. 

We are still taking things one day at a time. We still appreciate the prayers as we navigate all the things. 

Blesseds, Baked Goods, and Life

Well, hello from a world where Blessed Fulton Sheen is officially recognized as Blessed. 

A reminder that even in uncertain and hard times, God is good. I mean, how long have we been waiting for this? A really long time. 

So we can keep waiting as a family. It has been one month since Husband was let go from his job. It sucks really. One day I will probably write all about it. Today is not that day. 

And it's been really hard to just trust that God's plan is so much bigger than we realize. But He IS! And even with no good update to share, it's going to be alright. I know it. I feel it. I trust it. 

It's like hour to hour with the ups and downs. Moments of hope and disappointment. 

But since he hasn't gone to work... he has been baking. 

This week he made Chocolate Babka. 

And then he made Hamantaschen with peach filling. He made the filling himself too. 

Have you ever had Hamantaschen? SO freaking delicious. And yes, a few years ago I got him a Jewish Baker Cookbook that he had never opened. He clearly has done so now. 

On Wednesday night, my friends took me out to celebrate my birthday. Again. 

That giant cake came home with me too by the way so if you're looking for baked goods... we're the house. 

Yesterday, Husband made milk pull-apart bread. 

And then he made some Cane's sauce, hand-breaded chicken tenders, air-fried up some crinkles, and we had Raising Cane's at home. 

As it happens, today was ALSO the 6th grade bake sale, and M's class was in charge of bringing 2 dozen treats in, so we ALSO made s'mores bars. 

We are ready for the weekend! Praying next week brings positive news. Blessed Fulton Sheen, pray for us! 

Back to Friday

Well. Here we are on Friday. 

This week was busy. 

There was high school Adoration Night, which was just exactly what I needed. 

A busy and full week with fun à la Dancing with the Stars and work, with the big kickoff of our Family Formation program. 

A little more return to normalcy, in that C started voice lessons back up yesterday. He jumped right in and is working on "I'm Not That Smart" from the 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 

This morning, as I was packing my water and granola bar for lunch, I noted that M has plans for Family Movie Night tonight. 

She didn't just put a Fanta in the fridge. She also added a sign. And put it on a dino cellphone holder. Because why not?

We are still in a rough patch in our house. 

The kids are just really sad. 

The adults are trying to make sense of it all and figure out the next steps. We don't know where the Lord is bringing us. We are open to whatever that plan is. 

There have been glimmers of hope and then more "nos." 

We cling to the idea that "You can be disappointed without becoming discouraged."

So we wait. We pray. We move forward, asking God to "Give us our daily bread." And today, we have enough. 

This weekend's Gospel is about the landowner who pays his laborer the regular daily wage whether they came to work at dawn or 5:00 pm. It's so easy to look at it with our very human and mortal lives and see all the injustice there. 

And I think that's really the point of that parable. Life isn't fair. Turns out entrance into Heaven probably isn't either. But it won't really matter at that point because we will be in Heaven. 

So it's not fair at all. But we keep moving forward and trust that He has something great in store. And we ask for your prayers, please. We need them. 

Dancing Hanson

Last night was the premiere of Dancing with the Stars. I have never fully gotten into the show because they stretch something that could be short into a long long experience. And so many commercials! 

But Taylor Hanson is on DWTS this season, so I am obviously watching (and voting) like the fan that I am. 

It's possible you've seen videos. For the record, I am a bit of a Hanson snob; however, welcome back to all the returning members of the Fansons. Please don't make the cost of tickets go up. Haven't listened to them in a while? (Maybe 1998 when the "MMMBop" craze died down?) Check out these 5 songs to take you further on your Hanson journey. 

1. "Crazy Beautiful" Underneath
2. "Joyful Noise" String Theory
3. "I Was Born"  Middle of Everywhere
4. "Against the World" Against the World
5. "Georgia" The Walk

And here's the thing... he was actually really good. Because the man can count music. And he KNOWS music. And even without a dance background, that goes a long way. 

And come on. The man can jump up and down while playing a harmonica. There is no way he doesn't have the energy for DWTS. Plus he's always been a bit of a perfectionist IMO so... he's hard on himself and was going to bring it all. 

I was not about to let him go home on the first night. Did I make my brother, parents, and friends vote as well? I did. By my estimate, I had 12 people who voted for him last night. I am not sure if you yourself watch Dancing with the Stars, but about 20 minutes in, the website crashed. 

I 100% believe it was the Fansons coming out to support. 

And then they announced later that they had double the votes they had from last year's premiere, with only half of the contestants even dancing last night. 

I am not surprised in the slightest. I bet you a lot of money that the women dance tonight and don't get as many votes. 

I also have to tell you how happy I am that Conner Leavitt went home. He really wasn't good and I find his family so annoying. I mean, I love a supportive spouse, but Whitney and her "Chips and Conner's salsa shirt" were ridiculous. Plus, she was just on last season. A little gap year would have been okay. 

Musings on a Heavenly Birthday

Today would have been my Mother-In-Law Sandy's birthday. She would be 67. 

As it happens, she died in January 2010, 8 months before Husband and I were married. 

As such, I have never had a real Mother-In-Law relationship. Good, bad, or otherwise. 

And on one hand, while those with a poor relationship with their in-laws might say I am lucky; I mourn the fact that there's that piece of Husband's history that is lost. His dad doesn't remember the tiny details of his growing-up story the way his mother would.

I don't have the ability to call to ask her advice, or back in the day to watch the kids or come down for a visit. Would we always have gotten along? Doubtful. Two first-born daughters likely weren't always going to agree. But there would have been mutual respect for sure. 

I will really never know if she approves of the way I do "xyz" or if she thinks I am not strict enough with the kids. Though we shared similar opinions on screen time and bedtime, so I know that would have been met with approval. 

It makes me so sad sometimes that I will never even know if she would like my kids. (I am sure that, as a grandmother, she would appreciate them, but love and like are different, and you know it.) 

I do know she would be thrilled that C was left-handed. She was also left-handed, and she appreciated that I was as well. 

There really aren't too many pictures of us at all. But here is a picture of a picture. At Husband's cousin's wedding in 2007. Babies. All of us. That actual baby is a college sophomore. 

Happy birthday, Sandy. You are missed. 

Thank you for raising your son with the ability to cook and do the dishes. (I hate doing dishes.) He is so self-sufficient, and I am grateful. 

Scenes from the Week

Hello all. 

Here is a very normal, non-vacation update for you. 

Unfortunately, our lives are in a bit of an upheaval. I am not really ready to write about the whole thing just yet, but please pray for us! 

We went old school and hooked up our Super Nintendo. It has been fun. 

We have also started a few nightly rounds of Bananagrams. It's been really nice and cozy. We listen to music and chat and complain when we get too many "f" tiles or a "j" or the dreaded "x". 

In big, big news, this girl tested at a 6th-grade level for math to kick off the year! 

I know that doesn't sound like a lot. But she has always struggled in math. Not enough to actually get academic support, but enough to have to work really hard. 

I don't think she has ever started the year off at grade level before. So this is really exciting and big news. 

It has been so hot here that the kids haven't been in real uniform for over a week. It's been gym uniforms, and last week even some early outs. (No air conditioning in the school.) 

Yesterday they had a true day out of uniform they earned, and the kids finally wore their new Disney shirts I brought them. 

And today is another out of uniform for the Iowa/Iowa State game. Which I have zero interest in. M has outgrown her Caitlin Clark shirt so we had to figure something out. 

We made another neutral shirt. It's a little cheeky. 

And they were excited to go today. But we will not be watching the game tomorrow anyway! 

C recorded his OPUS music this week, and M will do hers this afternoon. Here is hoping their efforts pay off and they will get that opportunity to sing with the statewide honor choir. It would be great for them!