Photos With Friends

A few weeks ago, it occurred to me, that I am very good at living in the moment. I have read countless blog posts about how we take so many pictures and don't experience the fun. And I have made the choice to not over-document and stay in the moment. 

But the flip side of that is that I have few pictures of me with my friends. I swear to you, I have friends. I even go out and do things with them from time to time. But I don't actually document that. So last weekend, I said to my friend: take a picture with me. That way if I die tomorrow my children will know that I had a life that was full. 

My life is full. And I have so many dear friends, and I want to be able to look back and have visual proof of it. Do I need to take 97 pictures? No. But is it really not living in the moment to take 1? Also no. 

I am glad I took these pictures and I am going to keep trying to take pictures with my friends as I can. 

FRIDAY!

 Hello FRIDAY! 

Can you just feel relief at the fact it is Friday today? I know that I am so so glad. This week was not a good one for taking pictures or having anything meaningful to share. But I like blogging on Fridays so here I am anyway. 

Yesterday I ran all the errands. And I don't like running errands. I am definitely an "if I can order it online" or do "curbside" pickup, I am in. Well, I took the kids to their rehearsal, and then I went to Michaels. This was the one place where, in fact, I had done an order ahead. And picking up your item at Michaels is as easy as grabbing a bag off a shelf. So I was happy! 

Then I went to Party City. M is going to a birthday party tomorrow and needed a Squishmallow keychain for her gift, and I knew they had them there. But also I am going to trivia tonight and I am in charge of tableware. While I could have gone basic, I instead opted for: 

A princess party! I got the big and little plates and napkins in this theme. 

Then I went next door to Staples to buy post-it flags. And that was a whole thing. I wandered the entire store looking for Post-It flags. But I found them and secured them! Yay! 

Then I went to Target to buy cutlery and cups for trivia. I opted to get a pack of anti-bacterial hand wipes too just in case anyone needs to clean their hands this evening. I also got eggs because I am practically a millionaire. 

That may not sound like a lot. But 4 stores in the span of an hour is A LOT for me. I didn't really enjoy shopping before COVID. And then with the world figuring out how to shop without going in during the worst of it... I haven't really needed to go shopping since then. Don't get me wrong, I will go shopping. But I am very much a one-store and-then get-back-home kind of person. 

The reason I had to go to Michaels was that I needed screen printing ink. And I needed screen printing ink because I had to make shirts. 

So last night I made shirts for my retreat group. 

Husband got me a Cricut for Christmas. Or he said he would. And then I got sick of waiting so I just ordered it myself. And it came yesterday. And so did the shirts. And I didn't have anything last night so I actually had time. So... the miracle of screen printing. 

I think they turned out great and I totally dig that they're handmade with love. 

But most of all... it's FRIDAY. And I am so happy! 

In Memory

 

Chocolate

September 2021-January 2023

Yesterday, Chocolate the snail passed on to the great fish tank in the sky. He was a really good snail, who cleaned the tank, went for jogs, and was incredibly active. I will miss his little mouth movements, they were my favorite and already our tank feels a little lonely.  He will be missed. 

Waldo seems to be handling the news okay. Or he's a fish and doesn't care a ton either way. 

C also seems to be handling the news well. He is sad, but realistic. He does not want to get another snail at this time. Maybe in a while. 

Mystery snails live for about one year so Chocolate lived a very full life with us. He grew SO much during his time with us. He truly was exceptionally speedy and I will deeply miss watching him run laps, it was incredibly satisfying and peaceful to watch. 

I am just thankful I realized and got him out of the main tank and into the hospital tank for observation when I did. Snails decompose very quickly, which can make ammonia spike, which in turn could have killed Waldo. No harm was done to the tank and all the water levels are good! 

Thanks for a great 16 months Chocolate! 

First Reconciliation

M had her first reconciliation on Saturday! I am so proud of her. Honestly, her whole class did a great job! We had no major bumps and no major criers! (A few nerves but totally within the range of normal.) 

I led the pre-Reconciliation service. But M was in the last group so I could be in the church with her when she went. She actually went in the Bishop's line!! Here she is waiting.

A before shot.

And a candid after shot! Look at that beaming glow! 

Families were encouraged to receive the sacrament as well. Look at this picture of Husband. With the tabernacle? Gah, I love it. 

 I was overjoyed with how many families DID receive the sacrament. It's so so good. 

I am so thankful and proud of how Saturday went!

Doctors and Cast Lists and Funny Stuff

So a lot has happened in the last week. Here are some highlights.

C had a regular old check-up. The kid is healthy. 

Saturday was the Reconciliation retreat. I thought it went pretty darn well, to be honest. I don't know that I will change much for next year. After the retreat, we went out to eat at Olive Garden and you know what? It is not fancy but gosh it was good, and just what I needed and wanted. Then I promptly went home and crashed for a long nap. A really good, clearly much-needed, long nap. 

Husband took the kids to see the ice sculptures. It's an annual event downtown and I have never been but the three of them go annually. I am glad they have that tradition and even more thankful I was snuggled up sleeping, warm, and not looking at ice sculptures. 

We spent the week working on C's Birds of Prey project. It's a 4th-grade tradition at our school. Though it was decidedly not that stressful so I don't know why it has such a negative reputation among the parents? 

Each 4th grader chooses a bird of prey out of a hat and does a research paper and a project about it. But they do the paper and research in class so all we were responsible for was a project. He turns it in today and it's a news report. He plays 3/4 characters. (A Minnie Mouse puppet plays the remaining part.) He helped edit it up and it's pretty good actually. 

This is a terrible screenshot from his 1:24-long video. But he is also turning in his script and his storyboard to show all his work. 

On Wednesday M and I went to the Children's hospital about an hour away for her to have a little procedure done. 

She did so great! She was gone from me in the procedure room for over an hour which felt very long to me waiting! But all of God's grace was abundant and she didn't even cry once! (And that's a miracle in and of itself because she is my no-pain-tolerance dramatic kid.) The child life specialists who stayed with her the whole time are truly a gift. 

And she even got a small Lego set as a reward for doing so great from child life. I am so incredibly thankful that the procedure went well. And for this hospital to be so close by. It truly feels like hollowed ground when you get to the campus and I almost cried a few times while I was waiting to just know that we'd be going home and so many floors of other families weren't going to have that same experience. So lots to pray for. M is a little sore still today but she is on the upswing. 

In casting news... C will be playing the role of Maurice. 

M will be playing the role of Lady with a Cane. And while you don't know who that is... let me tell you. She is the most relatable character in the whole movie! 

Yes. M gets to sing "I Need Six Eggs" and am I thrilled? I am. It's my second favorite line of the whole movie after "Marie, the baguettes! Hurry up!" Cue my throwback pic of my babies as babies in 2017. 

Anyway, it was all very exciting and they had their first rehearsal as a casted group yesterday and it went well so that makes me very happy. 

And just to end Friday on a high note: here are a few things that made me laugh out loud this week!

So that's it. Happy Friday! 

Friday!

 Oh happy happy Friday! Okay, I started this post LAST Friday and never got to finishing or posting so how about a super lame 2 week recap?

The first week back after a whole lotta nothing was rough. We were all exhausted. And then this week was busy busy busy for me. 

But here we are. 

Some things that have tickled me this lately. This picture of Pope Benedict that was on the altar in church. 

Well it is a framed picture that was hanging in my brother's room for years. The other side covered up is JPII. As my parents were cleaning out his room they decided since I work for a church all Catholic things were coming to me. I didn't want to hang it in my office so I stuck it in the spare office and then a few months later it ended up on the altar without me knowing ahead of time. 

This was the snow we got last Wednesday. 

This was my Dad's snow the same day. 

Since then, it snowed here for real, like 2 inches, melted and here we are. I love having no snow! I just need to make it through next Wednesday and if it wants to get super cold and gross after that, fine I suppose. 

The absolute highlight of the last week is that we live in a time where Aaron Rodgers didn't make the playoffs. And his final throw of the season was an interception. 

I will root for the Vikings as long as I am breathing but I know what I want and what is likely are very different things. So I hope this is a safe fun week of football for everyone playing. 

Want to hear something CRAZY?! Casey's (like the midwest Gas Station) has the best pizza. It took me many years to even try it because again, gas station pizza?! Horrifying. 

But it's really not. It's delicious. Anyway, apparently it's national pizza week. Who knew? Anyway, I don't insta anymore. But sometimes I log in to see what's going on. And they said share your favorite Casey's pizza moment to win a free pizza. So I did. 

Then yesterday at our weekly staff meeting I mentioned that I thought I should win the pizza of the day. 

AND THEN I DID!

I literally couldn't believe it. I had a DM and I was confused because I do not really insta for real. I follow no one I know in real life. I check in only periodically. So I opened the message and thought it must be a joke... but then I went to their stories and it WASN'T. 

And that is the tale of me and the free large pizza I won. 

My beautiful pookies had their auditions for their show yesterday. It is Beauty and the Beast. I don't know where they'll end up. I am hoping M gets to be the "I Need Six Eggs" lady or a Silly Girl and I would be content if C was the Bookseller or Whatever. C would very much like to be Cogsworth, which might be a stretch but I've been surprised before. 

Tomorrow is the First Reconciliation Retreat and after that we are going out to lunch to celebrate my very good but busy week. (First large group Confirmation meeting was on Sunday all the way through a retreat on Saturday.) 

I am also excited for a day of rest on Monday. God bless MLK Jr. for his work to better our world and our government for recognizing that. 

New Year!

Well then, Hello 2023. You look just about the same to me as your younger brother 2022 but I am happy you're here all the same. 

Our New Year's Eve was about as low-key as it gets. And I am perfectly okay with that. 

Since we were off the whole week before Christmas we started back up to school and work and things Monday. Boy did that hit hard. 

I realized late last year that I don't take enough pictures of my kids in their uniforms. And since those are the clothes they wear every single day, it made me sad. 

On Monday I took one for myself. M was being goofy posing and C was completely disinterested but nevertheless. It's real. 

When I look back, I want to remember the real life. And so I am documenting that as well. Yesterday this kid looked like this because his sister was being too loud and he didn't even want to do his math homework anyway! 

And this gal here has had quite the attitude lately which I do not appreciate one bit. 

Reality. 

Besides all that, work has been SO busy and will continue to be for quite a while. But that's why it's called work right? 

Have a great Wednesday!