Nothing's Really Happening

So here's what's going on in our lives. A whole lot of the same old same old but on a busier track than normal. Between soccer practice and soccer games, making dinner and keeping the house clean there isn't a whole lot of interesting things to report.

Husband and I saw this the other day and we laughed so hard we cried. Because, yes, this, every morning.

M is finally starting to feel better. I did wind up taking her in on Saturday morning because her fever just kept spiking. It's a virus, we know that now. She fell asleep on me at Mass on Saturday night. This is the kid who only fell asleep at Disney World one time and even that was when it was dark and she was in a stroller. She is a strictly in bed or car seat sleeper. But slowly we are seeing her appetite come back and she is starting to be a little more cheerful. This morning started out not so great but she took a 45-minute nap after breakfast and since then seems to be doing pretty good.

I'm sure you've all seen the lava in Hawaii yes. Am I the only one who thought lava was a wee bit faster than that? I know that the lava is incredibly dangerous but it's so slow moving. There was a video going around of the "lava eating a car" and it's a timed lapsed video. I still don't know why they didn't just move the car because there was certainly time. Whatever.

Well, Happy Wednesday friends. Make it a good one!

Long Week!

It has been a week. Wow, am I glad it's Friday. Tonight I am heading out with some friends to go play trivia. I am not particularly good at Trivia but I am looking forward to being a grown up!

C rebounded from his sickness quickly. He was mad I made him stay home from school. But M spent three full days as a little feverish baked potato snuggled next to me.

She did not leave my side for 3 days unless she was asleep in her bed. It was mentally exhausting. I was getting worried about her and made an appointment for this morning but she woke up right as rain. I feel a little guilty going out tonight mostly because Husband and I have both been busy with something every night but it's going to be fine. Because I need a break!

We made it to art class this morning which was nice.

M was not super thrilled with me taking a picture of her snack. But it was so cute!!

This weekend we have a soccer game and Mass (on Saturday because it's First Communion this weekend so we will leave them room.)  plus it's the Kentucky Derby! Woohoo! I am excited. C picked his horse. He has a 4 year "pick the winner" streak but I think this year that will come to an end.

I feel like 98% of the people I follow on Instagram or blogs have not only received One Beautiful Dream but read it already.  I am sure it's great. I'm going to let you in on a secret though? I never read Jennifer Fulwiler's first book. So... I feel like if the universe plops the book in front of me and I win a copy, I'll read it. But I haven't won yet so I'm just going to wait on the universe.

Our Natives arrived today! Just in time. It's been in the 80s and we didn't have summer shoes in our right sizes. The feet on these kids of mine just keep growing! But now we have shoes that don't necessitate socks, which is a good thing certainly. The kids picked different colors this year, C picked green and M will be rocking the purple. And, yes, green Natives is an exercise in me letting go. Because they're green. And the navy blue ones could be dressed up a bit. And I liked how they look. But... I am not the wearer and he has had four years of the blue so for summer number five he can pick green if he wants.

Happy weekend! Hope it's lovely!

May Day!

It's May!

So happy May Day! I love giving out May Day baskets but alas this year I am not going to be able to do that. Both kids are under the weather. I don't really know what the deal is. Just general malaise and a touch of elevated temperature. It certainly didn't stop them from waking up at 5:30 but still. Apparently, C was really quiet at school yesterday so no sense in sending him to be sick there.

May is such a busy month. I know you know that!!

We just skipped right past spring-like weather and it'll be in the 80s all week. Zero complaints about that though because open windows and playing outside is the best!

In my lawn sage of this season, I am just trying to grow some grass. Last year all the Clover and Creeping Charlie was exterminated so this year it's just time for grass to grow. I have seed down and have been babying it. This may be a case where my persistence wins over the yard's reluctance but we'll see.

This past weekend C had his second soccer game. They still lost but they did way better. They played actual defense (which is an improvement) and scored two purposeful goals!

C and his sweet friend from school. They are peas in a pod. Happily running around with the group but if the ball comes near them their main objective is to not have the ball. Here they are just watching the game go on around them. It's the best.

M is frustrated watching because she really wants to play. But she has been creating art while she watches.

"He missed the ball and so he is sad." I love art by 3-year-olds. It's so honest.

Well, that's all I know. Make today a great one friends!

The Books of April

Hello Friday! I am so glad you are here!

I am slowly plugging away at my 2018 reading goal. I think I'll make it but who knows? It's the weirdest thing. I've noticed lately that for me reading has been a feast or famine. I either don't have anything to read that I want to read or I have all the things that all got automatically checked out to me all on the same day. This week I have been doing a lot of reading in full on feast mode. 

In the Order I Read Them, R-L in the picture. 

Victoria by Daisy Goodwin. A friend in one of my bookclubs recommended this. I know there's a PBS show about her life right now. I am a huge fan of the royals and I just couldn't deal with this book. It took me well over a week to read it and I just did not care. Historical fiction is fine of course but this one didn't bring anything special to the table. 2 stars. 

The Stars are Fire by Anita Shreve. This book was a strange look at the historic fires in 1947 Maine. (The fire was historic but I had never heard of it before.) Anyway, our heroine Grace has to pull herself up and survive for the sake of her children. This is not a happy book but Grace does learn a lot about herself in the face of tragedy. 3 stars. 

Not Perfect by Elizabeth LaBan. Ironically, I started this book within minutes of finishing The Stars are Fire and it's practically the same book! A missing husband, no money, figuring out how to survive on her own and still provide for two kids. But instead of 1947 Maine, in this book, Tabitha is struggling in modern day NYC. I enjoyed this one more because it was less introspective and more relatable. 4 stars.

Do This for Me by Eliza Kennedy. I got this one from Penguin First to Read. It will be released on May 15. I loved this. I loved The Good Wife when it was on so this was right up my alley. Raney finds out her husband has been unfaithful and the book follows her reactions to it. I thought this book was going to be very predictable and it kinda was but not with the obvious choices. A fun read. (Not a PG read, however.) 4 stars. 

When Never Comes by Barbara Davis. This book was just solidly a meh. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good. It kept me interested enough to finish but I didn't particularly like the characters or the situation. Christy-Lynn's husband (a famous author) has died in a car crash with an unidentified woman in the car with him. So she takes off and starts a brand new life! The ending was a little too predictable and while I am glad Christy-Lynn was able to heal from her childhood of taking care of her addict mother and horrors of foster care, I find it highly suspect that she would decide to become a parent and fall in real, actual love, in such a short period of time. 2 stars. 

The rest of April was a bit more of a famine. 

Again R-L

Left to Tell by Immaculee Ilibaziga. I wrote a little about this earlier in the month, but Immaculee was going to be visiting our area and speaking so a bunch of us read her book about surviving the Rwandan holocaust. Her faith in God and strength and love for the rosary could teach us all something! 4 stars. 

Flat Broke With Two Goats by Jennifer McGaHa. Do not read this book. Don't. Unless you are a goat farmer. And then you probably already know how to raise goats and how smelly they are so you don't even need to read this book. This was the Big Library Read and it is the dumbest book. It's a memoir where Jennifer and her husband don't communicate. Jennifer finds out they owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes, so they lose everything and learn no lessons. 1 star. (Because that's the lowest rating you're allowed to give on Goodreads.)

Flying at Night by Rebecca L. Brown. This book was really gorgeous read. It's a new release and it follows a family through three different voices (and generations). It touches on special needs parenting, abusive marriages, strong personalities, brain injuries and just doing the best you can. I really enjoyed this book and will definitely come back and reread this one. 4 stars. 

Made for This: The Catholic Mom's Guide to Birth by Mary Haseltine. You've probably heard about this because Mary is a blogger and so many bloggers have their voices heard. Including yours truly. Colleen is hosting a giveaway right now. If you know of a Catholic mom who is newly pregnant, this would be a lovely gift. 5 stars. (A super biased but honestly well-earned rating.)

Led by Faith by Immaculee Ilibaziga. Let's say that her first book was the broad brushstrokes version of her life and this one really digs into the heart of the matter. While you really need the first book for context, this one is so much more powerful and beautiful! 4 stars. 

So that is this month in books. I may squeeze a few more out this weekend, time will tell. Enjoy your weekends everyone!

April 25

Happy Wednesday Friends! Make it a perfect date today. 

And happy unofficial Miss Congeniality Day. (As it happens, it's sunny with a high of 64 so actually, it is exactly as she says.)

Rice Krispies

Everyone has those days, right? The ones where you feel like a failure even though, by the book, you've done everything to the best of your ability? Yesterday was one of those days. I felt really defeated but it was also Husband's birthday and that was reason enough to pull up my big girl pants and get it together.

I am so thankful for Husband. I am glad that he picked me and I get to go through life with him. When we discussing his birthday plans somehow we decided on a Rice Krispie theme. He loves Rice Krispie Treats. The ones you make yourself and the store-bought kind.

Easy enough.

Here's his birthday banner. Yes, those are Rice Krispie Treats with the writeable wrappers. They are definitely still hanging in my kitchen too. We kicked off the day with a bowl of Rice Krispies for everyone. Nothing but fancy birthday breakfasts at our house!

Worst lighting ever for a birthday cake picture but I will go ahead and share it anyway:

Instead of a cake, I got a Rice Krispie Treat Sheet and stuck some candles in it. (That's 34 in candle math.) As it happens, our regular grocery store doesn't carry the Treat Sheets, so I ordered one from Amazon. But it got delayed and I had to go to a different grocery store to get it. Then today the Amazon one showed up. Good thing he likes Rice Krispies!

Today is a bright new day. It's going to be a good one. At least it's sunny and going to hit 70 I think so that's stellar.

My Girl

My girl is in the full throes of threenager let me tell you.

Yesterday was Wednesday. Which is the short school day so she doesn't have to take a nap. She decidedly loves "short" days and asks every morning "Is today a long day or a short day?"

Sunday is also not a rest day. And Monday was the spring program so she didn't have to take one. However what that meant was my girl was tired and she was cranky yesterday! Not all at once. The day started out great.

She wore her new hedgehog socks. Which was pretty exciting.

And while C was at school we did some of her last Koala Crate activities. She got to make a xylophone.

But round about dinner time. Woosh. She was at the stage of cranky that resulted in full on shrieking mode. And everything was wronging her. So she went to bed a little early last night and that was just fine.

Luckily for her (and me), I had a sense of humor about the whole thing. She was just so irrational it was funny.  And today she woke up with a smile on her face and a want to snuggle so that always helps too.

Have a lovely Thursday